World Championship Wrap-Up
7/20/2014 8:02:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Gait wins gold, Iroquois reach podium for first time
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Orange head women's lacrosse coach Gary Gait is a two-time world champion. Eight years after leading Canada to gold as a player in 2006, Gait, now an assistant coach for Team Canada, captured his second world title when his country defeated the United States, 8-5, yesterday in the final of the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship.
Canada never trailed in the contest and withstood a late U.S. rally to win its third world championship. Kevin Crowley paced Canada with five goals, while goalie Dillon Ward made 10 saves. Ward, who was named tournament MVP, said after the game that having Gait fire shot after shot at him before games was crucial to his performance.
"To have Gary Gait warm me up every game is unbelievable. I am so thankful to him for getting me ready,'' Ward told Lacrosse Magazine.
The loss was the only one for the Americans who had cruised into the gold-medal game. Former Syracuse midfielder Matt Abbott, who had four assists and 11 ground balls in the tournament for the U.S., goes home with a silver medal.
Iroquois Make History: The Iroquois Nationals claimed their first-ever FIL World Championship medal with a 16-5 win against Australia in the bronze-medal game. Rising Orange senior Randy Staats tallied three goals against the Aussies and finished the tournament with 13 goals and eight assists. Past Syracuse standouts Jeremy Thompson, Cody Jamieson, Sid Smith and Brett Bucktooth also contributed to the Iroquois' historic finish.
Thompson All-World: Jeremy Thompson, who starred for the Orange in 2010-11, added another honor to his impressive resume by being named to the All-World Team as a midfielder. Thompson registered five goals and one assist during the tournament and was one of the top options at the faceoff X for the Nationals. The complete All-World Team is below:
Attack
Curtis Dickson, Canada
Rob Pannell, United States
Lyle Thompson, Iroquois Nationals
Midfield
David Lawson, United States
Paul Rabil, United States
Jeremy Thompson, Iroquois Nationals
Defense
Tucker Durkin, United States
Brodie Merrill, Canada
Kyle Rubisch, Canada
Goalie
Dillon Ward, Canada
Jenkins Stuffs Stat Sheet: Ex-Syracuse defensive midfielder Drew Jenkins (Bermuda) led all players in the tournament with 13.57 ground balls per game. Jenkins picked up 95 ground balls in seven games. He also finished fifth in faceoff winning percentage (.697, 115-165). Offensively, Jenkins tallied 14 goals and six assists to lead Bermuda to a 24th-place finish.
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Canada never trailed in the contest and withstood a late U.S. rally to win its third world championship. Kevin Crowley paced Canada with five goals, while goalie Dillon Ward made 10 saves. Ward, who was named tournament MVP, said after the game that having Gait fire shot after shot at him before games was crucial to his performance.
"To have Gary Gait warm me up every game is unbelievable. I am so thankful to him for getting me ready,'' Ward told Lacrosse Magazine.
The loss was the only one for the Americans who had cruised into the gold-medal game. Former Syracuse midfielder Matt Abbott, who had four assists and 11 ground balls in the tournament for the U.S., goes home with a silver medal.
Iroquois Make History: The Iroquois Nationals claimed their first-ever FIL World Championship medal with a 16-5 win against Australia in the bronze-medal game. Rising Orange senior Randy Staats tallied three goals against the Aussies and finished the tournament with 13 goals and eight assists. Past Syracuse standouts Jeremy Thompson, Cody Jamieson, Sid Smith and Brett Bucktooth also contributed to the Iroquois' historic finish.
Thompson All-World: Jeremy Thompson, who starred for the Orange in 2010-11, added another honor to his impressive resume by being named to the All-World Team as a midfielder. Thompson registered five goals and one assist during the tournament and was one of the top options at the faceoff X for the Nationals. The complete All-World Team is below:
Attack
Curtis Dickson, Canada
Rob Pannell, United States
Lyle Thompson, Iroquois Nationals
Midfield
David Lawson, United States
Paul Rabil, United States
Jeremy Thompson, Iroquois Nationals
Defense
Tucker Durkin, United States
Brodie Merrill, Canada
Kyle Rubisch, Canada
Goalie
Dillon Ward, Canada
Jenkins Stuffs Stat Sheet: Ex-Syracuse defensive midfielder Drew Jenkins (Bermuda) led all players in the tournament with 13.57 ground balls per game. Jenkins picked up 95 ground balls in seven games. He also finished fifth in faceoff winning percentage (.697, 115-165). Offensively, Jenkins tallied 14 goals and six assists to lead Bermuda to a 24th-place finish.
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Monday, March 16
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Highlights | Syracuse at Air Force
Thursday, March 12
Postgame | #10 Syracuse at #11 Johns Hopkins
Saturday, March 07
