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We had a great time this summer covering some of the premier lacrosse events. PL has traveled all over to watch the talent from various top club programs.

This summer was like no other. We didn’t have a spring season to merge from. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the protocols for watching a lacrosse game have changed. The protocols for playing in a lacrosse game have changed .

From wearing a face mask in the stands or to no more hand shake lines after games, the way we approach the game has changed. People who attended events should be commended for doing their part to make sure the spread of the virus didn’t happen and we could enjoy the game.

Also, COVID-19 had an impact on the recruiting process for colleges and universities. The NCAA announced in the spring that Division 1 staffs could not attend recruiting events. Which was a tough pill to swallow for the players , the college coaches and the event organizers.

The events had to change their strategy and rely heavily on Live streams of games and video highlights to be sent to the college coaches. And the change forced the players to be on their game and display their skills even more so during the summer circuit.

PeaceLacrosse would like to commend the people involved with providing a venue for the summer season. First couple places that come to mind are the folks that run the De Turf facility in Delaware and Cedar Lane Regional Park in Bel Air Md. Everyone in those communities was gracious and kind.

So we decided to rank the Top 50 Players that we saw this summer season. Boy did we see a ton of talent. The 2022 and 2023 classes may be arguably the most talented classes across the board that we’ve seen. We’re thrilled to see where these two groups go. The 2021’s did great as well..this was a big summer for a lot of them.

Rankings Criteria:

Normally, we would not do player rankings. We feel it’s a tough assignment to do. There’s too much talent around the country to do player rankings. Plus the rankings can bring negative feedback which we don’t deal with.

But nothing about this year has been normal.

So we had several things that made us jump with both feet into doing the player rankings.

First, the kids deserve the pub. It’s obviously been a tough 2020 for everyone. We still feel horrible that this past years high school senior class didn’t have a full season to end their HS careers. And we don’t know what the future looks like, so we want to make sure these players know their efforts and desire to play the game this summer and try to get exposure is recognized.

Secondly, we covered more events this summer than we have in the past. We watched and drove to a ton of games, in lots of hot weather and had a fun time making the video highlights. The videos were also helping us out with deciding who will be on this Top 50.

The Top 50 is strictly players we saw at events and were impressed with. That includes club events, showcases and the play days which we loved the most.

In the past we would cover an event and do a write up about the top kids that stood out. But we were covering event after event after event. We decided let’s just do a massive list at the end of the summer.

There’s no politics with this Top 50 or personal bias towards a player or a particular club team. It’s just the kids we saw. So please don’t come to us wondering why a certain player isn’t on the Top 50. If they aren’t it’s because we didn’t see them play in person.

Our very own Tom Peace evaluated, took notes and got feedback from many evaluators at these events. Tom has been in the lax recruiting business for over 10 years, whether it be as a journalist or as a recruiting coordinator for the top junior colleges in the nation. So this list will be done the right way.

We took into various different factors for this list. How a player scored a goal or caused a turnover was just one factor. We also looked at how a player dealt with adversity, how they communicated with coaches/ referees and teammates. And we even researched if a player was a multi-sport athlete and did well in the classroom. Basically, we did our homework.

Please enjoy these rankings. Thank you again for an amazing Summer!

Here’s the Peace Lacrosse Top 50 Players:

1. Dante Trader – 2021 -Midfield – McDonogh (Md.) – MadLax Trader is an excellent athlete with the ability to make plays all over the field. We saw Dante play several times this summer both with Madlax and Nation United – the Maryland commit for both football and lacrosse is a team player and gives 110 % .
2. Dom Pietramala – 2022- Attack – Boys’ Latin (Md.) – Slaintè – Dom was primed to have a breakout sophomore season for Boys’ Latin before Covid hit. But the 2022 Attackman decided to breakout this summer. We saw Dom play at the DC Express vs. Annapolis Hawks 2022 play day and he was clearly a star.
3. Alex Holmes – 2021- Midfield – Potomac (Va.) – Madlax Alex has the tools to be a great lacrosse player at the next level. When the Potomac HS Senior gets near cage and has his hands free Holmes is lethal with his shot on cage.
4. Truitt Sunderland – 2022- Attack – Calvert Hall (Md.) – Annapolis Hawks Sunderland was another player who was ready to have a huge spring. Especially, coming off a “Rookie of the Year” type season in 2019. Truitt is a playmaker and does a nice job running the offense. Looking forward to seeing what Sunderland does this upcoming spring for Calvert Hall.
5. Eliot Dubick – 2022 – Attack – Churchill (Md.) – DC Express Dubick caught our eye right away as someone who has the potential to be an elite player at the next level. Another guy that’s a great teammate that has the desire to win. Eliot will be a huge addition to any college program.
6. Jack Dudas – 2021 – Midfield – McDonogh (Md.) – CRABS Dudas is tough as nails and will either deliver a laser shot on goal or lower his shoulder and deliver a monster hit. Jack is committed to Bucknell. We are excited to see what Dudas does his senior year for the Eagles.
7. Michael Bath – 2021 – Long-Stick Midfielder/Defense – Gonzaga (DC) – Madlax – Talk about tremendous Lax IQ, Michael Bath is surgeon on that field with the long-pole. Bath is committed to Princeton. We saw Michael crush it at the “Friendly Fireworks” event in Virginia as well as the Under Armour South Region Underclass games. Bath makes it look easy when he shoots and scores when running up field on a clear. Kid is smooth with the rock!
8. Jack Reed – 2022 – Midfield – Ponte Vedra (FL) -SweetLax Florida – Reed is a terrific athlete with great field sense. His LAX I.Q. is off the charts and he makes you want to follow what he does each time he’s on the field whether if he has the ball or not. Reed is dangerous with or off ball. Jack is not afraid to get scrappy and fight for a ground ball. We look forward to seeing how he plays this upcoming spring for Coach West and the Ponte Vedra Sharks.
9. Mac Eldridge -2022 – Faceoff – Collegiate (Va.) – DC Express – Eldridge was excellent this summer from the face-off X. Making smart decisions with the ball after winning the draw. Immediately dishing it off to a fellow offensive player or taking it to the cage himself on a fast break. DC Express was one of the most impressive groups this summer and Mac was a key reason why.
10. Cardin Stoller – 2022 – Goalie – Boys’ Latin (Md.) – Team91 Maryland – We only saw Stoller recently at the Apex 60 Summer Finale event and we were blown away how well this young man did in the 2021/2022 All – Star game. And then the BL goalie was fantastic at the Inside Lacrosse Elite Eight event in the Team91Maryland game against a very very good Team91 Smash team. Could Stoller be the Lakers next star goalie? We shall see in the spring.
11. James Matan – 2022 – Midfield – Gonzaga (DC) – DC Express
12. Jeremy Hopsicker – 2022 – Attack – Westminster (Conn.) – SweetLax
13. Justin Ennis – 2021 – Midfield – Gonzaga (DC) – Next Level LC – Committed to Michigan
14. Mac Christmas – 2023- Long-Stick Midfielder/ Defense – Georgetown Prep (DC) – DC Dogs
15. Colin Burns – 2023- Attack – Georgetown Prep (DC) – DC Dogs
16. Mac Moreland – 2021 – Faceoff – Boys’ Latin (Md.) – CRABS
17. AJ Hernandez – 2021 – Defense – Boys’ Latin (Md.) – CRABS/Nation United –Committed to Navy
18. Luke Pisani – 2022 – Midfield – Benjamin (FL) – Sweetlax Florida – Committed to Army
19. Nick Kaufman – 2021 – Defense – St. Mary’s Annapolis (Md.) – Annapolis Hawks
20. Zach Whittier – 2022 – Attack – Georgetown Prep (DC) – MadLax – Committed to Maryland
21. Tre Moore – 2023 – Attack – McDonogh (Md.) – Next Level LC
22. PJ Oppenheimer – 2022 -Attack – LaSalle College HS (Pa.) – Dukes Elite
23. Owen Dixon – 2022 – Midfield – Loyola Blakefield (Md.) – CRABS
24. Jay Rualo – 2022 – Faceoff – Calvert Hall (Md.) – FCA Maryland
25. Jordan Wray – 2022 – Midfield – Calvert Hall (Md.) – FCA
26. Nicky Souza – 2022 – Attack – St. Mary’s (Md.) – Annapolis Hawks
27. Dawson Clark – 2021 – Attack – Bishop Guertin (NH) – NH Tomahawks – Committed to Army
28. Malik Wood – 2023- Attack – Bullis (Md.) – Next Level LC
29. Matt Pepe – 2023 – Midfield – Seton Hall Prep (N.J.) -Tri State
30. Ethan Salvia – 2022 – Attack – Shady Side Academy (Pa.) – CRABS
31. Lawson Pritchett – 2023 – Midfield – Porter Gaud (S.C.) – Charleston Elite
32. Miles Lancaster – 2023 – Goalie – DeMatha (Md.) – Next Level LC
33. Tim Evinin – Attack – St. George’s (NY) – Express North
34. Ryan Colella – 2023 – Wayne Valley (N.J.) – NJ RIOT
35. James Jacob – 2022 – Midfield- Episcopal (Va.) – Madlax (From San Antonio, TX)
36. Charlie Pope – 2021 – Attack – Gilman (Md.) – Slaintè – Committed to Vermont
37. Wade Watson – 2022 – Attack – East Chapel Hill (NC) – Team91Carolina
38. Ryan Heuston – 2022 – Midfield – Hempfield (Pa.) – TEAM Lacrosse
39. John Rineman – 2022 – Defense – Loyola Blakefield (Md.) – CRABS
40. Dylan Rupprecht – 2022 – Faceoff – Creekside (FL) – FL Crabs – 3D Florida
41. Nathan Nicholas – 2022 – Midfield – Apex (NC) – Team91Carolina
42. Travis Smith – 2022 – Midfield – John Carroll (Md.) – CRABS
43. Max Grube – 2022 – Attack – Hempfield (Pa.) – TEAM Lacrosse
44. David Wright – 2022 – Attack – Mountain View (UT) – Wasatch LC
45. Collin Rovere – 2022 – Midfield – Wayne Valley (NJ) – Tri State
46. George Kalos – 2022 – Faceoff – Hough (NC) – Team 24/7
47. Marcus Pedone – 2022 -Midfield – Richard Montgomery (Md.) – DC Express
48. Connor Hooley – 2022 – Attack – Woodbury (MN) – TeamMN
49. Isaac Korus – 2022- Midfield – Taft School – Prime Time
50. Brendan Perkins – 2021 – A/M – Lake Mary (FL) – True Lacrosse

Others Considered: Michael Guglielmone – 2022 – Defense – Linganore (Md.); Jackson Carver – D/LSM – St. Thomas Academy (MN) ; Dillon Bethea, 2022 – Defense – Heritage (NC) – Team91Carolina; Drew Wynocker – 2022 – Attack – St. Ignatius (OH) – Burning River; Luke Scarpello 2022 – Midfield – St. Augustine Prep (NJ) – SouthShore; Liam Quinn – 2022 – Defense- Downingtown (Pa.) – Freedom; Tyler Mosca – 2023 – Attack – Northern Guilford – NC Fusion; Gavin Stetcher – 2021 – Attack – Calvert Hall (Md.) – Gonzo – Committed to Florida Tech

**We will have a Top 50 at the end of the Fall season as well***