
Coverage of the 2006 World Lacrosse Championships is presented by Davenport & Company, LLC
Ending a 28 year winning streak for the United States, Team Canada defeated the Team USA for the ILF World Lacrosse Championship 15-10. Former Virginia players Chris Sanderson (Canada) and Jay Jalbert (US) were standouts in the game. Jalbert scored twice; the second time tying the game at six apiece 1:39 into the second half.
Except for an embarassing dropped ball on a clear, resulting in an open-goal score, Sanderson was brilliant. He stopped 14 shots and was a key component to Canada’s success in clearing the ball against a tough US defense.
Jalbert was named to the All-World team, as was Sanderson. Sanderson, in his third appearance on Team Canada, was also named as best goalie of the Championship tournament.
The game was fairly well matched until the middle of the third quarter, when Canada scored three straight goals. Momentum shifted to Canada and the entire US team seem to deflate. At 7:06 into the fourth quarter, Gary Gait ripped an unassisted goal past Trevor Tierney, the first of five unanswered Canadian goals, four of which were scored by Gait. Casey Powell managed to put one past Sanderson with 40 seconds remaining in the game, but by then, the die was long cast.
Canada dominated ground ball pickups, snatching over twice as many as the US (37-18). Likewise, at 19 for 28, Canada won twice as many faceoffs; Canadian face-off specialist Geoff Snider was named the game’s MVP.
Most of the game was played in a heavy downpour, which fizzled out by the fourth quarter. In a somewhat humorous moment, the record crowd of 7,735 was treated to an English flag-draped streaker taking the field at halftime. To the obvious delight of the crowd, it took several minutes for police to round the man up; no word as to his fate.

All-World Team Goalie Chris Sanderson stands watch at the Canadian goal.
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Creative Perspectives
Sat 22 Jul 2006
Posted by: Tom McCrystal under
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