Boys’ Latin rising senior lacrosse player Taylor Stothoff has given a verbal commitment to Penn State University. Stothoff had 18 goals and 15 assists and picked up 80 groundballs last spring for the Lakers, who reached the PNC MIAA A Conference title game.
Stothoff chose the Nittany Lions over Navy, Ohio State and UMBC. Tbe midfielder said Penn State coach Jeff Tambroni was the difference.
“Most coaches were like ‘visit my school,’ and coach Tambroni was like ‘we really want you to part of the Penn State family and change things around campus and the lacrosse program,’” said Stothoff. “He was really father-like and all about family.”
Stothoff was part of a huge MIAA contingent that represented Baltimore in the Under Armour Underclass Tournament last month at Towson University. He also plays for Baltimore Crabs Lacrosse Club on the 2011 squad and was selected to the 2010 Free State Team.
“You had to adapt the different teams and play different roles,” said Stothoff, who played with BL at the Brine Shootout at UMBC in June. “Doing anything for the team was the biggest thing I learned, playing for everybody else and not for yourself.”
Stothoff helped the Lake Avenue school reached the B Conference title game in football last fall, playing quarterback, safety, punter and kicker. He also played varsity basketball.
Stothoff becomes the fifth member of Boys’ Latin 2011 lacrosse class to commit, joining Wells Stanwick (Johns Hopkins), Jeff Chase (Loyola), Ben Kellar (Bucknell) and Andrew Dempsey (Bucknell). Stothoff said the Lakers are motivated to redeem themselves after being routed by St. Paul’s School in the title game.
“It definitely drives us a little more,” said Stothoff. “Our coaches remind us about getting into weight room, making us realize that we have something special that we can do for this upcoming season. We don’t want it to slip away like it did last year.”
