98 - MATT SYMES

Born:  March 11, 1994                Height:  6’1”                Weight:  205                ​Shoots:  Right

Matt was born in Johannesburg, RSA, but grew up in Coquitlam.  He started playing Tyke lacrosse, joining most of his friends and hockey teammates, and played all his minor and Intermediate lacrosse in Coquitlam played Junior A for the Port Coquitlam Saints in 2014 and for the Junior Adanacs in 2015, scoring 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points with 14 PiM in 17 games.  He was selected 18th overall by Maple Ridge in the 2016 WLA draft and in 17 games for the WLA Champion Burrards in 2016 he continued his reliable scoring ways with 22 goals and 14 assists for 36 points in 25 regular season, WLA playoff and Mann Cup games.  Hampered by an injury in 2017 and last summer, his WLA stats through last season include 30 goals and 18 assists for 58 points in 38 games.  In collegiate field lacrosse, Matt played attack for a year at prestigious Catawba College in North Carolina followed by three years as a middie at Whittier College east of Los Angeles, where he completed a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.  He is currently a Quality Assurance Analyst at Traction on Demand.  Matt likes traveling near or far, including to Turku and Kaarina, Finland, from July 8-15 for the 2017 (and first ever) European Box Lacrosse Championships, playing for Team England with fellow Adanac Josh Phillips.  He concludes, “Some of the most influential people in my lacrosse career have been my parents, teammates and coaches.”