FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEPhoto Credit: Roger Davis
July 18, 2018
NETANYA, ISRAEL – In three days, the Federation of International Lacrosse will crown the 2018 FIL Men’s World Champion after an 11-day tournament that features the largest field ever with 46 teams. The semifinalists are now set as Australia downed host country Israel, 9-6, and the Iroquois Nationals defeated Puerto Rico, 14-7. The World Championship is being held at Wingate Sport Institute, with the gold-medal game set for Saturday, July 21 at Netanya Stadium.
Australia def. Israel, 9-6
The stadium was filled with fans. The left was Australia, and the right was host country Israel, creating an environment that was raucous, energized and fun to watch as both set of fans were in full fan attire and colors.
“It’s a massive moment to have the fans here. I said to the media in Australia that I couldn’t turn around because I was laughing at some of the songs and saying they had during the game and it was hard to stay focused at times,” said Glenn Meredith. “To have them sitting behind us singing and chanting was fantastic. Some of the boys commented during the game saying that it felt like a home game.”
Now for the game. Australia scored first at 1:05, and that was quickly erased by a four-goal run from Israel, with two goals coming from Israel’s Zachary Pall, 4-1. Mitchell Kennedy of Australia dodged up the middle field and juked for his first of two goals on the night, leaving Australia down, 4-3, at halftime.
“We came out to a slow start and they were up 4-1, and coach said we basically need a lot from you,” said Kennedy. “In the second half he basically told me to just get going and going. We won by three and that is pretty good. In the first half we were just sitting on the ball. In the second half we were kicking it around and dodging around with cuts and good looks. That basically brought me my second goal.”
Australia’s Thomas Graham highlighted a 6-2 run with a pair of goals to win, 9-6. Australia outshot Israel, 39-30. Also contributing two goals on the night for the Aussies was Alex Brown and Christopher Robertson.
Australia will square off with the United States on Wingate Field No. 1 on Thursday at 9 p.m. In 2014, Australia finished fourth, missing the podium for the first time since the inception of the FIL World Championship in 1967.
In addition to Pall’s two goals, Joshua Offit and Maxwell Seibald each found the net two times. They are set to play Japan from Wingate Field No. 4 on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. in the consolation semifinals where the highest finish is fifth place. Israel finished seventh in 2014.
Iroquois Nationals def. Puerto Rico, 14-7
The Iroquois Nationals came from behind for another win and advanced to the semifinals on Thursday, after defeating Puerto Rico, 14-7. The Iroquois, down 3-0 after the first, came back with a five-goal second quarter to tie the game up. Five different players scored for the Iroquois Nationals in the second, and the team only took 12 shots.
The precision shots continued in the second half as six different players scored during the Iroquois Nationals’ 9-2 run. The defensive unit for the Iroquois Nationals was stingy in the last three quarters, keeping Puerto Rico to 18 total shots. The Iroquois Nationals converted 9 of their 20 shots in the second half.
“We didn’t want to lose today and end our World Championship here, and we just battled back from a bad first half and got the win tonight,” said Austin Staats. “We just needed to get that first one to get rolling for a little spark to make a fire and we got it going.”
Kyle Jackson and Austin Staats each scored three goals. Randy Staats, Miles Thompson, and Ty Thompson deposited two goals each. Puerto Rico’s Kevin McNally scored three times and Desiderio Gonzalez had two goals.
Up next, Iroquois Nationals advance to the semifinals against Canada, set for Thursday at 6 p.m. from Wingate Field No. 1. Puerto Rico drops to the consolation bracket and is paired up with England on Thursday at 9:45 p.m. from Wingate Field No. 4. The consolation bracket determines 5th-8thplace winners.
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:
Wednesday, July 18
China def. Colombia, 14-6
Chinese Taipei def. Luxembourg, 12-4
Bermuda def. Croatia, 10-1
Czech Republic def. Belgium, 10-8
Jamaica def. Switzerland, 12-6
Mexico def. Turkey, 14-8
Hong Kong def. Poland, 16-5
Sweden def. Argentina, 11-4
Hungary def. Spain, 9-8
Norway def. Austria, 16-5
Wales def. Latvia, 10-9
Greece def. New Zealand, 12-11
Russia def. Peru, 18-9
Korea def. Uganda, 12-4
Quarterfinals:
Australia def. Israel, 9-6
Iroquois Nationals def. Puerto Rico, 14-7
England def. Ireland, 11-10
Japan def. Scotland, 11-7
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
