FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEPhoto Credit: Michael Hazy of @phantomlacrosse
July 17, 2018
NETANYA, ISRAEL – Host country Israel solidified its position as one of the top lacrosse teams in the world by qualifying for the quarterfinals with a commanding 16-4 win over Ireland at Wingate Sports Institute. Puerto Rico cruised to the other championship quarterfinal round by holding off Japan, 14-9.
Israel came out firing at all levels of the game building a 10-1 lead at halftime over Ireland. Maxwell Seibald and Kyle Bergman each scored two goals during the first two quarters. Israel continued its dominance in the second for a 16-4 win over Ireland. Israel, who finished seventh in 2014, qualified for its first appearance in the quarterfinals and is paired up with Australia on Wednesday, July 18 at 9 p.m.
“This is another great opportunity to play some more lacrosse against a high quality opponent,” said Seibald. “We have been together for a couple weeks now and very fortunate to put together a little winning streak. We’re constantly building when we are on the field together, we’re learning a little bit more, and we’re getting that chemistry going. Tonight was a great example of that. We’re confident that we’re healthy enough, we will be able to compete further into the tournament as a team. We just wanted to focus on playing our game within our system.”
Israel tripled up Ireland in shots, 52-14. Eight Israel players found the net multiple times, with Seibald and Joshua Offit leading the team with three goals each. Kyle Berman, Ryan Hunter, Daniel Leventhal, and Zachary Pall each scored two goals. Ireland’s Corey McMahon was the leading scorer with three goals.
Puerto Rico jumped out to a 9-2 lead over Japan in the first half on the shooting prowess of seven different players. Puerto Rico withstood a fourth-quarter rally from Japan to win, 14-9. Both teams were contained in the second half, and Japan outscored the island nation, 7-5. The trio of Desiderio Gonzalez, Kevin Lewis, and Kevin McNally of Puerto Rico each notched hat tricks. Japan was led in scoring by Hiroki Kanaya and Wataru Tsugu with two goals each.
The Blue Division concluded its pool play games, with the United States finishing atop with a 5-0 record. Reigning World Champions Canada are second with a 4-1 record. The Iroquois Nationals finishing in third with a 3-2 record. Australia, who finished fourth in 2014, finished in fourth with a 2-3 record. England and Scotland round out the division in fifth and sixth position, respectively.
Blue Division Key Games
Canada def. Australia, 13-7
Canada, the defending World Champions, took control of the game early, and put it away in the third quarter with a 4-0 run over Australia, winning, 13-7. Canada spread the scoring around to 10 players today, with Curtis Dickson, Mark Matthews, and Ben McIntosh finding the cage two times each. Australia was led by Christopher Robertson who had three goals.
Canada earned a bye into the semi-finals, and face the Iroquois Nationals, as Puerto Rico is a FIL Associate Member and not eligible to advance to the medal round.
USA def. England, 19-2
The United States continued its domination by defeating England, 19-2. The U.S. has won the Blue Division pool play with a perfect 5-0 record, granting a bye into the FIL Men’s World Championship semifinals. Through the first half, Team USA built a 7-1 lead on two goals coming from Ryan Brown, who finished the day with four goals. The second half, Team USA lit up the cage for 12 goals. Marcus Holman led the U.S. with five goals, and John Haus earned another hat trick. The defense for the United States seemed impermeable only allowing 16 shots. For England, Joshua Sherry-Brennan was the lone goal scorer.
The United States will face the winner of the Israel vs. Australia game in the semifinals.
Iroquois Nationals def. Scotland, 14-7
The Iroquois Nationals took control of the game outshooting Scotland, 41-28, en route to winning 14-7. The Iroquois Nationals had a 6-2 run in the third preserving its lead since the end of the first that was tied, 3-3. Miles Thompson led the Iroquois Nationals with five goals. Randy Staats contributed three goals, and Austin Staats finished with two. Scotland’s leading scorers were Luke Laszkiewicz and Daniel McQuade, who each had two goals.
The Iroquois Nationals will face Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals, and advance to the semifinals as Puerto Rico is a FIL Associate Member and not eligible for medal play.
Wednesday, July 18 starts the quarterfinals. The United States and Canada, as the top two finishers of the Blue Division, have earned byes into the semifinals and await the winners. The semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, July 19, and the gold-medal game slated for 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 21. The Blue Division is set from the top six place winners from the prior FIL Men’s World Championship.
The quarterfinals schedule is as follows:
Championship quarterfinals
9 p.m. Israel vs. Australia Winner faces United States in semifinals
6 p.m. Puerto Rico vs. Iroquois – Puerto Rico cannot advance as FIL Associate Member
Consolation quarterfinals (Highest Finish is 5thplace)
6:45 p.m. Ireland vs. England
9:45 p.m. Japan vs. Scotland
The 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship preliminary competition is set from July 11-17, with pool finals and crossover competition starting on July 15. After 169 games of competition, the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship gold medalist will be crowned on July 21 at Netanya Stadium. Tickets for the World Championship may be purchased at www.worldlacrosse2018.com/tickets.
The majority of the World Championship will be held at Wingate National Sport Institution’s six competition fields. With the limited capacity, the venue will provide an electric atmosphere for the World Championship, with sell-out crowds anticipated.
ESPN and ESPN+ will broadcast the games in the United States from start to finish with 10 days of play on ESPN2 and ESPNU for 14 games, and more than 160 games available on the ESPN+, the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service. The FIL Men’s World Championship will also be available in Canada on TSN and locally in Israel on Sport 5. Fans will be able to watch the games in more than 50 countries. The FIL Men’s World Championship Broadcast schedule and link is here.
To follow the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship, and get the most recent content from FIL’s FanHubthat provides one location for fans to see and read all the content written about the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship. Content will be featured from media outlets, social media channels, the World Championship host site as well as original content from FIL’s media services team.
The FIL Men’s World Championship started in 1967 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where the United States defeated Australia for its first of nine World Championship gold medals. In 1974, the second World Championship was held in Melbourne, Australia, with the United States claiming the title. Since then, the event has been held every four years.
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2018 FIL Men’s World Championship
Netanya, Israel, July 11-21
Wingate National Sport Institute and Netanya Stadium
Results:
Tuesday, July 17
Switzerland def. New Zealand, 9-6
Czech Republic def. France, 14-7
Italy def. Philippines def. Italy, 12-11, OT
Latvia def. Norway, 9-8, OT
Spain def. Denmark, 12-7
Canada def. Australia, 13-7
Hungary def. Russia, 14-12
Bermuda def Chinese Taipei, 10-3
Germany def. Finland, 12-7
Belgium def. Korea, 17-8
Mexico def. Colombia, 22-10
USA def. England, 19-2
Wales def. Austria, 9-5
Jamaica def. Greece, 11-4
Iroquois Nationals def. Scotland, 14-7
Israel def. Ireland, 16-4
Netherlands def. Poland, 9-7
Slovakia def. Argentina, 10-9
Puerto def. Rico Japan, 14-9
Monday, July 16
Latvia def. Sweden, 13-9
Denmark def. Peru, 11-4
Ireland def. Italy, 15-7
France def. Uganda, 14-5
Bermuda def. Luxembourg, 17-2
Israel def. Philippines, 11-8
Mexico def. China, 15-14
Belgium def. Turkey, 11-8
Japan def. Finland, 15-5
New Zealand def. Hong Kong, 11-9
Hungary def. Croatia, 15-3
Australia def. England, 7-6
Wales def. Netherlands, 9-5
Jamaica def. Slovakia, 12-5
Puerto Rico def. Germany, 14-9
Canada def. Iroquois Nationals, 10-5
Austria def. Poland, 12-8
Greece def. Argentina, 12-9
USA def. Scotland, 18-2
Sunday, July 15
Finland def. Norway, 11-9
Russia def. Luxembourg, 24-1
Turkey def. China, 13-12
Germany def. Hong Kong, 12-4
Puerto Rico def. New Zealand, 13-1
Korea def. Mexico, 9-6
Philippines def. Switzerland, 11-5
Jamaica def. Peru, 17-4
Italy def. Sweden, 13-11
Ireland def. Latvia, 12-7
Wales def. Uganda, 17-1
England def. Scotland, 11-8
Belgium def. Colombia, 7-6
Slovakia def. Denmark, 8-5
Argentina def. Czech Republic, 12-8
Hungary def. Bermuda, 7-6
USA def. Canada, 11-10
Iroquois Nationals def. Australia, 16-9
Austria def. Spain, 12-10
Croatia def. Chinese Taipei, 7-6
Saturday, July 14
Hong Kong def. Uganda, 16-1
Japan def. Netherlands, 18-3
Finland def. Colombia, 20-4
Latvia def. Greece, 10-9, OT
Poland def. Luxembourg, 15-6
New Zealand def. Croatia, 16-2
USA def. Australia, 19-1
Germany def. France, 15-4
Sweden def. Hungary, 16-6
Ireland def. Denmark, 14-3
Philippines def. Belgium, 11-4
Switzerland def. Chinese TaiPei, 17-1
Canada def. Scotland, 22-3
Puerto Rico def. Bermuda, 17-3
Italy def. Peru, 13-7
Iroquois Nationals def. England, 18-7
Israel def. Russia, 19-2
Friday, July 13
Greece def. Mexico, 13-8
Austria def. Colombia, 13-7
Uganda def. Luxembourg, 7-6
Spain def. Croatia, 12-9
Japan def. Norway, 24-3
Hong Kong def. Poland, 9-7
Jamaica def. Russia, 17-7
Denmark def. China, 14-4
Australia def. Scotland, 18-6
France def. Korea, 10-6
Argentina def. Hungary, 14-6
Puerto Rico def. Wales, 16-4
Canada def. England, 12-6
Slovakia def. Chinese Taipei, 13-1
Peru def. Turkey, 18-11
Philippines def. Czech Republic, 11-6
Thursday, July 12
Germany def. Korea, 19-5
Poland def. Uganda, 16-4
Switzerland def. Slovakia, 10-6
Norway def. Netherlands, 14-6
New Zealand def. Spain, 9-5
Ireland def. China, 18-3
Latvia def. Mexico, 13-10
Italy def. Turkey, 16-8
Sweden def. Argentina, 13-5
Wales def. Bermuda, 8-4
Finland def. Austria, 11-7
Czech Republic def. Belgium, 15-8
Israel def. Jamaica, 11-3
USA def. Iroquois Nationals, 17-9
Wednesday, July 11
Hong Kong def. Luxembourg, 20-1
FIL Men’s World Championship History
Year – Teams (gold def. silver), Score, Location
2014 – Canada def. USA, 8-5, Denver, Colorado, USA
2010 – USA def. Canada, 12-10, Manchester, England
2006 – Canada def. USA, 15-10, London, Ontario, Canada
2002 – USA def. Canada, 18-15, Perth, Australia
1998 – USA def. Canada, 15-14 (OT), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
1994 – USA def. Australia, 21-7, Manchester, England
1990 – USA def. Canada, 19-15, Perth, Australia
1986 – USA def. Canada, 18-9, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1982 – USA def. Australia, 22-14, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
1978 – Canada def. USA, 17-16 (OT), Stockport, England
1974 – USA, Three-way tie for 2nd, Melbourne, Australia
1967 – USA def. Australia, 25-11, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
