China try to limit damage in World Lacrosse U20 loss before Puerto Rico clash

The United States continued their domination of the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship as China became the latest to be thrashed by the world No 1s.

The defending champions dispatched the Chinese 29-1 on Sunday, having previously crushed Germany 33-0 and swatted aside Puerto Rico 28-4.

They quickly made it clear more of the same was on the cards at Shek Kip Mei, scoring in the opening minute. Almost all of the face-offs went their way, allowing them to swarm forward and launch moves that, more often than not, ended in goals.

As is the case for most at this tournament, China could only attempt damage limitation, with their midfielder Sarah Junlan Curley saying they needed to “save enough in the legs” for their game against Puerto Rico on Sunday.

“We had a game plan, because we have a tough match tomorrow that got pushed up to 8.30am, so we have a quick turnaround,” she said.

“Knowing that game tomorrow has more implications on playoffs, we were being a little strategic.”

Should China win that, their last fixture in Pool A, they will reach the quarter-finals, an improvement on the 14th place managed five years ago on their debut.

“Our goal is obviously to top what we did last time,” Curley said. “But we need to keep on it, we want to be in the top eight.”

At Hong Kong Football Club, Australia beat Italy 18-3 to lead Pool C, while Canada triumphed 22-2 over Chinese Taipei to stay top of Pool B.

Mia Chao and Annika Wray put Chinese Taipei on the board in the fourth quarter. Wray, who will soon move to Canada for college lacrosse, said her coach Kinson Wan promised her a “lap around the field” if she scored.

“There’s a skill-level gap,” Wan said. “But we told our players … just go hard. That’s one of our team values.”

Ranked 20th globally, they hope to build the sport’s presence back home. There is a lack of full-length lacrosse fields on the island, but the race is on for the 2028 Olympics.

“Outdoor sport in Taiwan is not common,” Wan said. “A lot of girls choose indoor sports or don’t even go outside, so it’s cultural stuff that we [encounter] to get people interested.”

Wan, a Hong Kong native, noted his hometown’s lacrosse push.

“Ten years ago, we only practised in college,” he said. “But now we have lacrosse all over.”