Class of 2028 Offensive Standouts at the IMLCA Players Summit

The inaugural IMLCA Summer Players Summit went down on Thursday and Friday at The Proving Grounds in Conshohocken, Pa., hosting a plethora of reputable club teams from three age groups along with over 350 college coaches from all divisions. While a lot of known commodities and well-covered 2028s continued to pop off, so did these five rising juniors that we had yet to cover in-depth here on Prep Lacrosse.    Although there was no shortage of talent on Garden City's roster, the Trojans certainly would have benefited from Gaffney's services in 2026, given that he missed the lion's share of the season due to an elbow injury after running on the second line early on. At 6'2, he's a thoroughbred of a midfielder with a knack for winning matchups and getting to his spots to make impactful plays. Also a varsity basketball player, Gaffney has superb footwork up top and sets up his dodges impeccably well; then from there, he has an excellent release and can stretch a defense with his outside range. Play him as a shooter, and he'll draw slides before passing it off, as he also has standout vision and the size to see over a defense and dole out skip passes to his teammates. Overall, I love his upside and the poise with which he plays — I'm looking forward to seeing him play next week and will be intrigued to follow his continued development.     A record-setting attackman whose 195 points this spring were the most in the state, Genco is well on pace to finish in the Top 10 all time in New York, playing Class D ball just south of Buffalo. He has an impressive arsenal of moves to get topside and finish from the island, using his sturdy 190-pound frame and physicality, IQ, and exceptional shooting ability to his advantage. While he may not be the type of athlete that will make a habit out of beating high-level defenders cleanly off the dodge, he's an incredibly gifted lacrosse player who has enough in his bag to get his hands free and score with flair. Genco did just that at Naptown — where he registered a hat trick in the championship — and again on Thursday at IMLCA. I loved what I saw, though my main critique would be that I'd like to see more activity from him off-ball. At the same time, I get it, considering he probably doesn't have to play without the ball during the high school season very often. Given how consistently productive he is and what he brings to the table, I'll be intrigued to see where he lands at the next level.     From what I've heard, Muzones tore up the summer circuit in June, proving to be incredibly difficult for defenders to match feet and get their stick on him. He possesses an elite first step and blinding speed, and on Thursday, he never hesitated to dodge one of the more reputable '28 defensemen in Maryland and had tremendous success. While he's more of a scorer than a passer, he's creative with his looks and tossed out two no-look assists when I watched True IL, in addition to scoring in bunches. He's got excellent hands and a flashy stick, dodging with confidence regardless of who he's matched up with. When dodging from up top in space, he's a constant threat to roll back, and has a plethora of different moves to get his hands free, though his explosiveness makes it so that he doesn't need much help in that regard. After posting 69 goals and 31 assists for Lakes Community HS near the Illinois-Wisconsin border, he's set to move to play in the MIAA, giving St. Paul's a two-handed attackman who will set up shop behind the cage.     Simply put, Shields checks many of the boxes college coaches look for in a midfield recruit: he's big (though he still has room to pack on more muscle), possesses game-breaking speed and explosiveness, and has a shot that's difficult to stop. Heading into IMLCA, I hadn't seen him play in person, though his speed jumped off the screen while watching Loomis on live streams this season. At The Proving Grounds, he had little trouble winning matchups and serving as a left-handed gunslinger, consistently placing his shots with precision while utilizing a three-quarters release that gave goalies little chance to get a read. An athletic party-starter from Simsbury, Shields is incredibly difficult to contain with a shortstick and does an excellent job creating opportunities to get to his left hand, though he's clearly developed his right hand as well. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll be high on the boards at several Top 25-caliber programs come September.     Set to transfer from Westfield (Mass.) to Loomis Chaffee (Conn.), Topor was someone whose game I wasn't familiar with, though in all fairness, 2Way's so stacked on offense to the point that some talented complementary pieces can sometimes get overshadowed. He certainly popped at IMLCA, putting together an excellent first half in the first game of the day, albeit against a lesser opponent. An aggressive scorer who can make things happen both below and above the goal line, he had a nasty fake to freeze the defense, then finished appropriately in close. There's some brute strength in his game that allows him to stand out relative to his peers, and he shoots the heck out of the ball with either hand. I'd like to see him be a bit more consistent against the top teams, but I was impressed with what I saw this week and feel as if he possesses a lot of the tools to make him an attractive Division I prospect.

The inaugural IMLCA Summer Players Summit went down on Thursday and Friday at The Proving Grounds in Conshohocken, Pa., hosting a plethora of reputable club teams from three age groups along with over 350 college coaches from all divisions.

While a lot of known commodities and well-covered 2028s continued to pop off, so did these five rising juniors that we had yet to cover in-depth here on Prep Lacrosse.