Lacrosse: Breakout performance for Israel at first trip to world championships
Israel finished group play with a perfect record and was scheduled to meet Ireland in a first-round playoff match late Monday night.
By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFFLacrosse 311(photo credit: Courtesy)
Ari Sussman scored four goals and five assists to lead the Israel men’s national team past 25th-ranked South Korea 19-2 on Sunday at the 2014 FIL World Lacrosse Championships at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.After also recording impressive victories over No. 10 Sweden and No. 17 Slovakia, Israel (3-0) – playing in the world championship for the first time – finished group play with a perfect record and was scheduled to meet Ireland in a first-round playoff match late Monday night.In Sunday’s rout of South Korea. Israel led 9-1 after the first quarter, and 15-1 at the half.Matthew Cherry (one goal, two assists), Richard Cheifitz (one goal, two assists), Benjamin Smith (two goals), Daniel Leventhal (two goals), Kyle Bergman (two goals), Noach Miller (one goal, one assist), Cody Levine (one goal, one assist), Cole McCormack (one goal), Harrison Freid (one goal), Yochanan Katz (one goal), Lee Coppersmith (one goal) and Matthew Flapan (one goal) also cracked the scoresheet.A former Dartmouth College star, Sussman’s nine points on Sunday gave him 24 points through the first three games, among the tournament leaders.Reuven Dressler (40:00, 1 save, 1 GA) and Hank Altschuler (40:00, 1 save, 1 GA) split time in goal; Dressler was credited the win.Jae Chun Lee (one goal), Wonjae Park (one goal) and Bumsuck Yoo (one assist) recorded points for Korea. Kihun Kim (80:00, 7 saves, 19 GA) was dealt the loss in goal.Ireland and Israel are 1-1 all-time against each other, with Ireland eking out an 11-10 win in exhibition play in March. Monday’s showdown was to be the first time the two teams met in tournament play.A record 38 nations are participating in this year’s world championship and will play 142 games over 10 days. The US beat Canada 12-10 in the 2010 world championship final in Manchester, England.This year’s field was broken into nine divisions, with the top six teams competing in the Blue Division. The other eight divisions all have four teams and are not grouped by world ranking.The Blue Division – consisting of the United States, Iroquois Nationals, Canada, Australia, England and Japan – had six days of pool play concluding today, with the bottom two teams being eliminated and the other four teams advancing to the quarterfinal round. The top two seeds receive a bye into the semifinals.The top team in each of the other eight divisions after pool play have the opportunity to progress to the quarterfinal round of the championship bracket. Along with Israel and Ireland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany Finland and Scotland all topped their respective divisions to advance. The final is schedule for July 19.For more information on the tournament, please visit www.worldlacrosse2014.com
