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Prince George men shake hands after meeting each other at World Lacrosse Championships

Leif Paulson’s Swedes top Cole Paciejewski’s Scots for 15th place
Kyle Balzer
Kyle Balzer

What were the odds?

The two players representing Prince George at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in the lower mainland this past week were destined to meet with their respective countries in their final match of the tournament.

Unfortunately, it was more for bragging rights between Cole Paciejewski and Leif Paulson than a piece of hardware as Scotland and Sweden were playing for 15th and 16th place at the 20-team event in Langley.

In the end, it was Paulson’s Swedes that came out on top with an 18-9 victory over Paciejewski’s Scots on Friday afternoon (Sept. 27).

"It as super exciting to play against him," said Paciejewski to PrinceGeorgeMatters about his first-ever tilt against Paulson. "He's a guy I really looked up to growing up; him going to university in the United States paved the way for me to go, so to be able to play against him at a World Championship level was pretty special. Sucks getting beat by them, but it was a good game overall and I was really excited to play against him."

Both players made an impact for their team on the scoresheet.

Paulson had nine points in the contest, the second-most of any other player in the box, scoring two goals and adding seven assists en route to victory.

Paciejewski recorded a team-high six points in the loss, including four goals and two helpers.

Despite Paulson and Paciejewski finishing in the bottom half of the tournament, both Prince George products turned some heads at the World Championships.

Paciejewski led the round-robin portion of the tournament with 17 goals under his belt and had the second-most points with 29, one behind the Ireland’s Brian Gillis and USA’s Kieran McArdle with 30 points each.

"I could not be happier to lead the entire world in goals in pool play," Paciejewski added. "That was a goal I set for myself [...] I credit a lot of help fro my teammates. They did an excellent job in finding me when I was open and I couldn't have gotten there with them for sure."

Paulson’s playoff performance stood out on offense with the third-most assists at 14.

Each country got to play eight games at the tournament regardless of placing.

Both Sweden and Scotland finished with a 1-3 record in preliminary action, placing fourth in their respective divisions, but Paulson’s edge over Paciejewski in the 15th/16th place game gave the blue and yellow a 2-2 playoff record to Scotland’s 1-3. 

In terms of getting potentially more Prince George products in the box in the future, Paciejewski believes the talent is there, but the awareness of where they can play is what's lacks a bigger presence.

"As these tournaments continue happening and they get more hype about them, I think people will start to realize that those opportunities are there ad they just need to try and pursue them as best as they can."

Canada claimed its fifth straight World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in the gold medal match on Saturday (Sept. 28), defeating the Iroquois Nationals by a score of 19-12.