Hall of Fame
A two-time All-East Coast Conference selection, Joe Layfield '92 was inducted into the Towson Hall of Fame in 2002.
Layfield was one of the top performers for the Tigers’ three consecutive ECC championship teams from 1989-91. The Tigers’ leading scorer as a junior and senior, he was named All-ECC in 1990 and 1991. He finished his career with 30 goals and 20 assists while helping Towson compile a 38-16-6 record over three years.
As a sophomore, he scored four goals and led the team with eight assists. In the ECC championship game, he scored the Tigers’ biggest goal of the season when he took a pass from Ed McCue and scored with 5:19 remaining in a 2-1 win over Drexel. He also assisted on the game-tying goal. He was named as the ECC Tournament Most Valuable Player. Towson finished the 1989 season with a 12-6-1 mark.
As a junior, Layfield was named the ECC Player of the Year after scoring eight goals with eight assists. He led the Tigers to a 12-6-2 record and a share of the ECC title. Towson and Drexel played to a 1-1 double overtime draw in the championship match and were declared co-champions. Layfield was also named to the All-ECC team for the first time after scoring Towson's goal in the ECC title game.
In 1992, he tied the school and ECC record for goals in a season with 18; the record was set by Wayne Harman in 1956. This also placed him in the top five among goal-scorers in NCAA Division I. Layfield added four assists to earn All-ECC honors for the second year in a row. He also scored the game-winning goal in the Tigers’ 2-1 win over Rider in the ECC championship.
In his career, Layfield scored eight goals in six tournament games. In addition the Baltimore native was named to the all-region team. Layfield stood sixth on Towson’s all-time scoring list (80) and was the program's leader in career assists despite playing just three seasons. He attended Loyola College (Md.) as a freshman.
After graduating from Towson with his degree in mathematics, he was drafted by the Baltimore Blast of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also played outdoor soccer for the Baltimore Bays for five years and was one of the Bays’ top scorers each season. He helped the Bays win two national championships.
Layfield and his wife, Melissa, have two daughters, Jordan and Jaimie.
