July 14, 2006

London, Ontario - It didn't take long for former Terp men's lacrosse All-American Joe Walters to make his presence felt as a member of Team USA at the 2006 ILF World Championships, helping lead the United States to a 20-8 win over Australia on the opening day of the tournament.

Just over four and a half minutes into the first quarter Walters scored the first goal for the United States team in the tournament, converting on an extra-man opportunity off an assist from Michael Powell.

Walters, the 2006 Turnbull Award winner, was just warming-up in his first World Championship game. He would go on to score another goal to open the scoring in the fourth quarter and added three assists for a five-point game.

Following Walters' opening goal, Australia scored the next three then traded goals with the U.S. to take a 4-2 lead. But Walters would help the U.S. team get even by assisting on the next two goals by Casey Powell and Scott Urick. That was the beginning of an 8-1 run by Team USA that essentially put the game out of reach.

Walters and the rest of the U.S. squad returns to action tomorrow, July 15, with a 10:00 a.m. game against England at TD Waterhouse Stadium.