World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship: Japan complete double over England to reach semis
- Second victory over the English in four days guarantees Japan’s best showing at the tournament
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Japan will finish in the top four for the first time at the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship after beating England for a second time in four days on Wednesday.
England have never finished lower than fourth and Japan never higher than fifth, with both ever-present since the first tournament in 1995 and ranked four and five this time.
But the pecking order changed with a 12-6 quarter-final win for Asia’s leading team at Hong Kong Football Club.
The Japanese fell behind to a pair of Annie Mather goals in the opening minutes, but responded with three of their own and never looked back, three days after overcoming the same side 12-7 in the group stage.
That made it four straight victories for Japan since their 12-11 opening loss to Ireland.
Megan Kitagawa, who scored a goal in each win over England, has been instrumental for her side throughout the tournament, having notched up 11 goals and four assists – second only to Miri Akiyama’s 14 goals and four assists.
The 19-year-old Kitagawa moved to New York when she was 10 months old and picked up lacrosse aged five, going on to play it at Syosset High School on Long Island.
“I really started to fall in love with it,” the Yale University student said. “It’s the adrenaline rush that it gave me and the amazing teammates, friends and families that come with it.”
“It’s still a growing sport in Japan and it has room to [grow],” she said. “It’s about inspiring others to join this sport and keep it hot.
“It’s definitely going to keep improving and be much bigger [now that it’s an Olympic sport], and it’s my dream to make it to the Los Angeles Games in 2028.”
There were no surprises in the other quarter-finals. Reigning champions United States demolished Puerto Rico 31-6 to maintain their undefeated record.
Canada and Australia also recorded their fifth wins in as many games. World No 2 team Canada thrashed Italy 25-2 after the Australians opened the day with an 11-5 victory over Wales.
The US and Australia will face off in the first semi-final on Thursday at Mong Kok Stadium. Canada will take on Japan in the second.
Hong Kong lost 12-7 to Israel, so will contest the match to decide 15th and 16th places on Friday. They will face New Zealand, who were beaten 17-16 by Chinese Taipei.
