CLL
Canada Wins 2025 IIJL Commonwealth Cup
Tuesday evening, minutes outside of Melbourne, Australia in the beautiful suburb of Altona, the Canadian Lacrosse League (CLL) won the 2025 IIJl Commonwealth Cup defeating the Australian Box Lacrosse All-Stars by a final score of 18-6.
Canada's Kieryn Noppen opened the scoring with a goal at 13:07 in the 1st Quarter to spark a 4-0 Canada run. Australia would bounce back with a 3-0 run of their own, Luke Spivey scoring the first goal and Orlando Kernaghan scoring the other two with Spivey assisting on both. The 1st Quarter ended with Canada leading 4-3.
Canada scored another 4 Goals in the 2nd Quarter, Derrick Crough book ended the Quarter scoring Canada's 5th and 8th Goals. Spivey was Australia's lone goal corer in the 2nd, with the Half ending 8-4 in favour of Canada.
Canada opened the 3rd Quarter with another goal run, 3 Goals, off the sticks of Brodyn Pladson (2x) and Brody McLeod. Australia's lone goal scorer in the 3rd was Elliot Cornett at the end of the quarter to make it 11-5 Canada heading into the final frame.
[PHOTO: Coaches with Players of the Game, pictured left to right; Todd Wilfong (Canada), Lucas Deshon (Australia), Brodyn Pladson (Canada), and Wade Hammond (Australia).]
Canada closed out the game with two runs, 4 Goals and 3 Goals, separated by one Australia goal by Gus Ratje who played in his third consecutive IIJL Commonwealth Cup. Eric Clarke and Addison Urquhart each had goals in Canada's 4th Quarter runs.
The Australian Box Lacrosse use the All-Stars roster and the IIJL Commonwealth Cup as a process to select their roster for each year's IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship. This year's roster featured a blend of returners along with up-and-coming younger talent that will hope to make the trip to North America for the first time to play at World Juniors - including Gabriel Bleed, Ethan Maher, and Fabian Hall.
[PHOTO: IIJL Commonwealth Cup trophy presentation, left to right; Koenn Mahar-Robins (Canada), Ric Benedierks (Australian Box Lacrosse), Brodyn Pladson (Canada).]
Many players from this Canada Development Team (CANDT) roster will be looked at for the 2025 IIJL World U18 Lacrosse Championship. Those available based on regular season and playoff advancement in their respective Junior leagues, will be considered for the 2025 IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship.
[PHOTO: Group photo with players and staff from the Canadian Lacrosse League Development Team and Australian Box Lacrosse All-Stars.]
Next stop for the Canadian Lacrosse League will be a European Tour in March with stops in Slovakia, Czechia, and Poland. Follow the CLL on X, Facebook, and Instagram to stay up-to-date on news and announcements.