Koontz earns ACC honor, likely to miss rest of season

By JOHN GALINSKY
Daily Progress staff writer

If the Virginia men’s lacrosse team is going to win the national championship, it will almost certainly have to do so without its best defenseman.
Mark Koontz, who was named ACC player of the year Tuesday, is unlikely to play the remainder of the season after re-injuring his left knee in Sunday’s ACC championship game, said UVa coach Dom Starsia. The third-ranked Cavaliers (9-2) have two regular-season games remaining before next month’s NCAA tournament.
“It would be a miracle if he comes back, but I’d be reluctant to say it’s not possible, knowing the kid,” Starsia said. “I wouldn’t put anything past him, but he clearly will not play this weekend. Is he out the rest of the way? I’d say that’s very likely the case.”
A first-team All-American in 2001, Koontz was having an even better senior season, according to Starsia, before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Duke on April 13.
The other ACC coaches apparently agreed: Koontz became the first defenseman to win the league’s highest individual honor since North Carolina’s Alex Martin in 1992.
After consulting with doctors, Koontz elected to put off surgery and attempt to play with a knee brace. He played well against North Carolina on Friday in the ACC semifinals, but he went down in the fifth minute of Sunday’s 14-13 loss to the Blue Devils while trying to guard attackman Alex Lieske.
Koontz limped off the field and was in obvious pain on the sideline. He did not put any weight on the knee while watching the rest of the game. The knee swelled up overnight and was drained of fluid Monday.
Last week, the team’s trainers cleared Koontz to play because his ACL was completely torn, meaning it could not sustain further damage. Koontz probably will undergo an MRI exam later this week to determine if cartilage or other ligaments in the knee were torn, Starsia said.
“At this point, he is just really, really sore. I think he’s much sorer than after the initial injury,” Starsia said. Doctors “are in no rush to make a diagnosis because there is no chance he is playing soon.”
The Cavaliers, who were ranked No. 1 last week, will play at No. 17 Penn State on Saturday, then close the regular season at home against Butler next Tuesday.

Troubling trend. As senior attackman Conor Gill sees it, Virginia hasn’t played particularly well for a month, ever since a 12-6 victory over then-No. 1 Johns Hopkins on March 23. (The Bluejays returned to the top spot in the polls with UVa’s loss this week.)
Since then, the Cavaliers had not lost until last Sunday. But even in four straight victories over ACC opponents, Gill says they had failed to put together a complete game on offense and defense. Because of that, he was not shocked when their inconsistent play caught up to them.
“I could almost see this coming from the last couple weeks when we haven’t been as sharp all over the field and we’ve kind of gotten away with it,” Gill said. “[Sunday] it came back and bit us. I think this will be a good thing for our team.”
Starsia also said he hopes the loss serves as a wake-up call of sorts. He said his team “played a little tightly” in the ACC final, comparing it to how the top-ranked Duke men’s basketball team looked in the NCAA tournament. (The Blue Devils lost to Indiana in the second round.) The difference is that Virginia gets a chance to redeem itself.
“We just played tentatively. We didn’t play with the same confidence and carefree attitude we’ve taken into game play,” Starsia said. “I’ve been really struck by just how cool and calm we’ve been in every situation until now. [Sunday] was the first day we didn’t look like that.
“I’m glad there’s still some lacrosse to be played. We’re a young team that learned a lesson. If we can do what Conor said and learn from this, we can still do what we need to do the rest of the way. ... Hopefully this will serve us well and we’ll get a chance to play in the championship game of another tournament.”

Say it is so, Joe. John Christmas came to Virginia as the nation’s top recruit, but fellow freshman attackman Joe Yevoli was named ACC rookie of the year Tuesday.
Both freshmen have had superb seasons for the Cavaliers. Christmas leads the team in points, while Yevoli’s 29 goals are the most in the ACC. Yevoli is attempting to become the first freshman to lead the conference in goals since Duke’s Dave Hagler in 1978.
Starsia, meanwhile, was named ACC coach of the year as the Cavaliers swept all three individual honors. It is the fifth time he won the award, which he also claimed in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2000.

Big game. The Virginia women’s team also must bounce back from a disappointing loss to Maryland in the ACC tournament semifinals last Friday. And it must do so in a hurry.
The No. 5 Cavaliers (12-3) play No. 4 Loyola (13-2) tonight at 7 p.m. at Klockner Stadium in a game that will impact the seedings in next month’s NCAA tournament.
It is UVa’s final home game of the regular season, but if the Cavaliers win tonight (and Sunday at No. 12 Vanderbilt), they likely will earn a top-four seed and the right to host two NCAA tourney games.
“I’m glad we’re playing a game like this. It should help us get focused,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers, whose team entered the ACC tourney as the top seed but lost 15-12 to the Terrapins. “We practiced on Sunday and everyone was really quiet. But after that, everyone has been focused on this game. The only thing that will make us totally feel better is to beat a good team.”
It won’t be easy. Virginia leads the nation in scoring, averaging 15 goals per game, while Loyola has allowed an NCAA-low 6.3 goals per game.