2014 World Lacrosse Championships

2014 World Lacrosse Championship Logo
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The 2014 World Lacrosse Championships were held in Denver from July 10-19. Thirty-eight teams competed in the championships in nine different divisions, up from twenty-nine teams in the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships. There were nine countries competing for first time: Belgium, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Israel  Russia, Thailand, Turkey, and Uganda. The Blue Division featured the sixth highest ranked countries in the world: Australia, Canada, England, Iroquois, Japan, and USA. The top four teams, Australia, Canada, Iroquois, and USA, automatically made it to the playoffs. The other eight divisions featured four teams and was not based on rankings. The top team in each of the other eight divisions were placed into the play-in bracket for a chance to play for the gold medal. Here are four things you should remember about this year's World Lacrosse Championship.

Placement Games

The World Lacrosse Championships have placements games for 37th place to 1st place. Colombia beat Costa Rica 11-4 in the 37th place game. In the game for 35th place, Korea defeated Argentina. China scored eight goals in the first half to put away Uganda early and win the 33rd place game 14-7. France blew out Russia 15-7 in the 31st place game. In the 29th place game, Thailand trounced Spain 12-6. Belgium scored with about a minute to go to beat Austria 7-6 in the 27th place game. Norway routed Slovakia 14-3 in the 25th place game. In the game for 23rd place, Mexico defeated Bermuda 12-8. Hong Kong beat Turkey 10-4 in the 21st place game. Latvia crushed Poland 17-7 in the 19th place game. Wales annihilated Italy in the 17th place game with an 18-6 win. Switzerland score six goals in the second half to the Netherlands two to win the 15th place game 9-6. In the 13th place game, Finland score six straight goals against the Czech Republic after going down 1-0 and ended winning the game 11-7. Sweden won 8-6 against New Zealand in the 11th place game. Germany beat Ireland 8-6 in the 9th place game. In the 7th place game, Israel defeated Japan, 15-10. Israel's seventh place finish was the best of first time competitors, while Japan's eight place finish was the worst of any team in the Blue Division. England held back a late comeback against rivals Scotland to win the 5th place game, 15-13.

Iroquois Finish In Third; Get First Ever Medal

Miles Thompson
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The Iroquois Nationals are the only Native American sports team that competes in any sport internationally. They were one of the favorites for the 2010 World Championships in England. However, they did not compete in the tournament. The English government did not  accept their passports and would not allow the team to come to play in the country. They came into the 2014 World Championships with high hopes. They went 3-2 in the Blue Division, losing only to the USA and Canada. They beat Scotland 10-8 in the quarterfinal behind Miles Thompson's four goals and two assists. But, they lost to Canada in the semi's 12-6. In the third place game, they faced Australia. Australia had medaled in every World Lacrosse Championships up to the game. The Iroquois dominated the game, never losing and only being tied for a few minutes in the first period. They led 6-3 at the half and then went on a scoring spree in the second half. The Iroquois scored ten goals and eight consecutive goals to end the game and secure the 16-5 victory. Miles Thompson scored three goals and had an assist, while his brothers Jeremy (one assist, two ground balls), Jerome (one goal, one assist), and Lyle (two goals, two assists) all were key contributors to the win. Randy Staats has three goals and Warren Hill had eleven saves.

All-World Team

The All-World Team featured four players from Canada and the United States and two Iroquoian players. Dillon Ward of Canada was the goalie of the All-World Team and also the Most Valuable Player and Oustanding Goalie. He made 62 saves in the tournament and a save percentage of .633. The three attackers on the team are Canada's Curtis Dickson, USA's Rob Pannell, and Iroquois' Lyle Thompson. Pannell won the Outstanding Attackman. The three midfielders were David Lawson and Paul Rabil (Winner of the Outstanding Midfielder) of the US, and Jason Thompson of Iroquois, Lyle's older brother. USA's Tucker Durkin, Canada's Brodie Merrill, and Canada's Kyle Rubisch were the defenders on the All-World Team and Durkin was the Oustanding Defensemen. 

USA-Canada Final

Canada celebrating their win
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The United States and Canada faced off in the Finals for the fifth consecutive time. The United States won the 2010 Championship by a score of 12-10 and also won the first game of the tournament, 10-7. However, Canada got the last laugh this year as they won the 2014 Championship Game, 8-5. The first half was low-scoring with the half-time score being 3-1 in favor of Canada. Kevin Crowley scored all three goals for Canada, while Kevin Leveille scored the United States goal. Leveille scored the first goal of the second half to bring the score to 3-2, Canada. Then Canada score fire unanswered goals to go up 8-2 and put the game out of the US' reach. The US scored three goals at the end, but could not gain enough momentum to come close to Canada. Crowley scored five of Canada's eight goals, while Dillon Ward made ten saves.