Photo Credit: Larry Palumbo
The Israel men’s national lacrosse team scored 11 second-half goals to rally past 4th-ranked Japan, 15-10, in their final placement match of the 2014 FIL World Lacrosse Championships at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Friday.
The victory clinches a #7 world ranking for the Israelis, who were competing in their first-ever World Championship.
Ari Sussman, who scored five goals to lead Israel, finishes with 42 points, second only to Thailand’s Colton McCaffrey. Sussman, who has not played professionally in two years, was claimed off waivers by the MLL’s New York Lizards on Thursday.
Israel (6-2) trailed 4-1 early in the contest, but chipped away at the lead to cut the deficit to 5-4 at halftime. Then, Israel scored seven goals to open the second half, taking a commanding 11-5 lead with just 17 minutes remaining in the match.
Kyle Bergman (three goals, two assists), Jacob Silberlicht (two goals), Casey Cittadino (one goal, one assist), Matthew Cherry (two assists), Yochanan Katz (one goal), Daniel Leventhal (one goal), Michael Grosz, Cody Levine (one assist) and Noach Miller (one goal) also contributed offensively for Israel.
Hank Altschuler (59:31, 9 saves, 3 GA) and Reuven Dressler (20:29, 2 saves, 7 GA) saw action in goal; Altschuler was credited the win.
Mikisuke Sekine and Wataru Tsugu led Japan (2-6) with three goals apiece; Keisuke Ando (80:00, 15 saves, 15 GA) was dealt the loss.
Additional caps: Richard Cheifitz, Adam Crystal, Matthew Flapan, Seth Mahler, Mathew Markman, Jonathan Rathauser, Eytan Saperstein, Benjamin Smith
