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The Iroquois Nationals survived a gritty contest against Scotland Wednesday night, pulling out a 10-8 win to advance to the semifinals of the FIL World Lacrosse championships in Denver.

The Iroquois got yet another fantastic performance from Syracuse-bound Warren Hill, who made 12 stops in the victory. The Nationals had to overcome one of the best goaltender performances of the tournament, as Scotland’s Dean Stewart also turned away 12 stops, including an breathtaking save on Zach Miller late in the game.

“We kept them at bay for the most part,” Steward said of his defense, which used a zone to keep the Iroquois shooters outside. “They were much more disciplined than I’m used to seeing the Iroquois play. One-on-one might have been a much different outcome. I was looking forward to playing against those guys since I came here. It would have been nice to get the winning result. But just the chance to play against those names and put up the fight that we did, a two-goal game, can’t ask for much better than that.”

Read More at Inside Lacrosse | Photo by Anna Scipione

The world’s best lacrosse players are gathering this week in Colorado for the World Lacrosse Championship. On the fields, you’ll see players from Austria, Uganda, Japan and, of course America, competing for their countries.

Yet one of the tournament’s favored teams doesn’t represent a country — technically speaking. The team represents the Iroquois nation, whose people traditionally live in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada.

Read more and listen to the interview at Colorado Public Radio

As Warren Hill stood between the pipes, poised for an incredible challenge — his Iroquois Nation vs. the United States — he spied his idol, Jesse Schwartzman, at the opposite end of the field. Never too cool to be impressed, Hill was thrilled.

“To tell you the truth it was really cool,” he admitted. “Growing up, when I first started watching lacrosse in about eighth grade or ninth grade, he was at [Johns] Hopkins. I would be glued to the TV screen every Saturday morning, watching him play. Playing against him all these years later was a pretty cool experience.”

Read more at LaxMagazine.com | Photo by Scott McCall

It’s been nearly a decade since the Iroquois Nationals have played in the World Lacrosse Championships. Now, the only indigenous lacrosse team competing internationally as a sovereign nation, is in Denver aiming to compete for the gold medal.

“This is sort of like the redemption tour for our guys,” said Marty Ward, goalie on the 27-man roster.

So far they’ve won three of their four games with a crucial contest against the USA coming Tuesday. In 2010, the Iroquois Nationals made international headlines when they were forced to forfeit the Lacrosse World Championships in England. The group was travelling on their Iroquois nation’s own passports.

Read more at CBC News | Photo by Kenny Frost