WLAX | After 3rd ACL tear, Bissett still helping SU

By: Christopher James

Posted: 5/8/08

Ken Bissett couldn't believe it when his daughter, Stephanie, called last season to tell him she had torn an ACL for the third time.

"It was dread," Ken Bissett said. "No, not again."

The Syracuse women's lacrosse defender was coming off a breakout 2006 in which she started every game and tied for fifth on the Orange with 25 ground balls. Stephanie Bissett tore her right anterior cruciate ligament twice in three years in middle and high school. Now, six years later her college career was threatened by a left ACL injury suffered in practice.

"I went to change direction, and my knee just snapped," Bissett said. "Your knee feels weak, and you can't walk on it."

Bissett has been forced to take on more of a coach's role for No. 5 Syracuse, which takes on Towson Sunday in a first-round NCAA tournament game at 3:30 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. It will be the first home NCAA game in the SU program's history. The Orange lost in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Northwestern last year.

Bissett has only played in two games this year, sidelined with a quadriceps tear in addition to her knee.

Former Syracuse coach Lisa Miller said she remembers when Bissett suffered her third ACL tear last season. The team was running a drill in which the defense tries to clear the ball under pressure. Miller saw Bissett plant and tumble to the ground.

"You can just tell," Miller, now the head coach at Harvard, said. "You can see it in their face. I knew when she went down it was probably her knee."

The next day the swelling was so severe, Bissett said it looked like her quad muscle went below her knee. As her teammates heard the "pop" of the muscle tearing, Bissett said all she could think about was the reconstructive surgery and six months of rehab she was so familiar with.

As she recovers, time on the field has come at a premium this season for Bissett. Orange coach Gary Gait confirmed Bissett suffered a quad muscle tear earlier this year. Ken Bissett said his daughter assumed the pain she felt was a result of surgery, but later turned out to be a separate injury.

"A lot of times when you have an injury, you over-compensate, and other things come up," Gait said. "Most people would've packed it in a long time ago."

Bissett has refused to quit, and is doing whatever she can to help the Orange. Scott Robinson, Bissett's basketball and lacrosse coach at Mt. Hebron (Md.) High School, said the senior has a tremendous lacrosse I.Q. that she was used as an assistant coach on his AAU team in 2005. Bissett's roommate and starting defender Christina Gibson said her friend is invaluable even if she can't make the field.

"She helps me see cutters, like if I don't see someone open," Gibson said. "It's like having another set of eyes out there with me, another voice out there with me."

Bissett's been able to pass her knowledge along to the younger players, Gait said. The coach added it's been great to have an experienced and successful player on the sideline to help out.

"She's helping us on the sidelines," Gait said. "She's working with the younger players. She's really a key part of the team even if she may not be on the field."

In a way, it is the role Miller envisioned for the senior when she recruited her. As a back defender, Miller said she wanted Bissett to direct traffic and see the entire field.

"She has a coach's brain," Miller said. "She's a field general. That's why I recruited her."

Last season, the defensive unit suffered through a number of injuries, making Bissett's help critical as young faces were thrust into the lineup. With the team scrambling to fill holes, Bissett took players aside and even noticed things Miller missed.

Now, Bissett is trying to do the same with Gait. With her latest injury, Gait is encouraging her to take it easy and work with the young players to improve the defense. Miller said her heart goes out to Bissett.

"If you're a competitive personality, initially (an injury) doesn't all sink in," Miller said. "Depression isn't the right word, but you have to realign your role on the team. First there was disbelief, then there was anger, and then, 'This is awful'. (Finally), she settled into a teaching role."

chjames@syr.edu