U.S. Cruises into ILF Semifinals
7/18/2006 11:17:51 PM | Men's Lacrosse
by Matt DaSilva - U.S. Lacrosse
LONDON, Ontario -- Ryan Boyle paced 12 different scorers for the U.S. men's national team, which jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never looked back in a 21-2 victory Tuesday over Japan in its round-robin finale of the 2006 International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) World Championships. Team USA, which has now won 37 consecutive games in ILF competition, finishes as the Blue Division's No. 1 seed.
Boyle finished with a game-high five points on two goals and three assists. Doug Shanahan, father of a newborn baby (daughter Riley Lynn) as of 6:45 p.m. Monday night, had two goals to go with an 11-for-13 performance in faceoffs and a game-high six ground balls.
The U.S. (5-0) plays the winner of a Wednesday crossover game between Red Division top seed Ireland and the loser of this afternoon's Australia-Iroquois game in a championship semifinal Thursday.
Japan (0-5) remains winless in its Blue Division debut, despite a strong second-half performance from goalie Kazuhiko Udagawa (12 saves).
The Americans held significant advantages in shots (50-22), ground balls (32-20) and faceoffs (19-7) to control possession throughout the game. Mike Powell had a goal and an assist to take the tournament lead with 25 points (9g, 16a), ahead of brother and teammate Ryan Powell (3g, 1a on Tuesday) and Canada's John Grant Jr., who are tied for second with 23 points apiece. A.J. Haugen added three goals for Team USA.
Against Japan, the U.S. defense did not allow a goal until Wataru Tsugu scored with 3:59 remaining in the second quarter to make it 12-1. The U.S. rattled off nine more goals bridging the third and fourth quarters before Gen Hasegawa scored with 4:42 remaining in the game for the final margin. Trevor Tierney (eight saves) and Chris Garrity (three) again split goalkeeping duties for Team USA.
Line Score 1 2 3 4 F
U.S. 8 4 2 7 21
Japan 0 1 0 1 2
Goals - US: R. Powell 3, Haugen 3, Jalbert 2, Walters 2, Urick 2, Boyle 2, Shanahan 2, Colsey, M. Powell, Striebel, Miller, Cassese; J: Hasegawa, Tsugu.
Assists - US: Boyle 3, R. Powell, M. Powell, Cassese; J: Sahoda.
Shots - US 50-22. Saves - US 11 (Tierney 8, Garrity 3), Japan 17 (Udagawa 12, Shinohara 5). Faceoffs - US 19, J 7. Ground Balls - US 32, J 20.
