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Message: [QUOTE="relaxer, post: 4718406, member: 7852"] Here was my take on the standouts (mostly offensive, given this is an all star game): Attack: Owen Duffy (St. A's/UNC): Best player in the class IMO. Lightning quick, with great stick skills and a decent outside shot. Didn't play his best game and still was the leading points scorer with 3 Gs and 2 As. Should start day one from X for Carolina IMO. McCabe Millon (McDonogh/UVA): Didn't see as much of the ball as usual, but still was productive and a threat whenever he touched the ball. Had a great BTB goal. A player I have felt was highly overrated over the years, propped up by his last name. But IMO he has made strides (and grown a bit physically), and is mostly worthy of the hype now. Still think Duffy is the better player (and almost a year younger). Kyle Lehman (Wissahickon/PSU): Leading goal scorer on the night with 4. Accurate shooter who bursts into scoring areas. More of a lefty wing attacker, and someone I could see coming out of the box offensively if there's a log jam at attack. Middies: Tomas Delgado (Brunswick/Duke): All over the field as a two way middie. Has a good shot with both hands and is physical between the lines. Could see him playing offense or SSDM for Duke. Benn Johnston (AOF/Duke): Everything above also applies to Johnston. Except Johnston is physically more imposing; he looks like a guy who already has been in a D1 weight room. Feels like he is maybe slightly less developed offensively than Delgado, as he really only shot the ball low and away. Thomas Gravino (Victor/Maryland): Silky smooth and runs the field well. Had three goals and all were scored in different ways: one was on the run in transition, another was an ankle breaker from X, and the third was a nice inside finish after a few smooth fakes. Jackson Greene (St. A's/Harvard): One of the revelations of the night. Had a play in the middle of the game where he ran up field with the ball and he looked twice as fast as everyone else in the frame. Scored with both hands and has a great split dodge into a shooting motion down the alleys. LSM/D: Jake Melchionni (Delbarton/Nova): Late addition to the game and was a worthy MVP on the night 2 Gs, 1 A, 7 GBs, and 3 CTs is a hell of a box score. It appears he's a natural righty, but scored both goals after switching the stick into his left hand. Goalie: Matt Tully (N&G/Cornell): This is a good goalie group, but Tully stood above the rest. Active and athletic, with quick hands. Went from save to outlets very quickly. Cuse guys: Trey Deere: I've spoken a few times on this board of my opinion that Deere's athletic limitations mean that he is not a 5 star/top 20 caliber prospect in my eyes. In some respects, I still believe that; he's not a dodger at the D1 level, and indeed even last night in an all-star game, the South team started short sticking him pretty quickly. Having said that, I was definitely impressed with how he played, and felt that he was able to showcase more athleticism in other aspects of the position. His finishing is unquestioned, so there is always a valuable role for him in any offense (especially one that moves the ball like Cuse's). But what stood out was his aggressiveness and physicality on the ride. He caused a number of turnovers and was a pest to the South's poles throughout. Jake Spallina: Another guy who I've requested tempered expectations on. If his last name was Spallina he would not be in this game; I see him as more of a 3 star recruit. A lot is made of his versatility, but as the level of competition rises, versatility becomes less important. In D1, with large rosters and great talent everywhere, it's about having elite traits. Spallina is a good high school face-off man, but not on the level of the guys who are recruited as college FOGOs (as demonstrated last night, where he went 3-14 at the X); if Cuse is relying on him in that capacity at any point, things are obviously not great in that position. As an offensive middie, he has solid stick skills, but he didn't really create any shooting opportunities. He had a good feed across the field to an open attack man on the back side, but other than that was mostly a glue guy. As a two-way middie, he looked solid but lacked the dynamism and athleticism in the middle of the field of guys like Delgado and Johnston. [/QUOTE]

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