The Philippines will be heading into the championship round of the Asia-Pacific Lacrosse Championship after a stellar win over the hosts New Zealand.
The Philippine men’s lacrosse team rode the momentum of their stunning overtime win over Japan to drub tournament hosts New Zealand in the semifinal, 12-7, of the Asia-Pacific Men’s Lacrosse Championship on Saturday, January 10.
Having never finished on the podium in the competition before, the team is assured of its best-ever result in the competition. The women’s team earned itself a bronze before, but with the men’s qualification to the final, this guarantees the best-ever finish for a Philippine team in the competition for either gender.
[RELATED: Philippines stun Japan in Asia-Pacific meet, enter World Lacrosse Championship]
The Philippines, who made the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship for the third time with their semis spot, recovered from going down 0-1 when the hosts opened the scoring at the 4:51 mark with Kris Nebesky converting on an assist from Kyle Parker.
Four consecutive goals from the Philippines which was capped off by a Jayden Basalatan goal at the 25:18 minute had the visitors ahead big, 4-1, and they seemed to be in control of the match.
However, it took a five-goal fourth period for the Philippines to really shake off the Kiwis thanks to a comeback effort led by Parker. He scored twice in six minutes to help New Zealand tie the semis at 4-all after 35:31 minutes of play.
Fortunately for the Philippines, they had two more goal runs in them — including five straight in the final 15 minutes of the game.
Christian Tacogue, Benjamin Bisquera, Benjamin Palli, and Jonathan Dugenio contributed in the crucial run that helped the Philippines double up on the hosts, 12-6, with less than three minutes to go in the semifinal to effective run away with the victory.
John Clayton pulled a consolation goal in the final minute for the hosts to arrive at the final score.
The other goal scorer for the Philippines was Nicholas Marsh.
Palli and Tacogue were the most productive in scoring with three goals each.
Kris Nebesky also had three for New Zealand in the losing effort which bumped them down to the battle for bronze against Japan.
The Philippines faces World No. 4 Australia — a well decorated team in the World Championship, having won four silvers and seven bronzes in their previous appearances — in the final slated on Sunday, January 11.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.