Morriss ready to prove injury hasn't slowed him down

As Penn State lacrosse defender Tolleison Morriss laid on the outdoor turf at Holuba Hall last year, he knew something was wrong with his knee. He just wasn't sure what. A few seconds earlier he had been defending a Georgetown player, and then he went down.

"I didn't know what went wrong," he said. "I was kind of hoping it wasn't anything bad, but I felt the pop in it."

That pop had been his anterior cruciate ligament giving way. And that meant the Nittany Lions would be without the services of their junior tri-captain for the rest of the season.

Not only did Penn State lose a defender and the experience and leadership of a tri-captain, but they also lost the adhesive that kept their defensive unit together.

"He's the most team-oriented, vocal guy on the defense," Penn State coach Glenn Thiel said. "We kind of count on Tolleison to be the glue that holds the defensive unit together."

And with that missing from the defense Thiel was forced to put in a freshman who wasn't ready. He said that resulted in his defense never really getting back to the level it had been at before Morriss went down.

While Thiel was frustrated with the loss of his 6-foot, 208-pound defender, Morris was equally frustrated at having been relegated to crutches on the sidelines.

"It was hard not being able to get in the game and help out my team," he said. "It was tough to sit back and watch."

But for Morriss there were more pressing matters, like rehabilitation. And he attacked it like an offensive player trying to invade his defensive area of the field. His hard work paid off when this fall's lacrosse season rolled around. He was ready to go.

But for his own welfare, and in his best interest, the coaches held him back so he would be ready for the spring season.

"He did everything humanly possible," Thiel said. "He was probably ready to go in the fall, but we naturally held him out."

While his coaches were hesitant about Morriss playing in the fall, he knew that was exactly what he wanted. He said it was always his goal to be back by the fall season, and the fact he was ready to go so soon was not a surprise.

So as this lacrosse season rolls around, the Petersburg, Va., resident is raring to go. He is back to where he was a year ago when his injury occurred.

But even though he is back and ready to pick up where he left off, there is still that thought -- the nagging reminder that he could become injured again. The Lions play a couple games on the Holuba Hall turf -- a surface not exactly kind to knee injuries -- but that is something Morriss doesn't even think about it.

"I just go out there and play," he said. "It doesn't even cross my mind."