Rankings are out.
5 HoCo teams ranked top 25. Looks like FCA didn’t play enough games somehow to qualify but I’m sure they will be somewhere in the mix bringing that total to six.
Heading into the final spring of HoCo:
Hawks still seem to be the most consistent and strongest team. Will they finish out middle school strong or start to fizzle like the once juggernaut 26 and 27 Hawks both did.
FCA remains stacked with talent. HoCo runner ups the last two years. Will they finally get it done or come up short a third time.
Crabs parents are feeling super confident about their team. After years of being a non factor, Crabs added a lot of talent and seem like they are a solid lock as a HoCo playoff team.
DCE is a new team that will keep getting better. It’s a new group of kids that are largely familiar with each other. The coach is very good but have to wait and see if it translates to wins in HoCo this spring.
Next Level is a team that has been underperforming since winning HoCo in 7th grade. There are still a lot of talent on the team and the group has been together a long time. Parents feel the offensive struggles have been fixed and are optimistic.
Madlax has retooled its roster after the 7th grade exodus of long timers. It’s hard to tell how strong the team actually will be because the roster will almost surely evolve between now and April.
91 MD looks like they still will have depth issues. The starters are by and large competent elite level players but the depth (and coaching) issues of the past remain unchanged.
Clippers (expected) are a new team with lots of flash. They challenged themselves in the fall and are not shy about saying they want the 8th elite spot. Remains to be seen how they will perform in HoCo.
Pretty fair assessment.
Having seen 5 of these teams play in the fall (never know about fall ball), I’d say NL added some good pieces on offense. But their goalie is their key— Defense is Ok, he makes them look great.
Crabs added some studs, particularly the kid who came from FCA. Big and strong attackman. They’re not as good as everyone barking about though.
Hawks are just a well oiled machine on Offense. Very, very difficult to defend with their cutters and play from X
Madlax— ton of kids, many of them True Chx and VLC. Their key is big 47, whether he stays or not. Without him, they’re a bottom half team in HoCo. And they’ll need to fly in the kids they used this fall. Which they may do.
DCE is definitely a work in progress. Their D will keep them in virtually every game they play. Their O is suspect, but great coaches who should figure it out. Previous poster mentioned that every loss this fall was only by 1 or 2 goals, and they lead late in all of those losses.
Didn’t see 91 or Clip Show. Have always felt like 91 is close, they seem to have some talent, but then they proceed to get blown out 10-1. Perhaps it’s coaching I dunno.
