Canada Advances To Final

7/22/10 3:01 PM

 

NEWS RELEASE

From Canadian men’s field lacrosse team

July 22, 2010

 

CANADA BEATS AUSTRALIA 15-6 TO ADVANCE TO FINAL

     MANCHESTER, England   - Geoff Snider scored three goals as Canada defeated Australia 15-6 in the world field lacrosse semifinals Thursday.

     Garrett Billings, Rhys Duch and Kevin Huntley added two each and John Grant, Kevin Crowley, Brodie Merrill, Dan Dawson, Mark Steenhuis and Ryan McClelland chipped in with one each.

     Chris Sanderson earned the goaltending victory.

     Canada will play the winner of the U.S.-Japan semifinal in the title game Saturday.

     The score against Australia doesn’t hint at Canada’s early problems getting things going. Attacker Zack Greer sat out with what coach David Huntley said was a case of food poisoning and his absence forced changes in the offensive scheme of things.

     It was 2-2 at the end of one quarter and Australia led 3-2 early in the second quarter.

     The turning point came with two quick Canadian goals. Crowley dodged a check and fed Billings for a clean shot resulting in a tying goal and then Snider won the ensuing facoff and ran through the Aussie defence to put Canada ahead for good.

     ``You see what opens up and if it opens up you make the play,’’ Snider said. ``That’s one thing coach Huntley has worked a lot with me on _ making educated decisions around taking chances.

     ``The opportunity was there and I took a chance and it worked out for the best. It’s a team game and without attackmen like John Grant, Kevin Huntley, Garrett Billings and Dan Dawson you know those lanes don’t open up for you and you’re not in position to score. It was just one of those things that presented itself and fortunately the ball found the back of the net.’’

    Grant made it 5-3 with one of the trick shots for which he’s famous. He was being checked as he ran towards the crease and, with one hand on his stick, swung it to shoot between his legs and bounce the ball in.

     ``I’ve been doing it for a few years now,’’ he said.  ``It was at a crucial and we were kind of reeling there.

     ``It was a good time for it, but I’ve got to play much better.’’

     Grant left the field muttering about ``the six open nets I missed’’ and Steenhuis said the goal of getting to the final was accomplished after a strong 5-0 fourth quarter but ``we have lots to think about and reflect on this game to see where we went wrong and what to correct for the next one.’’

     Alex Brown scored two goals for the Aussies.

     ``It was a really good game by the Aussie boys,’’ he said. ``We came into the game as underdogs but we still had a strong belief we could tough it out with the best.

     ``We can improve a lot going forward. I’m really proud of the boys.’’

     Brown’s team has played both Canada and the United States and, if the two again meet in the final, he’d pick Canada to win.

     ``I like Canada because its inside ball movement is by far better than that of the Americans, and there’s no egos,’’ he said.

 

Neil Stevens

Team Canada media contact

 

 

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