By: Riley Pollock – 03.11.24
Harrison Matsuoka is ready to build off his solid 2023-24 campaign.
The Calgary product is entering his fourth season in the NLL with the Roughnecks following career highs in points (7), loose balls (59) and caused turnovers (13) last year.
Following the departures of some big names in the transition game in the offseason, the Riggers may be looking to Matsuoka to help fill that role. The ‘Necks defender says he’s ready to go.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said, “It’s exciting, we’ve got a lot of new faces here this year so it will be a fun camp.”
With those new faces comes new responsibilities for Matsuoka who finds himself as one of the longer-tenured defenders on the Roughnecks.
“I think definitely we’re going to have a young back-end this year,” he explained. “Going to have to step up into that leadership role a bit more for sure.
Matsuoka says he is looking forward to building relationships with his teammates, new and old, over the first weekend of camp.
“I’m looking to meet a lot of new buddies,” he said. “As we’ve said there’s a lot of new faces out here so getting to know some of the younger guys and pushing the pace with the fellas.”
It’s the second season this group will be working under head coach Josh Sanderson and his staff. Matsuoka thinks it will be much easier to get into the systems after playing in them for a full year.
“Last year was a bit of a learning curve,” said Matsuoka. “Different systems, different coaching styles, but I think this year we’re going to come out running. Now everyone is comfortable with the system so it will be really good.”
The Roughnecks continue training camp next weekend in Toronto with scrimmages against Toronto Saturday and Philadelphia Sunday.
