The Canadians seemed to let the Iroquois think they would win after trailing for almost the entire game. It wasn’t until 53:28 that the men in red took the lead thanks to a goal from Dangerous Dan Dawson. Jordan MacIntosh put the nail in the coffin about 30 seconds later and preserved his team’s 11-9 victory.
First Quarter
Haina Thompson opened up the game with a beautiful transition goal. He popped off the bench to help with a two on one down the left side and finished right on the door step after a feed from Tyler Garrison. What a way for him to make an impact on his very first shift of the tournament after not playing against Team USA.
Canada controlled possession for a long time in the first, receiving multiple shot clock resets, but Angus Goodleaf stood strong. Shawn Evans broke the barrier at the 8:42 mark with a rocket of a shot to notch the game at one.
Miles Thompson answered quickly with a Sports Center Top 10 behind the back goal that beat Canadian goalie, Aaron Bold, inside pipe. Tommy Montour got crushed right before dishing the rock to Miles.
Iroquois’ next two goals were tallied in transition. First from a pair of defenders as Sid Smith fed Wenster Green to make it 3-1 and the next from a hard ride by Randy Staats that forced Brett Mydske to make a bad pass, intercepted and scored by Lyle Thompson. The celebration was stopped quickly when Zack Greer scored his first of the night off a seal.
Craig Point would be the next to score for the hometown Iroquois with thanks to a Miles Thompson feed. About a minute later, Mark Matthews made his presence known with a cannon from the top left, giving Evans the assist and making it 5-3 in favor of the Iroquois at the end of the first.
Second Quarter
There was a slow start to scoring in the second quarter, as there were only two goals scored in the 15 minutes of play. It wasn’t until 26:41, 12 minutes later, that Point found Johnny Powless on the backside crease during the powerplay, to take on a three goal lead.
Canada took advantage of the transition game, catching the Iroquois in a slow sub with Matthews snagging a rebound from Ryan Benesch’s shot to bring the score to 6-4 heading into the half.
Third Quarter
Coming out strong again were the Iroquois, recording two goals within 1:35 seconds of each other. Miles Thompson fed Randy Staats dead center and Tyler Garrison found Jeff Shattler on the break to double their lead 8-4.
However, the Canadians would not be outdone. Seven minutes ticked off the clock before the red jerseys would go off on a three goal stint in a 1:21 seconds. Matthews was responsible for two of those goals and Curtis Dickson for one. This made it an 8-7 game heading into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Miles Thompson was able to reclaim a to goal lead for the Iroquois, scoring inside the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, that would be the end of the Iroquois goals. Canada went on to score four goals and win. Chris Corbeil recorded his only goal of the game to bring it within one. A 1:13 later, Matthews recorded his fifth goal of the game and to tie it at nine right off the bench.
It was a gritty game to see who could get that 10th goal. Shattler seemed to have done it with just under 10 minutes to go, but a to many men penalty erased the goal off the scoreboard.
Two minutes after the penalty was expired, the danger man himself, Dan Dawson, gave Canada a one goal lead, their first of the game, as he trailed off the bench and got a shot off that had a lucky trickle. Jordan MacIntosh scored soon after. Snagging a pass from Benesch and pulled off an insane face dodge that left him one on one with Goodleaf and the final goal.
Final Thoughts
Incredible game by both teams. Goodleaf played an outstanding game, holding off the pesky Canadian offense that really looked like an NLL All-Star team on paper. Matthews is a mad man who is dialed in.
One thing that seemed to be missing was the presence of Jeremy Thompson. Not having his dominant control at the faceoff, as he had versus team USA, may have made a difference in the Iroquois loss tonight as they went 9-22.
Had the Iroquois subbed legally and Shattler’s goal been good, I truly think the Iroquois would have won that game and given Canada its very first loss in the World Indoor games as momentum would have been theirs.
Questions Going Forward
Brodie Merrill is injured and Kevin Crowley is not on the roster for Team Canada. Could this make a difference moving forward and possibly in the medal round?
Mark Matthews has the hot hand for Canada. How many points will he tally this tournament?
Does Canada’s bigger sized defense make a big difference on the floor?
Did the Iroquois matchup against the USA maybe tire them out?
Canada did have two goals waved off after the final goal. Since this was their first game of the tournament, what does that mean going forward? Are they more dangerous than they showed last night?
