Matt Zash (born October 18, 1983, in

Massapequa, New York Massapequa (, ) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, in Ne ...

) is a retired

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, formerly of the

Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia Wings may refer to any of three distinct professional lacrosse teams: * Philadelphia Wings (1974–1975), a member of the original National Lacrosse League * Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) The Philadelphia Wings were a member of ...

in the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

, and of the

Long Island Lizards The New York Lizards, originally the Long Island Lizards, were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) team based in Hempstead, New York, located on Long Island. They are original members of the MLL. They lost the league's inaugural game on June 7, 2001 to ...

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 ...

Collegiate

Zash played under Coach

Mike Pressler Mike Pressler (born February 27, 1960) is an American lacrosse coach, who is currently the head coach and general manager of Atlas Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League as well as the varsity head coach for Highland Park High School's la ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, where he helped lead the Blue Devils to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship game in 2005. Zash's, who was team co-captain, senior season was cut short by the

2006 Duke University lacrosse case The Duke lacrosse rape hoax was a widely reported 2006 criminal case hoax in Durham, North Carolina, United States, in which three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team were falsely accused of rape. The three students were David Ev ...

Major League Lacrosse

Zash was drafted by the Philadelphia Barrage in the first round (sixth overall) in the 2006

MLL Collegiate Draft The Major League Lacrosse draft was the annual draft of outstanding amateur lacrosse players from American colleges and universities into the professional ranks of Major League Lacrosse (MLL). The North American league, made up of 9 teams, began con ...

. In his first two seasons in the Major League Lacrosse, Zash and his teammates won back-to-back MLL championships.

National Lacrosse League

Zash was drafted by the New York Titans with 32nd overall pick in the 2006 National Lacrosse League entry draft. Zash, who has played field lacrosse since childhood, described the transition from field to

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

as: Zash figured out the indoor game by end of his rookie season, having been awarded Rookie of the Week honors in the final week of the

2007 NLL season The 2007 National Lacrosse League season, the 21st in the history of the NLL (including the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League and Major Indoor Lacrosse League years) began on December 30, 2006 and concluded with the championship game on May 12, 2007. ...

. Zash played two more seasons with the Titans organization: one in New York and one in Orlando after the team moved there for the

2010 NLL season The 2010 National Lacrosse League season, the 24th in the history of the NLL, began on January 8, 2010, and ended with the Championship game on May 15. Team movement After five seasons in San Jose, the Stealth announced shortly after the 200 ...

. The Titans disbanded after that season, and Zash was chosen by the

Washington Stealth The Washington Stealth were a member of the National Lacrosse League, the professional box lacrosse league of North America from the 2010 NLL season through the 2013 NLL season. They were based in Everett (part of the Seattle metropolitan area ...

in the dispersal draft. He was then traded to the

Colorado Mammoth The Colorado Mammoth are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team has played its home games at Ball Arena since the 2003 season. They are owned by Stan ...

for a draft pick, and then traded again, this time to Rochester as part of the

Matt Vinc Matt Vinc ( ; born June 9, 1982, in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a Canadian professional box lacrosse goaltender who plays for the Buffalo Bandits in the National Lacrosse League and for the Peterborough Lakers of the Major Series Lacrosse. ...

/ John Grant Jr. swap. After playing only four games with the Knighthawks, Zash was traded for two draft picks to the

. Zash also won a bronze medal with Team USA in the 2007

World Indoor Lacrosse Championship The World Lacrosse Box Championships (WLBC), formerly known as the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC), is an international box lacrosse tournament sponsored by World Lacrosse that is held every four years. Since the first tournament in 2003 ...

s. After the 2011 season with Philadelphia, Zash retired from the NLL, and now works in property management in the greater New York City area.

Statistics

MLL

Statistics

NLL

Personal

Zash co-owns a lacrosse store in

called the "Lax Hut."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zash, Matt 1983 births Living people Duke Blue Devils men's lacrosse players Major League Lacrosse players New York Titans (lacrosse) players Orlando Titans players Sportspeople from Massapequa, New York Lacrosse players from Nassau County, New York Philadelphia Wings players Rochester Knighthawks players