Canada beats Israel 19-3 at world indoor lacrosse championship semifinal

ONONDAGA NATION, N.Y. – Mark Matthews and Zack Greer scored four goals each to lead Canada to a 19-3 semifinal victory over Israel at the world indoor lacrosse championship on Friday.

Canada hopes to win a fourth consecutive title in Syracuse’s Carrier Dome on Sunday afternoon when it meets the Iroquois, who beat the United States 17-10 in the other semifinal.

“It was a good effort from start to finish,” Greer said. “Their goalie made some big saves early. We stuck to our game plan, got the job done back to front, and came out with a big win.

“Our goal from Day 1 has been to get better every time we step on the floor. We did that again today. Now we’ll get prepared for the big one Sunday.”

Dhane Smith, Shawn Evans, Chris Corbeil and Dan Dawson scored two goals each and Curtis Dickson, Jordan MacIntosh and Stephan Leblanc got one each.

Canada led 9-2 at halftime with Aaron Bold in net. Matt Vinc played the second half.

Israel will play the U.S. for bronze on Sunday.

An upset win over the Czech Republic on Thursday catapulted Israel, participating for the first time in the world indoor tournament, into the semifinals.

“We’re trying to build the sport in Israel, field and indoor, and for us to be in position to play for a medal is all that is important now,” said Israel’s head Brad MacArthur, a former NLL player and Wallaceburg, Ont., native.

“The outcome of this game was secondary. We’ve worked hard to move into the top group and we’ll be able to take that back to Israel and share it with the players who are there.”