Day four of the World Lacrosse Tournament brings us one of the most anticipated matchups since the opening U.S. Canada game. With their only loss coming to the U.S. the Canadian squad faces off against the Iroquois Nationals, this could be a look into who could play in the finals, pending how the brackets shape up.
Canada is coming off a very strong win against team England, and a tough loss to open the tournament against team USA. In both games the Canadians showed both their skill on offense and defense. Starting off with a 3-0 lead against team USA, letting things slide to that talented offense later in the game, but never showing signs of quitting. The Canadians came back Saturday night to assert their dominance against the team England. Once again showing the world that they are a team to be reckoned with. With the offensive talent I predict some easy production off of possession against the Iroquois defense, which was slow to start against England Friday night.
The Iroquois are lead by their star-studded offense of the Thompson brothers, Cody Jameson, and many others. Canada will have a hard-pressed job with matching up against this talent in an International game of possession. Both of these teams seemed to handle England fairly well, the Iroquois having a little trouble early till they seemed to settle into the game. If the defense can rise to the occasion they could easily be projected to be the favorite to make the finals next week, to possibly face the Americans.
This one is pretty evenly matched on paper, but as always it is all up to how the teams perform on the field. With many award winners on both teams offense it is going to come down to goal tending and defense. As is with every sport the defense is going to have to shine for whomever walks away with the win, as I see this one becoming a shootout if neither teams defense decides to show up to play. Sit back with the popcorn later today as these teams are going to put on a show.
