Ireland to face Puerto Rico in their final World Lacrosse Men's U21 World Championship tie at UL

IRELAND will face Puerto Rico in their final fixture at the 2022 World Lacrosse Men's U21 World Championship in UL today, 3.30pm, following their 5-4 play-off defeat to Japan on Friday.

The first quarter of Friday's tie with Japan was a tough battle as both defences were on top of the attack especially Ireland goalkeeper Joe Walsh as he pulled off three great saves.

The Japanese thought they had taken the lead eight minutes in but, they were penalised for a moving screen. It was Kevin Somerville who netted first in the game with an assist from Liam Horkan to give his side a one goal lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was much more one-sided as Japan controlled the majority of it. They netted within four minutes to level the contest. The next five minutes was a defensive masterclass from the Irish side with Patrick McKee and Walsh keeping the ball out of the net.

With five minutes to go, the Irish defensive wall was broken as the opposition managed to score two goals in the last five minutes of the quarter, leaving them two goals up at half-time.

The third quarter was one of missed opportunities by both sides as Ireland started to pressureise the Japanese defence. This pressure led to Liam Horkan narrowing the gap in the play-off finishing high into the roof of the net.

With two minutes left in the quarter, Japan had control of the ball for nearly four minutes. They scored another goal just before the end of the third quarter.

Japan won the face-off at the start of the fourth quarter and kept the pressure on the Irish defence. Within two minutes they had netted a fifth goal.

With a big home support on the hill in UL, Ireland found another gear in the last few minutes of the contest. With five minutes to go, Jack Doherty broke through the Japanese defence to narrow the gap to two with a well-executed goal.

With the crowd getting louder Ireland managed to win the face-off which resulted in Conor Foley narrowing the gap to a single goal. The Japanese were now under pressure as Ireland pushed forward.

Then, with a minute to go, Conor Foley netted but this goal was disallowed. Ireland pushed to complete this comeback but it wasn’t to be their day.

IRELAND: Conor Breen; Matthew Brennan, Ben Collins , Gavin Conlan; Finn Daly. Aidan Dempsey, Jack Doherty, Conor Foley, Jack Galvin ,Joseph Gehle, Sean Horkan, Liam Horkan, Ridley Horton, Aedan Kearns, Fionn Kinsella , Matt Loftus, Sean Loftus, Patrick McKee, Brady Morin, Kevin Somerville, Michael Songer, Jack Songer, Joe Walsh, Ronan Walsh.