Riverside lacrosse standout Taylor Musa named Viva Loudoun Athlete of the Month

Leesburg, VA (June 15, 2017) – Please join us in congratulating Riverside’s Taylor Musa as the May 2017 Performance Edge/Viva Loudoun Athlete of the Month!

“To be athlete of the month, that’s really special,” Musa said, “there’s obviously a lot of great athletes in a lot of different sports, and I’m honored I was able to receive this, it will be one of the things I remember for years to come.”

Taylor Musa helped Riverside win the 2017 Virginia 4A Boys Lacrosse State Championship. (Photo © Aaron Wyche)

The sophomore attacker had an outstanding season with the Rams, finishing the year with 84 goals and 38 assists, putting his scoring average up to an incredible 4.2 goals per game over the 20-game season. He scored at least one goal in every game the entire year.

Thanks in large part to his dominant performances, the Rams went a perfect 20-0 en route to winning the Virginia 4A State Championship in just their second year as a school. They defeated E.C. Glass by a count of 8-6 on June 10 in Salem, Va. to bring the title back to Leesburg, and Musa contributed one goal and one assist to the effort.

“That was definitely one of the best feelings of my life so far,” Musa said, “just the fact that many of our seniors made the choice to come over, that was really special for all of our underclassmen, that was a big step to come over and help out our program, taking a chance on us and the coaches.”

The highlight of Musa’s triumphant sophomore campaign came in the state semi-finals on June 6 when he scored the game-winner in overtime against Midlothian to propel the team to the state championship. He scored five of the team’s 11 goals in that contest, showing he is only an underclassman by name, not ability.

Musa had an impressive stretch in the month of May, totaling 27 goals in just five games with an average of 5.4 goals per outing. He also set his high school career high with eight goals against Loudoun County on May 22 in a 15-3 victory.

“We went into the playoffs, it was big competition, and I’d like to say that I tried to rise to the occasion and luckily I was able to do so,” he said.

Taylor Musa, 2017 All-Region 4A North Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year (Photo © Chas Sumser)

With all of these remarkable stats, Musa has earned several post-season individual recognitions. He was named the 4A North Region Player of the Year, Co-Player of the Year in the Dulles West Conference, and was a Washington Post All-Met honorable mention.

He credits a great deal of his success to his teammates and to his coach, Nick Worek, and knows his personal accomplishments would be impossible without the supporting cast.

“Our coaches implement a system that allows us to use our lacrosse IQ,” Musa said, “a lot of our players have been playing together since we were young so we’ve really built a lot of team chemistry, so Coach Worek gives us the freedom to make our own plays all within a system. And I really appreciate my teammates, I can’t do what I do without them.”

Worek also thinks highly of his young, star player and is very impressed by his versatility.
“He is a ‘do-it-all’ attack man,” Worek said. “He can dodge, shoot from the outside, finish inside, he has great vision and is relentless on the ride and ground balls. Taylor is one of the most competitive kids I have coached.”

Musa has two more years in Leesburg to build on his high school legacy before moving on to Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., where he has already committed to play lacrosse.

“When I visited Colgate I really fell in love right away,” Musa said, “it’s a beautiful campus, it’s a great academic school, it really caught my eye because I’m looking to have a great career after college, not necessarily in lacrosse, but I want to be able to go to a school where I can get a good education so I can start my life after college.”