Actually, watching college lacrosse, I groan when the many middies come back on D because they just don't get it. Weak links. They are the ones who get beat on the regular because they don't know how to play the position, regardless of their speed or stick skills. An offensive player will just dodge or roll right around them and catch them flat-footed.
Middies are getting beat on D by their opponents middies.....AKA, their opponents best players. We get it, D is very important. But stop with the defenders are the most important position. The HS teams mentioned are very good at winning because they have more kids playing the game than other towns and they put the extra work in. Their defenders are their second middie line.....aka very good players but not as good as their middie starters.
Your logic only works if you buy the premise that the middies are the best players. You can't build a valid argument on a false premise.
You and I, and whomever else is weighing in, are never going to agree on this. Never, never, never.
We don't have to agree. We will let the best college coaches that recruited these kids first and IL mag settle it. Check out the positions.
2017 ILWomen Top 40 Young Gun Senior Rankings
1. Elizabeth Hillman | M | Bel Air (Md.) | North Carolina
2. Maddie Jenner | A/M | McDonogh (Md.) | Duke
3. Sarah Reznick | G | Long Beach (N.Y.) | Florida
4. Cassidy Weeks | M | Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.) | Boston College
5. Erin Bakes | M | Ransom Everglades (Fla.) | USC
6. Hannah Mardiney | A | Notre Dame Prep (Md.) | Florida
7. Megan Carney | A | John Paul II (Texas) | Syracuse
8. Jennifer Medjid | A | Garden City (N.Y.) | Boston College
9. Julia Hoffman | A | McDonogh (Md.) | Maryland
10. Madison Rielly | A | Manhasset (N.Y.) | Maryland
11. Emma Jaques | M | Darien (Conn.) | Northwestern
12. Elle Hansen | M | Cohasset (Mass.) | Northwestern
13. Caitlyn Mossman | A | Notre Dame Prep (Md.) | Boston College
14. Sarah Cooper | D | Notre Dame Prep (Md.) | Syracuse
15. Anna Callahan | A/M | Glenelg (Md.) | Duke
16. Isabelle Scane | M | Cranbrook Kingswood (Mich.) | Northwestern
17. Darby Welsh | M | St. Paul’s School for Girls (Md.) | Maryland
18. Taylor Suplee | G | Southern (Md.) | Penn State
19. Tayler Warehime | M | Manchester Valley (Md.) | North Carolina
20. Courtney Weeks | M | Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.) | Boston College
21. Chloe Johnson | M | Magruder (Md.) | Ohio State
22. Elizabeth Farnsworth | M | Hutchison School (Tenn.) | Virginia
23. Madison Mote | M | Bishop Ireton (Va.) | Notre Dame
24. Olivia Rubin | M | Bryn Mawr (Md.) | Duke
25. Lexi LeDoyen | A | Bishop Ireton (Va.) | Syracuse
26. Meaghan Tyrrell | A | Mount Sinai (N.Y.) | Syracuse
27. Madison Doucette | G | Unionville (Pa.) | Northwestern
28. Shannon Berry | M | Ward Melville (N.Y.) | Princeton
29. Brooklyn Neumen | M | Rockford (Mich.) | North Carolina
30. Katie Detwiler | M | Archbishop Carroll (Pa.) | Loyola
31. Lillie Kloak | M | Ridgewood (N.J.) | Virginia
32. Shay Clevenger | D | Marriotts Ridge (Md.) | Louisville
33. Jillian Wilson | M | Gerstell Academy (Md.) | Loyola
34. Julia Cooper | G | McDonogh (Md.) | Stanford
35. Emerson Cabrera | M | Northport (N.Y.) | Florida
36. Sophia LeRose | G | Torrey Pines (Calif.) | Duke
37. Kennedy Lynch | M | Garrison Forest (Md.) | Maryland
38. Helen Louise Johnson | M | Summit (N.J.) | Stanford
39. Marina Miller | M | Pine-Richland (Pa.) | Penn State
40. Maddie Ellis | M | Vero Beach (Fla.) | Florida