2025 Preseason Top 20 Lookahead

[JeremyCuse]

rutgers dominated their scrimmages last year and then went 1-5 in the big ten for the second straight year. that score prob doesnt say much about rutgers or jax. especially rutgers...preseason scrimmages are their super bowl

Agreed, I certainly don't take much away from the RU end as you noted they have a habit of playing well in Scrimmages and then coming back down to earth when the lights come on. I know they have a few good pieces including the goalie and Kurdyla etc but they seem to lack the high end O talent needed to compete in the B10 and seem to be pinning their hopes again on transfers including Vorang the Denver attack transfer. Also their OOC is fairy weak save for Princeton and Army.

Thought the score did say a little more for Jax. Obviously it means nothing when SU plays them in a few weeks but to get run over by RU like that at home even in a scrimmage seems like a major red flag.

 

[wgdsr]

IL not really knowing where certain players will line up makes this exercise really difficult. They have Campisi listed as both a close defender and an LSM for Notre Dame. Which one is it? That seems a bit like cheating if you are going to rank ND top five in each category.

This grouping in particular seems really difficult. They list two freshman (Hauseman and Lagunowic) for UVA which seems strange given we don't know how any of these first year players will adapt. SSDM is a really hard position to learn as a frosh! In essence basically having Ghobrial and Wayer make this unit elite, but they had to fill out the rest of the group. Also Greenspan hasn't played much, so seems like a stretch to list him. Are they listing standout players, or just guys in the group? Why is everyone on the UVA roster basically listed, but like you said, Hopkins can't even fill out the group?

I am not sure who I would replace these teams with. UNC has Wambach, but I think they moved English to offense and weren't exactly lights out in the middle of the field last year. Not Princeton or Cornell. Maryland just lost their top FOGO ... Army with Colletti? Georegtown with Ball? I think a lot of top teams have question marks in the middle of the field this year, especially with all the top FOGOs that graduated.

uva's got so many guys listed probably for 2 reasons. at their "marquee" scrimmage with g'town, ghobriel, chizmar and erdmann were all out. so greenspan took a # of faces as did hausmann and lagunowich at ssdm.
it was also a scrimmage, but in particular the frosh ssdms and burt held up really well in 6v6, and basically gave up nothing won some wing gbs, too. as much as i think the il guys missed on what they were watching in their recap, they maybe saw all that.
the frosh ssdms give the hoos some options, and as the others return i expect hausmann will probably shift over to o-mid.
if ghobriel stays healthy, good chance he's one of the top 5-10? guys. if he's not, the wheels could fall off. last year, the others backed up admirably. not sure that'd be the case this year, though they'll have good wings.

 

[Powellfan]

Syracuse
The Orange were more immune to departures than others, and the heralded Class of 2022 enters its junior year with one goal that seems quite realistic: Get Syracuse back to Championship Weekend.

 

[Zack80]

QK has some comments on Syracuse in his article:

Early 2025 College Lacrosse Thoughts

Looking through my notes from the 2024 lacrosse season, we know what we know, and we have to wait and see about what we don’t.

laxallstars.com

 

[Powellfan]

Seems like Quint is hearing the same good things that DMV has about Hiltz. Hopeful writeup to say the least.

"Syracuse is loaded. Joey Spallina is my lacrosse preseason Tewaaraton favorite. Why? He’s going to average six points for a team that’s going to be ranked 1-2-3 for most of the season. But his lack of production against premier athletic defenders will be an ongoing storyline. See the Denver quarterfinal loss for an example. Devoid of separation quickness, initiating becomes a liability against Virginia, Army, Duke, Notre Dame, Denver, Penn, and Johns Hopkins—teams that have future Premier Lacrosse League cover men. So SU must utilize a team offensive scheme and let Spallina’s pro-level IQ, skills, and vision work off-ball. Their EMO will be a show in itself.

Owen Hiltz has reshaped his body, and I’ve received reports that his play has soared. Add Finn Thomson, Michael Leo, Luke Rhoa, Trey Deere, and Jackson Birtwistle to a spicy offensive mix. Questions at Cuse include goaltending, FOGO depth, and SSDM performance. The Orange have been stuck on 11 national titles since 2009 and haven’t been to Championship Weekend since 2013."

QK has some comments on Syracuse in his article:

Early 2025 College Lacrosse Thoughts

Looking through my notes from the 2024 lacrosse season, we know what we know, and we have to wait and see about what we don’t.

laxallstars.com

 

[Cuse4455]

Hiltz was enjoying College a little too much his first couple years. Glad to see he's reshaping his body. He'd be elite, elite if he was 180ish and a step faster from last year.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Hiltz was enjoying College a little too much his first couple years. Glad to see he's reshaping his body. He'd be elite, elite if he was 180ish and a step faster from last year.

Sometimes the reality of a Sr year is the best motivation. Looking forward to seeing Hiltz have a monster year, thought he was really good the 2nd half of last year.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

Hiltz was enjoying College a little too much his first couple years. Glad to see he's reshaping his body. He'd be elite, elite if he was 180ish and a step faster from last year.

He is thinner and faster for sure. Gonna be a problem.

 

[JeremyCuse]

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/10-breakout-men-s-di-candidates-for-2025/64469

 

[Zack80]

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/10-breakout-men-s-di-candidates-for-2025/64469

Another Inside Lacrosse list with no Terps on it.

 

[Powellfan]

So you don't have to click through the "slideshow"

4. Trey Deere, A/M, Syracuse​

Battling with Finn Thomson for that third attack spot alongside Joey Spallina and Owen Hiltz, this looks like the year that Deere gets a bigger role offensively that Orange fans have been clamoring for. We should finally get to see the chemistry he's built with Spallina playing for the Orangeville Northmen the last two summers.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/10-breakout-men-s-di-candidates-for-2025/64469

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Another Inside Lacrosse with no Terps on it.

Probably a personal attack against you.

 

[nyclax]

Another Inside Lacrosse list with no Terps on it.

have you considered that the terps might not be that good this year?

it's not out of the realm of possibility...yes credit to them for getting hot at the right time last year but they werent exactly dominant for most of the year especially on offense.. and then the year before they lost in the first round...it hasn't always been pretty over the last two years following the historic '22 team...if you are finding that there are no terps on any of these lists perhaps that should tell you something instead of having such a victim complex...the guy who wrote that article is a maryland alum!!

 

[Zack80]

Probably a personal attack against you.

Yeah maybe. Although I am just an old fan with no association with the program.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Yeah maybe. Although I am just an old fan with no association with the program.

Of all the lists to make, this is not the worst one to be left off. Does not say much about the quality of the teams in question, given that teams like Fairfield are making it. If there was one breakout guy on the Terps this year I would say it is probably Spanos at attack, or maybe Larkin on defense. Terps have a tough road ahead with no Wierman or Zapp, but I thought similar before the playoffs started and they marched to the finals, so they deserve some credit.

 

[Powellfan]

2. SYRACUSE​

64.3% faceoff win rate
Syracuse's possession game saw significant improvement with a 64.3% opponent-adjusted faceoff win rate, catapulting them to third nationally. Mason Kohn's dominant performance saw him finish among the top FOGOs in the faceoff Elo ratings. he Orange flipped the script from last season's struggles, and it made a big difference in controlling the tempo and flow of their games. But after Kohn's graduation, who will take his place?"

 

[MaxFischer]

2. SYRACUSE​

64.3% faceoff win rate
Syracuse's possession game saw significant improvement with a 64.3% opponent-adjusted faceoff win rate, catapulting them to third nationally. Mason Kohn's dominant performance saw him finish among the top FOGOs in the faceoff Elo ratings. he Orange flipped the script from last season's struggles, and it made a big difference in controlling the tempo and flow of their games. But after Kohn's graduation, who will take his place?"

"But after Kohn's graduation, who will take his place?"

Seriously?

Not to mention the obvious answer in this blurb is pretty silly.

 

[Zack80]

Of all the lists to make, this is not the worst one to be left off. Does not say much about the quality of the teams in question, given that teams like Fairfield are making it. If there was one breakout guy on the Terps this year I would say it is probably Spanos at attack, or maybe Larkin on defense. Terps have a tough road ahead with no Wierman or Zapp, but I thought similar before the playoffs started and they marched to the finals, so they deserve some credit.

Spanos was an USILA HM AA at midfield, so he somewhat broke out last season. He could breakout more of course. Spanos probably should have been on the top 50 list. Erksa struggled a bit with turnovers last season, but if he has gotten a bit stronger so he can handle checks better, with his speed, he seems like a good breakout player choice.
Of course, Daniel Kelly and the 4 offensive transfers seem like possible breakout players. Of course, IL already named Keegan at #17 on the underappreciated list -- I tend to think this was a mistake as the Terps' defenseman Colin Burlace or starting LSM Jack McDonald would have been better choices for the underappreciated list. Of course, you also have Elijah Stobaugh who was getting his feet wet last year.

AJ Larkin would be a nice choice for the breakout list. Another possibility would be either of the Terps face-off men: Shea Keethler who had a .600+ pct last year in limited use and sophomore Sean Creter who was a 5-star recruit.

I won't mention Gravino as a possibility as he red-shirted last year - and doesn't have a baseline yet in D1.

 

[nyclax]

nice to see that we have reached the "name every player on the maryland roster" portion of the evening.

 

[Zack80]

nice to see that we have reached the "name every player on the maryland roster" portion of the evening.

Terps are ranked #5 in the media poll at Inside Lacrosse.

 

[FloridaCuse]

Terps are ranked #5 in the media poll at Inside Lacrosse.

Ted Hust of LaxFactor said on his pod today he ranked them #3 in his IL vote.

 

[Powellfan]

 

[JeremyCuse]

Cornell has also lost a starting midfielder for the year (torn ACL).

 

[Powellfan]

Cornell has also lost a starting midfielder for the year (torn ACL).

AJ Nikolic, according to the boards.

 

[nyclax]

millon
r. colsey
sunderland
schutz
hackett
balsamo

is that uva's worst top 6 on offense since starsia's last year that was led by...JAMES pannell?

dont get me wrong it's still better than 90% of teams but it's been awhile since a uva offense has looked that underwhelming on paper... they better get that goalie situation figured out...