Club Teams That Turned Heads This Summer

Below are profiles of three club teams who impressed with their remarkable performances during June and July.     USA West 2028   USA West ‘28s assembled a 5-1 record at Naptown and then won the 2028 Division at the IL Summer Cup. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that they are featured in this article.   USA West's domination this summer started at the face off dot where Jacob Park won draws cleanly and allowed this group to play downhill most of the time. Once he was in the offensive zone, Park did a fantastic job of deciding when to shoot or distribute on the run.     When Park moved the ball to a waiting teammate, it often landed in the stick of Ramsey Peterson or Brady Meehan. These two skilled attackmen torched goalies all summer. Peterson is a shifty prospect who dusted defenders with one quick move before charging to the cage for a shot. Meehan is a lefty who got his hands free in a flash, and then unleashed rockets. Tanner Folk joined Peterson and Meehan at attack. Folk proved to be a slick operator on the crease as well as at X.   Electric prospect Hawkes Packard led this California based squad's midfield group. This athletic and solidly built two-way mid ran past, around and through opposing players as he created scoring opportunities for himself and teammates. Lefty Cooper Lewis was effective using sweeps over the top and then pinging corners on the run. Lewis also flexed his versatility as he played attack at a high level too. James Pinkin was explosive on his downhill dodges and demonstrated that he could score or distribute with both hands.   USA West's defense was anchored by LSM Max Butler, close defender Will Fox and goalie Noah Benney. Butler is an athletic and versatile LSM who created turnovers on the perimeter and then converted the resulting GBs into transition opportunities. Fox is a high IQ defender who this summer solidified his reputation for generating turnovers via menacing stick checks. Benney is an agile net-minder who displayed tremendous anticipation skills.     Mad Dog National Gold 2027   This summer, Mad Dog National Gold 2027 was the Cinderella story at Naptown as they unexpectedly captured the ‘chip in the 2027 AA division. When you examine Mad Dog Gold's 7-0 record in Annapolis, their journey to the 2027 AA title becomes even more impressive. At Naptown, this team advanced through a gauntlet that included Hilltop, Red Hots, DC Express, Mad Dog National Black and finally, No. 2 ranked Next Level.   However, given the level of talent and depth we witnessed on MDN-G's roster this summer, one could argue that the “experts” should not have been so surprised by their success at Naptown.   FOGO Josh Grannum used his polished technique and quick hands to dominate at the faceoff dot. His tremendous success allowed Mad Dog to control possession at Naptown. We expect Grannum will be a popular prospect on September 1st.      On offense, attack Emmett Lee was a playmaking force as he scored goals at every level and dished out creative assists. A trio of midfielders grabbed our attention – Codaway Gross, Heston Halesworth and Carmine Antonini. All three are athletic mids with two-way abilities. Halesworth and Antonini excelled at scoring on the run. Gross did a tremendous job of drawing slides and then moving the ball to an open teammate. Chase Renno also flashed as a shifty prospect who generated offense from midfield.   Defensively Mad Dog received fantastic efforts from SSDMs Dax Klein and Ethan Ramsey. Those two caused a slew of turnovers via well-timed body checks and crowbars. On the back end, defensemen Zadie Mills and Owen Tallo were outstanding. Mills is a speedy, 6'3” beast who caused turnovers with his powerful stick checks. Tallo proved to be a lengthy defender with impressive footwork and crafty stick skills. He was a plus player in Mad Dog's clearing game too. Between the pipes, the one-two punch of Ryan Olsen and Jack DiSarlo provided high level goalie play.   When asked about his team's Naptown championship, Head Coach Mike Caposella commented, “Honestly, it's a special group that genuinely cares for one another. They all took a chance on themselves, each other and our staff and it paid true at Naptown. That championship was 18 months in the making.”     BBL Black 2027   In late June, this BBL squad assembled a 4-1 record at the NAL tournament as they averaged 11 goals per game. Then in mid-July they won the 2027 AA title at the A.L.L Summer Championship on the strength of a 10 goals per contest average.       In short, BBL Black 2027s found the back of the net often this summer. Given the talented offensive personnel on this roster, that should not come as a shock. The attack group featured Matthew Good and [player_tooltip player_id='121753' first='Leo' last='Gillette']. Good repeatedly proved he owns smooth stick skills as well as quick hands, and shifty body movements. Gillette tortured opposing defenders with his deep bag of moves and dodges. When Gillette got his hands free it was curtains for opposing goalies. Running with Good and Gillette at attack was Anthony Pavone. His sly off-ball movements produced a host of goals in close.   6'3” midfielder Charlie Dunn was a match-up nightmare as he beat defenders with his physicality as well as the combination of his quickness and elusive moves. Dash Lane proved to be a fantastic downhill dodger who created on the run for himself and others. Jack Merklinger flashed his dynamic stick skills at both mid and attack. Merklinger demonstrated a knack for executing crowd pleasing finishes. Brody Cozic is a high IQ mid who scored and distributed with his left as well as right hand.   The defensive end of the field for BBL was headlined by SSDM Brendan Sommer and the dynamic LSM duo of John Fodor and Sam Vachris. Sommer's speed and polished footwork enabled him to doggedly pursue ball carriers on the perimeter. Fodor was an intimidating on-ball defender with a knack for throwing heavy stick checks and crafty lifts. Vachris was a CTO machine who then scooped up the ground ball and led BBL's transition game. Versatile pole Anthony Henson impressed at close def and LSM. Henson thrived on the fast break too.

Below are profiles of three club teams who impressed with their remarkable performances during June and July.