Canada Advances to Gold Medal Game with Win Over Israel

Canada rolled to the gold medal game behind yet another 7-goal performance from Silas Richmond Saturday at the IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. 

Israel entered the semifinal matchup believing they could contend with the powerhouse Canadian side and in the second half they were able to do so. Unfortunately for them, by then Canada had opened up far too large a lead to be overcome and the final score was 20-9. 

It took four minutes to get things rolling for the team in red, but then five different players struck for goals in a span of 2:04. The score was 7-0 after the first quarter and the spread could have been bigger if not for a series of outstanding saves by Israel goaltender Jackson Hainer. 

Israel broke through with back-to-back goals just over a minute apart to open the second quarter, but Canada responded with 5 in a row—including power play and shorthanded markers from Richmond—to enter half time with a 12-2 lead. 

From there, the scoring was almost level: Canada held a 5-4 edge in the third quarter and the teams each scored 3 goals in the fourth. Hainer was the key reason that Israel was able to avoid a larger deficit; even though he allowed 20 goals, he made save after save on high-quality scoring chances generated by Canada. 

[PHOTO: Players of the Game | Tyler Davis Canada, Jackson Hainer Israel]

Richmond had scored 7 goals in each of Canada's pair of round robin games. The highlights of his third straight septet were a pair of goals on three-way passing plays that saw Canadian goalie Deacon Knott hit Justin Hill on outlet passes near centre and Hill in turn rifle diagonal passes to Richmond cutting in from the bench and leaping above the crease to tuck the ball home. 

Richmond added a pair of assists to lead Canada with 9 points while captain Tyler Davis was right behind with 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points. Will Macleod added a hat trick and 2 helpers while Jackson Klewchuk and defender Carter Moran each chipped in with a pair of goals, Klewchuk adding 2 assists as well. 

Jaxson Porter and Ari Weiss each had 2 goals for Israel, with Porter adding an assist to match Josh Yachney's goal and 2 helpers as the team's leading point-getter. 

Canada will play the Haudenosaunee Sunday at 8pm CT/9 ET for the gold medal. Israel takes on the US for bronze at 5pm CT/6 ET. Poland and Australia open the final day of the 2022 World Juniors playing for fifth place at 1pm CT/2 ET. 

All games are streamed live on the TSN app, TSN Direct and TSN.ca in Canada, and uploaded to the World Junior Lacrosse Championship YouTube channel after the game for viewing in the rest of the world.