Balanced Offense Leads Canada to Dominant 22-3 Win Over Scotland

Home Balanced Offense Leads Canada to Dominant 22-3 Win Over Scotland

Canadian Lacrosse Association – Ryland Rees avoids a check from an opponent during Canada’s 22-3 win over Scotland at the 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championship in Netanya, Israel.

Credit: Oded Karni

BOX SCORE

NETANYA, ISRAEL – Canada’s offense was firing on all cylinders, scoring early and often to help the team earn their second straight victory of the 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championship in Netanya, Israel, a dominant 22-3 win over Scotland.

Jeff Teat was the leading point getter for Canada, tallying eight points on one goal and seven assists. He now leads the team, and sits fourth in tournament scoring, with 13 points, including four goals and nine assists.

Ten different players found the back of the net against Scotland, including a four goal performance from both Curtis Dickson (4g, 0a) and Mark Cockerton (4g, 0a). Ben MacIntosh (3g, 0a) and Kevin Crowley (3g, 1a) each chipped in with a hat-trick, while Josh Byrne (2g, 2a) and Tre Leclaire (2g, 0a) added two goals apiece.

“We started seeing some different mixes out there,” said head coach Randy Mearns in reference to his offensive line combinations. “We’ve got a lot of guys that can do a lot of things. Everybody’s got to eat and I think everyone wanted a seat at the table tonight.”

The offence looked much sharper than it did in yesterday’s 12-6 tournament opening win over England.

“We had a lot of composure today,” said assistant offensive coordinator Merrick Thomson. “The guys just let the game come to them. They got everybody involved, with a lot of good passing, and weren’t trying to force it.”

“After last night’s game there were a few things that we wanted to work on and fix coming into this game and I think we were able to do that,” said midfielder Ian MacKay, who scored his first goal of the tournament midway through the second quarter..

The Canadians built an early lead, scoring 15 times in the first two quarters, to take a commanding lead.

“We jumped on them early,” added MacKay. “It’s good to jump on a team early and catch your stride as fast as you can so that hopefully it comes easier in the rest of the game. Luckily, that was the case for us tonight.”

Canada fired an incredible 47 shots on net, compared to only 13 from Scotland, a testament to the team’s steady, yet relatively untested defense.

“Defensively, we were effective and efficient,” added Mearns. “We cleared the ball very, very well. I thought Graeme Hossack had a great game all the way around. Jason Noble was a beast on the defensive end as well.”

Canada will face-off against their rivals from the United States tomorrow, July 15, at 12:00pm ET.

It will mark the first matchup between the two teams since Canada’s 8-5 win in the finals of the 2014 World Championship in Denver, Colorado. The U.S. and Canada are the only two teams to ever win a World Championship title, with the Americans winning nine and Canadians three since the event’s inception in 1967.

Watch the action live on TSN.ca or using the TSN App. The game will also be broadcast at 4:00pm ET on TSN2. Visit http://bit.ly/2018WorldLaxTSN for the complete streaming schedule.

Schedule

The complete match schedule, including playoff brackets, can be found here.