In early afternoon play the Scotland coming off their first loss of the games, faces Japan. Japan coming off of two straight wins over England and New Zealand, just may have the momentum to take the upset win.
Showing true grit in an their overtime win over England and their dominating performance against New Zealand team Japan is hitting their stride. Japan started the tournament playing what could be considered the top four teams in the tournament. A win against Scotland today would not only increase their momentum, but also solidify them as one of the teams for the future. The biggest key to victory for Japan is going to be on defense, as Scotland’s offense is chalk full of talent.
Losing a very close game to the Iroquois last night Scotland showed why they are a team to be reckoned with. Both McBride’s, and Buchanan are going to be a very tough challenge for the undersized Japan defense to handle. Coming off one of their weakest performances of the games thus far, all 3 are going to be looking to rebound with a strong win. Controlling the faceoff, possession, and playing a physical game will be the 3 keys to victory for Scotland.
The fact that both Japan and Scotland are playing so well, and giving some of the World’s best a challenge speaks volumes. The growth of the game over seas is amazing. There are some Canadian players and Americans that play for most of the teams at the games, through duel citizenship, but most of the rosters are full of players that truly represent their country. This shows how the greatest game in the world is growing, and how the talent gap is closing every year. This just pushes teams like Canada, Iroquois, and the U.S. to keep training hard, setting the example, and raising the bar. All of this benefits the growth of the game, and the fans that love the sport.
