Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:

1. Well, it’s on. Team USA beat Australia in an FIL World Championship semifinal yesterday to draw a rematch with defending world champion Canada in the gold-medal game Saturday morning at Netanya Stadium in Israel.

The 14-5 defeat of the Aussies saw the U.S. continue its tournament-long efficiency in the passing game, as the Americans assisted on 10 goals. The U.S. and Canada will face off at 3 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow live on ESPN2 (a re-broadcast will air at noon ET on ESPNU).

Balanced scoring once again carried Team USA, which got at least one point from 12 players and its first-half goals from seven different players (box score). But Australia proved much tougher a foe than the version of itself that got decimated by the Americans in pool play, 19-1. Christopher Robertson scored with 7:37 left in the second quarter to pull the Australians within 5-4 before Jordan Wolf and Will Haus countered late for a 7-4 Team USA lead at the half. Defense and faceoff dominance took over from there.

2. Canada got to the final by jumping on the Iroquois Nationals, 6-0, en route to a 15-4 win in the other semifinal.

In the decisive first quarter, the reigning world champions got five faceoff wins in seven attempts from Geoff Snider and five saves from goalie Dillon Ward. The latter is making another run at the tournament’s MVP award, which he won in 2014. He finished this game with 13 saves for a total of 37 in two matchups with the Iroquois, and he has stopped an event-leading 68 percent of shots faced.

Ben McIntosh scored two of his team-high three goals in the first quarter and added two assists and his final goal in the second as the Canadians extended to a 10-2 at intermission (box score).

3. Devon Wills, a four-time gold medalist goalie for the U.S. women’s team, hosted an educational session at LaxCon in Baltimore.

Wills, an assistant coach at Southern California and the director of player relations for the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League, demonstrated a number of drills coaches can implement to improve their goalies’ hand movements and hand-eye coordination.

LaxCon moves to Philadelphia Jan. 11-13, 2019. US Lacrosse expects to launch ticket sales shortly after Labor Day.

4. Caitlyn Wurzburger is on her way.

From the July/August issue of US Lacrosse Magazine, Wurzburger may have made some waves in the lacrosse community by giving Syracuse a non-binding verbal commitment as an eighth grader two years ago. Nowadays, she’s just making waves on the field.

5. In a move sure to delight hungry middle-school players, US Lacrosse has named Chipotle Mexican Grill the presenting sponsor of the 10th annual US Lacrosse Nationals.

The tournament will bring several of the nation’s best 14U, 13U and 12U club teams, who secured bids by participating in sanctioned qualifiers, DE Turf Sports Complex in Frederica, Del., Aug. 2-5.

6. The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association named Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe of NCAA champion James Madison its Division I National Coach of the Year, highlighting its national and regional honorees for all three divisions of play.

Klaes-Bawcombe led the Dukes to their second straight Colonial Athletic Association title before they captured their first national championship, concluding the season with a program-best 22-1 season.

Kathy Taylor of Le Moyne headlined the award-winners in Division II, while Carol Cantele of Gettysburg did so in Division III.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• The Washington Post published less of a story about a local high school coach’s employment status and more of a story about disagreements on same between the school’s principal and athletics director.

• The Cleveland Jewish News pondered what in the world Israel is doing hosting the FIL World Championship.

• Minnesota Public Radio reported on the death of Minnetonka High School midfielder Archer Amorosi and subsequent mourning by his teammates and community. We extend our sympathies to his family and friends.

• Lacrosse All Stars chronicled Japan’s road to redemption this year after a disappointing performance in 2014.

• Inside Lacrosse reported on some colleges hiring assistant coaches, namely Rutgers’ addition of former Air Force head coach Eric Seremet.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

After a week off, Major League Lacrosse resumed its season last night with one game, Boston at New York. Will Manny scored late to break a 13-13 tie and give the host Lizards the win, bringing them back to .500 at 6-6. New York temporarily tied Charlotte for the all-important fourth position in the standings, pending the Hounds’ Saturday evening visit to second-place Chesapeake.

.@WillManny_1 just beats the shot clock and scores with 1:54 left to put the @LizardsLacrosse up 14-13 on the @BostonCannons. Goal upheld after lengthy video review. WATCH FREE https://t.co/oJkK8CQ2nw, the LSN app, and twitter https://t.co/9ZZ2iKGXXM pic.twitter.com/vIyALaHX9S

— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) July 20, 2018

WHAT’S ON TAP

• Today represents the last full day of play at the FIL Men’s World Championship in Netanya, which means final placing games line the schedule. Among the highlights: Australia vs. the Iroquois Nationals for the bronze medal (1 p.m. ET), England vs. Japan for fifth place (3:40 p.m. ET), and host Israel vs. upstart Puerto Rico for seventh place (10 a.m. ET).

• We’ll have a preview of the USA-Canada gold-medal game, which again is set for a 3 a.m. ET Saturday faceoff live on ESPN2. If your patriotism can’t quite overcome your REM sleep, ESPNU will re-air the final at noon ET Saturday.

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