Lee Coppersmith scored five goals to lead the Israel men’s national team past 9th-ranked Ireland, 18-9, at the 2014 FIL World Lacrosse Championships at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Monday.
Israel (4-0) will meet 6th-ranked Germany (4-0) on Tuesday in the first-ever meeting between the two European squads. Germany dispatched 13th-ranked Czech Republic, 9-5, on Monday to punch their ticket to the second-round of the playoffs. The match is scheduled for 8:00 AM Local / 5:00 PM Israel, and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
The blue-and-white trailed for the first time in the tournament, as Tom Burke drew first blood for Ireland at 3:14, and held the Israelis scoreless until nearly the 10-minute mark.
Eytan Saperstein put the Israelis on the board, on a feed from Jacob Silberlicht to kick off a 5-0 run.
Israel led 5-1 after one quarter, and 9-6 at the half, before taking command of the match.
The Israelis outshot Ireland 51-19.
Matthew Cherry (one goal, three assists), Cody Levine (two goals, one assist), Benjamin Smith (two goals), Noach Miller (two goals), Daniel Leventhal (two goals), Eytan Saperstein (one goal, one assist), Ari Sussman (one goal, one assist), Kyle Bergman (one goal, one assist), Jacob Silberlicht (two assists), Richard Cheifitz (one goal) and Yochanan Katz (one assist) joined Coppersmith on the scoresheet.
Hank Altschuler (60:00, 3 saves, 8 GA) and Reuven Dressler (20:00, 2 saves, 1 GA) both saw action in goal. Altschuler was credited the win.
Burke (two goals, three assists), Tom Riley (four goals), Brian Gillis (two goals), Kris Prior (one goal), Michael Shea (one assist) and Aaron Cahill (one assist) cracked the Irish scoresheet. Connor Sweeney (80:00, 12 saves, 18 GA) was dealt the loss in goal.
Additional caps: Casey Cittadino, Adam Crystal, Matthew Flapan, Harrison Freid, Michael Grosz, Seth Mahler, Mathew Markman, Cole McCormack, Jonathan Rathauser,
