BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — The Israel men’s national team used a four-goal burst in the second quarter to stun Germany, 8-4, in the Quarterfinals of the 2016 ELF European Lacrosse Championships, which are being held at Szent István University in Budapest, Hungary, from July 28-August 6.
The blue-and-white are one win away from securing the program’s first medal, which would be a monumental achievement for the five-year-old Israel Lacrosse Association.
Israel (6-0) meets Wales (5-1) in the semifinals on Thursday at 5:30pm local / 6:30pm Israel / 11:30am ET. England (6-0) takes on Scotland (5-1) in the other semifinal.
Israel and Wales have met once prior, in group play at the 2012 European Championships. The Israelis prevailed in a nailbiter, 14-12, which secured the group and put them in the Round of Eight. Four years later, the stakes will be much higher as a trip to the Gold Medal Game is on the line in the rematch.
The Germans, who were picked by many to challenge the defend champions, England, for Gold this weekend, gave Israel all they could handle in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.
Philipp Broz gave Germany and early 1-0 lead and the European lacrosse powerhouse took advantage of Israel’s sloppy play, dominating time of possession. The blue-and-white wouldn’t get on the board until the 21:02 mark. The two teams traded goals to go into the half 2-2.
Israel came out of the half in clear command, scoring the next four goals to electrify the crowd and take a 6-2 advantage after three quarters. Germany chipped back to 6-4, but, they could not take advantage of their late opportunities to close the gap, and Israel was able to close out the win. Daniel Leventhal scored an empty-netter with 49 seconds left to seal the victory.
Caleb Brodie (three goals), Leventhal (two goals), Ian Kadish (one goal, one assist), Matthew Cherry (one goal, one assist) and Jacob Silberlicht (one goal) scored for the Israelis. Eric Fischer (80:00, 8 saves, 4 GA) was phenomanal in between the pipes.
Six different players scored for the Germans, who were unable to capitalize on Israel’s penalty trouble. Germany was 1-for-12 on the man advantage.
Darin Eakins (80:00, 18 saves, 8 GA) was excellent for Germany in goal.
Caps – Kyle Bergman, Joshua Bernstein, Caleb Brodie, Matthew Cherry, Aaron Feinberg, Eric Fischer, Christopher Friedman, Max Gradinger, Jesse Hartman, Ian Kadish, Eric Kansky, Jacob Kane, Yochanan Katz, Andrew Landsman, Daniel Leventhal, Seth Mahler, Noah Miller, Jacob Milner, Zachary Ornstein, Jonathan Rathauser, Alex Siegel, Jacob Silberlicht, Glen Tobin
Thu, Jul 28 – Israel 9, Switzerland 2
Fri, Jul 29 – Israel 17, Spain 1
Sun, Jul 31 – Israel 17, Belgium 4
Mon, Aug 1 – Israel 12, Slovenia 0
Tue, Aug 2 – Israel 16, Sweden 6
Wed, Aug 3 – Israel 8, Germany 4 (Quarterfinals)
Thu, Aug 4 at 5:30 PM – Israel vs Wales (Semifinals)
**Medal games are Saturday, August 6