Mark Matthews (born January 27, 1990) is a professional

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

player for the

Saskatchewan Rush The Saskatchewan Rush are a professional box lacrosse team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Formerly the Edmonton Rush, they are members of the Western Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and play their home games on Co-op Fie ...

in the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...

Canadian Lacrosse Association career

Matthews played for the OLA Jr A

Whitby Warriors The Whitby Warriors are a Junior "A" box lacrosse team from Whitby, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors play in the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League. History The Whitby Jr Lacrosse Franchise began in 1969 as the Whitby B & R Transporters. The Transporters ...

for three years, winning a

Minto Cup The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's box lacrosse team of Canada. It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto. Originally restricted to amateurs, within three years the first under-the-table professional ...

in 2011. In 2010 he played for the

Coquitlam Adanacs The Coquitlam Adanacs are a Canadian box lacrosse team based in Coquitlam, British Columbia. The Adanacs play in B.C.'s seven team Western Lacrosse Association (WLA), whose champion competes against Ontario's Major Series Lacrosse champion for ...

, where he won his first Minto Cup. Matthews currently plays for the Peterborough Lakers in the

Major Series Lacrosse Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) is a Senior A box lacrosse league based in Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Most of the star players in the league play or have played in the National Lacrosse League. Each year, the play ...

league.

College career

Matthews played for the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

for four years. Matthews made the USILA All-American team his junior and senior seasons. With Matthews leading the team in scoring, the Denver Pioneers surprised the lacrosse world by reaching the 2011 NCAA lacrosse semi-finals.

NLL career

Matthews was drafted by the

Edmonton Rush The Edmonton Rush were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) that played from 2006 NLL season to 2015. The team announced on July 20, 2015, that they would be relocating to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for the 2016 sea ...

in the first round of the 2012 NLL Entry Draft. After scoring 38 goals and 31 assists in his rookie year, Matthews was named NLL Rookie of the Year. The Rush won their first championship on June 5, 2015, and Matthews was named MVP of the championship finals. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Matthews won the

National Lacrosse League MVP Award The National Lacrosse League Most Valuable Player Award is given annually to the NLL player who is considered to have contributed most to his team's success. The award winners are chosen by a vote of the league's coaches, general managers, and exec ...

after a year where he broke the league record for assists in a season with 84. Heading into the

2023 NLL season The 2023 National Lacrosse League season, formally known as the 2022–2023 season, is the 36th in the history of the NLL. The season begins on December 2, 2022, and ends with the NLL final in late spring of 2023. This is the inaugural season for ...

, ''

Inside Lacrosse Inside Lacrosse is a lacrosse media entity and ESPN affiliate. It includes many parts including a news website, an 11 times annual magazine, online video streaming, internet forums and an ESPN television show. The company is currently headquarter ...

'' ranked Matthews the #10 best forward in the NLL.

MLL career

Matthews was drafted in the first round of the 2012 Major League Lacrosse draft by the

Denver Outlaws The Denver Outlaws were a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They began playing in the MLL in 2006 as an expansion team. Since joining the league, the Outlaws have played in the ...

, where he scored 19 goals in 9 games. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, he joined the

New York Lizards The New York Lizards, originally the Long Island Lizards, were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) team based in Hempstead, New York, located on Long Island. They are original members of the MLL. They lost the league's inaugural game on June 7, 2001 to ...

, where he had 11 goals in 8 games. He switched teams again for the 2014 season, this time to the

Rochester Rattlers Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom * Rochester, Kent **City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area **History of Rochester, Kent **HM Prison R ...

. In his two years there, he played in 8 games and scored 17 goals. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, for the

Atlanta Blaze The Atlanta Blaze were a professional men's field lacrosse team in Major League Lacrosse (MLL). The Blaze became the ninth team in MLL as an expansion team for the 2016 Major League Lacrosse season, 2016 season and played its home games at Atlanta ...

, Matthews has his career high goals with 23. He stayed with the Blaze for the 2017 season, where he had 13 goals in 6 games. In

, Matthews joined the Ohio Machine, but only participated in 2 games for them.

Statistics

University of Denver

:^''(a)'' all-time career points leader for University of Denver

NLL

Reference:

Major League Lacrosse