Drew Snyder, Midfield, IMG Academy (Fla.)/Echelon Rise, 2020
Snyder shined at the 3d Blue Chip Mid-Atlantic Camp as a slick, skilled midfielder who already has an assortment of hybrid talents in his arsenal as a dodger who can do a lot of different things. Compact, balanced, coordinated and very confident with the stick, Snyder repeatedly pulled off impressive moves on a high percentage of his touches, showing great control over his body as he dodged. The lefty’s style seemed and looked Canadian. He grabbed several ground balls off the wing and was crafty through traffic; one play on the sideline saw him stop on a dime, shift the stick and spin his body to evade two defenders and then very smoothly spin out of the whole thing with the stick protected in one hand. Then he took the ball right into the box to initiate. He was nasty with the stick when dodging, even if he set himself up to keep it in his left a few times. He did that beautifully for goal, using a face dodge to beat the man down the alley, keeping it in his left but pulling back to sling a low-to-low skipper. He dodged to keep the stick in his inside hand repeatedly on either side, and he was a threat every time he had the ball because he showed range too, burying some shots further out with snap and velocity. It felt like he was always coming out of his dodges squared to the cage. He looked like he was even baiting the slide on some of his dodges, and he’d move the ball to open teammates; he used the lever pass numerous times too. Snyder showed a great sense for timing and anticipation on those passes. He scored on a leaner shot. He dodged with speed and with his head up. He showed the ability to make two and three moves and then still have his head up and pull his hands up for a quick shot. And his shots were pretty accurate too. He scored on a hitch-to-outside shot. He scored on gorgeous roll bak to his left and put a low angle low-to-low shot in the top right corner that was really something. He was one of the most exciting players to watch in this 2020 group throughout the five weekends.