NETANYA, Israel — Tom Schreiber scored the game-winning goal with just one second left to give the United States the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse Men's World Championship with a 9-8 victory over Canada.
After the U.S. tied the game 8-8 with 2:59 to play on Ryan Brown's third goal of the game, Trevor Baptiste won the faceoff to set up the final U.S. possession. There was one final scramble for a loose ball, but the U.S. maintained possession with 1:45 remaining after a loose ball push on Canada.
In the final minute, the U.S. had three consecutive shots go high of the cage — shots by Paul Rabil, Jordan Wolf and Schreiber. After the last one, Rob Pannell quickly fed the ball from the end line to a cutting Schreiber and he finished it inside for his third goal of the game.
Canada players and coaches argued adamantly that the goal came after the final whistle, but the officials converged and ruled that the shot came with one second still on the clock.
"The fact that this game had to literally go to the last second speaks to the competition between the two teams," Schreiber said. "I have a ton of respect for those guys on the other side. I'm teammates with a few of them. In the indoor league I've gotten to know them, I know how competitive they are. In some ways it's a shame the game had to end that way...but we'll certainly take it."
"It is one of those things where it's shame when one team has to lose," said U.S. team head coach John Danowski. "The Canadian team played so well for so long, but at the end of the day our guys made one more play."
The championship is the 10th overall for the U.S. as the two countries added another epic chapter to their storied rivalry. Canada defeated the U.S. to win the 2014 world championship in Denver and the two countries have alternated the championship since 2002 with the U.S. winning in 2002, 2010 and 2018 and Canada winning in 2006 and 2014.
Schreiber's goal gave the U.S. its first lead since scoring the first two goals of the first quarter, goals by Schreiber and Paul Rabil. Canada then scored four straight goals in the final 10 minutes of the quarter, two of them by Curtis Dickson.
Brown and Matt Danowski scored back-to-back for the U.S., but Canada's offense again proved deadly with Mark Cockerton and Ben McIntosh scoring back-to-back to give Canada a 6-4 lead.
Momentum began to swing a little back towards the U.S. as the U.S. defense withstood a five-minute possession at the end of the first half, denying Canada another goal.
The U.S. defense held strong in the third quarter, shutting out Canada. Brown scored early in the quarter and then Marcus Holman tied it 6-6 on a extra-man goal with 9:48 left in the third.
Canada seized the lead just 1:07 into the fourth as Curtis Dickson scored. Schreiber answered for the U.S. a little over two minutes later.
Cockerton gave Canada its final lead with 5:17 left when he bulled his way to the goal for an 8-7 advantage. Canada's Zach Currier came up the with the ball on the ensuing faceoff, but Canada was whistled for an offsides violation and Brown scored to set up the dramatic final few minutes.
Brown and Schreiber led the U.S. with three goals each and both were named to the all-tournament team. Brown had 25 goals in the tournament, the second-highest total for a U.S. player in event history, just one away from the 26 Mark Millon scored in 1994. They were joined on the all-tournament team by attackman Rob Pannell and defender Michael Ehrhardt.
Pannell, who had the assist on the winning goal, was named to the all-world team for the second straight time.
Ehrhardt and Schreiber were named the outstanding players at their position, and Ehrhardt, a longtstick midfielder who played incredible defense all tournament and scored two goals in the semifinal win over Australia was named the tournament's MVP.
Dickson led Canada with three goals and Cockerton and McIntosh each scored twice. Ward made nine saves for Canada.
The U.S. had a slight advantage of faceoffs, winning 12-of-20 with Trevor Baptiste doing most of the damage. Baptiste won 9-of-12. U.S. goalie John Galloway made four saves to complete the tournament with a 7-0 record.
All-World Team
A - Rob Pannell, USA
A - Ryan Brown, USA
A - Curtis Dickson, Canada
M - Tom Schreiber, USA
M - Austin Staats, Iroquois Nationals
M - Ben McIntosh, Canada
D - Michael Ehrhardt, USA
D - Graeme Hossack, Canada
D - Ryland Rees, Canada
G - Dillon Ward, Canada
Outstanding Attackman: Curtis Dickson, Canada
Outstanding Midfielder: Tom Schreiber, USA
Outstanding Defender: Michael Ehrhardt, USA
Outstanding Goalie: Dillon Ward, Canada
MVP: Michael Ehrhardt, USA
USA FIL Spirit of the Game Award: Jimmy Butler