England 9 - Japan 8
In yesterday's first game at TD Waterhouse, England defeated Japan 9-8 on three-goal efforts from Peter LeSueur and Mark Reynolds in front of about 500 people.
England built up a 9-5 lead at the end of the third quarter and the Japanese made it interesting by scoring three early in the fourth, but couldn't put the equalizer past England goalkeeper Ben McAllister. Shinya Maruyama scored three goals for Japan.
The Japanese loss puts them in jeopardy of dropping out of the top six elite nations for the next world championships in Manchester, England, in 2010.
Quarter scores: 2-3, 6-3, 9-5, 9-8
USA 21 - Iroquois 13
A day after its emotional last-second win over Canada, the U.S. men's national team secured the Blue Division's No. 1 seed -- and a bye during Wednesday's divisional crossover round -- with a more-comfortable 21-13 victory Monday over the Iroquois Nationals in the 2006 International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) World Championships, during a hot and humid afternoon at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
Mike Powell led the way with a game-high seven assists to go with a goal, while brothers Ryan Powell (3g, 3a) and Casey Powell (3g, 1a) ensured another impressive showing by the trio, which combined for 18 points in the win. Scott Urick led all goal scorers with four.
The U.S. dominated in faceoffs (27-of-37) and issued an effective extra-man offense (4-for-9), two areas which plagued Team USA in its win over Canada on Sunday. The U.S. escaped that game with a 13-12 win on Jay Jalbert's goal with three seconds remaining.
On Monday, the Americans jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter and never trailed.
The Iroquois used a four-goal run bridging the first and second quarters to close within 6-4 when Roger Vyse (2g) stuffed a rebound 30 seconds into the second. But the U.S. answered with four goals of its own, culminating when Mike Powell tracked down Iroquois defenseman Mark Burnham on a clear, jarred the ball loose, and fed Casey Powell on the crease to make it 10-4 at the 9:01 mark of the second quarter.
Another six-goal spurt by the U.S. in the third quarter put the game out of reach. Delby Powless (2g, 2a) and goalie Marty Ward (17 saves) led the Iroquois in the losing cause.
Team USA (4-0) wraps up round-robin play tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. against Japan, followed by the Iroquois (2-2) against Australia.
Quarter scores: 6-3, 12-6, 18-8, 21-13
Canada 12 - Australia 9
Peterborough's John Grant Jr. scored three goals and added an assist to help Canada to a 12-9 win over Australia Monday at the world field lacrosse championship.
The host country survived a gutsy second-half comeback effort from Australia to improve to 3-1.
Gary Gait of Victoria and Shawn Williams of Whitby, Ont., scored twice for Canada while Edmonton's Geoff Snider Gavin Prout of Whitby, Ont., Toronto's Stephen Hoar, Ottawa's Jeff Zywicki and Billy Dee Smith of St. Catharines, Ont., added singles.
Orangeville, Ont.'s, Brodie Merrill had a strong defensive game scooping up eight ground balls, while fellow Orangeville native Chris Sanderson was solid in net, making 13 saves and an assist.
Canada clinched second place with the win and plays England on Tuesday in the final round-robin game in the tournament.
Quarter scores: 1-0, 6-3, 8-4, 12-9
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