UVa Places Four on Preseason All-America Team

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Dec. 4, 2012

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s lacrosse team placed four players on the 2013 Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America team. Midfielder Chris LaPierre leads the UVa honorees as the only first-team member.

LaPierre (Medford, N.J.), a second-team USILA All-American in 2012, is a two-time All-ACC pick and was a third-team USILA All-American in 2011. He led UVa with 63 ground balls in 2012 and scored four goals and dished out two assists primarily as a defensive midfielder.

The senior LaPierre is joined by juniors midfielder Rob Emery and defenseman Scott McWilliams, who were named to the preseason All-America third team. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Tucker rounds out the Cavaliers on the list with honorable mention honors.

Emery (San Francisco, Calif.) was an honorable mention USILA All-American in 2012 after scoring 24 goals. McWilliams (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) was also an honorable mention USILA All-American in 2012 after picking up 29 ground balls and causing 11 turnovers. Tucker (Towson, Md.) was a member of the 2012 USA U-19 team that won a gold medal at the World Championships in Turku, Finland. He also appeared in all 16 games for the Cavaliers during his freshman campaign, scoring 13 goals, tying him with Emery (in 2011) for No. 2 amongst freshmen UVa midfielders under head coach Dom Starsia all-time.

Virginia posted a 12-4 record in 2012 and made its 35th NCAA Tournament appearance, the 19th under Starsia. The Cavaliers return five starters, 25 letterwinners and seven of their top 10-point scorers, but lost their top three point scorers to graduation. UVa welcomes the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class according to Inside Lacrosse and 13 newcomers, including fifth-year transfer Charlie Streep and third-year transfer Matt Robertson. Also new to the team and not part of the ranked recruiting class is Thompson Brown, who was a scholarship football player for UVa in 2011.