Nobody can deny the impact that defenders Matt Miazga and Kemar Lawrence have had on the New York Red Bulls’ season; it’s why the team has had such a successful defensive record, why head coach Jesse Marsch said it was “hard to take [Kemar] off the field” and would be “tough” to lose Miazga to international duty, and especially why they were both ranked in Major League Soccer’s 24 Under 24. Miazga came in at #5 and Kemar at #15 – though Marsch believes they “could have been ranked higher.” Here are things to know about Kemar Lawrence.
(#)1: Tim Vickery, BBC Radio 5’s South American expert, called Kemar not only a “cracking left back” but also the best one in the whole Copa America (“I haven’t seen a better left back in the entire tournament,” Vickery said.)
2(pac): “Changes” is one of Kemar’s favorite songs
(6)7: clearances Kemar has made, 36 of which have been headed
4: number of assists Kemar has logged this season, which ties him at third for most assists by a defender across MLS and which ranks him first among 24 Under 24-eliglible defenders. They were all game-winning assists.
5(5): aerials this 5’10” defender has won
6(.04): Kemar wins an average of 6.04 duels per game.
7(5.93%): Kemar’s passing accuracy
8(7.5): Kemar’s tackle success rate
9(9): recoveries Kemar has made, with what Dax McCarty hailed as his “incredible” – or, you could say, Taxi-like – recovery speed. One of his best can be seen here.
(May) 10: Kemar’s performance in the Red Bulls’ victory over NYCFC on May 10 earned his first appearance in MLS Team of the Week.
11: Kemar recorded his first assist, at home against Real Salt Lake, after just 11 matches.
12(4): passes into the final third; Kemar is successful at left-back as well as everywhere else on the field
(2012-20)13: year Kemar won the Jamaican Red Stripe Premier League with his senior side Harbour View F.C.
(20)14: year he won the Carribean Cup with his Reggae Boyz
(FIFA) 15: his favorite video game. But does he play as the Red Bulls or Jamaica?
(March) 16: date the Red Bulls completed their signing of Kemar. He had only been with the team for the second preseason camp, but it didn’t take long for Jesse Marsch to determine he’s a “young player with a lot of potential”
17: number of starts for Kemar with the Jamaican National Team (he’s had 24 caps total). He’s featured for the Reggae Boyz in the Copa America, CONCACAF Gold Cup, and World Cup Qualifying
(October) 18: date of Kemar’s first MLS goal. His close-range strike, against the Philadelphia Union, helped the team to a 4-1 win in their last home game of the regular season.
19: interceptions made against rivals (10 versus D.C. United and 9 versus NYCFC), which means that 37.3% of his 51 total interceptions have come against just these two teams. It’s no wonder the Red Bulls took 16 of 18 possible points from rivalry matches this season
20(11): Kemar made his first first-team appearance, for his first club Harbour View, in 2011. He was only 19 years old.
2(-)1: Kemar’s throw-in into the penalty area assisted the first of Jamaica’s goals that helped lift them to a 2-1 victory over the U.S. in the Gold Cup semifinal.
(March) 22: Date of Kemar’s first MLS game. He recorded his first shot only 23 minutes in.
23: Kemar has started all 23 games he’s played this season. In all but three of those, he’s gone the full 90.
24: before Kemar even turned 24, he represented the Reggae Boyz in the Copa America, CONCACAF Gold Cup final, Carribean Cup, and World Cup qualifying at a senior level.
25: No relation to actress Jennifer Lawrence, who turned 25 in August.
