#LMLive: Canada Takes Gold Again at WILC
by Neil Stevens | LaxMagazine.com (republished with permission)
(SYRACUSE, N.Y.) Canada’s world dominance in box lacrosse continues.
A 12-8 victory over the Iroquois Nationals on Sunday earned Canada its fourth consecutive world indoor championship and stretched its all-time record to 23-0.
Curtis Dickson scored four goals, Shawn Evans and Dan Dawson two each and Zack Greer, Dhane Smith Steve Priolo and Stephan Leblanc one each for Canada.
It was 3-3 after one quarter, Canada led 6-5 after two and 8-6 after three in front of a Carrier Dome crowd of 10,421, a new record for a WILC championship.
Iroquois scorers were Jeff Shattler and Randy Staats, with two each, Johnny Powless, Miles Thompson, Lyle Thompson and Jerome Thompson.
The United States defeated Israel 15-4 in the game for bronze.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (September 27, 2015) — Canada defeated the Iroquois 12-8 in front of a partisan crowd to win the gold medal in the 2015 FIL World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. From left to right: Stan Cockerton, FIL President, with Team Canada’s Captains. Photo: Coyote Magic Action Images
Canada had the upper hand in goaltending leading to the final of the 13-nation tournament with Matt Vinc, Aaron Bold and Brandon Miller, who are the finalists for goalie of the year in the pro indoor NLL. Vinc got the start and went the distance Sunday.
Everyone expected a close final given the closeness (11-9 for Canada) of the preliminary round meeting.
Dickson opened the scoring 56 seconds in with one of his fadeaway sidearm shots from the top of the attack’s right side. After the Nationals went ahead 2-1, Evans intercepted a pass near the crease, faked two shots and put the ball behind goalie Angus Goodleaf to tie it. The Nationals went ahead again, and Dickson tied it 3-3 with Vinc out and an extra attacker on the floor on a delayed penalty.
Canada jumped ahead 5-3 with goals early in the second quarter: Dawson planted a bounce shot in a lower corner of the net from the middle of the zone; and Greer pulled a rebound out of the crease to score Canada’s second power-play goal. Shattler replied before Dhane Smith muscled his way through two checkers to score from the right side of the crease between Goodleaf’s legs for a 6-4 lead. Staats replied. Neither team could score in the last six minutes of the half.
In the third quarter, Dawson and Dickson scored Canada’s third and fourth power-play goals — Dawson on a breakaway and Dickson off a cross-crease pass from Mark Matthews — to make it 8-5. Shattler replied with a power-play goal.
Lyle Thompson’s goal in the opening minute of the fourth made it 8-7, setting up a barn-burner of a finish.
Priolo raced towards Goodleaf on a breakaway and beat him with a bouncer at 4:21, jumping into the end glass to excite red-clad Canadian fans in the dome’s end section, and Leblanc fired in an overhand bullet from the left side at 5:03 for a 10-7 lead.
A third Iroquois power-play goal, this one by Staats, made it 10-8 with just over five minutes left.
Evans delivered the dagger. His overhand shot from the middle of the zone went over Goodleaf’s right shoulder and into the net for an 11-8 lead.
Goodleaf was lifted for an extra attacker and Dickson scored an empty-net goal 1:09 left.
The win was the third of significance for Bold and defenceman Ryan Dilks in the last four months. The two won the NLL title with the Edmonton Rush on June 5, the Canadian club title for the Mann Cup with the Victoria Shamrocks on Sept. 11, and now this.
Besides Bold and Dilks, other Team Canada players from the Rush are Mark Matthews, Zack Greer, Kyle Rubisch, Brett Mydske and Chris Corbeil. Team Canada’s Dan Dawson and Steve Priolo were teammates in Victoria of Bold and Dilks.
Eight players who won indoor gold Sunday were on the squad that won gold at the 2014 world field lacrosse championship on July 19, 2014, in Denver: Vinc, Matthews, Greer, Rubisch, Jordan MacIntosh, Adam Jones, Dan Coates and Curtis Dickson.
All four world indoor tournaments have resulted in a Canada-Iroquois-U.S. finish.
Gold Medal Game Photos
#LMLive: USA Takes Bronze With Win Over Israel
by Paul Schwedelson | LaxMagazine.com (republished with permission)
(SYRACUSE, N.Y.) (SYRACUSE, N.Y.) Members of Team Israel wrapped their arms around their teammates next to them. Their national anthem, “Hatikvah” — which means “the hope” — was sung inside the Carrier Dome as Israeli players prepared for the chance to unseat the United States.
The U.S. won bronze for the fourth straight time at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. Photo: Coyote Magic Action Images
In the first three World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, the medal winners were the same each time — the Canadians, the Iroquois and the Americans finished in that order. And after the first medal-round game, Team USA kept possession of the bronze medal with a 15-4 win over Israel on Sunday afternoon in the Carrier Dome.
Less than a minute into the game, the U.S. already made progress in the final leg of its quest to return to the medal stand with a goal by Marcus Holman.
But after the U.S. took a 3-0 to start the game, the hope for the Israelis seemed to dwindle. A temporary resurgence came when Kyle Bergman put Israel on the board to cut the lead to two, but short-handed responses from Kevin Buchanan and Holman pushed the Americans’ lead to 5-1 by the end of the first quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, the U.S. made a push to extend its lead, but Israel goalie Zachary Higgins made two key saves — first on a diving Garrett Thul from point blank and second on a rocket from Greg Downing from 10 yards out.
Still, it wasn’t enough as Israel’s offense couldn’t get going. A second-quarter goal by Bergman made it 5-2, but then the Americans scored four straight heading into halftime.
The second half lacked the intensity of the first as the U.S. had already built a substantial lead. Team USA captain Kevin Buchanan finished with five goals and five assists while Joe Walters had one goal and six assists and Casey Powell had a goal and five assists.
Bronze Medal Game Photos
