Powellfan
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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Now that the 2024 season has wrapped, I thought it would be fun to lookahead to next year. With so many top players moving on, next year should really be incredibly wide open. Seriously, teams like Duke, UVA, Notre Dame and a few others are saying goodbye to some of the best players in their team's history. I think if you asked 10 lacrosse fans who their top 10 would be next year, you might get 10 different teams for each. The end of the fifth year COVID year brings things back to an even plane, for the most part. Anyways, hopefully this sparks discussion, I am sure there is plenty to disagree with. I found this exercise a lot easier last year with a clearly defined top three, and a next class of six or seven teams that were closely grouped. Now it really feels like a crap shoot.
1. Cornell - The Bid Red welcome back perhaps the best attack in the country, including the frontrunner for the Tewaarton in CJ Kirst and the criminally underrated Michael Long, along with a ton of other good players. Their FOGO situation should receive a boost with the return of Jack Cascaden. Their defense does have issues, but Wyatt Knust is capable of big games, and they get a lot of their defensive players back for another year. Of course they missed the tournament this year, but Notre Dame missed it two years ago and wound up winning the title the next year.
2. Syracuse - perhaps I am a homer, but the Orange bring back an explosive offense (six 20 goal scorers), a good fogo and some very good long sticks. Obviously they have a question in goal, but a lot of the other teams around them do as well. The other big question, which I am sure people are tired of me talking about is the SSDM depth. Spallina and Hiltz (assuming he comes back) will have to be more consistent in big games, but the vaunted sophomore class will be upperclassmen, and up to five of them should be preseason All Americans (Spallina, Leo, Thomson, Figuerias, Dwan).
3. Princeton - there are a lot of similarities between the Tigers and the Orange (explosive offenses, both need to replace their goalies, SSDM depth), but I give the edge to the Orange since their "core" is a year older, and they went one round further in the tournament. If Cornell doesn't have the best attack next year, I give it to the Tigers. They welcome the number four recruiting class to campus next year as well.
4. Notre Dame - The Irish lose a ton of really good players (Pat Kavanagh, Liam Entemann, two starting midfielders, two starting defenseman, a number of reserve midfielders). But the Irish bring back some other excellent players dotted all over the field - Chris Kavanagh, Jake Taylor at attack, Jordan Faison at midfield, Will Lynch at FOGO, and Shawn Lyght at defense. Filling in around those players should be interesting, The Irish welcome the number three ranked recruiting class which includes the number one player Matt Jeffery at midfield. Who fills in for Pat Kav on attack should be interesting (they have number 8 ranked Brady Porknoy incoming, and former top recruits Brock Bernham and Jeffrey Riccherdelli). Given all their losses, I think you could make the argument they desreve to be lower, but the culture ND has built is pretty remarkable. Hard not to see them continue their success going forward.
5. Maryland - I have a hard time with the Terps. Are they the team that was a mess for a stretch last year, or the one that went berserk mode in the tournament and made the title game? The Terps bring back some good players, Eric Spanos, Eric Malever and Braden Erksa on offense, Colin Burlace, George Stamos and Owen McAnany at defense. But man, they lose their best defender in Ajax Zapatello (and the host of UVM transfers), and their war horse of a FOGO in Luke Wireman. Also McAnaney wasn't his usual self last year. This has more to do with John Tillman and the culture he's built up (much like Notre Dame) than anything. Terps have the number five recruiting class and could fill some immediate needs with the likes of Spencer Ford and Johhny Gardner on offense, and Peter Laake on defense. Wiereman has been so instrumental to the Terps success, his replacement will have big shoes to fill.
6. Hopkins - The Jays lose their best two offensive players (Angelus and Degnon) and their goalie, who was huge for them. That said, their defense should be really good with Kilrain, Smith and Brown all returning (plus the Yale short sticks). You would think that Jimmy Ayers and Hunter Chauvette fill in at attack, but they will have big shoes to fill. Their face-off situation was not great last year, and they lose half of their duo. Also what version of Russell Melendez do they have - last year's wasn't very good but if they get the version of the year before, they could be scary. Matt Collison returns to man the midfield.
7. Virginia - I've written a little on the Cavs already, so I'll try and keep this brief. Virginia was a very thin team last year, and they say goodbye to two of their all-time best players in Shellenberger and Cormier. They bring back two very good offensive pieces in Griffin Schutz and McCabe Millon, but it seems they will rely a ton on their number one recruiting class, or some highly ranked vets who haven't quite lived up to their billing quite yet. Defense returns two poles, but loses Cole Kasnter and their starting goalie was benched in the semi-finals. They should be solid at the face-off dot, but they also their best SSDM in Chase Yager. I feel like a lot of this ranking is based on UVA's reputation.
8. Army - it feels like the Black Knights time to shine was this year, but they didn't even make the NCAAs. But they return some very good players in Jackson Eicher, Will Colletti, AJ Pillate, and Evan Plunkett. Those last three names could be the best at their position in the country. They need to figure out their goalie situation though. It also seems like other Patriot League teams like Army and Loyola lose a ton.
9. Yale - The Bulldogs get back Leo Johnson and Chris Lyons who should offset the loss of all timer Matt Brandau. They had a ton of injury issues last year which kept them from the playoffs last year, mainly Machado Rodriguez, who is due back at the face-off dot. But the defense, for the third year in a row just has not been good.
10. Georgetown This feels like a default placement for the Hoyas. They lose three of their top four scorers, top SSDM in Dylan Hess, and their top fogo. But they return their top scorer in Aidan Carrol, their very good goalie in Anderson Moore and very good defender in Ty Banks. They had some good performances in the tourney by freshmen. They should be the toast of the Big East seeing that Denver lost so much.
11. Penn State - The Nittany Lions return a great goalie in Jack Fracyon, but they'll have to rebuild their offense around Matt Traynor after losing TJ Malone, Mac Costin and Jake Morin.
12. Harvard - The Crimson have been all over the map since Gerry Byrne has taken over - but they still have Sam King, one of the better attackmen in the country. They return seven of their top eight leading scorers. But they got sub-par face-off play last year, and just average goalie play.
13. UNC - This feels high for the Tar Heels, but on paper they have some very good players coming back, Owen Duffy (health is question), Dom Petro, Brady Wambach, Peter Thomann. And they bring in Michael Gianforacaro in goal and Spencer Wirtham to help the midfield. But like Notre Dame and Maryland getting the benefit of the doubt, it feels like UNC deserves the opposite of that based on the results on the field.
14. Penn - The Quakers probably have the best goalie in the country coming back in Emmet Carrol. They return three of their four top leading scorers and top defenseman in Brandon Levelle.
15. Duke - Feels weird having the Blue Devils this far down, but they lose their entire attack, their best defender, their top FOGO. They have some good players coming back, including their goalie and a young stable of middies. But it feels hard to imagine a team that couldn't make the final four with Brennan O'Neil, etc, making it without him. I am guessing Andrew McAdory moves to attack, but questions about who joins him remain. Does Graham Blake replace someone like Dyson Williams? That seems like quite the step backwards (no offense).
16. Towson - The Tigers showed a lot last year and return a ton of really good pieces, including Mikey Weihsser and four other top six scorers. They need to replace their top cover defenseman, but get their goalie and FOGO back who had very good stats.
17. Colgate - The Red Raiders had quite the season last year, knocking off Penn State early in the year. Their unique full field press gave teams fits all year. It was a real surprise from a team and a coach who looked to be sliding into obscurity. They returns their three leading scorers and four others who scored in double digits. They get their goalie back, but need to be better on face-offs (41%).
18. Albany - Obviously Piseno is a huge loss, but of the 11 Great Danes who scored double digit points, they return nine, including Silas Richmond who had 73. Goaltending was not great last year and I beleive they lose their fogo, but offense should be explosive.
19. Denver - Hard to drop a final four team this low, but the Pios were built for this year. Cody Malawski, Noah Manning and Mic Kelly return to lead the offense, but Alec Stathkis took almost all the face-offs, they lose three long poles, their top two leading scorers and their goalie. The Big East looks pretty weak which might give them an avenue to the tournament, if they can get by the Hoyas.
20. Lehigh - The Mountain Hawks get the benefit of the doubt, after making a surprising run to the NCAAs. They need to replace some good offensive players including top scorer Scott Cole, and their goalie. But they return six of their top eight scorers, and the ridiculous Richard Checo who is a human caused turnover machine.
1. Cornell - The Bid Red welcome back perhaps the best attack in the country, including the frontrunner for the Tewaarton in CJ Kirst and the criminally underrated Michael Long, along with a ton of other good players. Their FOGO situation should receive a boost with the return of Jack Cascaden. Their defense does have issues, but Wyatt Knust is capable of big games, and they get a lot of their defensive players back for another year. Of course they missed the tournament this year, but Notre Dame missed it two years ago and wound up winning the title the next year.
2. Syracuse - perhaps I am a homer, but the Orange bring back an explosive offense (six 20 goal scorers), a good fogo and some very good long sticks. Obviously they have a question in goal, but a lot of the other teams around them do as well. The other big question, which I am sure people are tired of me talking about is the SSDM depth. Spallina and Hiltz (assuming he comes back) will have to be more consistent in big games, but the vaunted sophomore class will be upperclassmen, and up to five of them should be preseason All Americans (Spallina, Leo, Thomson, Figuerias, Dwan).
3. Princeton - there are a lot of similarities between the Tigers and the Orange (explosive offenses, both need to replace their goalies, SSDM depth), but I give the edge to the Orange since their "core" is a year older, and they went one round further in the tournament. If Cornell doesn't have the best attack next year, I give it to the Tigers. They welcome the number four recruiting class to campus next year as well.
4. Notre Dame - The Irish lose a ton of really good players (Pat Kavanagh, Liam Entemann, two starting midfielders, two starting defenseman, a number of reserve midfielders). But the Irish bring back some other excellent players dotted all over the field - Chris Kavanagh, Jake Taylor at attack, Jordan Faison at midfield, Will Lynch at FOGO, and Shawn Lyght at defense. Filling in around those players should be interesting, The Irish welcome the number three ranked recruiting class which includes the number one player Matt Jeffery at midfield. Who fills in for Pat Kav on attack should be interesting (they have number 8 ranked Brady Porknoy incoming, and former top recruits Brock Bernham and Jeffrey Riccherdelli). Given all their losses, I think you could make the argument they desreve to be lower, but the culture ND has built is pretty remarkable. Hard not to see them continue their success going forward.
5. Maryland - I have a hard time with the Terps. Are they the team that was a mess for a stretch last year, or the one that went berserk mode in the tournament and made the title game? The Terps bring back some good players, Eric Spanos, Eric Malever and Braden Erksa on offense, Colin Burlace, George Stamos and Owen McAnany at defense. But man, they lose their best defender in Ajax Zapatello (and the host of UVM transfers), and their war horse of a FOGO in Luke Wireman. Also McAnaney wasn't his usual self last year. This has more to do with John Tillman and the culture he's built up (much like Notre Dame) than anything. Terps have the number five recruiting class and could fill some immediate needs with the likes of Spencer Ford and Johhny Gardner on offense, and Peter Laake on defense. Wiereman has been so instrumental to the Terps success, his replacement will have big shoes to fill.
6. Hopkins - The Jays lose their best two offensive players (Angelus and Degnon) and their goalie, who was huge for them. That said, their defense should be really good with Kilrain, Smith and Brown all returning (plus the Yale short sticks). You would think that Jimmy Ayers and Hunter Chauvette fill in at attack, but they will have big shoes to fill. Their face-off situation was not great last year, and they lose half of their duo. Also what version of Russell Melendez do they have - last year's wasn't very good but if they get the version of the year before, they could be scary. Matt Collison returns to man the midfield.
7. Virginia - I've written a little on the Cavs already, so I'll try and keep this brief. Virginia was a very thin team last year, and they say goodbye to two of their all-time best players in Shellenberger and Cormier. They bring back two very good offensive pieces in Griffin Schutz and McCabe Millon, but it seems they will rely a ton on their number one recruiting class, or some highly ranked vets who haven't quite lived up to their billing quite yet. Defense returns two poles, but loses Cole Kasnter and their starting goalie was benched in the semi-finals. They should be solid at the face-off dot, but they also their best SSDM in Chase Yager. I feel like a lot of this ranking is based on UVA's reputation.
8. Army - it feels like the Black Knights time to shine was this year, but they didn't even make the NCAAs. But they return some very good players in Jackson Eicher, Will Colletti, AJ Pillate, and Evan Plunkett. Those last three names could be the best at their position in the country. They need to figure out their goalie situation though. It also seems like other Patriot League teams like Army and Loyola lose a ton.
9. Yale - The Bulldogs get back Leo Johnson and Chris Lyons who should offset the loss of all timer Matt Brandau. They had a ton of injury issues last year which kept them from the playoffs last year, mainly Machado Rodriguez, who is due back at the face-off dot. But the defense, for the third year in a row just has not been good.
10. Georgetown This feels like a default placement for the Hoyas. They lose three of their top four scorers, top SSDM in Dylan Hess, and their top fogo. But they return their top scorer in Aidan Carrol, their very good goalie in Anderson Moore and very good defender in Ty Banks. They had some good performances in the tourney by freshmen. They should be the toast of the Big East seeing that Denver lost so much.
11. Penn State - The Nittany Lions return a great goalie in Jack Fracyon, but they'll have to rebuild their offense around Matt Traynor after losing TJ Malone, Mac Costin and Jake Morin.
12. Harvard - The Crimson have been all over the map since Gerry Byrne has taken over - but they still have Sam King, one of the better attackmen in the country. They return seven of their top eight leading scorers. But they got sub-par face-off play last year, and just average goalie play.
13. UNC - This feels high for the Tar Heels, but on paper they have some very good players coming back, Owen Duffy (health is question), Dom Petro, Brady Wambach, Peter Thomann. And they bring in Michael Gianforacaro in goal and Spencer Wirtham to help the midfield. But like Notre Dame and Maryland getting the benefit of the doubt, it feels like UNC deserves the opposite of that based on the results on the field.
14. Penn - The Quakers probably have the best goalie in the country coming back in Emmet Carrol. They return three of their four top leading scorers and top defenseman in Brandon Levelle.
15. Duke - Feels weird having the Blue Devils this far down, but they lose their entire attack, their best defender, their top FOGO. They have some good players coming back, including their goalie and a young stable of middies. But it feels hard to imagine a team that couldn't make the final four with Brennan O'Neil, etc, making it without him. I am guessing Andrew McAdory moves to attack, but questions about who joins him remain. Does Graham Blake replace someone like Dyson Williams? That seems like quite the step backwards (no offense).
16. Towson - The Tigers showed a lot last year and return a ton of really good pieces, including Mikey Weihsser and four other top six scorers. They need to replace their top cover defenseman, but get their goalie and FOGO back who had very good stats.
17. Colgate - The Red Raiders had quite the season last year, knocking off Penn State early in the year. Their unique full field press gave teams fits all year. It was a real surprise from a team and a coach who looked to be sliding into obscurity. They returns their three leading scorers and four others who scored in double digits. They get their goalie back, but need to be better on face-offs (41%).
18. Albany - Obviously Piseno is a huge loss, but of the 11 Great Danes who scored double digit points, they return nine, including Silas Richmond who had 73. Goaltending was not great last year and I beleive they lose their fogo, but offense should be explosive.
19. Denver - Hard to drop a final four team this low, but the Pios were built for this year. Cody Malawski, Noah Manning and Mic Kelly return to lead the offense, but Alec Stathkis took almost all the face-offs, they lose three long poles, their top two leading scorers and their goalie. The Big East looks pretty weak which might give them an avenue to the tournament, if they can get by the Hoyas.
20. Lehigh - The Mountain Hawks get the benefit of the doubt, after making a surprising run to the NCAAs. They need to replace some good offensive players including top scorer Scott Cole, and their goalie. But they return six of their top eight scorers, and the ridiculous Richard Checo who is a human caused turnover machine.
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