A stick, a dream, and a city behind him
Naomi Campbell, Staff Writer
In Canada, the sport of lacrosse is loved from coast to coast. Over the last couple of years, the National Lacrosse League (NLL) has gained and increased popularity, especially in the Blue Sky City, which happens to be home to the Calgary Roughnecks.
If you’ve ever been to a Roughnecks game, you’ll know that the energy inside the Scotiabank Saddledome is electric and addictive. With the speakers booming and fans roaring, the players definitely feed off of the energy, making every game just as memorable as the last, and for Harrison Matsuoka, every moment is a dream come true.
Matsuoka grew up in the heart of Calgary, and his interest in lacrosse formed at the sight of a banner on the highway at the age of seven. His box lacrosse career started with the Calgary Hornets lacrosse club, which took him to draft day to move up into the junior level.
Matsuoka was drafted by the Junior A Raiders, where he played his entire five years of eligibility, and spoke very highly of the team and atmosphere surrounding those years. In his first year on the team, the Raiders won the Alberta championship after battling a loaded Coquitlam team, during which he faced former teammate Christian Del Bianco and current teammate Tyler Pace.
“I met some of my best friends there and made a lot of really great memories,” Matsuoka says. “We had a really great coaching staff as well, with Mitch Bannister, Andrew McBride and Jesse Fair. They really kind of helped mould me into the player that I am today.”
Matsuoka gave field lacrosse a shot as well, playing with Elevate Lacrosse, run by Jeff and Bobby Snyder. He played field through grades nine to twelve, which helped him commit to Division I at Stony Brook University in Long Island, N.Y.
In Alberta, most lacrosse players choose to play box lacrosse, but to try and get any scholarships playing the sport they love, field lacrosse presents a more lucrative path as it is much more popular across the border. Matsuoka mentioned that playing lacrosse has allowed him to travel and open amazing doors to further his career.
“Lacrosse has really allowed me to travel and meet some really amazing people,” Matsuoka says. “So I’ve always been super blessed for that.”
After he aged out of juniors and COVID ended Matsuoka’s final season of NCAA lacrosse, the Calgary product was drafted by the Calgary Roughnecks in 2020, where he currently resides as one of their top transition players. That position necessitates a level of versatility, as he plays a key role with the team’s forward core, but also has to be able to switch quickly to play alongside their defensive crew. Matsuoka played as many sports as he could growing up, such as hockey, track and field, basketball, and even volleyball, thanks to his parents, building a dossier of skills to pull from each sport and integrate into his lacrosse game.
“I remember my mom’s big thing was that Wayne Gretzky and John Tavares both played lacrosse growing up, and Tavares’ uncle is one of the NLL’s best players of all time, so lacrosse and hockey go hand in hand,” Matsuoka says. “Doing track really helped me progress in lacrosse because I was always in pretty good shape, which helped me focus on different aspects of my lacrosse game because I didn’t have to worry about dying from running so much.”
Matsuoka wears number 18 on the back of his jersey, but didn’t always wear this number, as he originally started out in junior ranks as number 23. When he moved away for college, that number was occupied by a sophomore player, so he chose 18 as his backup. After that, his Roughnecks teammate Liam LeClair also wore number 23, so he stuck with 18.
“When I came to the roughnecks, Liam LeClair was already 23 and 18 was open, so I was like ‘well this is perfect, just keep the good times rolling with 18,’” Matsuoka said. “Nothing symbolic behind it, but I really like it, it’s a good number.”
Some NLL players cannot afford to make lacrosse their full time job like guys in bigger leagues. As a result, getting a lacrosse scholarship is of utmost importance, as it helps them either land on a backup plan, or helps them out while getting to play at a high level. Harrison graduated from Stony Brook University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, while also minoring in Linguistics.
Being a full time student and athlete is a huge commitment, but Matsuoka stuck it out, with help from his now-fiancé, who also studied linguistics, to get to the end of those heavy four years of school. Matsuoka now resides in medical sales for hospitals around Calgary.
Going into his fifth year with the Roughnecks, Matsuoka has been an integral part of the team. He has played 68 career NLL games, with ground balls being his best statistic at 212 in his career. In lacrosse, “ground balls” is a measure of a player’s ability to secure loose balls, which is crucial for gaining possession and creating scoring opportunities.
Matsuoka claims his rookie year as his favourite, not because of the points, or games won, but because of the team, and the feeling of his dream coming true.
“It’s tough to pick just one year that was the best, but I’d say my rookie year was really cool just because it’s obviously what you’ve worked towards your whole life,” Matsuoka says.
“To finally be there and play against guys you grew up watching and to be on the same team as guys you grew up watching. It’s kind of just a surreal moment and really cool”
If you want to see Matsuoka and the Calgary Roughnecks this year, make sure to grab your tickets, some of which are eligible for student discounts and others even include special events. The first game of the season takes the boys on the road to Saskatchewan, where they play the Saskatchewan Rush on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. The official home opener will be played on Dec. 28 against the Buffalo Bandits at 6 p.m.
