Posted: Jan 29, 2025
Rogers went into the tournament
The Italian National Box Lacrosse, lead by Siena Heights Men's Lacrosse Head Coach Frank Rogers, went into the
2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica, NY not knowing what to expect. Italy is brand new to the sport of
Box Lacrosse just forming a year ago and qualifying for the World Championship in itself was a big achievement.
As the tournament progress the teams following kept growing, "It was like we had a cult following, one gentlemen
Compared us to the 1980 Olympics in nearby Lake Placid, saying we were the Mircle in Utica. We received great
Support from other countries, the community and the Italian Heritage Club of Mohawk Valley. Local restaurants
Made the team italian dinners and pastries and came to the games also.
After opening the Championships with a heartbreaking 11-10 loss to Austria the team fought back to earn 2nd place in
Their pool and move onto the 2nd round where they suffered a tough loss to the 8th ranked team in the world, the Netherlands.
From there Italy ran off 4 straight victories over teams from Greece, Poland, China and the Virgin Islands. In their final
Game vs the Virgin Island they found themselves down 9-1 at the half but came roaring back to take a 14-13 victory and
End the championships as the 13th best team in the country with a 5-3 record.
Italy accomplished a lot during the Championships under Head Coach Frank Rogers, going from unranked to 13th in the
World, earning the first win the World Championships by a Italian Box team, they also had the leading scorer in the
World Championships and 3 in the top 30, one of the top goalies in the championship and the first goalie in history to score a goal
On another goalie.
