MIAA "A" Conference 2024

[3rdPersonPlural]

Two large HS games yesterday:

Calvert Hall lost to Lawrenceville 14-12. The L-Ville/Boy's Latin game on 3-23 looms large for both.

St. Ignatius put a beat down on Torrey Pines 14-4 St. Paul's has its work cut out for them today versus SI.

The game is on tape, for future St Iggy opponents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW7G54W6h2w St. I took control right away and basically put their scrubs in for the 4th quarter who still beat the exhausted TP first team 4-1. It seems St. I is deep as well.

My impression is that St I is strong up the middle again. Their FOGO rarely lost to the Torrey Pines crew that got the better of the St. Pauls crew. Their Goalie stood on his head all game.

The St. I defense is big, fast, and, if I say so myself, mean. Torrey attackers wanted no part of ground balls by the 3rd quarter.

The St I offense is nothing special, but they all feed and shoot and cut, and they all see the open shooter like a well schooled D1 team.

The good news is that St. Paul's team got to scout theit tomorrow (today, now) opponent but I doubt it will help much

On April 2, SI plays at Lawrenceville, then on 4-4, at Chaminade. If I can swing a trip to the New York area those days, I’m definitely coming to see one of those games.

Saint I vs. Saint P https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suIjz8_VUUA

[Kismet]

16-12 St Iggy - Wow and it wasn't as close as at the end

[3rdPersonPlural]

16-12 St Iggy - Wow and it wasn't as close as at the end

Yeah, St. Iggy is a powerhouse this year. They get to play Lawrenceville and Chaminade early April.

And now....Back to our regularly scheduled programming

[Finster]

16-12 St Iggy - Wow and it wasn't as close as at the end

Yeah, St. Iggy is a powerhouse this year. They get to play Lawrenceville and Chaminade early April.

And now....Back to our regularly scheduled programming

Well I just watched the YouTube rebroadcast.

Couple idle observations:

St Paul’s #29 had a great open look to start their first series on an unsettled play, free as a bird from ten yards, elects to pass it and promptly throws it away. He should have fired that shot. You don’t get many more in a game. Setting the tone badly for the game. Ooof.

St Paul’s goalie kept the score respectable. SI could have won much worse.

SI had size and frankly athleticism over St Paul’s. St Paul’s definitely had better stick skills, and I don’t think the FO situation was as bad as I thought. The very first face off was a procedural, which you hate to see because it can establish bad mojo for one guy the rest of the game.

St Paul’s must have had thirty unforced turnovers. Insane at that level. Just tossing the ball away.

I don’t think SI will beat Lawrenceville or Chaminade. Those aren’t careless teams.

I don’t think St Paul’s is what my buddies there said. They’re okay for high school, but unless they were missing key players, they weren’t overly impressive; unending unforced turnovers will do that. Sorry!

[pcowlax]

16-12 St Iggy - Wow and it wasn't as close as at the end

Yeah, St. Iggy is a powerhouse this year. They get to play Lawrenceville and Chaminade early April.

And now....Back to our regularly scheduled programming

Well I just watched the YouTube rebroadcast.

Couple idle observations:

St Paul’s #29 had a great open look to start their first series on an unsettled play, free as a bird from ten yards, elects to pass it and promptly throws it away. He should have fired that shot. You don’t get many more in a game. Setting the tone badly for the game. Ooof.

St Paul’s goalie kept the score respectable. SI could have won much worse.

SI had size and frankly athleticism over St Paul’s. St Paul’s definitely had better stick skills, and I don’t think the FO situation was as bad as I thought. The very first face off was a procedural, which you hate to see because it can establish bad mojo for one guy the rest of the game.

St Paul’s must have had thirty unforced turnovers. Insane at that level. Just tossing the ball away.

I don’t think SI will beat Lawrenceville or Chaminade. Those aren’t careless teams.

I don’t think St Paul’s is what my buddies there said. They’re okay for high school, but unless they were missing key players, they weren’t overly impressive; unending unforced turnovers will do that. Sorry!

Part of good sticks is accurate passing. If they kept throwing the ball away unforced, at what point is that carelessness vs not actually having great sticks?

[Finster]

16-12 St Iggy - Wow and it wasn't as close as at the end

Yeah, St. Iggy is a powerhouse this year. They get to play Lawrenceville and Chaminade early April.

And now....Back to our regularly scheduled programming

Well I just watched the YouTube rebroadcast.

Couple idle observations:

St Paul’s #29 had a great open look to start their first series on an unsettled play, free as a bird from ten yards, elects to pass it and promptly throws it away. He should have fired that shot. You don’t get many more in a game. Setting the tone badly for the game. Ooof.

St Paul’s goalie kept the score respectable. SI could have won much worse.

SI had size and frankly athleticism over St Paul’s. St Paul’s definitely had better stick skills, and I don’t think the FO situation was as bad as I thought. The very first face off was a procedural, which you hate to see because it can establish bad mojo for one guy the rest of the game.

St Paul’s must have had thirty unforced turnovers. Insane at that level. Just tossing the ball away.

I don’t think SI will beat Lawrenceville or Chaminade. Those aren’t careless teams.

I don’t think St Paul’s is what my buddies there said. They’re okay for high school, but unless they were missing key players, they weren’t overly impressive; unending unforced turnovers will do that. Sorry!

Part of good sticks is accurate passing. If they kept throwing the ball away unforced, at what point is that carelessness vs not actually having great sticks?

Well you got a point. I guess i’m thinking more of as they’re handling the ball, cradling, not getting the ball checked out of the stick. They definitely could get the ball around, but then, ooof. Just a careless pass or catch negating 10-20 previous touches.

By the way, the careless passes were of the variety of passing into coverage, the target not moving to the ball, and some basic overall laziness. They just didn’t look like a hungry high school team.

***I always issue a note of caution: I don’t know if anything goes on that might cause a high school team to play either well or bad. My goalie when I was a senior caused our team to lose the only game we lost that year to a team which went .500, because his gf and he had a fight the night before. The opponent dropped 24 on us. I’m middle aged and it still burns.

So who knows. I still don’t think you’ll see the same out of Lawrenceville or Chaminade.

[Finster]

I didn’t realize that today Culver was playing at St Anthony’s.

Wow. You have to congratulate these high school coaches for scheduling like this. St A, Culver, St Ignatius, St Paul’s. We would have killed to play teams for other states back in my day.

5-4 half St Anthony’s.

[Finster]

I didn’t realize that today Culver was playing at St Anthony’s.

Wow. You have to congratulate these high school coaches for scheduling like this. St A, Culver, St Ignatius, St Paul’s. We would have killed to play teams for other states back in my day.

5-4 half St Anthony’s.

9-8 final St Anthony’s.

[kramerica.inc]

I didn’t realize that today Culver was playing at St Anthony’s.

Wow. You have to congratulate these high school coaches for scheduling like this. St A, Culver, St Ignatius, St Paul’s. We would have killed to play teams for other states back in my day.

5-4 half St Anthony’s.

And another- The Hill Academy from Canada is coming to MD this week: playing John Carroll, Calvert Hall, La Salle (PA), and McDonogh.

4 games in 5 days.

[Finster]

I didn’t realize that today Culver was playing at St Anthony’s.

Wow. You have to congratulate these high school coaches for scheduling like this. St A, Culver, St Ignatius, St Paul’s. We would have killed to play teams for other states back in my day.

5-4 half St Anthony’s.

And another- The Hill Academy from Canada is coming to MD this week: playing John Carroll, Calvert Hall, La Salle (PA), and McDonogh.

4 games in 5 days.

Tough schedule. Thx.

[kramerica.inc]

Hill beats JC 15-7 and are headed to CH today.

[Finster]

Hill beats JC 15-7 and are headed to CH today.

I think I’m going to the BL Lawrenceville game on Saturday. Should be in New York for the weekend, and truthfully have zero interest in New York City/shopping etc. Looks to be about an hour away.

BL might need to atone for St Paul’s loss to St Ignatius

We’ll first see how Calvert Hall does today versus Hill.

[kramerica.inc]

Hill beats JC 15-7 and are headed to CH today.

I think I’m going to the BL Lawrenceville game on Saturday. Should be in New York for the weekend, and truthfully have zero interest in New York City/shopping etc. Looks to be about an hour away.

BL might need to atone for St Paul’s loss to St Ignatius

We’ll first see how Calvert Hall does today versus Hill.

Hill beats Calvert Hall 13-8 today and is headed to Lasalle (PA) Thursday and McDonogh Friday.

[Finster]

Hill beats JC 15-7 and are headed to CH today.

I think I’m going to the BL Lawrenceville game on Saturday. Should be in New York for the weekend, and truthfully have zero interest in New York City/shopping etc. Looks to be about an hour away.

BL might need to atone for St Paul’s loss to St Ignatius

We’ll first see how Calvert Hall does today versus Hill.

Hill beats Calvert Hall 13-8 today and is headed to Lasalle (PA) Thursday and McDonogh Friday.

Rough outing yesterday for the MIAA; by my calculations, only BL won an OOC game, but I think the margins of defeat have to be a little worrying for MIAA fans.


Hill 13, CHC 8
West town PA 14, MSJ 5
Haverford 14, MCD 7
Landon 12, STM 6
Malvern 13, Loyola 7
BL 9, Gonzaga 6


St Paul’s (which just got rolled by a California team) and Gilman (which just lost to Lawrenceville 18-9) are probably happy they weren’t playing yesterday. Ooof. Those are rough scores for what’s historically been the top or at least one of the top conferences in America.

Just a down year? Or has the tide permanently changed? My buddies at SP tell me it’s all about the MIAA championship at seasons end, but I know some kids playing HS ball and they tell me they want the OOC bragging rights just as much.

Anyway, no dog in the hunt. Just thinking maybe it’s a permanently new era in high school lacrosse? You have to be more competitive than that. Just have to be. There are only so many blowouts you can suffer before you have to change, if you want the crown that is. Can’t imagine the coaches and alum there are happy today.

[kramerica.inc]

Yeah, Hill is sneaky good. They seemed to be toying with CH for much of yesterday. Then in the second half they decided to put them away. To travel and play 2 games back to back like that is very difficult. Road doesn't get any easier for them tomorrow and Friday. Probably a tougher 2 game stretch.
Haverford is a really good team.
Malvern probably ends up being a top team in the nation by the end of the year. The jury is still out. But signs look good in PA.

[random observer]

Early results have shown that teams are more than just the sum of their parts. Culver has as stacked a senior class as I can remember, and St. Anthony's was working in almost an entirely new starting lineup -- didn't matter; the Friars were athletic and had a plan, and they punished Culver in transition. McDonogh has as stacked a roster as any recent MIAA team -- Haverford (who are by no means not talented) skewered them. Sometimes I wonder about how much the current MIAA "arms race" for out of state talent plays into this -- but it also could just be as simple as having a lineup full of D1 stars is simply not any more effective than having a team with a hand full of D1 players balanced with complementary athletes (at least at the high school level).

Hill is a perfect example of how the program matters just as much or more than the "talent". Hill still has a bunch of really talented players, but they're not stacked with a lineup of future ACC/B1G/Ivy superstars they way they used to be; Culver and now Lawrenceville have captured a lot of their old recruiting pipeline. And yet they still take their show on the road and consistently beat other top tier programs stacked with top recruits. The drop off from the days of Teat/Tutton/Follows and the like has not been dramatic even though they don't really fill up with top 100 recruits anymore.

As for projecting forward, I sense that as usual, McD/BL/CHC will probably end up being the top 3 -- but as McDonogh showed yesterday, they're all vulnerable. I know they got pushed around a bit by St. Ignatius, but I wouldn't rule out St. Paul's just yet; I suspect that win over Landon (who took Haverford to OT) will look pretty good by the end of the year. Loyola-Blakefield is 1-3, but they've shown flashes of a dangerous team that could spoil someone's season -- Cook seems to have taken his game up a level.

[Finster]

Yeah, Hill is sneaky good. They seemed to be toying with CH for much of yesterday. Then in the second half they decided to put them away. To travel and play 2 games back to back like that is very difficult. Road doesn't get any easier for them tomorrow and Friday. Probably a tougher 2 game stretch.
Haverford is a really good team.
Malvern probably ends up being a top team in the nation by the end of the year. The jury is still out. But signs look good in PA.

Agreed on all. Thanks.

[Finster]

Early results have shown that teams are more than just the sum of their parts. Culver has as stacked a senior class as I can remember, and St. Anthony's was working in almost an entirely new starting lineup -- didn't matter; the Friars were athletic and had a plan, and they punished Culver in transition. McDonogh has as stacked a roster as any recent MIAA team -- Haverford (who are by no means not talented) skewered them. Sometimes I wonder about how much the current MIAA "arms race" for out of state talent plays into this -- but it also could just be as simple as having a lineup full of D1 stars is simply not any more effective than having a team with a hand full of D1 players balanced with complementary athletes (at least at the high school level).

Hill is a perfect example of how the program matters just as much or more than the "talent". Hill still has a bunch of really talented players, but they're not stacked with a lineup of future ACC/B1G/Ivy superstars they way they used to be; Culver and now Lawrenceville have captured a lot of their old recruiting pipeline. And yet they still take their show on the road and consistently beat other top tier programs stacked with top recruits. The drop off from the days of Teat/Tutton/Follows and the like has not been dramatic even though they don't really fill up with top 100 recruits anymore.

As for projecting forward, I sense that as usual, McD/BL/CHC will probably end up being the top 3 -- but as McDonogh showed yesterday, they're all vulnerable. I know they got pushed around a bit by St. Ignatius, but I wouldn't rule out St. Paul's just yet; I suspect that win over Landon (who took Haverford to OT) will look pretty good by the end of the year. Loyola-Blakefield is 1-3, but they've shown flashes of a dangerous team that could spoil someone's season -- Cook seems to have taken his game up a level.

Very astute summary. Agreed on all.

So I had been hoping to go to Boys Latin versus Lawrenceville this Saturday but the weather looks atrocious. I just have no connection to either school, so I’m not sure standing outside in a monsoon is giving me much desire.

[oldbartman]

Is there a website that has game and player stats for the MIAA A conference?? GBs, goals, assists, saves, FOs

TIA

[kramerica.inc]

Baltimore Sun preseason top 15:

1 McD
2 BL
3 CH
4 Loyola
5 Broadneck
6 St Mary's
7 St Paul's
8 Severn
9 Severna Park
10 Gilman
11 Mt Hebron
12 Spalding
13 Hereford
14 Fallston
15 Curley

Scores from the past couple days:

John Carroll 10
#14 Fallston 4 (Final)

#7 St Paul's 15
Spire Academy 3 (Final)

Western Reserve (OH) 13
#12 Spalding 8 (Final)

Lasalle 9
Hill Academy 7 (FInal)


Good matchups tonight:

Hill @ #1 McDonogh
Lasalle Vs #6 St Mary's
Western Reserve @ #10 Gilman
#4 Loyola @ Bullis and
#3 CalvertH @ Malvern