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Any preseason insights on HoCo? Who’s better or worse than last year? Looking forward to this weekend to get a preview

After seeing the scores from the weekends tournament, it looks like Next level had the strongest showing going 3-0 against team 91 south, leading edge, and 407 orange. Leading edge being the strongest competitor. FCA and Madlax were 1-2. FCA losing to Leading Edge, Red Hots, and winning against 91 South. Madlax beat Red Hots, lost to 91 South, and lost 8-1 against leading edge. Finally, True Nova went 2-1, losing to Carolina Coast 10-2, beating 407 orange, and beating VLC. As for the HOCO teams looks like Next Level had the best day beating a tough leading edge while FCA, Madlax, and NOVA where in the middle to bottom of the pack especially when many of the game winnable. Not sure if this is any insight to the season or if players were missing or hurt, however, with HOCO just around the corner, ALL teams need to be ready by now. Any insight to the games would be appreciated. Not looking for debates or arguments, would love some insight to how the weekend went.

Side note - True Nova went 0-3 on Saturday losing 9-0 to 91 South, 11-2 to leading edge, and 7-1 against 407 orange.

Some pretty tough games this past weekend with some of the top HOCO teams.

91 South was back in MD for the first time since the fall and seemed improved. The Southeastern US 91 all start team handed Madlax, Next Level and FCA losses in close contests.

At the next level invitational: Next Level looked improved. Madlax seemed to play well in their first two games but then got pounded by Leading Edge 8-1. Not sure if they were missing players for that game or should have just packed up the bus early.

Over at the Spring Thaw, Hawks and TC played. Hawks appears to still be a very strong team only losing to Futures. However, True Chesapeake really underperformed, going 1-2 on the weekend with their only win against the startup Redwings team. I'm guessing that they were missing several of their fly-in kids who likely were playing for 91 South and I'm not sure they have their big middie from Clippers yet. True East Coast... I mean True Chesapeake better hope they can put all the pieces together quickly enough for the season. Would be awful embarrassing to assemble a team of out of state 8th graders to try to win a spring league only to come up short.

Finally, I hope the results this weekend for True NOVA will give those parents a glimpse of what their spring is going to look like. Kudos to the kids for working hard and wanting to play against better teams but I'm hoping for at least a few minutes of respite before the parents start their campaign to replace "Talk of Baltimore" as the most annoying voice on these boards.

Does True Nova have a “b” team? Trying to understand the results from this past weekend.

Don’t sleep on the “Talk of Virginia”, we are ready to stack wins in the Elite Division

True NOVA Black is their "A" Team and they got smoked all weekend long by quality competition. They did pick up two wins against lower caliber competition (VLC Poon and 407 Orange). True NOVA Green is the "B" team and they got dominated by other B teams

Here's what I've heard starting with the best class to the worst:

1.Boys Latin- added some top talent to an already stacked 29 class. Nabbed perhaps the best 2 2029 goalies in MD. Also bringing in a couple of out of state players to board. Playing time is going to be interesting once 9th grade hits. Loaded at attack, Def, and goalie.
2.Spalding- loaded with Hawks/TC and Clippers. Landed the giant Clippers Middie. Very strong class.
3.Saint Paul- the new home of Crabs lacrosse bringing in a few more hardshells. Also added several preds players. Very solid class but will they find a goalie?
4.Calvert Hall- got a bunch of FCA kids (shocking), Crabs big lefty attack and a couple of role pieces from 91 and Hawks
5.Loyola Blakefield- added a top middie from FCA. Missed on a bunch of prospects but already had a very deep 29 class.
6.McD- added top talent with two of the best poles from Hawks and a strong middie from FCA. Not much beyond these pieces though. Will they go out of state to fill out the class. Will Coach still be here in a couple years to care?
7.Saint Mary- grabbed a couple of the top Hawks players. Have to imagine they also landed some TC kids.
8.Gilman- lost their top attackman to CH. Added several 91 kids and a couple of 2030 crabs players. Talent pipeline seems light.
9.John Carroll- havent heard of any of the top names in the class picking JC. Likely will continue to be top local Harco talent.
10.MSJ- couple of role players and a T91 midfielder.
11.Severn- the decline continues

Did BL pick up the TX goalie?

Couple of corrections:

Next Level lost to Team91 South. FCA beat Red Hots and lost to Team91 and Leading Edge.

Next Level appears to be the most ready for HoCo. FCA was missing a few pieces, but appeared much improved from last year. I didn't check Mad Lax out, but assume they'll continue to be a tough draw for anyone.

Also, word is the new Philly Spring league wants to hold a game between their eventually winner (safe to assume it'll be Futures) and the HoCo champs. Don't know if this is common knowledge or has been decided or not, but heard it this weekend.

BL added the Hawks and FCA goalies.

HOCO starts this weekend.....any predictions?

True Ches vs. True Nova (True Chesapeake 10-4)
FCA vs. Hawks (Hawks 8-6)
Crabs vs. NL (Crabs 10-7)

What conflict does Madlax / 91 have?

ML does it every year …Spring Break

Did all the crabs kids from the fall meet hoco age requirements?

JC did well again this year too. Heard of fca, crabs, 91 and brotherly love kids. I think they may have opened their dorm on campus again.

No

91 coaches have conflicts.

TC vs. TN (TC 13 - 2)
FCA vs. Hawks (FCA 7-6)
Crabs vs. NL (NL 8-7)

[quote=Anonymous]HOCO starts this weekend.....any predictions?

True Ches vs. True Nova (True Chesapeake 10-4)
FCA vs. Hawks (Hawks 8-6)
Crabs vs. NL (Crabs 10-7)

What conflict does Madlax / 91

I don’t think NOVA scores 4 goals on TC—this game more like 13-1

FCA Vs Hawks (6-4 Hawks)

Crabs vs NL (NL 9-8)

Spring break a month before Easter—really???

Can’t be Spring Break

Fairfax County/Loudon and MoCo are all week of 4/14

So what is the real reason?

From the files of "lots of clubs do that," and the obvious responses of "my son's True team would *never!*", I'm gonna say it anyway.

The MD and VA True clubs have a well documented culture/history (documented....by many league and tourney directors) of switching players between rosters. I'm not placing any judgment on it, whether that's some kind of sportsmanship tragedy or whatever, it's just a fact that is well known by anybody who's been around the MD/DC youth game over the past several years.

All of that is a long way of saying that the vast majority of wins and losses against True teams in our area, across multiple leagues and tourneys, shouldn't even count as "games played." They should just forfeit to your sons' clubs and let the boys scrimmage and have fun.

Interesting take.. HOCO rosters are submitted by all teams prior to the season and the league prohibits players from being rostered on more than one team.

Modern tournament are a different beast and rules vary drastically by event.

Most elite teams have variations in their roster from tournament to tournament and pull from a resource pool for their top team.

I agree that True is emblematic of the commercialization of youth lacrosse. If they play unregistered players in Hoco let's call them out and get them DQd. FFS

Whether you have spring break or not teams should not change the schedule to suit their needs. Play with what you got. Can’t change games because of injuries, right?

What does this mean?

True Chesapeake takes this practice to a whole new level. They have added kids from Virginia and North Carolina for hoco, some of wwhich aren’t even in a True program. I also hear that the 28 clippers giant midfielder is going to play for them this spring.

Anything to get one last crack at nabbing the all important HOCO spring league champion baseball hats.

Their HC is the OC at Marymount university. So when marymount has a game that comflicts he has to go there. They generally play less well when not there.

FCA over Hawks 11-6
TC over Nova 11-6
NL over Crabs 10-5

Fca (11) Hawks (6) - FCA looks like the real deal. Hawks in panic mode.
NL (10) Crabs (5) - NL solid as expected. Crabs 28s need to catch up to the 29s.
TC (11) TN (6) - TC wins but not as dominant as expected against AAA competition. TN was competitive in first elite game.

Hoco Week One Updates -

While I am no expert in lacrosse I enjoy watching the games and having positive discussions about games. Please feel to comment.

Madlax vs. Team 91 - did not play

TC vs True Nova
As expected TC would win convincingly over the newcomer in the league. The game started with a minimal advantage by TC to dominate the face-offs, control the tempo, and commit the lesser of the errors on the field. NOVA continuously seemed to work their way back into the game to keep the score within reach. True Chesapeake did not look like the same team as previous years. Although technically better and consistent with the ball, they seemed slower than normal and a little out of sync. Defensively they were big and aggressive. Limiting the majority of the goals scored by NOVA to one player. Second half TC took the opportunity to make the margin larger. Defensively NOVA left too many players uncovered and slide to the ball at wrong time causing offensive players to be one on one with the goalie. The majority of the goals scored were from the same spot and through the same set plays. Welcome to elite NOVA, the game is slightly elevated. Take this game and evaluate what you need to due to play all 4 quarters.

FCA vs Hawks
Didn’t catch the game however looks like FCA stepped it up from last year and/or Hawks lost some of it dominance. Any insight would be great.

Crabs vs. Next Level
This was a game of 2 halves. The first half was back and forth ending in a 3-3 tie. Both team were physical and played strong defensively. The game was physical which limits the number of easy goals scored and caused for multiple turn overs. Both teams looked strong but showed signs of early season lack of discipline, technical skill like pass and catch, and off ball movement. The second half of the game seemed like a different story, The mistakes where there on both teams, however one team made les and took advantage of the others. Both teams look good but really have to make sure that they realize this is no longer preseason and there are only 7 more games left. If Crabs can fire on all cylinders they are a force to be reckon with. Next Level will be a top contender is they continue to improve.

TC vs TN
Not much happening when the Clippers '28 Middy not on the field for TC. Kid is a difference maker. Unless they've got more kids they're flying in, it'll be a middle of the pack season for them. TN put up a valiant effort, but the dam eventually broke. They should continue to play teams tight in the first half, but will eventually fall in the second half when better teams tend to start to roll.

FCA vs Hawks
Hawks defense actually played pretty well, but FCA has weapons all over the field. If FCA can get the offense to gel they're going to be a tough team to beat. What FCA lacks in size on defense, they more than make up for in speed and tenacity. They clearly game planned to shut down #10 and they did just that. Hawks looked slow on offense. Not much else stood out.

NL vs Crabs
Can't add more than what was described besides NL will be there at the end. That team just seems to get better and better.

When will the MadLax vs 91 game be played?

NL vs Crabs was a competitive game. Difference was NL Poles & Goalie in the 4th.

Every team is doing it if it can give them any sense of an advantage. Crabs has added older kids, FCA has a kid from Duke's Elite, True has several kids form all over, Hawks fly's in a couple, etc. These teams / clubs are willing to do ANYTHING........for what? An 8th grade championship. Welcome to youth sports 2025.

Did NL Poles and Goalie score 4 goals in the last 5 minutes of play?

I thought Preds red looked like an ELITE TEAM this weekend. What do you guys think of this?

Talk of Baltimore....

I think Talk of AAA are right where they belong.

Not up on Hawks roster, but everyone knows Crabs brought down 28s and True is regional/national when needed. FCA player lives in MD and will be attending CH. So not exactly a fly-in.

What position does your son play?

Correction: True is regional/national whenever they think they can get parents to pony up money for another team.

What about all of those other FCA new additions, you telling me none of them are out of area kids—yeah right.

Should go 7-0 and will win AAA this year but still no better than True NOVA who ran the table last year in AAA. Problem is neither of them are as talented as as other teams in Elite, just in between teams that are better than AAA but not quite good enough to compete in top division.