Photo by: Hunter Tankersley / WVU Photograph
Piatczyc Back and Better Than Ever
September 13, 2018 05:28 PM | Men's Soccer
A year after an injury delayed his senior season, West Virginia men's soccer midfielder Joey Piatczyc has cemented his name atop the WVU record books.
This time last year, Piatczyc was preparing to spend his senior season sitting on the bench after sustaining a season-ending leg injury prior to the start of preseason training. Now, Piatczyc has returned to the pitch better than ever and has ascended to the top the WVU record books as one of the program's all-time greats.
A three-assist showing in West Virginia's home-opening win on Aug. 31 gave Piatczyc 29 helpers in his career, the most in program history. He also owns the school record for assists per game, with 0.53, and his three-assist game vs. American puts him in a tie for the school record with four multi-assist matches.
"He's putting the country on notice right now," WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "The kid was away for a year, and he's been forgotten about. We can be sure that he's not forgotten about anymore. He's the best player in the country, in my opinion. This season will hopefully prove to be that when he leads us into some more wins over the next few games and through the rest of the year. I think the kid's big time. He's a piece of class out there. He has that soccer sense and the ability to manipulate the defense, and at the same stage, put guys in certain positions."
After his injury, the last year for Piatczyc began with surgery in August and was followed by several months of rehab with strength coach Tanner Kolb throughout the fall. He started to run in December and eased his way into the team's spring training sessions.
While still serving as a team captain throughout the 2017 season, Piatczyc sat on the bench and gained a different perspective on the game. As he watched his team compete, he learned from what he saw and what the coaching staff was teaching.
During that time on the bench, Piatczyc promised LeBlanc he would make this year easier on him, since he now understands how things are simplified if the team does things the way they've been coached.
The Lee's Summit, Missouri, native is off to a hot start to the 2018 season with the help of that different perspective and the lessons he learned watching from the bench.
With the career assists record in hand, Piatczyc has bigger goals in mind.
"To me, if you want to talk about things, you look to my sophomore year, I had a school-record 13 assists, and now I've come back even stronger," Piatczyc said. "So, I'd like to have 20 assists on the year, something like that. I will never be pleased with what I do. It's just how I am. I'll never be happy even if I get 25 assists. I'll be like 'why didn't I get 26?' All I want is to help the team, I want us to win, and I want us to go far. I'm not somebody who deals with losing very well so I hope we continue to win."
Piatczyc has his sights set on a big second half of the season for the Mountaineers. He's done thinking about breaking the record, along with a season on the sidelines and a long recovery. Now, it's all about leading the Mountaineers to uncharted success as a team.
This story appears in the Sept. 22, 2018, edition of Mountaineer Illustrated, the game program for the West Virginia-Kansas State football game.
This time last year, Piatczyc was preparing to spend his senior season sitting on the bench after sustaining a season-ending leg injury prior to the start of preseason training. Now, Piatczyc has returned to the pitch better than ever and has ascended to the top the WVU record books as one of the program's all-time greats.
A three-assist showing in West Virginia's home-opening win on Aug. 31 gave Piatczyc 29 helpers in his career, the most in program history. He also owns the school record for assists per game, with 0.53, and his three-assist game vs. American puts him in a tie for the school record with four multi-assist matches.
"He's putting the country on notice right now," WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "The kid was away for a year, and he's been forgotten about. We can be sure that he's not forgotten about anymore. He's the best player in the country, in my opinion. This season will hopefully prove to be that when he leads us into some more wins over the next few games and through the rest of the year. I think the kid's big time. He's a piece of class out there. He has that soccer sense and the ability to manipulate the defense, and at the same stage, put guys in certain positions."
After his injury, the last year for Piatczyc began with surgery in August and was followed by several months of rehab with strength coach Tanner Kolb throughout the fall. He started to run in December and eased his way into the team's spring training sessions.
While still serving as a team captain throughout the 2017 season, Piatczyc sat on the bench and gained a different perspective on the game. As he watched his team compete, he learned from what he saw and what the coaching staff was teaching.
During that time on the bench, Piatczyc promised LeBlanc he would make this year easier on him, since he now understands how things are simplified if the team does things the way they've been coached.
The Lee's Summit, Missouri, native is off to a hot start to the 2018 season with the help of that different perspective and the lessons he learned watching from the bench.
With the career assists record in hand, Piatczyc has bigger goals in mind.
"To me, if you want to talk about things, you look to my sophomore year, I had a school-record 13 assists, and now I've come back even stronger," Piatczyc said. "So, I'd like to have 20 assists on the year, something like that. I will never be pleased with what I do. It's just how I am. I'll never be happy even if I get 25 assists. I'll be like 'why didn't I get 26?' All I want is to help the team, I want us to win, and I want us to go far. I'm not somebody who deals with losing very well so I hope we continue to win."
Piatczyc has his sights set on a big second half of the season for the Mountaineers. He's done thinking about breaking the record, along with a season on the sidelines and a long recovery. Now, it's all about leading the Mountaineers to uncharted success as a team.
This story appears in the Sept. 22, 2018, edition of Mountaineer Illustrated, the game program for the West Virginia-Kansas State football game.
Players Mentioned
MF
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