A late run of five goals by Israel lifted them to a 13-11 win over Scotland at the IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship on Tuesday.
Trailing by a pair goals in the fourth quarter, the Israeli team dug deep to open their tournament against a strong Scottish squad
Both goaltenders started out a bit slow but were strong down the stretch. Scottish goaltender Ethan Dalkeith stopped 28 of 40 while Eric LeBlanc played just over seven minutes as well in the loss. Israeli goaltender Marc Rippberger stopped 42 of 53 shots in the win.
Israel Opens With a Big Lead
Israel opened their tournament by jumping out to a big lead. They scored four straight as part of a five-goal run between the first and second quarters.
Jaxson Baker got Israel on the board 2:50 into the game on a shot that trickled by Dalkeith. Baker struck again on the power play just over 1:00 later on a low shot.
Jarrett Rogalsky and Matthew Bundy scored transition goals for Israel as they led 4-0 after one.
Cue the Scottish Comeback
Josh Fodchuk put Israel up 5-0 eight seconds into the second quarter but it was all Scotland after that.
The Scots would go on a five-goal run to tie the game up heading into halftime.
Jack Bamford got Scotland on the board 2:28 into the second quarter followed by Calem McAndrew with a bouncer that got by Rippberger.
A sidearm shot by Nolan Eastwood would make it 5-3. Grady Holmes with a fadeaway shot made it a one-goal game.
Cameron Fewster scored with 6:29 on the clock to tie the game 5-5 at the break.
Keeping It Close
Jonas Kuesch scored on a long-distance bouncer with 10:52 on the clock to open the third-quarter scoring as Israel led 6-5.
Haakon Steen on the doorstep for Israel gave them a two-goal cushion with 9:30 left to play in the quarter.
Scotland would reply right back on the power play. Eastwood found the back of the net to make it 7-6.
Zane Fletcher with a shot from long distance tied it up for Scotland 7-7 with 5:12 left on the clock.
Rippberger got a piece of a shot from McAndrew with 18 seconds to play. However, Juston Haverly took the ball down right off the faceoff and scored six seconds later to tie it 8-8 heading into the final frame.
Fourth quarter headline
Zac Milne found Grady Holmes cutting through the middle to give Scotland the lead to open the fourth quarter.
Cutting to the front of the net at 11:11, Eastwood found the back of the net to put Scotland ahead 10-8.
Fletcher extended the lead, picking up a rebound of Milne’s shot and burying it at 10:31.
Not to be outdone, Israel’s Haverly scored six seconds later to make it a two-goal game. A giveaway by Scotland resulted in a goal by Israel’s Josh Fodchuk to make it 11-10 in favour of Scotland.
Israel scored their third straight goal at 7:09 by Steen and we were all tied up once again 11-11.
Steen then found himself with a ton of time and space to run to the front of the net and score at 5:24 to give Israel a 12-11 lead.
With 3:42 left, Fodchuk fought off a double team shorthanded and found Easton Berns wide open as Israel took a two-goal lead. The late run led to Israel winning 13-11.
Top Scorers
Israel
Haakon Steen, 3g 1a
Josh Fodchuk, 2g 2a
Jaxson Baker, 2g 1a
Benjamin Reidy, 3a
Scotland
Nolan Eastwood, 3g 2a
Zane Fletcher, 2g 2a
Grady Holmes, 2g 1a
Jack Bamford, 1g 2a
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Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
