Warriors Well Represented at the Worlds


The World Indoor Lacrosse Championships are nearly upon us, and the tourney will certainly have a Vancouver Warriors feel to it as four players will take to the floor to determine world supremacy in late September.

The tournament, which takes place at the Langley Events Centre from September 19 to 28, will feature twenty teams from 19 nations and take place in both the LEC Main Arena and nearby Fieldhouse, where the Vancouver Warriors train during their NLL season.

Four players that will be very familiar with this location will be Warriors Captain Matt Beers, who will represent Team Canada, defender Chris O’Dougherty, who calls Team USA home, and goaltender Andrew Gallant, who will don the colours of Team Netherlands.  Brandon Goodwin rounds out the Warriors representation with an opportunity to play for the Iroquois Nationals.

Four Warriors players representing four different squads with four distinct reasons to be here.

For Beers, it’s about playing at home in front of friends and family and representing not just his nation, but his city and the Warriors as their captain.  For O’Dougherty, it is about getting back to the elite level of lacrosse.  Last season, while training with Team USA, O-D as his teammates call him, ruptured his Achilles tendon and was not only lost to the Americans for the foreseeable future, but also to the Vancouver Warriors for the season.

For Andrew Gallant, who spent the season apprenticing behind Warriors goalies Eric Penney and Aaron Bold, this opportunity with the Dutch allows him to test his mettle between the pipes against some of the very best in the world. While for Brandon Goodwin, should his name be called, he will seize the opportunity to give the Iroquois Nationals his very best.

“Anytime you can be called upon to play in a World or National Championship, it gives you an opportunity to test yourself in top competition and for these players it will be a great honour,” says Vancouver Warriors General Manager Dan Richardson.  “The bonus for us as a franchise is twofold.  We get these four players out there representing our team on a world stage and we know that this experience will make them better players for our franchise when they return to the club for our season.” 

To purchase tickets for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, visit wilc2019.ca