Everything You Need to Know About the World Lacrosse Men's Box Championship

The 2024 World Lacrosse Men's Box Championship begins Friday in Utica, N.Y.

The 10-day event features 28 nations competing in seven groups of four. All eyes are on Pool A, comprised of the top four finishers — Canada, Haudenosaunee, United States and England — from the 2019 world championship staged on the other side of the continent in Langley, British Columbia.

World Lacrosse hosted the first men's box championship in 2003. Canada has won the gold medal and the Haudenosaunee Nation has claimed silver in all five iterations of the event. The United States, a powerhouse in field lacrosse, hopes to break through for its first trip to the championship game in the box discipline.

The 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships will be broadcast globally through ESPN and WL TV.

ESPN will present 26 games of the dual men’s and women’s championships in the United States. In Canada, the same 26 games will be available on TSN platforms. Additionally, ESPN will extend coverage to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The remaining 107 games will be broadcast on WLTV, which will also carry the 26 ESPN games for all global markets outside of the U.S. and Canada.

The Utica University Nexus Center will serve as the main tournament hub, featuring three playing surfaces within the state-of-the-art, 169,440-square-foot facility. The venue most recently hosted the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship.

Twenty-seven games (including the Sept. 29 gold medal final) are at the Adirondack Bank Center, the multipurpose home of Utica's AHL and MASL teams.

And as part of World Lacrosse's partnership with with Turning Stone Resort Casino, the Mary C. Winder Community Center — Oneida Indian Nation’s new 90,000-square-foot community center — will host four games Sept. 24.

WATCH ON ESPN

All Pool A games will be on ESPN+, with the Sept. 24 matchups (ENG vs. HAU, 4:30 p.m. EDT; USA vs. CAN, 8 p.m. EDT) airing live on ESPNU.

The playoffs (Sept. 25-28) also are on ESPN+. The gold medal game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

Check our TV Listings page for direct links to all USA games.

TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE

The 28 teams in the men's championship have been broken up into seven four-team pools based on their World Lacrosse rankings.

Pool A: Canada, Haudeosaunee, United States, England

Pool B: Israel, Hong Kong, Mexico, Belgium

Pool C: Finland, Switzerland, Japan, Greece

Pool D: Czech Republic, Scotland, Jamaica, Chinese Taipei

Pool E: Netherlands, Austria, Italy, U.S. Virgin Islands

Pool F: Australia, Slovakia, Puerto Rico, Hungary

Pool G: Germany, Ireland, Poland, China

Pool A teams will be ranked 1-4 based on their pool-play results and advance automatically to the quarterfinals.

The top two finishers in Pools B-G will be seeded 5-16, with the 9-16 seeds competing in a four-game play-in round and the 5-8 seeds receiving a bye to the first round. 

Schedule

Sept. 20-23: Pool Play

Sept. 24: Play-In Round

Sept. 25: First Round

Sept. 26: Quarterfinals

Sept. 27: Semifinals

Sept. 28: Bronze Medal Game

Sept. 29: Gold Medal Game

The complete schedule is available here.

POOL A 

Canada: The Canadians have won every edition of this event since its beginning in 2003. The National Lacrosse League stars are too many to name. Among them: Dhane Smith, Dillon Ward, Challen Rogers, Graeme Hossack and Shayne Jackson return from the 2019 gold medal-winning team. Jeff Teat, Josh Byrne, Ian Mackay and Latrell Harris, meanwhile, will make their world box championship debuts. Smith (2022, 2016), Jackson (2020) and Byrne (2024) have combined to win four NLL MVP awards. Teat was the top scorer in the league this year. Jake Withers and Nick Rose earned Transition Player of the Year and Goalie of the Year honors.

Haudenosaunee: The Haudenosaunee are almost as loaded as the Canadians. Having won the silver medal in each of the five previous world box championships, the nucleus of the Haudenosaunee national teams returns. Cody Jamieson, Tehoka Nanticoke, Jeremy Thompson, Lyle Thompson and Zed Williams bring a plethora of international and pro experience to the floor. Eli McLaughlin (43 goals, 50 assists) and 2017 NLL MVP Lyle Thompson (42 goals, 45 assists) were top-20 scorers in the NLL this year. They're set in net with Warren Hill and Doug Jamieson. Representing the next generation of Haudenosaunee stars are current collegians Trey Deere (Syracuse) and Koleton Marquis (Albany), both of whom surpassed 100 points in each of the last two seasons in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League.

United States: USA as underdog? That's as it always has been in box lacrosse, the provenance of our neighbors to the north. Making the gold medal game alone would represent a monumental step forward. The U.S. was dealt a blow when "Captain America" Tom Schreiber suffered a season-ending injury in the Premier Lacrosse League. But Joe Resetarits and Blaze Riorden are back for their third world box championship, as is Joel White, who came out of retirement. And the Americans have their own youth movement going with current NCAA stars CJ Kirst (Cornell) and Joey Spallina (Syracuse), each of whom has acquitted himself well in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League.

England: It's an uphill battle in Pool A for England, which won the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship in Hannover with thrilling wins over the Czech Republic and host Germany in its final two games. Lyndon Bunio had 16 goals and 16 assists in Hannover and is one of five returning players from a team that advanced to its third straight world box semifinal in 2019. Corey Small is an NLL standout who has 820 career points, including an 83-point season in 2023 for Toronto.

POOL B

Israel: Eight players return from a 2019 Israel team that earned a fifth-place finish, which came off the heels of a fourth-place finish in 2015. There’s recent success for Israel in the field game, too, and the box roster includes eight more players who earned a seventh-place finish in San Diego in 2023. Simply put, Israel has continuity and chemistry in spades, with goalie Jackson Hainer, mainstays Ian Kadish and Yaakov Silberlicht and offensive threat Matt Popeck operating as players to watch.

Hong Kong: A first-time participant in the World Lacrosse Box Championship in 2019, Hong Kong returns six players from its inaugural team. But 11 players are teammates at the University of Hong Kong, providing some built-in chemistry on the floor. The youngest player on the team, Carter Li, is a sophomore at Seton Hill University who saw action in five games in 2024. 

Mexico: Making just its second World Lacrosse Box Championships appearance, Mexico is likely to lean on Charlie Frattini III, who played a massive role in 2019. He was the game MVP of Mexico’s first-ever tournament win against Costa Rica and produced 13 goals and 14 assists in the tournament. Other returners from 2019 include Juan Contreras and Ernesto Valenzuela, and Alejandro Fonseca is a longtime face of Mexico’s national team program. He’s making his fourth world championship appearance after competing from 2013-23 in field lacrosse. 

Belgium: Belgium might be new on the World Lacrosse Box Championships scene this month, but there isn’t a lack of experience in the box. Eighteen players on the roster were part of wins over Italy and Switzerland earlier this year at the E-Box invitationals, and 12 players took part in the 2022 European Box Championship. Branko Van de Wildenbergh and Romain Kluge are expected to split time in goal, and the offense will lean on the production of Tibor Van den Wildenbergh, Romain Deharre and Thibault Stepman. 

POOL C

Finland: Punching above its weight in box, Finland surged to a sixth-place finish in 2019 and played one-goal games against England, Ireland and the Czech Republic at the 2024 E-Box Invitational. Roope Jokela is a prolific goal scorer. Finland should also get a boost from Brett Kujala, the former Division III All-American in field lacrosse at Bowdoin.

Switzerland: Of all the athletes in the tournament, few have more international games played than Stefan Zweifel, who has competed in both of Switzerland’s previous tournament appearances and has played in four field championships since 2010. Overall, Switzerland’s box team possesses plenty of experience. Just about its entire roster competed in Prague earlier this year at the E-Box Invitational, where Switzerland secured wins over Hong Kong and Scotland. 

Japan: The Japanese put the international lacrosse community on notice at The World Games 2022 when they stunned England to win their first-ever bronze medal in championship competition. That came in the sixes discipline that bears many similarities to box, a discipline in which Japan will make its debut in Utica. Forward Shinya Tateishi was an All-World honoreer at the 2023 World Lacrosse Men's Championship, where Japan captured fifth place. Russel Bollinger, a rising freshman at RIT, provides some box know-how. He plays for the Calgary Raiders' Junior A team in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.

Greece: Greece is new to box lacrosse but does boast a couple of NCAA Division I field lacrosse contributors in Jonathan Spiropoulos (Boston University) and Ethan Hughes (Sacred Heart). They should be good in goal, as well, with NLL prospect Evan Constantopoulos. He ranked fifth in the OJLL in goals against average this summer and signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bandits in July.

POOL D

Czech Republic: Czechia brings one of the most experienced rosters to the championship. Twelve players have past world box championship experience, while 21 of the 23 have competed internationally across disciplines. The Czech Republic swept Germany, England and Finland at its E-Box Invitational in Prague. Czechia is also home to the National Box Lacrosse League (NBLL). Tomas Knotek and Jiri Loskot were top-five scorers in the league this year. Forward Pavel Dosly is one of the most experienced players in lacrosse, as he enters his 13th world championship. He has appeared in all five box championships dating back to 2003 and seven field lacrosse championships dating back to 1998.

Scotland: Ten players return from Scotland's 2019 team that finished 16th out of 20 teams. Forward Luke Laskiewicz is an accomplished box forward who was named the MVP of the 2020 Arena Lacrosse League for the Oshawa Outlaws

Jamaica: A newcomer to box, Jamaica enters the tournament with the momentum of its quarterfinal appearance in the 2023 world field championship last summer in San Diego. Eleven players return from that team. Goran Murray, Antoine Campbell, Tony Diallo and Shane Lumsden anchor the defense. Marcus Minichello has previous NLL experience with the Philadelphia Wings and Buffalo Bandits.

Chinese Taipei: Making its world box championship debut, Chinese Taipei has 15 players who gained valuable experience at the E-Box Invitational held in the Czech Republic earlier this year. They'll also count on forwards Bailey Wood, Tanner Wallen and Dennis Jack Burns, who play college field lacrosse in the U.S. Burns is a senior at Emerson College and has tallied 107 goals and 17 assists in 33 games for the Lions. Chien-Sheng Wang will be an important player in transition.

POOL E

Netherlands: With another top-10 finish on the mind, the Netherlands isn’t short on box pedigree. Assistant coach Neal Powless will be participating in his ninth world championship, previously playing for the Haudenosaunee before beginning to coach the Dutch in 2017. The Netherlands currently has players in the National Lacrosse League (Sam Haines, Toronto Rock; Joshua Toguri, Rochester Knighthawks) and the British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League (Logan Schmidt, Nanaimo Timbermen), so this is a skilled team looking to improve on its eighth-place finish in 2019. 

Austria: With a longstanding box program, Austria placed 14th in the 2019 world championship and eighth at the European Box Championships in 2022. Twelve of Austria's players are teammates with the Vienna Monarchs, which formed in 2003 as the first lacrosse club in the capital city. Players to watch include Adrian Balasch and Gerhard Probst, each of whom scored 12 goals in the 2024 E-Box Invitationl, as well as Toronto Rock forward Josh Dawick.

Italy: It’s been a year of firsts for Italy, which is making its first appearance in the tournament and is coming off the heels of its first-ever E-Box invitational appearance. Expect the team’s leader to be Georgetown University junior Lucas Dudemaine. As a member of the Mimico Mountaineers in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League, Dudemaine has posted consecutive 100-point seasons, including a 154-point outburst over 33 games in 2024.

U.S. Virgin Islands: It’s been a rapid ascent for the U.S. Virgin Islands, which only became a World Lacrosse member in 2020. They’ve moved quickly to field national teams, producing a team to compete at the 2023 LAXNAI event last fall. There’s significant NCAA experience on the roster, with Nick McEvoy playing 48 games from 2017-20 at Penn State University. Gavin Jones is a senior at Westminster College who has deposited 125 goals in his college career, and Blake Runkle is the team’s most experienced defender after a college career at the University of Albany.

POOL F

Australia: After a top-five finish in the inaugural world box championship in 2003, Australia slipped to sixth in 2007 and 2011, eighth in 2015 and ninth in 2019. Still, it's a veteran team full of players with international experience, including Keith Nyberg, who has competed in eight world championships combined between field and box. Captain Chris Plumb has been a part of Australia's national teams since 2018.

Slovakia: Like many central and eastern European nations, Slovakia is more developed in box than other lacrosse disciplines. This is its third appearance in the World Lacrosse Box Championships, having finished as high as eighth place (2011) previously.  Nine players are from the Bratislava Bats, who won the Slovak Box Lacrosse League in 2023. Slovakia has added Canadian athlete Jackson Suboch to the mix. The UMass product was a first-round NLL draft pick (16th overall) by the Philadelphia Wings in 2021.

Puerto Rico: Making its first appearance in this event, Puerto Rico will have a 17-year-old goalie (Michael Riomao) competing in Utica. But there's a veteran presence as well. Twins Roman and Cameron Lao-Gosney starred at Lehigh from 2009-12 and Anthony Irizarry has played in the North American Box Lacrosse League for three seasons.

Hungary: A mix of Hungarian natives and NCAA field players will help Hungary make its inaugural world box championship appearance. The team's only other experience in the discipline came in a 15th-place finish at the 2022 North American Invitational (LAXNAI).

POOL G

Germany: Four players return from the 2019 team that finished in 10th place at the world box championship, including Gustav Weber, who led the way with 25 points in pool play. The team's top scorer at the 2024 E-Box Invitational, Per-Anders Olters became the first German-born NCAA Division I lacrosse player at Vermont before transferring to play for Dominican (Calif.) in the MCLA. He had 30 goals and 14 assists for the Penguins this year.

Ireland: Ireland competed in all five previous world box championships, finishing as high as fifth place in 2015. Head coach Jeff Dowling is in his fourth term with the team, while veteran player Sean Gibson has represented the country at every world box and senior field championship since 2007. Brian Gillis (49 points) was Ireland's top scorer in 2019 and at the 2024 E-Box Invitational.

Poland: Poland has prepared for its World Lacrosse Box Championships debut by competing in the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship and the 2024 E-Box Invitational. Mikolaj Smigiel (16 goals, six assists), Nick Goldberg (12 goals) and David Zajac (331 saves, 74.0 save percentage) led the team that defeated Belgium and Serbia at the Euros.

China: This is China's first appearance in the world box championship. While there's plenty of homegrown talent on the roster, North American lacrosse fans will recognize defender Leo Stouros (Colgate/Albany FireWolves) and forward Ben Stewart (Wagner/San Diego Seals). Stouros was an All-World field defenseman for Canada's U19 team in 2012.