ASHKELON, ISRAEL — The Birthright/USA All-Stars stifled the Israel men’s national team in a 7-2 win at New Municipal Stadium on Tuesday night.
Israel’s Jacob Silberlicht drew first blood at the 3:00 mark, but were held scoreless by the Americans intense defense and strong goaltender for the next 56 minutes.
The match was the last of a four-game exhibition tour that pits all-star squads of American college players on their Taglit-Birthright trip against Israeli squads.
Seven different players scored one goal apiece for the All-Stars; Jonah Biblowitz, Brett Hackel, Noah Hirshorn, Ari Hymowitz, Ian Kadish, Aaron Lassow and Ben Lassow each found the back of the net, while Kevin Rowen added an assist.
Silberlicht and Aaron Feinberg each scored a goal for the Israelis.
Masters goaltender Jim Gottlieb (5:00, 3 saves, 1 GA) got the start in goal, though Eric Fischer (25:00, 5 saves, 3 GA) and Andrew Landsman (30:00, 3 saves, 3 GA) carried most of the load.
The show of strength for the stars bodes well for the expansion Be’er Sheva LC; seven members of the All-Stars are expected to join the club at the conclusion of the tour on Saturdya.
In the women’s game, Israel avenged Sunday’s loss with a 12-5 win over the All-Stars. Jayme Verman (five goals, three assists) and Amanda Tuck (four goals) led the blue-and-white, while Carli Marsh (two goals, one assist) topped the scoresheet for Taglit.
Earlier in the week, the stars outpaced the Israel U-19 men’s national team, 6-1, in a shortened game at Netanya’s Shapira Field. The stars led 5-0 after the first quarter, before Joshua Bernstein scored the lone goal for the blue-and-white on an assist from Lidor Ashtamktar. In a tremendous show of sportsmanship, the third and fourth quarters were played out with “mashed” teams after the match was abandoned.
Caps (men) – Joshua Bernstein, Dan Deutsch, Yotam Drori, Aaron Feinberg, Eric Fischer, Chris Friedman, Jim Gottlieb, Jesse Hartman, Eric Kansky, Yochanan Katz, Avraham Kolel, Andrew Landsman, Gabriel Leonhard, Seth Mahler, Roey Ringel, Alex Siegel, Jacob Silberlicht, Marc Skolnick, Glen Tobin
Caps (u19) – Lidor Ashtamkar, Ori Bar David, Alon Bechor, Ron Bentura, Joshua Bernstein, Yanai Bittmann, Mor Cohen, Liron Glam, Sagi Hashai, Shimon Smirnov, Bar Yahalom