Hidden Ball Trick Helps Japan Stun Australia

by Matt DaSilva | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | FIL World Championships Blog

Tsugu Wataru beats his Australian defender and shoots for one of his five goals Monday. He also played a key role in teammate Kadota Masayuki's hidden-ball goal that helped Japan pull out an 11-9 upset. © John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com

MANCHESTER, England -- Yoshihiro Okubo might not have been able to see the ball. But he could see the future.

As a player for the first Japanese national lacrosse team, Okubo recalled when big, bad Australia knocked Japan around in a 56-0 loss.

Fifty-six goals to none.

“I remember it,” Okubo said through interpreter Eri Shikami. “I don’t even know how they scored all those goals. I couldn’t even see the ball.”

Twenty-three years after the humble formation of the Japan Lacrosse Association -- and 18 years after fielding its first-ever national team -- Japan turned the tables on Australia in an 11-9 victory Monday in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships.

It was one of the biggest international upsets in recent history, and came just two days after Japan picked up its first-ever Blue Division win over Germany. The Japanese players sobbed in celebration.

“I can’t even put it into words. I thought the Australia team was at too high a level, that we couldn’t beat them,” said Okubo, citing Japan’s 18-1 loss to the Aussies just four years ago.

The Japanese had England on the ropes Sunday before yielding in overtime. Australia did not go down without a fight, either.

Japan built a 5-1 halftime lead, as Australia was tentative against its 3-3 zone defense. But the Aussies rallied to tie the game at 5 with four goals in a 12-minute span.

Japan responded with another big run, five unanswered goals that included the undeniable play of the day: a successful hidden-ball trick.

Up 7-5, Kadota Masayuki camped out on the wing and waited for teammate Tsugu Wataru to join him. The two convened for a moment, then broke. Australia’s defense followed Wataru to the restraining line. Goalkeeper Sam Williams stepped up in his arc to match Wataru, and Masayuki slipped behind him unnoticed to deposit the ball in the vacant goal.

“We call it Nittai,” said Wataru, who led the Japanese with five goals. “That’s our university name.”

Masayuki and Wataru are teammates for the Nihon Taiku (Nittai) Falcons, where they perfected their brand of lacrosse’s most famous trick play.

“We did it in ’06 against the Germans,” Masayuki said. “It also works when I give the ball to [Wataru] and the goalie sees me instead.”

Japan extended its lead to 10-5 early in the fourth quarter, but Australia stormed back again with three goals in four minutes – including two from Leigh Perham, who led all scorers with seven.

Wataru added insurance, however, and the Japanese held on for the victory.

“It doesn’t matter how they score,” Wataru said, “as long as we keep playing our lacrosse.”

Yes, Japanese lacrosse has its own identity, and Team Japan is ready to give Team USA fits Tuesday in both teams’ pool play finale.

Unless Germany upsets Australia or England upsets Canada, the Japanese will finish preliminaries in third place and be in a position to play in the medal round. (It would be a three-way tie between Japan, Australia and England, and head-to-head goal differential would seed them in that order.)

Japan’s victory Monday has likely made it so that host England can finish no better than in fifth place.

Asked why the Japanese have so improved, Okubo replied, “We have tried a different style of lacrosse compared to the other teams. Foreign teams score in half field. But Japan tries to use a full field.”