July 14, 2008
by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
Loyal readers: Sorry for my two-week absence from this space. Other duties as assigned called me to Coquitlam, British Columbia, where the U.S. under-19 men's lacrosse team secured its sixth straight ILF world championship Saturday.
(Haha...duties.)
Also, I apologize for the egregious MC Hammer reference at the top of this space. But hey, if you had the opportunity to get Hammer-time with your day job, you would too.
Here are 10 things we learned in Coquitlam:
1. The U.S. had every right to lose, but refused.
Pay attention, members of the 2010 U.S. national team: you can't beat the Canadians on skill alone. They are better than you.
I'm convinced the Canadians are conceived on concrete floors and delivered by an umbilical cord made of mesh and shooting string. It was only a matter of time before Canada caught up with the U.S. between the lines. After all, it's much easier for the Canucks to find athletes who can match Team USA's speed and transition than it is for the U.S. to find finishers to match those born to play box lacrosse.
How did the U.S. U-19 team win, then? Sheer relentlessness. And selflessness.
Craig Dowd, Matthew Mackrides and Dean Gibbons rode and re-defended harder than any attack I've seen in four years covering lacrosse.
At one point in the second quarter of the gold medal match, Team USA defenseman Max Schmidt floated a buddy pass into the offensive zone to no one in particular. It was the kind of outlet that makes anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of one cringe. Not only did Mackrides and midfielder Brian Shemesh collide with each other, but they were both rocked by a 6-foot-6, 210-pound Canadian freight train named Brock Sorenson.
Both returned to their feet almost instantaneously. Mackrides back-checked Sorenson and Shemesh grabbed the ground ball.
And sure, you could point to Adam Ghitelman's 19 saves. But I challenge you to find any goalie that's as good chasing after the shot. Ghitelman won at least three end-line restarts that I could count by heaving himself backwards to beat Canada's attackmen backing up the shots behind the cage.
You can't teach that kind of perseverance.
2. Adam Jones is legit.
The National Lacrosse League is licking its chops over this young Canadian talent, and it's easy to see why.
Coming off a 2008 NCAA campaign in which he was one of just three freshmen to be named Division I All-Americans, Jones, of Canisius College, single-handedly dismantled the U.S. at times to keep Canada close. He scored a game-high five goals for the silver medalists, outshining even the best Team USA contributors.
Jones was so good, he was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
He's unique in that he possesses the trademark Canadian ability to finish in tight spaces, but he's a midfielder who creates those opportunities for himself. He's wormy, in a way, at 5-foot-9, 173 pounds, but can bounce off slides with the best of `em.
Jones had a highlight-reel goal in the second quarter of the gold medal match in which he dodged left-handed from the restraining line, split to his right hand, cradled low to the ground as if he were walking a dog, dove and stuffed a goal opposite his momentum.
"A lot of the indoor players in Canada and even Team Iroquois have skills that other countries don't have," Jones said afterward. "I think we're going to make a rise here. I think in a couple of years, I wouldn't be surprised if someone soon knocks off the USA."
3. Look out for the Cockertons.
Team USA general manager Tom Flatley remembers Canadian Stan Cockerton knocking off the U.S. national team in 1978. Collegians of that generation talk of how Cockerton shredded nets for N.C. State in its heyday as a Division I entity.
Cockerton was a four-time All-ACC performer in the 1970s for the Wolfpack. He was the ACC's all-time leading scorer until this year, when Duke's Matt Danowski set a new record. He scored 280 points on 193 goals and 87 assists for N.C. State.
Now, his sons, Mark and Matt Cockerton, appear poised to make a similar impact.
Both Canadian U-19 team members from Oshawa, Ontario, are headed to Virginia in 2009-10. Mark, the more heralded of the two and whom Flatley projected as a three- to four-time All-American, is a rising senior in high school. Matt plans to transfer to UVA following a prep season at a college in Canada.
Though Team USA's John Lade did a good job locking down on Mark Cockerton, holding him to just one goal in each of the teams' games against one another, the versatile attackman/midfielder still managed 18 goals in the tournament.
4. British Columbia really is beautiful.
License plates read, "Beautiful British Columbia," and the British Columbians have held up their end.
Vancouver secured rights to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, so there is plenty of development. But the surrounding area's mountainous landscape remains pristine. Some members of Team USA took day trips to Whistler, British Columbia, the Olympic resort center, and spoke glowingly of it.
5. Parts of Vancouver? Eh, not so nice.
Downtown Vancouver is a model of modern urbanity, a place where you can paraglide right into its seaport, enjoy a fine meal at an oyster bar or steakhouse, or pack lunch to eat in rolling green parks.
However, a brief venture on a city thoroughfare called Hastings Street revealed what had to be the most abject poverty I've ever seen. In broad daylight (which lasts until about 10 p.m. Pacific time), gaggles of homeless people slummed on sidewalks. Some could be seen injecting themselves with needles. Others tried to pawn materials on the corners.
I felt sheltered, guilty almost, as we drove through four blocks of this. We should be grateful for the opportunity to preoccupy ourselves with something as trivial as lacrosse.
6. If you're not cheating, you're not trying, but you can win without cheating.
As a freshman at Johns Hopkins this year, faceoff specialist Matt Dolente felt disinclined to play what many call "the game within the game." Sometimes, it was inevitable.
However, Dolente's dominance in a 22-of-30 performance against Canada's Kevin Crowley (Stony Brook), Michael Cudmore (Hartford) and Adrian Sorichetti came by a mostly-clean count of clamps, pops and plunges.
"They do a lot of things to disrupt what you're doing, being physical," Dolente said, "so I tried to focus on the fundamentals you go over every day as a faceoff guy, trying to do it the right way and most efficient way every time."
Dolente will be counted on to help replace Stephen Peyser at Hopkins in 2009. He knows he must contend with those seeking a competitive edge.
"Anytime you're a faceoff guy, you have to cheat. You've got to stretch the limits of the rules," he said. "But I'm not a big proponent of trying to time the whistles too much. If you're being fundamental and efficient, you can win faceoffs without cheating."
7. Germany has overtaken Japan in international development.
Team Germany was most certainly the Cinderella story of these ILF U-19 World Championships. After going winless in 2003, the Germans stormed back to win the Red Division by going 5-0, and then beat Japan of the Blue Division in overtime en route to a 6-2 finish.
"They came to Coquitlam, frankly, to win a game in their division somehow," German head coach John Pirie said. "This is a team that doesn't stop ever. They're relentless. With that kind of success, it has been infectious for them. Now when they come on the field, they expect to win."
Germany's rise came at the expense of Japan, whose development appears to have hit a plateau of sorts. The Japanese salvaged their lone win against Scotland, but could be bumped to the Red Division for the 2012 championships.
Germany's Lorenz "Lolo" Lehmhaus scored the game-winner in overtime against Japan.
"I've gotten many e-mails from friends and people back home watching on CCTV or live stream," Lehmhaus said. "We've got people in Germany coming together in the evening with German jerseys and watching us playing lacrosse. It's great."
8. We can all learn something from England.
England's U-19 team in 2008 was arguably more skilled than its senior counterparts that played in 2006. Across the board, you might never find a better group of sportsmen.
A particular bond was formed between Team England and Team USA early in Coquitlam, where the Americans challenged the English to a friendly soccer match upon their arrival. Following a 25-5 U.S. victory over England in the semifinals Thursday, the English players joined Team USA in celebration, piling together. The next day, during an event barbeque and skills competition, the teams' switched uniforms and spoofed each other.
"It shows a lot of heart and just their character. That's one thing everyone can learn them," said Team USA's Joel White, "to be beat like that and still have the heart to come over and be good friends with us too."
And as much as we hear of hooliganism by European - namely English - soccer fans in the news, England's lacrosse fans remained the most spirited without resorting to insults or profanity.
Cheers to that.
9. Six Nations members are not the only Native Americans playing lacrosse.
The bronze medalist Iroquois Nation, while littered by talented players from upstate New York and Ontario, boasted three players who were not from traditional Native American hotbeds.
The Iroquois Nationals are recognized as a sovereign nation by the ILF. They finished 5-3, pushing both the U.S. and Canada to their limits in the preliminaries before yielding. They eventually defeated England, 19-10, in the bronze medal match.
Forrest Cox, a defenseman from West Potomac (Va.) High School, has roots in the Prairie Band of the Potowatomi Nation, and thus discovered he could qualify. And that he did, with 23 players weaned from over 300 that tried out for the Iroquois.
Syracuse-bound Jordy Patterson, of Corona del Sol, Ariz., likewise qualified, and played in two games in Coquitlam.
St. Andrew's and St. Agnes School (Va.) midfielder Andrew Cordia also played for the Iroquois Nationals. He had five goals and four assists.
10. Clare Lochary is much smarter than me - or is it smarter than I?
Either way, her worldly knowledge never ceases to intimidate me. Check out Clare's blog from Coquitlam for further insights and cultural anecdotes that go way over my head.
Twice as Nice: Face-Off Classic, Day of Rivals Set for `09
A nod this Monday morning goes to the folks at
Inside Lacrosse, Konica Minolta, the Baltimore Ravens, M&T Bank Stadium and men's lacrosse coaches at Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Duke, Maryland, Army and Navy for bringing what promises to be two enticing NCAA Division I double-headers to Baltimore in 2009.
Inside Lacrosse announced Monday plans for not one, but two events, both taking place at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
The Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic on Feb. 28 will feature defending NCAA champion Syracuse against local favorite Hopkins, followed by Duke against Maryland.
IL has expanded its offerings by launching the Day of Rivals on April 11, featuring the 87th Army-Navy game and the 105th Maryland-Hopkins game - taking advantage of a rare confluence in those games being scheduled to transpire the same day in the same state.
The Face-Off Classic, previously featuring Hopkins, Princeton, Syracuse and Virginia, averaged nearly 20,000 fans its first two years. Virginia and Syracuse pulled out of event beginning in 2009, citing the desire to put the rivalry back on their respective college campuses.
Not only did organizers plug Duke-Maryland into the Classic, but they answered with an additional double-header that could shatter attendance records with presumably warm weather and rivalries that draw pretty well enough on their own.
Click here for the official release and reactions.
Contact Matt DaSilva at mdasilva@uslacrosse.org.
