Harrison Matsuoka is selected in the first round by Calgary Roughnecks in the 2020 NLL draft

The Calgary Roughnecks aren’t resting on their championship laurels.

No . . . they stood up to make noise and stood out with their picks Thursday night during the 2020 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft.

Despite owning bragging rights as the defending champs and intending to contend again as soon as the sport returns to the floor, the Roughnecks addressed their future by turning two picks in the top 21 into four during that stretch.

That helped them choose both a consensus talent in Tanner Cook with the No. 5 pick overall and a local phenom in Harrison Matsuoka with another first-round selection.

“We got two guys that we identified as having really strong potential for the NLL,” said Riggers GM Mike Board.

“Harrison is a speedster. He’s a real strong defender, a loose-ball hawk and finishes off in transition. And he’s a local kid. Always stoked to have Calgary kids grow with us and expand their careers.”

To get Matsuoka, the team traded away transition Tyson Bell to the Halifax Thunderbirds for Nos. 14 and 20 in this year’s pick-em and delightfully used the former choice on Calgary’s own Matsuoka.

“You’ve always got to make change and be prepared for change,” Board said. “We certainly had to give up to get. Tyson Bell has been a really good player for us. and I’m sure he’ll continue to be a great player in Halifax.

“We thought Harrison was going to go before our next pick at 21. When the discussion started on him, that was one of the reasons we ended up making that deal.”

Same goes for Matsuoka, a 6-foot, 180-lb. leader who is a four-year captain of the NCAA’s Stony Brook Seawolves and has starred for five seasons with the Okotoks Junior A Raiders.

“The Roughnecks showed a little interest in me (before the draft), but I was definitely pretty surprised to hear my name picked by them in the first round,” Matsuoka said. “It’s a dream come true. I’ve been going to Roughnecks games since I was a little kid — 8 years old — taking my shirt off and spinning it in the air every time the Roughnecks scored a goal. It’s pretty surreal to go home.

Harrison is the son of former hockey player, Rob Matsuoka.

Source: https://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/sports/lacrosse/nll/calgary-roughnecks/roughnecks-make-splash-with-picks-trades-in-nll-draft/wcm/e12e1383-4132-494a-b067-016696018ffe

ROUGHNECKS AT THE 2020 NLL DRAFT

5. F Tanner Cook (own pick)

14. D/T Harrison Matsuoka (from Halifax Thunderbirds)

20. D/T Ethan Ticehurst (from Halifax Thunderbirds)

21. F Patrick Dodds (own pick)

32. G Justin Geddie (compensatory pick for losing UFA Riley Loewen)

37. D Rhys Blake (from New York Riptide)

63. F Brody McLean (from Halifax Thunderbirds)

72. F Jackson Morrill (own pick)

87. F Laszlo Henning (from Philadelphia Wings)