The last time I saw Team Israel play was admittedly a poor showing for them. I was granted an opportunity back in mid-spring to see some of the team in a preseason match against the Lizards, who left the game dominating the scoreboard.
THE ROSTER
A week away from heading into the 2014 FIL Tournament in Denver, Israel has arrived in Colorado and begun roster preparations. The next few days will be host to many cuts as the team narrows down their roster to the 23-man regulations.
Having a secured spot on the roster are four big names coming from the United States that many media channels have already covered: Andrew Goldstein (former MLL/Darmouth goaltender), Casey Cittadino (Charlotte Hounds), Lee Coppersmith (Florida Launch) and Ari Sussman (former Boston Cannon).
In the match between Israel and Lizards, as mentioned earlier, I had the chance to see Sussman and Goldstein in action, but unfortunately not the other two. Also unfortunately, those two players cannot make up the entire team. Coppersmith and Cittadino will be nice additions.
I use the word ‘nice’ to emphasize the amount of effort that will be needed.
USA and Canada have been lacrosse powerhouses all throughout history. Israel is a younger team looking to see the strides and gains their programs have made back in Israel, and win the championship of course.
All in all, it will be an uphill battle for Israel from the get-go, but I maintain high hopes for the team.
Let’s take a peak at the potential 23-man roster from the 100 members who flew in to Colorado. Team Israel’s approach is to fly in all 100 players trying out and narrow down their final rosters a day before the tournament’s commencement. I feel that American-born and trained players will have a stronger advantage with better coaching (naturally, lacrosse is younger in Israel than North America).
Originally from the US:
Joshua Rottman—Danville, CA / UC Davis
Hank Altschuler—Philadelphia, PA / Cabrini
Benjamin Smith—Longmeadow, MA / Harvard
Casey Cittadino—Baldwin, NY / Towson
Andrew Goldstein—Milton, MA / Dartmouth
Bradley Neumann—Woodbury, NY / Georgetown
Richard Cheifitz—Fair Lawn, NJ / Kean
Cody Levine—Purchase, NY / Cornell
Eytan Saperstein—Hewlett, NY / Tufts
Daniel Hartman—Bellmore, NY / Stevensen
Lee Coppersmith—Boca Raton, FL / Johns Hopkins
Mitch Goldberg—Damascus, MD / Richmond
Chris Friedman—Freeport, NY / Briarcliffe
Adam Crystal—Baldwin, NY / Drexel
Matthew Greenblatt—Gaithersburg, MD / Ithaca
Matthew Caple—Wellesley, MA / Tufts
Mark Jutkowitz—Bethesda, MD / Maryland
Ari Sussman—New Haven, CT / Dartmouth
Noah Knopf—New York, NY / Fieldston School
Alex Tress—Sinsbury, CT / Keane State
Connor Wolfe—New London, CT / Connecticut College
Dakota Sherman—Bloomfield Hills, MI / Michigan
Matthew Opsahl—Patomac, MD / Hobart
Michael Grosz—St. Louis, MO / Robert Morris
Jason Senter—Rockville, MD / Florida State
Having grown up and/or played in either American NCAA/MCLA or at an Israeli university:
Matthew Cherry—Ashkelon, Israel / Dickinson
Jesse Kane—Tel Aviv, Israel / Sackler-Tel Aviv University
Yochanan Katz—Jerusalem, Israel / Colorado State
Reuven Dressler—Ma’ale Adumim, Israel / Israel Defense Forces
Shimon Laxer—Givat Shmuel, Israel / Bar-Ilan University
Aaron Tracy—Tel Aviv, Israel / Sackler-Tel Aviv University
Ben Bretter—Petach Tikvah, Israel / Montclair State
Mathew Markman—Tel Aviv, Israel / Hebrew University
Seth Mahler—Ashkelon, Israel / Whittier
Cole McCormack—Ashkelon, Israel / Cornell
Michael Pfeffer—Herzliya, Israel / Israel Defense Forces
Gabriel Leonhard—Arad, Israel / Eastern
Daniel Leventhal—Tel Aviv, Israel / Tufts
Samuel Adler—Netanya, Israel / SUNY Potsdam
Matthew Flapan—Ramle, Israel / Israel Defense Forces
Noach Miller—Tel Aviv, Israel / Vermont
Jacob Silberlicht—Ashkelon, Israel / Hobart
Daniel Devery—Haifa, Israel / University of Haifa
Jonathan Rathauser—Tel Aviv, Israel / Technion-Israel
There is a multitude of military movement and action in the Middle East currently, particularly between Israel and Palestine. Therefore, any listed tryout members above who are currently enlisted in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) may be called to action and need to miss the games.
This has already occurred to two or three players, bringing the tryout roster down to 97.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
There are two major obstacles standing in front of Israel: being a first time contender and the religion’s respect of the Sabbath (Saturday). There may come a point in the tournament if a game is scheduled for a Friday evening or Saturday that Israel will forfeit that match out of observance.
MLL experience will be necessary for the Israeli roster as Team USA and Team Canada each boast numerous MLL, NLL, and WLA players. There are a handful that currently make Israel one of the more well-rounded rosters, but it may not be enough in the long haul.
Look for the 74 players who get cut from tournament play to stick around (unless called to action back at home) and support their country, friends and team.
THE SCHEDULE
Israel is in the Orange Bracket along with Korea, Slovakia, and Sweden. See the bracket preview here:
https://inlacrossewetrust.com/fil-tournament-preview-red-green-orange-divisions/
Their first games are:
Friday July 11 at 11:00 am, before the start of Sabbath
Saturday July 12 at 8:32 pm, immediately following sundown. This means they can play as the Sabbath has ended but may not have warm up time
Sunday July 13 at 11:30 am – no issues
Without a finalized roster, I truly cannot make a prediction of how far they’ll go. A blind estimate is second or third round.
