3 Times Golden- Team Canada Lacrosse are World Champions once again

By Andy McNamara – Once, twice, three times a world champion! Team Canada has once again proven their box lacrosse dominance by claiming a third straight gold medal at the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships (WILC).

The Slavia Eden Arena in Prague, Czech Republic was jumping Saturday night as Canada and Iroquois waged war in the WILC final for a third time. In 2007 overtime was needed to decide top spot as the Canadians squeaked out a 14-13 victory. The defending gold medalists motto this time around was that they were “playing to win, not playing to defend.” The Canucks did as they said and overwhelmed the Iroquois Nationals with a final score of 13-6.

However, the first quarter was extremely tight and it was actually Iroquois who got on the board first. Canadian defender, Rory Smith, was in the sin bin for a five minute major when the Nationals Cory Bomberry whizzed a sidearm shot by starting goalie Matt Vinc.

Jordan Hall delivered Canada’s first two tallies and that lead swelled quickly to 6-1 by the halfway point of the second quarter. Josh Sanderson, Dan Dawson, Rhys Duch, and Shawn Evans also popped in two goals each, while Captain Colin Doyle, Brodie Merrill, and John Grant Jr. contributed singles. The National Lacrosse League’s Goaltender of the Year, Matt Vinc, was the game’s MVP, and Doyle finished second in overall tournament scoring.

The frustrated Iroquois squad battled hard as always and they tried to overcome a first quarter left leg injury to net-minder Mike Thompson of the NLL’s Buffalo Bandits. Angus Goodleaf came in as relief, but the combination of a smothering Canadian defence and a relentless forecheck proved to be too much.

Team Canada’s road to gold had one major hurdle to bust through...arch rival United States. USA seemed poised to give their neighbour’s from the great white north a serious challenge in the semi-final and fulfill dreams of breaking the string of bronze medals.

Goaltending was the major question mark for the Americans heading into Prague and although Erik Miller and Jason Henhawk played admirably, it simply was not enough to stop their powerhouse opponents. Keeping the match-up close at the half, Dan Dawson and John Grant Jr. stepped up their intensity by executing beautiful behind the back ball delivery and converting from the top of the crease.

America’s Casey Powell, WILC Most Valuable Player, almost brought his club back singlehandedly. With time ticking down in the final frame the burly Boston Blazers forward rocketed two straight blasts past Matt Vinc. That was as close as U.S. would get to the red and white attack, ultimately falling 15-10 and having to settle for a bronze medal game once again.

Canada now sits a perfect 17-0 in the three WILC and shows no signs of slowing down with young rising stars like Stephan Leblanc and Shawn Evans ready to carry on the winning tradition come 2015.

A feel good story for the eight day event was the play of the underdog host Czech Republic. Finishing 7^th four years ago the Czechs, coached by North American lacrosse great Jim Veltman, improved with every game played and pulled off the biggest upset in their history by besting England in the quarter-finals. Losses to Iroquois in the semis and the United States in the bronze medal match were expected, but in both contests the Czechs did not look out of place.

Here are the final standings of the 3^rd FIL World Indoor Lacrosse Championships:

Gold Medal: CANADA
Silver Medal: IROQUOIS NATIONALS
Bronze Medal: UNITED STATES
4^th place: CZECH REPUBLIC
5^th place: ENGLAND
6^th place:AUSTRALIA
7^th place: IRELAND
8^th place: SLOVAKIA

For on-demand viewing of all tournament games and more stories from the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships go to http://www.wilcprague2011.com/

Andy McNamara is a Toronto-area sports broadcaster and writer. He is the play-by-play voice for the Toronto Rock on the National Lacrosse League Network and for the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships. Follow on Twitter @AndyMc81 or contact at,

Taken from CBC.