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No. 11 Caleb Fyock, goalie, St. John’s (D.C.) / Annapolis Hawks – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 97
Fyock dipped a couple of spots from his preliminary No. 6 ranking, but he’s still a five-star and one of the best goalies in the class. Perhaps no goalie in the class is more battle-tested than Fyock, who’s played up for years with the vaunted Annapolis Hawks ’22 team and who started as a sophomore for the Cadets. He bounced back from an uneven start to the summer with stellar play in July, earning goalie MVP honors at Main Stage and helping to backstop the Hawks to a NAL championship.
Fyock looked leaner over the summer and he makes a ton of saves with his imposing 6-2, 270-pound frame. He’s comfortable outside the cage, too, where he’ll wander out to pick up ground balls. Fyock is accurate and poised in the clearing game. If you score high on him, keep the ball. It doesn’t happen very often.
Take it to the Banks.
NLF No. 24 (probably not for very long 😉) '23 Ty Banks (@WRA_Lacrosse) goes over the head to ice the @WestCoastStarz win at the NLF National Championships. pic.twitter.com/qf0Swohnny
— NLF (@natlaxfed) August 25, 2021
No. 12 Ty Banks, defense / LSM, Western Reserve (Ohio) / West Coast Starz – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 96
Banks vaults into the top 15 and into five-star territory after a great spring and even better summer. He stood out as one of the top guys at the NLF National Championships for a stout West Coast Starz team. Banks has a nasty, prickly disposition that lends itself well to his style of play. He loves to get physical whenever possible – and then some – but he also has an incredible stick and a slick ability to gobble up ground balls in traffic.
“He’s awesome,” one top 10 assistant coach said. “He might be the best defensive guy in the class. We see him as a defenseman, but he can also play LSM.”
No. 13 Ben Beacham, midfield, La Costa Canyon (Calif.) / West Coast Starz – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 96
Lacrosse isn’t nearly as easy as Beacham makes it look. After being the last five-star in the rankings, he carves out a spot for himself in the top 15 after an excellent summer performance. He might be the best passing midfielder in the class, a case he bolstered at the NLF National Championships, and is definitely the most two-handed ’23 midfielder. Beacham scores lefty or righty and glides on the field. He’s impervious to pressure, too, and can effortlessly weave his way out of traffic.
No. 14 Brady Wambach, faceoff midfield, Salisbury (Conn.) / SweetLax Florida – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 96
A solidly-built faceoff specialist – it’s kind of surprising to hear that he’s only 5-11, 185 pounds, because he’s got the power of a 6-2, 225-pounder – Wambach emerged as the top guy in a very, very deep faceoff class with his consistency throughout the summer. The Main Stage faceoff MVP, offensive MVP in SweetLax Florida’s run to an NAL championship and a standout at the NLF Elite 120, Wambach combines a very heavy clamp with an array of exits.
“He’s a freaking dude,” one Division I assistant coach said. “He’s mean, he’s athletic and he grinds.”
Also a hockey player and bringing the requisite toughness and meanness to the table, Wambach showed a clean handle and he can push the pace in transition.
No. 15 Connor Foley, goalie, Thayer (Mass.) / Laxachusetts Black – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 96
On a pure entertainment scale, Foley might be tops in the class regardless of position. He has a magnetic personality that endears him to his teammates and college coaches. Opponents? Not so much. Foley has the gift of gab and gets in shooters’ heads by constantly beaking them, and he’s also always encouraging his teammates and celebrating any positive play. He started as a sophomore at Thayer under PLL coach Ben Rubeor,
Oh, and he might be the best 1v1 in-tight goalie in the class. Foley steals what should be a gimme goal at least once or twice per game. He gets knocked for his small 5-8, 160-pound frame and sometimes being overly flashy, but he consistently stops the ball, makes good decisions in the clearing game and was outstanding at the NLF Elite 120 and NLF National Championships. He was also named the defensive MVP of the All-Star Game at the One Percent Showcase.
No. 16 Brayson “Goose” Wilson, goalie, Cannon (N.C.) / Team 91 Charlotte – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 96
In case you can’t tell yet, it’s a really, really good class in which to get a goalie. Wilson keeps the goalie theme going thanks to his incredibly quick hands and consistency throughout the summer. A Maverik Showtime All-Star, he has a penchant for making tough saves look effortless, and once he gobbles shots up, he’s quick to get the ball up and out to lead the clear.
Wilson also came in for a ton of praise for his communication skills as he easily marshals the defense into its correct placement. He’s a good enough athlete to be a starting cornerback in his first year of playing football and that athleticism is on display any time that he ventures out of the cage, both in the clear and in a 10-man ride.
No. 17 Nate Kabiri, attack, Georgetown Prep (Md.) / MadLax DC Dogs – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 96
Kabiri dipped a bit from his initial No. 9 ranking, though that’s more about other players vaulting up than him significantly dropping. His shiftiness and change-of-direction ability make him really tough for defensemen to guard. Kabiri pocketed 40 points in nine games for Episcopal en route to a Virginia state title this spring and helped the DC Dogs win the NLF title with a hat trick in the title game.
Kabiri is at or near the top of the Disrespectful Scale in terms of exactly how he racks up the points. One of the flashier players in the class, he’ll try just about anything, and it seems like every one of his goals is Instagram-worthy. He pairs that with excellent vision, and the One Percent Showcase All-Star is still a relative newcomer to attack, which means that he’s got the ability to come out of the box at the next level, too.
No. 18 AJ Marsh, defense / LSM, McDonogh (Md.) / Crabs – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 95
Defensively, Marsh is the best combination of talent, experience, size and potential in the class. At 6-3, 200 pounds, he’s already got an ACC frame, but he looks like he still has room to grow. He was excellent for the champion Maryland team at the Nike National All-Star Games, predominantly playing LSM and roaming the middle of the field in a destructive manner. Marsh is big and he plays big, to go along with a mean streak. Long and athletic, he moves well laterally much better than you’d expect for a defender of his size. He’s at or near the top of many big schools’ boards.
No. 19 Donny Scott, defense, Hill Academy (Ont.) / Thunder – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 95
Perhaps no defenseman improved his stock more this summer than Scott. He picked up defensive MVP honors at Main Stage, he’s got the ideal 6-foot, 180-pound frame and does an excellent job off the ground.
Most importantly, he’s aggressive and tenacious and plays angry. Scott is a rangy defender who’s able to cover a ton of ground, both defensively and in transition, and there’s a ton of upside there, too.
“I think he can cover, he’s got good skills and he’s a really tough kid,” one Division I assistant coach said.
No. 20 Jacob Pacheco, midfield, Boys’ Latin (Md.) / Crabs – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 95
Pacheco looks the part of an ACC midfielder on the hoof, checking in at 6-2 and close to 200 pounds. He’s also the rare big, high-end midfielder who’s a little more advanced defensively and in transition than offensively. Pacheco had a strong spring, starting on a Boys’ Latin team that took home the MIAA championship.
He had some bouts of inconsistency during the summer, but was one of the best players at the NLF Elite 120. He’s good as an on-ball defender and is more advanced with his on-ball defense than most middies at this age. Offensively, he’s at his best when he puts his foot in the ground and gets downhill with his size and speed.
