Last summer, on the cusp of his senior year at Cape Elizabeth High, Tiernan Lathrop made a decision. He would still play soccer in the fall and compete in Alpine skiing in the winter, two sports he loves. But lacrosse was going to be his focus.

“I decided after last season, I want to play lacrosse in college,” Lathrop said. “It became my main sport.”

Already an outstanding lacrosse player, Lathrop made himself better. Whenever he could, Lathrop had his lacrosse stick in his hand. In the winter, he and teammates shoveled off the turf on the school’s Hannaford Field so they could practice on their own. When Lathrop was raising the Class A state championship trophy over his head on June 18 – the Capers’ second straight state title – he knew the hard work had paid off.

With 57 goals and 25 assists, Lathrop, a midfielder, was named an all-American for the second year in a row. Over his final two high school seasons, Lathrop scored 110 goals and had 42 assists, helping the Capers go 30-2. A dominant player on a dominant team, Lathrop is our choice as the Varsity Maine Player of the Year in boys’ lacrosse.

“The biggest thing about Tiernan is he continued to work hard to improve,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond. “He didn’t settle for being a strong downhill dodger. Tiernan was always (throwing against) the wall before practice, after practice. He was always on the turf, working with his brother (Keegan, a sophomore).

“He knew he was getting everyone’s No. 1 defender, and he was OK with that. He’d feed the ball to somebody who was open. I don’t think that something he would’ve done a year ago.”

At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Lathrop is an intimidating player who opponents struggled to defend. Blanket him with a bigger, long-stick defenseman, and Lathrop will run by him. Try to cover him with a speedy small-stick player, and Lathrop will overpower him.

“Most coaches put their most athletic kid on me. With Scarborough, it was Jayden Flaker. He’s big and fast,” Lathrop said.

“He’s certainly a capable right-handed player, but he’s physical and savvy enough to get to his left whenever he wants,” said Falmouth Coach Dave Barton, whose team was the Class A runner-up to Cape Elizabeth each of the last two seasons. “Where his game rose to another level was when he added the feeding element to his arsenal. When he’s dodging that hard with his head up – ready to feed if necessary – it’s truly pick your poison.”

Lathrop said the influence of former teammate Archie McEvoy, the 2021 Varsity Maine Player of the Year, helped mold his approach to the game.

“He inspired me to want to be a leader,” Lathrop said. “With Cape lacrosse, there’s so much pride and tradition. That’s important to me.”

Lathrop will play at Bryant University. His older brother, Killian, recently completed his freshman season with the Bulldogs, and Tiernan is excited to join his brother on the Smithfield, Rhode Island, campus.

“Killian and I have never really gotten to play a season together. We were on the same team, but we’d play the same position so we weren’t on the field together. It’s going to be a lot of fun to be on the same team as him, and hopefully be on the field together,” Lathrop said.

Bryant will be in a new conference next season, joining America East after playing in the Northeast Conference for years. Lathrop is excited to see the competition in the new league, especially the University of Vermont, which won America East last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division I tournament.

Raymond thinks Lathrop is ready for the rigors of Division I lacrosse. Just as McEvoy was an example to Lathrop, Raymond expects Lathrop’s example will stick with the next generation of Cape lacrosse players.

“Physically, he can step in and play at that level right now,” Raymond said. “Everybody sees the work he puts in. Young players, they see what it takes to get to that level.”

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