USA beats Great Britain and Canada defeats Australia to set up USA-Canada Gold Medal game and Australia-Great Britain Bronze Medal game tomorrow. Japan will face host Poland for 5th Place.
SATURDAY 29 JULY 2017 GAMES
USA 18 v 5 Great Britain
—Matt DaSilva, US Lacrosse (Photos: Marek Stor Photography, ShutterLax.com)
The North American rivals will meet Sunday in The World Games final at 2 p.m. (8 a.m. Eastern) in Wroclaw, Poland. It will be a rematch of last Saturday’s FIL World Cup championship game in which the U.S. prevailed 10-5. The gold medal game will be streamed on a slight delay Sunday on the Olympic Channel at 9:45 a.m. Eastern.
“Being the first to do something is getting harder and harder as we keep moving forward,” Team USA coach Ricky Fried said after an 18-5 semifinal victory Saturday over Great Britain. “But we have 15 players who have the opportunity to be in the first-ever World Games final, the first time any team has the possibility to win two gold medals in the same summer and maintaining a world championship status.”
Nine different players scored for the U.S., which again caused fits for Great Britain with its full-field ride. Great Britain committed 22 turnovers after coughing up the ball 33 times in a 14-6 loss to the U.S. in preliminaries Friday.
Alyssa Murray (Syracuse ’14) continued her outstanding World Games performance as the top scorer for the U.S. for the third straight game. She had two goals and two assists to earn MVP honors. Murray, who was an alternate but did not dress for the World Cup, now has 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in three games.
Taylor Cummings (Maryland ’16) and Ally Carey (Vanderbilt ’12) added three goals apiece while also leading the U.S. to a 14-11 advantage on draw controls.
The U.S. (3-0) jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Great Britain (1-2) answered with two straight goals to pull within 5-3 before the U.S. went on an eight-goal run to put the game away.
Canada (3-0) advanced Saturday with a 14-8 victory over Australia, a game in which the Canadians dominated possession thanks to Dana Dobbie (Maryland ’07) and Kaylin Morissette (Louisville ’16), who combined to win 13 draw controls. Dobbie added a goal and three assists. Tessa Chad (Canisius ’19) and Erica Evans (Canisius ’18) led Canada with three goals apiece.
Australia (1-2), competing in The World Games without All-World attacker Hannah Nielsen (Northwestern ’09), will meet Great Britain in the bronze medal game Sunday at 11:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. Eastern).
TWG2017 SCHEDULE AND RESULTS – LACROSSE
U.S. Goals: Taylor Cummings 3, Ally Carey 3, Katie Schwarzmann 2, Alyssa Murray 2, Brooke Griffin 2, Marie McCool 2, Michelle Tumolo 2, Kelly Rabil 1, Kristen Carr 1.
U.S. Assists: Alyssa Murray 2, Marie McCool 1, Michelle Tumolo 1.
U.S. Goaltending: Gussie Johns (2 saves, 5 GA, 70 mins).
Great Britain Goals: Sophie Whitehead 2, Olivia Wimpenny 1, Alisa Stott 1, Iona Dryden 1.
Great Britain Assists: Olivia Wimpenny 1, Sophie Morrill 2.
Great Britain Goaltending: Emilie Chandler (8 saves, 18 GA, 70 mins).
GAME PHOTOS
THE WORLD GAMES UPDATE
Today’s Scores
Saturday, July 22 (Semifinals)
United States 18, Great Britain 5
Canada 14, Australia 8
Upcoming Games
Sunday, July 23
5th place: Japan vs. Poland, 9 a.m. (3 a.m. Eastern)
Bronze: Great Britain vs. Australia, 11:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. Eastern)
Gold: United States vs. Canada, 2 p.m. (8 a.m. Eastern)Canada 14 v 8 Australia
—Alain Brouillette, Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Canadian Lacrosse Association (Photos: Marek Stor Photography, ShutterLax.com)
A well-balanced game from the Canadians, who not only scored at will but held off a potent Australian attack, proved to be the winning formula.
“It was an all-around team effort today,” said head coach Scott Teeter. “Our goal from the beginning was to come out hard and not look back, and we accomplished that.”
“We were able to showcase Canadian-style lacrosse at its finest.”
Their offence took no time to find its stride, building a 5-1 lead in the first 20-minutes of the game. The Aussies responded with a few of their own, which Canada quickly matched, giving them a 7-3 halftime lead.
The red and white went on another run to open the second half, scoring four unanswered goals in the first 10 minutes to build a commanding 11-3 lead. Despite a late push from the Aussies, who outscored Canada 5-3 in the final 20 minutes of action, the lead was too much to overcome.
Dana Dobbie and Erica Evans led Canada’s attack with four points each, the latter scoring her third straight hat-trick of the tournament. Tessa Chad added three goals of her own, while Holly Lloyd and Claire Mills netted two apiece.
Defender Lydia Sutton also chipped in offensively, contributing one goal and two assists.
The win marked Canada’s fourth of the summer over Australia, the team they defeated most recently in the World Cup semi-finals, albeit in a much closer game, pulling out a 8-6 overtime victory.
That loss deflated the Aussies, who would fall short of the podium for the first time in World Cup history a few days later, losing the bronze medal game in heartbreaking fashion, 10-9 in overtime to host England.
Australia will look for redemption in their matchup against Great Britain for the World Games bronze medal.
Meanwhile, Canada will take on their rivals from the United States – who advanced to the finals after an easy 18-5 win over Great Britain – for the first ever World Games gold medal in lacrosse’s history.
The Canadians will be in tough against the powerhouse Americans, who have scored 52 goals and allowed only 11 in their three games. While it will be challenging, Canada proved they could keep up with the U.S. in the World Cup final, holding them to their lowest offensive output since 2009.
A couple of bounces their way and it could have been a much different game.
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact the rules changes in place for the World Games, mainly having only 10 players on the field at once, as opposed to the usual 12, will have on the two team.
The championship game, which takes place on July 30 at 8:00AM EST, will be webcasted on a slight tape-delay by The Olympic Channel, beginning at 9:45AM EST.
If you want to follow along live, you can do so using The World Games TWG2017 real-time statistics system.
TWG2017 SCHEDULE AND RESULTS – LACROSSE
Schedule
Thursday, July 27 vs Australia (15-10 Win)
Friday, July 28 vs Japan (18-5 Win)
Saturday, July 29 vs Australia (Win 14-8)
Sunday, July 30 at 8:00AM EST vs United States (Gold Medal)
GAME PHOTOS
