U.S. Defeats Iroquois in Lacrosse U-19 Opener

Coquitlam, British Columbia -- The United States opened 2008 International Lacrosse Federation U-19 World Championship play with a 20-15 win over the Iroquois at Percy Perry Stadium. Attacker Andrew Feinberg (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh/Brown) led all scorers with five goals, and teammate Craig Dowd (East Northport, N.Y./Northport/Georgetown) tallied four. The victory lifted the Americans to a perfect 30-0 in U-19 international play since the first championship in 1988.

Dowd opened the day's scoring on a power play goal following Pierce Abrams' penalty for interference, but the Iroquois twice took a one-goal lead in the first quarter, at 3-2 and 4-3. U.S. midfielder Tim Donovan (Parkton, Md./Loyola Blakefield/Johns Hopkins) equalized the game at 16:58 and Rhamel Bratton (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington/Virginia) scored the go-ahead goal on a bounce shot at 18:35 to give the Americans a 5-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. The U.S. never trailed again, although the Iroquois did tie the game, 8-8, at 14:01 in the second period on Miles Thompson's (2g) goal in the second quarter.

After Thompson's equalizer, the Americans went on a 5-1 run that put the game out of reach. The Americans' 20 points were spread over nine players, and U.S. face-off specialist Matt Dolente (Phoenixville, Pa./Malvern Prep/Johns Hopkins) dominated at the X, winning 23 of 37 attempts. Starting goalie Adam Ghitelman (Syosset, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor/Virginia) made seven saves, and Tyler Fiorito (Phoenix, Md./McDonogh/Princeton) contributed five stops in the second half.

Peter Jacobs led the Iroquois with three goals. Iroquois keeper Jeffrey White kept his team competitive with a 16 save performance.

U.S. Goals: Andrew Feinberg 5, Craig Dowd 4, Matthew Mackrides 2, Tony Mendes 2, Tim Donovan 2, Ryan Young 2, Dean Gibbons 1, Jack McBride 1, Rhamel Bratton 1.

Iroquois Goals: Peter Jacobs 3, Elihja Printup 2, Randy Staats 2, James Cathers 2, Emmett Printup 2, Miles Thompson 2, Michael White 1, Andrew Cordia 1.

Thursday's Results – July 3

Blue Division
United States 20, Iroquois Nationals 15
England 24, Japan 5
Canada vs. Australia – 11:00 p.m. Eastern start

Red Division
Germany 7, Wales 5
Bermuda 11, Finland 5
Scotland 8, South Korea 1

Friday's Schedule – July 4 (all times Pacific)

Blue Division
12:45 p.m. – Iroquois Nationals vs. Japan
4:00 p.m. – United States vs. Australia
8:00 p.m. – England vs. Canada

Red Division
9:30 a.m. – Wales vs. Bermuda
2:00 p.m. – Germany vs. South Korea
5:15 p.m. – Scotland vs. Finland