92- VINNY RICCI

Born:  August 10, 1992        Height:  6’0”        Weight: 190         ​Shoots:  Left

Vinny first played lacrosse at age 4 in his hometown of Port Moody, inspired to do so by lots of friends who played by his father, Darren, who coached him as a youngster.  In school. he played “every sport” including football (linebacker and slot back) and hockey (centre).  After a year of Intermediate A lacrosse in New Westminster he played Junior A with the Coquitlam Adanacs including three Minto Cup appearances.  In 67 Junior A games, he scored 76 goals with 105 assists for 181 points plus 63 PiM.  Selected by Coquitlam in the WLA draft, in his rookie season he scored 6 goals with 10 assists in 10 games.  His WLA stats through 2018 included 54 goals and 52 assists for 108 points with a testy 55 PiM in 70 games and he is a cinch to play a dominant role on offense this summer.  Vinny played field lacrosse in national championships in 2013 and 2014.   In 2016 he completed his degree in English at Limestone College in South Carolina.  The Saints won the USILA championship in 2014 and 2015, and as team Captain in 2017, Vinny helped lead the Saints to an outstanding 21-0 season until a heartbreaking loss in the USILA final in their quest for a third straight national championship.  His career stats included 154 goals (5th all time for Limestone) and 187 points (11th all time), with accolades including team MVP in 2015, annual All-Conference and All-American status and, in his final season, being named a USILA Scholastic All Star team member and, for the second time, a USILA All Star team member.  He thoroughly enjoyed the sights and sounds, food, architecture, people, culture and beer in Prague (and playing boxla) with his buddies including Dean Fairall, Bryan Gillis and Dan Lewis this spring.  He plans to teach English in high school (and coach) and likes the opportunities to teach abroad for a time but we hope the kids in our area also benefit from his academic and athletic guidance and his fine character.  Vinny also enjoys camping, boating and skiing as well as reading, classic rock, TV (“The Trailer Park Boys”) and movies (a favourite is “Hot Rod” with Adam Sandler).  He is learning to cook family recipes and of course prefers Italian cuisine.  Vinny says the most important influences in his lacrosse career so far have been his dad and other coaches including Curt Malawsky with the Junior Adanacs and J. B. Clarke at Limestone.