MIAA "A" Conference 2024

[Turnandrake]

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

Clearly Baltimore sun is clueless

[Finster]

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

Hill at McDonogh and Calvert Hall at Malvern Prep give the MIAA some opportunities to get back in the saddle. Let's see how these teams do.

[oldbartman]

Hill @ McDonogh is Hill's 4th game in 5 days. They may be a bit worn down. Any game feedback is appreciated.

[Finster]

Hill @ McDonogh is Hill's 4th game in 5 days. They may be a bit worn down. Any game feedback is appreciated.

No color here but Mcdonogh just beat Hill 12-9

[random observer]

Hill @ McDonogh is Hill's 4th game in 5 days. They may be a bit worn down. Any game feedback is appreciated.

No color here but Mcdonogh just beat Hill 12-9

Much better performance than against haverford. Big game from Firlie who scored 4 straight in the middle of the game. Someone made note of Hill playing their 4th game in 5 days and it definitely showed: their legs were completely gone in the second half, which was exacerbated by McDonoghs possession dominance from owning the X. No team led by more than a goal until late in the 4th quarter.

[kramerica.inc]

CH loses to Malvern 13-9.
Loyola Loses to Bullis 11-8...and it wasn't that close.
Gilman loses to Western Reserve (OH) 10-9.
St Mary's holds a powerful LaSalle team to just 4 goals. But unfortunately only scores 2.

At least McD won.

[Finster]

CH loses to Malvern 13-9.
Loyola Loses to Bullis 11-8...and it wasn't that close.
Gilman loses to Western Reserve (OH) 10-9.
St Mary's holds a powerful LaSalle team to just 4 goals. But unfortunately only scores 2.

At least McD won.

Looking around the MIAA scores, Mt. St. Joseph beat St Thomas Aquinas of Florida 9-7. I keep telling folks that STA has some great athletes. Have seen them play once my entire life, and they were legit, but that was back in maybe 2017?

I am thinking that Malvern prep has a great team this year. Their remaining schedule is insane: Boy's Latin, Lawrenceville, St. Anthony's, Delbarton, and of course the entire PA gauntlet.

Not to jump the starting gun here, but BL has really only one more OOC game and that's Malvern Prep. If they really are the cream of the MIAA this year (based on their scores TYD, I think they are likely to suffer at least one defeat in the MIAA), they better take care of business on March 27 at home versus MP.

[Laxwatch2007]

The two Pennsylvania Inter Ac teams (Malvern Prep and Haverford) have already beaten McDonough, Calvert Hall and Loyola Blakefield. I can’t remember a time when those two schools could compete successfully with the better teams from the MIAA.

[random observer]

The two Pennsylvania Inter Ac teams (Malvern Prep and Haverford) have already beaten McDonough, Calvert Hall and Loyola Blakefield. I can’t remember a time when those two schools could compete successfully with the better teams from the MIAA.

Haverford and Malvern both have particularly strong teams this year, but your memory must not go back very far; those two have won more than they've lost against the MIAA over the years, and they've played all the top programs. Haverford was the #1 team in the nation multiple times last decade. Malvern Prep has won the majority of their meetings against Calvert Hall. Heck, even Philly public school Conestoga beat Calvert Hall in 2017 when they won the MIAA.

This isn't the 90s anymore: the MIAA has more depth than just about any other league in America, but its top teams aren't necessarily special on the national scene. You do still get teams like last year's McDonogh squad that are in the conversation for #1 in the nation, but the MIAA champion isn't always top 5-10 team in the nation simply by default anymore.

[Finster]

The two Pennsylvania Inter Ac teams (Malvern Prep and Haverford) have already beaten McDonough, Calvert Hall and Loyola Blakefield. I can’t remember a time when those two schools could compete successfully with the better teams from the MIAA.

Haverford and Malvern both have particularly strong teams this year, but your memory must not go back very far; those two have won more than they've lost against the MIAA over the years, and they've played all the top programs. Haverford was the #1 team in the nation multiple times last decade. Malvern Prep has won the majority of their meetings against Calvert Hall. Heck, even Philly public school Conestoga beat Calvert Hall in 2017 when they won the MIAA.

This isn't the 90s anymore: the MIAA has more depth than just about any other league in America, but its top teams aren't necessarily special on the national scene. You do still get teams like last year's McDonogh squad that are in the conversation for #1 in the nation, but the MIAA champion isn't always top 5-10 team in the nation simply by default anymore.

+1

Very good post

[kramerica.inc]

Not sure how you don't follow it- but those PA teams have a fantastic tradition and are often very strong.

As for this year, the MIAA might not have a top 5 team in the country, but 6 of the 11 teams have already been nationally ranked in the top 25, so far.

That's insane for one conference.

[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

Clearly Baltimore sun is clueless

How so?

[random observer]

Not sure how you don't follow it- but those PA teams have a fantastic tradition and are often very strong.

As for this year, the MIAA might not have a top 5 team in the country, but 6 of the 11 teams have already been nationally ranked in the top 25, so far.

That's insane for one conference.

I only see 4 out of 11 in IL's rankings so far this year, but regardless, this has no bearing on how good those teams are. Being ranked in the preseason/first couple weeks because IL looked at your commit list and decided you were good doesn't actually make it so. Garden City is unranked right now, for example, and I think they're potentially as good as any team in the MIAA this season. Hard to say for sure so early in the season, but I would say that there's probably 8 MIAA teams that are potentially top 100 teams in the country. But I think half of them are more in the 50-100 range than the 1-50 range.

Disappointed that the BL/Lawrenceville game was cancelled. Gonzaga and St. John's appear to be down or at least inconsistent, so this felt like BL's first real marquee test. Thankfully they still have Malvern Prep on deck, who looks tremendous. Hoping the game lives up to the billing.

[MDlaxfan76]

The two Pennsylvania Inter Ac teams (Malvern Prep and Haverford) have already beaten McDonough, Calvert Hall and Loyola Blakefield. I can’t remember a time when those two schools could compete successfully with the better teams from the MIAA.

Haverford and Malvern both have particularly strong teams this year, but your memory must not go back very far; those two have won more than they've lost against the MIAA over the years, and they've played all the top programs. Haverford was the #1 team in the nation multiple times last decade. Malvern Prep has won the majority of their meetings against Calvert Hall. Heck, even Philly public school Conestoga beat Calvert Hall in 2017 when they won the MIAA.

This isn't the 90s anymore: the MIAA has more depth than just about any other league in America, but its top teams aren't necessarily special on the national scene. You do still get teams like last year's McDonogh squad that are in the conversation for #1 in the nation, but the MIAA champion isn't always top 5-10 team in the nation simply by default anymore.

+1

Very good post

+1
yup, still arguably the toughest conference, but the talent is spread across numerous teams. And there are a heck of a lot of premier teams across the country who regularly beat one or more of the top MIAA teams.

[Slim]

St. Paul's - 14
Bullis - 13
OT dub in DC!

[Finster]

You guys need Random Observer to give better color. Hes got a great handle on high school lacrosse.

SP getting thrashed by St Ignatius then topping Bullis is not computable. I can’t trust my St Paul’s buddies to provide objective opinions anymore

Anyway, a HUGE game today imo is McDonogh versus Chaminade in Delaware. I’ll check back in tonight after I see the score.

Random: please post more HS analysis including MIAA. Thanks.

[Slim]

[3rdPersonPlural]

SP getting thrashed by St Ignatius then topping Bullis is not computable.

Ooooh, Finster, you're showing your Maryland bias, here.

Think out loud with me:

England may be the root king of Cricket, but the best English teams regularly get thrashed by Indian or Pakistani squads. MIAA/IAC etc. may be the root king of HS lacrosse, but frontier teams like St I in CA have power teams now and then that can just 'thrash' a strong, but not dominant, MIAA/IAC team.

There's no shame in being the gold standard!

Here's where the pride resides: Any team that bests an MIAA team from can rightfully declare that they're legendary that season in their context.

It's like being the Hemi in Drag Racing. The Kenyan in a marathon. The Brazilians in world cup. Porsche in sports cars. The Swiss in Banking.

I suspect that MIAA/IAC will remain the gold standard for at least a decade or more and this is despite a couple of decades of the league being steadily matched by other I-95 or frontier teams.

[Finster]

SP getting thrashed by St Ignatius then topping Bullis is not computable.

Ooooh, Finster, you're showing your Maryland bias, here.

Think out loud with me:

England may be the root king of Cricket, but the best English teams regularly get thrashed by Indian or Pakistani squads. MIAA/IAC etc. may be the root king of HS lacrosse, but frontier teams like St I in CA have power teams now and then that can just 'thrash' a strong, but not dominant, MIAA/IAC team.

There's no shame in being the gold standard!

Here's where the pride resides: Any team that bests an MIAA team from can rightfully declare that they're legendary that season in their context.

It's like being the Hemi in Drag Racing. The Kenyan in a marathon. The Brazilians in world cup. Porsche in sports cars. The Swiss in Banking.

I suspect that MIAA/IAC will remain the gold standard for at least a decade or more and this is despite a couple of decades of the league being steadily matched by other I-95 or frontier teams.

lol. I only live close to the MIAA now, but I’m an upstate NY guy. Victor and Canandaiuga Academy.

No I know the MIAA can lose but I didn’t think St Paul’s could beat Bullis tbh. I did think they could lose to St Ignatius.

[Finster]

You guys need Random Observer to give better color. Hes got a great handle on high school lacrosse.

SP getting thrashed by St Ignatius then topping Bullis is not computable. I can’t trust my St Paul’s buddies to provide objective opinions anymore

Anyway, a HUGE game today imo is McDonogh versus Chaminade in Delaware. I’ll check back in tonight after I see the score.

Random: please post more HS analysis including MIAA. Thanks.

I wouldn’t have predicted this, but McDonogh just beat NY’s Chaminade 12-10. I was following the McDonogh Twitter feed so I have no real color, but McDonogh raced out to a 6/0, then 9/3 leads, as Chaminade chipped away toward the end. McDonogh goalie had a great save with 55 seconds left.

Good win for the MIAA. Chaminade is obviously very good.

On the downside for the MIAA, Malvern Prep defeated Boys Latin 8-7. Looks like BL led except last five minutes. Malvern Prep might have the team this year. St Anthony’s up next!!