Matt Vinc (born June 9, 1982 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a Canadian 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 ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

who plays for the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse team in the East Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). They play at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, t ...

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 ...

and for the Peterborough Lakers of 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 ...

. He was a member of Team Canada He is also a teacher and lacrosse coach at

Denis Morris Catholic High School Denis Morris Catholic High School is a Catholic high school located in St. Catharines, Ontario. The school is administered by the Niagara Catholic District School Board. Denis Morris provides educational programs and services for students with ...

in St. Catharines.

Junior career

Vinc had an outstanding junior career. He played for the

St. Catharines Athletics The St. Catharines Athletics are a Junior "A" box lacrosse team from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The Athletics play in the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League. Since 2022 the organization has also operated a Junior "B" franchise of the same name th ...

in the

OLA Junior A Lacrosse League The Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL) is considered the most competitive Junior A men's box lacrosse league in the world and the number one source for talent for the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The OJLL is sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse ...

from 1999 to 2003. His accomplishments playing for the A's include: * 1 OLA Jr.A regular season MVP award * 3 OLA Jr.A playoff MVP awards * 3 OLA Jr.A championships (2001–2003) * 3 Bob Meleville Memorial Awards (lowest team total goals) * 2

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 ...

National championships (2001, 2003) * 1 Minto Cup MVP Award * B.W. Evans Award (Top Graduating Player).

High school career

Vinc played high school field lacrosse at

Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School (sometimes abbreviated to HC, or HCSS) is a Catholic secondary school located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada offering education for about 1,100 students in grades 9-12. It is one of three Catholic high schools ...

, along with fellow future professional lacrosse players

Billy Dee Smith Billy Dee Smith (born June 30, 1982 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a former professional lacrosse player played for the Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League and the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse. ...

Craig Conn Craig Conn (born November 16, 1983 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a former professional lacrosse player. High school career Conn was a four-year starter at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in St. Catharines from 1997 to 2001. During those y ...

, and Sean Greenhalgh. In five years, he helped the Holy Cross Raiders to win 2 gold medals, 1 silver, and 1 bronze at the

OFSAA The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) is an organization of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, student-coaches, teachers, principals, and sport administrators in Ontario, Canada. OFSAA is the second largest high school ath ...

field lacrosse championships. This would begin a dynasty for the Holy Cross lacrosse program to excel in

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

competition.

College career

Vinc is also a graduate of

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master's ...

, where he played long-stick defense and was named the college's Male Athlete of the Year.

NLL career

Vinc was acquired by the

San Jose Stealth The San Jose Stealth were a member of the National Lacrosse League, the professional box lacrosse league of North America from 2004 NLL season, 2004 until 2009 NLL season, 2009. They played at the HP Pavilion at San Jose, which is also the home of ...

in the 2005 NLL entry draft in the first round (sixth overall). In the

2006 NLL season The 2006 National Lacrosse League season was the 20th season in the history of the league, which began as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League in 1987. The season began on December 30, 2005 and concluded with the championship game on May 13, 2006. T ...

, Vinc played sparingly with the Stealth. Following the season, he was acquired by the New York Titans in the 2006 NLL expansion draft. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, he took over the starting goaltender role for the Titans. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, Vinc guided his team to a 10–6 record for a three way tie for first place in the Eastern Division with the Buffalo Bandits and the Boston Blazers. The Titans were awarded the Eastern Division regular season championship by way of tie breakers. On May 9, in the Eastern Division playoff championship game, Vinc stopped 41 out of 44 shots and kept the high-powered offense of the Buffalo Bandits to only three goals as the Titans defeated Buffalo 9–3. Vinc allowed 1 more goal than the

playoff record of 2 goals against in a game, which was set by

Bob Watson Robert José Watson (April 10, 1946May 14, 2020) was an American professional baseball player, coach and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from 1966 to 1984, most prominently as a member of ...

, and the

Toronto Rock The Toronto Rock are a professional box lacrosse franchise based in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. ...

defeated the Philadelphia Wings 13–2 during a

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

semi-final playoff game. Vinc became a member of the

Orlando Titans The Orlando Titans were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League that played in the 2010 season. The Titans began as the New York Titans, and played for three seasons in New York before announcing the move to Orlando on Augus ...

when the franchise moved to Florida for the 2010 season. When the team folded after that season, Vinc was chosen first overall in the

dispersal draft A dispersal draft is a process in professional sports for assigning players to a new team when their current team ceases to exist or is merged with another team. Like most other sports drafts, most dispersal drafts are conducted in North America. ...

, sending him to the

Colorado Mammoth The Colorado Mammoth are a box lacrosse team playing in the National Lacrosse League. The Mammoth have played at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, since the 2003 season. They are owned by Stan Kroenke, who is also the owner of the Colorado Avalanch ...

. As he teaches high school in St. Catharines, Ontario, however, he did not want to play in Colorado. In October 2010, he was thus traded to the

Rochester Knighthawks The Rochester Knighthawks (also known as the K-Hawks) are a professional box lacrosse team in the North Division of the National Lacrosse League. They play in Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Knighthawks are ow ...

in a significant trade that sent Vinc and transition player

Matt Zash Matt Zash (born October 18, 1983 in Massapequa, New York) is a retired lacrosse player, formerly of the Philadelphia Wings in the National Lacrosse League, and of the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse. He plans to wed in the summer of ...

to Rochester in exchange for superstar attackman John Grant, Jr. and defenseman Mac Allen. Draft picks were also exchanged. Vinc has won a league record eight Goaltender of the Year awards: *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

with the Orlando Titans *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, and

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 ...

with the Knighthawks *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

with the Bandits 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'' named Vinc the #2 goalie in the NLL.

Statistics

NLL

Reference:

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinc, Matt 1982 births Living people Canadian lacrosse players Canisius College alumni Canisius Golden Griffins men's lacrosse players Lacrosse people from Ontario National Lacrosse League major award winners New York Titans (lacrosse) players Orlando Titans players San Jose Stealth players Sportspeople from St. Catharines Hamilton Nationals players Lacrosse goaltenders