NEWS

A star at Onondaga Community College in 2007 and 2009, Hiana had hoped to make it to Syracuse University, where his brother Jeremy was a starting midfielder in his junior and senior seasons after playing at OCC.

It didn’t happen, but Hiana continues to play lacrosse and coaches up on Akwesasne. His path was the focus of Lukas Korver’s documentary titled The Medicine Game, but it’s a story that continues to develop. Hiana’s presence on the Iroquois Nationals, along with his three brothers — Jeremy and this year’s co-Tewaaraton winners Miles and Lyle — is a unique opportunity beyond compare in sports.

“It’s just pretty exciting to be able to go out there and play in front of the world, in front of everybody — our people, with all three of my brothers,” Hiana said. “It just feels good.”

Read More at Inside Lacrosse

The Iroquois Nationals dismantled Japan 24-9 Saturday afternoon at the FIL World Lacrosse Championships in Denver to improve to 2-0 in the Blue Division.

After opening up the tournament Friday night with a strong defensive showing in a 15-4 win over England, the Iroquois offense exploded after what seemed like a slow start.

The Iroquois got out to a 3-0 lead with 11:12 left in the first, with Miles Thompson putting up a goal and two assists, both of those feeds on goals by Cody Jamieson. The Japanese responded with three straight goals, and after Jamieson scored his third with 2:45 left in the first, Japan tied the score at 4-4 with 32 seconds left in the quarter.

Read more at Inside Lacrosse

A dominant performance from the Iroquois Nationals against England closed out a late second day of the FIL World Championships, an evening double-header postponed first by rain and then by a thrilling triple-overtime opener between Australia and Japan.

In the nightcap, the long-awaited debut of the Iroquois team, participating for the first time in FIL senior men’s play since 2006, was a tight affair at the start but soon exploded as the Nationals turned a 2-1 second-quarter deficit into a 7-2 halftime lead on the way to a 15-4 victory.

Read More at Lacrosse Magazine | See Game Photo Gallery

In a matchup that hadn’t happened since 2006, the Iroquois Nationals overwhelmed England offensively and defensively to earn a one-sided 15-4 victory in the first appearance for both teams at the FIL World Lacrosse Championships Friday night in Denver.

Much like the Team USA and Canada opener a night earlier, the Iroquois and England seemed to take a while to find themselves throughout the first and most of the second quarter.

England was able to get out to an early 1-0 lead on Sam Russell’s first goal. The Iroquois would answer just a couple minutes later with Lyle Thompson’s first of three goals on the night and the score would stay tied at 1-1 through the first.

Read More at Inside Lacrosse | Photo by Clark Bell

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.
[Read more…]

Denver’s American Indian community welcomed the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team to Colorado this week with burning sage, eagle feathers and a traditional song honoring heroes.

“You guys represent our warriors. You are our role models,” said Francis Sherwood, celebrating the world’s only indigenous team competing internationally as a sovereign nation for the World Lacrosse Championships in Denver.

“It’s our way of life. It’s deep in our culture. In our cradle board, we are given a wooden lacrosse stick. We grew up playing since we’ve been walking,” said Jeremy Thompson, 27, a Syracuse graduate from the Onandaga Nation who forged a lacrosse path for his three brothers and cousin.

Read more at the Denver Post

Fri, July 11 • 10 p.m. • England vs. Iroquois • ESPN3
Sat, July 12 • 4 p.m. • Japan vs. Iroquois • ESPN3
Sun, July 13 • 10 p.m. • Iroquois vs. Canada • ESPNU
Mon, July 14 • 10 p.m. • Iroquois vs. Australia • ESPN3
Tue, July 15 • 7 p.m. • Iroquois vs. USA • ESPNU
(all times Eastern)
Complete Broadcast Schedule can be found here

Four years ago, the Iroquois Nationals were barred from traveling to England with their traditional passports. Opting not to switch to the new passport format, the team missed the 2010 FIL World Lacrosse Championships, sparking outrage and putting world-wide attention on the Iroquois Nationals organization.

This week, the Iroquois Nationals are preparing for the 2014 FIL World Lacrosse Championships in Denver with what many believe is their strongest team ever, stacked with current NLL and NCAA stars, and with the memory of the 2010 debacle burning strong in the minds of the Iroquois staff and players.

Read More at Inside Lacrosse