Forty-nine of the nation’s best lacrosse players return to US Lacrosse in Sparks, Md., this weekend, where the U.S. men’s national team will cap off a training weekend with a Blue-White exhibition game Sunday at 12 p.m. on Tierney Field.

This is the first evaluation for coach John Danowski and the staff since tryouts were held at US Lacrosse in July. Additional training sessions will follow in October and January before they ultimately trim the roster to the 23 players that will represent the United States in the FIL World Championship in Netanya, Israel from July 12-21, 2018.

Here’s what we’re watching.

1. What’s the end game?

An average NCAA men’s lacrosse roster consists of 45 players. MLL has 25-man rosters, but teams can dress just 19 players on game day. They mix and match based on player availability, matchups and salary cap.

Roster restrictions In FIL World Championship play — each team must lock in 23 players before the start of the 10-day event, during which it can play as many as eight games — make things even trickier.

In 2006, the U.S. loaded up on depth and versatility at skill positions and did not carry a true faceoff specialist, a move that backfired in the final.

In 2010, the U.S. went heavy with tough-nosed defenders who had box experience — guys like Joe Cinosky, Eric Martin, Matt Zash, Stephen Peyser, Chris Schiller and Shawn Nadelen — to body up the Canadians and counter Canada’s pick-heavy offense. That meant the Americans needed swing players on offense like Ned Crotty and Mike Leveille who could play both attack and midfield. They even ran Ryan Powell out of the box on occasion.

That strategy paid off. Both Crotty and Leveille played significant roles in Team USA’s gold medal victory over Canada.

Perhaps with those lessons in mind, the 2014 U.S. team included two faceoff specialists (Chris Eck and Greg Gurenlian) to go with the hot hand and featured unparalleled athleticism at every position. Midfielders Matt Abbott and Dan Burns could run for days, defenseman Mitch Belisle could swap long and short sticks, and the U.S. could initiate from behind or the wing with some combination of Rob Pannell-Marcus Holman-Crotty and from up top with Paul Rabil-Max Seibald-Kevin Buchanan-Dave Lawson.

And for the most part, that 2014 team was a juggernaut. It ran roughshod through pool play and the medal rounds before the offense went mute in an 8-5 loss to Canada in the final. Canadian goalie Dillon Ward got hot, the U.S. started forcing shots for one-and-done possessions and Canada expertly milked the clock on the other end.

As you can see, there’s a fair amount of strategy involved in constructing a roster that can build chemistry, beat Canada and endure over the course of 10 days. Pay close attention to player groupings Sunday, as well as which players play multiple positions, and you may see that plan begin to materialize.

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2. Where’s the versatility?

No matter the roster approach, versatility is paramount, especially on attack. At first glance, there appears to be a preponderance of ball-dominant players at the position. Of the 10 players jockeying vying for five, maybe six spots on the 23, only Ryan Brown is a pure catch-and-shoot threat.

But as Joe Keegan of Moneyball Lacrosse examined earlier this summer, MLL offenses are trending toward position-less sets. Dylan Molloy, best known as a bull dodger, proved adept at shooting off the catch. Matt Kavanagh evolved as a masterful distributor. Holman, mostly an off-ball threat, started victimizing short sticks.

And as mentioned earlier, Crotty’s versatility already has proven to be an asset on a gold medal-winning U.S. team.

3. Where’s Tom Schreiber?

Schreiber might be the best player in the world right now. The Ohio Machine midfielder just earned his second straight MLL MVP award, leading the league with 26 assists and earning the honor despite missing the first four games of the season — because he was busy wrapping up an NLL Rookie of the Year campaign with the Toronto Rock.

Schreiber’s patience is a virtue. Watch as he carries the ball off of a pick, waits for the defense to respond and decides whether to feed the interior, take it himself or move the rock to force rotation. You also won’t find a better skip feeder. During U.S. tryouts in July, it was not uncommon for players unaccustomed to playing with Schreiber to be taken by surprise by one of his blistering passes.

Whether you are the opposing defense or a spectator in the stands, Schreiber commands extra attention.

4. Who’s facing off?

Joe Nardella suffered an injury in the Boston Cannons’ season finale. That leaves just four healthy faceoff men — Trevor Baptiste, Brendan Fowler, Greg Gurenlian and Tom Kelly — to grind it out over the next three days.

This will be Gurenlian’s first time back on the field since his emotional MLL farewell in New York last month. Kelly could not compete at tryouts after separating his shoulder in the MLL All-Star Game, so this will be his first time suiting up for Team USA. Baptiste probably has the best shot of the three current collegians (Ben Reeves and Connor Kelly) on the training team to be in Israel next summer. Fowler might be the most physically fit for the long haul.

And while it will be entertaining to see these elite faceoff men square off against each other, keep in mind the ultimate goal is to beat Canada, which likely will feature Jake Withers at the X. Kelly went 23-for-32 against Withers on July 4.  Gurenlian went 13-for-21 against Withers on July 13. During the college season, Baptiste went 15-for-25 against Withers when Denver played at Ohio State on March 19.

Of course, you can never rule out a Geoff Snider comeback for Canada.

5. Where’s the chemistry?

“Who do you play for?”

This scene from “Miracle,” the movie about the 1980 U.S. hockey team that stunned the Soviet Union in the Olympics, gives you all the feels.

But with all due respect to the late Herb Brooks and the legendary Mike Eruzione —whose keynote speech at the 2008 US Lacrosse Convention was the best, in this editor’s opinion — it’s always interesting to note which teams and colleges are represented in a U.S. setting.

In particular, just eight of the 46 MLL players on the 49-man training team are from the Ohio Machine or Denver Outlaws, the two teams that have met in each of the last two league championship games.

BREAKDOWN OF MLL TEAMS REPRESENTED:

New York – 12
Chesapeake – 8
Charlotte – 6
Denver – 5
Rochester –5 
Florida – 5
Ohio – 3
Boston – 1
Atlanta – 1

BREAKDOWN OF COLLEGES REPRESENTED:

Maryland – 10
Duke – 8
Johns Hopkins – 4
Syracuse – 4
Marquette – 3
Brown – 2 
Cornell – 2
Hofstra – 2
Loyola – 2
Penn State – 2
Denver – 1 
Massachusetts – 1
North Carolina – 1
Notre Dame – 1 
Princeton – 1
Rutgers – 1
Salisbury – 1 
Villanova – 1 
Virginia – 1 
Yale – 1 

Players accustomed to each other’s tendencies tend to gravitate toward each other in tryouts and training weekends. There’s also the matter of familiarity with systems and terminology.

Still, no matter how you slice it, these are 49 world-class players ready to put on a world-class exhibition Sunday at US Lacrosse in Sparks, Md.

The game is open to the public and free of charge.