Men’s lacrosse captain, Matt Garvey, just played his last game as a Jasper. During his time at Manhattan College, Garvey has been a standout athlete and an invaluable teammate. Looking back on his college career, Garvey is confident that being a Division 1 athlete and captain of the team has made him mature. On Friday, April 28th, Garvey walked off the field knowing that this experience has changed for the better and confident that the lacrosse program is in good hands.

You just played your last game as D1 lacrosse player for Manhattan College. What’s going through your mind?

It’s very surreal. I love playing lacrosse; I’ve been playing since I was very young, so after that last whistle it was kinda tough. A lot of memories, good and bad were going through my head. It was crazy walking off the field for the last time but it was a good experience all in all so I’m very happy with it.

Any stand out moments or favorite memories from your lacrosse career?

Stand out moments? For me personally I think were the two wins this season against Hartford and Wagner. Both were in overtime, the Wagner was triple over time, it was very hectic but personally I played two of my better games. I had a hat trick in both of those games and it was also just really good to beat those teams because Wagner had beaten us last year and same with Hartford. The best moment was definitely last year when we beat Marist. Our whole team came together, we weren’t playing very well and that one day we just clicked and we were firing on all cylinders. We played our best game of the year and probably the best game I’ve ever been a part of at Manhattan College.

How was your experience being a captain for a D1 lacrosse team?

Being a captain for Coach Kelleher was kinda tough because he holds us to a higher standard, which he should, but it was a very good experience. I learned a lot from it especially looking back from when I first started to now, I’ve grown up a lot. I’ve definitely matured a lot through it all. My coach has said that to me as well. It was a great experience and I’m very happy with how I handled it and how the other four captains handled it because we’ve put the team first in all aspects and we showed that this program is definitely going in the right direction.

Do you have any plans to continue playing lacrosse?

Very competitive lacrosse is just a college thing. I’m not going to enter into the MLL draft, unfortunately but I will definitely be playing in a few summer leagues and definitely summer tournaments. Those are the main lacrosse events that will be going on in my life now. I will also be coaching this summer for youth teams back in New Jersey. So I’ll be coaching and spreading what I love to the younger kids.

Any final remarks?

I would personally like to thank my three coaches, Coach Hodgson, Coach Odierna, and Coach Kelleher, for really changing who I am as a person, especially for the better. Two years ago when they first took the job, I was a little different of a human being, a little bit more off the wall and crazy. I’ve definitely turned it around and matured a lot and I credit them for that. I would also like to thank everyone I’ve played with and the four kids that I’ve played with for the past four years; Gian Noto, Frank Merrill, Connor Flannery, and Alex Abiog because we’ve been through a lot together as a team and just as students at Manhattan College. It’s also really good to see that the program is going in the right direction underneath the coaching staff. We didn’t always get the wins that we wanted but we had a lot of fun doing it and we always stuck together through it all. Those are four of my best friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life along with the other guys.

One last note…

I would like to thank my little brother for playing defense because he always pushed me to do better on the offensive side of the ball. Also, big shout out to my mom for putting up with all my antics and for being there for me all the time. She’s the rock in my life and I love her to death.