English, Slusher Set To Square Off As U-21 World Championships Begin

U-21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
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If history is any judge, then the World Under-21 Men's Lacrosse Championships will end the way it begins: with a game between the United States and Canada. This time, there'd be the extra wrinkle of Princeton vs. Princeton.

The tournament begins Wednesday in Limerick, Ireland, with a game at noon against the U.S. and Canada (that's 7 am Eastern time), the teams that have met in the final in each of the last five editions of the tournament. The United States team features Princeton's Alex Slusher, while fellow Tiger Sam English is playing for the Canadians.

"We're always proud when our guys play on the international level," says Princeton head coach Matt Madalon, who led the Tigers to the NCAA Final Four this past season. "We'll be rooting for both of them. They're both great players, and they're also tremendous ambassadors for Princeton Lacrosse and Princeton University."

The U-21 designation is a one-time change to the tournament that is traditionally a U-19 event. The tournament was originally supposed to be contested in 2020, but it has been put off for two years by the pandemic.

The U.S. and Canada are in Group A, along with England, Australia and the Haudenosaunee. All five of those teams will automatically advance to the 12-team knockout stage, along with the top three teams in Group B (Israel, Czech Republic, Japan, Puerto Rico) and Group C (Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Jamaica), as well as the top fourth-place team from those groups.

Every U.S. and Canada game will be available on ESPN+. The championship game on Aug. 20 and the second semifinal game on Aug. 18 will be on ESPNU.

Slusher was Princeton's leading goal scorer on the 2022 season with 46, which tied him with Chris Massey for fifth in a single-season in program history, and 10 assists, for 56 points. Slusher also was the only Princeton player at least one goal in every game. English finished the season with 30 goals and 18 assists to

Australia is the only team other than the U.S. or Canada to reach the championship game, something that happened twice. The United States has won each of the eight previous tournaments, including in 2016, when the Americans defeated the Canadians 13-12 to win the gold medal. Princeton was well-represented on that team, with captain Austin Sims and leading scorer Michael Sowers.

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