Canada defeats Iroquois in OT thriller loaded with NLL stars
Canada's roster was so deep that John
Tavares, pictured above, was a healthy
scratch in the gold medal game. Canada
defeated the Iroquois Nationals in
overtime, 15-14.
Matt Roik
Zywicki led Canada's scoring with one goal and seven assists. Rochester Knighthawks forward John Grant followed with five goals and two assists, while Knighthawks teammate Shawn Williams had three goals and four assists.
Zywicki said this year's game against the Nationals was closer than Canada expected.
"They gave us a big huge scare," Zywicki told the Canadian Press following the game. "They came out hard and we were kind of on our heels for a little bit. They just kept coming at us and stayed with us the whole game."
In the bronze medal game, Chicago Shamrox forward Chris Panos scored five goals to lead the United States (4-2) over England, 17-10. The U.S. scored the first six goals of the second half to turn an 8-6 halftime lead into a 14-6 blowout. Matt Alrich and Matt Zash of the New York Titans each scored three goals, while Portland LumberJax forward Scott Stapleford scored two. Titans goalkeeper Erik Miller earned the win in goal, holding England to only ten goals. Alrich (16 goals, 12 assists) and Panos (14 goals, 13 assists) led the U.S. offense throughout the tournament.
England (3-3) was led by Calgary Roughnecks forward Lewis Ratcliff, who scored four goals. Chicago's Jason Clark scored three. Philadelphia Wings goaltender Matt Roik made 51 saves in the loss. Team England, who was coached by former Roughnecks head coach Chris Hall, finishes fourth in the tournament. Ratcliff finished with a tournament-leading 26 goals and 19 assists. Shawn Cable scored 16 goals and 16 assists for England as well.
Scotland (2-3) finished fifth in the tournament after defeating Australia in Saturday's consolation game, 14-8. Wings forward Sean Greenhalgh led team england with 14 goals and 12 assists, while Bandits forward Dan Teat scored 8 goals and 7 assists.
Chicago Shamrox goaltender Derek Collins finished with a 72.4% save percentage. Scotland was coached by lacrosse legend Paul Suggate and Buffalo Bandits assistant coach Troy Cordingley.
Australia (1-4) finished sixth. Damian Cliffe scored 11 goals and 8 assists in the tournament while former Knighthawks forward Dennis Juleff finished 7 goals and 11 assists. Former NLL veteran Gordon Purdie also came out of retirement to represent
Australia, scoring 2 goals and 8 assists. Four goaltenders split time in net for Australia.
Czech Republic (1-3) finished seventh after defeating Ireland, 22-5 in Friday's consolation game. The victory marked the Czech's first-ever victory in international indoor competition.
The team was led by Pavel Dosly (11 goals, 7 assists) and Toronto's Chet Koneczny (5 goals, 7 assists). Rock goaltender Mike Poulin finished with a 76.5% save percentage. Toronto's Jim Veltman also served on the Czech coaching staff.
Ireland (0-4) finished eighth in their first appearance in the competition. Michael Lynch (3 goals, 4 assists) led Ireland, who was coached by New York Titans assistant Paul Stewart.
