July 10, 2008
Box Score
by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
COQUITLAM, B.C. - Two years ago, the U.S. men's national team lost for the first time in 28 years thanks to a Canadian faceoff specialist named Geoff Snider. With Matt Dolente on its side, the U.S. under-19 team has apparently found its safeguard from a similar undoing.
As Dolente and his wingmen go, so does Team USA, a dynamic only furthered Thursday in a 25-5 victory over England in the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) World Championship semifinal at Percy Perry Stadium.
"It starts with the faceoff," said long-stick midfielder Joel White. "Faceoffs are the most important part of the international game, because the clock doesn't stop."
Nor did the U.S., once Dolente and company got their act together. Team USA led just 5-2 after the first quarter, as England won six of eight faceoffs. But Dolente rallied, winning all six second-quarter faceoff attempts and seven of eight in the third quarter to finish 15-of-20 for the game.
"This team has so much talent on the offensive end. The more you get them the ball, the better off you are," said Dolente, who could be tuning up for a similar role as a rising sophomore at Johns Hopkins, which must replace All-American Stephen Peyser.
The U.S. responded with a 14-1 run spanning the second, third and fourth quarters. Usual suspects Matthew Mackrides (3g, 4a) and Andrew Feinberg (4g, 1a) spearheaded the effort, but Team USA also got an unexpected lift from Nick Elsmo.
Utilized primarily as a defensive midfielder and wing player throughout the preliminary round, Elsmo broke out for four goals Thursday. A fifth was called back on an off-ball crease violation.
"Coaches are giving me the green light more," Elsmo said. "I can't say I worked too hard for my goals today. I just made cuts. We've got great attackman - Ryan Young (2g, 2a), Craig Dowd (1g, 3a) - who can make great feeds behind the crease. I know if I cut and I'm open, they're going to give me the ball. I credit them for looking for me and making the right plays."
With the win, Team USA (6-0) advances to play either Canada or the Iroquois - both of which proved troublesome for the U.S. in preliminary games - in the gold medal match Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Pacific. The U.S. has won every gold medal since the event's 1988 inception, and stands 35-0 all-time in ILF U-19 play.
England (3-4), which lost despite 21 combined saves between Anthony Hayes (14 saves) and Daniel Grime (seven) and a strong effort by attackman Zac Guy (2g, 1a), meets the Canada-Iroquois loser in a bronze medal match preceding the championship Saturday.
"There's times you can't tell which is their strongest hand," Hayes, who missed the teams' round-robin encounter with an injury, said of the U.S. shooters. "You can scout all day. It doesn't do much, the way they shoot."
In a show of solidarity, the English joined the Americans in an off-tune rendering of a Spanish "Ole" song as the two teams huddled near midfield following the game - an offshoot of a soccer challenge posed by Team USA shortly after it arrived here in Coquitlam, "which we actually did win," Hayes said.
"We'd just been drilled by America," he added, "and it's still just one big pitch."
Said White: "It shows a lot of heart, and just their character to be beat like that and still have the heart to come over and be good friends with us. That's one thing everyone can learn from [England]."
