JERUSALEM — The U.S. national team’s two-week journey in Israel started Tuesday with a tour of Jerusalem, an ancient city steeped in religious tradition and marked by a beautiful golden dome.

The meaning of the experience — which included stops at Yad Vashem, Kraft Stadium, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall — was not lost on the players who would like to leave the Holy Land with more than just their own share of gold.

“We’re in the holy city. This is sacred ground that a lot of people travel from all over the world to get to,” said Marcus Holman, an attackman and two-time Team USA member. “I feel very lucky to be a part of it.”

At Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, the boisterous group grew silent as it made its way through The Children’s Memorial, a dark hall illuminated only by the reflections of candles as the names of the approximately 1.5 million Jewish children who were killed echoed from the speakers.

PHOTO BY MATT DASILVA

At Kraft Stadium, the centerpiece of a sports complex built by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in honor of his late wife, Myra, the U.S. contingent put on an impromptu clinic for Hong Kong’s national team, met with a group of at-risk Israeli youth who have discovered lacrosse through the organization Sticks For Kids, signed autographs and posed for pictures.

“When you take a step back and you look at being a part of the world championships, those are the little things that are important,” said Holman, who also is an assistant coach at the University of Utah, a soon-to-be NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse program helmed by his father, Brian Holman. “While we’re focused on winning and we want to win a gold medal, it’s also about spreading the love and the joy of lacrosse to other countries.”

At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located within the Christian Quarter of the Old City where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried, and the Western Wall, which faces a large plaza of the Jewish Quarter and adjoins the holy Temple Mount, U.S. players, coaches and support staff of varying faith origins prayed and observed with reverence their surroundings.

PHOTO BY MATT DASILVA

Along the way, passersby asked them about the sport they played and why they were in Israel, offering even more opportunities to introduce the stick-and-ball game to those who have never heard about it.

Asked what his favorite part of the day was, U.S. head coach John Danowski replied, “The look on [defenseman] Mike Ehrhardt’s face when he walked out of the tomb of Jesus Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was incredible. We were all extremely moved by that experience. There are things that are more important than a lacrosse game.”

FIL Opener in Jeopardy

Team USA flew from New York to Tel Aviv overnight Sunday into Monday, arriving in Israel in the evening hours Monday due to a seven-hour time difference. After dinner at the team’s kibbutz near Herzliya and a brief walk to a nearby beach on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, strength coach Jay Dyer led an optional dynamic stretching session before players retired for the night.

Following the Jerusalem tour Tuesday, the U.S. practiced for the first time since the team broke from training camp in Foxborough, Mass., before the June 28 MLL All-Star Game.

Team USA is scheduled to play its FIL World Championship opener Thursday at 8:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. Eastern) against the Iroquois Nationals at Netanya Stadium on ESPN2 — a highly anticipated matchup that has become imperiled by the same passport dispute that forced the Iroquois to withdraw from this event in 2010, when it was held in Manchester, England. While many governments do not recognize Haudenosaunee-issued passports, the team historically has refused to travel on American or Canadian documents as a statement of the sovereignty of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Currently delayed in Canada, the Iroquois won’t arrive in Israel until Thursday at the earliest. The FIL has intervened and is hoping for a solution that would allow the team to make it in time for the tournament opener, which is the first of 14 games that will be televised by ESPN. More than 150 additional games will be streamed live on ESPN+, an over-the-top subscription service.

The FIL did not announce a contingency plan.

“They give you a schedule and you play your schedule. All those things are out of your control,” Danowski replied when asked about the Iroquois situation. “The weather, the officiating, your opponent — they’re all out of your control. What you can control is how you prepare, how you practice, the team building. Those are the things you focus on.”

Fletcher, Bernhardt Dodge Injury Scares

Joe Fletcher and Jesse Bernhardt, who comprise two-thirds of Team USA’s starting close defense, both were cleared by medical staff to compete in the world championship after sustaining injuries in Major League Lacrosse.

Fletcher, who missed training camp and the MLL All-Star Game after spraining the MCL in his left knee during a New York Lizards game against the Boston Cannons on June 23, received clearance Thursday after testing his knee in a series of workouts orchestrated by Dyer in Baltimore.

“The first week, I was able to run forward, jog backward and break it down [into defensive positioning]. It was just, how would my knee handle a seven-game-in-two-week stretch? Jay pushed me really hard this week,” Fletcher said. “They just wanted to see the swelling, that my knee didn’t blow up. The medical staff gave me confidence and enough support that I felt comfortable.”

Bernhardt, a two-time Team USA member and defenseman for the Chesapeake Bayhawks, left a July 2 game against the Boston Cannons with an undisclosed injury.

“We’re delighted everybody’s healthy,” Danowski said.

Next Man Up

After the MLL All-Star Game, the U.S. coaches tabbed Will Haus as the replacement for injured short-stick defensive midfielder Steve DeNapoli on the 23-man travel roster.

The move means there will be two sets of brothers competing for Team USA in Israel. Haus’ brother, John, is a midfielder for the U.S., while Bernhardt’s brother, Jake, is a defensive midfielder.

“It was really unfortunate for D-Nap. We all feel for him,” Haus said of DeNapoli, who tore the ACL in his right knee playing for the New York Lizards in a June 9 game against the Florida Launch and is undergoing surgery. “But the next man had to step up. Fortunately, I was that guy.”

The Haus brothers are teammates with MLL’s Charlotte Hounds and now with Team USA after going their separate ways in college, John at Maryland and Will at Duke.

“Playing with my brother adds to it, makes it even more special,” Will Haus said.