Canada, Great Britain, Japan and the United States each closed out the preliminary round with victories on day three of men’s lacrosse sixes competition at The World Games 2022 to advance to tomorrow’s semifinals.
The United States finished atop Group A with an unblemished 3-0 record, and will next face Japan (1-2), the second seed from Group B. Canada also remained undefeated through preliminary play to top Group B, and will play Group A No. 2 Great Britain (2-1). The winning teams from the semifinals will face off for gold on Tuesday (July 12).
A Japan upset over the Haudenosaunee resulted in both teams being involved in a three-way tie with Israel for second place in Group B. The deciding tie-breaker was the goal differential in games played among the three teams, resulting Japan (+3) earning the B2 position over Haudenosaunee (0) and Israel (-3).
In game one, Great Britain opened the floodgates against Germany in the second quarter with a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 lead, and coasted from there to a 22-10 win. Alex Russell and Lyndon Bunio both tallied five points for the Brits, coming on four goals and an assist. Ben Page-Laycock, Ryan Sweetman, and Zac Guy all contributed to Great Britain’s best offensive output in Birmingham with a hat trick each.
Russell and Bunio have now totaled more than 10 points for Great Britain and are two of 12 players overall in the tournament to do so.
Japan outpaced the Haudenosaunee in a frenetic fourth quarter, 7-6, to hang on for a 20-16 win in the second game of the day. Japan now has two 20-goal outbursts as a team, the second-most of the eight men’s teams. Shinya Tateishi and Junichi Suzuki both recorded five goals and an assist, and Tateishi now ranks second in goals and points among the men’s athletes. Hiroki Kanaya tallied five points on two goals and three assists and has 13 points, the second most on team Japan.
Brendan Bomberry turned in six goals for the Haudenosaunee on an efficient 6-7 shooting clip, while Jakob Patterson added three goals.
Canada put on a clinic against Israel in a 26-7 win with scoring margins of 8-1, 7-1, and 9-1 in the first, second and fourth quarters. Josh Byrne stayed atop the goals leaderboard in Birmingham with five goals on six shots to go with an assist. Jordan Macintosh was a perfect 4-4 on shots and Wesley Berg also chipped in four goals. Canada’s tournament-best scoring offense (24.3 goals per game) was boosted on the day by three more hat tricks from Jeff Teat, Bryan Cole and Dhane Smith, who combined to shoot 9-9.
The United States used a 6-0 second quarter to dispatch Australia, 19-10, and remain undefeated. Connor Kirst scored six goals without missing a shot and now leads the USA offense after three games with 12 points. Ryan Tierney contributed three goals and an assist, while Colin Heacock scored a hat trick on three shots.
July 10 Results
Germany 10, Great Britain 22
Japan 20, Haudenosaunee 16
Canada 26, Israel 7
United States 19, Australia 10
July 11 Schedule
10:30 a.m. // 7th: Germany vs Israel
12 p.m. // 5th Place: Australia vs Haudenosaunee
2 p.m. // Semifinal 1: United States vs Japan
3:30 p.m. // Semifinal 2: Great Britain vs Canada
Broadcast info for July 11 can be found here.
A full schedule, standings and live statistics are available at TWG2022.com/results.
