The National Lacrosse League has announced that Matt Vinc from the Rochester Knighthawks has won the Goaltender Player of the Year Award for the 2013 NLL season.
Vinc, who set the new NLL single-season record with 662 saves and now owns three of the top five totals, also led the league in goals against average (10.17) and save percentage (.803), along with 955:28 minutes played out of the team’s total of 960:00 (99.5%). Backstopping Rochester’s defense that allowed the fewest goals in the NLL, Vinc won three Defensive Player of the Week Awards this year.
“He’s been the guy we depend on the make the big save and bail us out when we make mistakes,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. “He has done that consistently throughout the season. He works hard both on and off the floor. The award is well deserved.”
Vinc, who helped lead Rochester to a win in the 2012 NLL Championship Game, becomes the first NLL goalie to win the Goaltender of the Year Award three times after earning the honor in 2010 and 2011 and is now the only Knighthawks netminder in franchise history to win the award twice.
An eight-year NLL veteran and St. Catharines, Ontario native, Vinc played collegiately at Canisius College and was drafted in the first round (6th overall) of the 2005 NLL Entry Draft.
The defending champion Knighthawks will host the Minnesota Swarm for their East Division Final playoff game on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with the winner advancing to the 2013 NLL Championship Game the following weekend.
Brandon Miller from the Philadelphia Wings was the runner-up for the award while the Toronto Rock’s Nick Rose finished third in the voting.
Miller, who finished fifth in the league in both saves (556) and minutes played (831:51) in 15 games played, won three Defensive Player of the Week Awards this season. The Orangeville, Ontario native and 13-year NLL veteran is second among the league’s active goalies with 174 career games played.
Rose led the league with 10 wins this season, ranked second in saves (607) and third in goals against average (10.61), save percentage (.791) and minutes played (905:01). The Orangeville, Ontario native was originally drafted by Toronto in the third round (28th overall) of the 2008 NLL Entry Draft. The four-year NLL veteran won one Defensive Player of the Week Award this season.
The 2013 NLL Season Awards are determined by a vote of the league’s Board of Governors, General Managers and Head Coaches. The announcement of Season Awards continues on Monday, May 6 with the All-Rookie Team.
