Jez Tabbed as Lacrosse Magazine's Division II Coach of the Year
BALTIMORE, Md. (June 10, 2014) - LIU Post men's lacrosse head coach
John Jez has been named the 2014 Lacrosse Magazine Division II Men's Lacrosse Coach of the Year, as released last week by writer Jac Coyne.
In his eighth season, Jez guided the green and gold to the program's eighth national title game and an 11-6 record in 2014. Jez also coached four USILA All-Americans and 10 All-ECC players
At the end of the regular season, the Pioneers seemed like a long shot to make a second-straight NCAA tournament appearance. Then, the green and gold captured the inaugural East Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship before rattling off impressive wins against Le Moyne and Adelphi in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. LIU Post fell to Limestone in the national championship game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., finishing the season 11-6.
Coyne writes, "One of the laments of many coaches back when the tournament had only four bids was that if a team suffered one or two losses, they were basically out of the mix, and it became a challenge to keep a team motivated. Well, this year, the Pioneers had five losses on April 19 and were seemingly completely out of even the most distant contention. Despite the long odds, Jez was able to keep his team on task, spurring them to the first-ever ECC championships, beating a pair of teams that downed Post earlier. Jez then coaxed his team to upsets over the top two seeds in the North – a tandem of teams with a combined record of 30-3 – on the road. The Pioneers came up short against a powerful Limestone team in the finals, but Jez's ability to keep his team focused in the face of such an uphill climb makes him the pick this year."
For the full list of Coyne's All-Americans, click
here.