Duke Quartet Brings Home Gold at U21 World Championship

LIMERICK, Ireland – The Duke men's lacrosse quartet of Kenny Brower, Jake Caputo, Jake Naso and Brennan O'Neill will return to Durham with new hardware after helping lead the United States U-21 Men's National Team to a 12-10 win over Canada in the gold medal game Saturday.

The title the ninth consecutive men's world championship for the U.S. at the junior level. It marks the eighth time the U.S. has defeated Canada in the gold medal game.

How it Happened

CJ Kirst scored five goals to lead the United States. O'Neill had two goals and an assist in the victory, bringing his tournament total to 18 goals.
The United States never trailed in the championship, but Canada cut the lead to one twice, including to 11-10 with 2:16 left to play in the game. Jake Naso won the ensuing faceoff and Patrick Kavanaugh scored an empty net goal to put the game out of reach.
Brower anchored the U.S. defense all afternoon, picking up one ground ball. Canada managed only two assists on its 10 goals as Brower and the United States made life difficult around the crease for their rivals.
Graydon Hogg led Canada with three goals and Owen Hiltz and Ross Scott each scored twice.

Note

Duke had the most players represented on the roster as Brower, Caputo, Naso and O'Neill become the 11th Blue Devils to win a junior world championship with the United States.
From 1988 through 2016 this championship used the U19 age grouping. World Lacrosse has since reclassified it to a U20 championship moving forward. The 2022 event was given a one-time age exemption to U21 due to postponements from the global pandemic.

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