In the championship game on July 19, Canada captured its third gold medal by upsetting the United States 8–5 in front of 11,861 fans.[2] Canadian goalie Dillon Ward was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after he made 10 saves in the championship game, becoming the first goalie to ever receive the honor.[3]
The Iroquois Nationals finished third by defeating Australia 16–5 in the bronze medal game. It marked the first time the Iroquois earned a medal at the World Lacrosse Championship, as well as the first time the Australians failed to earn a medal since 1974.[4]
US Lacrosse, the national host, organized a lacrosse festival for boys' and men's lacrosse teams to play alongside the world championships. Players from around the world competed in 11 age divisions from U11 to 60-and-over.[5]
For pool play, participating nations were separated into nine divisions. The countries with the top six rankings—Australia, Canada, England, Iroquois, Japan, and the United States—competed in the Blue Division, where the top two teams advanced to the semifinals and the next two teams advanced to the quarterfinals. In the other divisions, each first through fourth place teams were placed in first through fourth play-in brackets.
Blue Division
After not competing in the 2010 tournament in England due to passport issues, the Iroquois Nationals had to appeal to the FIL to play in the elite Blue Division, usually reserved for the top six teams from the previous championship. After originally placing Germany in the Blue Division, the FIL granted the Iroquois' appeal in 2013.[6]
Team USA coasted through the Blue Division games, only tested by Canada's early 3-0 lead in the opening game of the tournament. But the U.S. scored the next eight goals and ended up putting away their strongest rival 10-7. Canada also easily defeated the lower ranked teams, but needed a goal from Curtis Dickson with 19 seconds remaining to beat the Iroquois Nationals 9-8.[7]
Iroquois, Australia, Japan, and England played several close games for the right to get to the championship bracket. Japan lost a double-overtime game vs Australia but won in overtime over England.
After losing to the United States 10–7 in the first game of the tournament, Canada dominated the championship game. They played a deliberate, slow-down offense that is allowed under international rules, combined with strong defense, ground ball play, and goaltending.[8] Like in the first game, Canada jumped out to an early lead, 2–0 after the first quarter. Team USA managed only one goal in the first half, and only put 5 shots on net. At the half, Canada was up 3–1, with Kevin Crowley scoring all three Canadian goals. Crowley got two more in the second half to lead all scorers with 5 points. Canada played even better in the third quarter, scoring five straight goals to increase its lead to 8–2 in the first minutes of the final period. The U.S. added three goals at the end to make the final score 8–5, but they were never in the game in the fourth quarter. Tournament MVP Dillon Ward made 10 saves in goal for Canada. U.S. attackmen Kevin Leveille had three goals and Rob Pannell had three assists.[2][9]
In the third place game, the Iroquois Nationals easily defeated Australia 16–5 to earn their first medal in international men's field lacrosse. The team earned 4th place in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 tournaments but didn't compete in 2010.[10] The Thompson brothers – Jeremy, Hiana, Miles and Lyle – combined for six goals and five assists.[11]
Despite falling to rival England in the fifth-place game, Scotland earned its best-ever finish at the championships by placing sixth. The Scottish team defeated Japan in the previous contest, and are expected to replace the Japanese in the elite Blue Division at the next world championship tournament.[12]
Playing in its first-ever world championships, Israel very nearly duplicated Scotland's feat, twice narrowly falling in games that could have advanced the team into the Blue Division. After reaching the quarterfinals, the Israelis led Australia in the third quarter before dropping a tough 9-8 decision.[13] Then in a placement round game, Israel made a dramatic comeback to push England to overtime before suffering a 10-9 setback.[14] Israel finished seventh after defeating Blue Division squad Japan.
The President's Team consisted of the following players, honored for being the top 10 players in the tournament not competing in the Blue Division.[15]
Kyle Buchanan Ryan Licht Matt MacGrotty Jimmy McBride Jordan McBride Jonathan Munk Kevin Powers Ben Smith Ari Sussman James Van de Veerdon
United States
Canada (3rd title)
Iroquois
Australia
