Dillon Ward Named Director of Goaltending and Player Development for East Coast Elite and Blaze Box Lacrosse Club

NLL champion and World Championship MVP will launch the first box-lacrosse-specific goalie school in the United States

Mt.. Laurel, N.J. — East Coast Elite (ECE) Box Lacrosse and Blaze Box Lacrosse Club today announced the appointment of Dillon Ward as Director of Goaltending and Player Development.

Ward is regarded as one of the greatest and most versatile goaltenders in the history of lacrosse, with championship success at the international, box, and field professional levels. In his new role he will lead all goaltending development across both organizations and will build a box-specific goalie school — believed to be the first program of its kind in the United States.

Box goaltending is among the most specialized positions in all of sport, and qualified instruction has historically been concentrated in traditional box hotbeds in Canada, upstate New York, and the Reservations. Very few educators in the Tri-State area and beyond teach the position at an elite level. Ward's school is designed to close that gap and make advanced box goaltending instruction available to players across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware.

Ward's role will extend beyond the crease. He will participate fully as a coach at ECE and Blaze box practices, working with players at every position and bringing his experience and understanding of the game to the entire roster as the Director of Player Development.

"Dillon is the most credentialed box goaltender any American youth box program has ever had on its staff, and he isn't here as a name on a flyer - he's going to be on the floor," said Brendan Gorman, President of ECE. "The goalie school he's building is the first of its kind in this country. Families have driven to Canada for this kind of instruction. Now it lives here, and it becomes a defining feature of what ECE and Blaze are. Add on top of that - having his presence at practices - bringing a wealth of knowledge growing up with the game and competing at the highest level of the sport - his impact will be immense."

About Dillon Ward

Ward won gold with Team Canada at the 2014 World Lacrosse Championship, where he was named tournament MVP and Most Outstanding Goaltender. He was selected to the FIL All-World Team in 2014 and 2018 and won a silver medal in 2023.

In the National Lacrosse League, Ward led the Colorado Mammoth to the 2022 NLL Championship and was named Finals MVP, setting an NLL Finals record with 55 saves in the deciding Game 3. He was named NLL Goaltender of the Year in 2017, earned three consecutive All-Pro selections from 2016 to 2018, and was an All-Rookie Team selection in 2014. He holds Mammoth franchise records for wins, saves, and minutes played.

On the field side, Ward backstopped the Waterdogs Lacrosse Club to their first Premier Lacrosse League championship in 2022, capturing two professional titles within a 90-day span, and won the 2018 Major League Lacrosse championship with the Denver Outlaws. At Bellarmine University he became the program's first All-American and a Tewaaraton Award nominee in 2013. With the Orangeville Northmen he won three consecutive Minto Cup national championships and was named Minto Cup MVP in 2012.

About East Coast Elite and Blaze Box Lacrosse Club

East Coast Elite (ECE) Box Lacrosse and Blaze Box Lacrosse Club are box lacrosse programs serving players across New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Blaze Box Lacrosse Club, based in Mt. Laurel, N.J., draws players from South Jersey and the Philadelphia region. The two clubs run joint training camps, with top players from each invited into the ECE National Program for destination events