Dillon Ward

Dillon James Ward (born March 28, 1991) is a professional lacrosse player (goalie) for the Colorado Mammoth in the National Lacrosse League and Waterdogs Lacrosse Club in the Premier Lacrosse League.

Dillon Ward

Born	(1991-03-28) March 28, 1991 (age 32) Orangeville, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight	200 pounds (91 kg)
Shoots	Right
Position	Goaltender
NCAA team	Bellarmine (2013)
NLL draft	3rd overall, 2013 Colorado Mammoth
NLL team	Colorado Mammoth
PLL team Former teams	Waterdogs L.C. Chaos L.C.
MSL team	Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks
Pro career	2013–
Career highlights
NCAA Third team All-American (2013) First team All-ECAC (2013) ECAC Goalie of the Year (2013) Bellarmine career records for wins (19), saves (576), save percentage (0.567), and goals against average (9.97) Bellarmine single season records for saves (208), save percentage (0.662), and goals against average (7.68) NLL 3x All-Pro (2016-18) 1x Goalie of the Year (2017) All-Rookie Team (2014) 1x Champion (2022) 1x Finals MVP (2022) International 2x All-World Team (2014, 2018) 2x World Lacrosse Championships Most Outstanding Goalie (2014, 2018) 1x World Lacrosse Championships MVP (2014)
Medal record Representing  Canada Men's lacrosse World Lacrosse Championship Winner 2014 Denver Runner-up 2018 Netanya Runner-up 2023 San Diego Box lacrosse World Indoor Lacrosse Championship Winner 2019 Langley

Personal

Ward was born in Orangeville, Ontario to Kent (minister with the United Church of Canada) and Patricia (lawyer). He is a graduate of The Hill Academy, (Vaughan, Ontario) and has a Communications degree from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.

Junior and Major

Ward played for the Orangeville Northmen Jr. A from 2008 to 2012. During that time the Northmen went to the provincial finals all five years, won four provincial championships and three national championships (Minto Cup). He was named Junior Goalie of the Year and Junior Player of the Year in 2010 by Inside Lacrosse.^[1] magazine, received the Robert Melville Memorial Award as top Junior A goalie in 2008, 2009 and 2011, and won the Most Valuable Player of the Minto Cup Tournament in 2012.^[2]

In 2009 he played for Team Ontario at the U19 Canadian Field Championships (First Nations Cup). Ontario won the title and Ward was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

In the 2013 Major Series Lacrosse entry draft he was selected forth overall by the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks^[3] and played for them in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

NCAA

Ward played in net for the Bellarmine Knights from 2010 to 2013 in NCAA Division I lacrosse. He played in fifty-three games, starting in forty-three.^[4] During the 2013 season he recorded an NCAA Division-I-leading save percentage of .662 earning him a Tewaaraton Trophy^[5] nomination and was named an All American (third team).^[6] That same season, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) unanimously named him Goalie of the Year^[7] In 2020, Ward was named as Bellarmine's player of the decade for men's lacrosse, having been the program's first ever All-American and holding school records in every goaltending category.^[8]

MLL

The Ohio Machine drafted Ward in the 2013 MLL collegiate^[9] draft and subsequently traded him to the Hamilton Nationals. He played with the Nationals during the 2013 regular season and the semi-finals of the MLL 2013 Championship weekend where they were eliminated by the Chesapeake Bayhawks. On July 20, 2013, Ward recorded 21 saves against the Machine earning him seventh of thirteen highlight plays of 2013 in the MLL. The Hamilton Nationals suspended play after the 2013 season and his rights were transferred to the Florida Launch. Although he did not play in the 2014 season, the Launch protected his rights for the 2015 season.^[10] On December 17, 2014, the Denver Outlaws announced that they had traded Charlie Cipriano and Curtis Dickson to Florida for Ward and two fourth round picks in the 2015 MLL Supplemental Draft.^[11]

PLL

On March 10, Ward was announced as one of sixteen players who would be transferring from MLL to the Premier Lacrosse League.^[12] Six days later, he was selected by Chaos with the seventh overall pick in the PLL Entry Draft.^[13] However, Ward did not see any action in the 2020 season, serving as a backup to Blaze Riorden as Chaos lost in the championship game.^[14]

Ward was traded from Chaos to Waterdogs on April 30, 2021, in exchange for Wesley Berg and a first round pick in the 2022 College Draft.^[15]

NLL

The Colorado Mammoth selected Ward third overall in the 2013 NLL entry draft.^[16] He played for them during the 2014 season, ultimately earning the role of starter. He was named Rookie of the Year in the NLL by Inside Lacrosse magazine^[17] and was runner-up as NLL Rookie of the Year and named to the NLL All-Rookie Team.^[18] On September 18, 2014, the Mammoth announced that Ward had signed a five-year contract with the team.^[19] In 2016, Ward was a second team all-pro. In 2017, Ward won Goaltender of the Year and was a first team all-pro. In 2018, Ward was second team all pro again.^[20] In 2022, Ward led the Mammoth to the NLL Championship, where he made 55 saves in the decisive game 3, a record for the finals, being named Finals MVP.^[21]

Heading into the 2023 NLL season, Inside Lacrosse named Ward the top goalie in the NLL.^[22]

International

Ward was selected to play for Team Canada at the FIL 2014 World Lacrosse Championship in Denver, Colorado. Ward started in all seven games that Canada played, winning six and losing one.^[23] On Saturday, July 19, 2014, Canada defeated the United States 8–5 to win gold. Ward was named Outstanding Goalie, to the All-World Team and Most Valuable Player of the tournament^[24] (the first goalie ever to win MVP).

Statistics

MLL

Reference:^[25]

Season	Team	GP	Min	W	L	GA	GAA	Sv	Sv%
2013	Hamilton Nationals	4	158:24	1	1	29	10.98	38	0.567
2015	Denver Outlaws	4	105:42	2	0	20	11.35	16	0.444
2016	Atlanta Blaze	5	118:00	0	1	27	13.73	27	0.500
2017	Atlanta Blaze	5	133:43	0	2	40	17.95	19	0.322
2018	Denver Outlaws	4	147:47	1	1	30	12.18	32	0.516
2019	Denver Outlaws	15	834:37	0	0	181	13.01	187	0.508

NLL

Reference:^[20]

Dillon Ward		Regular Season								Playoffs
Season	Team	GP	Min	W	L	GA	GAA	Sv	Sv %	GP	Min	W	L	GA	GAA	Sv	Sv %
2014	Colorado Mammoth	18	901:14	7	7	174	11.58	592	0.773	1	60:29	0	1	16	15.87	42	0.724
2015	Colorado Mammoth	16	827:03	7	6	173	12.55	547	0.760	1	27:45	0	1	7	15.14	21	0.750
2016	Colorado Mammoth	16	743:20	7	3	128	10.33	511	0.800	1	70:17	0	1	11	9.39	47	0.810
2017	Colorado Mammoth	18	90:05	9	6	165	109.90	632	0.793	3	173:58	2	1	38	13.11	115	0.752
2018	Colorado Mammoth	18	981:41	10	6	181	11.06	645	0.781	1	59:58	0	1	13	13.01	31	0.705
2019	Colorado Mammoth	18	963:01	5	11	174	10.84	599	0.775	2	124:04	1	1	18	8.70	90	0.833
2020	Colorado Mammoth	12	729:51	6	6	117	9.62	520	0.816	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2022	Colorado Mammoth	18	985:53	9	7	168	10.22	688	0.804	7	422:26	5	2	79	11.22	289	0.785
		134	6,222:08	60	52	1,280	12.34	4,734	0.787	16	938:57	8	8	182	11.63	635	0.777
Career Total:		150	7,161:05	68	60	1,462	12.25	5,369	0.786

GP–Games played;Min–Minutes played;W–Wins;L–Losses;GA–Goals against;GAA–Goals against average;Sv–Number of saves;Sv %–Save percentage;

PLL

Season	Team	GP	SA	2ptGA	Svs	Sv%	GAA
2021	Waterdogs LC	9	91	7	95	0.531	10.90
2022	Waterdogs LC	6	74	3	73	0.506	13.00
Total		15	165	10	168	0.520	11.95

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-09-28.
2. . Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
3. "MSL Draft Recap: Northmen Dominate". 2013-02-14. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
4. "Bellarmine Stats". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
5. "Dillon Ward named to Tewaaraton nominee list". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
6. "Dillon Ward named as USILA All-American". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
7. "Five Knights garner ECAC honors". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
8. "Ward earns nod as Bellarmine Player of the Decade for Lacrosse in fan vote". Bellarmine University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
9. "MLL - Dillon Ward". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
10. . Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
11. . Denver Outlaws. Archived from the original on 2015-01-08.
12. League, Premier Lacrosse (2020-03-10). "We're excited to welcome 16 new players to the PLL who will be available during the 2020 Entry Draft!pic.twitter.com/r6VXhrqBQ9". @PremierLacrosse. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
13. League, Premier Lacrosse (2020-03-16). "The official results from the 2020 Entry Draft! #PLLEntryDraftpic.twitter.com/TY5PxGmzEF". @PremierLacrosse. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
14. "Premier Lacrosse League Stats". Premier Lacrosse League Stats. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
15. "🚨 OFFICIAL TRADE 🚨 The Waterdogs have acquired @DillWard37 from Chaos in exchange for @wes_berg and the Waterdogs' 1st round Pick in the 2022 College Draft". PLL Twitter. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
16. . Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
17. . Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
18. "www.nll.com/news_article/show/421907?referrer_id=389128". Archived from the original on 28 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
19. . Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
20. "# 45 Dillon Ward". pointstreak.com.
21. "Dillon Ward is your NLL Finals MVP". NLL Twitter. 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
22. "The IL Indoor Top 50 is Back, with a Twist: Top 7 Goalies". Inside Lacrosse. 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
23. "World Championship Schedule/Results : Canada". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
24. "Canada's Ward Headlines All-World Team". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
25. "Dillon Ward Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com. Retrieved 2020-03-16.