Team USA Triumphs in Overtime

By Steve Guglielmo | 2/1/12 11:00 AM

Team USA slid past the Denver Pioneers in Sunday’s Champion Challenge, held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Fresh off the school’s first Final Four appearance in 2011, Denver gave Team USA all it could handle in a hard-fought 16-15 game. The game featured a plethora of current and former MLL stars.

Also featured were 2012 MLL draftees Mark Matthews and Alex Demopoulos, who lived up to expectations. Matthews, a pre-season Player of the Year candidate who was drafted fourth overall by the Denver Outlaws, had 8 points on 4 goals and 4 assists. Boston Cannon’s face-off specialist Chris Eck had high praise for Matthews, saying, “He reminds me of a young John Grant Jr. with that build and his body movement. He is going to be great if he plays in the MLL.” Demopoulos, an attackman who was drafted 24^th by the Ohio Machine, added 4 points on 1 goal and 3 assists.

MLL legend Kevin Leveille pumped the game-winning shot past Denver’s sophomore goaltender Jamie Faus 2:49 into overtime to secure the win for Team USA. Leveille was in the zone all afternoon, leading Team USA with 5 goals and even adding an assist. Faus headlined a very green defensive unit for Denver. With one year of experience, he is the unit’s most tenured player. None of the other six starters have started a single regular season game in their careers. Despite that, the Pioneers managed to stay with Team USA blow for blow.

Leveille was not the only MLL superstar to have a big day. Newly acquired Charlotte Hounds Midfielder Stephen Berger scored 2 goals and 1 assist. “It felt good to get involved and help the team get a W,” Berger said. “It was such a team effort. Everybody on the whole roster contributed.”

Chris Eck won 22 of his 35 face-off’s, giving Team USA the possessions it needed to eke out a victory. “I really respect [Denver’s face-off man] Chase Carraro,” Eck said. “He is one of my favorite college players because you can tell that he practices with the ball on the front and back of his stick. So many guys are great on the X but liabilities everywhere else. He is an all-around player. Denver is a great team. They’re well coached and did a great job with off-ball movement. They are going to be very strong this season.” On playing for Team USA, Eck said, “When I was little, I watched the World Game at Johns Hopkins. It has always been a dream of mine to play for Team USA. It’s such an honor to be able to take the field with players that I grew up idolizing and to wear the Red White and Blue.”

In total, all twenty-one players on Team USA’s roster are either current or former MLL players. Hamilton National’s attackman Casey Powell, MLL’s all-time point leader, returned from a fractured right knee cap to score twice. Rochester Rattlers’ midfielder Matt Striebel also contributed two points. “There is so much talent in the league right now,” said Berger. “There are probably 25 other guys who could have stepped in and made a contribution. The array of talent in has skyrocketed. You can see it in the league, college and even high schools. It’s only going to keep getting bigger.”

Overall it was a great experience for both Denver and Team USA. “We’re thrilled with the experience,” said University of Denver Coach Bill Tierney. “You play a bunch of veterans, a bunch of pros like we did today. It's tough to lose once you get to overtime, but I'm proud of our effort. They came out here and didn't really know what to expect. You see the ball flying around from these guys' sticks like it did, I'm really proud of them for this effort.” Adds Berger, “Most people only see the two televised games, but the entire weekend was great. Both my sister and I had the opportunity to work with the future stars of lacrosse through the clinics. It was just a great atmosphere and a great weekend.”

Team USA will look to defend its title in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship, hosted by US Lacrosse in Denver, Colo. July 10-19, 2014.

Team USA Men 16, Denver 15

USA: 3 6 3 3 1 – 16

Denver: 3 4 5 3 0 – 15

Goals - USA - K. Leveille 5, Woodson 3, Berger 2, Powell 2, M. Leveille 1, Striebel 1, Seibald 1, Farrell 1; Denver: Rogers 5, Matthews 4, Law 3, Flint 2, Demopoulos 1

Assists - USA - M. Leveille 3, K. Leveille 1, Striebel 1, Berger 1, Woodson 1

Denver: Matthews 4, Demopoulos 3, Law 1, Berg 1, Miketa 1

Saves - USA: Adams 11, Rodgers 6;

Denver: Faus 14