UTICA, N.Y. — The United States dominated from the beginning in a 24-6 victory over Ireland in the quarterfinal round of the World Lacrosse Men’s Box Championship. The U.S. will meet the Haudenosaunee, a 24-6 victor over Israel in its quarterfinal game, in the semifinals on Friday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
The first seven goals of the game were scored by seven different players and the U.S. led 10-0 after the first quarter and 20-1 at halftime before cruising home to the victory.
C.J. Kirst led the U.S. with four goals and Jack Hannah added three. Mac O’Keefe had a team-high nine points on two goals and seven assists.
Drew Hutchison went the distance for the U.S. in goal, making 21 saves to earn his second win of the tournament. He also had an assist on a long outlet pass to a streaking Ethan O’Connor for a U.S. goal.
The U.S. saw the return of faceoff specialist Joe Nardella to the lineup after he missed the last two games with an injury suffered in the opening game of the tournament.
“I was chomping at the bit the past couple of days,” Nardella said. “Obviously, it was limited minutes, but that’s what the coach wanted and what the team needed, so I was happy to be back in any capacity.”
Nardella had an assist in the victory and Tim Edwards continued to perform at a high level while taking on additional faceoff responsibilities for the fourth straight game, in addition to his usual defensive shifts.
“He plays on the penalty kill, the press team, he does it all,” Nardella said of Edwards. “He’s a great all-around lacrosse player. He buried a goal tonight and he’s a good faceoff guy too. We’re really lucky to have him. He’s a quiet leader and he’s an awesome player.”
The win over Ireland sets up a familiar scenario for the U.S. team. This will be the third straight time that the U.S. and the Haudenosaunee have met in the semifinal round of the men’s box championship. U.S. team captain Blaze Riorden has been around for all three matchups.
“When I started I was a wide-eyed 20-year-old kid looking around a little bit starstruck playing with guys like Casey Powell and a lot of big name guys,” Riorden said. “I was just really trying to soak it in and now I’ve taken more of a leadership role. Looking out of both lenses, the things I learned in 2015 I’m trying to spread throughout this team. But honestly, it’s been great to see the mix of guys – we have young guys and veteran guys all coming together. It’s been an awesome week and a half. Time is dwindling no matter the result so I’m just going to enjoy these last couple days together and put our best foot forward.”
The U.S. made some history already in this tournament, beating the Haudenosaunee 16-9 – its first win ever over the Haudenosaunee in this event. To make further history and reach the championship game for the first time ever, it will have to beat the Haudenosaunee again. The U.S. has won the bronze at each of the previous five world championships.
“Taking it opportunity by opportunity, every chance we get to strap our helmets on as a team, we talk about taking a step forward,” Riorden said. “As this tournament goes on, the more steps forward we take, we expect our next 60 minutes to be our best and that’s kind of the opportunity we have in front of us tomorrow.
“Obviously, the opponent standing across from us is going to come out hard. They’ve been building. It’s going to come down to who’s disciplined and who plays the hardest and smartest for 60 minutes.”
