Head coach Devon Wray and his hand selected 23-man group is set to make the journey to Onondaga Nation in September to represent Finland at the 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships.
The coaching staff is extremely excited about the group of players we’ve selected. We think we have put together a group of athletes that can compete with our peers at the WILC.
It will be Team Finland’s first trip to the WILC, but we intend to surprise people and put Finland on the international box lacrosse map,” Devon Wray, quoted in the official press release.
Four intense training camps and one international tournament in Czech Republic later, players were selected to outfit the Finnish National Team.
Our team competed at a very high level from the first face off in Prague and we are looking forward to carrying that level of competition forward and building on it for the WILC in Syracuse,” The Canadian Head Coach stated.
The European Cup, played directly before the Ales Hrebesky Memorial in Radotin, CZ, was the first international box lacrosse event that Finland has ever experienced.
The skill level and compete level in this group is fantastic, and while we know we have a lot of work left to do, we think we have the best 23 men in Finland to achieve the goals we’ve set.
While we don’t expect to compete with the top 3 teams, at the WILC our goal is to win our division and aim for a play in game to the top division. We know this is a fairly lofty goal but we believe we can compete with the top teams outside the Big 3 (Canada, USA, Iroquois) and thats what we intend to do, Wray states.
Team Finland will continue preparations through two team combines before the WILC, one more training camp in Finland in August before traveling to southern Ontario in early September for pre-tournament training.
Finland Indoor Lacrosse Roster
Goalies
- Lauri Uusitalo, Turku Titans
- Juri Elonen, LTU Lacrosse
- Janne Pasanen, Lahti Box-Monkeys
Defense
- Jarno Alm, Uusimaa Capitals
- Pekka Leinonen, Uusimaa Capitals
- Pentti Pekkonen, Uusimaa Capitals
- Joakim Miller, Turku Titans
- Mikko Varjo, Turku Titans
- Anssi Kaisalmi, Mercer Bears, USA
- Joni Jalvanti, Lahti Box-Monkeys
- Severi Koskinen, Turku Titans
- Markus Mattila, Turku Titans
- Mika Uotila, Uusimaa Capitals
- Kimi Aho, LTU Lacrosse
Offense
- Altti Hyytiäinen, Turku Titans
- Jarno Aaltonen, Okotoks Raiders Jr A, CAN
- Miika Helminen, Turku Titans
- Roope Jokela, Turku Titans
- Pauli Nieminen, Lahti Box-Monkeys
- Robert Raittila, Okotoks Raiders Jr A, CAN
- Valtteri Laaksonen, Lahti Box-Monkeys
- Jimi Wiren, Turku Titans
- Brett Kujala, Coquitlam Adanacs Jr A, CAN
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