Male Athlete of the Year: Matt Ryan '13

Two minutes are left on the clock:Exeter’s boys’ varsity lacrosse teamis beating Northfield Mount Hermon,10-5. Some players, knowing a win isinevitable, begin to slow down. But MattRyan, long stick midfield, never exertshalf-hearted energy.Forty five seconds left. A stray ballfrom an Exonian’s stick is rolling outof bounds. In the distance, Ryan sprintsafter it. If the ball passes the line, NMHwill take possession. At first the oddsare against Ryan: the ball is too fast andhe is too far away. A second later, stillwith only a slim chance, Ryan closesin and dives. His body, horizontal tothe ground, flies through the air. Hestretches and, with a six foot, two inchbody and six foot stick, manages toswipe at the ball, not only keeping it inbounds but knocking it towards a teammate.Exeter regains possession and thesideline goes crazy. For Ryan, such driveand dedication are routine.“This was an incredible moment interms of his intensity and just how focusedhe is when he is playing a game,”lacrosse head coach Eric Bergofskysaid. He also described Ryan as always“giving 110% to make something goodhappen.”Ryan, a native of New Hampshire,has played both varsity lacrosse and varsitysoccer since prep year. His impacton the soccer team, where he is also cocaptain,has been just as significant ashis impact in lacrosse. In Ryan’s entireExeter soccer career, the team has lostonly eight regular-season games—arecord that is no coincidence, said A.J.Cosgrove, boys’ varsity soccer coach.“I don’t think someone is part ofa team for that long without his competitivespirit affecting the entire team,”Cosgrove said. “He made every gameimportant, even against the teams wewere supposed to beat.”Fellow players said that althoughRyan is perhaps not as innately skilledin soccer as he is in lacrosse, his naturalathleticism, persistent enthusiasm andenergy compensate.“Matt is a remarkably consistentplayer and he is very difficult to beat,”said Cosgrove. “Because soccer isn’t hisprimary sport, he’s not the most technicalplayer on the team. But what he lacksin technical ability he makes up for inspeed, hard work and terrific attitude.”“Matt has been a stud since dayone here at Exeter,” soccer and lacrosseco-captain Nick Weigel said. “He hasalways been one of the team's top twodefenders, if not the best. He also hasbeen a top contributor on offense sincelower year.”Upper Spencer Reaves recalledwhat happened during the last twentyfive minutes of the team’s first gamelast year. “Matt put the team on his backand really stepped up,” Reaves said. “Wewere losing and he worked ten timesharder than everyone else did—whichreally fired us all up.”In lacrosse, Ryan is a two-time All-American player. He is also currentlyranked number eleven in the countryby Inside Lacrosse. Moreover, UnderArmour invited Ryan to play with thetop forty four seniors in the country. Thegame will be aired on July 6th at eighto’clock on ESPNU.“He has physical talents like sizeand speed that are natural gifts,” Bergofskysaid, “but he also constantlyworks hard to improve his tremendousstick skills.”But Ryan brings far more thannatural ability to lacrosse, Bergofskysaid. “What sets him apart from otherplayers who also have some of thosetalents is his vision and his knowledgeof the game. He has an innate sense. Ifhe doesn’t have the ball he is always inthe right place at the right time, and if hedoes he always knows when to pass theball. This is not a small thing.”Ryan, who plays long stick midfield,a defensive role, was nevertheless thehighest scorer on the team—scoringmore goals and having more assists togetherthan any other player. This abilityto score and defend is extremely rare.“That a defensive player has themost points on the team is not just unprecedentedat Exeter but in any schoolI know,” Bergofsky said.Weigel praised Ryan’s versatilityand instincts. “Matt has incredible stickskills, speed, endurance and vision,” hesaid. “He is a force both defensively andoffensively. He can stay with any dodgerand is great on ground balls, to go alongwith a hard and accurate shot when heshoots high.”Ryan was voted Most ValuablePlayer at the end of the lacrosse seasonnot only for his athletic skill, but also forhis ability to lead the team. At the same,he knows he to strike a balance betweenseriousness and fun.“Matt has been a tremendous leader,”Bergofsky said. “He knows how tohave fun and goof around and yet he canflip a switch and be the most intense guywe’ve got. Kids can sense when Mattwas saying something important.”He also leads through his own approachedto the game, spurring others towork harder and do better. “Matt makesother players ask the question: if thebest player on the team is working thishard in practice, then who am I not tobe working as hard?” Bergofsky said.“Everyone on the team respects himas a great leader—there is no way notto,” Reaves said. “He was always outfront leading all the sprints and gettingus fired up.”“He is a fantastic captain because hemotivates us and ensures that everyoneis working really hard,” senior lacrosseco-captain Forest Corcoran said. “Whatreally earns the team’s respect is hisintensity—he really wants to win everydrill, every practice and every game.”Both the lacrosse and soccer teamshad a high number of younger playersthis year. Despite the competitive andpressured nature of New England prepschool sports, new boys to the teams feltRyan made the transition and initiationmuch easier, saying he was not only amentor but also a steady friend. “Coming inas a new lower, I felt really welcomed by Matt,”lower Winston Smith said. “He got to know mepersonally, more than other boys—he knewmy name, how I played, my style. Hestarted calling me nicknames like Winnieand just made me feel more comfortable.”“Most days this winter, we went to the cage andplayed,” Thomas Stockham, a new lower andmember of the boys’ varsity lacrosse team, said.“Not only was he helping me by shooting on mebut he was also helping all the younger playerswith their shots and stick skills.”The effort was not unnoticed by Coach Bergofsky.“Matt made it a clear priority to make the youngerplayers feel part of the team,” Bergofsky said. “Hementored and worked with them individually tomake them better.  Though the whole set of captainsdid this, matt led the way—this speaks volumes tohis character and his leadership.”In soccer, too, Ryan is credited with reaching out tothe whole team. “We had a lot of young kids and severalpost-graduates on the team this year,” Cosgrove said,“Matt did a terri c job of integrating them into the team,establishing good team chemistry and taking care of allof those groups. He is super friendly, a good characterand I think his word resonates with people.”Many believe that Ryan’s success on the playingeld ows from his personality. Reaves commented onRyan’s charismatic aura. “He’s really captivating andpeople gravitate towards him,” Reaves said. “He is areally open, witty guy.”Stockham agreed, adding that although Ryan is oneof the best players on the lacrosse team, he is also themost humble. “Sometimes you get kids who are verygood and end up being really cocky, but that is absolutelynot the case with Matt,” Stockham said. “He is veryhumble...considering he is as good as he is.”Ryan is also the kind of person that does not restricthimself to athletics. “He is a really good guy—alwaysready to help out a friend, a teammate, anybody,” Corcoransaid. “You just need to ask him for something andhe always does it.”Stockham remembers a time, outside of the lacrosseseason, when Ryan gave him invaluable advice and help.“One day in winter term I was having a really tough time,so I texted Matt and I asked him if I could brie y talk tohim,” Stockham said. “He invited me to his house anddiscussed everything with me. Matt is always willing totake time out of his day to help anybody, regardless if itis about sports or not.”Many remember Ryan by the quirks of his distinctivepersonality. Oddities include his inappropriatelyshort practice shorts, his inability to peel an orange,to blow a chewing gum bubble and his overuse of theworld ‘unreal.’ Ryan takes an average of six showers aday, only eats a single cracker on game days and lovesjump-roping.At the end of his senior year, Ryan’s sports career atExeter is, for many, truly remarkable. Peers and coachesrecognize that his accomplishments on the eld areunmatched by any Exeter lacrosse player. Some wouldargue further that Ryan is one of the best players in thecountry.“He is absolutely irreplaceable. In my thirty-sixyears as boys’ varsity lacrosse coach, Matt is the bestI’ve seen,” Bergofsky said. “It’s going to be a long timebefore another Matty Ryan shows up.”“He has set countless records and is a true winner,”Weigel agreed. “In my opinion, and many others wouldagree, he is the greatest player to ever play lacrosse atExeter. “Ryan has been recruited to play NCAA DivisionI lacrosse for Harvard University this fall. Many see abright athletic career for Ryan.“I see him as a tremendous college player at Harvard,”Bergofsky said. “I would be shocked if he doesnot have a big impact on the team, even as a freshman.”