The Irish men's lacrosse team faced their toughest challenge yet when they faced off against a very organised, athletic and balanced New Zealand side in Thursday's action at the World Lacrosse Championships in Denver. Even before the match started, the fans who turned up for what everyone knew would be a close match would be treated to one of the highlights of the tournament - the New Zealand lacrosse team's pre-match haka!
The word was that a special haka had been commissioned for the national lacrosse team which integrated the players' sticks. The Irish players lined-up shoulder-to-shoulder to face the performance by the Kiwis, as the media swarmed to capture the moment. That set the stage for what would be a highly intense and competitive match.
New Zealand controlled the first face-off and went straight to goal, but the shot was saved by Sweeney, who quickly cleared the ball back up field to Kris Prior who then buried a shot to put Ireland on the scoreboard first, 1-0. New Zealand quickly equalised however when the long-pole #10 headed straight down-field and scored to make it 1-1.
The teams then went back and forth again. First Tom Riley scored for Ireland to make it 2-2, followed by a New Zealand equaliser, then Mike McTernan scored his first goal of the day on a spinning jumpshot to make it 3-2. That proved to be an inspirational goal as Ireland would then go on to score two more goals to make it 5-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The Irish team would then continue to build on its small margin throughout the game, leading 8-3 at half-time and 11-6 at the end of the third quarter. But New Zealand are a team that plays to the final whistle, and they worked hard in the fourth quarter to reduce the deficit to just two goals (11-9) with just over 2 minutes left in the game. The Irish team was rescued on several occasions by the outstanding goalkeeping of Connor Sweeney, and were unfortunate to have hit the post on at least four occasions during the match.
New Zealand worked hard to try to get possession in the dying seconds, but Brian Gillis did an excellent job of holding onto the ball, eventually dishing to Mike Shea for an easy finish to make the final score 12-10 in favour of Ireland.
Mike McTernan had an outstanding game, leading all scorers with 4 goals and earning him The Physio Company Game MVP honours. Kris Prior, Tom Riley and Mike Shea each had 2, while Gillis and Cahill had one apiece. Ireland play their final game tomorrow (Friday) against Germany at midnight Irish time and the match will be broadcast on ESPN3. That match will determine the 9th place team in the tournament.
Tom Beary
