Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Hong Kong dominated Luxembourg 20-1 for the first victory of the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship.
Hong Kong was led by Evan Mok-Lamme with four goals, plus four points apiece from Ho Chun Kelvin Mak, Stephen Edward O’Brien and Wesley See Hon Wong.
Luxembourg’s lone goal came from Max Rubin less than six minutes into the game.
2. It's getting real for Team USA as it prepares to play its first match of the World Championship against the Iroquois Nationals today at 1:30 p.m. ET.
“It’s been a process that began in January of ’16, but it’s flown by,” coach John Danowski says in the latest Team USA vlog published on the US Lacrosse YouTube channel. “Every time we’ve been together with these guys, it’s been absolutely extraordinary. Every experience has been better than the last. Now you see a turn in their focus. It’s getting serious now. It’s becoming real.”
On Wednesday, the Nationals boarded a plane to Israel after passport issues delayed them in Canada. They were scheduled to land at 11 a.m. local time today.
Iroquois Nationals are on plane departing for Isreal for the 2018 world championships!! Whoo hoo!! pic.twitter.com/Sj8kPe5GeA
— IROQUOIS LACROSSE (@IrqLax) July 11, 2018
Bout to get some serious air time
— LYLE THOMPSON (@lyle4thompson) July 11, 2018
GAME. ON.@USAMLax vs. @iroqnats2018 on #ESPN2 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern (8:30 p.m. local) in Netanya, Israel. https://t.co/yL57a9RAdr
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) July 12, 2018
3. Five key storylines to follow at the World Championship include:
Scotland is making its Blue Division debut, Israel aims to medal, the U.S.-Canada rivalry continues, Puerto Rico has high hopes in its first year and the Philippines is led by Carthage legend Kirk Ventiquattro.
4. The MLL is well represented in Israel at the World Championship, including Max Seibald (Boston Cannons) for Israel, former Cannon Ricky Pages for Puerto Rico and Callum Robinson (Atlanta Blaze) for Australia.
The ultimate goal is to win gold, but representing your country and growing the game globally are honors.
“We don’t do it for money,” Robinson said. “We’re paving the way for future generations. Hopefully, we can move the sport to sounder health for future generations. We all love it. We’ve committed our lives to it. We all have a common goal in seeing this sport grow.”
5. Three major rules are coming to the international women’s game – four 15-minute quarters, self-starts and 10 players per team.
“We are looking to harmonize the sport between men and women, and not altering the traditional styles of play, as we continue to identify ways to increase fan engagement and following of the sport,” said FIL President Sue Redfern. “We are pleased with the adoption of these rules which shall increase the speed of the game and increase the safety of athletes.”
In all, the FIL adopted five rule changes Tuesday, which also included no over-and-back in men’s lacrosse, plus sudden death overtime periods in four-minute intervals. Future FIL world events will be limited to 30 teams, using a qualifying system.
6. The high school players of the year are Sophia Derosa of Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.) and Jeffrey Conner of Strath Haven (Pa.).