Everyone knows fall ball scores mean next to nothing, especially when those games are played early in the fall, but when the Falcons Lacrosse Club from Japan comes over for a tour of games, and they beat a D1 US college team, it’s still news, even if the game wasn’t an official contest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J-g5cjErNw
So how does that work? How can a team come over to play scrimmages, which we all agree to be less than meaningful, and still make headlines?
When it’s international lacrosse vs North America, it’s news!
It’s news because there has always been a huge gap between lacrosse in North America and Japan. Lacrosse has been played in Japan for around 25 years now, and teams from Japan have made the trip to the US to play before, but wins have been extremely rare, at least when the Japanese clubs play D1 schools, so this game is a very interesting barometer for the top level strength of Japanese lacrosse.
In the past, many of the Japanese teams that come over have been University squads, made up of guys who had only been playing for 3-5 years, at most. Results are often predictable. But this Japanese team is different, because they are the best club in Japan, and almost all of their players have some national team experience, or are current national team members
To give you some idea of how good they are, the Falcons Lacrosse Club has won TEN consecutive national titles in Japan. Some even say the club is as good (or better!) than the actual national team… and Japan’s national team is VERY good! Either way, it’s clear that the Falcons are the team to beat in Japan.
Now, with a 9-8 win over Wagner, they’re putting a nice stamp on the US college scene.
To be clear, this game was NOT an official game. The Falcons players are also older than the Wagner guys. Wagner also played a lot of different guys. But all of that aside, it’s great to see a team from abroad come over and play D1 level lacrosse. THAT is what’s great here, and should be celebrated.
Congrats to the Falcons, and HUGE props to Wagner for playing this game, running a lot of guys through the rotation, and hosting a club from Japan. WELL DONE all around! The result is the headline, but the actual story is much better. Huge props to Wagner coach, Matt Poskay, for being so gracious in his interview as well. Superb stuff all around!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeNmSO3RlIg
The Falcons will play Monmouth in NJ on the 23rd of September. Tokyo and Keio Universities’ teams are also in the USA, playing other college teams. Keio has been over before, playing UMBC multiple times, but this is the first trip for Tokyo and the Falcons Lacrosse Club. Clearly, it’s going pretty well! LOVE to see all these Japanese teams coming over to play lacrosse!
