2024 Championship Weekend!

Intro

SPEAKER_03 0:11

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Sentrum, and with me as always is the fan favorite, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Kevin, what's going on, my friend? Great weekend, huh?

SPEAKER_03 0:30

Oh, yeah, I'm still basking in the glory. Great weekend in Philly.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

It was a good weekend, man. Nice weather. Yeah. Great fans. There's a lot of great crowd. Great crowd. Great stadium.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

What a what a fun, fun place to go watch it, without a doubt. I mean, I I was telling you, going to East Hartford two years ago, actually three years ago now, and then going to these two. I don't know how they fit all the fans in East Hartford based on what we saw on Saturday, right? I mean, it was just crazy. And then Sunday. 32,000 and uh 15,000 for the DT game.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

That's a big crowd. That's a big number.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Yeah, it was a great number. And we have to shout out both the Lenore Ryan and the Delphi fans. They treated us right at their tailgates. Yes, they did. We enjoyed a few libations. We toasted scenes.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

A couple of high C's. The Lenore Ryan people, they do it right, don't they? That spread was uh was scary. That table was like a block long and had food. And then we had some uh some blueberry moonshine and some apple moonshine. Apple man, it was pretty cool. Yeah, the LR people were dynamite there, and I had my my wingate shirt on. I know I thought I was gonna catch some grease. It was funny.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

I I I thought I'd get a can uh attention with my in the crease shirt, you know, but you got more attention with the wing shirt, which is you know what they were great, man.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

You know, met uh Nate Ashley's dad. We were talking for a while, and yeah, and and Nolan's mom was like dynamite, you know, they're from Indiana and they came down and it's just you know what? LR travels well, man. They really do, they do and their fans were great, they and they were really receptive to us. They were, you know, we got to talk to them and same thing with the fans, too.

SPEAKER_03 2:21

They were they were receptive, they it was totally different vibe in a way, but it you know, because they're all Long Islanders. I mean, it's just a totally different vibe.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Well, it was you know, it was beer and ice for the Adelphi fans, and lots of it. Hey, the Adelphi fans were great too, man. They brought us right in, you know. We just got to see some some of the guys and talked to some of the parents, met Dylan Renner's grandma. Yeah, she grandma grandma renner. Well, that was pretty cool. Yeah, that was awesome.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

It was a great day. It really was. A lot of fun, it was a lot of fun. But now, Danny, it's time to eat a little crow. No, you, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

But don't just see you, you're me. You said I was like, LR.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

Volpe, coach Volpe, who we'll have on later, asked me to pick LR. So indirectly, Danny, I was the reason for the win.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Yeah, we both picked LR, and rightly so, you know, they were the defending national champs. Yeah. They had gone through gone through a gauntlet to get there, you know. And uh, I figured it was, you know, they were there in Philly last year, you know, kind of kind of been there, done that. Yeah, more business as usual. Uh, we got to see their practices, and uh Coach Paradigm was great. Came over and talked to us for a while. Some of the players came over and you know, we saw their practices. Their practices were pretty good, they were intense, they were getting after the practice, and uh they came up short, Kev. They came up short.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

They did. We'll we'll get into that a little bit late later. Two things I'd say. First, I want to give an official apology to Brian Hoarter because he's called me out two weeks in a row. First, when we we we announced our predictions, and then after uh a Delphi win, remember Brian Hoarter being that great player from a Delphi. Yes, like they beat him. I know you remember him. So just since he reached out and he asked for an official apology. I don't know what I'm apologizing for. They won. I mean, come on now. So don't apologize for nothing. Yeah, you know what? But I gotta apologize. It is not easy to pick these games when you've got two closely matched teams like this. No, it's not easy. We don't know what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

We're just going with what we think. Yeah, we're just flying by the seat of our pants. And I did good logic. I gotta apologize to Ryan Butler. I was calling him Rob all last week. I don't know what the hell got into me.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

But uh Ryan, he will, you know, like in the naval aviation, we have call signs. Well, that's his new call sign. If he ever goes into aviation or wants another nickname or an alias, he just goes right with Rob.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

He had a good game, he had a really good game.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

He did. He played really well. He did. He had a great game. Their defense stepped up. I'll tell you though, Danny, some of our fans got it right. On Saturday during the D1 semifinals, we ran into Chris D'Anjikas, the Merrimack assistant coach, and his brother George, who we've had on before, the Bentley assistant coach. Yep, yep. That was fun. And they predicted a Delphi by two. That was their hot take the day before the game.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Yes, they did. And we had a nice talk with those two guys. They recognized you, they saw you in the crowd in uh in the promenade there on the first level of uh Lincoln Financial Center, and it was packed. How those guys saw you, and they had some libations with them, they had a couple of high C's, and they offered it. Hey, it was great to talk to those guys, and uh didn't know they were doweling guys.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

No, another another piece to the puzzle there.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah, pretty interesting.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

And and then, besides them, the day of the game before the game started, an LR fan, and I apologize, I can't remember who it was, but one of the LR fans we were talking to predicted a 12-10 game. I just don't think it was the result he expected. I assume he was, as did I at the time, expected it would be flipped. LR 12 and a Delphi

The Championship Game Reivew

SPEAKER_03 6:23

10.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

So let's get into the game.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

Yeah, let's talk about it. I'll tell you, I'll start off with two things and I'll let you go. First of all, this to me was a heavyweight bout. I mean, the first quarter, they were just filling each other out, and then both teams got to work. The other thing I'll say is I think it really showed how great D2 lacrosse is. And I'll give you an example, Danny. In the second half, there were like three young adults, I would call them kids, but they're in their 20s, they were working for NCAA, they sat on my right-hand side in the press box. They did not know D2 lacrosse at all. And the only reason I know that is because one of them said, I've never heard of a Delphi before. Well, if you say that, you don't know Division II lacrosse, right? So I was trying to listen to their their reactions to the game. And there's a save by Pennsylvania, and then there was a shot by Kyle Steinbeck two different times in the game, and all you hear was like, whoa. Oh my god. I mean there are times, Danny, when I sit here and I say, Am I being a D2 homer? Am I looking at D2 lacrosse objectively? And when I hear something like that from people who do not know D2 lacrosse, but saw the quality of play that was happening on the field, that reminds me of why we do what we do on this podcast. And and that's exactly what we saw. We saw a great game.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

A tail, a tail of two halves, I think. I agree. I agree with you there. You know, a smart man might think it was a tail of two halves. You know, um, LR kind of it was like you said, first quarter was kind of like a feel them out thing. And then the second quarter, LR was able to get some goals up and get move the ball a little bit, a couple little transaction, uh transition goals, and you know, just just moving the ball well, and we're able to get inside. And and but let me tell you something, Dylan Renner still still made a crazy he he was insane, insanely good.

SPEAKER_03 8:41

Like, I mean, just 15 saves. Danny, I wrote a note, uh, and that's one of my impressions too. Brian Herensky was MVP of the game. It easily could have been Dylan Renner. He kept them in the game that first half. He had eight saves in the first quarter. Yeah, I mean, like LR was able to get shots off in that first quarter. And they were up by two goals, three goals, and then and and actually that's how Adelphi kept it within two goals at the half, six-four, because of Dylan Renner.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Yeah, oh, completely, because it was 2-2 after one, and it was 6-4 at half. Now, you would think that wow, you know, a Delphi's pretty much right in there, you know, down two. But when you think about the first half stats, like the numbers, it's insanely on a Delphi, I on the Lenore Ryan side. They had 16 shots on goal, they won eight out of the 12 face-offs in the in the half. They they were they caused eight, they had four turnovers and a Delphi had eight. They caused five of them. I mean, a Delphi was kind of trying to figure it out.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

Yeah, so this is what I would say. You're exactly right. I wrote this note about three times I was watching the game. A Delphi just refused to go away. There were five-two. Lenore Rhine's up. You're like, uh-oh, is this the start of it? No. A Delphi comes back, makes it six-four. Eight-four earlier in the third, and you start thinking the same thing. You start thinking, is this Lenore Ryan's? You know, prowess coming out. Are they actually stepping it up one level? Yep.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

No, what did Adelphi do?

SPEAKER_03 10:27

9-8 after three. A Delphi just refused to go away.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

No, what they do in the second, in the third, the end of the second quarter and into the third quarter, they went into a zone defense.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

Yeah, and they compressed. They did that a little bit. I watched again. You and I both watched again today. They did that a uh sometimes in the first two. When they compressed and didn't allow Lenore Ryan to get in the middle, and they let him just try to shoot from the outside, and they did it right. You they did it more in the second half.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Oh, they you know, they started going into it in like in the second quarter a little bit towards the end. In the third quarter, they were in the zone. There was one time LR called a timeout, and uh Delphi came out in the man after the uh after the timeout, and was really confusing to Lenore Ryan. You could tell they were confused, like you could just see. Yeah, now with with a Delphi sinking in and using that zone, mate, they were saying, Hey, we got Dylan Renner back there. You want to shoot 15 yards? Go ahead. Go ahead. And they will take that.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

They will take that. If they if the ball goes in, the ball goes in.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

And LR was trying, but that Renner was making saves.

unknown 11:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

And then it was a couple of defensive mistakes that made I'll tell you right now, Victor Powell did not have his best game. He did not play that great.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

If you well, there was one, and I think it was in the first half. Logan Tucker scored because you know they both went after Donald. Right. They went, he went around X and they didn't switch on Tucker, and he was wide open coming around X.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Well, Donlin set the pick, and then they both went with Donlin, both defenders, Victor and the other guy.

SPEAKER_03 12:03

He easily could have gone back to Tucker. That's what I'm saying. And Tucker went around the axon.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

I'm saying that, but he was he was wide open. I mean, he just went around the axe and back. And then there was another play where Horinsky's Horinsky scored on one. It was a beautiful goal, but his man fell down. You know, the man fell down. He had a wide open shot because his defender fell down. So, like these were a couple of things that went on. And in the third, fourth, third quarter, LR had a couple of transition goals that Renner stuffed. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 12:33

Well, and he also had uh kind of back-to-back doorstep saves in the first at the end of the first, where I mean, and nothing against Rob Pence and Benny, he had some great saves. He had some doorstep saves too, but Dylan Renner had 15 like that, it seemed like. And here's the thing I would say uh I thought after the end of three, first of all, you saw the momentum start to change to a Delphi because they had been down 9-6, and then it's 9-8, right? So you're saying, here comes a momentum. At that point, I said to myself, are we going to see LR now take that to the next, turn it up one notch, like they have done almost every game in the playoffs? And I think it was a Delphi who kind of stepped up more. They did it in the middle of the field, they did it on defense, like we just talked about, and then their middies either from and it really started the end of the third, right? So the middies started scoring. They started getting open looks, whether it was good passing, it was a pick game. Not it was sweeping across the middle.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Yeah, they were running the two men up top and sweeping across the middle and going low to low, and Pennsylvania was having trouble stopping those low to lows. And they were getting their shots off, they were beating their man. You know what? At the end, at the end of the like I remember talking to you in the third quarter and saying, I don't like what LR is doing on defense. They better, they better straighten it out, right? Remember, I said that? Yes, you did. They were looking lethargic to me. They weren't looking like the snappy defense that they were. Then I started thinking, Kev, man, that that was four games leading up to the national championship. Did it take all the wind out of LR's sales? Because it took a lot for for those for those to get those wins against the Wingates, the Limestones, and Tampas. I don't know. It took a lot.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

I'll tell you the other thing I noticed though, just to add to that on the defensive side, I said it to you, like, and I don't know the reasoning behind it, but I just said that I thought a Delphi owned the middle of the field. That's something I was used to LR doing in a lot of their games. They always have a good ride, they always do. And I didn't see the ride at all in the second half.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

LR didn't ride as much at all. They just kind of let Adelphi do their thing. A Delphi was riding. I thought the middle of the field was kind of even. They both caused each other turnovers. There wasn't really any super sway one way or the other. You know what? There was times when Mancini was getting getting the clamp, getting it, and then losing the ball. And then it was times where he was winning and going, and then it was 50-50s that LR was getting. So I felt that the middle of the field was kind of like an even game. I saw it a little bit differently. I saw that. I felt that Delphi was riding harder than riding harder than Lenore Ryan. And you know what? Lenore Ryan just didn't look fast to me like they usually do. They just didn't look like the team I'm used to seeing. They just there was, they were a step, a half step slower, I felt on Saturday on Sunday. They just didn't have whatever it took. I don't know, man. It just wasn't the same team. I'm not taking anything away from a Delphi because the Delphine's an awesome team with studs and all-Americans on both sides of the field. We talked about their defense, we talked about their players on offense, but you know what? It was a pretty kind of closely evenly matched game.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

It was a very good 12-10. I mean, the only thing closer is a one-goal game or overtime. And so you're right, this was close. LR had their chances down the stretch, and there were some turnovers, and there were some cost turnovers. We talked about that. I mean, uh, Ryan Butler had one near the end of the game, and then there was a turnover in the middle of the field that got it back on the Delph where they could run more out the clock.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

I'll tell you that. LR LR, check this one play out. They came down in transition and they won more, and then they tried to go one more instead of taking the shot because it was open, they went one more. Ryan, Ryan Butler intercepted the shot. Yeah, yeah. That was a goal. That's a goal. You know, that's a goal. Why did they not shoot the ball? Why didn't they shoot the ball? Why'd they go for that one more? I don't know, but it was a great three plays. That was a great cost turnover. There were two or three plays where LR pulled up instead of taking the shot when they had it on transition. Watch the tape again. Use these. I didn't come up with that many transitions. I saw, yes, I saw people at least three three times that they pulled up, especially in the second half. They were like, hey man, we need a goal. We got this transition. One more, one more. Then they went one more, and that one more was too much. Guy's out of position, drops the ball, had a couple of drops inside. Lenore Ryan was trying to get the ball inside against that zone.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

There was one that happened, they and they get they had a low pass, and then it didn't, it was picked up by the bigger. But that was another one, though. But that was another one. We talk about a compressed middle defense. He's trying to force it, almost force it inside. The guy was open for a minute, but then you've got three guys, Adelphi defenders, right around the ball. I give a lot of credit to a Delphi on what they did in the fourth. If you look at some of the stats, face off. LR went three for six in the fourth. Adelphi went three for six. And it was seven for eight and one for eight in the third. And Adelphi won the last two face-offs. Those were big face-offs. Critical. We talked about it during the game, Danny. We're like, LR wants to get back, they've got to win this face-off.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

I remember it was like five minutes left. I told you, I said, you know what? They just tied it up if they don't win this face-off. Because my man Kyle Steinbeck was feeling it. He was feeling it at that point. The midis, they they they had that rhythm down, right? Yeah, that first that first line midi, man, between you know Horinsky and Kyle. It really played well in that second half. They really did.

SPEAKER_03 18:54

Now look at turnovers. In the fourth quarter, Lenore Ryan had six, Adelphi had four. Lenore Ryan had only seven through three quarters, and they had six. Now, some of them weren't all the defense. There were some bad passes by Lenore Ryan. I'll give you that. But it's still that's a that's a telling stat on how the game ended. And then finally, Danny clears. LR went two for four in the fourth quarter, and they had been perfect the other three quarters.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Yeah, just some couple of uncharacteristic things of LR. You know, I just felt that they played slower than they usually do. They made some mistakes. There was one play where they were clearing the ball, and Victor Powell was like held the ball. He was like telling everybody, he was like telling everybody where to go, get down the field. He was pointing. Next thing you know, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, and they failed to clear.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

I watched it again because you said that, and I'll tell you, it was two players. It was him and Rob Pence Benny. They both held it for about six seconds each. Now you'd only on down to eight other seconds to get it wrong.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Like, you know, I'm like, what's going on? Like, that's a mistake that they don't make, usually. You know what I mean? That's just it was just like so uncharacteristic of an LR team. Kev, I watched a lot of LR games, and I watched a lot of a Delphi games. A Delphi was amazing on defense. They they pulled in and out of zone. You're going to man, back to zone. It worked. It was frustrating LR's offense. It was forcing them into taking outside shots. And Delphi was like, you want to take outside shots. We got Dylan Renner back there. Go ahead. Go ahead. Because we trust our man and goal there. And that's exactly what they did.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, and you said at the beginning, tale of two halves. And you, if I look at my notes, and I won't go through all of them, but if I look at them, it is all about how LR on defense in that first half was getting sticks on hands, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Their offense was running smoother. And then if you look at my notes in the second half, we start talking about a Delphi just chipping away and what they were able to do. The only thing that was the real difference that I mentioned, and we've already talked about it in the first half, is Dylan Renner and 10 saves in the first half, eight in the first quarter.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

So I mean, it was it was remarkable. It was nothing less than stellar. He really was.

SPEAKER_03 21:20

Yeah. I mean, it was a phenomenal game. 12-10. Like you said, it was close. It was a close match.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

It really was. And then shots to 36. Yeah. You know. 25 shots on goal for LR, 20 shots on goal for Adelphi. Uh Renner made 15 saves. Spencer Benny made eight saves. Um, 14 turnovers for uh Adelphi to 13 turnovers to uh, you know, LR. I mean, it was close. 22 for 24 on the clear, 16 for 18. So both of them, you know, didn't clear twice.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

Face out was what we expected. Adelphi. gets about 30%. You know, I mean I just uh it was when Steinbach kicked that one goal tied it up and I was like all right this this face off right here is huge because because of possession time yeah now you now a Delphi can slow it up a little bit you know what I mean and and kind of work their thing and see what happens I didn't expect a Delphi to win that face off I expected many to win because he's been winning all day but you know what here comes uh O'Shea and he wins the big face off man that was huge for for a Delphi that's what I'm saying about just stepping up of I mean just little things I mean that's how get close the game was too a mistake here an advantage there whether it's the face off or it's it's on defense by a play and it may or if you look at uh Kyle Lewis almost falling falling to the ground on some play getting the pass off the hockey assist yeah yeah yeah it was amazing I mean it it was and that was that was great passing all the way to the goal I mean I think it was it was him to Horinski and then Steinbach I think just amazing I mean it's those little things it's a little hustle plays that made the difference and maybe not as much hustle but the you on the Lenore Ryan side but you look at it I mean you look at let's look at some of the individual stats but Lenore Ryan Jared Huff two goals two assists Rob Walker two goals Evan Voss with two assists Will Canada with one goal one assist and then Ryan Duncan Tommy Aguilar Sloan Stewart and Donnie Powell all had one goal so they what we talked about before except for maybe Jared Huff well and Robert Walker there wasn't someone really in the second half that was stepped that stepped up right now you look at the Delphi side Brian Herensky four goals Kyle Steinbach three goals Kyle Lewis one goal one assist Braden Donnellan one goal two assists Logan Tucker two goals one assist Gavin Hersog short stick D Mitty one goal four ground balls two cost turnovers and then Ryan Butler you talked about him two ground balls two cost turnovers and two of them were critical for saving goals in that in that second half he he just he's a good defender he played well he played and then and then Dylan Renner we've already talked about him you it it's yeah yeah I don't know what else to say but it was it was a phenomenal game and it is exactly what I wanted to see because that is the kind of play that D2 brings to the to the lacrosse oh yeah and now the all of north people will be like she told you the north is better than the south yeah I've already seen several of those comments on RV.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

I don't know about that still that hey hey they can chirp all they want for the next year right I mean they deserve it you're right they deserve it any 10 they can see it a Delphi can say it all they want they came out they won the game so you know a Delphi's well coached we spoke about that last week too that you know they have great coaches they have kids with high IQ some of them boys are big boys man you know Logan is uh a load you know what I'm saying it's fine they matched up Eamon Hall's a big boy like these guys are big kids yeah you know Delasandro on defense the sophomore he played great man I thought he played really well you know he's he's got Kevin Groom also played really well I mean they their defense was stout I thought in that game and I think that their scheme worked really well for them and and it was just it was a phenomenal game to watch they had no answer for that zone man i LR had no answer for that zone they couldn't penetrate the zone and it worked it was like a it worked to a charm for a Delphi yeah because and no and like really that's the great part was when the LRs called that time out and a Delphi came back out in man and just like they probably drew something up for a zone and here's a Delphi coming out in men and just like completely screwed him up you can see they did and there was one EMO where a Delph uh Lenore Ryan just threw the ball away I mean you have a chance to go up one you know and and and you just threw the ball away they made like some really uncharacteristic mistakes you know that one failure to clear that one where they just doubled the wrong man it's i i'll I'll tell you it's it it was like you say like they say golf is a game of inches right well this game was just came down to a couple plays it really did it really did and it was two really good teams and and it was a great day for Division II lacrosse it really was 100% the following segment of Increase is sponsored by laxjobs.us fine lacrosse jobs find lacrosse people laxjobs.us is the number one source to browse and post lacrosse job opportunities on the web if you're looking to work in lacrosse at laxjobs.us you can browse across job opportunities upload a resume create a seeker profile and be saved by hundreds of potential employers you can sign up for email job alerts as well are you looking to hire lacrosse people at laxjobs.us you can post a job to be released to a network of qualified job seekers and the best part is that laxjobs.us is completely free to use our goal is simple fill lacrosse roles with lacrosse people visit us today at laxjobs.us and follow us at laxjobs underscore and join our community of professionals laxjobs.us find lacrosse jobs find lacrosse people laxjobs dot us

The Champs

SPEAKER_01 28:02

all right danny enough about us talking about what we saw at the game let's talk to the experts who played coached and won the natty the Adelphi Panthers 24 chance Adelphi Panthers welcome boys welcome coach purdy coach volpe and we've also got Brian Horinsky Jack Kipchin goalie Dylan Renner and defender Kevin Groom so welcome to all of you thanks for having us thanks for having us all right Coach Volpe I have to start with you I texted you once you won the game and I said your wish is my command because you want it was funny Coach Purdy when we went to your practice coach you remember this he's like you better hide Volpe's over there he's ready to get you say that yeah I said no coach Volpe wanted me to pick LR that's the that way you guys are guaranteed to win 100% yes so and then last week when you're in our podcast you said you know we have so we still have some work to do and all the t-shirts from all the stands the the fans of yours stated unfinished business.

SPEAKER_08 29:14

So from you know Coach Purdy Coach Phoby I'd like to hear from you guys was that kind of the mantra that you kept preaching to keep you guys grounded yeah we were basically telling the kids the job's not finished uh we want you know obviously you get there and thing and uh on the back of that job's not finished and uh that's kind of was our motto throughout the entire playoff that's awesome that's awesome I have to switch to you coach Burdy I read an article I gotta know did you cut your hair as promised my wife just tore it because I I didn't cut it but I'll tell you who did Kat caught me in the locker room after the game I was true to my word they cut the pony towel off and then they went at me with some I don't know what you call those things but I would call them grinders because he just started grinding at my hair with some sort of clippers that was just hurting me and we found out I was blunt and so I'm semi-bold in certain spots. And then at that point you know every cat's like your Volpe text me in the middle of the night you gotta get to a hairdresser because we're gonna have some things coming up so we get to the hairdresser the guy's like I haven't seen you in four years. And I said yeah yeah well I didn't want to be here it was you know I promised the team and there we go. I'm looking completely bold right now.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

Did you promise the team if you guys won the Natty that you'd cut your hair was that the promise I did.

SPEAKER_08 30:48

I did and and there's a group chat from the 80s that have been hopping since 1989 to get that thing cut.

SPEAKER_05 30:56

So you know when they saw that video they were falling off their chairs oh that is great that's class and see that's a that's a great head coach you follow up with your promises that's what you're teaching your players right my wife wouldn't think that but yes hey so Dylan has it sunk in yet that you guys won the nanny honestly no I at least I don't think so I it's like such a crazy experience and just everything that's been going on. I mean like I I I know we won it I'm so grateful we won it so happy but I don't think it's truly like sunk in yet I mean I was able to talk to a couple of the alumni after the game and that kind of helped me realize everything that was going on but I I I don't know when it's gonna sink in but it's still crazy man.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Brian what'd you think of the of the uh the venue like just playing at the link pretty cool huh?

SPEAKER_03 31:54

Yeah that that place was awesome I mean they've been our coaches have been preaching the whole week how uh loud it was gonna be and blew our expectations like you could not hear a thing while on the field that's crazy that's crazy and Brian the Middies had a day not only scoring but wing play defense Jack I'll get to you in a second about some of that defense but you scoring and getting MVP of the game do what do you think? Do you think you because it didn't seem like the midfield was was getting doing what you wanted from a from an offensive standpoint until the end of the third quarter.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Do you think you just wore them down or what did you guys start seeing when you started be able to go across the middle like that the the whole week we we watched film on them and Coach Kat was saying if you get to the middle of the field you guys have wide open shots with the goalie and so first half they stopped us getting there a little bit and then and halftime we went in made some adjustments started picking on the short sticks doing the two man games with it and everything just opened up and when you're shooting at the whole net it makes it so much easier.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Was was it on the scouting report to go low to low because Pence Benny was having trouble finding those low to low shots.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

You guys are sweeping across the middle man you guys were getting hands for you were beating your man you're beating your one-on-one matchups getting the hands free you're letting it go but Pence Benny's pretty solid back there you know I mean we go against Dylan the best goal in the country pretty much every day and he lets us hear it where where we're shooting and he makes saves and stares us down to practice to and Dylan by the way I'm a competitive one that's for sure it's uh definitely the emotions again to me so in the beginning of that game you guys were in a man defense was in a man they were able to get some you know some quick goals kind of like it was a two-two ball game after one you got you know two two heavyweights feeling each other out that type of thing then in that second quarter they were able to put some goals up all of a sudden you switched into a zone did you guys adjust that was that something that you were discussing before then or was that something on the fly that you said hey let's drop into this zone because it worked you want to talk about it yeah it was just something that we were talking about um we just wanted to keep him on our toes you know giving him a zone look giving him a man look um I feel like it made it tough tough for them uh we really just gave them two so two different looks and I feel like it boded well for us.

SPEAKER_09 34:33

From the end line we were talking about it at the beginning of the week the ball goes out of bounds they get it on the end line we're gonna go Ernie which is our uh zone defense and I feel like our zone defense worked really well especially in that third fourth quarter when um you really need to use it.

SPEAKER_07 34:50

Yeah it worked well yeah and and what there was one point where I think LR called a timeout and out of the timeout you guys went back to man it totally screwed them up it was like oh wow this is like a cat and mouse like this chess part of the game you know which is like really cool to me I I like that part of the game and Jack back there you know playing that what was it like for you man like what were you what was going through your mind through this game I mean all week uh like a couple weeks ago Vopy got the signs for us because last time they were there they said one of their biggest problems was they couldn't hear anything and like communicating but to the defense to the offense was really tough. So I don't know if you saw but Vope had uh big wood clappers that were way louder than anybody clapping on their own that got the attention that they held the signs up that switch us into in and out of man zone and like the the 10 seconds five seconds it takes them to recognize the zone and then also call the play for their zone is something especially like off off quick restarts that has really helped us out this year throwing teams off a little bit interesting no it was great it was fun to watch so let me ask you this O'Brien it seemed like LR had the upper hand in the first half but a Delphi you guys refused to go away you know they'd get up by three goals and you close it to two then in the third you close it obviously you tied it up but you you always were just there.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

You always were just one step behind them. What was your mindset in that first half of what you guys wanted to do like is that what you just say did you stay calm?

SPEAKER_00 36:25

What was your mindset when they get up by those three goals and you guys refused to go away well I mean the game of runs and they threw their first punch early at us in that first half and we got the big man in net who I think I speak for everyone on our team that we have all the faith in the world with him. We see our defense get one stop and on offense we all looked at each other and we're like all right they're holding us in this game it's time for us to start putting it in the back of the net and giving them a breather so I mean that to me the whole game we were running down the shot clock like long possessions which we typically don't do and they stopped us a few times had a few shot clock violations but us having the ball as long as we did on our possessions gave them the time they needed to breathe and then just felt good. Everyone was feeling good.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

That's awesome it's interesting you know the the the the team I I'm I've seen LR play a lot you know my son plays at Wingate they play LR a lot right they're a good team and they play fast and I felt like you guys took their speed away and I think it was that zone defense that really got to them because you know you got Dylan back there. You're like guys you want to shoot from 10, 12, 15, go ahead. You know, because we got Dylan back there.

SPEAKER_05 37:43

Was that part of your kind of scheme like in that in a way um I mean like when you uh just talk about the beginning of the week we talked about how LR off the jump and like off the beginning of their offensive sets are quick. Volpe Harp did a lot with us all week that if we could just stop them in the first 20 25 seconds of their offensive session I think we as a defense six on six very rarely get beaten and then I'm truly believe that we're one of the best defenses in the country. So I think once we were able to stop them for those first 20 seconds we were kind of able to control what they did which I think really helped us out.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Oh you guys definitely one of the best defenses you don't think man you guys are one of the best defenses in the country you make teams uncomfortable you know you make teams do things that they don't normally do like CNA's you know they they're able to get inside they weren't able to do that against you the last two times you know and you guys just do an amazing job defensively but man the MIDI that first midi line really came to life in that second half man and Kyle Lewis and you and my my man Steinbach what about that rollback he did man that was sick.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Yeah that was sick that that had to be it but hit between that shot and Danellen's first goal that was the two best of Larce ML. Well Denell's I didn't even think went in at first that thing just snuck under the crossbar it was it was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

But man Steinbeck did that rollback I don't think he even had his head turned yet and the ball was coming out of his stick and I mean had a clip it was fire coming off that ball man it got to the back of the neck fast I was like oh man look at that shot what's that volpe what's that the bass man had a day he did he did it was real he he was casting them out and reeling them in it was it was great it was great to see you guys play there you know it was great to see a Delphi you know I'm a Long Island guy I've been to a couple of Delphi games this year you know when we first started this podcast I was always like why is a Delphi fourth in the country they only played two games well you know why are they fifth in the country they've only played four games where other teams have played eight and nine games or then I started really kind of like analyzing your team and watching you guys a lot and I was like now I know why they're fourth with only two games these guys are good man they're well coached high IQ just just a really fun team to watch you guys don't make many mistakes and it's just really really great. I mean and Division II you know there was division one players all over that field the other day.

SPEAKER_03 40:21

Yeah and let me ask you this Jack I gotta ask you this because Danny and I were talking about it when we were up watching the game in the press box the announcers we uh for the NCAA broadcast said the same thing to the end of the third as fans we could see the momentum shift towards a Delphi did you feel the same thing or are you just in the moment doing each time just trying to knock that you were still you're still behind. It was like 9-8 when you felt the momentum shift right at the end of the third you felt it because you were nine nine seven nine eight and you guys wanted the roll do you feel that momentum shift or was it just you're in the moment?

SPEAKER_07 41:01

No I mean we definitely feel it switched once I mean our three starting mids Brian Kyle and Kyle they all they were all Americans this year and they just they didn't shoot the ball enough the first half we went up to them and like we're this game's gonna be won your guys back right now like we need you guys to start shooting and they started shooting and everything was going in and it was just we knew we had the faith every time that they shot the ball it was going to go in so that was pretty that kind of pressure on them you put that like said hey man it's on you you put that kind of pressure on them.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

100% back on you for defense right or on wing play and say well you're for all American too there Hipchin do your job yeah I I I pride myself on running uh running the middle of the field pretty well so you did great my goal you had a great game that that you all did that was what was so great. So Coach Purdy I have to ask you this question.

SPEAKER_08 41:50

Danny mentioned some of the key moments that he saw were there any key moments of the game that you would consider kind of like turn the tide or ones that you remember like wow that really helped us well I I spoke to Vop a little bit about this and and Kat as well uh I you know the game plan and you guys picked it out is this throwing the zone at them it really made them unsure. When you're playing in a game and you have great players six nine players but six players that know what they're doing they've been doing it all year they're going at it they're getting in the rhythm and and they feel the momentum but then if you hit a zone you now have to rely on your passing game and your feeding and I think Volpe set up a defense that didn't allow them to get comfortable and and you know you look at the last quarter they took three shots period and that didn't happen because momentum that happened because that was so unsure of self because you've got a brick wall in Dylan Renner and you don't even know what what Volpe's going to throw at you. I mean I've got to give credit to Volpe for throwing a zone he had the clappers like we told you we were switching in and out of play it was really hard to hear I I completely you know I'll throw it out there to say what incredible job our defense did 10 goals. And then I didn't mention this this whole week Coach Catt has been working on getting to the middle. And when you heard that earlier we didn't do a great job of that in the first half and I think as we got confident that yeah we can and we made a couple of switches in terms of you know personnel it opened up the opportunity for guys to go out there and do what they do well. And all of a sudden you know you you had two piles that were drawing poles allowing most of our goals to be shot on short stakes and and that that goalie couldn't see those you know the changes of the plane you know uh Brian and I spoke this goalie could be ready For that high, you know, the high shot that you're automating, and he switched things up like crazy and put in four. And I don't think the goal you were to get the ball. You know, he certainly wasn't with a short stick on Bryan. The whole team made that happen, and I'm going to give Pat the credit, that he, you know, he adjusted throughout that game with personnel and um stay with his game plan. And you know, I got the two best coaches in the country. I got both of one and received, you know, Coach of the Year. They're awesome. I gotta, you know, my players are great, and I know how great Volpey and Coach Cat and Danny Gill, let's not leave him out.

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Yeah, can't leave Coach Gill out.

SPEAKER_03 44:46

Can't leave him out. I'll tell you, it was a definitely a total team effort. And it's funny, Coach Volpe. I actually, when I was watching Friday's practice and you guys, Friday night's practice, and you guys were blaring the music or and the crowd noise to try to simulate, and you're clapping those wood blocks. I'm like, what the heck is he doing with those wood blocks? And now I know. You they clap the wood blocks so the defense knows to look up and see what the card is for the play. Genius. Yeah, it was genius.

SPEAKER_04 45:13

It was it was something that just evolved for us. Uh I was clapping, and one of our players was like, You should uh hit sticks. And I'm like, we're never gonna hear it. So I was like, let's get wood blocks. Then another player is like, you should get handles on that. And I was like, that's a great idea. Then me and me and our GA Billy Smithwick go to Home Depot in um in uh Philly. We go get it, and we we we go in the parking lot, we clapped it. We're like, oh, this is gonna work. Uh and shout out to Danny Gill, who I work with. Uh, he is the best. Uh, and what he does for us in riding the ball is insane. Uh the amount of time he puts in and puts on the whiteboard and film sessions with those guys is wild. And uh we have the best scout guys in in around. Our scout guys are gave us so many good looks just throughout this entire playoffs. If it wasn't for them, I don't know if we'd be here.

SPEAKER_03 46:09

So so that's funny. I have to point this out. Danny and I went through the game earlier and we had a little bit of a disagreement on who owned the middle of the field. And I felt you guys own the middle of the field. And well, Danny agrees as far as riding, you guys wrote a lot harder than LR in that second half, and I think that made a big difference. The other thing I would say, and anyone can chime in on this, but and Danny and I talked about this, you guys are horrendous at face-offs all year. We know why you've got injured players. You won the last two face-offs.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Even by a critical, huge face-off win. It was like five minutes left, and I said to I said to you guys tied it up, and I was like, wow, this next, this next face-off's huge. And Nick O'Shea went in there. O'Shea's like the little Swiss Army knife, man. He can do a little bit of everything, huh?

SPEAKER_04 47:05

Yeah, he can.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

Coach, how big do you think players are like those are the players you love because you can just put them anywhere. Just, you know, just stick them in and they and they do good things, man. I I was impressed with his play.

SPEAKER_03 47:20

How big were those face-offs, Coach, do you think? At the end of the game, Coach Purdy.

SPEAKER_08 47:26

Uh I'll jump in. Yeah. Uh critical. You know, we um, you know, we've when with with those key ground balls and being able to run that clock and gain possessions and and you know, make this game shorter, that was ideal for us. You know, we won eight out of what, 17 face-offs. So we spoke of you know, running the clock and valuing the ball. And you know, we didn't want a lot of possessions. You know, when you're sitting at a um, you know, giving them the ball two times, and you get the ball twice out of every five. You don't you don't want to run up and down with a team like that because you'll you know don't have too many possessions. So we, you know, we, you know, Coach Cat critically made sure that we had a count, we knew what that count was, we valued the ball until that opportunity to go to the goal, and that shortened the game for us. And, you know, it also made that defense that little bit tired, which helped us in the long run. And those two key ground balls, we were able to just run clock. And you know, we had a man, we had a man out, and you know, respected alums say, what a brilliant idea to just hold the ball, drop back into ride, and take another minute off the clock. Because it wasn't about scoring a 13th goal, it was about shortening the clock because we weren't winning all the great you know, face offs that were historically, and and taking a minute off the clock so that that gave them less time to score.

SPEAKER_03 48:59

Yeah, I mean if you if you scored, they were talking that the broadcasters were talking about it, that they didn't like it. I liked it because of exactly what you said. If you scored and you only took 40 seconds off the clock, that gives them 20 more seconds to score a goal.

SPEAKER_08 49:11

Well, not only that, if if let's just say we take a shot, you know, we got two guys on the field that you know that now have to go back and play defense. And not only that, you've got um a chance to give up another, we gave up two fast break goals, another chance for them to score and score a fast break goal. We guaranteed that wasn't happening. We guaranteed a min off the clock, we guaranteed our defense getting back on the field, and uh, if I'm not wrong, it was a quick turnover shortly after that because we had everybody in place.

SPEAKER_01 49:43

Yep, yep. Coaching right there, fellas. That's coaching.

SPEAKER_03 49:47

All right, all right, Kevin. I have to ask you this question. What about your fan support? What was it like to celebrate with your fans after the game and especially the alumni who've been waiting since 2001 for a championship?

SPEAKER_09 50:02

It was awesome. Um, getting to my family, it was awesome. Uh I started my first two years at Albany, came here, came here for one reason to win a national championship, compete for a national championship. So it was great to see that come full circle. And then you mentioned the alumni. They're awesome. They're out here every year. Two years I've been here, they've been super strong, and just to bring one back for them, it's been too long since 2001. So it was due and uh so happy we can we can do it from them.

SPEAKER_03 50:36

Yeah, and I bet you Coach Purdy won't mind if his hair does not grow too long if you guys win again next year.

SPEAKER_01 50:44

Well, fellas, that's I I just gotta say you guys had a great season. What were you like 17-2 overall? Uh Dylan, congratulations, player of the year, my friend. You just were in incredible all year. All year. I mean, I don't think you had one bad game. I really don't. You just were phenomenal all year. You deserve all the accolades. Coach Volpe, you did a great job with them as always. Coach Birdie, one more championship on the Adelphi uh on the in the trophy case for you guys. Uh, Brian, you had a great career with them. Jack, you two. Kevin, you guys are just a great fun team to watch. Uh uh, congratulations and uh all the best to you in the future, guys.

SPEAKER_02 51:31

Thank you guys for the first time.

SPEAKER_08 51:36

Right? You guys got that down for next year, right? Four or five is fine with us.

SPEAKER_03 51:40

Yeah, yeah. Well, just let me predict the other team, and you guys will make it all the way to the natty.

SPEAKER_04 51:50

Shout out to Greg Paradine and his staff. They're uh unbelievable group of guys. Uh we kind of have a special relationship with them, just knowing Greg from you know, Coach Cat and Coach Purdy knowing him well from being a Long Island guy. And his players were uh Yeah, his players were unbelievable. And the amount of respect at the end of that game after the clash was just unbelievable. And my hat goes out to them. It was uh it was an unbelievable game. Very well.

SPEAKER_08 52:16

Yeah, they're they're they're a great team. I think it was said earlier. You've watched them a lot. They are a great team, and you know, we happened to win that day. They happened to get us the first time. Um, and I, you know, we would love to see them again next year at some point, which you know that's what Division II Lacrosse is all about. Just competing and you know, iron shopping ziron, two good teams going at each other to make each other stronger.

SPEAKER_03 52:45

I agree, coach. 100%.

Shout outs

SPEAKER_03 52:47

All right, Danny. It's time for our shout-outs. We've got one big one we're gonna do, but first, the first shout-out I want to give is to our sponsor, our segment sponsor, laxjobs.us. Our last episode in partnership, not our last partnership with him, but our last episode of the season with them. I just want to thank them for sponsoring us. Remember to look them up, laxjobs.us. Finding lacrosse jobs for lacrosse people. Now, the big one. We did north and south region last week. What came out in between then was the USA ILA All Americans. So I figured we would do the same thing we did last time, Danny. We'd go down maybe the position awards and then first team for each position. You want to do that? Sure. All right. Do you want to do you have the the uh outstanding uh attackmen and all those?

SPEAKER_01 53:38

I do. I have everything pulled up here.

SPEAKER_03 53:40

Uh why don't you start us off?

SPEAKER_01 53:42

Okay. Our Colonel Tumble, outstanding attackman of the year, goes to Willie Greco, Wingate University.

SPEAKER_03 53:51

And then the Lieutenant JG Donald McLaughlin Jr., outstanding midfielder for 2024 is Nick Larson St. Anselm.

SPEAKER_01 54:00

Good kid, good kid. The Schmeiser, Defensive Player of the Year Award. Victor Powell, Lenore Ryan Bears.

SPEAKER_03 54:08

Good choice. This year, Danny, we have co-face-off players of the year. Alex Poma of Tampa and Jason Kuner of Mercy.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

All right, short stick, D midi of the year. Colton McCracken, Lenore Ryan Bears.

SPEAKER_03 54:25

Uh Longpole, midfielder of the year. Joe Carnage, Wingate.

SPEAKER_01 54:32

The Marklin Kelly Jr., outstanding goalie. Dylan Renner, a Delphi.

SPEAKER_03 54:44

Dylan Renner. And we talked about that, Danny, that he probably deserved to get that, so it was good to see.

SPEAKER_01 54:50

Oh, yeah, he definitely deserved it. He was outstanding every single game, Kevin. Like he didn't have one bad game. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:59

All right, you want to continue to the first team for each position?

SPEAKER_01 55:02

First team attack all Americans this year for pace. Ryan Kemp. And then Willie Greco from Wingate.

SPEAKER_03 55:15

Canyon Birch from Tampa. So those are your first team attackmen? If we go down to midfield, the first team from St. Anselm, Nick Larson.

SPEAKER_01 55:28

Andrew Calabria, Mercy College.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

Owen Miller of Tampa.

SPEAKER_01 55:36

Baker Westmoreland of Newberry. That's your first team midfield, Kevin.

SPEAKER_03 55:42

Good choices, good choices. Okay, down to defense. Ryan Slattery, St. Anselm. Victor Powell, Lenore Ryan. And Matthew Beto of Tampa.

SPEAKER_01 55:57

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Point the group. Yeah. First, first team, all goalie. Yes. It's a tough one. Dylan Random from the Delphi Panthers.

SPEAKER_03 56:13

Yeah, they're great choice. So now to face off, Danny, we already talked about it. And they've got the co-1s again, Jason Cooner and Alex Poma, Mercy College and Tampa.

SPEAKER_01 56:24

Yes, sir. Short stick D mid, first team, Jack Hipchin, Delphi.

SPEAKER_03 56:31

Colt McCracken, Lenore Ryan. Those two played well against each other. Those two are the same game we just saw.

SPEAKER_01 56:41

First team long stick midfielder, Joe Carnage, Wingate Bulldogs.

SPEAKER_03 56:46

And there you go. Those are the first team and the specialty awards for the USA Islay All-Americans. And like we did last time, there are a lot of second team and honorable third team and honorable mention, all really deserving picks. We just have time for a few of those, so we want to get that out.

SPEAKER_01 57:05

Yeah, well deserved, fellas. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

And then as we close out, Danny, I just want to say, what a season. I cannot believe it is over.

SPEAKER_01 57:18

Kev, I got to give you a shout out. You, my man, you make this program go. You're the you're you're you're the catalyst behind this whole thing. Everything that you do, the time you put in, the the emails that you send out, the time that it takes for you to produce this podcast. I'm shouting out to you, my partner. You do a great job, and I appreciate everything that you do, man.

SPEAKER_03 57:40

Well, I appreciate that. You know, it's funny, Danny. We had a lot of fans uh thank us this weekend for what we do. And we definitely appreciate that. I do. I every time someone said to me, yeah, I took that with real heart. That meant a lot to me, and I know it meant a lot to you. But we love doing this. I love doing this with you. That's why I like putting the time. I am passionate about this, it keeps me off the streets.

SPEAKER_01 58:06

And because we live in a dangerous neighborhood, you know. The burbs, the burbs of Northern Virginia.

SPEAKER_03 58:15

Yeah. And I have more fun talking lacrosse with you, Danny, and bantering back and forth. It's a it's a true pleasure. And I and that's why my wife said, You guys need to do a podcast because I'm sick of you blowing up Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 58:28

Yeah, it's been a lot of fun, Kev. And the people that we get to meet because of it. And they even gave us media credentials, like, oh, shout out to Nick Moller from the NCAA. Yeah, yeah, treated us like gold, felt like one of the boys. It was all common.

SPEAKER_03 58:42

There were times, I mean, talk about a tough job during that weekend, and and I'm trying, we're trying to get parking passes, and I'm emailing them like I haven't seen mine yet. And he's very calm. He's not like, oh, you idiot. Because and and so it was great. They treated us great. I I I loved it. And and once again, it was just been a phenomenal year. Everyone who listens, if you really want to thank us like you did, continue to spread the word about this podcast. Spread the word, send this podcast out to as many people as possible. Get them to love D2 like all of us do.

SPEAKER_01 59:18

Yeah, especially those high school coaches and those club coaches. It's time for them, the guys, to really get on board with what we're doing here in D2. There's only so many spots in D1, guys. You know, there's only so many spots. Exactly. There's a lot of spots in D2. It's exponentially growing. We're out in California, we're in the Midwest, we're in the Rocky Mountains, we're in, we're in Ohio, we're in Florida, we're all over the country now. Because D2 is really making a name for itself. 8 teams to care and growing. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 59:50

Exactly. So with that, Danny, for this season, that's a wrap. That's a wrap 2024 and the book.