Matthews signs with Timbermen
Laker shifts to Arena Lacrosse after going unsigned by the NLL
The Peterborough Timbermen have signed Century 21 Lakers and former Rochester Knighthawks right-handed forward Joel Matthews, the Arena Lacrosse League club announced on Monday.
Matthews is a familiar name to Peterborough lacrosse fans as he was a big part of the Lakers run to the Mann Cup in 2017.
“We could not be more excited than to acquire a player like Joel,” stated Timbermen head coach and general manager Joe Sullivan, in a press release.
“His NLL experience and his championship run with the Lakers brings all the leadership and size we need to balance our offence. I look for Joel to have an immediate impact on the Timbermen as soon as we hit the floor in Paris on Dec. 30.”
As a junior player, Matthews had back-to-back seasons with 100 points or more finishing second in the OLA junior A league in 2010 in scoring while tying for fifth in 2011 playing for the St. Catharines Athletics.
In two seasons with the Lakers he has scored 23 points including six goals and 17 assists while playing out both the front and the back door. He also has 10 playoff points including two goals in the Mann Cup, where he wreaked havoc in front of the net for the New Westminster defence.
A veteran NLL player, Matthews went unsigned this season after three part-time seasons with Rochester where he picked up 16 points over 15 games. Just as importantly he became a fan-favourite with his hard-nosed play.
At 6’3” and 220 pounds Matthews will help the Timbermen up front as a complement to a roster of talented but smaller players. Not only can he score but he’ll make room for the rest of the offence to get more chances on goal, states the release.
The Timbermen completed a day-long pre-season tournament on Saturday at Children’s Arena in Oshawa suffering losses to Whitby and Oshawa. Sullivan will reveal his final roster in the coming days.
The Timbermen open their season on Dec. 30 at the Syl Apps Community Centre in Paris against the River Wolves before coming home to the Memorial Centre on Jan. 6 and 7.
Tickets for those two games are on sale at the PMC box office. Their remaining five home games will be played at Children’s Arena. Season tickets, at a cost of $50 for the full season, including the Memorial Centre games, can be purchased online at www.arenalacrosseleague.com.