Teacher shows how the position should be played
Matt Vinc named NLL goaltender of the year for the sixth time in remarkable career
Matt Vinc’s teaching isn’t limited to the classroom in his day job at Denis Morris Catholic High School in St. Catharines.
On weekends during the National Lacrosse League season, the 36-year-old St. Catharines native continues to show up-andcoming goaltenders how the position should be played.
His played between the pipes for the Rochester Knighthawks did not go unnoticed by the National Lacrosse League. Vinc was selected as the league’s goaltender of the year for the sixth time in nine years after backstopping his team to within one victory of the NLL championship.
Vinc, a two-time Canadian junior A lacrosse Minto Cup champion with the St. Catharines Athletics, was honoured to win the award in a season in which “so many other goalies had remarkable years.”
“Winning this award is extra special because of the year we had in Rochester,” he said. “We had a great mix of youth and veterans, as well as some of my best friends.
“Our team played great in all facets of the game, and it was just to play behind them.”
Vinc, who already holds the record for most NLL goaltender of the year awards, posted one of the finest seasons of his 13-year professional career leading the Kighthawks to the finals for the fourth time in his career and the first time since 2014.
He finished second in the league in save percentage, .782; third in saves, 651; and fourth in goals-against average, 11.37; on his way to be being named the team’s most valuable player for the sixth time in his eight-year career with the Knighthawks.
Among the highlights of 2017-18 for the perennial all-star were making a career-high 55 saves in a 21-11 victory over the Buffalo Bandits and 46 saves in a 9-8 victory over the defending NLL champion Georgia Swarm in the East Division finals.
“When you look at his resume it ranks him as the best, and he still has more to give,” Rochester head coach Mike Hasen said, putting Vinc’s remarkable career into perspective. “He’s not done this year and, in my opinion, for a few more years.
“He is going to keep adding to his totals and cementing himself as the best goalie ever.”
Vinc’s longtime friend and Knighthawks teammate Billy Dee Smith, also a St. Catharines native, wholeheartedly agrees with the coach’s assessment that Vinc sets the gold standard for goaltenders in the NLL.
“I think his play speaks for itself, he is the best goalie in the league, and the best that has ever played (in this league), said the St. Catharines native, who like Vinc graduated from Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School.
“I don’t there is anybody who would ever argue with that.”
Knighthawks defenceman Ian Llord praised his fellow St. Catharines native as a model of consistency between the pipes.
“Look at any great goalie in any professional sport, it’s all about consistency,” Llord said. “Some guys have good years, but the greats put on a show for so long that the numbers — and the records — say it all.”
Vinc achieved two milestones in 2017-18. On March 24 he played in the 200th game of his NLL career and on April 13 became only the second goalie in league history to record 7,000 career saves.
He needs 105 saves to better Anthony Cosmo’s all-time mark of 7,222 career saves.
Vinc, the 2015 St. Catharines athlete of the year, was the last
“He is going to keep adding
to his totals and cementing himself as the best goalie ever.” MIKE HASEN Rochester head coach
line of defence for his teams in hockey as well. He appeared in 10 games for the junior B St. Catharines Falcons in 1998-99 and 46 the following season with the then
Welland Cougars.