Turri, Team USA Go For Gold

Kyle Turri has a chance to add another championship to his lacrosse resume.

The former West Islip goalie and his Team USA teammates defeated the Iroquois Nationals 12-7 Thursday and will now face Canada Saturday in the finals of the 2012 U-19 Lacrosse World Championships in Finland. The title game can be watched live for a fee on the 2012 World Championships website.

Turri, a West Islip High School graduate and current member of the Duke Blue Devils, was in net for the second half of the U.S. win, making five saves and allowing only two goals.

The Americans' trip to the finals, while not unexpected, took a different path than was anticipated. Canada and Iroquois handed the U.S. its first two losses in the 24-year history of the championships. But the Americans bounced back, defeating Germany 22-2 and Iroquois in back-to-back games to earn another shot at the Canadians, who beat the U.S. 11-9 in overtime on July 14.

Playing for Team USA caps a busy three years of lacrosse for Turri. As a high school junior in 2010, he was the starting goalie on West Islip’s New York State Class A Championship Team, and during his senior season the Lions captured its then eighth Suffolk County Class A title.

This past season as a freshman at Duke, Turri saw action in eight games — starting three — as the Blue Devils made another run to the NCAA Division I Lacrosse Final Four.