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

Huh?

There is no regular season. This is a separate tournament.

Tournament is completely separate from the Box League.

Madlax hosts box teams called the Northstars at a bunch of age groups, but they aren't all (say 75%) madlax players nor are they all the capital players but rather a mix of a few capital players, more DMV represented and a few other clubs on the teams....like BLC, cavs, etc etc. I assume that happens because I saw other clubs with full teams at certain age groups, but none at others. For example, BLC 29 had a full and very good team but I didn't see any other BLC teams during the hours I was there. I saw a bunch of BLC helmets (among others) on the Madlax Northstars 27 team.

Maybe it's just friends playing together or not enough kids at <insert club here> and couldn't field a full team (or both). Who knows, but it was a fun tourney. Games were kept on schedule. Tough location for getting food, etc if u are there for a while, but it's box....so who cares.

If there were real box players there, they would have just eaten Madlax for lunch

Thanks for your invaluable insight. Were you at the games?

SMH. Define "real box players"? These kids are in 6th grade. Box is fun, but the DMV ain't Saskatoon....just something to do in the dead of winter for the vast majority of kids playing.

Stop eating paint chips, dude.

The best lax players at the middle school level also excel at basketball. Well-rounded youth athletes, not a 1-sport athlete.

Wait, you're saying that kids who specialize in a certain version of a sport are probably better at it than kids who don't?!? Stunning insight. Really impressive work.

SPRING HOCO PREDICTIONS
1. Hawks
2. Madlax
3. FCA
4. Next Level
5. Crabs
6. True Annapolis
7. BLC
8. Kelly Post

I see where you are coming from but I think more like:
MadLax
Next Level
Hawks
FCA
Crabs
True
BLC
KP

Spot On. Well done. Prediction for AAA/AA?

1. Hawks - They will repeat. Deepest roster, stacked at the positions. Top goalie, attack and FO in Elite.
2. Madlax - detest to say well coached, but they have a system that wins youth games, and a double hold back.
3. FCA - Stud Attack and FO. Good depth, but not enough overall talent to beat 1 and 2
4. Next Level - Great parts, solid depth, undisciplined and easy to predict
5. Crabs - They seem to be middle of the road every year and at every tourney
6. True Annapolis - Lost some kids. Took a step back this year.
7. BLC - Got better, but not good enough to compete at Elite. Could win 1 or 2 games, could win 0.
8. Kelly Post - welcome to a miserable year.

And if your mom had a pair, she’d be your dad. Who cares.

Elite: LOL @ True Annapolis in Elite.

AAA (Championship Game: Claws vs FCA White) (Claws)
Blue Claws - Undefeated or 1 loss.
FCA White - 2 deep at every position. Could be enough to win it.
HLC - Have somehow retained solid AAA talent.
Hawks Black - Should be better than results indicate
Forest Hill - Should be worse than results indicate
Cannons - Same as HLC but less so
Team MD - Stepping it up from AA
Eastside - Supposedly has lost/added 1/3 of the roster
91 - Should not remain in AAA but I'm sure they will.

AA (Championship Game: Sidewinders vs Predators (SW)
Sidewinders - could easily take it, with Team MD out of the way
Predators - is this team of cast-offs from Crabs, FCA Blue, and the HoCo Pink an actual cohesive team? Maybe.
Ville - grew some great talent in the last few years......and then has lost much of it. Could give every AA team problems, though.
ML DMV- will improve from last year's painful showing in AA.
True Annapolis - No better than 4th. Have not heard of any great players leaving other teams to join TA.
Diamondbacks - I predict another painful season. With Sidewinders fielding two 2028 teams, kind of robs next-door Arden of AA level talent.
Swarm - based on BOTC banter it seems like the coach took the starters to T91. Maybe slip back to A ball
BLC Orange - shocked that this team continues to underperform, but no sign that it will change. Would it be the worst thing if they slipped to A ball?

Unknowns for AA:
Next Level Red?
Baltimore Elite? (destroyed everyone in A, then tripped in playoffs......starters are FCA, 91, Predators, Hawks, Forest Hill, Nationals, True National kids who will be unavailable for BE HoCo season).

A ball winner is HoCo Black who would be advised to stay in A ball.

Sidewinders only has one 2028 team.

For reasons unknown, they fielded teams at A and AA last year for 2028.

“ 2. Madlax - detest to say well coached, but they have a system that wins youth games, and a double hold back.”

Double hold back…….ridiculous, embarrassing!

The second 2028 team that was in "A" had a bunch of 2029's. Those boys either made this seasons 2028 or 2029 teams or went elsewhere.

OK so in short, disappeared 2028 teams since 2020 now include:
Breakers
Kelly Post B (officially moved to True Baltimore)
Sidewinders B
Mesa MD
Koopers
Looneys
3D MD
Fallston
HoCo Pink

Good Lord.

Looneys and Koopers never had a 2028 team that ever played in a single game. Both have tried and failed.

This is pretty good analysis. I’d say it’s more that there is a tier 1 that consists of Madlax and Hawks — and maybe Hawks are slightly favored. I think the battle at the x will be especially key between those two.

Then there is a second tier that consists of FCA, Next Level, and Crabs. FCA seems to be the best bet of those three, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it was NL or Crabs in third.

Then there is a third tier of True Annapolis, BLC, and KP. BLC has gotten better and True Annapolis is probably not as strong as last year so that will probably be a pretty interesting game. I think KP is a small step behind these two, but wouldn’t be surprised if they beat either True or BLC or both.

Should be a fairly competitive league overall except when the Tier 1 teams play tier 3. Those could be very one sided.

Hawks stacked at those positions because every one of them was playing on their 2027 team a year ago. So be it.

Koopers had the best unis though 😂

I thought the goalie didn’t move down.

Not all Of them last year, but at one time they did. So be it.

Are they graduating 28’s or 27’s?

2028s. holdbacks.

Madlax won’t win a Faceoff versus Hawks. The 27 Fogo who came down will absolutely smoke Cabells son, who isn’t that good any way.

Just because a kid came from 27 doesn’t mean they are the best 28. They didn’t drop down because they were killing it at 27.

In fact, it’s the opposite, expect them to be good but not amazing.

Unfortunately I think you’re wrong in this case

Will make players tougher going against them. Hit The wall and play instead.

Disclaimer: Not a Koopers parent/coach/sponsor.

There's nothing wrong with Koopers, they run a solid AA/AAA team at most age groups and from what I can tell it is a very positive and relatively drama free club experience for the families and players. They seem to find appropriate tourneys for their squads to play in, unlike so many other clubs that only chase easy Aloha events (Kelly Post, Blue Claws) or seek to punish the kids by getting beat up by Madlax 10x per year (91 and Predators come to mind).

1. Hawks - 7-0
2. Madlax - 6-1
3. Next Level - 5-2
4. FCA - 4-3
5. Crabs - 4-3
6. True Annapolis - 3-4
7. BLC - 1-6
8. Kelly Post - 0-7

Anyone playing in the Elite6 tournament on February 26th at Blandair Park in Columbia?

Elite

Agree that hawks and ML are a cut better. They are also the oldest. FCA is third followed by NL and Crabs. Goes a bit downhill after that.
And the huge old kid on ML is not a double holdback. He’s your standard single variety.

AAA

I’d be shocked if Kelly post voluntarily moved to elite. They may be forced but we will see. Blue Claws only game they may lose would be to FCA white. Other than that they take it. VLC should be here and may be third.

AA

This is where both Preds and 91 should be but unsure if they actually will. If Top Caliber plays HoCo they should be here and may win the bracket.

A

LTLC or Rockfish wins if I had to guess

1. Hawks 6-1
2. Madlax 6-1
3. FCA 5-2
4. Crabs 4-3
5. Next Level 3-4
6. BLC 2-5
7. True Annapolis 2-5
8. Kelly post 0-7

Are any of the “older” kids participating in the WSYL?

Thanks Madlax dad.

When does the hoco schedule get released? If I remember isn’t it right before the first games? Which makes me think… when are the first games?

So you're predicting 30 wins and 26 losses?