July 11, 2008

by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

COQUITLAM, B.C.- Lining the fence at Percy Perry Stadium during the final minutes of Canada's convincing win over the Iroquois Nationals in the ILF U-19 World Championship semifinals Thursday were an American father, his friend and his son. They marveled at the Canadian goalie with cat-like reflexes.

"You know what his name is?" the father asked his friend. "Remington Steele. He's from Dallas."

Townies clamored for defense in a unified chant.

"He's small," the son chimed.

"Yeah, he's like 5-3."

Officially, Remington Steele - not to be confused with the 1980s television series or the title character played by Pierce Brosnan - is 5-foot-4 and 135 pounds.

A rising sophomore at Robert Morris, Steele has captured the fancy of spectators, and not just the middle-aged women who might only fancy his namesake. (For the record, Steele's parents never saw the show before naming him. He saw an episode of "Remington Steele" recently, and hated it.)

Rather, opponents have marveled at someone so physically unassuming could master the sport's most visible role with such reckless abandon.

"Through high school, I had college coaches tell me, 'You're quick, but 5-4, I don't think we can do that.' It definitely could be down side, but you can also use it to your advantage," said Steele, a Hillcrest (Texas) High School graduate. "I show a lot of net there. If I'm quick enough, I can take it away."

Steele might be a paperweight compared to the Canadian defensemen that helped him shut down the vaunted United States for three quarters. With three close defensemen 6-foot-3 or taller - including 6-6, 210-pound behemoth Brock Sorenson - Canada pushed the lightning-legged Americans to the limit late in the rivals' round-robin encounter last Sunday.

But when they folded like a paper football, Steele still produced. Even Craig Dowd's game-tying goal with 26 seconds remaining came off a Steele save.

Team USA escaped with a 16-15 overtime win after a furious fourth-quarter comeback erased a seven-goal deficit. Steele stood on his head for 22 saves.

Steele added 15 saves Thursday in Canada's 23-12 victory over the Iroquois, which ensured a U.S.-Canada gold medal game for the third time in as many U-19 championships. They'll meet Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Pacific.

Canadian assistant coach Brodie Merrill, a member of the 2006 senior national team that dethroned the U.S. after a last-second loss in the preliminary round, offered that parallel to the players.

"We were successful in '06 because we were able to come together quickly and build that familiarity with each other. I see the same characteristics in this team," Merrill said. "Even that round-robin game with the U.S. was reminiscent of our game against the U.S. in the round robin, too."

As part of a team-building exercise when they arrived in Coquitlam, players were asked what came to mind when they thought of Canadian lacrosse. They came up with four words: effort, confidence, composure and toughness. Following the U.S. loss, each player inscribed those words in permanent black marker on the white of his glove.

Steele placed particular emphasis on the last two when asked what Canada needs to do to slow down a U.S. team that has managed 108 goals in six games.

"Keep our composure and play our defense. I don't want to give up too much stuff, but we've got a huge defense," he said. "I think they're going to use their size and their strength and play some rough, Canadian lacrosse."

Down Time, Me Time for U.S.

With Friday being an off day, Team USA did a brief walkthrough in the morning before a scheduled gear swap with Australia and an event barbeque featuring a skills competition. Players stressed mental preparation for Canada.

"It's really just us," said long-stick midfielder Joel White. "The only team that can beat us is us."

"For two days, all we're going to think about is Canada. We'll be fine physically," said faceoff specialist Matt Dolente. "It's all about mental focus now."

"We don't want to think too much about who we play. Most of our downfalls throughout the tournament have been when we haven't played our own game and making mistakes on our own," said midfielder Nick Elsmo. "Canada and the Iroquois played us real tight, but if you look at those situations, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a lot. We want to look at ourselves, and not let anyone else change our game."