By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/5/11
Episcopal Academy junior attackman Tyler Odell has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at the University of Pennsylvania.
Odell scored 42 goals in 2010 when he earned Inter-Ac League Honorable Mention honors and helped the Churchmen finish 16-6. He plays club lacrosse for Mesa Fresh 2012.
Odell hopes to enter the Business school at Wharton. He also considered Villanova, Lehigh, Middlebury, Dartmouth and Harvard.
“I am so excited to play for Coach (Mike) Murphy,” Odell said. “He is such a great guy and coach. I had a great visit there in the fall. I stayed with (sophomore goalie) Brendan Engelke from Garden City (NY) and he made me feel like I was already part of the team.
““I chose Penn because of its incredible academic reputation. I am excited for the new facilities that will be finished this summer. I think Penn will contend for the Ivy League championship with the group of players Coach Murphy is recruiting.”
Odell said he began to receive more attention after scoring five goals in the Sophomore Game at the Eastern Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association (EPSLA) Showcase in June. The event was held at Penn.
Odell is the second Philly junior to commit to Penn; the first was Haverford School midfielder Sam Rohr. Also, four Philly seniors have committed to Penn: Haverford School’s Hup Hupfeldt (attackman) and Joe McCallion (face-off specialist/midfielder), Conestoga goalie John Lopes and Radnor attackman Jeff Puckette.
Odell is also a nationally ranked squash player (rated No. 14 in the U-19 class) who helped EA to its second straight National championship last year. Penn coaches are working together to allow him to play both sports.
Episcopal Academy placed third in the powerful Inter-Ac League last year in lacrosse and took Haverford School to overtime in the Inter-Ac Invitational finals. This season Odell believes EA will again for a league contender.
“I think Episcopal will have another really strong team this year,” he said. “We came so close in the (Inter-Ac) championship game last year. Hopefully this season we will take the next step.”
Odell wished to thank EA head coach Andy Hayes and his assistants as well as the coaches at Mesa Fresh 2012 and Conestoga Youth and the coaches from the EPSLA Showcase for helping in his recruiting and development.
