July 16, 2014
2014 FIL World Championships Schedule (Commerce City, Colo.)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The United States Lacrosse team, which includes two Penn State alumni and head coach Jeff Tambroni, rounded out a perfect 5-0 group-play record at the 2014 FIL World Championships on Tuesday night with a resounding 18-5 win over the Iroquois. In all, six PSU representatives are either playing or coaching at the quadrennial event.
Drew Adams, a 2009 alum, and Greg Gurenlian (2006), have each played a key role in the United States' success thus far in the team's quest for a world title, while Tambroni has served as offensive coordinator to U.S. head coach Richie Meade. The U.S. squad is averaging a tournament-best 17 goals per game.
Gurenlian has been part of a two-headed monster at the face-off X with Chris Eck. Gurenlian has won 44 of 52 draws (84.6 percent), while picking up 26 ground balls and dishing an assist. Against Canada in the tournament opener, Gurenlian went 4-for-6, while going 10-for-13 the next day against Australia, earning eight ground balls. His best showing was against England with a perfect 12-for-12 game and nine ground balls.
Drew AdamsAdams has featured in three games thus far with two starts, going 2-0 with a 4.41 goals-against average and a .600 save percentage. In his last outing, Adams stopped three of the four shots he saw on goal with two ground balls, narrowly missing a shutout in a 20-1 victory over England on Monday.
The United States has the day off on Wednesday while the knockout round in the championship bracket commences. The United States will play a semifinal match-up on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET against Australia Israel on ESPNU.
Rising junior Matt Sexton (Niskayuna, N.Y.) has been a feature midfielder for the English National Team, which lost a narrow 13-12 overtime-game last night to Japan. Sexton scored his first two international goals on three shots. Sexton has four points on those two goals and two assists. England plays Germany today at 4 p.m. ET to play the loser of the Australia-Israel match-up on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
A 2001 alum, Dave Washo has been playing with the Slovakian National Team this tournament. Washo has scored seven goals and dished two assists for nine points in the tournament. Washo scored two goals in games against South Korea, Sweden and France. Slovakia will play its next game on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. against an opponent to be determined.
Penn State assistant coach Chris Doctor has been on the sidelines with the Iroquois Nationals, who completed pool play at 3-2 for a third-place finish behind the U.S. and Canada. The Iroquois open knockout play tonight against Scotland at 6 p.m. ET with the winner advancing to play Canada.