May 16, 2008

by Mark Medina, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

Peet Poillon locked his eyes on high-profile Division I lacrosse programs. Unfortunately, they weren't returning the favor.

Despite setting the points record in the Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association, Poillon didn't field much attention from college lacrosse coaches. He played at Seneca Valley High School in Harmony, Pa. --- a program in its infancy that he was instrumental in starting after collecting petitions.

With his dreams of playing Division I lacrosse appearing to shatter, Poillon joined Howard Community College in hopes for one last chance.

"Since I didn't get any looks coming out of high school, my goal became that," Poillon said. "It was necessary to get more coaching and fine tune my game."

Mission accomplished.

A two-time NJCAA All-American, Poillon set the program's points record (84) and stamped his way to Ohio State, which plays No. 1 Duke in a quarterfinal matchup Sunday at noon at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field. The Buckeyes midfielder is the team's fourth leading scorer with 36 points (30 g, 6 a) and five hat tricks on an offense ranked fourth in the country.

Goalie Stefan Schroder, a junior college transfer from Onondaga Community College, ranks 19th in save percentage (.569), allows only 8.02 goals a game and recently made ESPN's Top 10 plays for scoring a goal last week against Cornell. Ohio State coach Joe Breschi thought Schroder's play "ignited the entire team," en route to the Buckeyes' 15-7 upset over the Big Red in the first round of the NCAA tournament last week --- the program's first tournament win.

Breschi can partly thank two JUCO transfers for Ohio State's success this year. His coaching staff consistently visits the NJCAA championship game so it doesn't miss potential JUCO recruits. (Last week's tournament games conflicted with OSU's first-round tournament game).

"There's a lot of talent at the youth level, but some of it may not have exploded until a player's senior year," Breschi said. "They want to showcase themselves and show they can go to a DI program after junior college. That's always something we try to look at."

Another OCC transfer, Syracuse defenseman Sid Smith, has helped revamp a defensive unit ranked 48th in 2007 to 11th in 2008. It has allowed 7.57 goals so far and has yielded double digits in only three games ---its best campaign since 1970 when Syracuse gave up seven goals a game. Ryan Smith of CCBC-Essex was UMBC's second-leading scorer this year with 43 points (29 g, 14 a).

That success may be more anecdotal than anything else. Including Schroder, Poillon and Sid and Ryan Smith, only 10 of 40 NJCAA All-Americans in 2006 and 2007 are now attending Division I schools. OCC's Jeremy and Jerome Thompson as well as Cody Jamieson plan to enroll at Syracuse next season.

"It takes an outstanding player coming from a community college to play at the Division I level," Syracuse head coach John Desko said. "To have an impact, you have to have a lot of things in place. I think Sid does that. When you look at the JUCO players, not all of them are extremely talented. If you enter almost like a freshman where you're learning the system, it's not really worth it unless you're ready to go like Sid."

Or Poillon. Or Schroder. Both those players attended a JUCO program for different reasons. While Poillon hoped to field more offers, Schroder attracted programs like Syracuse but lacked the grades needed for enrollment. Schroder went to OCC to improve those marks, which currently is a 3.0.

"In high school, I didn't see the big picture," said Schroder, who played lacrosse at East-Syracuse Minoa. "I was more into lacrosse and I didn't take (classes) as seriously as I should've. It was a blessing in disguise. I'm at a great school with a great academic and lacrosse program."

Syracuse backed off after then-freshman Pete Coluccini appeared on the uprise. Ohio State, meanwhile, needed someone who could immediately hone the vacant goalie spot. They saw Schroder could do that after winning a 2006 national championship on a team that featured seven other NJCAA All-Americans.

"Every day in practice, he had essentially Division I players shooting at him and playing defense in front of him," OCC coach Chuck Wilbur said.

"When you look at the talent we had, we could've ran with most Division I teams," Schroder said.

Schroder found out he could last year, earning second-team All-GWLL honors. His knack for seeing the ball and ability to create transition carried through to the Division I level. Bruschi hasn't found much of a learning curve in Poillon, either, though he admitted he had to adjust to the faster speed and began working on honing his sidearm and over-the-shoulder shots.

"JUCO became a proven ground for people like Stefan and Peet," said Shawn Burke, who coached Poillon at HCC. "They came in and excelled at our level. They have proven they can play at the next level."