Drew University Athletics

Matthew Cooper's arrival brought Drew an excellent and highly reliable player who never missed a game.  He was a vital member of four winning seasons, in which the Drew team achieved the MAC championship and the ECAC-Metro championship in 1988 and MAC-East championships in the succeeding three years.  He was the Drew MVP and the Drew Invitational Tournament MVP in 1990, a MAC All-Star in 1990 and 1991, and played on the Drew Invitational Tourney All-Star Team and in the USILA North-South All-Star game in 1991.  The Daily Record and The Star-Ledger named him College Athlete of the Week in 1990 and 1991, respectively.

Upon graduating, with a Varsity "D" award, Cooper held five first-place records: most assists in a career (104 in 60 games), most assists per game-career (1.73 in 60 games), most goals in a career (151), most goals per game-career (2.52 in 60 games), and most points per game-career (4.25 in 60 games).  The first two records still stand; the remaining three were not surpassed until 2000.  Tom Leanos describes him as the "best pure attack man [Drew] ever had . . . smart, skilled, a good leader," a balanced player equally adept at goals and assists.  Coach Leanos considers him the major reason why a very good team was nationally ranked.