High School South junior Dave Twamley says he was simply focusing on leading his team to victory when he scored his 100th career goal in the Pirates’ recent lacrosse game against Delaware Valley Regional.##M:[more]##
Of course Twamley knew he was just a few goals away from hitting the milestone heading into the game, and even knew he might reach the mark heading into the season, but the multiple-sport athlete says that whichever sport he plays at the moment receives all his devotion, and that it all comes down to helping the team reach its goals.
All the dedication has paid off. Twamley has reached the milestone in his junior year, leaving even more possibilities open for next year. As of Monday, April 28, he had run his total to 115. According to some counts, he is second in the state in scoring for lacrosse, and second all-time at South. And his accomplishments not only in lacrosse, but in football as well, could lead to a collegiate career in either sport.
But, like his careful choices on the field, Twamley is not rushing into any decisions. In addition to lacrosse and football, he runs track in the winter. But the decision over which sport to pursue, as well as which school offers the most academically, is something to which he will devote much consideration.
“Whatever sport I’m in at the time, I love,” says Twamley. “It’s going to be a tough decision.”
Twamley, who moved to WW-P from Robbinsville when he was five years old, with his father, who is in sales, his mother, a stay-at-home mother, and his sister, says he began playing football in the second grade. Lacrosse followed when he got to fourth grade. He has already visited Ohio State, North Carolina, Penn, Yale, and Rutgers with regard to each of the schools’ lacrosse programs, and has visited Penn, Yale, Princeton, and Rutgers for football. He has already been offered a lacrosse scholarship from Ohio State.
“I just want to wait and see all my options,” Twamley explains. “First I have to pick a sport and pick a school first and foremost, and I have to look at academics.”
When it comes to academics, Twamley says he wants to head into business, as many members of his family have jobs in the sector. He says one of his favorite classes at South is his consumer economics class.
But that’s not all he has in common with his family. His sister, Kelly, also reached her 100th career goal while she was a senior at Notre Dame, and Twamley says he had been joking with her that he was going to end up scoring more career goals than she did. When he hit the milestone this season, he said he joked with her that his happened while he was a junior and that he might just surpass her number before graduation. He says his sister has been very supportive of him and comes to his games while she is home on break from school.
As the Pirates’ season moves along, Twamley says his focus now is the states, where he feels winning the championship is an attainable goal. With the team’s current record of 8-2, Twamley praises other members of his team, including Alex Rohrbach, who has stepped up with 15 goals this season after Connor Farrell suffered a shoulder injury.
“If we keep up how we’re playing, I think that’s a realistic goal,” Twamley says. Other important games include Hun, Montgomery, and rival North. “We lost last year to North in overtime,” he says. “It’s definitely one that we want to get back.” That game is scheduled for Saturday, May 17.
— Cara Latham
