A Conversation with Pro Lacrosse player - Ethan Ticehurst

SPEAKER_01 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 Stenstrom, and with me as always is the master of the D2 lacrosse domain, Danny Moran. Hey Danny. I am the master. The master.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

I should have thought of doing that for the intro.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Kevin Stenstrom, how are you doing in Northern Virginia, my friend? Good to see you, my friend. How's it going?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

I'm doing well. I have to admit, Danny, with my son's lacrosse career over as he's moved on. I actually am going through some through some fall ball withdrawals right now.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Wow, say that a couple times, Faz. Fall ball withdrawal.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Thank God, I'm sober right now. Fall ball withdrawal. That's the last thing I'm gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Uh yeah, you know what? Teams are rocking and rolling, man. School's in session, and kids are out there practicing and they're at lips and they're doing runs. And fall ball is here. Full ball, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Great. I gotta try to find some schools. Uh, maybe UDC and maybe some other local schools that I can get to to watch some of their scrimmages. I gotta all reach out to the coach. I'd love to go see UDC. I gotta do that. You ready to move on? I am okay. Just to remind everyone, we're recording this before the episode comes out. So as we record this, the NLL draft just occurred just about a week or so ago. And wouldn't you know the D2 represented with 10 players being drafted? Let me go down the list really quickly, Danny. A lot of these names you will recognize Austin Hassen from Belmont Abbey, Braden Kiernan from Mercy, Colin Jeffrey of Montevallo, Trent Kellner from What Limestone, Brian Robb from U Indy, one of our guests. Henry Sunderland from Newberry, Jacob Modyak from Seaton Hill, Drew Kask of Lewis, Carter Brand from Limestone, so there's two from Limestone. Tyler Ewen from Queens. Now, Queens obviously is D1 now, but he was a D2 player. And then also from Queens, Keelan Pelon really makes it 11, but he wasn't drafted. I think he signed with Halifax recently. I don't think he was drafted that, but that's a total of 11 players. I think there's a few others that have come out since then and signed. So plus the ones that are already in. Right, exactly. So we thought for this pro episode, we thought it only fitting to bring on another D2 player who is now playing in the NLL. He plays right now for the Calgary Roughnecks, but he played his college ball at St. Leo and was a teammate of Matt Chance, who we've had on before. So I'm sure we'll get into a little bit of that. But let's welcome him in first, Ethan Ticehurst. Hey Ethan.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Hey, how are we doing? Good, how are you? Ethan. I am uh I'm pretty good. Uh just uh got done with some vacation in the offseason and now get back to the grindstone tomorrow, actually. With my uh training, training starts up tomorrow. So super excited to get back to the grind and uh hopefully have a good NL season coming up.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Awesome, awesome. We really appreciate you coming and take the time with uh the two knuckleheads from In the Crease here. Uh really we we really do appreciate it. And you know, Kevin, and when you started, you know, when you did that little introduction, you know, it doesn't surprise me that division two players are going into professional, you know, it did surprise me at beginning at the beginning a little bit, but now that you know I've done my homework, you've done your homework. You know, there's a lot of division two kids making their ways into the pros. And and and Ethan is just another one of those stories, and we're all about D2, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Yeah, exactly. So what let's get it started with Ethan. Why don't you just give us a quick rundown of your lacrosse journey, how you got started, and really we can just go to how you got to St. Leo, which always fascinates me how Canadians seem to migrate to Florida. They love the South, man.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

They love the South. What's not to love?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Exactly. Um, yeah, so um I played junior ball in Coquitlam, uh, grew up playing uh Meyer Lacrosse and Coquitlam as well. I'm Coquitlam born and born and raised. And um the the coach that was at St. Leo at the time, the the offensive coordinator was Coach Cotter, and he was Canadian, he's in Newbury now. Yep, um, and he is obviously uh loved Canadians and and uh being a Canadian guy, break wanted to bring in Canadians, and he'd already had one there who'd had been having a lot of success, goes by the name Jake Gilmore.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Oh yeah, I remember player.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

You know, he's a fantastic guy, fantastic player, great leader. Um and uh, you know, we had we had a couple transfers coming as well, uh Kyle Powell's and Jake Bai. And then we had uh Charlie Kirtenbach, who was kind of like a pseudo-Canadian. He had uh he was born in Seattle, but uh played box across against me growing up. Um and then in Junior we played against each other too. But um I had just been caught someone one of my my assistant coach at the time was uh uh Ryan McMichael, who was good friends with Coach Cotter, and I had not had any sort of offers. I mean, I had some interest from some D1 programs, but nothing really came of it. And I was kind of looking for a home and it was pretty late. It was uh I think I went on my visit in May of my senior year, so pretty late. Yeah, uh really late. And um, I just hadn't gotten the exposure that I'd hoped I'd gotten. I was kind of now these kids now are like a lot of the kids now are on uh are getting the exposure that they deserve because we have some really good players here, but um, you know, in my age group, I think there was maybe five kids, maybe six in the whole province to go away. And that that's not really reflective of the talent we have. I think if you look at my age group, I think I think 13 or 14 of us are in the NL. So wow, yeah, that's awesome. There's a lot of talent in BC, and then and coaches are starting to realize it now that it's a hotbed. Um, but you know, before it was only the elite of the league going away. So, you know, names like Westburg, Tyler Pace that played at Denver. Um we had a couple guys at Drexel, but that was it was really not super prominent for us to go away, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:08

So um he why is that do you think, Ethan? Why why do you think that is?

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Um, I just don't think coaches want to come all the way over here. And it it it's it's a bit of a foreign place for them. And um it's it's hard for us to get seen, and it's hard like it's hard for us to go there and for and for us to and for them to come to us, right? So it's a bit of both. It's not just the college coaches, obviously um it's they're gonna they're gonna go to where the best players are, but it wasn't really well known that like obviously the top of the top were fantastic players, but I think now that like the elite kids are going away and now college coaches are starting to take chances on kids who who aren't the elite of the elite, but they're still great lacrosse players, right? So um and they and deservingly so because they're good players. So yeah, I just didn't really get the exposure coming out of uh coming out of high school. You know, I played uh travel ball um and I played at nationals, but I mean our nationals were in Edmonton when no college coach wants to come to Edmonton for for a weekend, right? When it's in the middle of recruiting season and they can go see 400 kids rather than 40 from you know the top 40 kids in the age group in Canada, where they can just drive up to go see the Ontario kids.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Right, right. You're you hit I think you hit one of the nails on the head. I mean, BC not only is it west, but it's also no farther even north. And you're talking about travel budgets and and where you're gonna get the bang for the buck, probably from at least quantity, maybe not quality.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Exactly. And um just speaking to that, I think now that you know we have these programs that are are traveling back east, it's definitely helping. You know, we have teams that go to all Canada games, which which coaches love. You know, um we have teams that go to the uh the group the what do they call it? The Towson. I mean, I'm an alumni, I should know, but the uh the Towson hosts a recruiting tournament every year that coaches love that I I hear a lot about that. So we're starting to go and and increase the exposure for for our players, which is fantastic, but we just didn't have that when I was you know in my prime recruiting ages, which is fine. I mean, I'm extremely happy with where I ended up.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

So So you you go there in May, and did did you get to St. Leo and do your trip and be like, ah, this is the spot? Was it yeah?

SPEAKER_02 9:32

Absolutely. I mean, we we had uh there was two Canadians there that I'd stayed with. Charlie Kirtenbach was one of them, and then the one uh Carter Dixon, he does he only played there for two years. But again, I played against him in the summers and and growing up, so I knew uh who he was, and and it was just I mean, what's not to love about Florida? It's already been said, like you can't I can't complain, like especially coming from BC where it where it rains eight months of the year, and I go to Florida and it rains, but it's warm. I'm like, oh my god, this is fantastic, right? So, and like and this the springs are just absolutely like when we're playing, it's the best place ever to play. It's like 90 degrees, it's it's hot, but it's not like you're dying hot, and it's not like humid in the summertime in Ontario where you can't breathe, right? So right, uh it's it's I got there and I immediately fell in love with the place and and the people too. Um, it's a great place.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

It's funny. You I think Coach Jorgensen, when we had him on the podcast, he talked about it's kind of flipped for the the especially the Florida teams where your fallball can be very hot and humid still, but you get when you start playing the actual season and your games in February and March are just absolute and April absolutely gorgeous, whereas you know the Frostburg States and the Davis and Elkins are in snow playing, you know.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I went through a little bit of that at Towson, so I I kind of get I have both of the uh the spectrums. And I mean, when we got to when the sun was nice in Maryland, it was it was great, but it wasn't nice until you know late March, right? It's still snowing in in early March, and you're like I'm freezing cold trying to play a game, my stick's frozen. How am I supposed to do this? Where whereas I'm in Florida and you know I'm not dealing with my frozen stick, obviously, which is definite advantage without I I've been on St.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Leo's campus. Actually, my oldest son went to St. Leo and uh did well there. That was a good team. They uh they did well, they had a couple of Canadians on the team as well. But my question to you is how does a Canadian end up with a long pole? How does that happen? It's it's uh he's smiling out there outcast layer. So he's got a big smile on his face.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

So uh it's uh it's actually funny. So the the my coach that coached me through Field Across up until I was, you know, 16. He uh I met him when I was 10. He was in high school. And uh I was like 10. He he it's funny because he lives he lived about four houses, four or five houses up from me. And I was just shooting hoops in the front yard, and he walked by coming back from the high school that we both went to and just said, Hey, nice shot. And I looked at him, I'm like, okay. Like I didn't know what to say, I was 10. Like, I'm just hanging out in my front yard trying to kill time. And then I showed up the tryouts, you know, you know, two years later, and he was my coach and I had a short stick in my hand. And obviously, um, I'm a pretty fast guy, right? I play defense and box. Uh, my game is built around my ability to move and and uh and push the ball in transition. That's what I've always been good at. And um he just looked at me one day and said, You're probably not gonna make my team as uh with a with a short stick in your hand. And then he handed me his pull, and then I never put it back down. I've been a poll ever since. And he actually did that to another player who who is currently the LSM for the Chrome. So he did the same thing to me that he did to him when he was 12. He gave him a poll and said, Hey, you're gonna do better with this.

unknown 13:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

Wow and we both trusted him, and and yeah, he's playing in the PL, and then I got to I got to play five years of of Nsteadly Lacrosse of it. Hopefully I can get to the PL one day. Um, we'll see with how with how I play and and and that, but it's definitely goal. But I mean, you know, he he pretty much just said, Yeah, here, take this, like you're gonna play. And I was maybe 13, 12.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

That's awesome. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Yeah, it's good. It was uh obviously fantastic, and I I thank him for his decision, even though the time I was like, Why the fuck do you have to pull?

SPEAKER_00 13:42

But but I bet what is especially at 12, you know, when a coach says, you know, you're not gonna make my team if you keep a short stick in your hand. At 12 years old, that's gotta be like a little tough to take. So you want to be on the team, so you're like, All right, coach, I'll put the pole on my hand.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

And you know what? Actually, it sounds like the coach really knew what he was doing.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Yeah, he's fantastic. I mean, I still co I coach with him now, which is pretty full circle for me. So he uh he kind of helps run the uh the team BC program, the provincial program that travels to nationals, and we do a lot of uh you know, travel ball now just to help kids with exposure. Because like I said, a lot of coaches don't want to make the drive to uh to nationals, but um, yeah, he was he was helping me with uh with our uh with our box stuff. He was our box coach, like our change coach. Sorry, I mean I I get it mixed up sometimes, but uh yeah, it was it was pretty full circle for me to to have that moment for sure.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

So you played Saint Leo for four years. Did you then transfer to Towson? I did, yes. Was that a COVID year? After was that a fifth year to get that after after that COVID year?

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Yeah, so that was my senior year was 2020. Um, I played, I think, I'm gonna say four and a half games. It was five, but I mean, you know, you know how the early games go in uh for a lot of schedules. It's it's the it's the two-note games and to get ready for conference. So I probably played four and a half games, and uh, and then it was it was just canceled. And that was uh that was tough for sure.

SPEAKER_03 15:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

It was it was I didn't no one knew. I mean, I knew we knew that we weren't gonna play a full season, but um it hadn't really hit all of us, and not just me. I mean, I I obviously, you know, playing St. Leo for four years, like you get to know the athletes on campus. It's a it's a pretty close-knit community. And you know, I mean, I had friends on softball, I had friends on on basketball, I had friends on women's lacrosse, I had friends at uh all these, all these, you know, uh these spring sports that didn't get to play their senior years, and and and growing up with or not growing up, but you know, going to school with them for four years, like you get pretty close, and it was pretty devastating for the athletic department for sure, and the coaches, I'm sure, as well. But yeah, it was it was pretty no one knew what like if they were gonna give us a fifth year or not. So we just I just assumed my career was over.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Right. We had we've had several coaches and players on in the past podcast, and really a lot of the coaches last season talked about that transition and that year, then the the following year. But I want to kind of focus in what was your transition like from a D2 school to Towson as a D1 school, either both you know, socially or and athletically.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

I had always been the type of person to be like, yeah, put me in a new situation. I I I kind of uh I look forward to change, even like I don't look forward to it. Obviously, we want to stay where we're comfortable, but you know, I I accept the challenges that come with with that. And I it's always been a dream of mine to play division one, division one ball, right? And I felt like I had the ability to, and you know, whether or not I I got the exposure that I deserved what when I was, you know, coming out of high school is right, I mean, we'll never know, right? So um I wanted to play where I felt I could, and I I felt that I could. So um I wasn't even gonna play until my friend was like, You should just throw your name in the transport. Like, you have no idea what's gonna happen.

unknown 17:12

Right.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

With especially with the NLL coming, the NLO draft coming up. So I had applied for the draft. I was like, Yeah, I'll just go do this. And then, but my friend was like, You just see what happens in the transport. And I wasn't gonna take him up on it, and then you know, he kind of convinced me too, which I'm very glad he did. Um, and then, you know, I kind of I got a I had some I had a lot of interest from a lot of schools, which was which was good to see. Uh, I landed on Towson uh just because of the the reputation that they have and and the reputation that uh coach Natalin has. And you know, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. And you know, the difference coming in was, I mean, you go from a school with and with maybe 2,000 kids on campus to 20,000.

SPEAKER_03 17:56

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

It's uh it's a little bit different, right? When that comes to, you know, uh being on campus. And I we didn't even get to be on campus, all my classes were online, so I really didn't get to experience Towson as a as a you know socialist. As a university socialist. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, we still, we still, you know, I got to know the the the team very well, and we hung out, but it was that it was the COVID year, right? So the it was 2021. So it was still like we can't have parties, we can't well, we can have parties, but we just can't bring other people in. You can have you can hang out with your team and and that's it.

unknown 18:33

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

So um that's what we did for the for the for the year, and then you know, I mean the playing it the I think the biggest difference between like playing at D1 level and playing at D2 level is not the skill of the players. I think the skill is is pretty similar at the highest level. It's more about um how much of the team is is bought in. And I hate to say that because I know my teammates were bought in, but you always have those kids that are you know that are that are there and they're kind of dragging down practice, which is just a fact of of of playing, right? There's always you know the 10% of kids that are that are uh that just don't want to be there on on any day, you know, they'd rather be doing whatever they want to do. Um, and that's fine, that's their choice. But you know, I was there to win. And I felt at Towson everybody came to practice wanting to win. Uh rather maybe at St. Leo, there was maybe you know, 60% of the kids came came to uh came to win that day. And that's just because I I don't know if that's because of the it's them playing division one and it and it means more, which I I disagree with. I don't know, I I don't know them, right? So right, but yeah, that's how kind of I felt was the main difference.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Yeah, that's interesting. It's it's it's obviously a very small subset that you or small sampling size that you got to look at, and and you saw, and you know that's a very interesting comment. We've talked to other players who said the same thing. Skill level isn't really that much different. Um, Connor Farrell actually said he thinks it's a little bit faster uh on the the maybe on the D1 level, but uh um I think that comes down to you know resources and and time and whatnot as well. Uh but it it's an interesting uh dynamic that that you noticed. So let me let's let's let's switch for a little bit and let me ask you this. What what was it like leading up to the NLL draft? And did you have I've got several questions. That's one. Two, did you have any idea that you'd be drafted? And I just think of this like you look at the NFL draft and you see all the pla the college players waiting to get drafted, the anticipation on their face, the the tension, the stress. Did you feel the same way in for the NLL draft as you were waiting? Those are kind of the the questions I had for you.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

Yeah, so um I I I knew I was gonna get drafted. I didn't know where. I kind of had an idea, sorry, where being like the city where the or where the where the team is or by the team. And I kind of had an idea where I'd be picked.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Like which round?

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Yeah, so I I kind of felt from my talent level and the talent level in the draft that I could be anywhere between, you know, late first round, early second round. That was kind of where I felt where I uh my skill level was in comparison to the other players, which is is great. Um, and so I I knew I was gonna get drafted. Um and yes, the anticipation, those like my face during the draft, well I was I was very nervous. Like it's it's like it's it's a good nervous, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:52

It's not uh Yeah, it's a cool nervous.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Yeah, it was it's hard to explain because like I had my friend, I had I was at Towson when it happened. And I had my uh my buddies there with me. And it's just like a weird dynamic, right? Like you it's it's it's it's a lot of emotion for sure, uh leading up to it. Like, as soon as like okay, we're here, now I can this is where I'm in my area. Like, obviously, I'm not gonna get picked first overall. I I'm I'm pretty aware of of my talent level, but I'm not Jeff Teed. Like, I'm not right. I wish I was you played defense too, come on. Yeah, exactly. Like he like Jeff, I wish I had the skill level that Jeff Teet has, but I don't, and that's okay. Right? So um uh yeah, I knew I wasn't gonna get picked first overall. Um, and uh so when we started to get into the area where I was like, okay, these teams called me, you know, I talked to these teams, and this is where I can start to be actually nervous. And I was it was I was like, oh my gosh, what's gonna happen? Where am I gonna go? Is my name gonna pop up? Because like we like you get the call and you freak out, and you're and obviously your friends your friends hear your phone ring, but they on the screen a little delayed, right? So they're like, what the fuck's happening?

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Oh crap, it's a pizza delivery guy.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

Yeah, exactly. Um, yeah, so I mean, I got called 20th overall um by Calgary, and it was it was great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Were there a couple teams before that that you thought you were running for and you were waiting and then it passed? I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Um I'm trying to remember. Uh I mean, there's a there was a couple Eastern teams that had passed on me.

SPEAKER_03 23:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Um, I think more due to logistics. Yeah. Is he gonna live there? Right. You know, I had right, I had I had been asked that question, you know, would you live here? And I said, well, I would make that decision when if you picked me. Like, I'm not gonna just say I'm and then you pick me and then be like, well, no, I don't really want to live there, right? So I didn't I I I never wanted to be dishonest with a lot of the teams just so I could get picked higher.

SPEAKER_03 23:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:55

That that just seems that's just not me. Um and uh yeah, so a couple Eastern teams picked uh passed on me, uh, which is fine. Uh they they got the they got the picks that they wanted, and then you know, Calgary came around and they they they called my name. So I think they made a deal, they made a deal that day to trade Tyson Bell to Halifax, which is one of the teams that I picked that I uh talked about, and the pick that they traded him for was one of the picks they they picked for me, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 24:24

Yes, yep, yes, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

I'm kind of rambling, but uh yeah, that that the pick that they got from Calgary for Tyson Bell was the pick that they used to pick me. That's about it. Yeah, so I mean they got a player, they got an NLL player that's been in the league for for years, and he's fantastic. And uh, you know, Calgary got to got stuck with me. Got the young stud now.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

The young defensive stud. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Well, that's that's a really cool story, man.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Yeah, it's uh it's it's awesome. I mean, you know, I and especially because the coach that uh the the head coach of Calgary coached me when I was 16. So that's it's it's really it's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

It's really it's really cool. It's a it's it's it's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

So not that I don't love Towson, which is right near uh where I live in Northern Virginia, and I love the head coach, but this is a D2 podcast. So let's get real with uh D2 here. What lessons did you learn playing at St. Leo and the D2 level from the competition? What did you learn that you felt may have helped you as you transitioned professionally in the NLL? Is there anything that you can point to?

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Yeah, so I think the biggest thing I learned that has helped me through my lacrosse career was you have to go earn it. And that's just the the lay of the land, right? Like you want to play on game day, you gotta go earn it. Doesn't matter how old you are, who you are, where you're from, how much money's on your scholarship, if you want to go play, you have to earn it. It's that simple. And I think me playing at the D2 level, I I came in as a freshman and I I didn't know, right? Like no one knows as a freshman, right? Like you you you obviously want to play and you have expectations to play, but when you I think when you come in with those expectations and and you you fall short, like it it does something to to a player, right? Like the mental aspect of like, oh, I should be playing, blah, blah, blah. Right. So I just I just came in and I said, you know what? If I I'm gonna go out there and earn every day of practice, and then you know, that's what I did. And you know, I ended up on the on the field. And that lesson has, I mean, I I had to earn every second of my playing time in the NLL. And and and that's okay. That's it's it's a results-based league, and that's that's kind of what it is. But that lesson of me coming in as a freshman and being like, you know what, what what's gonna happen here, you know. I've I've been told, you know, like, hey, we expect you to be be helping on game day, but I I was unsure of the role that I was gonna play, right? So rather than think about it and um, you know, bury my head in that, I just you know came to practice every day ready to work, and that's what I did.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Just went out and bald.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

That's that's right. It goes back to, I think, you being hand of that long stick and said, This is how you're gonna earn your spot. And you did. Absolutely. And and I think what you said about it, St. Leo, Shane Jackson said the same thing as he went from uh you know community college then to limestone. He he didn't go there with any preconceived notions that he had a spot, he had to earn everything he did, and he earned what he did, has done in the NL, just like you've earned that, which is uh, I think a great lesson for for all um student athletes.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, uh especially it's not just lacrosse. I mean, right, it's life too. It's like no one's gonna hand you anything, right? So yeah, you have to go out and earn it. And um I think I'm you know miles beyond better for for what I learned while I was at St. Leo, right? And that's that's a major thing because I mean I never lost that attitude for four years. I mean, I obviously you know you have a spot when you start as a freshman, but I think me holding that attitude and saying, you know what, I I do still have to go earn it every day in practice, right? Because that makes one that makes other people better, and that makes me better at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

So that's a great attitude, young man. I mean, that's a great attitude. That's with that with that type of attitude comes success when you grind it and you you know you hit that you hit that bricks every day. Yeah, and you know, good things come from that. And you know, you're another one of those stories. It just you you're a grinder, man. And and and and a Canadian with a long pole is like a rare thing, and it's it's cool, it's cool to see, man. Yeah, Ethan, thank you so much for coming on tonight. You were a great guest, we really appreciate it. What a great story, man.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Yeah, I'll probably I've got I've got one final question for you. You've already imparted some words of wisdom, but what words of wisdom would you like to share with those D2 guys that just got drafted? Besides keeping that earning mentality.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

The NLL's a different beast, right? I mean, you know, you you walk into a building and you could be playing in front of in front of 15,000 people on a night, right? And that's it's a little overwhelming for sure. I mean, I was I had to start taking pre-workout to calm myself down.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

No, it totally makes sense. Totally makes sense. I know about that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

Yeah, the atmosphere in the building is so like electric crazy. It's it's like they're they're it's they're there watching you play and and like they're it's so like top heavy down, and you just feel like you're being they're on top of you in those stadiums. Exactly. And it and it's cool to look up and see people, but I mean at the end of the day it's still a lacrosse game, right? Like, and it's and something I'm still struggling with, and it's a lot of it's it's just a lacrosse game. And if you if it's it should be the same in front of no people or in front of 15,000 people, right? It's kind of the same thing. Uh it's still a lacrosse game at the end of the day. And and you know, you you got here doing what you love and and and how you work and and how hard you work, and just to continue to do that, no matter if it's 15,000 or or two, right? It's still just a lacrosse game, and and that kind of comes with you know the successes and the failures. Like you can't just say that in your failures because if you can't apply that to your successes, then you don't deserve to apply it to your failures, right? So that's that's kind of what I've learned is uh, you know, at the end of the day, it's a lacrosse, you do it for fun, everybody does it for fun, but and we all want to win. Um, but there can only be one winner at the end of the day, so you gotta be able to go home, look at yourself in the mirror and say, Did you do everything you could, or did you not? And then you go from there, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:07

Yeah, absolutely. That's great. That's great. I I feel like he's given me inspiration, and I'm like twice his age. I'm over twice his age. Let's not even go there, though.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

I feel he's got the coach in him, he's got a little coach in him now. You know, uh I was hanging on his every word. I was I'm on one knee right now.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

Coach is me, coaches me.

SPEAKER_03 31:32

That's funny.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

No, you you're a great guest, man, Ethan. I really appreciate you coming on, man. The story's great, you know. And uh again, Kevin and I were all about Division II and what division two, like the red-headed stepchild, man, they just don't get the love. And yeah, you know, they and they produce players, man. And I've been around it, like I said, my oldest son went to St. Leo. He was there in 2009, 2010, in that era. And um, and ever since then, I I've been watching a lot of the division two across, and I've got to know it quite well. And I just think, you know, you take those top 10, 15, 20 teams, they're as good as anybody. I mean, all right, it's it's not Duke, it's not Syracuse, you know, but you take that second tier division one. I mean, those kids are good, man, in division two. I'm big, they're big, they're strong, they're fast, they're skilled, they're coached, you know, they have all they check all the boxes, and yeah, you know, and and and to see somebody like you, you know, be so successful is just another great mark on on Division II. And we wish you and we wish you continued success with the Roughnecks, man. What a great name for a team. Yeah, yeah, for lacrosse team. It's called the Roughnecks, man. Yeah, that's like a good name.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Absolutely. It's fantastic. Yeah. Well, I really appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Yeah, we appreciate you coming on. I I I'll try to plan a road trip to Calgary when it's you're in the when you're in the um playoffs because it's warmer than in Calgary.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

Exactly. Yeah, it's nice.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

It's not when you come into New York and play the Riptide, I'm gonna have to go see a game.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

Absolutely. You guys let me know. I mean, we get we get we get tickets. I get eight in Calgary and four everywhere else. So you guys let me know, I'll get it set up for you.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Oh, that sounds great. I'm gonna I'm definitely gonna hold you to that.

SPEAKER_02 33:24

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

I don't have much my my youngest is in college now, so I don't have much of a life. So I can go do things. I can go do things again.

SPEAKER_03 33:31

That sounds fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

I I've never had much of a life, so maybe I'll join you up over the rooftime game there.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

Ethan Ticehurst, Calgary Roughnecks, former St. Leo Lion, and a former Towson Tiger. Really appreciate you coming on tonight. What a great guest you've been.

SPEAKER_02 33:48

Yeah, thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Danny, that was a lot of fun because having someone who went D2 and is solely focused on the NLL, which is not our forte, but I love hearing more about it, especially what Ethan was talking about and his nervousness in the draft and then playing. And then some of the words of wisdom he gave was just awesome.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

Well, yeah. Well, first thing I want to point out is how smart the Canadians are for going to Florida to play ball. Yeah. They're smart guys, man. You're gonna play ball in college, go to Florida, go south, right, get out of the cold. So that was the first smart thing that Ethan did. Um, second thing that Ethan did was he he got that pole in his hand at a young age when Canadians, Canadians are used to the, you know, the the indoor game. And and you know what, Kevin? I'm learning a lot more about the indoor game now from talking with these guys, you know. And yeah, they they did their time in division two. And Ethan, you know, reiterated how uh how Division II owned his game and he gave him confidence and and was able to take him to that level.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

Exactly. And I think the other thing to point out uh for D2, not only is it the People's League, thank you, Matt Chan, for that People's League, but I kind of feel like it's the untapped farm league for professional across, especially the NLL. If you look at that list of players for this just this year, and you look at players from pro past years and how many are in the NL, I think uh D2 is a great stepping stone for that.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Well, I think also that you know the the there's really, really good players just playing in division two. Exactly. You know, sometimes, you know, sometimes uh, you know, we you and I have spoken about it. You know, you get those get those players sometimes that just you know, they they fell through the cracks somehow, or they didn't get recruited highly, or they weren't at the right high school, or they were too far away from being on a summer team to really be noticed by coaches. So, you know, they they're coming to division two, they're getting scholarships, they're they're going down south, which is smart, and and and they're they're playing top quality ball. You know, this is this division two, the stigma about it is is I'm sorry, and frankly, it's a lot of bullshit at this at this point in 2022. You know, you gotta stop saying that division two isn't isn't a good brand of ball, because we just had you know three, four professional players that play top-notch lacrosse every single night talk about what division two did for them.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Exactly, exactly. Next week we have Andrew Q uh coming on. We've already recorded that, but he's he's coming on, and we're gonna have him on the as an episode. And and I you said it exactly right. The quality of uh players, the quality of scheme, the quality of coaching in D2 is something that people need to recognize.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

You know, I think the smart ones are recognizing it. Right. You know, it's it's it's it's tough to tell a 15, 16-year-old kid playing lacrosse, hey kid, you know, you're not division one material. They don't want to hear that. You know what I'm saying? But sometimes, you know, we talked about it in our recruiting podcast that you have to be real with your son and and your and and the kids have to be real with themselves. Hey, am I am I the best player on the field? Am I the best player on my team? And then, you know, you start saying, Where am I? Where do I fit? You know, so some kids say, Well, I want to go division one, and that's all I want to do. And if they don't get division one, a lot of times they don't play. But these kids that go division two, they're playing, they're getting scholarships, they're getting academic money on top of athletic money. And not only that, like you just pointed out, they're playing top notch across, Kevin. These kids are big boys. They're six, three, six, four, six, two, two hundred and ten, two hundred and twenty pounds. They run four five, four, six, four, seven, forties. They're every bit of athlete as any division one athlete out there, and they're playing division one caliber ball at the division two level. And these guys will tell you that.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

Exactly. I think they've all kind of talked about that. And if you go back to our podcast with Reed Meyer, when we talked to him with the athletes to athletes, and he talked about what he does and what people should look for as far as finding the right fit. And the right fit is not only what you want academically, it's what you want socially, it's what you want size-wise, and then you can add in what do I want from a lacrosse program? Right, and I'm telling you, I think D2 gives you the flexibility much more than D1 ever would. Of having the flexibility, you if you you have to put in the time, and yes, socially, uh, you're your time management is still an issue and a challenge because you are so focused still at the D2 level and and playing if you want to really get to a championship. But you have the flexibility from the coaching and what you want to take academically, what other things you may want to do, I think a lot more than you would in D1. And you get to be a little more well-rounded, I would say.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

You get to enjoy school a little bit, you get to enjoy the other aspects of being away at college, you know, the social aspect, so to speak. So, and maybe in division one, kind of you you kind of get married to that program. You know, you're gonna go, you're gonna go to Syracuse, you're gonna go to Syracuse, and you're gonna do everything that the players do, and where they go, you're gonna go, and where they sleep, you're gonna sleep, and it becomes quite demanding, you know, where division two might give you a little bit of flexibility, um, a little bit more than division one. I think the top-notch division two schools kind of run their programs like division one. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:20

Oh, yeah, oh yeah, without a doubt, without a doubt. You know, and so that's the other thing, though. If you're looking for that that D1 level of coaching and have a program like that, you can find it at the D2 level.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

100%. Look at what the Sunshine State Conference did last year. Yeah, look at all of those schools and how they've just all just popped up and started playing great lacrosse.

SPEAKER_01 40:43

But you look across the divisions, I mean, across the conferences, uh even Peach Belt. If you look at the SAC, you look at the NE10, you look at the CACC, ECC, GMAC, GLDC, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's you can name several in each of those conferences that absolutely, and then there's up and coming in those too. So it just, and that's what I can't wait. We'll get into it in the conference preview. It'll be so much fun. But yep, yep, yep. But uh tell you what, Danny, this has been fun tonight.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

Yeah, tonight was a good one, Kev.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

And you know, instead of us just espousing that game, maybe we should just wrap it. Let's just say it's a wrap.

SPEAKER_00 41:25

That's a wrap, Kev.