Lacrosse coach bullish after winning pool

National men's lacrosse coach Mark Wilson knew that Jamaica's work was cut out for them to get out of pool play in the Men's Lacrosse World Championships.

The goal, however, of remaining undefeated was never out of the realms of possibility for him, and his prediction came to pass while securing a place in the playoffs, thanks to a 10-6 win over New Zealand in their final pool game yesterday in San Diego.

The victory ensured Jamaica topped their pool and entered the playoffs as one of the few teams with a perfect record through four games.

Wilson said that while he knew the task would be difficult, his belief in his squad being up to the task; never wavered.

"I think that knowing we need to run the pool to advance through to the medal round was the goal. We didn't think it was out of reach," Wilson told STAR Sports. "We knew it was going to be really tough especially getting Germany to start. For us to start in that manner (was good for us)."

Jamaica opened their campaign on Thursday with a win against ninth-ranked Germany, then secured wins against Switzerland and Poland.

Wilson said that for a team that had to take time to gel in the build-up to the championships, he is proud that things are coming together quickly, having built off their last senior tournament experience and last year's under-21 championships.

"Our goal when we came here was that we knew that we weren't going to be the team that we needed to be, and when we got here, we continued to improve as we went through the process. I am happy to see that we (done that)," Wilson said.

Regardless of their opponents on their road to a historic medal-round opportunity, Wilson said they are determined to keep the intensity high to make more history for Jamaica.

"At this stage of the game, it doesn't matter who we go out against because we are going to have a good matchup, and if we get through that round, we are going to have a tough matchup to get to the medal round.

"That's kind of the way it works. Everyone is competitive, everyone is very well prepared, and we have to make sure that we match that intensity for whoever we face," Wilson said.