BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2028 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

It will be interesting to see how the shot clock affects play this year. With no shot clock last year, NL's defense dominated the regular season. Opponents scored 5 (Crabs); 4 (MadLax); 10 (Hawks, only loss); 5 (BLC); 0 (KP); 4 (FCA); 7 (True). Shot clock will likely mean more possessions for each team, possibly negating NL's faceoff advantage. But it may also mean poorer shot selection, favoring NL's defense and outstanding goalie. Should be a fun season!

Witnessed multiple games this weekend. Agree with most of the above. I’d add:

NL doesn’t seem to have any star players, but a decent group of athletes.
Madlax looks really small (their big 47 wasn’t there, but I have heard he’s not that big anymore on the field). Their Attack line represent the 3 smallest players on the field, against any team they play. Their D looks athletic and fairly large.
BLC much improved at D. And some solid offensive players, perhaps a couple of Madlax castoffs. They won’t beat the top 4, but they’ll challenge for 5th place in the Elite.
True C— likely DFL in Elite.
91– will battle for wins against BLC and True. Will not beat the big 4.
No Crabs sighting

Saw Crabs in the Fall and they are improved, maybe not as much as FCA but they do seem to have added a few guys who all apparently ran into academic challenges right at the same time.

lol love that phrasing

Hearing they have a bunch more with academic problems coming in July. Crab parents may want to sign up for other try-outs or take up baseball.

Crabs 27’s repeated 4 of those challenges.

Without the big attack, NL has zero offense. Defense will struggle this year with the size of the older kids. NL will be .500 MAYBE this spring..

those are valid observations, but don't underestimate face-offs, goaltending, and coaching - NL is strongest at the most important positions. The shot clock will play to those strengths.

Agree re FO and goalie but strong disagree on coaching as a strength. They're no better/worse than the other coaches in the division and if anything should be getting more out of the talent they have.

Having gone through it with an older son, the seventh grade season is often pretty wild because virtually all of the boys are in the middle of growth spurts that radically changes teams month to month and even week to week. I bet we get a lot more random “upsets” at least in games involving the top 5 teams and little consistency.

Where did the big kid go?

How does FCA White, Team Money and Team MD look in AAA?

FCA White will underachieve as usual. Team Money has the most older kids. Team MD will probably win again.

Is the schedule for spring bloom somewhere other than tourney machine?

Accurate on all 3 counts.

I am assuming the person is stating he is their only offensive weapon. He was there this past weekend and dominated the game I saw.

Very physical and crafty attackman. He's very good. But to assert that the team lacks offensive weapons is concern trolling at its best. Yes, they are otherwise small at attack. But NL has weapons at the midfield and will also score a bunch in transition and unsettled.

This is pretty hopeful stuff, NL has been scoring about 4 goals a game since last fall, with and without this "big crafty attackman." Unless they plan on winning all their games 4-3 they're going to have issues in Hoco.

Agree - "score a bunch in transition and unsettled" is coach-speak for "we don't have much offense."

But the PP who said that their goalies and FOGO will keep them in games made a very good point; I bet they do win their share of low scoring games. The shot clock will force opposing teams to take bad shots, and the NL goalies are good at moving the ball upfield and starting transition.

Eloquent

This is VERY true. Puberty has arrived for some teamS, not for others. Madlax looks very small. FCA looks very big with their reclasses. Crabs’ academic challenges likely to mean a huge front line next fall. Gents, enjoy your boys playing lacrosse. It’s all gone sooner than you think

I’m with this guy. A 5-3 win is a win! I’m sorry it won’t please most of you but the W is all the same. Our offense will be supported by the studs we have at FOGO and in goal along with those athletes that are carrying a stick. NL goes +.750 and makes a run at the title again. Fasten your winter vests fellas, game is on!

Madlax is offensively nothing without their reclass. They will need their out of town help to give them a chance in the big tournaments. Otherwise it’s going to get ugly.

Can someone clarify how many reclasses FCA actually added? I’ve heard all sorts of numbers. As long as they are in the 7th grade it’s moot obviously.

The reclass wave of the Baltimore teams will swamp the rest. With high school right around the corner it will only be a rough 2 years for NL,ML and the rest until puberty hits across the board. Big 47 is probably done with his first growth spurt but heard he's at 185lbs and hasn't lost any speed or quickness and his shot is even harder. It all balances out in the long run. The NL big attack will certainly be their focal point and if they can entice 47 away from ML NL would have a formidable attack pair. Not enough standout talent on any one DC team to finish top 3. Maybe they all meet up at DCE next year.

I get it but note that it goes both way--teams only need to shut down the NL offense for 80 seconds before a change in possession. Given their issues scoring last fall and this spring, that doesn't seem as much as a problem this season as it was last season.

Before the season even starts, it’s pretty obvious a lot of teams will look differently next year.

Madlax will likely have a mini implosion this year. Many long term kids will either be cut or try to leave for NL or DCE.

NL will be close to .500 and wholly mediocre. They will need to figure something out. Maybe they get a mass migration from ML like the older team just got.

Hawks will be Hawks. Nice bridge season until their swath of numerous 27 reclasses show up next year.

Crabs reclass train is way off schedule (late) for 7th grade. Half of the team will probably be on a different team next year via reclassification to 29, replaced by an out of towner or cut.

FCA will probably have the smallest roster turnover. I’d imagine a few more 27s will drop down but who knows.

BLC looks better than ever. I think heading into DCE next year along with the predicted uninspiring seasons from ML and NL, they could add several solid players nextyear.

91 probably needs a new coach. If they get the right one, the team could get good in a hurry with the expected transit of players.

True Chesapeake - not sure how long they can stay relevant. Most of the better players are probably already working on an exit plan.

Not from the area but we played 91 last weekend. Wasn't what we were expecting. They did have some big kids on defense but all 3 were the same, big, not really skilled and big time ball watchers. Literally put heads down and tried to run through 3 kids. Did not look like to be skilled enough to be in elite. Big yes but with rec IQ. They really struggled in first half and game was a blowout. 91 couldn't win a faceoff and d looked like big rec players with low IQ. There attack struggled dodging. 2nd half they changed personnel and did much better. Went with a smaller d guys that looked like much better lacrosse players. By that time game was well over so who knows. Did have big roster and it is early in year so maybe just need to get right kids on the field.

Played next level. Not as big but much higher lax IQ and general understanding of how to play. Good tight competitive game that Next level won. Goalie was legit


Also played BLC. Another group that wasn't the biggest but seemed to be well coached. Unlike first game had kids that looked like they belonged at this level. Not as good as Next level but you could see them getting better as game went on.
Best of luck to all the teams this spring!




Before the season even starts, it’s pretty obvious a lot of teams will look differently next year.

Madlax will likely have a mini implosion this year. Many long term kids will either be cut or try to leave for NL or DCE.

NL will be close to .500 and wholly mediocre. They will need to figure something out. Maybe they get a mass migration from ML like the older team just got.

Hawks will be Hawks. Nice bridge season until their swath of numerous 27 reclasses show up next year.

Crabs reclass train is way off schedule (late) for 7th grade. Half of the team will probably be on a different team next year via reclassification to 29, replaced by an out of towner or cut.

FCA will probably have the smallest roster turnover. I’d imagine a few more 27s will drop down but who knows.

BLC looks better than ever. I think heading into DCE next year along with the predicted uninspiring seasons from ML and NL, they could add several solid players nextyear.

91 probably needs a new coach. If they get the right one, the team could get good in a hurry with the expected transit of players.

True Chesapeake - not sure how long they can stay relevant. Most of the better players are probably already working on an exit plan.[/quote]

Troll post from someone who never played the sport.

All of a sudden, the mighty HoCo elite is looking super average.

What happened?

which post are you talking about

Probably the one from the leading edge dad ragging on the 91 poles.

Let's see if we hear from the Leading Edge crowd after they play the Hawks and Crabs this weekend

Leading edge already easily beat crabs in the fall

Madlax moms so jealous of NL it twisted their logic. If NL kids aren’t as talented as Madlax, then Coach DM must be the G.O.A.T. And if Madlax kids can all just take NL roster spots, what does that say about Madlax coaching? NL offense started slow last season. During playoffs, NL scored 14 goals in first 3 Qs vs. Madlax. NL O should be ok, but appreciate your concern.

Will ignore all the ML talk because it doesn't make sense, but love the optimism about the NL offense. They've scored over five goals three times in the last 16 games, and two of those games were against DC Express 2027 B team, and Team Maryland, which is a AAA team.

Either there's an issue here, or DM is playing a long con and will suddenly drop a high octane offense on Hoco Elite next weekend.

DM and “con” are two words that go well together.

Very telling that he has to poach all this talent from other teams. Says a lot about development at that club.

See 24, 26 teams, etc.

I personally don’t get it. They sit out all the major tourneys.

Haven’t seen scores from Baltimore Bloom. Any good action?

Baltimore Bloom going incognito. No schedule or scores reported.

Hawks 10- Long Island Express 6
Hawks 10- Leading Edge 5
Leading Edge 6- Crabs 5
LI Express 10- Crabs 5

Hawks 2-0
Crabs 0-2
LIE 1-1
LE 1-1

Random observations from Baltimore Bloom.

1) Whatever happened to the Hawks last fall you can Forget about it......
2) Crabs were winning over Leading Edge most of the game, but Leading Edge came back and scored the game-winner with 20 seconds left.
3) Hawks dominated the faceoffs and possession against LI Express. The game outcome was over by halftime.
4) After a strong performance against Leading Edge, Crabs weren't competitive against LI Express.
5) Even though the Hawks vs. Leading Edge game was competitive, Hawks had contributions from a large collection of players. Leading Edge was more one dimensional.
6) Both Hawks and Crabs will have size advantages over NL, Bethesda, and True.
7) The week one and two HOCO match-ups [(Hawks vs. NL) and (Hawks vs. FCA)] will set the tone for the season.