Later that night, the War Memorial in downtown Syracuse would play host to the Opening Ceremonies and the sold out match pitting Team USA against the host nation, the Iroquois. The ceremony was one for the ages. The imagery and pageantry displayed by the Iroquois was beautiful, with plenty of traditional dancing and music. Each team, sporting unique fashions, was introduced with loud ovations from the crowd, the loudest coming when the host nation was introduced. Along with several New York politicians, legendary Syracuse University football and lacrosse legend Jim Brown helped officially open the tournament.
Later that night, the match between the USA and the Iroquois saw the host nation make a loud and commanding statement for the entire tournament. With full support from the crowd, the Iroquois methodically picked apart the Americans on both offense and defense. Lead by the Thompson Brothers, who have local ties to Central New York, the Iroquois took down Team USA by a final of 13-9. Both Lyle and Miles Thompson would each contribute two goals in the host nation’s victory.
The next day saw the intensity of the tournament continue to grow. In one of the early matches at the Onondaga Nation Arena, the Australians would find themselves taking on Turkey, another fresh face to the FIL. The Australians would take advantage of Turkey’s youth, scoring often and capitalizing on several power plays. Matthew Taylor would lead the Aussie offense with six total goals. However, late in the third quarter, Turkey would get physical with the Aussies, even having two players receive game misconducts for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct. However, that would only hype up the young team, leading to a couple of quick goals to end the quarter. Though Turkey would make it close, the Australians would hold on for a 21-17 victory. Anthony Terranova would score an outstanding eight goals for Turkey in the losing effort.
Down the road, a new venue would play host to a match between Ireland and Serbia. The Nation Pavilion, a new $6.5 million multi-sport venue made mostly of wood, was quietly built just in time for the Championships. As you can see in the picture gallery below, it is a wonderful venue that is beautiful on the inside and out. As for the game, the Irish had the advantage when it came to fans sitting around the field. They would use that edge to dominate the Serbs through the first three quarters, leading 9-6 going into the fourth. After the Irish increased their lead to 10-6 within the first minutes of the quarter, Serbia would score four unanswered goals, including the tying goal from Aleksandar Gajic with only seven seconds to go. With overtime in the midst, the Irish stormed down the field off the face-off. Brian Gillis took a pass from Andrew McBride and buried it in the net with just a second and a half to play to give the Irish the 11-10 win. In my opinion, this was the game of the tournament. It had everything, great scoring, quick play, a great physical play. It even had the best hit off all the matches so far, in which came when a Serbian player nearly knocked out an Irish player hit a hit against the boards. It had everyone in the Pavilion screaming “Oh My God!” Saying this match was great is very much an understatement.
On Sunday, the match of the day found the Iroquois taking on the defending WILC champions in the Canadian National team. In front of another Iroquois dominated crowd, the host nation found themselves in a dog fight with their neighbors from the north. Mark Matthews’ three goals would be a main factor as Canada would take down the host nation 11-9. The Canadians, with the win against the Iroquois and a destructive 19-2 take down on the Czech Republic Monday night, the Canadians have not since before the 2011 WILC competition.
Monday proved to be a day for a couple of underdogs in the tournament. Early in the day, Israel defeat Finland by a score of 14-4 while Serbia would finally pick up a win by beating Switzerland 9-7. Turkey would also gain a win by defeating the Germans 21-16. The surprising result of the day came at the Onondaga Nation Arena when heavy favorite Australia looked to remain undefeated in the tournament. Their opponent, Ireland, was looking to pull the upset against the squad from the down under. They would do just that. Taking advantage of Australia’s sloppy play and penalty troubles, the Irish would abuse the net on route to a 12-4 romp of the Aussies. Stephen Keogh and Brian Gillies each tallied a hat trick for Ireland in the win.
In the first of the main event games, the USA were looking to stay hot off a win over the Czech Republic. However, England had upset on their minds, and almost pulled it off. The USA came out and got up early, thanks to the efforts of SU alum Casey Powell, who had two goals and four assists for the Americans. The English, on the other hand, started to pick away at the weak USA transition defense, mainly in the second quarter. By exploiting the USA in transition, Tyson Roe would score two goals and England would take a 7-6 lead into half time. In the second half, the Americans found their grove, outscoring the English 7-2 in the final two quarters on route to a 13-9 victory.
There is still plenty of matches left in the tournament, spread throughout the Onondaga Nation Arena and the Pavilion. It all leads up to the Gold and Bronze Medal games on Sunday at the Carrier Dome. You can see the entire schedule and results at WILC2015.com. You can also view photos from several of the games from the tournament through the first weekend of play in the gallery below and articles to come!
Thanks/Credit:
wilc2015.com
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/onondaga_nation_builds_65_million_arena_in_record_time_for_start_of_lax_games.html