Last-second goal secures title
Schreiber scores winner on disputed final possession
Midfielder Tom Schreiber scored the winning goal with just one second left to lift the United States to the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship with a 9-8 victory over Canada in Netanya, Israel.
U.S. attackman Ryan Brown (Johns Hopkins, Calvert Hall) scored his third goal of the game to tie the score 8-8 with 2:59 to play. Trevor Baptiste then won the ensuing faceoff to set up the final U.S. possession. There was one final scramble for a loose ball, but the U.S. maintained possession with 1:45 remaining after a loose ball push was called on Canada.
In the final minute, the U.S. had three consecutive shots go high of the cage — attempts by midfielder Paul Rabil, attackman Jordan Wolf and Schreiber. After the last shot, attackman Rob Pannell quickly fed the ball from the end line to a cutting Schreiber, who finished from inside for his third goal of the game.
Canada players and coaches argued adamantly that the goal came after the final whistle, but the officials converged and ruled the shot came with one second still on the clock.
Canada coach Randy Mearns also was upset with the offsides call, which replays showed was inaccurate. Canada clearly had four players on the defensive end of the field when the call was made, which gave the U.S. possession and an opportunity to tie the score.
“The fact that this game had to literally go to the last second speaks to the competition between the two teams,” Schreiber said. “I have a ton of respect for those guys on the other side. I’m teammates with a few of them. In the indoor league I’ve gotten to know them, I know how competitive they are. In some ways it’s a shame the game had to end that way...but we’ll certainly take it.”
It was the 10th world championship for the U.S. as the two countries added another epic chapter to their storied rivalry. Canada defeated the U.S. to capture the 2014 world championship in Denver and the two countries have alternated the championship since 2002 with the U.S. winning in 2002, 2010 and 2018 and Canada winning in 2006 and 2014.
“It is one of those things where it’s shame when one team has to lose,” said U.S. team head coach John Danowski. “The Canadian team played so well for so long, but at the end of the day our guys made one more play.”
Schreiber’s buzzer-beating goal gave the U.S. its first lead since taking an early 2-0. Canada then scored four straight goals in the final 10 minutes of the opening period, two of them by attackman Curtis Dickson.
Brown and Matt Danowski (Chesapeake Bayhawks) scored back-to-back for the U.S., but Canada’s offense again proved deadly with attackman Mark Cockerton and midfielder Ben McIntosh scoring back-to-back to give Canada a 6-4 lead.
Momentum began to swing a little back towards the U.S. as the defense withstood a five-minute possession by Canada at the end of the first half.
Goalie John Galloway and the U.S. defense held strong in the third quarter, shutting out Canada. Brown scored early in the quarter and then attackman Marcus Holman (Gilman) tied things at 6-6 on a extra-man goal with 9:48 left in the third.
Canada seized the lead just 1:07 into the fourth as Dickson scored again. Schreiber answered for the U.S. a little over two minutes later.
Cockerton gave Canada its final lead with 5:17 left when he bulled his way to the goal for an 8-7 advantage. Canada’s Zach Currier came up the with the ball on the ensuing faceoff, but an offsides violation led to a turnover and Brown scored to set up the dramatic final few minutes.
Brown and Schreiber led the U.S. with three goals each and both were named to the all-tournament team. Brown had 25 goals in the tournament, second-highest total for a U.S. player in event history. Brown finished one shy of the 26 goals scored by Mark Millon in 1994. They were joined on the all-tournament team by attackman Rob Pannell and defender Michael Ehrhardt.
Pannell, who had the assist on the winning goal, was named to the all-world team for the second straight time.
Ehrhardt (Maryland) and Schreiber were named the outstanding players at their respective positions. Ehrhardt, a longtstick midfielder who played incredible defense all tournament and scored two goals in the semifinal win over Australia, was named the tournament’s MVP.
Dickson led Canada with three goals and Cockerton and McIntosh each scored twice. Ward made nine saves for Canada.
The U.S. had a slight advantage of faceoffs, winning 12 of 20 with Trevor Baptiste doing most of the damage. Baptiste won nine of 12. Galloway made four saves to complete the tournament with a 7-0 record.