HONG KONG — Over summer break most people will try to get in a vacation since there is no school to worry about and six girls from the area sure traveled far, but it was not the typical trip. From Aug. 15 through this Saturday the World Lacrosse U20 Women’s Championships are being played in Hong Kong, China. Chloe Luther, Addison and Laelle Jimerson, Jacella Nephew, Ava Tallchief and Gracie Williams have been representing the Haudenosaunee Nationals.
Instead of relaxing before another year of high school or prepping for their first year away at college, the six girls have been playing with the top under-20 women’s lacrosse national teams.
The lone Gowanda representative, with the remaining five playing for Lake Shore/Silver Creek, Luther has shined the brightest offensively before she heads to Jacksonville University for this fall semester. With one game left to play, Luther is second in goals for the Haudenosaunee scoring eight and assisting on four in four games played.
This follows up a senior season in which Luther led all of Section VI in points, scoring 177 with 128 goals and 49 assists, which was well ahead of the No. 2 scorer from Orchard Park with 122.
Luther started the tournament strong last Friday, scoring two goals and two assists as Haudenosaunee opened with a dominant 19-8 victory over South Korea, but her best game came on Monday when she netted a hat trick with two assists in a 24-4 win over Chinese Taipei. She was kept off the scoresheet in Saturday’s 22-4 rout by Canada. She scored once in the narrow 8-6 loss to Wales on Tuesday and she scored twice in Wednesday’s loss to China.
She will have one more chance to add more points when the Haudenosaunee play Mexico in the 11th-place game on Friday.
While Luther is second in goals for Haudenosaunee, Silver Creek’s Gracie Williams is second in assists at four to go along with her three goals in the tournament. Williams is coming off a season in which she led Lake Shore/Silver Creek in points with 91 after posting 67 goals and 24 assists.
Joining the scoresheet in the tournament are Addison Jimerson with four goals and an assist; Ava Tallchief at two goals and an assist; Jacella Nephew scored two; and Laelle Jimerson has not registered a point yet.
The Haudenosaunee finished pool play with a 2-2 record, but losses to Wales and China relegated the team to the 11th-place match.