JamLax looking to improve world ranking

Jamaica's Lacrosse team (JamLax) continues its quest for a top-15 finish at the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship, currently taking place in Israel. The Jamaicans scored a 17-4 win over Peru in their intermediate-round game yesterday and will hunt their third win in four games when they face Slovakia in another intermediate-round game this evening.

"We got our second win. We beat Peru 17-4 in a great game. It was a very impressive offence game from us and it was the best defence by us, so far. It was an overall awesome team win," assistant coach Mark Wilson told The Gleaner.

JamLax are competing in their first major international tournament. They finished second in their group behind hosts Israel to advanced to the middle bracket of the intermediate round. However, with only group winners guaranteed a place in the upper bracket (top tier), the Jamaicans are out of the running for a place in the quarter-final, but Wilson says it is important that they continue to win and improve their world rankings.

"Since we didn't win our group, we can't crack the top eight. However, these [remaining] games are critical for international rankings, that affect our seeding at the next games, where we would potentially have a chance to make a run at the top 10.

"We won't know our rank until the tournament is over, but we are hoping to win out and play our way into at least the top 15 in the world. We play Slovakia [today]. It's a big game, and they have some good players. It will be our toughest test since Israel," he said.

"But we are really looking forward to it, and the team seems to be improving and playing better each game," he added.

A win for Jamaica against Slovakia today will see them playing the winners of the Greece-Argentina game tomorrow.