Maryland 2028 Watch: Five Rising Juniors to Know

The biggest stretch of the summer for the 2028 class is off to a hot start, and I have already stacked up a ton of viewings. These five rising juniors from Maryland range from top-of-the-board talent to newer names worth knowing. Here is a look at four MIAA players and one public school standout who have been making waves on the summer circuit.    [player_tooltip player_id='165876' first='Weston' last='Guerra'] put together an impressive sophomore resume: All-MIAA first team, All-State MSLCA first team, the Wynn Award for the best goalie in the state, and 12 saves in the MIAA championship game.   What stands out most to me about Guerra's game is the way he goes from calm to explosive. He plays with a comfortable, athletic stance. Before the shot, he moves calmly and efficiently. Once the ball starts moving and shots come his way, he explodes. He steals a ton of saves moving pipe to pipe, and part of that comes from how well he tracks the ball after skips. He is a well-rounded shot stopper, too. He can rise high and flop low. At Showtime, I was really impressed with how snappy his wrists and forearms were getting to off-stick shots.   What separated Guerra from the other goalies I saw at Best in Class was how good his stick is in the clearing game. He has quick, compact hands when he has to move it in tight, but he can also throw darts and drop it in the bucket when the moment calls for it. NLF has already ranked him as the best goalie in the class. It is still early for me to make that call myself, but he has a very strong argument for it.     There are not many Maryland public school players making a real impression in the 2028 class, but [player_tooltip player_id='176250' first='Jameson' last='Durst'] is one of them. This spring, Durst dominated his public school matchups, going 77% at the X, and he has maintained that pace in the two events I have seen him in. He has a heavy clamp and uses his leverage well to win the ball cleanly. He has not needed to lean on counters much in the matchups I have watched, but when he does lose on the hands, he is a dawg in the ground-ball fight. He also looked strong under pressure at The Show and showed good poise spinning away from double teams.     At the Millon National event last weekend, [player_tooltip player_id='173592' first='Gavan' last='Conley'] lit it up. He was a crafty feeder, a high-level dodger, and a talented scorer. I loved the way he changed release points to skip the ball through lanes and wrap feeds around defenders, especially on the extra-man unit. In the club setting, his dodging ability really popped. He showed a hard split dodge, got downhill down the alley, and mixed in crafty re-dodges underneath to score.   In the spring, he made a living from the righty wing and by catching the ball inside, but with Team 91 Maryland, he proved he can make plays and score from all over the field. Conley officially entered the 2028 class this summer after declaring that he will take a PG year at The Hill School.     [player_tooltip player_id='178662' first='Chase' last='Sanchez'] had a fantastic showing at the Millon National event against the Spiders, finishing with two goals and two assists in the half I watched. He is a dynamic lefty attackman who can also run out of the box. His Mount St. Joseph coach, Tyler Reid, described him as “elusive” off the ball, pointing to Sanchez's hockey background and the way he reads situations.   Sanchez produced a lot from behind the cage, using jabs, changes of direction, and changes of speed to create opportunities. He knows when to extend his hands and get a shot off before the slide gets there and when to read the field and dish it off. His hockey background also showed up around the crease, where he came up with rebounds and moved the ball well in tight spaces.     [player_tooltip player_id='178900' first='Cam' last='Marcian'] stood out for the Clippers at the Millon National event because of how productive he was around the cage. He is an X attackman with the rolls, rockers, and re-dodges to get above GLE with his hands free. From there, he has plenty of ways to finish in tight, whether it is turning the corner or selling a pass first to get defenders to bite before he tucks it home. Defenders have to respect that part of his game because he is also a strong feeder with both hands and consistently piles up apples. He also looks very good in transition from the lower attack spot, where he can score with jump shots and crafty finishes.

The biggest stretch of the summer for the 2028 class is off to a hot start, and I have already stacked up a ton of viewings. These five rising juniors from Maryland range from top-of-the-board talent to newer names worth knowing. Here is a look at four MIAA players and one public school standout who have been making waves on the summer circuit.