(July 16, 2012)... The Iroquois Nationals scored six straight goals over the middle two quarters to cruise to a 17-9 victory over Australia today at the 2012 U-19 World Championships.

With the victory, the nationals improved to 2-1 with a showdown with the United States set for Tuesday. The Iroquois take on the U.S. at 6:00 a.m. EST.

The game featured four ties early in the contest, but two runs by the Iroquois put the game out of reach. Rochester Knighthawks forward Johnny Powless scored once to give him five goals in three tournament games. His high to high goal tied the contest at three at 24:38 of the second.

After the team’s trade goals, Ky Tarbell’s goal from Jake Bomberry gave the Iroquois the lead for good at 33:15. Tarbell scored twice more as the Nationals stormed ahead with five consecutive goals to end the first half with a 9-4 lead. He finished the game with four goals and one assist.

In the third, Australia chipped away at the lead and got within 11-7 on Joshua Polkinghorne’s man-up goal at 58:09. But Randy Staats restored the five-goal cushion with his second of the game. The marker with four seconds to play in the quarter gave the Nationals a 12-7 advantage.

After Australia scored to make it 12-8 early in the fourth, Bomberry went to work and scored back-to-back man-up goals to put the Nationals up 14-8. Bomberry would add a late goal as part of a 6-0 Iroquois run to finish with a five-point game (4+1). Goalie Trey Adams earned the win in goal, stopping five shots.

The 2012 U-19 World Championships run from July 12th to the 21st with 13 competing nations heading to Turku. The teams include Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Iroquois Nationals, Netherlands, Scotland, USA and Wales. 

To follow the tournament, click here to go to the official U-19 World Championship website.