National Lacrosse League

The Washington Stealth have signed NLL veteran goaltender Matt Roik to a one-year agreement pending league approval, marking his return to the Stealth after he spent two previous seasons with the team.

In his 12th NLL season, the 34-year-old Dunnville, Ontario native is a two-time NLL All-Star and has a career 12.32 goals against average.

“We’re always trying to better our position as we make a drive to the playoffs,” said Stealth head coach Chris Hall, who platooned Roik with Tyler Richards during the 2010 and 2011 seasons when Washington made back-to-back appearances in the NLL Championship Game.

In seven games with the Colorado Mammoth this season, Roik compiled a 2-2 record but was released by the team last week. Since breaking into the league in 2002, he has an overall record of 47-51.

“When Colorado released Matt it piqued our interest,” said Hall who plans to play Roik in a backup roll to the club’s number-one goaltender Richards. “We won a championship with the 'T-Rich'/Roik combination. We needed to jump on this opportunity. It made good sense to get him back here. From a comfort factor, he’s ready to jump in and play if we need him.”

To make room for Roik, Washington has released goalie Nick Patterson, who posted a combined 16.81 GAA and .701 save percentage in three appearances in 2013.