DENVER, Colo. - Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese and Team USA kick off the 2014 FIL World Lacrosse Championships on Thursday as the Red, White and Blue face Canada at 9 p.m.
on ESPN2. An assistant coach for United States, Cassese shifted to the sidelines in the international game after captaining the U.S. to the 2010 title. Team USA has won nine of the 11 all-time World Lacrosse Championships with Canada winning the other two.
Thursday features opening ceremonies followed by a rematch of the last four title games. The U.S. beat Canada 12-10 for the 2010 championship. The World Lacrosse Championships includes pool play followed by single-elimination playoffs. The championship game is set for July 19. The U.S. is joined by Canada, Australia, Japan, England and Iroquois in the Blue Division. All games will take place in Denver, Colorado with several games (including all U.S. games) televised on the ESPN Family of Networks.
Here is Team USA's pool play schedule with television information. For the complete ESPN broadcast schedule, please click here. Games not televised by ESPN will be streamed,here.
Thursday, July 10: USA vs. Canada, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2, ESPN3)
Saturday, July 12: USA vs. Australia, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU, ESPN3)
Sunday, July 13: USA vs. Japan, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU, ESPN3)
Monday, July 14: USA vs. England, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU, ESPN3)
Tuesday, July 15: USA vs. Iroquois, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU, ESPN3)
The 2014 championships feature an all-time record 38 nations competing including nine first-time participants. In total, the teams will play 142 games over 10 days.
Some other Lehigh connections in the World Lacrosse Championships include a pair of recent Mountain Hawk coaches. Taylor Wray (current head coach at Saint Joseph's) will serve as defensive coordinator for Canada while Tom Compitello (assistant coach at Sacred Heart) is on the coaching staff for Poland.