Jeff Zywicki (born April 8, 1981) is a former professional

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

player from

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He played college lacrosse at UMass. He was drafted 8th overall by the

San Jose Stealth The San Jose Stealth were a member of the National Lacrosse League, the professional box lacrosse league of North America from 2004 until 2009. They played at the HP Pavilion at San Jose, which is also the home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks and th ...

in the 2005 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft. He also played in

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001 Major League Lacrosse season, 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This w ...

for the

San Francisco Dragons The San Francisco Dragons were a professional field lacrosse team based in San Francisco and San Jose, California. From 2006–2008, they played in Major League Lacrosse and they ceased operations before the 2009 season due to the 2008 financial c ...

Denver Outlaws The Denver Outlaws are a professional field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, that competes in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). Founded as the Chrome Lacrosse Club, they began play as one of the league's six inaugural teams in the ...

and the Toronto Nationals, who drafted him.

Early career

Zywicki grew up in

Nepean, Ontario Nepean ( ) is an area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located west of Ottawa's inner core, it was an independent city until amalgamated with the Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton in 2001 to become the new city of Ottawa. However, the name ...

, Canada where he played his minor lacrosse. At 15, he led his Midget lacrosse team to a Provincial championship with his father, Eugene Zywicki as the head coach. At 16, Zywicki began playing for the Nepean Knights of the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League, where he finished second with 5.0 points per game to Andre Leduc (5.4 points per game) for most career points per game. In 1998, Zywicki had a career high 96 points and was awarded as the League's Most Outstanding Rookie. During his time with the Knights, Zywicki also split time playing with the Jr. ‘A’ Orillia Rama Kings.

College & professional career

Zywicki attended the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

where he was awarded ECAC Lacrosse League First Team honors as a senior. That same year, Jeff was drafted 8th overall by the

in the National Lacrosse League entry draft. He also plays for the Toronto Nationals of

. During the

2009 NLL season The 2009 National Lacrosse League season, the 23rd in the history of the NLL, began January 3, 2009 in Buffalo, Portland, and Sunrise, Florida, and concluded with the Calgary Roughnecks defeating the New York Titans 12—10 in the Champion's C ...

, he was named a reserve to the

All-Star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

International career

In 2006, Jeff lead the Canadian Men's lacrosse team to its first

World Lacrosse Championship The World Lacrosse Men's Championship is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as ...

since 1978, when it defeated the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

15–10 in the final of the

2006 World Lacrosse Championship Canada men's national lacrosse team, Canada won its second gold medal at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship, held in London, Ontario, from 14 to 22 July. The Canadians defeated the United States men's national lacrosse team, United States in th ...

. Jeff had an outstanding championship, being awarded the 'Best Attackman' and earning a spot on the All-World team after scoring a tournament record 28 goals in 8 games.

Statistics

NCAA

NLL

MLL

Junior

Senior

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zywicki, Jeff 1981 births Living people Canadian expatriate lacrosse people in the United States Canadian lacrosse players Lacrosse forwards Lacrosse people from Ontario Major League Lacrosse players National Lacrosse League All-Stars San Jose Stealth players Sportspeople from Ottawa Hamilton Nationals players UMass Minutemen lacrosse players Washington Stealth players