Team Canada (4-0) finished pool play at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships with a 19-12 victory over the Iroquois Nationals (3-1) on Monday night. In a game that could be a preview of the gold medal game, Canada came out to a quick 3-0 before Zed Williams and Tehoka Nanticoke would get the Iroquois within a goal. The teams would exchange goals and Team Canada would hold a slim 5-4 lead after the first quarter.
After a Team Canada goal to start the second quarter, the Iroquois Nationals would score two of their three goals on the power play and then the final goal with three seconds remaining in the half to give them a 7-6 time lead. Canada would lose Robert Hope at the 5:33 mark of the second quarter as he would be assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct for a hit to the head of his Peterborough Lakers teammate Thomas Hoggarth.
Kyle Rubisch would tie the game but Jordan Durston would score just under a minute later to give the Iroquois a one goal lead. This would be their final lead of the game. Shayne Jackson and Mark Matthews would find the back of the net just 25 seconds apart to regain the lead for Canada.
As the fourth quarter got underway, the Iroquois Nationals would regain the momentum and score three times in 48 seconds to bring the score to 13-12, but that would be the closest they would get. Team Canada would score the final six goals of the contest to secure the victory 19-12.
Curtis Dickson had four goals on the evening while Ben McIntosh, Shayne Jackson and Dhane Smith would all record hat-tricks while Mark Matthews, scratched for games two and three, would have a “quiet” 11 points (2G/9A).
Canada will now face England in the semi-finals. England defeated Israel 9-7 in a hard fought rematch from a couple of nights ago where England lost in overtime 8-7. Back on Friday Canada defeated England 18-5, powered by a 12-goal run to turn a game tied at one to a 13-1 lead.
Canada and England will face off tonight at 8 p.m. PST, following USA vs Iroquois Nationals. The winner of these games will battle for gold Saturday night at 8 while the losers of the semi-finals will battle for the bronze at 5pm.
