MLS today announced that goalkeeper Matt Lampson has been named a finalist for the 2018 MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year, presented by Advocare.
Motivated by his own battle with Stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Lampson founded the LampStrong Foundation — a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial, emotional and motivational support to cancer patients and their families — in 2014. His tireless work to touch the lives of cancer patients and their families and encourage survivors to embrace their "second chance at life" led to his being named 2016 MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year.
Lampson joined MNUFC in January 2018 as a part of an MLS SuperDraft trade. He arrived fresh off a standout 2017 season with Chicago Fire, in which he started a career-high 24 of 24 games, earning eight shutouts and making 58 saves. Lampson notched his first win with the Loons on March 10 at Orlando City SC, a 2-1 result, and made 31 saves across nine starts during the 2018 campaign. Since moving to the Twin Cities, Lampson has partnered with the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, where he visits monthly to share and spend time with patients, in addition to continuing his LampStrong Heroes Program honoring patients at home and away games.
The finalists for MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year were determined by votes from current MLS players, technical staffs and front offices and media members. The other finalists are New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles and Columbus Crew SC midfielder Wil Trapp. The end-of-year award winner will be announced at a later date.
