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Team Canada Roster Selected
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Team Canada Roster Selected For Denver Exhibition Games

The Canadian Lacrosse Association is proud to announce the men’s field lacrosse athletes that will suit up on the Team Canada roster during next month’s exhibition games in Denver, Colorado.

A Team Canada roster of 26 players, including 11 who will represent Canada for the very first time and seven members of the gold medal winning squad from the 2014 FIL Men’s World Lacrosse Championship, were selected to take part in matches against the University of Denver and United States Air Force Academy on October 22 and 23, respectively.

The men’s field lacrosse national team, led by head coach Randy Mearns (St. Catharines, Ont.), program director Dave Huntley (Toronto, Ont.), and chairman Dean French (Toronto, Ont.), will use this event to help plan for the upcoming 2018 FIL Men’s World Lacrosse Championship that will take place in Manchester, England.

“This training event in Denver will begin the journey towards the world championship in 2018,” said Mearns, “but it’s just the first step in a complex two year process. We are excited to get started.”

The return to Denver, site of Canada’s win over Team USA in the 2014 championship finals, will be a little more special for the five University of Denver alumni on the roster, which includes veterans Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ont.), Wesley Berg (New Westminster, B.C.), Dillon Roy (Denver, CO), and Jeremy Noble (Orangeville, Ont.).

“For myself it will be extra special to get back to Denver and see all the alumni and old friends,” said Matthews, who plays professionally for the Saskatchewan Rush and Atlanta Blaze. “At the same time, it is even more special to be able to wear the maple leaf once again.”

Two of his Rush teammates, Dan Taylor (Calgary, Alta) and Ben McIntosh (Port Coquitlam, B.C.), will look to build upon their successful season, having won the NLL’s Champions Cup in June before falling short in the best-of-seven Mann Cup series as members of the Maple Ridge Burrards in September.

Both players will be making their national team debut and are eager to hit the field.

“I was excited to get the call,” expressed Taylor. “Anytime you are given the opportunity to represent your country it’s a special thing. I think every Canadian kid grows up wanting to wear the maple leaf in some form or another and I’m thrilled I get the chance to do just that.

McIntosh, who won the NLL Rookie of the Year Award in 2015 and NLL Sportsmanship Award in 2016, was also thrilled, adding “There’s just such a great sense of pride that comes with playing for your country. I look forward to getting out to Denver and getting the opportunity to play with such a talented group of guys.”

Constructing the roster was no doubt a challenge, with many potential players either nursing injuries or unable to commit due to conflicts with work or school. Nonetheless, these games will still give the coaching staff a good idea of where the program stands moving forward.

“As was the case for the 2012 Duel in Denver, we felt it was important to develop a roster with veteran leadership for guidance and experience, but to also have a primary function of working with and evaluating some of the next generation of Canadian lacrosse talent,” explained Mearns, the head coach at Canisius College (Buffalo, NY).

Leading the charge for Canada’s youth movement are Jeffrey Teat (Brampton, Ont.) and Ryland Rees (Port Coquitlam, B.C.), both of whom were on the Team Canada roster during this summer’s FIL U19 Men’s World Championship, a team that lost in heartbreaking fashion to Team USA in the gold medal game.

Each of the athletes on this roster will look to leave a lasting impression on the coaching staff and hopefully earn an invite to the next senior men’s field identification camp, which will likely take place in 2017.

For more information on the exhibition games or to purchase tickets, please click here.

Team Canada Roster

First Last Hometown NLL Team MLL Team School
Jake Bailey Rochester, NY N/A Atlanta North Carolina
Wesley Berg New Westminster, BC Calgary Denver Denver
Jeremy Bosher Kamloops, BC N/A N/A Denver
Dan Coates St. Catharines, ON Colorado N/A Canisius
Bryan Cole Oakville, ON Georgia Ohio Maryland
Chris Corbeil Mississauga, ON Saskatchewan N/A N/A
Zach Currier Peterborough, ON N/A N/A Princeton
Brennan Donville Oakville, ON N/A N/A Cornell
Matt Hossack Port Perry, ON Saskatchewan Denver RIT
Graeme Hossack Port Perry, ON Rochester Atlanta Lindenwood
Kyle Jackson Sarnia, ON N/A Boston Michigan
Mark Matthews Oshawa, ON Saskatchewan Atlanta Denver
Ben McIntosh Coquitlam, BC Saskatchewan N/A Drexel
Ian McKay Port Elgin, ON N/A N/A Vermont
Mike Messenger Surrey, BC Saskatchewan Ohio Limestone
Jeremy Noble Orangeville, ON Colorado Atlanta Denver
Jason Noble Orangeville, ON Georgia Chesapeake Cornell
Ryland Rees Port Coquitlam, BC N/A N/A Stony Brook
Challen Rogers Coquitlam, BC Toronto Boston Stony Brook
Dillon Roy Denver, CO N/A Denver Denver
Dhane Smith Kitchener, ON Buffalo Rochester N/A
Dan Taylor Calgary, AB Saskatchewan N/A Lehigh
Jeffrey Teat Brampton, ON N/A N/A Cornell
Jay Thorimbert Whitby, ON New England N/A Guelph
Kyle Trolley Peterborough, ON New England N/A Notre Dame
Jason Weber Whitby, ON N/A N/A Detroit Mercy