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. 

NCAA Lacrosse Championships

The NCAA Division I Lacrosse Championships is looking to be excellent this year. All four teams not only have outstanding players, but all have a formidable chance of winning. The number one seed, Syracuse, is in. So is the four seed Denver and the seventh seeded North Carolina. Rounding out the final four is the unseeded Cornell. The semifinals will take place on May 25th, and the national championship on the 27th. On the 26th, the Division II Championship between Mercyhurst and Le Moyne and the Division III Championship featuring Rochester Institute and Stevenson. The Division I semi's are Syracuse-Denver and Cornell-Duke.

Rob Pannell
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Cornell is my favorite to win it all. They have a lot of things going for them. Even though they were unranked in the tournament, they went 12-3 in the regular season. That did, however,  include a loss to fellow semi-finalist Syracuse. In the tournament, there has been no one better. In the first round against a good Maryland team, they won easily by the score of 16-8. Then, in the quarters, they destroyed the number three seeded Ohio State, 16-6. This should not be a surprise. Cornell has arguably the best player in the nation in Rob Pannell. Pannell, an attack, was an All-American in 2010 and 2011. He on track to return to the list in 2012, but had a season-ending injury in the second game of the season. This season, he has come back in a big way. Pannell's 42 goals, 53 assists, 95 points, and 5.59 points per game place him. His partner is fellow attacer Steve Mock. Mock has 59 goals on the season to lead the nation. In the game vs. Ohio State, the Big Red showed their power. Pannell has two goals and six assists, while Mock had seven goals. The Big Red have the most offensive firepower in the tournament and will lead them to victory. 

Syracuse may be the number one team in the tournament, but I would not be so confident about them winning the championship. Of the four teams left standing, their team offense is the only one outside of the top five. Their team defense is the best of the four, but not by much. They have had many close calls this season, and a few tough losses. They needed to dominate more to gain my confidence. They may be a good team, but they will have a very tough time in the semi's and, possibly the championship game.

Denver is a good team that always play very hard. Five of their games in the regular season went into overtime. In those games they are 3-2. Their offense is led by Attacker Eric Law and Midfielder Wesley Berg. Law has 40 goals and 25 assists on a .526 shooting percentage. Berg was the team's leading goal scorer and second leading scorer in the nation with 56 goals.  Denver played very tough competition in the first two rounds so far. They beat a very good offensive team in Albany, 19-14, and an always good North Carolina squad, 12-11. Their schedule will have them mentally prepared to take on Syracuse.

Jordan Wolf
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Duke is looking to redeem it's self after loosing in the final four last season to Maryland. They have one of the best player in the nation in Attacker Jordan Wolf. The junior has led the third best offensive team in the nation with 49 goals and 25 assists. He also averages 2.58 goals per game. It is not just Wolf on the offense. Josh Dionne, David Lawson, Case Matheis, Josh Offit, and Jake Tripecka all have 40+ points on the year. The Blue Devils ride to the semi's has not been easy. They faced defending champion Loyola (MD) and beat them 12-11 in double overtime. Then, they faced the number two seed Notre Dame and won 12-11. 

MLL Championship Weekend Wrap-Up

Major League Lacrosse just finished up it's championship weekend. The weekend took place at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 2 semi-final games took place on Saturday and then the championship on Sunday. 

The Denver Outlaws in a huddle
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In the 1st game of Semi-finals on Saturday, the Long Island Lizards faced the Denver Outlaws. However, the Outlaws' Brendan Mundorf, this seasons' MLL MVP, was out for the game due to an injury to his ankle. Denver was number 1 in the standings in the regular season, with a record of 11-3, while the Lizards were 4th at 8-6. The game started off  as all Long Island. After the 1st period, the Lizards were up 3-1. They added 5 goals to the Oulaws 1 to take a commanding 8-2 lead going into halftime. The Lizards added 4 more goals to 1 for the Outlaws at the start of the 3rd. Then, Denver's offense took off. They scored 9 unanswered goals to tie the game at 12. Then, Jeremy Sieverts, who won LL's Most Improved Player this season, broke the tie to give Denver a 13-12 lead. Chris Bocklet led the game with 6 goals.

Game 2 of the day featured the Chesapeake Bayhawks against the hometown team,the Boston Cannons. Boston took the early lead by scoring 5 goals in the 1st period compared to 2 by the Bayhawks. The Bayhawks responded well in the 2nd period, scoring 5 goals, including 2 two-pointers (from at-least 16 yards out) while the Cannons could only muster up 3. Going into halftime the score was close, after halftime was over, Chesapeake dominated. They scored 7 goals in the 2nd half to put the game out of reach. Chespeake won 16-10, led by Kyle Dixon who had 3 goals, 2 two-point goals, and an assist along with Ben Rubeor who had 6 goals.

Both participants in the championship game are not new to the stage. Chesapeake had 3 previous championships and 2 other appearances in the game. Denver had 4 previous appearances, all resulting in being  the runner-up. The Bayhawks were looking to make it their 2 championship in 3 seasons. The Outlaws looking to get their 1st championship.

The Chesapeake Bayhawks after winning the MLL Title
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Denver started off well by scoring the 1st 2 goals. However, the Bayhawks countered with scoring 5 consecutive goals to end the 1st period. Then, within the 1st minute of play in the 2nd period, Chesapeake's Ben Hunt scored a two-pointer to take a 7-2 lead. Denver scored 3 goals in the rest of the period, while Chesapeake scored 3 more. At the half, it was 10-5. The 3rd period was all Bayhawks, They shutout the Outlaws in the quarter, while adding 3 goals, including a two-pointer, to their lead. They added 2 goals in the 4th, while Denver could not come back as Chesapeake won 16-6. Hunt had 4 goals and 2 two-point goals. The Bayhawks' goalie, Kip Turner  had 12 saves in the game.  With  6 goals in the semi final game and 2 goals in the championship game, Rubeor was named the MLL Championship Weekend MVP. 

National Lacrosse League Finals

The National Lacrosse League held it's championship game, called the Champion's Cup, last night. 

Cody Jamieson
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The Eastern Conference Finals featured the Toronto Rock and the Rochester Knighthawks. Toronto beat the Buffalo Bandits 7-6 to make the Conference Finals. The Rock didn't allow a goal in the 2nd half. Rochester defeated Philadelphia 14-13. The Knighthawks held off a rally by the Wings, who scored 7 goals in the 4th period, to win. When the Conference finals came around the #1 seed Toronto out shot Rochester 64-40. However, the Rock could not pull out the win. Rochester won 17-13. 


In the Western Conference Finals, the Edmonton Rush and the Minnesota Storm. Edmonton were 4th in the West in the regular season with a 6-10 record. Edmonton beat the 1 seed, Calgary, 19-11. Minnesota beat the 2 seed, Colorado, 14-10. The game between the Rush and Storm was not even close. Edmonton dominated 15-3. Ryan Ward had 4 goals and 3 assists, Aaron Wilson had 3 goals and 4 assists, and Shawn Williams who only had 1 goal and 5 assists. The lead at 1 point was 11.


The Edmonton Rush are led by NLL's Defenseman of the Year and NLL's 1st Team All-Pro Kyle Rubisch and NLL 2nd Team All-Pro Goalie Aaron Bold. Rubisch was the league leader in forced turnovers with 43. Bold was 3rd in Saves with 571 and 3rd in Goals Against Average with 10.47. 


2012 NLL 2nd Team All-Pro Cody Jamieson is a leader on this Rochester team. He was 4th in the League in points for the regular season. Rochester has 2 All-Rookie Team members Johnny Powless and Stephen Keogh. Powless also won the Sportsmanship Award. 


Now to the game. 

The goalies after the game
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The 1st half was low scoring. Edmonton's Zach Greer scored the 1st goal of the game in the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, the rush added to the lead while Rochester could only put 1 on the board. Going into halftime, it looked like Edmonton was going to pull away.


The momentum shifted largely after halftime. Rochester blew the game open in the 3rd period. The Knighthawks scored 6 goals in the quarter. Edmonton scored none. Jamieson and Mike Accursi both had 2 goals. Keogh and Powless scored the other goals. Edmonton could not recover as Rochester won the game, 9-6. 


Jamieson was the games MVP. He had 4 goals and 4 assists. Matt Vinc had 46 saves on 52 shots.