Inside Lacrosse's Top 50 players for 2025

[MaxFischer]

He isn't the only player that pads stats against the weaker teams. Some lead in stats and play midlevel teams every game.

Ok. But thus far Joey has not always performed at an elite level against the better teams. That is what great players do. I'm sure most would agree with that.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

Ok. But thus far Joey has not always performed at an elite level against the better teams. That is what great players do. I'm sure most would agree with that.

I agree with that. He has been covered by some guys that were in college for 6 years. Let’s see how he does this year.

 

[DoctahLexus]

He isn't the only player that pads stats against the weaker teams. Some lead in stats and play midlevel teams every game.

I agree, but would also not call it “padding stats”. When he is getting the best of his matchup there is nobody better to initiate the offense since his feeding ability is so strong. He punishes slides, or even guys thinking about sliding, better than any current attack (especially now that Pat Kav is out of the picture). This is not Russ Westbrook rushing to grab every single uncontested rebound so he finishes game with a triple double. When he is on it is optimal for the offense to keep feeding him. And some of these “weaker teams” we have needed his large number of points to win games (High Point/Towson come to mind).

Spallina is certainly different from your average star. There are several on this list who are better at getting separation off the dodge. But I think he is by far the best passer in college lax this year, and even though he is not the fastest, he can draw slides in his own way by taking the body and exploiting defenses that overcommit to him. His IQ is top notch and he is not in any way a ball hog.

I think some of these younger stars like Duffy and Millon have the potential to surpass his impact with their dodging ability, but in year one they both had low shooting percentages and a good deal more turnovers than assists (with Millon not even drawing the top defender just yet). With 10 seconds left, I would rather give the ball to a Duffy or a Millon since their speed always give you a shot at a look, but for 60 mins, I would take Spallina every time without question, especially considering the other dodging weapons we have on this team.

Getting long winded, but have to point out that it has still just been two years! He has gone up against the absolute best defenders in the game for two years strait. That experience plus his work ethic means he will only continue to improve.

 

[Powellfan]

-Spallina (88 points) is a polarizing playmaker who will be graded by his team’s success and production against top tier teams. Orange open up at home on Feb 1 with Jacksonville.

-I expect a dominant season from Virginia defender John Shroter, and SU cover man Riley Figuerias, another year removed from AcL surgery. Riley’s emergence as a #1 ACC cover man would go along way towards #HHH returning to Champ Weekend.

-SU’s Finn Thomson shot 24 of 88 last spring (27%) after a shaky start leaving handfuls of goals on the table or off the pipes. I can see him pumping in 40 goals for the Orange.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Getting long winded again but I have a little time off so what the hell. The exact same thing people do with Spallina's performance against top teams can be done with other star attack, even those other former #1 recruits at the top of the top.

Shellenberger's 1st game against ND: 1-2, second game: 0-2, 1st game against MD: 2-1, 2nd game against MD in the semis: 1-1, against Duke: 1-3. Don't get me wrong, I think Shelly was the better player last season and Joey needs to take another step forward to match his impact, but are these stats really all that different from Spallina's against these teams? They tell a similar story to Spallina's games against them. The elite long pole is draped on him all game and he does not blow up the stat sheet, while other dodging weapons pick up his slack (or they don't and the game is lost). And yet you will never find people, whether it is Quint or a twitter troll, analyzing Shelly's performances in this way, while they did it with Spallina every chance they got.

ONeill you could easily do the same thing, if not on a level even more extreme than Spallina, and unlike Shelly he doesn't have an early career natty under his belt: Notre Dame 1st game 2-0, second game 1-0, Maryland in the playoffs 3-0, and then on top of that you have in a loss to Penn 1-0, loss to UNC 2-1, the first Cuse game loss 1-1, and do not even get me started on his shooting percentages in any of those games.

Stars who are strong off the dodge get contained by a top longpole match up all the time. They have bad games. In the case of Oneill and others like him (Duffy and Millon may carry his torch), that often turns into them continuing to try and start something one on one and hurting the team with their inefficient shooting. I think it is actually a good thing to critique attack in this way, but realize that veeeery few emerge unscathed when you break down their seasons like this. Last year, Pat Kav may be the only one who still looks strong when analyzed this way. A guy like Coulter Mackesy sure as hell doesn't, yet they do not throw that line around with him ever. Why? Spallina is a spot below him on the list and Quint only has a line throwing shade at him.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Powellfan]

 

[WoodyUK]

I told you in 2018

2020 isn’t really take a look at CJ Kirst coaches son from Leading Edge and Debarton NJ. Shifty lefty with great IQ.

Also Connell Kumar from Leading Edge /Seton Hall tall middie who can shoot with both hands.

It’s a shame we didn’t get Sheehan’s son also
Who is going to Penn State. West Genny and Sweetlax Upstate Star!