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World Championships Game Reports Super Post: Day 6

ALL the Day 6 reporting you could possibly want from the 2018 FIL World Lacrosse Championships!

We out here! Take it away, fam!

World Championships Day 6

Turkey 7 vs Belgium 12

A truly back and forth affair saw Belgium score an unanswered 5 goals in the 4th quarter to earn the win. After one period of play Belgium was up 3-1. After two Turkey was up 6-5. After three it was tied at 7. And then… Kyle Baker and Brendan Murphy just took over. Baker had three goals in the fourth, Murphy had two, and Belgium came out happy. Baker would finish with 6 goals on the day while taking 14 shots. Shooters gotta shoot.

Turkey got goals from five different players, but Ege Zeybek really continues to impress, as three of their seven goals came from his stick. Jeremy Smith was great in goal again, making 14 saves for Turkey.

Wales 9 vs Netherlands 5

Wales and the Netherlands played in the 2016 Euros and Wales looked like the much better team, but at this Worlds event it was a much tighter affair. After a 2-2 first quarter, Wales took a 6-3 lead into the half and they played well in the second to secure the win. Wales had six different scorers in this game, and while the Netherlands only had 3 scorers, James Van de Veerdonk notched 3 goals on 5 shots and the Netherlands was very much in it.

Both goalies played well as James Richardson made 11 saves to earn the win and Thomas Haitsma made 13 big saves in the loss. This game featured some beautiful goals, supreme face off battles, and some great defensive play in addition to the stellar play of both keepers.

Hungary 15 vs Croatia 3

Written by Katie Conwellhungary lacrosse

Long pole goals are some of the most exciting goals in lacrosse. Hungary’s Oliver Hollo put on an impressive performance on Monday when he scored 2 goals in the first half of their game against Croatia, a fellow newcomer to the World Lacrosse Championships. Both were bounce shots that eluded Croatia’s goalie Ivan Sever, one of which beautifully painted the top left corner of the cage. He almost tallied a third goal, but this shot clanged loudly off the post.

hungary lacrosseHollo’s performance was part of an impressive offensive performance from Hungary that made it difficult for Croatia to work their way back into the game, and Hungary won by a comfortable margin, showing their IQ and experience.

Bermuda 17 vs Luxembourg 2

Written by Katie Conwellbermuda fil lacrosse luxembourg

Bermuda and Luxembourg met early Monday afternoon in a battle of teams looking to secure their first wins in Israel. Neither team started off strong, even though Bermuda was able to secure possession for much of the first quarter. It was not until halfway through the first quarter that Bermuda’s Zach Perry netted the first goal of the game.bermuda fil lacrosse luxembourg

In the third quarter however, the Bermuda team took over the game and erupted for 8 goals. Attackman Bobby Walker had a particularly gorgeous shot that was perfectly placed in the top left corner of the cage. Drew Jenkins, who took the Bermuda team on his back in the 2014 championships, no longer had to be on the field as much in those games. He was, however, still an obvious leader on the field for his team. This stands to be an advantage for them in their upcoming games.bermuda fil lacrosse luxembourg

Luxembourg’s Reiland Domingue scored the team’s only two goals of the day. While this team has struggled to score this tournament, their positive on-field demeanor will serve them well in the future as they mature as a program.

Israel 11 vs Philippines 8

Written by Rien Zabor

Fueled by passionate fans crowding the stands, the Philippines and Israel took the field of what would unfold as a chess match. Each team took turns with the ball using their possessions to study their opponents and dissect their game plan.israel lacrosse visor 2018

The Philippines offense took the first few minutes to drive the ball from behind the cage and dishing in front of the crease only to be stonewalled. After a few runs at X the Philippines quickly realized they were picking up early slides teaching them that their chances at quick stick crease goals would be limited.

On the other end, Israel found early success running their offense through the midfield and dodging down the alley. After drawing first blood they knew this strategy would work throughout the game. Thrilled with their start the Israelis got a bit too excited as they drew their first penalty of the game giving the Philippines a chance to even the score line. Back on an even playing field, both teams pressed their defenses to play an aggressive zone with hopes to force a slow-down offense to slip up.philippines lacrosse 2018With one quarter in the books each team took to the huddle to break down their evaluations of their opponents and reorganize their game plans. The Philippines coaching staff encourage early offense hoping to catch the defense off guard while the Israel players harped on the strategy to slow down the ball and play smart. However, early offense would be a tough task given that Israel dominated 90% of the face-offs on the day with Max Adler winning 19 of 21 draws.

For any nostalgic fan, the real hero of the first half was former Team USA standout Max Seibald netted his own hat trick in the second quarter. Just as the learned earlier, Seibald took advantage of the alley dodge from midfield blowing past his defensemen to run up the score to 5-4 with an edge to Israel. Even with scouting report on #42’s skills the Philippines failed to send a 2nd slide giving him open opportunities on goal.max seibald israel lacrosse 2018From what Israel learned in the first half, they continued to work on in the second as they pushed their offense through the midfield nailing shots on the run or landing skip passes for lay-up goals. In the 3rd quarter alone Team Israel outscored their opponent 3-1 and the (Israel Mascot) did not let up.

Although the goal differential was building up, Philippines kept their composure as they worked their offense to precision finding small windows of opportunity when the Israeli defense stepped out of place. Even though they were able to stand toe to toe with Israel in the 4th quarter, the early success fueled by Seibald have team Israel the advantage in this match up.

Denmark 11 vs Peru 4

Denmark was up 4-2 after one quarter of play, but Peru was not going away. The next two periods of play went back and forth with both defenses delivering, and at the end of three it was a tight, low-scoring affair with the Danish holing 6-4 edge. All tourney long it seems like Denmark fell off in the 4th, but this time around the Danes delivered in a big way and pumped in 5 goals to run away with this one in the end. Big win for Denmark, who outshot Peru 44-28. Kristian Schweitzer was excellent in net making 13 saves and both Evan Chaberski and Nick Skeffington notched hat tricks to lead the Fighting Pastries on the offensive end.

Ireland 15 vs Italy 7

Written by Stuart Dallas McGregor

Still flyiing high after their triumph against Latvia, bitter sweet revenge after their difficult to stomach loss in the 2016 European Championships.

Coming into the game, Ireland clearly had a game plan however it was Italy’s Lorenzo Balzarini who drew first blood after just two minutes.ireland lacrosse

It was veteran Ireland lacrosse stalwart Sean Gibson who stepped up to create Ireland’s first chance, dodging down the alley and finding  Taylor Wallace who was stunned to have so much time and space to execute a pinpoint finish from the doorstep. The flood gates were now open and Ireland were now able to put in three further well worked goals, one from Colin Grippo and two from Corey Mcmahon. Ireland were clearly in control of this game and enjoying most of possession as they finished the  first quarter 4-1 ahead.

The second quarter started with a few errors from Ireland, gifting Zulian Mitchell the chance to pick up a lose ball on the crease and finish from close range. A clumsy slash by Edward Frost then gifting Italy a chance to play man up and score, but they squander the chance and force a pass to the crease creating a turn over. Italy simply rushing their possessions and making far too many mistakes.ireland lacrosse

Italy goalkeeper, Alexander Di Scala being forced to make ten saves as Ireland dominate the second quarter play. Two men in the box now as Italy get out of shape and scrappy. Ireland should really have done more to capitalise on this chance but another big save and the penalty is over, the Italian defence working overtime to keep the Irish from scoring. Edward Frost now making amends for his early penalty to score a classy unassisted goal.

Another penalty from Italy and we have a player down following a awkward hit in the back. Ireland will be man up with 11 seconds in the half, choosing to hold the possession to start the second half with the ball. The half time score 5-2 to Ireland.

Starting with possession Ireland can only manage to hit the pipe before the ball is turned over to a more energetic looking Italian team but Ireland’s Connor Kelly repeatedly denies Italy a chance to close the gap.

Daniel Kelly is tripped on the crease giving Ireland a man up play, worked well to Corey Mcmahon for a time and space shot that finds the top corner. Ireland are once again in control of this game, Luke Palmadesso dominating the face off.palmadesso ireland lacrosse

Goals from Edward Castronova and Luke Palmadesso in quick succession keeping this third quarter exciting. Ireland’s only hiccup during this important third quarter being a slip  in defence, further compounded by a cross checking penalty by Ruairi Dunbar gifting Italy the opportunity but they continue to struggle to with this Irish defense.

Another big save from Kelly  turns into a fast break, a push by Tommaso Salvago de Gennaro giving Aaron Cahill the chance to further their lead.

Italy are able to find the cage through some nice solo play from Zulian Mitchell but without any real team unity Italy simply can’t keep up with this superior Irish team. Another well worked played gifts Wallace a goal, but on the next face off there is flurry of flags resulting in three players being sent to the penalty box. Italy finally taking advantage as Edward Castronova dodges from up top and scores a fantastic goal just before the end of the quarter. The game isn’t over,  Ireland lead 9-5.

Italy once again give away possession on the first face and then a clumsy slash by Allessio Giovannetti hands Ireland another man up which is capitalised in by Binghamton alum, Drew Wichmann. Italy are simply making too many errors and this hands Wallace yet another chance to shoot on the run unchallenged. Italy can’t find the cage and even more saves from Kelly are clearly frustrating this Italian attack. Edward Frost scoring a fantastic transition goal to make 12-5.ireland lacrosse

Italy call for a time out with just 15 minutes in the game, their body language clearly signalling that they are beaten as they return to the field without a spring in their step.

Losing possession from the restart not helping their cause as their already tired looking defense  are immediately forced back into action. Edward Frost capitalising for his third goal of the game. A great solo effort from Mitchell is little consolation for this Italian in the final ten minutes of the game, these flashes of brilliance just not enough to overturn this much more fluid Irish team.

Sean ‘Gibby’ Gibson now has his moment in the spotlight as he scores two goals in the final quarter, rounding out a very one sided game. Ireland wins 15-7 and will now face Israel tomorrow evening.

Uganda 5 vs France 14

Following their loss to the Netherlands in the first game out of pool play, France was paired up with Uganda, who also had just a single win. But what was on their side was bit of perfect timing that rarely happens. In the night before France played Uganda, they would gather as a team in Netanya and watch their soccer (or football) counterparts take the country’s second World Cup. That evening for the team was full of excitement and celebration. In talking to the players, they all felt full energized by putting on their country’s colors the next day.

Unfortunately for them, they fell into the same slow start pattern which has been plaguing them for the entire tournament. In this case, it meant being down 3-0 after the first ten minutes after a pair of goals from Uganda’s Casiro Onen and one from Kenneth Kasule.  From that point on, the game became all France. Especially in the 2nd quarter, France had the ball for nearly the entire time. Dominant faceoffs from Kieven Bengel, who also was tied for the team lead with four points, were the key to their success. They also used a trio of man-up goals to their advantage due to some small mistakes by the Uganda defense.uganda lacrosse

Defensively, they were anchored by AJ Smith, who also was running their point on man-up with a long pole, which included a goal. For half of this game, spanning the second and third quarters, every was going France’s way. When Uganda was able to have the ball on offense, they were just unable to win any of their dodging matchups, and were also losing nearly every ground ball battle.

Eventually, Uganda did score a pair of goals more, while France would settled with thirteen of their own after 11 unanswered. While this game did not have the same weight as a World Cup finals does, it was still a very important win for the France Lacrosse team. They are still in the part of the tournament where every win means you advance slightly higher. A loss sends you to a lower path.

For France, the next opponent is a young, but skilled Czech Republic team and they are sitting with an even 2-2 record. Uganda is now at 1-4, with their lone win being against Luxembourg. For them, next up is South Korea, who lost to France only by four points, so it is likely to be a tough game.  But, until then: Allez Les Bleus

Puerto Rico 14 Vs Germany 9

Written by Justin Meyer

Midway through the third quarter, Puerto Rico found itself on the wrong end of a 3-0 run and behind 7-6 against Germany in its must-win second knockout game. Head coach Jeff Ramos calmly diagnosed the dilemma. He found nothing wrong with his defense, but his offense grew stale after the first half, going more than 18 minutes between goals.

“I was fine. The run didn’t bother me,” Ramos said. “What bothered me was how we came out of our offense.”

Ramos instructed his offensive players to alter their angle of attack, and it made all the difference. “The direction we dodged in, it was real simple,” Ramos explained. “The boys got into more of a north-south approach. Against this team and the matchups we had against them, we needed to go east-west. Once we made that simple adjustment and identified who we wanted to dodge on, the offense clicked.”

Puerto Rico sent seven straight into the nylon, grabbing an advantage that its German counterparts could not overcome as Ramos and his team claimed victory 14-9 on Monday at Epoch Field. Puerto Rico attackman Kevin Lewis agreed with his coach that the difference was the offensive adjustment.

“(Germany) is really athletic. They tested us a little bit,” he said. “We were throwing balls away. We had to change our game. We had to dodge east-west, we had to move, we had to roll dodge. We had to beat them with our athleticism, not just our speed.” The advice worked well for Lewis, who had himself a day, netting six crucial goals. His coach said it was exactly what the team needed.

Puerto Rico Bermuda Rien Zabor

“He’s our go-to guy,” Ramos said. “If we need someone to put it in the net, I have all the confidence in getting the ball to (Lewis). He’s a fantastic finisher and a great initiator with the ball.” Unfortunately for Germany, the dream of reclaiming a top-six position evaporated with the loss, a bitter pill to swallow for athletes who have worked for four years to climb back up the mountain. But if the German fans who exuberantly cheered on their team after the loss are any indication, there’s still more to play for.

“What we want to do is keep fighting,” said Germany head coach Matt Bagley. “These guys are a real family, which is their strength. These guys have been together for years. They know each other, they love each other. On a night like this where the result doesn’t go our way, we have to turn inward, look at each other and believe in each other that tomorrow we’re going to go back out and keep hustling.”germany lacrosse best hair

But for Puerto Rico, this means the dream is still alive. The team has taken this tournament very seriously, and no opponent should expect this team to layover no matter what name is across the front of the jersey.

“From here on out, we’re an underdog. It started today,” Ramos said. “When you’re the underdog, you don’t have to get ramped up, you are automatically. Our mission from here on out is to upset everybody we can.”

Germany will next face Finland on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. on Epoch Field. Puerto Rico earned itself a massive showdown with Japan on Tuesday at 9:45 p.m. on Epoch Field for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Latvia 13 Vs Sweden 9

Written by Matt Anderson

In what was a hotly contested game between Sweden and Latvia, the Latvians used an explosive third quarter to run away with the victory Monday morning at Nike Field in Netanya, Israel. Sweden got on the board to start when Harrison Mack buried a goal in the back of the net. Not to be outdone, Īlajs Lasda responded with a goal of his own at the 10:35 mark of the game. Latvia and Sweden traded punches for the majority of the first half. At the halfway point of the game, the score was 5-3 in favor of Sweden.

That’s when things got interesting. Latvia went on a six-goal run in the third quarter to gain the lead. The scoring got started when Gints Gūtmanis put a well-placed shot past the keeper. Sweden would then put in two goals of their own, both of them by Leif Paulson. Those would be Sweden’s last goals of the third quarter, however. Latvia then scored five-straight in the third to make the score 9-7. Latvia would never trail from that point on as they then outscored Sweden 4-2 in the fourth.

Christopher Zarins was a key piece for the Latvian offense in the second half, scoring three goals three of his four goals and tallying two assists. Zarins broke Sweden’s back, as Zarins scored two goals within two minutes of each other after the Swedes had pulled within two with roughly seventeen minutes to play in the final quarter.

Latvia has had a program since 2006, but has built every year since with a lot of the same personnel, according to head coach Max Silberlicht. Silberlicht says their approach has been about having fun and getting more people to play it.

Latvia’s goals in this tournament is to “be a top-15 team in the world,” according to Silberlicht. With their win against Sweden, they are one step closer as they get to stay in the top-half of the bracket in a field of 46.

Sweden has gone 2-2 thus far in the tournament. The Swedes, who had placed eleventh at Denver in 2014, have to feel a little disappointed with their showing so far at the world games.

Latvia, on the other hand, has to have felt pretty good about their performance so far. They will face Norway at noon IDT tomorrow at Trusted Choice Field at the Wingate Institute in Netanya.

Jamaica 12 vs Slovakia 5

Check out our FULL ARTICLE HERE for coverage of this one! Great game!

Slovakia Jamaica Rien Zabor-1

Canada 10 vs Iroquois Nationals 5

Written by Justin Meyer

It’s a common saying in sports that great offense beats great defense. Dillon Ward proved that wrong Monday. READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON THIS BIG WIN HERE!Canada Iroquois 2018 FIL field lacrosse

Poland 8 vs Austria 12

Written by Ryder Cochrane

As cliche as this may sound, Austria’s victory came down to proper execution of a game plan. Nobody who saw this game could argue that Poland did not exert their 100% effort and energy all game long. The key difference today came in the form of mental errors from the Polish side, who suffered from a lot of unforced turnovers.
There were forced ones too. Austria played a fantastic game between the boxes, pressuring hard on the ride and forcing some bad passes from Poland on clearing attempts. The goal that felt like the eventual backbreaker, scored by Austria as time expired in the third quarter, came off of a great ride. Poland forced a pass into the middle of the field, and Austria stole it and put in the empty netter as Poland’s goalie scrambled to get home.Austria lacrosse
The Poles never gave up, fighting to the last second and scoring a few in the fourth to keep it close. Their outside shooting finally began to find some success in the second half. By then, though, it was too little, too late. Austria built its lead with strong crease play, hitting a soft crease defense to shell Poland from inside ten yards.
The Austrians also had a boisterously vocal cheering section today, which may have aided their squad in keeping things lively. As the fans screamed and sang, one could see the Austrian sideline getting more and more fired up, and the extra energy and hype could have been a difference maker on a hot, humid night in Netanya.

USA 18 Vs Scotland 2

Written by Ryan Conwell

The next stop in the Blue division for team USA was a date with Scotland. Given the performance Scotland turned in against Canada and Australia, this game was not expected to turn into a barn burner by any measure. USA was expected to win this game solidly and with a final score of 18-2, you could safely say that’s what they did.

But despite the 16 goal margin, USA seemed at time to really struggle with Scotland on both ends of the field. USA Head Coach John Danowski attributed much of their offensive struggles on Scotland running a zone defense. From the outside, it looked much more like USA was working on how to hold onto possessions. Much of what they did was an open set with limited cutting, but lots of passing around the outside. They never forced things inside too often, and were settling for outside shots regularly. In the second quarter especially, their shots were not hitting cage at all. To Scotland’s credit, their defense and goalie Dean Stewart were also playing great and were not giving USA opportunities that were not earned. The defense was able to fill in on the backside very quickly, so even fast passing by the USA was not created lanes for skips or looks inside.

Photo: USA Australia 2018 World Lacrosse Championships Roger DavisRoger Davis / World Lacrosse Championships

The story of this game though is really time of possession. The US was dominant in this respect and no stat underlines that as much as the shot and save percentage. The total shot count for the game was 47 for the US and just 12 for Scotland. John Galloway only had to make four saves, and still had a 67% save percentage. Scotland did have a very long extended possession in the third which yielded their best opportunities to score, but they still came up empty.

With this particular game, there were not massive takeaways from either team. Scotland is staring squarely at a last place blue division result, meaning they have the biggest targets on their back for everyone else hoping to making it to the top 6. Next up, they’ll need to take on the Iroquois, who are not in a great mood after dropping their game to Canada.

For USA, they were actually running with a 21 man roster. Jack Kelly remains sidelined from his injury and they also left Paul Rabil out of uniform for this game. Danowski had no specifics for why they chose to not dress Rabil, but it was a decision that allowed them to give their attack and middies more opportunities to try different positions. With the Iroquois and Canada in the rear view mirror, they are looking to be the top seed as the final games start appearing on the schedule, giving them the best path to a gold medal. Which for this team, is the only acceptable result for the games.

Updates coming for the games below!

New Zealand 11 vs Hong Kong 9

New Zealand vs. Hong Kong is one of those matchups which if you asked me about it a week ago, I’d probably say something like “that could be interesting”. But after the beginning of this tournament started with New Zealand winning their pool, and Hong Kong shocking many by sweeping theirs, this turned into “This game will be awesome!”.hong kong lacrosse

Fortunately, it turned out to be just that. Things started out with a pair of man up goals, first from Hong Long followed by one from the Kiwis. Then, New Zealand took the opportunity to score two more fast goals to jump out ahead even further. As it would turn out, those two quick goals would wind up mattering more than they seemed.

Hong Kong did score one more time to bring it within one to end the quarter, but it was then all New Zealand in the second. Their offense was in complete control of the ball and their defense was especially impressive in forcing turnovers and effectively clearing it each time. There just were not many opportunities for Hong Kong to capitalize on mistakes or create transition shots to beat the settled defense. Their five goal run through the quarter left the halftime score at 8-2, which made things seem almost out of hand. Almost.

Stephen Edward O’Brien would lead the charge to take over the second half and lead a ferocious comeback effort. His second half hat trick with an assist to boot would be part of a 7-3 half that would fall just a little short of what they needed. The win sends New Zealand off to play Switzerland next, while Hong Kong is given a small gift with a day off before having to face Poland.

Japan 15 vs Finland 5

Written by Stuart McGregor Dallas

Japan are clearly eyeing up a return to the blue division after the disappointing double overtime loss to Scotland in Denver 2014. They are having to go the long way to prove themselves worthy and today line up against Finland. Finland yesterday beat Norway to put them in a strong position

Japanese face off guy Chris Jinno dominated the early face-offs as Japan looked comfortable holding the ball, and making easy work to score their first goal from some nice settled play. Finland on the other hand looked rigid and unable to move the ball effectively giving up a turn over that would lead to a well executed fast break goal. Japan’s signature lacrosse dish!

Japan don’t need a fast break to score goals as they proved with their third goal, working the ball around quickly and exploiting Finland inability to live with their pace as Mikisuke Sekine and Ryu Matsushita found the net from some impressive fluid  teamwork. Finland looked to have scored with just 25 seconds left in the quarter however the goal is cancelled by a poorly timed Finnish time out.

Finland clearly struggling, with goalkeeper Lauri Uusitalo forced to make repeated saves during the opening 20 minutes, Japan were able to stretch a 4-0 lead.

The second quarter started with a much more balanced performance from both teams, however it was Japan once again who would break the stalemate and find the goal through Wataru Tsugu.

Finland looked far more composed during this second quarter but still struggled to find optimal passing lanes, eventually turning over the ball and gifting Japan another transition goal by Tsugu. Japan now seven goals ahead and looking very comfortable.japan lacrosse

Kinori Sugihara Rosnow  now taking the face off for Japan and beating his man to generate another long possession for Japan as they now looked to control the tempo of this game. Only Finland’s Roope Jokela seemed able to run at this aggressive Japanese defence as man giant Jarno Aaltonen  looked to be locked out of this game until late in the second quarter when he was finally able to use his signature move and back into his defender and flick a pass to Miikka Helminen on the crease for Finland’s first goal. A time out with just 36 seconds on the clock would give Finland a chance to bring this game within five goals as Robert Raittila scores. Japan still ahead 7-2 at half time.

Trading early goals at the start of the second half, Finland were still playing too much defence as their poor face off performance gifted Japan the ball at each restart. A solo goal from young Japanese LSM Kota Hatakeyama, highlighting the huge gaps in this flat footed Finish defence.

A great solo goal from Tatsuki Hashimoto making it 10-3. This game was well and truly out of reach for Finland as two consolation goals late in the third quarter from Jokela and Aaltonen do little to get Finland back on terms with their Asian opponents.

Returning slowly to the field at the start of the fourth quarter, Finland are clearly struggling in the hot afternoon sun. This team is clearly broken and defenseless as Japan score four unanswered goals in the final quarter. The final score 15-5. Japan will play Peurto Rico tomorrow as Finland face Germany.

England 6 vs Australia 7

This just might have been the game of the match. No one took notes, people just watched, because from start to finish this one was special. This is an old Commonwealth rivalry, and both of these teams see themselves as up and comers and potential medalists. For the Aussies it’s almost an expectation, and for the English it is most definitely amongst their highest hopes.

With that in mind, and a path to the quarters, or potentially down further, on the line this game had everything it needed, and in classic FIL fashion, the contest delivered.

england lacrosse

The Aussies got to 1-0 in the first quarter about 8 minutes in off a beautiful goal from Lachlan Walker, but it would be almost 20 minutes before either team would score another goal. When Zach Guy evened it up for England at 1-1, the defensive floodgates broke for both teams and England was taking a 3-2 lead into the halftime break. The game was conservative at times, but when the action hit it was fantastic. The breaks just gave us as viewers the chance to catch our breath.

The third quarter was a good 20 minutes that looked like that 8 minute span of scoring in the 2nd quarter. Both teams took risks, but both teams made good on a couple chances, and all of a sudden we had a 6-5 game, with England in the lead. Both teams had been scrapping for anything they could earn, and this was evidenced by the balanced scoring from both squads. James Lawerson (AUS) and Ryan Hunns (ENG) went for 2 goals and a helper each, but the scoring was extremely well spread out for both sides.

The Aussies earned 8 minutes in penalties and England picked up 3 minutes as well. It was a physical game, but there was also a ton of skill on display, and it made for highly enjoyable viewing, even if it was lower scoring.

The teams were incredibly even in saves (AUS 13-12 advantage) and shots (33-31 ENG advantage) but goals from Chris Robertson and Mitchell Kennedy pulled the Sharks on top in the 4th quarter, and the Aussies were headed to the quarterfinals, with a hard fought 7-6 win over an olde friendly foe.

Mexico 15 vs China 14

Written by Mark Donahue

All the way to the final buzzer.

It started with the first jump, coming up Green and beelined into the back of the net through a tic-tac-toe sequence finished by Javier Halffter in just the first seconds of the game. In the first 10 minutes, Mexico had five goals tacked to the board. Opposite, Tyler Chin found China’s only early success in the scorebook.

Goals started falling for the Chinese, but the Mexican offense stayed steady dropping points to match the effort. The script started to flip at the 30 minute mark, when China started to mount their first run. Chin led the way with 4 goals by the break with a few teammates to chip in, breaking the trend and outscoring Mexico in the second. At the break, China saw themselves within one goal, 8-7, and the fire was lit.

mexico lacrosse

Mexico commanded the third quarter, seemingly focused on their systems and valuing possessions to extend the gap to three. Once again, China didn’t count themselves out of the fight. Punching Mexico right in the mouth, five-straight times, actually taking a two goal led. A pair from China’s Yifan Dai seemed to drive the momentum to squeeze past Mexico, but Ernesto Melero had other plans. Two quick strikes knotted the game at 14 through Melero’s stick.

Writing his name in the Mexican lacrosse history books, Andres Padilla was on the tail end of a team-earned goal. Burying an 86th minute dagger was all it took. China couldn’t get grip on the tires through the waning minutes in order to pose a real threat to the Mexico lead. Padilla and Halffter joined forces for 4 scores each, Tyler Chin matching feet for the opposition.

Greece 12 vs Argentina 9