CRANBERRY TWP — It was an unusual place for Peet Poillon's life to change.

Yet, there he was, sitting patiently at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., waiting for his name to be called.

All around him were people just like him. He played college lacrosse with some of them and against most of them. They were all there to find out which Major League Lacrosse team would select them in the draft.

Poillon didn't have to wait long, as the Boston Cannons snatched him up with the 20th pick in the late May draft.

He rose from his chair, climbed up to the stage and shook hands with MLL commissioner David Gross.

He smiled for cameras, several of them belonging to ESPN-U, and did an interview with a reporter from the Major League Lacrosse Web site.

"It was all very surreal," Poillon said. "It was crazy."

Poillon felt like Matthew Stafford for a day.

Soon, it will be time to get to work on a professional lacrosse career he never thought he would have.

Poillon was a high school all-American at Seneca Valley High and received many Division I scholarship offers to play lacrosse.

He opted to go to Howard (Md.) Community College, where he set several records, then moved on to Ohio State University.

While with the Buckeyes, he first got a glimpse of what his future could hold: a professional lacrosse career.

He led the Buckeyes with 32 goals and led the team to the NCAA quarterfinals.

"It was just a distant dream until I got to Ohio State," Poillon said. "Honest, I never thought it would happen. But, there, I realized I could play at the major league level."

Poillon, though, transferred from Ohio State to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and excelled there. As a senior, he led the team with 47 points, recording 26 goals and 21 assists for the 12-4 Retrievers.

He heard the draft buzz and was invited to Hoboken.

At 5-feet-9 and 170 pounds, Poillon will be one of the smallest midfielders in the six-team MLL.

But Poillon has been proving people wrong routinely for years.

"I've always used my size to motivate me," Poillon said. "I've always been quicker than the other guys. My dodging and shooting skills are my biggest strengths, and I feel like my game fits into the MLL pretty well."

Poillon won't report to Boston for several weeks and he probably won't play until sometime in July.

"I'm ready to go," Pollion said.

The MLL has six franchises and the season is under way. Teams are located in Boston, Long Island, N.Y., Toronto, Denver, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

Boston is 3-3.

"It's a fast-paced league," Poillon said. "Everyone is bigger, faster, stronger and more physical. But I played with or against a lot of those guys."

The league also has a shot clock. Teams have 60 seconds once they gain possession to get a quality shot off.

"It makes things pretty exciting," Poillon said.

Poillon just returned from a 10-day trip to Japan, where he helped UMBC coach Don Zimmerman run several camps and clinics.

Zimmerman started lacrosse in Japan 20 years ago.

Poillon played against the Japanese national team in what was his first trip to Japan.

"Tokyo was amazing," Poillon said. "It's just a whole different world."

Poillon can't wait to start life in his new world.

"Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I'll get out there," he said.