Coram's A.J. Knox leads Jamaica in lacrosse championships
Jamaica Lacrosse players, from left: Danielo Parkinson of Roosevelt, A.J. Knox of Coram, Jahiem Hawkins of Huntington and Antoine Campbell of Uniondale. Jamaica is participating in the 2023 Men's Lacrosse World Championship in San Diego this week. Credit: Newsday/Colin Stephenson
A.J. Knox stepped up to keep Jamaica’s winning ways rolling.
Knox scored two goals on two shots to lead Jamaica to its fourth straight win at the men’s lacrosse world championships in San Diego.
Jamaica defeated New Zealand, 10-6, at San Diego State University on Monday.
“The first four games, honestly, have meant a lot,” Knox said. “Just to be with this group of guys and to accomplish what we’ve accomplished so far, it’s almost unexplainable. It just feels good to be in this situation right now.”
Knox, who is from Coram, is one of four Long Island players on the Jamaican national team (4-0). He’s joined by Jahiem Hawkins of Huntington, Antoine Campbell of Uniondale and Danielo Parkinson of Roosevelt.
Parkinson also scored a goal, and he and Campbell each picked up a ground ball. Hawkins did not play.
New Zealand took a 1-0 lead with 13:39 remaining in the first quarter. However, Jamaica pieced together five straight goals, two of which came from Knox off assists from Khairi Sears and Stone Evans.
“Once we woke up, got up for breakfast, it was all green lights,” Knox said. “We were ready to go. [We] had a good speech from our captains, and from there on, just the enthusiasm from the team [and] fans motivated us.”
Jamaica, which went up 10-2 with 14:14 left in the fourth quarter before allowing four straight scores, will play Italy (4-0) on Tuesday.
