OTTAWA, ON – The Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA) and the senior men’s national team coaching staff are proud to announce the 23-player roster that will represent Canada and defend our World Championship title at next month’s 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championship in Netanya, Israel.

“We are really excited with the roster that we have selected and as a coaching staff are honoured to have the chance to lead this team at the 2018 World Championships,” said head coach Randy Mearns. “Canadian lacrosse talent continues to evolve and excel at the highest levels of the sport.  As a group, we spent a lot time working through our selection process and in the end obviously had to make some very tough decisions.  With so many elite level players in our pool, it was extremely challenging to bring it to the final 23, but now the journey begins." 

The coaching staff – comprised of Mearns, Matt Brown, Taylor Wray, Merrick Thomson, Mark Miyashita and Jason Levesque - evaluated 46 players during a selection camp in October 2017. The player pool was trimmed by a dozen in February 2018, leaving 34 players on the training roster and in contention for the team.

“We feel we cover all of the bases – goaltending, face-offs, dual-purpose players, athletes that can perform a variety of different roles – and that this roster will allow us to compete for a gold medal in Netanya,” added Mearns.

This year’s team features 10 returning players from the Canadian squad that defeated the U.S. to capture gold at the 2014 World Championship in Denver, Colorado. Veteran national team members Geoff Snider and Brody Merrill, who will both be competing in their fourth World Championship (2006, 2010 and 2014), are joined by Wes Berg, Kevin Crowley, Curtis Dickson, Mark Matthews; siblings Jason and Jeremy Noble; and goaltenders Dillon Ward and Brennan Donville.

Tre Leclaire, Ryland Rees and Jeff Teat, who were all members of Canada’s 2016 U19 silver medal squad, will make the jump to the senior ranks. They will be joined by fellow youngsters and recent NCAA standouts Matt Gilray, Ian MacKay, Josh Byrne, Jack Withers and Zach Currier.

“Our roster has a good balance of age and experience. We’ve got veteran leaders that have been in these situations before and know what it takes, mixed with some youngers guys that have been playing high level NCAA field lacrosse and bring a youthful enthusiasm to the team.”

From July 12-21, 46 countries will compete at the 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championships in Netanya, Israel. The U.S. and Canada are the only two countries to ever win the FIL Men’s World Championship, with the Canada claiming gold in 1978 in Stockport, England, 2006 in London, Ontario and 2014 in Denver, Colorado.

Please see below the full list of players, in alphabetical order of last name, named to the final roster:

*NOTE: One goalie will be dropped prior to the start of the tournament to meet the final 23-man roster requirement. All three goalies will travel to Israel.