LANGLEY, British Columbia — Fueled by a strong transition game, the United States beat Israel 18-10 to pick up its first victory at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship at the Langley Events Centre.
One night after being held to just six goals in its opening game against Canada, the U.S. offense got on track, ignited by a tremendous hustle play from Joel White.
With Israel trailing just 5-3 and on a power play, White outsprinted two players off a restart and then scored a diving shorthanded goal to start the second quarter scoring. The U.S. outscored Israel 5-2 in the quarter and broke the game open with three straight goals in the third quarter.
NLL players Joe Resetarits (4g, 4a) and Kieran McArdle (2g, 7a) led the U.S. offense, combining for 17 points. Veteran Anthony Kelly, playing on his second U.S. team after a 12-year break from his first stint, added a hat trick and Gale Thorpe (2g, 3a), Blaze Riorden (1g, 4a) and White (2g, 1a) were big factors as well.
Gowah Abrams went the distance in goal, making 26 saves, to earn the victory. Trevor Baptiste won 20 of 29 faceoffs in the game.
The U.S. plays its third game in as many days when it matches up against the four-team silver medalist Iroquois Nationals on Saturday night at 10:30 pm Eastern on Lax Sports Network. The Iroquois are 1-0 after beating Israel 17-6 in its opener on Thursday before having a bye on Friday.
