Ryan Cousins (born April 1, 1981 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

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 C ...

) is a former 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 extensiv ...

player. Cousins played for eleven seasons 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. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

, winning a championship in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

with 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 ...

. He was selected to play in the

National Lacrosse League All-Star Game The National Lacrosse League All Star Game was a box lacrosse game played between two teams representing the two divisions of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The last game took place during the 2012 season. 1990s 1991 (Major Indoor Lacrosse L ...

in both 2004 and 2005. Cousins plays for the

Victoria Shamrocks The Victoria Shamrocks are a Senior A box lacrosse team, based in Victoria, British Columbia. The team competes in the 7-team Western Lacrosse Association (WLA). The Shamrocks entered the former Inter-City Lacrosse League, which is now the WLA, i ...

of the WLA in the offseason. Cousins was awarded the

National Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Year Award The Defensive Player of the Year Award is given annually to the National Lacrosse League player (not goaltenders) who is chosen as the best defensive player. Past winners References {{Lacrosse topics Defenseman Defence or defense (in Ame ...

in both the 2007 and

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seasons. During the

2009 NLL season The 2009 National Lacrosse League season, the 23rd in the history of the NLL, began January 3, 2009 in Buffalo, Portland, and Sunrise, Florida, and concluded with the Calgary Roughnecks defeating the New York Titans 12—10 in the Champion's C ...

, he was named a reserve to the

All-Star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

. In July 2011, Cousins was traded to 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 se ...

, along with Aaron Wilson and Kevin Croswell, in exchange for a number of entry draft picks. Three months later, Cousins was traded again, this time to the

. The Rush sent Cousins, Alex Kedoh Hill, and Andy Secore to Rochester for Knighthawks captain Shawn Williams and Aaron Bold. Cousins suffered a knee injury prior to the 2012 season, and was considering retirement, but was convinced by the Knighthawks to return. Cousins' decision paid off, as the Knighthawks won the 2012 NLL Championship. After suffering another injury prior to the 2013 season, Cousins announced his retirement in February, 2013.

Statistics

NLL

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousins, Ryan 1981 births Living people Arizona Sting players Canadian expatriate lacrosse people in the United States Canadian lacrosse players Lacrosse defenders Lacrosse people from Ontario Minnesota Swarm players National Lacrosse League All-Stars National Lacrosse League major award winners Rochester Knighthawks players Sportspeople from Toronto