Early MIAA Impressions: Boys' Latin, Calvert Hall, and McDonogh

The first few weeks of the high school season have produced fireworks and upsets galore, as evidenced by Monday's first in-season update of the Prep Lacrosse Top 25, with 10 teams ranked in the preseason suffering at least one loss. Having been on the sidelines for a ton of early spring games (on top of watching as much film as I could get my hands on), this felt like a great time to check in on three of the better teams in the MIAA, especially given the absence of preseason previews. I'll have more on Spalding, Loyola, and St. Paul's next week, so be on the lookout for additional team-based content, as well as standout recaps coming away from the first few weeks of action.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Boys' Latin</h2>   External expectations for the Lakers were tempered heading into the season—an inevitability after BL sent at least 20 seniors off to play college lacrosse, leaving just one returning starter in [player_tooltip player_id='14526' first='Matt' last='Higgins']. The Maryland-bound attackman, one of the nation's best, has only elevated his game despite drawing the full attention of opposing defenses, even more so than last year. Through three games, Higgins racked up 11 goals and six assists, including game-winning tallies against St. John's and Gonzaga.   For BL to take the next step, the key will be getting more out of the rest of its offensive contributors. So far, Higgins has been the only player consistently winning matchups, and the Lakers will need others to step up to draw slides and keep defenses honest on a more regular basis. That being said, the play of sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='23607' first='TJ' last='Shaw'] and Joey Kellar has been particularly encouraging, and midfielders [player_tooltip player_id='19285' first='Lincoln' last='Herring'] (Yale) and [player_tooltip player_id='82296' first='Drew' last='McDonald'] (Delaware) provide scoring punch out of the midfield. As the Lakers move forward, finding consistency shooting the ball and winning the middle of the field will be paramount to the Lakers' success, as they struggled with both aspects last week in a 9-6 loss to top-ranked Malvern Prep and at times in the matchup with Gonzaga. On the defensive side of the ball, the Lakers have often gone to a zone and had a ton of success against Gonzaga and in the second half of last Tuesday's loss to the high-octane Friars. After giving up a 6-0 run in the final 12 minutes and 45 seconds of the first half, BL's zone helped the Lakers win the second half 3-1 as senior netminder [player_tooltip player_id='19274' first='Garrett' last='Held'], a Navy commit, was given shots that he could handle and came up with a half-dozen saves during the final 24 minutes of action. Individually, I was impressed by the groundball play of Maryland-bound junior LSM [player_tooltip player_id='45430' first='Bryce' last='Barrett'], who seems to have taken another step forward. I also liked what I saw out of the close defensive unit of senior Brady Wesloski (Delaware), junior [player_tooltip player_id='16159' first='Matthew' last='Meredith'] (Richmond), and promising sophomore Charlie Tennille, a Charlotte native. As to be expected from a new-look group, they're still working on gelling together in the clearing game, but each did a nice job getting their sticks on passes to disrupt Malvern's offensive rhythm and showed promise as an overall unit.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Calvert Hall</h2>   Ranked 17th nationally to start the season, Calvert Hall has looked outstanding in the early portion of a non-conference schedule that featured home wins over St. Anne's Belfield (Va.) and Hill Academy (Ont.), an overtime victory. After Friday night's brilliant 2OT win over back-to-back national champ and No. 2 Lawrenceville (N.J.), the Cardinals won't be sneaking up on anybody anymore and have put the rest of the MIAA on high alert. Even more impressive is that they've been performing at this level without arguably their best offensive player in senior attackman [player_tooltip player_id='125778' first='Mark' last='Botek'], a Richmond recruit who is expected to return shortly after undergoing offseason surgery. From an offensive chemistry standpoint, the Cardinals have looked like they're in midseason form. At attack, senior [player_tooltip player_id='16379' first='Peyton' last='Forte'] (Navy), junior [player_tooltip player_id='17443' first='Jack' last='Williams'] (Yale), and freshman Caleb Kelly have slotted in as the starters and have performed at a high level, particularly in the Cardinals' wins over STAB and Hill Academy. Beyond their offensive contributions, they've been outstanding in the riding game and have helped make their opponents uncomfortable.   The midfielders, however, have stolen the show. Gettysburg recruit [player_tooltip player_id='126391' first='Will' last='Schwanke'] (4g, 6a) came into Friday's game as Calvert Hall's leading scorer, doing an excellent job of getting defenses to rotate and shooting 57 percent. Off to a hot start, Towson-bound [player_tooltip player_id='22644' first='Will' last='Schoonmaker'] was the overtime hero against Hill and produced a hat trick in the upset of Lawrenceville. [player_tooltip player_id='32813' first='Jackson' last='Mitchell'] (St. Joseph's) has won a lot of his matchups and accounted for a pair of goals against the Big Red, with speedy sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='23841' first='Michael' last='Steer'] showing flashes of his potential. Calvert Hall's backline took some time to get going but stepped up considerably to play its best game against Lawrenceville, with senior LSM [player_tooltip player_id='14557' first='Jermaine' last='Anderson'] (North Carolina) leading the way with his between-the-lines play and offensive ability, getting the scoring started on Friday night. He's taken his game to another level, as has Yale face-off recruit [player_tooltip player_id='14566' first='Ben' last='Cuomo'], who came into Friday having won 74 percent and had another brilliant performance against the Big Red's formidable tandem. In my opinion, the Cardinals' shortstick unit has been tops in the league thus far, and senior goalie [player_tooltip player_id='127677' first='Brady' last='Stangle'] (Fairfield) played by far his best game of the year on Friday. As good as they were to end last week, the defense is the unit with the most room to grow and will face its biggest test on Friday night against the mighty Friars of Malvern Prep.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">McDonogh</h2>   After an 8-7 setback in South Florida against a surging Benjamin School team, the Eagles dropped to 1-3 on the year and suffered their third one-goal loss of 2025. Spring break trips offer a perfect opportunity to re-evaluate and hit the reset button. While a third McDonogh loss in four games is surprising, there's no need for panic or soul-searching at this early stage in the season. The key now is learning from these losses, regrouping for conference play, and building to peak in May. In 2022, the Eagles lost three March games before rallying to win the first of three straight MIAA titles, finishing 13-6. The Eagles aren't exactly lacking veteran top-shelf talent, rolling out a five-star senior at attack, midfield, and in goal. Top-ranked '25 [player_tooltip player_id='14510' first='Brendan' last='Millon'] (Virginia) has been exceptional, and that's probably an understatement. Millon left the game against Gonzaga (D.C.) with an injury late in the first half and did not return, and despite being far from 100 percent, Millon returned to drop four goals and four assists in the narrow loss to Chaminade. Five-star junior [player_tooltip player_id='20017' first='Hunter' last='Metz'], a lefty, has elevated his game and is once again joined by another lefty in freshman Aidan Fournier. At the midfield, five-star [player_tooltip player_id='14525' first='Bogue' last='Hahn'] has been awesome, and [player_tooltip player_id='20006' first='Eli' last='Schaller'] (Maryland) is playing his best lacrosse yet. However, from where I sit, the Eagles have leaned on their big guns far too much and desperately need complementary and bench scoring. The defensive end of the field is a work in progress, to say the least. The brilliance of junior face-off specialist [player_tooltip player_id='20157' first='Ciaran' last='Sweeney'] (Notre Dame) and senior [player_tooltip player_id='14549' first='Aidan' last='Seibel'] (Maryland) can only cover up so many deficiencies. It's a group that looks rather different from a year ago, having graduated Paul McLucas, Max Allen, and SSDM Andrew Kasten, a two-way threat who was in many ways the heart and soul of the team. That being said, I will be curious to check in on the shorties and close defense in a few weeks. Based on what I've seen on film and in person during the first few weeks, they've struggled to cover high-end athletes and have a lot of work to do when it comes to off-ball play and communication. Seibel deserves all the credit in the world, as he's been off to a hot start, standing on his head every game despite the frequent defensive breakdowns. I'm looking forward to seeing how this group bounces back in Florida and on Tuesday against Haverford (Pa.) before beginning MIAA play on the road at St. Paul's three days later.

The first few weeks of the high school season have produced fireworks and upsets galore, as evidenced by Monday's first in-season update of the Prep Lacrosse Top 25, with 10 teams ranked in the preseason suffering at least one loss.

Having been on the sidelines for a ton of early spring games (on top of watching as much film as I could get my hands on), this felt like a great time to check in on three of the better teams in the MIAA, especially given the absence of preseason previews. I'll have more on Spalding, Loyola, and St. Paul's next week, so be on the lookout for additional team-based content, as well as standout recaps coming away from the first few weeks of action.