Friday Features: Kristiansen leads lacrosse revolution at Shorter
By Mike Perrin
What brings
Matt Kristiansen the 2,300 miles or so from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Rome, Ga., and
Shorter University? Lacrosse, of course.
Kristiansen is a 6-foot, 165-pound attacker for the Hawks, who play as a Division II independent along with fellow Gulf South Conference member Alabama Huntsville. The senior from St. Francis Xavier High School is second in the nation in goals per game – scoring 4.55 in 11 games. He leads the team with 50 goals and has nine assists, which is good for 59 points, to rank sixth in D2 at 5.36 points a game. He’s tied for sixth nationally – but just one behind No. 1 – in man-up goals (power-play for the soccer or hockey fans out there) with seven.
“I came to Shorter from Canada to play lacrosse and to get an education,” Kristiansen said. “I was playing for the lacrosse academy at my high school and we traveled to Annapolis (Md.) to play in some recruiting games. The Shorter coaches saw videos of me in that showcase and asked me to come play for them on scholarship.”
Kristiansen also impressed then-coach Nathan Young’s staff with video from his play in an indoor lacrosse league.
“I had never been to Georgia before,” he said. “The first time I ever came to Georgia was when I came for my freshman weekend. I actually flew back to Canada after that, though, to play in the Junior A National Championship – the Minto Cup. After that, I flew back to Georgia to start my career with Shorter.”
Kristiansen’s decision to come to Rome has paid off for the Hawks, who started men’s and women’s lacrosse programs in 2011, a year before Kristiansen’s arrival. Shorter’s men are 5-6 this season and 42-39 all-time. Kristiansen has 179 career goals and has scored at least 30 each season as a Hawk. His 10 goals vs. Davis & Elkins this season were a career high.
Kristiansen played three years, including a redshirt season in 2015, for
Jason Childs and is playing his senior season under
Harry DeNoers and assistant
Jeff LaVangie.
While lacrosse is enjoying a surge in popularity in the South, Kristiansen has been playing almost since his toddler days. “My two older brothers were already playing lacrosse and I was actually too young to play in a league or on a team so I first started playing with them around 3 years old,” he said. “I was drawn to the sport because my dad bought me a stick when I was little and I started playing with my brothers.”
Once he was old enough to play in a league, he said he soon started facing tougher competition. “As I moved through club teams,” Kristiansen said, “I was always being pulled up to the older teams. The year I realized I was good was when I was 12. That year, I was captain of my regular team, then I was put on the ‘A’ team, which was a team of the best players from my club. Then, I made the summer games team, which I was also captain of, and I finished out that year making and playing for Team Alberta – which was a team of the best players in the whole province."
“My high school did not have a team, so I played for their lacrosse academy while continuing to play at the top level of box (indoor) lacrosse,” he said.
Kristiansen then played five years of Junior A (for 16-21-year-olds) lacrosse. During the summer, he plays for the
Langley Thunder Senior A club in British Columbia. He has hopes of being drafted to play professionally by the
National Lacrosse League. The NLL is a nine-team indoor league with U.S. and Canadian franchises. The league season runs December through May and the closest team for GSC fans is the
Georgia Swarm at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth.
Kristiansen may be a long way from home, but he’s got a little bit of home on the field with him.
Tyler, his older brother by three-and-a-half years, is also an attacker – and a senior – on the squad. “I came to Shorter first and after playing my first year here I recruited my brother to come down here and play as well,” Matt said. “We both played lacrosse, hockey and boxed together. I enjoy having my brother on the team because we both played box lacrosse our whole lives, which a lot of field lacrosse players have not done. Because of this, he and I play lacrosse in similar styles that make it easier for us to play together. Also, since we’ve played together in years previous, we know how each other plays and can connect well on the field.”
Kristiansen said if his professional dreams don’t come true after the season, he is considering returning for graduate school at Shorter and to serve as a grad assistant. The Interdisciplinary Studies major with focuses in History, English and Communications graduates in May, and hopes one day to coach lacrosse.
“I can see Shorter lacrosse expanding greatly in the future just because of how much lacrosse is growing in the state of Georgia – especially since they gained both a professional field lacrosse team and a professional box lacrosse team just in the past year,” he said. “I think this will have a great influence on the sport in Georgia in the coming years."
“Our team this year has been fortunate to have a great group of parents and teammates to help us promote our games on social media and otherwise,” Kristiansen said. “Also, in the past years, we’ve done clinics with youth teams and also have fall ball tournaments to help get our names and our school out there.”
Follow Perrin on Twitter,
@mikeperrin27. Email comments to:
mikeperrin27@gmail.com.
Join in on the conversation using #FridayFeatures on
Twitter and
Facebook.
2015-16 GSC Friday Features
9/04/2015 - FIT's Hughes Inspired by Former GSC Standout.
9/11/2015 - Veteran UNA Coach Bobby Wallace Enjoys His Time With Young Lions.
9/18/2015 - Mississippi College Looks to Sustain Quick Start.
9/25/2015 - UAH's Winslow Races Way Back to Top After Injury.
10/02/2015 - Union's Morris Not Ready for Rocking Chair.
10/09/2015 - UWA's Mark Grant Learning Lessons From Both His College Sports.
10/16/2015 - Perez Sets Tone for Nationally-Ranked Lee.
10/23/2015 - Jessica Codato Finds Friends, Volleyball Success at Valdosta State.
10/30/2015 - Delta State Safety Looks to Avoide School of Hard 'Knox'.
11/06/2015 - Shorter's B.J. McCoy Runs Hard, Is Thankful for Every Snap.
11/13/2015 - Consistency Leads Union to XC Nationals Again.
11/20/2015 - Will Hall Making Waves at West Georgia, Throughout GSC.
11/27/2015 - National Tourney Awaits MC After Month-Long Hiatus.
12/04/2015 - Harlon Hill Finalist Wingo Leaves UNA with Pocket Full of Records.
12/11/2015 - Stramaglia Waits Long Time to Do Long-Range Damage for UWF.
12/18/2015 - UAH Women's Basketball Senior Class Shares More Than Most.
1/08/2016 - Christmas Trip a 'Life-Changing' Experience for Lee Baseball.
1/15/2016 - VSU's Thomas Macera Preaches (And Shows) Toughness.
1/22/2016 - Union's Youngsters Spark Surge to Top of GSC Women's Hoops.
1/29/2016 - Shorter's Phil Taylor Making Waves in His Return to College Basketball.
2/05/2016 - DSU Softball Grabs Early Attention, Knocks Off No. 1.
2/12/2016 - Small-Town Pitcher Norton Makes Big Splash for UWG.
2/19/2016 - Y1K For Union Men's Basketball: Three Bulldogs Reach Career Mark.
2/26/2016 - Record-Setting Hillary Carpenter Brings Success With Her to UNA.
3/04/2016 - And Baby Makes - Another Teammate for MC Softball.
3/11/2016 - UAH Point Guard Greg Gardner Loves the Aesthetics of the Game.
3/18/2016 - Ben Holland 'En Fuego' for Lee Flames.
3/25/2016 - Team Leader Kayla Robles Finds Her Voice at Valdosta State.
4/01/2016 - Freshmen Set to Jumpstart West Florida Softball.