UTICA – The Haudenosaunee Nationals defeated Australia 21-4 in the bronze medal game at the 2024 World Lacrosse Women’s Box Championship. Eleven different players scored for Haudenosaunee, led by Ferrah Blackbird with 3 goals and 3 assists, Timmia Bomberry with 3 goals and 2 assists, Ava Gabriel with 3 goals, and Fawn Porter with 3 goals and 5 assists. Trysten Burns added a goal and 5 assists, Tallis Tarbell 2 goals and an assist, and Carey-Leigh Vyse 2 goals and 3 assists for the Nationals. The hard-nosed defense only gave up four goals on the day and were backstopped by goalie Chelsea Doolittle with 27 saves. The win secured the first ever bronze medal for the Haudenosaunee women’s box lacrosse program.

Haudenosaunee scored first as Fawn Porter worked the left side behind a screen and drove to the net for a finish and the 1-0 lead at 11:23 of the first quarter. Australia answered 17-seconds later as Bea Cameron created a turnover and scooped and scored herself on the breakaway to tie the game. Haudenosaunee then killed a 5-on-3 Australia advantage before a Carey-Leigh Vyse jump shot from the top gave Haudenosaunee the 2-1 lead at 5:32. Tallis Tarbell scored her first of the day as Vyse swung the ball from the corner to Tarbell cutting to the middle to fire a low shot to the back of the net at 5:13. Australia responded again as Bea Cameron took a rebound off the nice save from Doolittle and scored to close the gap to 3-2 with 5-minutes to play in the first. Mekwan Tulpin was called for an illegal body check after crushing an Australian in the open field in what looked like a good hit. Nonetheless, it put Haudenosaunee down a woman with just over 4-minutes to play. Trysten Burns found Fawn Porter who scored low for the shorthanded goal and the 4-2 lead at 3:20. Mekwan Tulpin then pushed the ball in transition and put the ball on net so Fawn Porter could gather the rebound and find Ava Gabriel wide open in front of the net with 55-seconds to play in the first.

Tulpin got things started in the second as she won the draw and bumped the defender to the floor to stroll into a step down for the 6-2 lead 8-seconds into the second quarter. Ferrah Blackbird got on the board as she worked behind the net and off a screen from Kendall Tabobandung to create space and fire a shot low for her first goal of the day at 14:02. Blackbird scored again four minutes later as she found the ball off a scramble in front of the net and scored for the 8-2 lead. Tallis Tarbell followed with her second of the day as she took a pass from Trysten Burns and scored another from the top with 6:38 left in the half. Fawn Porter followed 3-minutes later as she took a groundball and used a dodge at midfield to open her up for the transition goal and the hat trick with 3:44 to play in the second. The half came to an end with Haudenosaunee leading 10-2.

Haudenosaunee started the third quarter shorthanded but killed the penalty. Fawn Porter then moved the ball into the offensive zone and found a cutting Gabriel open in front for her second of the day and the 11-2 lead 90-seconds into the second half. An Australia penalty for slashing led to a power play goal as Porter pushed the ball again in transition before using the drop pass to Timmia Bomberry who scored her first of the game going low to extend the lead to 12-2 at 10:24. Two Haudenosaunee penalties for pushing and unsportsmanlike conduct gave Australia the two woman advantage. But, Haudenosaunee would score the shorthanded goal as Lindsay John grinded a ball out alone in the corner and got loose to crash the net and score at 5:19 to extend the lead to 13-2. Mackenzie Shigwadja would follow on a step down from the left side off the screen from Kendall Tabobandung with 35-seconds left to make it 14-2 headed to the final frame.

Haudenosaunee opened the fourth with a power play goal as Trysten Burns found Ava Gabriel for the step down from the top for her hat trick and the 15-2 lead 47-seconds into the final quarter. Australia answered with their third goal of the game as Abbie Burgess-Brice fired a step down from the left side at 10:57. Timmia Bomberry followed as Fawn Porter moved the ball ahead to Kendall Tabobandung who found Bomberry on the doorstep for her second of the game and the 16-3 lead at 6:07 of the fourth. Another step down shot from Trysten Burns at 5:45 made it 17-3 Haudenosaunee. Another Australia penalty for holding led to a shorthanded goal for the Aussies as Bea Cameron scored her hat trick on a breakaway at 4:58 to cut the lead to 17-4. But, Haudenosaunee would end the game on a 4-0 run. Timmia Bomberry scored her hat trick from the middle off a pass from Blackbird for the power play goal at 4:39. Fawn Porter then took the ball in transition off the draw and found Carey-Leigh Vyse streaking for the jump shot in front of the net for her second of the game at 4:25. An Australia penalty for checking from behind led to a Ferrah Blackbird step down on the swing pass from Burns to make it 20-4 at 3:14 of the fourth. Australia had another chance late as they earned a penalty shot but Chelsea Doolittle stoned Steph Hallows to preserve the lead. Kendall Tabobandung followed with a goal with 6-seconds remaining to make the final score 21-4 and give the bronze medal to the Haudenosaunee Nationals.

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