Early separation was the theme of day three of the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship, with eight teams improving to 2-0: Japan, Mexico, Ireland, Israel, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Scotland and the United States.
Six teams opened championship play, highlighted by the Haudenosaunee’s virtuosic offensive showing against England.
Three Headlines:
The Haudenosaunee announced their entrance to the championship in style, defeating England 18-5 with an array of highlight-reel goals in their first game. Their scoring output was tied with Japan for the most goals by a team in a single game so far in San Diego.
Israel and Puerto Rico held serve in Pool C, both improving to 2-0 ahead of an exciting clash scheduled for Sunday. Israel picked its spots with a balanced offensive effort to hold off the Philippines in an 8-4 win, while Puerto Rico clicked into gear in a 16-4 win over Sweden.
The United States became the first team to earn two wins in Pool A with an 12-3 takedown of Australia, which had won yesterday. Nine different players found their way onto the scoresheet and the USA dominated the ball control metrics in a solid win.
A full recap of day three can be found below.
Scotland improved to 2-0 in Pool E with a complete 12-4 win over Austria.
Matty Rowarth had one of the best offensive performances of the championship with eight goals and an assist, as he was responsible for 75% of Scotland’s output.
The Scottish defense did its part, holding Austria to just eight shots on goal, and winning 33 ground balls total.
Austria goalkeeper Cedric Gfrerer made 11 saves.
France picked up its first win of the tournament, 13-4, in an emphatic showing against Denmark.
Kevin Bertrand and James Barlow both recorded hat tricks for France while Justin Rosenberg added two goals and two assists.
Goalkeeper Joseph Varela did his part to limit Denmark, making 12 saves on 16 shots on goal.
The United States became the first team to two wins in Pool A, with an 12-3 takedown of Australia, who had won yesterday.
Nine different players found their way onto the scoresheet and the USA dominated the ball control metrics, winning 12 out of 17 face-offs, collecting 19 ground balls compared to five for Australia and limiting Australia to just a 5-13 rate of successful clears.
Jesse Bernhardt had four caused turnovers for the USA.
The Haudenosaunee announced their entrance to the championship in style, defeating England 18-5 with an array of highlight-reel goals. It was tied for the most goals by a team in a single game so far in San Diego.
Austin Staats was outstanding with eight goals and an assist, tying the single-game high for points in the championship. Lyle Thompson added three goals and an assist, and David Jackson assisted four goals as well.
Goalkeeper Warren Hill added six saves on 11 shots on goal.
Jamaica stifled Switzerland, 10-5, for its second straight win in Pool D, with another strong defensive effort.
Goalkeeper Nate McPeak made eight saves on 13 shots on goal, and the defense forced 16 turnovers. Tony Diallo caused three turnovers.
Khairi Sears caused two turnovers and shouldered the offensive burden for Jamaica, scoring five goals.
Ian Shoch won 11 of 16 face-offs for Switzerland and goalkeeper André Bremgartner made eight saves.
Puerto Rico also improved to 2-0 with another convincing outing in Pool C, a 16-4 win over Sweden.
Blake Behlen and Kevin Lewis both recorded four goals and an assist and eight total players tallied a goal. Puerto Rico was especially active on ground balls, collecting 24.
Netherlands had the last say in a tense standoff against Peru, winning 8-7 in a game that featured four ties and seven lead changes.
Jake Bowman scored what proved to the be game-winning goal with 3:49 to play on assist for Alderik van der Heyde to balance the Netherlands’ record at 1-1. Bowman finished with a hat trick and van der Heyde posted a goal and three assists.
Chris Santangelo won 12 of 13 face-offs for Peru and JP Henry added four goals in another narrow deafeat in Pool F.
Germany held on to an early lead to bounce back in Pool D with an 11-8 win over Poland.
Germany scored the first five goals of the game and led 8-1 less than a minute into the second half. Poland stormed back to 9-7 in the fourth quarter, but Germany put the game away with two clutch goals to secure its first win of the tournament.
Per-Anders Olters led the offensive effort with four goals and five shots. Goalkeeper Florian Faellenbacher made seven saves.
Christopher Crapanzano scored four goals for Poland.
Israel took a big step towards the playoffs with a 8-4 win over the Philippines, using a 4-0 first half and a three-goal run in the fourth quarter to keep the Philippines from coming back.
Israel improved to 2-0 and notched a win over a a Philippines team that finished in the top ten of the 2018 Men’s Championship.
Seven different players scored for Israel in a balanced effort. Overall, the Israel defense forced the Philippines into just seven shots on goal on 27 total shots.
John Dugenio won nine of 12 face-offs for the Philippines, while goalkeeper Dan Morris made 10 saves on 18 shots on goal.
Japan continued its early romp through Pool B with an 18-0 win over Uganda, the first shutout of the championship, as it improved to 2-0.
Shinya Tateishi and Hiroki Kanaya maintained their prolific production with five goals and an assist each. Tateishi’s 15 points leads all players so far.
Goalkeeper Soya Tokumasu made five shots on the shots he faced, with Japan holding Uganda to six shots overall.
Keiji Victor Ishii won 13 out of 15 face-offs while Ikumihito Shimada won five of five.
Ireland kept its momentum rolling in Pool C, improving to 2-0 with a wire-to-wire 14-2 victory over Korea.
Ireland jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter to set the tone and controlled the game from there. Conor Foley finished with three goals and an assist while Patrick Corbett added two goals and three assists.
Ireland’s ball control statistics were superb, with a 34-18 edge in ground balls, a 13-6 edge in face-offs, and 24 of 32 shots put on goal.
SunWoo Kim made nine saves in goal for Korea.
Italy consolidated its strong start with a hard-fought 13-9 win over Mexico, holding off multiple comeback attempts to improve to 2-0.
Mexico trailed by five at halftime and battled back with five goals in the third quarter, ultimately cutting the lead to two at 9-7 with Will Cabrera’s third of five goals on the day.
Italy scored a timely goal with seven seconds left in the third, and rebuffed Mexico twice more in the fourth quarter when the lead got to three.
Six players spread the production for Italy with two or more goals, led by Christian Cuccinello with three.
Italy benefitted from an excellent day on face-offs, led by 19 wins in 24 tries for Will Vitelli.
