Angus Goodleaf stood still 5 yards in front of the Iroquois net staring across the field. His right elbow sat on the butt end of his stick, which was firmly planted into the AstroTurf.

The Iroquois goalie had just allowed the nail-in-the-coffin goal to Canada’s Shawn Evans, the eventual tournament MVP. Trailing by three goals with three minutes to play, the longed Iroquois comeback seemed as unrealistic as ever after being within one just minutes earlier.

“They were just a little bit better,” Iroquois head coach Rick Kilgour said. “… If we could have tied it up, who knows? But I guess that’s what losers always say.”

The Canadians’ unbeaten streak at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship continued in the gold medal game with a 12-8 win over the Iroquois Nationals on Sunday in the Carrier Dome. For the fourth straight time since the inception of the WILC, Canada won gold and the Iroquois Nationals took silver.

After Lyle Thompson brought the Nationals within just one goal at 8-7 early in the fourth quarter, Canada went on a 4-1 run to ice the game.

“We knew we had to worry about what’s next and not worry about what just happened,” said Canada’s Curtis Dickson, who scored four goals. “We’ve been great all tournament at bouncing back.”

Lyle Thompson and his brother Miles Thompson were limited to just one goal apiece. Kilgour said his team jokes that they’re like the Beatles because they attract so much attention from fans, but they also were the focus of Canada’s defense. They were forced to take shots on the run and had limited time and space to shoot.

As Canada pulled away in the fourth quarter, its fans in Section 114 grew louder as the lead continued to increase. They were outnumbered by fans of the Iroquois, the host nation, but the red and white flags flew more and more frequently.

Iroquois’ Randy Staats said his team wasn’t deflated as it focused more on just getting the next goal.

The problem was that in the fourth quarter, it was Canada scoring the next goal.

“Someday, we’re gonna get one more than those guys,” Kilgour said.

As the Iroquois waited for the medal ceremony, players stood motionless on the field, many with watery eyes. Lyle Thompson spoke with a team staff member as his chinstrap dangled from the left side of his helmet, which was still on his head. Jeff Shattler stared stonefaced into the crowd and didn’t change his facial expression for several minutes.

 

The Iroquois posed for the photo they didn’t want to take. They were the second group of players to accept medals — not the third, which receives gold.

Once each player had the silver medal dangling from his neck, the Iroquois huddled on the field one last time and then saluted the home fans.

“With this Iroqouis team, we knew we were going to have our hands full,” Canadian head coach Eddie Comeau said.

Though it wasn’t always a guarantee, the Canadians finished the game powerfully and were celebrating another title just a few feet away. Family members flooded the field and wives and children took photos with the champions.

When the Canadians took a team photo with the trophy, one player yelled, “Get those 1’s up,” a reference to where his team stands in international indoor lacrosse.

Team Canada celebrates gold. #WILC2015 https://t.co/irT3KnNTEh

— Paul Schwedelson (@pschweds) September 28, 2015

Evans later stood next to the table where the championship trophy was handed out. He held his MVP plaque in his right hand and, as the Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons gave a speech, two of his children were by his side.

His wife, who was holding their third child, was in the middle of a scrum of photographers. The four of them made the five-hour drive on Saturday to see Shawn in the championship game. Wearing red Toms shoes and a Shawn Evans jersey-style T-shirt, his wife looked over at him. The two made eye contact and exchanged a mutual smile.

“It was something special,” Evans said of having his family there.

The motto of the WILC was “Lacrosse is home,” since an indigenous nation hosted an international sporting event for the first time.

As Canada received their gold medals for the fourth time, “I’m coming home,” by Diddy played over the Carrier Dome loudspeakers.

While the game might’ve come home, the gold medal stayed home.

Published on September 27, 2015 at 9:37 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds