BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM MD Girls 2028

I was honestly asking the question. I 100 % agree with you that the depth of a team is truly important especially during the summer heat. Have you seen a team that is good at managing depth aka subbing appropriately and using their entire bench?

Typically teams that sub, because its just very hard to find top level talent, pay for it in production. You may see some of the top-5 teams lose in summer due to lack of depth.

I heard the 28 coach left and looking at their 27 team hasn’t gotten better. We are most likely going to try out for Coppermine. I made sure to pay attention to the parents and besides the 1 or 2 people on here that have a grudge, the parents seemed very nice. Team seems to be coached well and Coppermine offers a lot when it comes to fields, winter space. Lastly my daughter knows a few girls on that team and she likes them. I want my daughter to be pushed and want to get better each day.

Misconception - Coppermine does have a lot of fields, however they have several sports clubs that utilizes those fields (soccer, lax, etc), also the fields go to rentals first, then the club. You will notice that Coppermine will have 5/6 teams share a field at one time.

The best coaches for player development are at M&D. Those girls have significantly improved since year 1. They don't rely on 1 girl, a different girl beats us each time we play them.

I can only take your word but if you look at class rankings they are the only team consistently in the top 5 of each age group. Impressive for sure.

Heros and to a lesser degree M&D use their benchs well. Some teams, especially the NY/NY teams, who play a slower tempo tend not to be as impacted as others.

Depth really makes more of a difference in playoff rounds when you will often have back to back games with no breaks.

If we’re naming the big 3 MidAtlantic Programs as a whole, it’s #1M&D #2Hero’s #3Skywalkers. But looking at the future, 2028’s & younger, there’s no way that stays the same. IMO #1M&D #2Hero’s #3Coppermine

#1 M&D is the reigning dynasty in Baltimore, that does not mean they can hold onto the top spot. That doesn’t mean their going anywhere either. All teams are solid, and are the threshold other programs compare themselves to. Interesting to see how their sale will effect the program as changes come into effect soon.

#2 Hero’s produces amazing talent, but doesn’t always have the “winning” team. They have B teams at all age groups and those B teams are stacked with talent. Their program comes across as more laid back, which is a nice change from how intense M&D can be. Solid #2, if not future #1.

#3 Coppermine has hired new coaches for their younger teams, which has changed the program entirely. To the poster commenting on 5-6 teams per field—how would that even be possible? They usually have 1 team on each side of the field practicing. It seems like they are just exploding with growth in multiple counties, I doubt there are issues finding fields. Combine that with the number of clinics and youth classes they hold year round, and the fact that they support the idea of multi-sport athletes, they have carved out a nice piece of the pie for themselves moving forward.

The SW name will only carry them so much further. Hoping and wishing for new players to come is not a great business model. College coaches will notice the drop in talent. How will that effect their ability to get even their top kids recruited? To be the best, you have to be practicing against the best.

To be fair, their 28 Blue coach-- Kathy Liotta is outstanding. Used to coach their 21 team and developed many all-americans.

Coppermine is actively recruiting new players for the A team. There is room for talent as they don’t play most of their bench, and losing to Hero’s and M&D this year has them looking to make changes.

I personally don’t like the coaching style of m&d 28

This is completely wrong

Actively recruiting?

If you are talking 2028 and younger, how do you not put MD United in top-3?

28, 29, 30 all made playoffs.

28s have two NGLL championships, 29 reigning Lax4Cure champions and 30s in last two NGLL championship games.

Haha, actively recruiting! Is there an NIL deal with it. Our famous Coppermine hater back at it

MDU also has a much better history of getting girls recruited than many clubs so, if you’re going to dethrone SW, MDU would be logical next in line.

They just won the Mid-Atlantic. They just beat a tough MDU and Coppermine team. What’s not to like? Looking to have my daughter try out for them.

Message says as a whole. 24-27 aren’t very good and 28-30 will change too.

I’m referring to “ But looking at the future, 2028’s & younger, there’s no way that stays the same. IMO #1M&D #2Hero’s #3Coppermine”

You have no way of knowing how 28-30 turns out, and you obviously don’t watch a lot of the 24-27 teams either.

After watching the M&D Coppermine Champ game, the coaching by M&D in the game was 1 of the difference makers. Both have good coaching staffs though.

To the other posters, I can see Coppermine taking over in that top "tier" of clubs, they have a lot going for them and lots of talent. It does look like their 28 tryouts conflict with Hero's and M&D though, so will be interesting to see where everyone chooses to go.

OP here, I agree that MDU is in top 5, but just don’t see them as top 3 program at any age level. No one is shaking in their boots knowing they have to play MDU.

Top 5 MidAtlantic Overall:
1. M&D
2. Hero’s
3. Skywalkers
4. MDU
5. ????

Top 5 MidAtlantic 28’s & Younger:
1. M&D
2. Hero’s
3. Coppermine
4. MDU
5. ???? Looking at how standings ended up for NGLL, there’s no clear #5 program. My gut says Crush or Next Level, but they don’t have consistent teams at A Division. Most notably, this spot CANNOT go to Skywalkers. Their younger teams, outside of one or two good players each team, are just not elite anymore.

Can you tell us why you don't like the MND 28 Coaching staff?

The Top 5 28s are accurate and will probably trade wins and loses back and forth all summer (I would put crush as #5 they would definitely beat NL). The over all picture is much harder to navigate. The middle school landscape looks different at every grade level, which is why it is so hard to picture how HS will shape up. Just a few of the discrepancies across the middle school grades based on NGLL:

The 27s have BLC and LBC and Integrity which don't even have teams in the A division of the 28s and BLC has all but folded in B.

The 26s have Skywalkers, Pride and Stars at the top of their divisions, which are at the bottom of the pack in the 28 A division.

Crush and Coppermine went 1-7 in the 26s

Next Level didn't have an A team in the 27s, or the 26s so it is hard to believe they will become a top contender at the 28s

It is hard to gauge the overall quality of a program when their middle school teams have such discrepancies in talent. Heros and M&D will likely remain at the top, but how the rest shake out with moves and additions remains to be seen.

MDU did not have a winning record in either 26s or 27s but went 7-1 in both 28s and 29s.

I don’t like how they scream at their players and the refs. Tone of voice matters. Grown men screaming at young women is not a good look, and being their lacrosse coach should not excuse this behavior. Screaming at refs, who are just trying to do their job, is like being rude to the waiter or customer service agent. Classless and unnecessary.

I don’t like how they run an offense still very dependent upon 1v1 dodging. Wins championships, doesn’t develop Lax IQ or how to move off ball.

Overall, they have a good team with nice families. They play hard, but not overly aggressive defense. Their draw game is solid. The program knows how to get kids recruited.

Again, what are you basing this on? MDU had the same number of teams 28 and younger in the semi-finals and finals as Coppermine. Coppermine has one great team (28) and 2 particularly strong teams (27 & 29) at younger years. But as many people have pointed out in the past, having strong young teams isn't necessarily predictive of success at older ages for a number of reasons. I don't see any solid logic to crown Coppermine future "top 3" over other clubs. And it's not because they have access to fields - most teams have access to fields.

MDU went 7-1 in both 28s, 29s and 2030s. (outside of M&D, who can claim that winning %?)

MDU 26 went 4-4.

MDU 27 went 3-5 but beat an NGLL playoff team, lost by 1 to another playoff team and by 2 to another. playoff team.
They also have beat Top-6 2027 in Aces and YJs in the last year.

Very much debatable how strong Coppermine 27 is. They seem to have faded the last few seasons. Hard team to figure out, they went 6-2 in NGLL but only beat 1 team with a winning record. Only made playoffs due to the uneven division lineups.

Go to a practice and judge them on their interaction with their team and how well they teach. Also if players and families keep coming back and they have a good relationship with their coaches and teammates your opinion means nothing.

I don’t see a huge gap between 3 and 4. Put MDU at 4 and Coppermine at 4 if that makes you happy. My point is more about Skywalkers. MDU has had past success and will continue to do so. Coppermine has not had great teams in the past, but is likely to capture that Skywalkers/Baltimore talent moving forward to compete with M&D for the same players. I put Coppermine above MDU because Baltimore players are overall better than the kids down South both in the past and currently.

As a parent with a child on a team, I can concede that the tone takes some getting used to, but that's true about a lot of coaches communication styles on and off the field. Choosing a new team is always scary because you are putting your child in the hands of coaches who they may or may not mesh well with - so this is always something to consider.

What I can tell you based on our family's experience is that the coaches have good relationships with the girls. They will generally take care to follow up with girls off the field if they know (or can sense) a player is questioning themselves or has taken something hard. As far as ref interactions, I'm not on that sideline, but I think you may be exaggerating that a bit.

In terms of offense, they've been working on developing all the girls and their lax IQ since day one. Whether you think they run 1v1 more than they should or not, something that is great about their team is that everyone is involved in seeing their offense succeed. If they score 10 goals in a day, 7 different girls may have scored them. Ultimately, they're all learning and developing, and that's what matters.

I'm obviously biased. As I said, I have a kid on the team. But if you are genuinely considering a team, the best thing you can do is talk to people who are a part of it. Or, even better, reach out to the coaches and ask to attend a practice.

" I put Coppermine above MDU because Baltimore players are overall better than the kids down South both in the past and currently"

Talk about flawed logic. Why not apply that to Crush vs MDU?

Yes, an area as big as "Baltimore" and with a population density many times greater than Anne Arundel County, you are going to find more lacrosse talent. None of that means Coppermine is "better" than MDU. Does this same logic apply with Severna Park and Broadneck considered lesser than say Delaney or Loch Raven HS? Is St. Mary's lesser than John Carroll due to this logic as well?

This forum is TOXIC…for every positive and thoughtful post there are 5 more negative ones. Lots of “computer warriors” out there hiding behind the screen.

There are so many good players and good teams in this area, many good coaching staffs, can’t say the same about the adults on this forum.

Different strokes for different folks. We are looking at moving to a new club this summer and the coaching is 1 of the pros in looking at and trying out for M&D's 28 team. Having played them, didn't see any screaming at refs.

And your screen name is....?

" I put Coppermine above MDU because Baltimore players are overall better than the kids down South both in the past and currently" What an stunad. Coppermine will fade as always in high school.

If the top players stay at coppermine and MDU, there is no reason that they would fade away. That is the whole point of the recent conversations. MDU area top teams at 28s, but not typically top teams in HS. Will they stay together and build the program or will their top players leave and the high school ranks for 28s will trend the way of years past with M&D, Heros, and Skywalkers being at the top.

Looks like someone is scared one of their top players is gonna jump ship and join M&D.

Final Power Rankings:

#1 M&D 9-1 (Congrats)
#2 MDU 7-2
#3 Coppermine* 8-2
#4 Hero’s 7-2
#5 Crush 5-3
#6 FCA 3-5
#7 Pride 3-5
#8 HoCo 3-5
#9 Next Level 3-5
#10 Skywalkers 1-7
#11 Stars 1-7
#12 Limelight 1-7

Really top heavy. Hopefully MD teams can perform well against the out of state teams. I'll be interest to see how FCA, Pride, Crush do.

lol comical. Coppermine beat MDU when it mattered the most. Get over it already and move on.