2006 World Lacrosse Championship


Canada won its second gold medal at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship, held in London, Ontario, from 14 to 22 July. The Canadians defeated the United States in the final 15–10 in front of 7,735 fans. It marked only the second loss by the Americans since the championship was founded in 1967 [World Lacrosse Championship|1967]. The first was Canada's historic 17–16 overtime win in the 1978 final. Canadian Geoff Snider was the tournament MVP for his outstanding face-off performance, winning 19 of 28 draws in the final.
Australia beat Iroquois 21–8 to earn the bronze medal. 21 nations played 72 games over the eight-day tournament, with Bermuda, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Spain making their debuts. The games were played in TD Waterhouse Stadium.
The World Lacrosse Championship is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse every four years. The 2006 WLC was the last to be sanctioned by the International Lacrosse Federation, the former governing body for men. In August 2008, the ILF merged with the former governing body for women's lacrosse, the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations, to form the FIL.

Pool play

For the round-robin phase of the tournament, nations were separated into blue, red, orange and yellow divisions according to strength. Each of the twenty-one nations was eligible to win the championship.

Blue Division

The Blue Division featured the six strongest lacrosse nations: Australia, Canada, England, Iroquois, Japan, and the United States.
Blue Division standings after pool play were:
  1. United States
  2. Canada
  3. Iroquois
  4. Australia
  5. England
  6. Japan

Red Division

Red Division featured the next five strongest lacrosse nations: Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales.
Red Division standings after pool play were:
  1. Ireland
  2. Scotland
  3. Italy
  4. Wales
  5. Hong Kong

Orange Division

The five countries competing in Orange Division were: the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Orange Division standings after pool play were:
  1. Germany
  2. Czech Republic
  3. Netherlands
  4. South Korea
  5. New Zealand

Yellow Division

The Yellow Division featured Bermuda, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, and Spain.
Yellow Division standings after pool play were:
  1. Finland
  2. Latvia
  3. Denmark
  4. Spain
  5. Bermuda

Finals

With the nations ranked amongst their division, they played off for their final standings. The winner from each lower group played a lower-ranked nation from Blue division for their shot at the championship.
The final standings were:
  1. Canada
  2. USA
  3. Australia
  4. Iroquois
  5. England
  6. Japan
  7. Ireland
  8. Germany
  9. Finland
  10. Italy
  11. Scotland
  12. Netherlands
  13. Wales
  14. Latvia
  15. Czech Republic
  16. Denmark
  17. Spain
  18. South Korea
  19. New Zealand
  20. Hong Kong
  21. Bermuda

Awards

All World Team

The International Lacrosse Federation named an All World Team at the conclusion of the championship, along with four other individual awards.
;Goalkeeper
Chris Sanderson
;Defence
John Gagliardi
Brodie Merrill
John Tokarua
;Midfield
Brett Bucktooth
Jay Jalbert
Geoff Snider
;Attack
John Grant, Jr.
Michael Powell
Jeff Zywicki

Best Positional Players

Chris Sanderson - Goalkeeper
Brodie Merrill - Defence
Jay Jalbert - Midfield
Jeff Zywicki - Attack

Tournament MVP

Geoff Snider - Midfield, face-off