An old school, Energizer-bunny type of midfielder, Cotton pitched in a hat trick on Tuesday afternoon. He was battling a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the second half of Prep’s win over Gilman last Friday, but you wouldn’t know it. Cotton, who quickly committed to Colby on 7/1, often factors into the transition game, lines up on face-off wings when called upon, and wins matchups as an initiator out of the midfield. He does a terrific job of playing within himself and playing off of Prep’s stars, executing timely and precise cuts and finishing appropriately. On his first tally, he picked up a groundball, cleared, fed Han (who drew the double), and then accepted a pass back from him after being wide open in space for a stepdown. He cut to space for his second, then buried a 15-yard stepdown on another Han assist to make it 14-6 late in the third quarter. I was always a fan of Cotton’s game, but he has clearly taken another step forward and is playing with a ton of confidence as a senior.

I was incredibly impressed with what I saw in my first few live evaluations of Cotton, a highly athletic middie who stacked up big play after big play at NLF. A smooth operator with an excellent first step and burst of speed, Cotton made a habit out of gaining separation against his matchups and uncorking shots on the run. He’s heady with the ball in his stick and made the appropriate decision every time, doing a great job of both creating for himself and setting up teammates. In the Hawks’ final game of the weekend, Cotton nailed a high bouncer at the buzzer to force overtime against Team 91 LI before falling in OT.