COLUMBIA, Md. — The scholarship offers didn't match his production on the field, so Peet Poillon kept his standards high.

And he's glad he did.

One year after receiving no Division I looks, the 2005 Seneca Valley graduate and lacrosse standout is mulling offers from Maryland, Ohio State, Towson (Md.), Delaware and the University of Denver.

Poillon narrowed those choices down from numerous others, which rolled in after a year of record-setting work at Howard (Md.)Community College.

"My goal all along was to play Division I college lacrosse," Poillon said. "I had that in mind when (Seneca Valley) first formed the program."

Poillon was in eighth grade when his father, Neil Poillon, approached the school board about beginning the lacrosse program of which he subsequently became president.

Peet Poillon went on to be named Offensive MVPand Team MVP each of the four years he played on the high school team. He recorded more than 400 points in his Seneca Valley career, setting a Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association record.

Yet, the only schools that came calling were Division IIIsquads.

"There were plenty of them,"Poillon said. "One was Salisbury, Md., which won the NCAADivision IIIchampionship three of the last four years."

Good, but not good enough.

"It just wasn't what I wanted,"Poillon said. " I was disappointed. I wanted a big-school education and big-school lacrosse."

A lacrosse all-star teammate of Poillon's from Pine-Richland had played a year at Howard Community College. Poillon asked him about the program, but he liked the location even better.

Maryland is prime lacrosse territory.

"Ifelt like I had to get myself some exposure,"Poillon said.

"Walk into a mall or restaurant around here and you see little kids wearing lacrosse T-shirts,"said Howard assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Todd Stiegler. "They love the sport down here.

"Western Pennsylvania isn't a big enough lacrosse area just yet. Big-time college recruiters don't go there. I'm sure that's how they missed Peet."

Stiegler and Howard head coach Shawn Burke made the trek to Jackson Township to watch Poillon his senior year.

"We knew we were stealing one,"Stiegler said.

Poillon wound up going to Howard and succeeded in exposing his skills to Division I coaches. He scored 58 goals and added 26 assists for a school-record 84 points.

Howard finished 12-3 and fell a game short of reaching the NJCAAFinal Four after winning the Region XXregular season title.

"We had 24 freshmen on this year's team and have a good recruiting class coming,"Poillon said. "There's no reason why we can't win the national championship next year."

Poillon will remain at Howard next season as most Division I lacrosse programs recruit junior college players a year ahead of time.

"Peet's going to get what he wanted by coming here and we got what we wanted by bringing him here — more notoriety for the program," Stiegler said.

Stiegler pointed out one of Poillon's statement plays at Howard this past season, when he ran the length of the field, dodged several defenders and scored an overtime goal to defeat Nassau (N.Y.)Community College.

It was the first victory over Nassau in Howard's six-year lacrosse history. Poillon went on to become the first midfielder selected as a first-team NJCAAall-American.

"I want to be more of a leader next year,"Poillon said. "I took a risk by going to Howard and it paid off. Now it's time to pay back."

Here are details of Seneca Valley graduate Peet Poillon's freshman lacrosse season at Howard (Md.) Community College:• Goals:58• Assists:26• Total Points:84 (school record)• Ground Balls: 73• Howard Community College 2006 Offensive MVP• NJCAARegion XX 1st-team all-region• NJCAARegion XXOffensive Player of the Year• NJCAARegion XXAll-Tournament Team• NJCAA1st team all-American