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

FCA fogos made the difference, I think BLC won one FO the entire game. That said was close than expected. FCA looks good, BLC looks improved as well.[/quote
How man VLC helmets added to BLC's team?

looked like three

Was at the game in the miserable pouring weather. Let's be honest the new players on FCA make a huge difference. Pure size and athleticism of their new players (mostly holdbacks) is going to make a world of a difference. Most of their scoring was just off of bigger, stronger, faster, dodges....rather than offensive chemistry or flow. FCA was up by a lot, and then played a bunch of people in the second half that led to the score getting a little closer, but FCA still dominated every part of the game. FCA's offense has a ton of weapons, their FOGO is very good, the defense is average, and goalies are both average (I believe the starter is actually a 2029?).

If you look at their midfield and compare #77 to #1 there is literally a foot and a half and probably 50 pound difference. That's not to take anything away from #1 as he is a very skilled player.......just hilarious to see the difference in size at this age.

yeah 77 was big and had good speed dodging across top side, good velocity on his shot. I'll stay out of the holdback discussion, that topic's been done to death, will just say he's a pretty good player and teams will need to account for him in there. I think FCA had one other bigger kid but other than that I didn't get the sense they had a massive size advantage. Just crisper with the ball, fewer mistakes, and really stellar FOGO play. That said BLC was within one goal as late as the 3rd qtr. FCA first half goalie was strong IMO. Weather was absolute LaxinItUp.

The best Middie from the 2027 FCA team dropped down, I think #13 or 14. He’s their best all around player, IMO. Was a student at 27 I’m told, and was dominant in the fall at the 2028 level.
Very impressive if BLC was within one goal in the 3rd. That would lead me to believe that Hawks have the upper hand in elite.

FCA Hawks should be a good game.


Fogos - FCA
Goalies - Hawks
Attack - FCA not sure maybe tie?
Mids - Tie?
Defense - Tie?
Coaching - FCA

FCA 8 Hawks 6

Possibly the 2 best teams at 2028.

What happened to Crabs? I didn’t expect the game with 91 to be that close.

BLC is much improved. Could be in the fight for 4th in elite behind FCA Hawks and NL.

ML is in free fall and crabs look the same as last year so 4th spot is wide open.

ML didn't play this weekend but genius says they're in "free fall."

5th place more realistic IMO but if things go well 4th is possible. OTOH 6th is also possible if they don't handle their business. But def no longer an easy game/automatic win.

Love the analysis, but it is hard to draw conclusions with just one week of data, especially when some teams didn't even play.

Hawks 7-5 over Next Level is what I expected. Two teams in the top half of the division, and Hawks are a little bit better.

A close game between Crabs and 91 also is what I expected; both bottom half of the division.

But FCA 11-6 over BLC is surprising. The fact that BLC was within 1 late in the 3Q, and the final margin was only 5, does not jive with what I have heard about these teams. According to this Board, FCA is equal to the Hawks, but BLC 28 is historically pretty weak and is plagued by Daddy ball. Nobody from last year's VLC team would be an equalizer against a team like FCA or Hawks. why was this game not a blowout?

And, how can MadLax be in free fall when they have not yet played a game?

Madlax will need to schedule cannons a few more times to stay relevant.

Weather was terrible Saturday....benefit to the slower teams. Looks like other division front runners are Team MD and HLC. What happened to True Annapolis?

A lot of True Chesapeake players are on True World series team, so were in Delaware this weekend. They will be playing Crabs this Saturday as their first game.

BLC was never within 1. It was 8-1 at halftime.

Are any true parents on the board who can speak to how the event was? Looks like it was fun on social media.



All the holdback parents I already have your take. Please don’t reply with nonsense.

Other than just throwing out clock bait for ML dads— what leads you to believe they’re in free fall? They were one of the best 5 teams in the country at the end of the summer. Lost a couple of bench players, but that’s it. Please do tell. I suspect ML, Hawks, FCA, and NL will battle for top spots.

Oh yeah— and to put. LC ahead of ML— I’ll spot you 7 goals RIGHT NOW.

You sort of proved the point.

You have to go back to last summer (it’s nearly April) - to a point when ML was consistently able to beat an elite level team. Through the fall and spring - that hasn’t been the case.

All there has recently been are excuses, Team name changes, and complaints about FCA from ML parents.

Funny guy. Who does your kid play for?

pretty sure it got to within 1-2 goals in the second half, regardless of what the score was at halftime

Hey look it’s Double Holdback who does your kid play for Dad

i was never good at mathing but that would mean second half was BLC 5-3 FCA

Come on man, let’s leave math out of this. That’s cheating. We all know the rules of this message board.

Do any teams have a roster of more than 25? If so, are there kids that don't play at all?

91 roster will be well into the 30s, or more, in preparation for summer tourneys. 3rd line kids on the 91 HoCo season roster will be told in May (as they have the last 2 years) that they are now on the Practice Team, as the coach tries to pre-load his roster prior to tryouts.

However it's fair to note that most clubs, as of last week, are at 25+ kids and this is a good standard for middle school teams, because as the speed and strength increase, the injuries dramatically increase in 7th-8th grades. Plus, "real" conflicts with school trips, leadership camps, and things that everyone except King Krab can't wave off as "you're not putting our club first!!!!"

One of the area's MIAA 7th grade school teams kept 23 kids including 3 goalies for their entire roster, and 1 week into the season they are down 2 starters for injuries. Not a great trend.

So to be fair to 91, they usually schedule difficult tournaments, and the middle school teams are trying to transition from losing all the time, to winning all the time at the highest level (adding older kids, out of state players, getting rid of past recruited rec club players, etc). You can't make this transition as a team if you bring 14 kids to a tournament and they played at Swarm. So in that vein, 30 kids doesn't sound like the densest thing.

Agreed, FCA is WAY overhyped. It will be obvious this weekend.

My son’s team has been in the playoffs the past 2 years. They have over 25 kids and they all play. The exception is a playoff game or deep into a tournament.

Predictions:

Madlax 8 Team 91 4
Next Level 7 BLC 3
Hawks 10 FCA 5
Crabs 8 True 7

I think it's more BLC is better than the past two yrs. FCA still looked great on Sat, they'll be tough to deal with, esp at FO.

I’m told Madlax is down to 18-19 kids. Nobody wants to play for that maniac, he is literally grinding down his own team…. to the point that if a group of 4-5 decides to bounce together, they’ll be AA division next year.

It's only a matter of time. At the HS level Madlax has become a farm team for Next Level, and you can see it coming a mile away with the 2028 class.

- it's true!

This guy's predictions aged pretty well. what do you predict for this week?

Here's my predictions for this weekend. I didn't do so bad last week going in blind:


Madlax 8- Team91 3
Hawks 9- FCA 8
Crabs 11- True 1
Next Level 10- BLC 4

A lot of kids on 91 looked chilly on the sidelines.

This weeks FCA vs. Hawks game will likely be a who’s who of MIAA and DC high school coaches. Both teams have some standout talent.

Will also be the record of oldest players to play in a 2028 HoCo game.

All looks accurate to me except Game #2. Hawks are strong at all positions; FCA has some great new players, but has holes to fill and growing to do. I expect a bigger margin in that one.

Meh, you'll have that at AA Hoco or above, and certainly any private school team, if the game is close and the starters aren't gassed. How each kid and their parents reconcile the bench warming with the past promises of "developing players" is up to them.

True, but it’s the number of kids on 91 that don’t play that stands out. Probably in the double digits.

been their signature look since 4th grade @ 2028s to be honest