SAN DIEGO – The pregame energy was high but it was not enough for the Haudenosaunee Nationals as they dropped a hard fought semifinal 12-7 to Canada at the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship at Snapdragon Stadium. Austin Staats led the offense once again with four goals and an assist. Lyle Thompson added a goal and three assists and Randy Staats finished with a goal and an assist. Warren Hill finished with six saves in net. Canada got hat tricks from Dhane Smith and Dyson Williams and Wesley Berg added two goals.

“We just kind of got behind the eight ball a little bit. A couple of big saves from their goalie and it led to kind of a spiral of things going into half,” commented Brendan Bomberry after the game. “We tried to make a little bit of a comeback, but obviously Canada being the team that they are, they played great. They kind of held the ball and forced us to make some not so great decisions…That led to them getting ahead a little more.”

The game was a rematch of the 8-7 Canada win in pool play four days ago. That game gave Haudenosaunee some legit belief they could become the first ever Nationals team to make the gold medal game at World Lacrosse. They had reason for optimism but they were also playing their seventh game in seven days at the world championship level. There were no excuses before or after the game, but that sort of ironman grind will take its toll on any athlete. Haudenosaunee admittedly came out a little flat and Canada took advantage as they jumped out to an early lead that Haudenosaunee could never overcome.

The Nationals got started with a Warren Hill save on Josh Byrne but Randy Staats hit the pipe on the other end. Canada pushed the ball in transition and Graeme Hossack found Latrell Harris to put Canada on the board. After a Canada turnover on an interference call, Jake Piseno pushed the ball into the offensive zone and found Kason Tarbell, who’s shot was blocked by Dillon Ward. Again, Canada went the other way and scored a minute later as Ryan Lee passed to a cutting Dhane Smith who buried his first goal with under nine minutes remaining in the quarter. Three minutes later Oakley Thomas knocked the ball loose and Lyle Thompson found Zach Miller who’s shot was also blocked by Ward. On the other end Dyson Williams scored his first goal of the game wrapping around from behind the net to give Canada the early 3-0 lead. Haudenosaunee would respond despite two more saves from Ward. Kyle Jackson had the third attempt as he scooped the ball out front and scored to cut the lead to 3-1. Wesley Berg scored on a throwback from Connor Fields behind the net to make it 4-1 Canada heading in the second quarter.     

Another Dhane Smith goal one minute into the quarter gave Canada the 5-1 lead. Jeff Teat hit the pipe on the next possession and Haudenosaunee pushed the ball the other way. Jake Piseno eventually found Lyle Thompson who sniped one in the top right corner to cut the lead to 5-2. But Canada responded again as Dhane Smith found Ryan Lee wide open on the doorstep to extend the lead to 6-2 with five minutes remaining in the half. Another Warren Hill save kept the score 6-2 heading into halftime.

Two early Haudenosaunee penalties put Canada a man up and Clarke Petterson found the middle of the defense and buried a feed from Josh Byrne. Haudenosaunee won the faceoff but Austin Staats hit the crossbar. But Austin then passed out of the double team to his brother Randy out front who fired a behind-the-back goal to cut the score to 7-3 with under 11 minutes in the third. A questionable illegal body checking penalty on Zed Williams gave Canada the man advantage and Dyson Williams put one away on an assist from Clarke Petterson. A slashing penalty on Jerry Staats set up another man up goal for Canada as Dhane Smith scored his second of the night on a pass by Jeff Teat to give Canada the 9-3 lead heading into the final quarter.  

Jack VanValkenburgh entered at goalie for Haudenosaunee to start the fourth quarter. A quick Lyle Thompson shot was saved by Ward and Canada slowed it down until Wesley Berg drove middle and scored to give Canada the 10-3 lead. Haudenosaunee answered with a 3-0 run to show a little life down the stretch. Oakley Thomas caused a turnover and Piseno found Lyle Thompson who dished it to Austin Staats to make it 10-4. Then Lyle Thompson knocked the ball loose in the Canada zone and Randy Staats found Austin for his second goal of the night. Three minutes later a Graeme Hossack holding penalty gave Haudenosaunee the man advantage and Austin capitalized on a swing pass from Lyle Thompson to make it 10-6 Canada. But, two straight from Canada put the game out of reach as Curtis Dickson slowed it down before beating the Haudenosaunee defense driving middle and finishing up top to make it 11-6 with just under six minutes remaining. Dyson Williams would complete his hat trick  on a Jeff Teat assist to round out the scoring for Canada with under four minutes left. Austin Staats scored his fourth goal of the game from the top after a dish from Lyle Thompson to make the final score 12-7.

“Energy wise, it took us a little while to get going. Seven games in seven days – no excuses. We just didn’t bury the ball early,” said assistant coach Scott Marr after the game. “We had some chances. We just didn’t shoot great. But, we fought back, we didn’t stop fighting. Got a little closer there in the fourth quarter…give us credit for that. Guys were tired but they kept digging down. We got to regroup here and get ready for Saturday.”

Up next…Haudenosaunee will face Australia in the bronze medal game on Saturday, July 1 at 1 p.m. PST/4 p.m. EST. at Snapdragon Stadium. The game can be watched on ESPNU.

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