Terp Classic '29: Four Top Specialists and Two Wild Cards

The Terrapin Classic is a staple of the fall tournament circuit, and Ty Xanders and I came away from a great weekend with a long list of names to evaluate from the 2028 and, especially, 2029 divisions. In one of our first pieces dedicated to 2029 specialists, we spotlight two goalies and four face-off specialists who stood out at the Terp Classic. Four arrived with plenty of hype; the other two fall into my wild-card category. Here's what caught my eye from all six.    It might sound crazy to say this in the fall of his sophomore year, but this evaluation of Feldmaier is overdue. He's been an absolute stud every time I've seen him, from Boys' Latin's championship run at NHSLS to the Autumn Bowl and, most recently, the Terp Classic.   He plays from a neutral stance with a naturally calm demeanor, keeping his movements controlled and efficient. Two things really stand out about his game. First, he catches everything. High or low, he makes difficult saves look routine, and the sequence rarely changes: catch, quick read, and the ball is out, like a quarterback running a West Coast offense.   The second is how many shots he steals—the ones you've already penciled in as goals. That's what separates good goalies from great ones: the ability to fly from pipe to pipe and take one away when your team needs it most. I saw that dawg in Feldy on Sunday. St. Bonaventure commit Keegan Kerr will have his say, but Feldmaier is making a strong case to own the Boys' Latin cage this spring.     In the two games I caught, Weiss stood out as one of the best and most well-rounded faceoff specialists I saw all weekend. He showed the full toolbox at the dot: clean clamp wins, varied exits, rakes and counters, all against legit competition. He pairs the size to box out his matchup in scrums with the athleticism to win the race to groundballs and handle pressure once he comes up with them.   A rare left-handed FOGO, Weiss shows his bottom-hand strength in his plungers and exits. He's comfortable scooping, throwing, and shooting right-handed when he needs to, but he loves to scoop and switch to his left—and he showed that side of his game with a lefty goal against Futures on Sunday.     Coming into the fall, Roark was on a short list of the most highly touted face-off specialists in the 2029 class. Between last weekend with Hilltop and this weekend with the Tomahawks, he's lived up to the hype. The way he uses every muscle in his body to win clamps and maintain pressure through tie-ups is a show in itself. He rotates off a rock-solid base, with powerful wrists and forearms working in sync to wrench the ball his way. His go-to is a pinch-and-pop to himself, though he'll also pop the ball between his legs to a wide-open wing teammate. He had mixed results against another top FOGO at the Autumn Bowl, a matchup where I would've liked to see him turn to his counters more often. The hype gets your attention, but his stickwork and willingness to grind beyond the initial clamp help hold it.     Another highly touted 2029 face-off specialist, McGinn was dominant in the two games I watched this weekend. His hand speed jumped out right away—he routinely beat the three opponents I saw him face and set up his exits to use his quickness to collect the ball cleanly. He's not the biggest guy out there, but he's strong without being rigid, able to bend and rotate through tie-ups without giving up leverage. Hilltop resorted to collapsing its wings and swarming him with pressure, and how he handled it impressed me most. He stayed fluid, absorbed the contact, and never looked rattled. A full year of varsity starts seems to have sped up the learning curve, and he's still got plenty of runway.     Who needs coffee when Brennan is scoring a goalie goal in the 8:20 slot? 91 Carolina challenged him with a lock ride all day, and he looked right at home picking it apart. He was comfortable walking the ball up, carrying it over midfield, moving it when pressure came his way and, of course, taking it to the rack when the opportunity opened up.   Brennan made clean saves high and low and wasted little time getting his outlets away. He showed touch on high, looping passes over the ride and the zip to thread balls into tight windows. He's not a finished product in the cage, but I liked how calm he stayed until the ball left the shooter's stick, whether the chance came from in tight or well outside. Once it did, his reactions took over, allowing him to make big-time stops all over the cage.     Trying to move Dann is like trying to uproot a tree with your bare hands. At 6-foot-1 and 200-plus pounds, he's a force at the dot. One of his go-to moves is a clamp-and-pop, sending the ball through his legs or out to the side, just beyond the reach of the collapsing wings. That move says a lot about his game: he knows his strength is, quite literally, his strength. He uses his strong base to bully opposing FOGOs in one-on-one battles, and when the ball gets tied up in a scrum, he makes those 50/50s feel much more one-sided. The transfer from his bent-up face-off stick to an attackman was painless, and he played the face-off, get-off role well. After winning 43% of his draws as Cranford's (N.J.) main option at the X, Dann has the tools to make a real jump in his second varsity season.

The Terrapin Classic is a staple of the fall tournament circuit, and Ty Xanders and I came away from a great weekend with a long list of names to evaluate from the 2028 and, especially, 2029 divisions. In one of our first pieces dedicated to 2029 specialists, we spotlight two goalies and four face-off specialists who stood out at the Terp Classic. Four arrived with plenty of hype; the other two fall into my wild-card category. Here's what caught my eye from all six.

Brian Feldmaier

HEIGHT 6'0"

POS G

CLASS 2029

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Brian Feldmaier

State: Maryland

School: The Boys Latin School of Maryland

Club: Annapolis Hawks, Hilltop

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Finn Weiss

HEIGHT 6'0"

WEIGHT 180

POS FO/M

CLASS 2029

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Finn Weiss

State: Maryland

School: Archbishop Spalding

Club: Annapolis Hawks

In the two games I caught, Weiss stood out as one of the best and most well-rounded faceoff specialists I saw all weekend. He showed the full toolbox at the dot: clean clamp wins, varied exits, rakes and counters, all against legit competition. He pairs the size to box out his matchup in scrums with the athleticism to win the race to groundballs and handle pressure once he comes up with them.

A rare left-handed FOGO, Weiss shows his bottom-hand strength in his plungers and exits. He's comfortable scooping, throwing, and shooting right-handed when he needs to, but he loves to scoop and switch to his left—and he showed that side of his game with a lefty goal against Futures on Sunday.