Timmy Kelly notched a hat-trick, and Michael Sowers, Ryan Conrad and Simon Mathias added two goals apiece to lift the seven-time defending champion United States to a 12-5 win over host Canada.
This was the opening game of the 2016 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Under-19 Men’s Lacrosse World Championships presented by Novus.
Kelly and Conrad, both of Timonium, Md., were solid with timely outside shooting, while Sowers (Dresher, Pa.) and Mathias (Ridgefield, Conn.) were lethal in tight and setting up the offence from behind the net.
US goalie Willie Klan (Rochester, NY) made eight saves in the victory.
“For us, it was settling in to that first quarter,” said U.S. head coach Nick Myers. “There was a lot of anticipation, but I thought the men did a nice job organizing on offence, making those first few stops between the pipes.”
“It took us a little while at the faceoff X to settle in, but I thought we did in the second half. It’s great to have that first win under your belt.”
Team Canada head coach Taylor Wray said he was disappointed with the team’s slow start, as Canada fell behind 8-1 in the second quarter.
“But I thought we got better after the first half,” Wray said. “We started really slowly, almost playing in slow motion. But we got a little bit better in the last five minutes or so of the first half when we felt like momentum was going our way.”
“We’ve got lots to do, lots to work on,” Wray added. “I think today was not our best performance. I know we can play better than that and we will play better than that. There were just too many dropped balls tonight. And in the FIL game you have to have possession to be successful.”
The game was played under heavy rain at times and followed the opening ceremonies that featured drumming, dancing and team introductions.
Canada (0-1) got goals from Tanner Cook (Whitby, Ont.), Tre Leclaire (Surrey, B.C.), Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ont.) and Ben French (Mimico, Ont.) and faces England (0-0) on Saturday July 9 at 7:30 p.m., while the U.S. (1-0) will face Australia (0-0) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
The tournament continues with five games on Friday, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and wrapping up with the Iroquois facing England at 7:30 p.m.
The world juniors of field lacrosse run July 7-16 at Coquitlam Town Centre.
“It’s exciting to be in Canada playing at home,” Wray added.
Single-day tickets are available for $25 for adults and $20 for youth (6-18 years old) at the door. Kids 5 and under receive free admission.
Live streaming packages are available via http://www.2016worldlax.com/ – $45 for a full tournament package and $10 for daily rate.
Thanks to Andy Watson, media relations for the info.
