By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/2/13
Unionville graduate Joe Lisicky, a Lacrosse Magazine Division III Pre-season Player of the Year for Lynchburg, will take his final year of eligibility at Division I Virginia as a graduate student.
Lisicky, a close defenseman and LSM, missed all but one half of his senior year this season at Lynchburg due to a broken foot. He broke it in December, missed the first two games of the year and then broke it gain in the season’s third game against Cabrini College.
Without Lisicky, Lynchburg went 14-6 and reached the NCAA Division III quarterfinals where it fell to eventual champion Stevenson, 13-7. With Lisicky, the Musrtangs may have been challenging for a national title.
“I heard it snap,” said Lisicky, recalling the injury vs. Cabrini, a break of the fifth metatarsal. “It was tough, especially being my senior year and missing out on being able to play with everyone.
“The hardest part was watching on the sidelines the first few games after I got hurt. I took a while for me to accept that I wouldn’t be able to come back.”
Lisicky had applied to graduate school at Virginia in the fall of 2012 for a Master’s in Accounting. Soon he realized that he could get his education and possibly play for a national power.
“I had applied to graduate school beginning of the fall, just to try to get me Master’s,” he said. “But once I got hurt and realized I would be eligible to apply for a medical redshirt, one of the coaches at Lynchburg brought up the idea to me.”
Lisicky was a First-Team All-American in 2012 when he led the Hornets to a 17-2 record and a berth in the second round of the NCAA tournament. He was the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Year, the Virginia Collegiate Player of the Year and led Lynchburg in groundballs (89) and caused turnovers (41).
Lisicky started out as a close defenseman at Lynchburg, but was moved part-time to LSM and also played extensively on the wing. He also scored five goals in 2012.
Lisicky said he has been walking without his boot for a while since undergoing surgery. He hopes to be officially cleared to begin working out this week and would be happy to contribute at Virginia in any way.
“I am focused hard on getting back to 100 percent,” he said. “I just want to find a way to be a contributor and help out. I want to be ready if they want to move me around.
“I am going back to the doctor this week and hopefully I’ll be all cleared. I’ll start doing rehab within the next week and start getting back into running and playing. It should be exciting the next few weeks.”
Lisicky said he was proud to see Lynchburg go so far in the NCAA tourney. The team was led by several Philly players, including his former Unionville teammate and fellow standout defenseman Jon Gill and senior attackman Max Voumard (St. Augustine Prep). Both Gill and Voumard were Third-Team All-Americans.
“I was really looking forward to the season and it was a bummer I wasn’t able to play this year, especially with the way the team responded,” he said. “Everyone did a great job and the defense stepped up. Jon Gill did a great job leading the defense.”
Lisicky was an All-EPSLA, a First Team All-Ches-Mont League and a Third Team All-Phillylacrosse.com pick in 2009. He played club lacrosse for the Duke’s L.C.
Overall at Lynchburg, Lisicky collected 198 groundballs, 88 caused turnovers and 14 goals in 54 games.
Lisicky was selected by the Ohio Machine with the 41st pick in the MLL Draft in January.
This article will be updated.
