Virginia Sweeps ACC Men's Lacrosse Awards

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April 23, 2002

Greensboro, N.C. – Virginia’s Mark Koontz was selected the 2002 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year in a vote by the league’s four head coaches. His teammate, Joe Yevoli was named the league’s Rookie of the Year Award, while their head coach, Dom Starsia, was chosen Coach of the Year.

Koontz, a senior defenseman from Upper Arlington, Ohio, has been a standout throughout his career. Matched up against some of the top offensive players in the country, he consistently shut down his man this season despite playing with a broken wrist the whole season. He is the first defenseman to win the league’s highest honor since North Carolina’s Alex Martin won it in 1992. Koontz has scooped up 36 ground balls this season and is just the fourth defenseman in ACC history named All-ACC three times.

Yevoli has enjoyed an excellent freshman season for the Cavaliers. The Massapequa, N.Y., native has started all 11 games and currently leads the ACC in goals scored at 2.64 per game. He has 34 points this season (29 goals, five assists), placing him second on his team and tied for fourth in the league in scoring at 3.09 points per game. His 29 goals this season are third most in school history by a freshman. Yevoli is attempting to become the first freshman to lead the ACC in goals scored since 1978 (Duke’s Dave Hagler).

Starsia earns Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time in his career and third time in four seasons. He previously won the award in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2000. Starsia has led Virginia into the NCAA Tournament in each of his previous nine seasons, including 1999 when the Cavaliers won the national title. He is believed to be just the third coach in collegiate history to win 100-or-more games at two different schools (Brown, Virginia).