Class of 2025 Big Board: Defenders

The 2025 defensive class is full to the brim with size, athleticism, and sideline-to-sideline game-wrecking talent, not to mention particularly full of LSM prospects as opposed to close defenders.   Things can and will change between now and the unveiling of our final Class of 2025 rankings, but until then for now, here's a look at Prep Lacrosse's Top 30 defenders.   1. [player_tooltip player_id='14553' first='Robby' last='Hopper'] | Spalding (Md.) | Virginia    As offensively gifted a longpole as there's been in recent memory, Hopper makes a game-changing impact every time he steps on the field and has been having a brilliant senior season for the top-ranked Cavaliers. Flying all over the field with his athletic and long 6'5 frame, he makes his presence felt with brilliant stick work, disruptive slides, and with his tremendous ability off the ground. Although he infrequently gets dodged, he routinely turns defense into offense by jumping passing lanes for interceptions and darting upfield, routinely clearing the ball by himself and hammering the ball into the back of the net. He has a tremendous knack for making plays that shift the momentum of a game: in a win over St. Anthony's, Hopper scored the opening goal and finished with two goals and an assist. He'll fit in perfectly in Charlottesville, where he'll be a significant asset on both ends of the field in addition to factoring in at the top of UVA's ride.    2. [player_tooltip player_id='14528' first='Chris' last='Iuliano'] | Rye (N.Y.) | Notre Dame    Another long and athletic defender bound for the ACC, Iuliano is the top pure cover man in the class. Also considered one of the best football players in New York as a senior, Iuliano is always around the ball and possesses the strength and size to blanket big bodies, along with the footwork and angle play to erase jitterbugs. He's undoubtedly best suited to play close, however, Iuliano has above average stick skills and can be a weapon in transition. Iuliano is incredibly intelligent and is gifted at picking off passes, pushing dodgers away from prime scoring areas, and closing out on shot opportunities. He checks all of the boxes and will fit in impeccably in South Bend with the way the Fighting Irish like to play defense.    3. [player_tooltip player_id='14545' first='Will' last='Pedicano'] | Delbarton (N.J.) | Duke    Having flipped from Duke to Virginia late in the summer, Pedicano has been an absolute menace as a senior, racking up nine goals and six assists for a Green Wave program that has spent much of the spring ranked Top 10 nationally. He's an imposing cover man who can blanket the opposing team's top midfield weapon, corral a high volume of groundballs, and take the ball to the rack himself. Also a talented soccer player, Pedicano can run all day and make a full-field impact, but he also has the downright nasty disposition of a football player. Pair him with Mac Christmas at Duke and the Blue Devils will have an outstanding 1-2 punch at LSM.    4. [player_tooltip player_id='123284' first='Evan' last='MacFarland'] | Episcopal Academy (Pa.) | Georgetown    MacFarland has developed as well as anyone on this list, blossoming from an unranked recruit as a rising junior to a bonafide five-star talent as a senior. Big, aggressive, and disruptive, he gets all over his matchups' hands and overpowers them until the final whistle. MacFarland has excellent instincts in the open field and has the ability to make plays that flip the script of a game. A vacuum off the carpet, his footwork is lights out, and he's got the hips to change directions at an exceptional level. It's hard not to picture MacFarland as anything but an everyday contributor in one of the top defenses in all of Division I, and there's no doubt that he'll make the Hoyas' unit better from Day 1.    5. [player_tooltip player_id='14556' first='Joseph' last='Filardi'] | Half Hollow Hills (N.Y.) | Syracuse    A supremely gifted quarterback on the gridiron, Filardi eschewed his senior lacrosse season to enroll early in January at Syracuse, where he's a part of the Orange's football team and was a presence on the sidelines with his lacrosse teammates late in the spring. The lefty has elite cover ability, and though he was a close defender earlier in his career, he's a natural fit at LSM with his all-around prowess. Filardi was put in an unique role as a junior, asked to stay on regularly as a key piece of HHH's settled offense, putting forth a ridiculous 30-goal, 30-assist stat line with a longpole in his hands. He has an incredibly high ceiling and will be an intriguing piece of the puzzle for Gary Gait's program.    6. [player_tooltip player_id='14520' first='Gavin' last='Cooper'] | Haverford (Pa.) | Army   7. [player_tooltip player_id='14538' first='Parker' last='McDonald'] | St. Anthony's (N.Y.) | North Carolina   8. [player_tooltip player_id='14597' first='Nick' last='Voultos'] | Lawrenceville (N.J.) | Michigan   9. Matt Giannetti | Rye (N.Y.) | Princeton   10. [player_tooltip player_id='17975' first='Oliver' last='Skeean'] | Walton (Ga.) | Maryland   11. [player_tooltip player_id='127755' first='Jack' last='Cappadona'] | Thayer Academy (Mass.) | Army   12. [player_tooltip player_id='14519' first='Gaetano' last='Cicotello'] | Gonzaga (D.C.) | Yale   13. [player_tooltip player_id='63966' first='Ben' last='Boyer'] | Highland Park (Texas) | Virginia   14. [player_tooltip player_id='14557' first='Jermaine' last='Anderson'] | Calvert Hall (Md.) | North Carolina   15. [player_tooltip player_id='21833' first='Kellen' last='Gardner'] | Haverford (Pa.) | Notre Dame   16. [player_tooltip player_id='14575' first='Quinn' last='Kelly'] | Christian Brothers (N.J.) | Harvard   17. [player_tooltip player_id='14588' first='John' last='Rodehorst'] | La Salle (R.I.) | Cornell   18. [player_tooltip player_id='14533' first='Bryce' last='Lyden'] | New Canaan (Conn.) | Michigan   19. [player_tooltip player_id='28099' first='Greyson' last='Dunn'] | Spalding (Md.) | Delaware   20. Parker Sorensen | Culver (Ind.) | Johns Hopkins   21. [player_tooltip player_id='14593' first='Tucker' last='Spiess'] | Brunswick (Conn.) | Princeton   22. [player_tooltip player_id='14583' first='Bo' last='Popham'] | Delbarton (N.J.) | Notre Dame   23. [player_tooltip player_id='21722' first='George' last='Hawley'] | Fairfield Prep (Conn.), Choate (Conn.) PG | Dartmouth   24. [player_tooltip player_id='14573' first='Jack' last='Weissenburger'] | St. John's Prep (Mass.) | Harvard   25. [player_tooltip player_id='14559' first='Patrick' last='Kelley'] | Georgetown Prep (Md.) | Michigan   26. [player_tooltip player_id='127757' first='Paul' last='Bruder'] | Episcopal Academy (Pa.) | Penn State   27. [player_tooltip player_id='127760' first='Andrew' last='Gryzenia'] | Detroit Country Day (Mich.) | Notre Dame   28. [player_tooltip player_id='126349' first='Gavin' last='Fitzpatrick'] | Chaminade (N.Y.) | Johns Hopkins   29. [player_tooltip player_id='16890' first='Brock' last='Getson'] | Lawrenceville (N.J.) | Harvard   30. [player_tooltip player_id='127762' first='Caden' last='Frank'] | Westlake (Texas) | Princeton

The 2025 defensive class is full to the brim with size, athleticism, and sideline-to-sideline game-wrecking talent, not to mention particularly full of LSM prospects as opposed to close defenders.