Via Major League Lacrosse
By Molly Shunney

While Team USA opened the FIL World Lacrosse Championship with a convincing 10-7 win over Canada on Thursday night, a game in which 34 MLL players were involved, the Iroquois Nationals Team, another team considered to be a contender this year begins play on Friday against England in the same division as the US and Canada.

In this year’s event, the MLL is proud to have players from Rochester and Charlotte competing for Iroquois.

Cody Jamieson has not seen playing time yet for the Charlotte Hounds, but the five-year veteran has accrued 40 goals in 29 games played and will be the sole Hounds representative on the team.

Mike Lazore, in his second year with the Rattlers. He’s a midfielder who came to the League from Hobart College, where he was a two-sport athlete. Lazore has seen playing time in all 10 games this season and has tallied one goal and one assist. He will be playing alongside teammates Miles and Ty Thompson.

The Thompson cousins and former Albany attackmen will be two of the most anticipated players to watch. Their collegiate performance brought them substantial media attention far before the on start of their professional careers. When asked about being literally swarmed by hundreds and hundreds of fans, Ty replied, “It’s amazing. But it’s just stuff like that that makes me feel grateful for this opportunity and where I am in life.”

In Miles’ last season at Albany, he scored 43 goals and 30 assists in just 12 games, which earned him (and his brother Lyle) the 2014 Tewaaraton Trophy. Ty was the top goal-scorer in the America East with 54 goals and 29 assists. The Thompson’s success ignited a fan following from people in and out of the lacrosse community.

Ty has not made his professional debut yet, but Miles has proved his worth as a rookie for Rochester over the past few weeks. In six games played, he has acquired 11 points with seven goals and four assists.

When asked about the Iroquois’ chances at the Championships Ty thinks that fans will be surprised.

“I honestly think that this is a really, really talented team,” he said “We’re young, but you know our style of game is just—we play a different game, and this group is gonna bring another dimension, and we might be young, but we’re gonna come out flying. I think teams are gonna have to look out for us.”

You can catch The Iroquois Nationals take on England on Friday night at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN3 and then on July 15 as they go head to head with Team USA You can catch 7 p.m. ET on ESPN U.