Image credit: Marek Stor (shutterlax.com)
England came away with one win and two defeats from their three games at the 2025 E-Box Invitational event in Prague, Czechia over the weekend.
On Friday, England fell to a 22-10 defeat to hosts Czechia, before a 15-7 loss to Germany on Saturday and then a final day 18-10 victory against Japan.
With 16 players making their England debuts at the competition, this year’s E-Box event was a chance for Head Coach Walt Chrisitianson to give some of the younger and less experienced players in the England player pool a chance to play international box lacrosse.
Indeed, two of the England roster, George Medd and 16-year-old Finn Ward, had never played a full game of box lacrosse until this competition.
England’s opening game against Czechia started quickly and took some of the younger members of the squad by surprise as their 2022 Euros semi-final opponents stormed to a 7-2 first quarter lead.
Another powerful quarter from the hosts left England battered and bruised and 17-6 down at the half but England regrouped and gave a good account of themselves in the second half scoring four and conceding five.
It was a good showing in the end for an England team with seven debutants in the offence and eight different scorers, including first England goals for Nathan Edwards, Ryan Martin, Oscar McCarthy and Jack O’Mahoney.
England’s second game against Germany saw them play excellently in the second and third quarters but punished for a slow start and some tiredness in the final minutes.
Germany, who England defeated in the 2022 Euros final, were out for blood and ended the first quarter 5-1 up but a tight defensive display from England in the second quarter allowed them to push on in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter dragged themselves back to 10-7.
Fatigue kicked in with 10 minutes to go and Germany ended the game scoring five goals without reply to win 15-7.
England’s final game at the 2025 E-Box Invitational was a first ever competitive game against Japan and three goals in seven minutes had England in the driving seat.
The improvement in the players over the three games was clear to see and, despite being pegged back at 3-3 early in the second quarter, they went from strength to strength in this final game heading into the half-time break 7-4 ahead.
A huge third quarter in which England scored eight and conceded just two meant England were heading for their first win of the competition.
England tired once again in the fourth but the damage had been done in the third and England celebrated an 18-10 victory.
Head Coach Walt Christianson said:
“This has been a fantastic weekend for box lacrosse. It’s been so exciting to see so many young, new players to the game and, not only are they young and new to the game, there’s a tremendous amount of skill so I’ve been very very happy with the growth.
“We’re obviously not measuring what we’re doing this weekend in wins and losses but in little wins and the difference between the players on the first game compared to our third game has been outstanding.
“So it’s really really exciting to see all these young players and I’m really looking forward to seeing them all at trials in November.”
Captain and all-time most capped England player Tom Roche said:
“It’s been a great trip. We’ve managed to expand the group of players with international exposure by a lot. There’s been some big performances from some young players, and it’s been really fantastic to have probably the youngest group of offensive players we’ve ever had before. I think the future is really bright for this group of players.”
A scratch team of English athletes also took part in the ShE-Box event that runs parallel to E-Box with that team winning two of their four fixtures against Netherlands (12-3 W), Women’s Box Lacrosse Global Network (7-6 L), Japan (8-6 W), and Germany (11-6 L).
Watch all the action from the 2025 E-Box and ShE-Box Invitationals HERE.
Czechia 22-10 England (7-2, 10-4, 3-1, 2-3)
England scorers | Lyndon Bunio (2G, 3A), Elliot Leonard (2G), Ollie Allsop (1G, 1A), Nathan Edwards (1G), Ryan Martin (1G), James McIlhagger (1G), Jack O’Mahoney (1G),Tom Roche (1G), Sebastian Di Siena (1A), Travis Payne (1A).
Face-off | Tom Roche (30 face-offs, 14 wins).
Germany 15-7 England (5-1, 1-2, 4-3, 5-1)
England scorers | Lyndon Bunio (3G), Tom Roche (2G), Ollie Allsop (1G, 1A), Oscar McCarthy (1G), Ryan Martin (2A), James McIlhagger (1A), Jack Robinson (1A).
Face-off | Oscar McCarthy (25 face-offs, 11 wins).
England 18-10 Japan (3-1, 4-3, 8-2, 3-4)
England scorers | James McIlhagger (4G, 1A), Ollie Allsop (3G, 1A), Finn Ward (3G, 1A), Lyndon Bunio (2G, 2A), Elliot Leonard (2G, 2A), Sebastian Di Siena (1G, 2A), Jack Robinson (1G, 2A), Nathan Edwards (3G), Harry Edwards (1A), Ryan Martin (1A), Oscar McCarthy (1A), Travis Payne (1A).
Face-off | Tom Roche (20 face-offs, 8 wins), Oscar McCarthy (11 face-offs, 6 wins).
