England U20 Men announce European Championship squad

England Lacrosse is delighted to announce the final 22-player squad set to travel to Wroclaw, Poland for the 2024 ELF Men’s U20 Lacrosse Championship.

The European Championship, taking place from 19-27 July, will mark the first major tournament for this cohort of England under-20 players.

The squad is made up of some of the best young English players from within the wider England under-20 men’s performance programme, all of which are on their personal journeys towards being international lacrosse athletes.

Seven of the selected squad travelled to Cardiff earlier this month and featured for the England U20 team at the Home Internationals Series, winning both their games against senior opposition in Scotland and the Netherlands.

Will Locker and Daniel Goodwin also stepped up to be a part of the England senior squad at Home Internationals and helped the team to three wins from three.

Having played at the 2022 U21 Men’s World Championship aged just 16, Hugo Peel also returns to the squad again following his appearance at last summer’s senior World Championship.

Peel scored six goals at that U21 World Championship including ones against Haudenosaunee, Israel, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the goal to take it to sudden death overtime in the fifth-place play-off against Japan; which he then followed up with a senior World Championship goal in San Diego against Australia.

This summer’s European Championship will provide a valuable learning experience for all the players involved as they continue their journey through the England Lacrosse talent programme.

The wider U20 performance squad will all continue as a full training group in the lead up to and after the European Championship with the remaining players acting as reserves for the Championship, to be called upon if required.

After the summer a number of the players will be transitioning to the senior England group and the U20 cohort will be evaluated for the following 12 months, with the opportunity for new players to connect.

Head Coach of the U20 performance programme, Mike Armstrong, said:

“As we announce the group of players heading to Poland this summer, I also reflect on the work that the whole group has undertaken over several months and firstly want to acknowledge that.

“Whilst this summer holds significance as a chapter in 22 player’s journeys, myself and the coaches are enthused today, more than ever, about the prospects of each individual within the whole squad.

“On top of that, I’m excited to see what the players heading to Wroclaw can further learn and achieve in our performances there.”

2024 ELF Men’s U20 Championship England Squad

Noah Arnison
Finn Avis
Wil Baker
Ellis Baythorpe
Leo Baythorpe
Will Brown
Josh Clegg
Jack Dearden
Dan Goodwin
Jim Hartley
Ben Jackson
Joachim Ruby
Will Locker
Jamie Mochan
Hugo Peel
Josh Phillips
George Shonfeld
Henry Smith
James Thompson
Alex Tyldesley-Worster
Calum Watson
Drew Wilkinson

England complete Home Internationals clean sweep with perfect record

England Lacrosse sealed a perfect weekend in Cardiff as all four teams finished with 100% records in their competitions and completed a Home Internationals clean sweep.

A trio of wins on Sunday for both Senior sides and the U20 Women against Wales secured all three competitions up for grabs and U20 Men went two out of two in their weekend of matches with an impressive victory over Scotland Seniors.

England Senior Women came through a testing opener on Day 1; just one goal up at the half-time break having trailed against Scotland, a shut-out second half and 12-goal scoring streak resulted in a comfortable looking 18-5 win.

They then followed this up with a professional 20-1 victory over Czechia before facing hosts Wales looking to finish on a win and retain the Home Internationals.

England went ahead early with three goals in the first 10 minutes, and despite Wales always keeping the game close with strong defence, the result was rarely in doubt, bringing home a 13-7 win.

The England Senior Men’s final match against Wales became a winner takes all affair as both teams had beaten Scotland and Netherlands in their first two contests.

England steamrollered Scotland in their opener, moving 10-0 up at half-time before settling in the second half for a 17-2 scoreline.

This was then followed again by a flying start against Netherlands, going 6-0 up at the 1/4 time to assert dominance over proceedings and never relinquishing their comfortable advantage to come home 14-4.

In the decider, Wales caused a stir by going a goal ahead, but England remained unfazed, consistently working to break down the Welsh defence to find the net scoring four in each of the first two quarters for an 8-1 HT lead, finishing the game 14-2 victors and Men’s Home Internationals champions.

It was a similar situation for our U20 Women as they stamped their authority on the competition with a big 23-5 win against Scotland, followed up by another strong 17-2 victory over guest nation Germany.

This again set up a decider against Wales who proved to be a step up in competition for the side preparing for this summer’s Women’s World U20 Championship.

It was relatively low-scoring with England dominating the ball for large periods but being held out by an organised, physical Welsh defence; England only 5-1 up at the half.

The narrative continued after the break with England never in free scoring mood, but Wales unable to exert little pressure at the attacking end of things and England continued to chip further ahead, ending the match 11-2 ahead.

Meanwhile, a youthful England U20 Men’s side headed to Cardiff for their own international tests against senior opposition.

Their matchup against Netherlands proved to be one of the most exciting matches of the tournament as they held their own against their older opponents in a back and forth game that they always managed to just keep in front of, celebrating a hard-fought 10-9 win.

This was then followed up by an impressive 14-5 defeat of Scotland Seniors, even after falling behind early.

Scotland took 3-1 lead into the 1/4 time, but the U20s regrouped, slowly chipping away at the lead to eventually sneak 5-4 up at the half, and took that confidence into the third and fourth quarters where they ran out easy 14-5 winners with a 9-1 second half.

Plenty of player and coach interviews with each of the teams from across the weekend can be found on the England Lacrosse YouTube channel.

Results
Friday 5 April
9am - England U20 W 23-5 Scotland - (7-2; 14-3; 17-4; 23-5)
England Scorers: Annie Mather 5, Freya Moody 3, Emma Pearce 3, Molly Light 2, Millie Cant 2, Nina Sherwen 2, Grace Connor 1, Rachael Ball 1, Charlie Bell 1, Lucy Evans 1, Fiona MacLean 1, Sienna Richardson 1

11am - England Snr W 18-5 Scotland - (2-2; 6-5; 13-5; 18-5)
England Scorers: Ella Cohen (3G, 3A), Georgie Southorn (3G), Lucy Devine (2G, 1A), Liv Wimpenny (2G, 1A), Claire Faram (2G), Tilly Shires (2G), Milly Home (2G), Julie Wise (2G), Emma Savage (2A)

5pm - England Snr M 17-2 Scotland - (6-0; 10-0; 13-1; 17-2)
England Scorers: Alex Russell (5G, 1A), Blair Pachereva (4G), Will Goodwin (2G, 1A), Ed Loveland (2G), Dan Madeley (2G), Tom Roper (1G, 1A), Nathan Wilkinson (1G), Joe Baythorpe (2A), George Bascom (1A)

Saturday 6 April 
9am - England U20 W 17-2 Germany - (8-0; 11-1; 15-1; 17-2)
England Scorers: Carys Johnson (3G, 2A), Lucy Evans (3G), Lara Renders (2G, 1A), Emma Pearce (2G), Millie Cant (2G), Habi Littlehales (1G, 1A), Ellie Pobjoy (1G, 1A), Honor Ashby (1G, 1A), Freya Moody (1G), Jemma Thomson (1G), Molly Light (2A)

9am - England U20 M 10-9 Netherlands Snr - (3-3; 6-5; 8-7; 10-9)
England Scorers: Ellis Baythorpe 4, Jamie Mochan 2, Billy Styche 2, Oscar McCarthy 1, Zak Spreckley 1

3pm - England Snr W 20-1 Czechia - (6-0; 8-0; 14-0; 20-1)
England Scorers: Liv Wimpenny (3G, 1A), Milly Home (3G), Ella Cohen (2G, 4A), Georgie Southorn (2G, 2A), Cece Green (2G, 2A), Alice Ripper (2G), Anna Neville (2G), Emma Savage (1G, 1A), Minty Loxton-Barnard (1G), Lucy Devine (1G), Tilly Shires (1G)

3pm - England Snr M 14-4 Netherlands - (6-0; 9-2; 12-3; 14-4)
England Scorers: Blair Pachereva 3, Nathan Wilkinson 2, Alex Russell 2, Ed Loveland 2, Cam Major 2, Will Goodwin 1, Will Locker 1, Elliott Bickerton 1

Sunday 7 April 
12.30pm - England U20 M 14-5 Scotland Snr - (1-3; 5-4; 9-4; 14-5)
England Scorers: Ellis Baythorpe 4, Zak Spreckley 3, Henry Smith 2, Owen Shuttleworth 2, Oscar McCarthy 1, Ryan Frayne 1, Jamie Mochan 1

1pm - England U20 W 11-2 Wales - (3-1; 5-1; 9-2; 11-2)
England Scorers: Charlie Bell (5G), Nina Sherwen (2G), Millie Cant (1G), Ella Dimbylow (1G), Grace Connor (1G), Ellie Pobjoy (1G), Habi Littlehales (1A), Bonnie Russell (1A)

3pm - England Snr W 13-7 Wales - (5-2; 8-5; 11-6; 13-7)
England Scorers: Georgie Southorn (4G, 1A), Milly Home (3G, 1A), Tilly Shires (2G), Anna Neville (2G), Liv Wimpenny (1G), Cece Green (1G)

3pm - England Snr M 14-2 Wales - (4-1; 8-1; 10-1; 14-2)
England Scorers: Blair Pachevera 4, Nathan Wilkinson 3, Joe Baythorpe 2, Will Goodwin 2, Alex Russell 1, Elliott Bickerton 1, Tom Roper 1

Final Standings

Senior Women
1 England
2 Scotland
3 Wales
4 Czechia

Senior Men
1 England
2 Wales
3 Netherlands
4 Scotland

U20 Women
1 England
2 Wales
3 Scotland
4 Germany

England U20 men's Home Internationals squad revealed

England Lacrosse is delighted to announce the 20-player England under-20 men’s squad to compete at the annual 2024 Home Internationals Series in Cardiff, Wales.

The competition, taking place from 5-7 April, will see England take on other international sides in competitive fixtures as the players continue their journey through the under-20 performance programme.

The 20-player squad will gain valuable experience during the Home Internationals Series that will help propel them in their lacrosse careers and assist them in becoming the well-rounded athletes the programme sets out to create.

To this end, England will play two matches during the Series against senior teams from Netherlands and Scotland; the opportunity to pit themselves against experienced senior players will set them in good stead for the future.

To buy tickets for the 2024 Home Internationals Series, click HERE.

Noah Arnison
Wil Baker
Ellis Baythorpe
Leo Baythorpe
Luke Bond
Archie Carr
Luke Flower
Matthew Forrester
Ryan Frayne
Will Hodgson
Oscar McCarthy
Jamie Mochan
Sam Polya
Owen Shuttleworth
Henry Smith
Zak Spreckley
Xander Stewart
Billy Styche
James Thompson
Calum Watson