Five Cavaliers Named to All-ACC Men's Lacrosse Squad

Story Links

April 19, 2002

Greensboro, N.C. – Virginia has a league-high five players named to this season’s 11-man All-ACC squad. This is the second time in the last three seasons that five Cavaliers have been named to the all-conference team.

Leading the way are two Cavaliers named for the third time-A Conor Gill and D Mark Koontz. M Chris Rotelli was selected for the second year in a row, while A John Christmas and G Tillman Johnson were both named for the first time.

A two-time first-team All-American, Gill has excelled this season doing what he does best-distributing the ball. He leads the ACC in assists with an average of 2.56 apg and ranks third nationally. He has 127 assists in his career and ranks fifth in ACC history and fourth in UVa history. His 196 career points are eighth in Virginia history.

Rotelli is has molded himself into one of the nation’s top middies. A workhorse on both ends of the field, he is sixth in the ACC in goals this spring with an average of 1.56 gpg and ranks 10th in the league in points. He won ACC Player of the Week honors for his play in the Cavaliers’ win over Maryland earlier this season.

Koontz is the first defenseman in Virginia history to be a three-time All-ACC performer and just the fourth in league history. Assigned to the opposition’s top attackman, he was having the best season of his career according to head coach Dom Starsia, and shut down some of the nation’s top offensive threats. He has scooped up 29 ground balls this season despite playing with a protective cast on his wrist. He suffered a torn ACL in UVa’s last game against Duke and is expected to be out of action this weekend.

Christmas is first freshman named All-ACC since UVa’s Michael Watson eight years ago. One of the top rookies in the country, Christmas is the team’s leading scorer with 30 points and ranks second in the conference. He is also second in the league in goals behind fellow freshman, teammate Joe Yevoli. He was named national player of the week following his 4-goal, 3-assist performance over then #1 Johns Hopkins last month.

Johnson is UVa’s first All-ACC goalie since 1994 (James Ireland) after becoming the first goalie ever to win the ACC Rookie of the Year award last season. He has been instrumental in the team’s current seven-game winning streak. During that time he has recorded a save percentage of almost 60 percent and is allowing just over eight goals per game. He was named ACC Player of the Week earlier this season for his play in wins over Notre Dame and Towson. He held Notre Dame to just five goals and limited Towson to half their season average.

The complete 2002 All-ACC men’s lacrosse team is below.
Kevin Cassese, M, Duke
John Christmas, A, Virginia
Conor Gill, A, Virginia
Dan Hauber, D, Duke
Michael Howley, D, Maryland
Tillman Johnson, G, Virginia
Mark Koontz, D, Virginia
Dan LaMonica, A, Maryland
Mike Mollot, M, Maryland
Chris Passavia, D, Maryland
Chris Rotelli, M, Virginia