Conference Previews for the 2023 season - GLVC

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 Stentrum, and joining me as always is the man who is bringing it to the D2 Lacrosse world in 2023, Danny Moran. Hey Danny. Hey, Kevin, how's it going, my man? How's everything going in Northern Virginia this evening? It's going great. It's going great. You know, I'm ready to get back at it at this new year, 2023.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Dude, it's a couple of weeks away from the southern teams. The southern teams are going to be starting soon.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Yeah, we took only a few weeks. Only a few weeks. But

GLVC Preview

SPEAKER_03 0:49

let's get this year going by talking about one that's a little bit farther out west in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the GLVC.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Yeah, GLVC, really good conference, Kev. A lot of good teams, a couple of powerhouses, a couple of real up-and-comers. A really, really solid conference for men's division two lacrosse.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Yeah, without a doubt. Now, one of them from last year, Linenwood, has moved on to D1. But I'll tell you what, if I look at what these teams did last year and what they're bringing this year, I still think the competition is going to be really strong in this conference.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Oh, it's a great conference, man. Top to bottom, I think. I think that everybody's pretty darn good.

SPEAKER_03 1:32

Yeah. Yeah. So why don't we just get started here and start off with you, Windy, the Greyhounds.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Yeah, the Greyhounds. Really, really good team, Kev. They went five and one in conference. You know, another team went to the NCAAs. Really solid team from top to bottom, well coached, um, really top-notch players on their team. Um, they travel well. They did a UND is one of the top 10 teams in the country, Cap, if you ask me.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

Out of doubt. They are in my top 10 this year starting off. I think they ended up there last year. They were like 8, 9, or 10 um in the USILA poll in the end of the season. What I found interesting with them going through their record last year, right out of the gate, they beat Lenore Ryan in their first game. And then they still went on a regular tear. They won a tear and went 7-0, beating teams like I said, Lenore Ryan, Lake Erie, Newberry, and Seton Hill. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they just were on fire to begin with. Now, they ended up uh losing to Limestone after they played in the tournament, their their conference tournament, and they also lost to Lenore Ryan in NCAAs. Uh, but other than that, except for obviously having to play Linenwood and go against them, they lost to them regular season and overtime, and then again in the conference tournament, Linenwood had their number last year, even though the games were close. I mean, the games were close. Having their number just means they won those. But you Indies just was unbelievable last year. And I don't see any change this year. And if you look at their out of conference for this year, it is pretty good for them. I think it'll really keep them in there. Yeah. Lake Erie, Westminster, Seton Hill, Montevala, Walsh, Mercyhurst. And then they're playing Wingate later in the season on April 22nd.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Yeah, that's what they kind of did last year. They, after like the conference tournaments, I remember you, Indy, uh scheduled a game with Lenore Ryan. It was limestone. Oh, limestone. Yeah, it was limestone. Before the NCAA. So that's kind of what they're doing here, I guess, with uh scheduling Wingate so late in the uh season.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

Yeah, I think that's a good thing. Because it's a non-conference. It was a non-conference game. Right. It's a late non-conference game, but they do have their conference tournament after that because they play Wingate, then they play Quincy, and then they go into the conference tournament. But still, it's an interesting pick. You know, putting Wingate there is just trying to get them prepared for not only their tournament, but for the NCAAs.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

Yeah, they got a bunch of studs at UND. I mean, Drew Billig is coming back, 28 goals, 43 assists. He led the GLVC in assists last year, Kev. All regional, all tournament team, just a top-notch player. Got Wyatt Oyer coming back, 45 goals, nine assists. He was second in the GLVC in scoring last year. I mean, this kid's a stud, too. You got Parker Johnson coming back, 25 goals, 15 assists, and Ben Foster with 20 goals and three assists. These guys are coming back. They're they're loaded to the bear.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

They've got their top two attackmen returning and their top two MIDI scores returning. So talk about balance on the offensive side. Now you add in on the defensive side, they've got their whole short stick D MIDI unit returning. That's five guys, Danny. Five guys starting with Kyle Bosch and then rotating with Sam Arston, Jack Sullivan, Easton Ong, and Ryan Heslip. I mean, it's just fresh legs on the on the D MIDI side for him, along with their their starting D returning.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

Yeah. And there's a lot of D Division I type players on this team, Kevin. They're going to be loaded for bear this year. UND is a team to watch out for.

SPEAKER_03 5:35

Yeah, now the one thing they've got is they have to replace their net mind. Austin Barnett is gone. He had an 8.08 goals against average, which is really, really good. Yeah. So they may be handing the reins over to Jonathan Kelly, who's been theirs but had limited time last year. But they also have the transfer, which we talked about in the sack preview. Casey Carlson coming from Wingate. So they've they've got some guys that are going to be competing. We'll see what happens and where they go and who who actually takes the reins uh beginning to that season.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah, it should be interesting. You know, they're a really good team. Man up at 36% last year. Their face-off was at 50%. They clear at almost 90%. They do everything well, Kev. They're just a good squad, man.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Yeah, they're they are like we just said, they are a top 10 team in division two. And everyone else in the GLVC has got to try to match up to them. 100%. I agree with you. But let's talk about one of those teams who actually was a conference co-champion last year, not in the tournament, just in conference wins. Rockhurst, they went five and one in conference. I did not even realize that until I was going to do this again for this preview.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Yeah, but they got good players there too. Oh, yeah. Man, the Hawks are decent, they're a decent squad. They went eight and six on overall. They're above 500 team in a really tough conference, Cap.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

I think what where they got tripped up, obviously, if they went five and one in conferences, was they were losing some of their out-of-conference games. Now, this year, I think it stacks up well for them. They're playing CSU Pueblo, yeah, NC, which is in their conference, but they're playing an out of conference game with them. Indiana Tech, which is an NAIA team, Wheeling, Westminster, Colorado, Mesa, Alabama, Huntsville, and Montevallo. Now, those last four are not going to be easy. And if you look at we talked to the coach at CSU Pueblo, that may not be that easy either. So they've got a pretty good uh schedule for out-of-conference, but I think for them to be ranked in the top 20, they need to kind of start to mop up a little bit better in their out-of-conference schedule.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Yeah, they got to win those games. Colorado Mesa is a tough, tough out, man. They're not an easy team to play. So and Montevallo, Montevallo's the same. They're getting another good squad. So Rockhurst has got their out-of-conference schedule. They're going to have to win those games to really kind of make make some noise, Kev. But you know what? They got players that can do it. I mean, Coach Kevin Kelly does a really good job with the Hawks. They got kids that can put points up, Kev.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Yeah, Danny. They lose their top score, but number two and number four are returning it. Alec Keflin with 30 goals, eight assists, and Ricky Bloom with 16 goals, eight assists. And their goalkeeper, Hayden Harris, is returning. So, and he was at 10.3 goals against and a 59% save percentage. So that's pretty damn good. As well as their D returning, Luke Getz, Luke Leonard, and Matt Buckley. So they are a strong, strong team. The question is, can they compete? I think they will compete for the conference championship again this year. But really, for them, it's also building those wins out of conference. Those teams like we talked about Colorado, Mesa, Alabama, Humpsville, Montevalos, they've got to kind of beat those too. If they do that, I think we will see them in the top 20.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

You know what? You know what hurts them a little bit? They're man up. They got to do a little bit better on man up. They were only at 27% at man up. I mean, that's that's okay, Kev, but you know, when you when you got that extra man, you need you need to bury the biscuit and they need to do a better job at that. Their face-off was at 39% last year, but they also committed a lot of penalties. They spent a lot of time in the box. So they were giving other teams a lot of opportunities last year, Rockhurst. So, and you know, you mentioned, you know, you'd expect them to go or at least compete for a conference championship. Well, I think the Lewis Flyers might have something to say about that.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

Yeah, I think you're right. So let's talk about them. They, I think they were really dangerous and they came into their own last year.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

Yeah, Coach Peruzzi is, you know, he's making national noise. Other coaches were talking about him, like, wow, Lewis, whoo, Lewis, you know, playing competitively and doing really well and then in a tough conference. They went nine and six last year overall, three and three in conference. But they had to play Lindenwood, they had to play UND, you know, two top five teams right there.

SPEAKER_03 10:11

Right. And the two things I also saw in their their wins last year. They beat Seton Hill early in the season to get ranked. And that was a signature win, a statement win for them. And they beat Maryville twice. Yeah. Which is a big deal. Now, once again, the way they do it in the GLVC now and then is they play, it looks like they play a team in their conference. They counted it as an out-of-conference game. It's not it's not counted in their conference record. Right. Um, they so they got Merryville twice last year. Now this year, they're out of conferences. They start off right off the bat. This is just a scrimmage, but they're scrimmaging Lindenwood to start their season. Yeah. Now that doesn't tell you what what Peruzi's trying to do and where he's trying to keep the bar for them. I don't know what does. Then they've got, I mean, their schedule is stacked. Lake Erie, Roberts Wesleyan, Lenore Ryan, North Greenville, Belmont Abbey, Lise McCrae, Alabama Huntsville, Walsh, and Wheeling.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

That's a great out-of-conference schedule for Lewis. If Lewis goes 60% on them, watch out.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Oh, without a doubt. Without a doubt. And I think even last year, if you look at their their stats, their team stats, they were really respectable from a team perspective. You know, face-off was 44%, which is, you know, you can win with that. Manup was at 33%. They were pretty even against their opponents in most of the, you know, if you look at ground balls, cows turnovers, they were really close. Now, the one thing that they want to kind of change, which was really close, was their goals against and their goals per game, was really about even, right? You know, obviously you want to be have more goals per game than goals against, and I think that's where they can do it. But they've got their top three scores returning Evan Clement, Baden Boyanko, and Nolan Depp. So they've got the core coming back to do that.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

Evan Clement had 25 goals and 23 assists, Kev. That's 48 points, man. And Braden Boyenko, he was third in the GLVC in scoring last year with 34 goals. So the kid's a player, you know, they clear at 85%. They, you know what, though? They only average about 36 shots a game. I think in order to get the goals to where there's more goals than goals against, I think they're gonna have to throw up to about 45 to 49 shots a game.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

And maybe, you know, they're because their D is returning too with Zach Merwan, uh Soran Thrall, and Tyler Scheibley Abling, that may help because now they're more solidified there. But they also have a MIDI. Danny, that's returning. Zan Brewe. Get his stats from last year. 39 ground balls, 15 cost turnovers, seven goals, and five assists.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

That's a defensive D MIDI stud right there.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

Because he's helping in transition.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

Yeah, awesome. Yeah, that's a good player. Coach Peruzzi, he knows how to recruit. He's a Belmont Abbey guy. He's been with Coach Barrett a long time. He knows the game, he knows the uh the avenues to get recruits and get guys there. And um, you know what? They got 14 freshmen coming in this this year. So the fly the flyers are gonna be good. They're gonna be deep, they're gonna be competitive, and you know what, with with out-of-conference games like Lake Erie and Roberts Wesling and Lenore Ryan, that's gonna just hone that team in.

SPEAKER_03 13:44

Yeah, I agree. I see this team North Greenville, another one, you know. I just I just see this team gonna keep on climbing to trying to be at the top spot with you, Indy.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

I mean, what what Coach Peruzzi's been able to do in such a short period of time there is nothing less than remarkable, and the and the country knows it. So Lewis is in the GLVC, they're a competitive team. They were young last year, they got a lot of their studs coming back. They're gonna be uh a team to reckon with in the GLVC. And like I said, if they can go 60 to 70 percent with their out of conference schedule, which I think is possible, yeah, they're they're gonna be they're gonna find themselves in the top 20, Cap.

SPEAKER_03 14:31

Yeah, I agree. Now, here's another team that I think has a good chance of being in the top 20, and that's the Merriaville Saints. Yeah, Coach Stark. Now they they were nine and five overall last year and only two and four in the conference. A lot of that had to do, some of that had to do, I think, with Lewis just having their number, and I guarantee you, Coach Stark doesn't want that this year. Yeah, yeah. He's gonna be coming out, but you know, their overall record was still an improvement from 2021.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Yeah, they went seven and one out of conference last year. That's that's remarkable.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Yeah, and and so and their only loss out of conference was against an in-conference rival, Lewis. They just didn't count it as a conference game. So they swept their out of conference. Right, pretty much. Yeah. So this year they're out of conference. Guess who they start with? Lenore Ryan. Yeah. Lenore, they go Lenore Ryan, Lincoln Memorial, Walsh, Westminster, Mercyhurst, Alabama, Huntsville, Montevallo, and then CSU Pueblo. Yeah, it's a pretty tough out-of-conference schedule, wouldn't you think?

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Most definitely. Lenore Ryan, Montevallo, and Mercyhurst, right there. Bang, bang, bang. That's yeah. That's that's a good out-of-conference schedule. Uh, Maryville, the Saints.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

The Saints are gonna have to have their last three out-of-conference games are played in seven days. Oh boy. They go Sunday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, or something like that. Oh boy, that's tough, man. But I think that schedule is gonna get them ready for conference play. Now, they've got some key losses to graduation. Tyler Wenck, uh Parker Lee, and Tim McCarthy, which was kind of their core leadership from last year. But they're returning a bunch of guys that were all conference.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Yeah, they had the uh GLVC freshman of the year last year, too, in Clayton Clarette, man, with 16 goals and 12 assists. So he's coming back as a sophomore. I'm sure he's gonna be a lot better this year. Got Zach Baker coming back, 17 goals, 20 assists. That guy's 250 pounds, Kev. That's a man. Forget about it. That's a man right there. That's a man right there. And Reed Hurst, he's coming back, he's a phenomenal player. 25 goals, 14 assists, put up 39 a point, 39 points last year. You know, Maryville's a solid team. Solid.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

Well, and they're also getting back Mitch Kay and Ben Foster, who are both seniors this year. They returned, they both had ACL injuries that kept him out of the season last year. So if you look at it from having key players coming back and also leadership, because they lost the leadership, that mantle is now gone to Mitch and Ben to take over. And they're adding 14 freshmen in. So with that mix, I think they've got they've got all the key ingredients so that they can put together and actually go for a better run in conference than what they had last year.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Well, they got, you know, they got to do what they did last year out of conference, they got to do that first, okay? And that's not gonna be an easy task with LR and Mercy Hurst and Monte Valo um and and Alabama Huntsville on that. Hey, let's not count out Westminster either. Westminster's a pretty solid team that that can make a lot of noise as well. Without a doubt. Again, I think the Saints are pretty, pretty solid. You know, at face off last year, they were at 52%, which is phenomenal. Um, if they average 44 shots per game, their man up was at 24%. They could probably want to do a little bit better there, but they clear it 90%. And they average about 12 goals a game. They probably want to get that up. So if they can improve on their man up and get three or four more goals a game, if they can start averaging like 13, 14, 15 goals a game, they're gonna be a real tough out, too. I'm interested to see where Maryville goes this year.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

Uh, I am too, but I will tell you, I think based on the makeup of their team this year and the conference, out of conference schedule they've got lined up, I think Coach Stark is going to have these guys ready to go to try to turn around that conference record from last year.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

Here's another thing about the GLVC. First of all, it's cold as hell in Missouri out there when their season starts. Michigan, yeah, all of all these teams. These kids are tough, Kev. They're tough. I've watched you know Lewis and Maryville play last year. I watched Lewis and Davenport play last year. I watched Undy play. I watched Lewis play a couple of times because I really like Joe Peruzzi. I think he's a great coach. And these these kids get after it, Kev. There's that's no joke. It's a physical league, man. The GLVC. They got a lot of Canadians, they got a lot of those Minnesota, Michigan tough blue, you know, blue-collar tough boys, you know, kids that played football and lacrosse. Yeah, you love those kids.

SPEAKER_03 19:41

Well, and that's the and that's the same thing if you watch the Maryaville Rockers games, too. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Those games they they they get after it, man. They all want, they all want each other's ass, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Yeah, yeah. And there's we got two more teams to play to talk about. And I'll tell you, both of these teams, I think, are sleepers. It may not be this year, but I'll tell you, let's look at the first one, Davenport, the Panthers out in Michigan, five and eight last year in 2022, one and five uh in conference, but they did well out of conference, being Wheeling, Flagler, Emmy Riddle, and CSU Pueblo.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

There you go. That's what you have to do, you know, to get the program up to that next level.

SPEAKER_03 20:26

So, and if you look at it, they now, like we talked about some teams in the sack, they now have depth on their roster. They are up to 35 players on their roster, up from 24 last year. And they have a transfer from Wingate on the defensive side, Brody Baker, who lives in Michigan. I'm assuming maybe he he wanted to be closer to home, but I think that's a a nice piece adding to their defense.

SPEAKER_02 20:58

Yeah, 100%. He's a very good defensive player. But you know what? Davenport Panthers, they struggle a little bit. They struggled a little bit last year. You know, they're only averaging about 30 33 shots a game, Kev. That's not a lot. That's not a lot. You you you want to do more than that. Their man up was at 36%. That wasn't bad. Their face-offs at close to 50%, yeah, and they clear at 85%. They just can't stop teams. They can't stop teams. That's the problem with Depp.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Well, and the good news is that they've got some some defensive players coming back, their LSM Griffin Pole, 42 ground balls, 11 cause turnovers, and their defender Andy Trapp with 28 ground balls and 21 cause turnovers return. I said if you like I said, if you add in Brody Baker, maybe their their defense becomes a little bit better and you can stop them. And as we have seen, once you stop, maybe that that starts to bring up your your shots.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Yeah, you know, uh having having a um a season defense is important. The division two at this level, Kev. You gotta have good defenders back there, guys, that can really make things happen. And you know what? They're gonna they're a year older, a year bigger, a year smarter, a year wiser. So they should be a little bit better on the defensive side. They still have James Johnson coming back who had 29 goals and 13 assists last year. And Dylan Day is coming back, 27 goals and four assists. So they got players there that can put the biscuit in the basket. They just gotta keep the other teams out of their defensive side, you know.

unknown 22:33

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

They got a nice little out-of-conference schedule, too.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Yeah. So they start off with Indiana Tech. Uh a few others are playing them, and they're an NAIA team. CSU Pueblo, Roberts Wesleyan, Alabama, Huntsville, Montevallo, Lake Erie, Wheeling and Walsh.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Yeah, that's pretty, that's pretty decent.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

So that I think that's really good for them. I mean, I think there's a lot of teams in there, um, if you look at Wheeling and Walsh that uh are comparable to them uh right now. And I think that will and then they've got some stretch teams, you know, they've got some really tough ones in there. If you count that middle, middle group of Roberts Wesleyan, Alabama, Huntsville, Montavalo, and Lake Erie in a row. That's gonna test them. But I'll tell you, the other good thing for them is that Maryville, Lewis, and Rockhurst come to them this year. Yeah, yeah. It's big to have those home games, you know. You get your home crowd and get your home crowd. Especially if you look at the how far these teams in the GLBC have to go. I mean, especially if you look at where Davenport is in Michigan and having to go, you know, now Lewis as far as Alabama, you know, yeah, or or going down to having to go to Missouri to play in Rockhurst or or to play um Meryville, right? So I think I think that will help them out a little bit in that sense. I think that they could be, I think we're gonna see improvement in this team this year. Whether or not we see a huge improvement and what it shows in their in their overall win record, win-loss record, I don't know, but I think you're gonna see some improvements. Just like we saw some improvements in their face-off and other stats last year. I think now that they have a deeper bench, they've got some key players coming back. I think they could be a totally different team this year.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Yeah, let's see what happens. Hopefully, the freshmen, they get some couple of freshmen that can make some noise and bring them up a rung or two on the ladder, you know. Because let me tell you something, it's not gonna be easy for this Davenport team playing a rock host and the Lewises. And, you know, no, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 24:43

It could a bit of a now just remember this team and also Quincy that we're gonna talk about in a minute, they they really started in 2020 as well. Davenport came in, they were a club team, and they came in and now are playing D2. Quinn and same thing with Lewis. Lewis is just knocked it out of the park, where these other ones are still struggling to get there, but they seem like they're kind of put putting the pieces together. Davenport looks a lot better, and Quincy. Let's talk about them. Their roster is up around 40 from 25 last year. That's a big difference, man. Yeah, that's huge. Yeah, yeah. Now they were four and ten last year and oh and six in the conference. I don't think they've won a conference game yet, and I think that is goal number one for them. But they played some good teams close last year in CSU Pueblo and Colorado Mesa. So I think depth was a key issue. Quincy, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 25:38

They still won four games, Kev. It's not like they went goose eggs because there's other squads out there that you know put up goose eggs in conference and in overall, but not Quincy. Again, this is a hard-hitting cold weather blue-collar conference that has to travel. That has to travel. They're going down to Florida, they're going to Alabama, they're going to North Carolina, they're going to South Carolina to get games in. I mean, Quincy is no different. They got Lake Erie, they have Malone on their schedule this year to the new team. They're going to be playing Wheeling, Colorado Mesa. That's a tough conference. Monteval, and they're going down to Florida to play PBA, Palm Beach Atlantic, and Flagler.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

So this is a this is a team that's putting, stepping up to the plate and swinging away, man, with with teams like that on their out-of-conference schedule.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

Yeah, that is a that is a schedule, out of conference schedule for them that even if they don't win is going to get them more seasoned as a team. And if you look at when I look at a lot of these teams that have losing records the previous season, what I try to look at is what were their stats in 2021 versus stats in 2022? And the thing I see with Quincy is they improved across the board. So if you look at it, they were at 7.7 goals per game, which was in 2022, which, oh, by the way, it doesn't sound like much, but it was an improvement from 2021. They increased their shots to 33 shots per game when they were down in the 20s in 2021. So and their man up was at 21%, vice five percent in the 2021 season.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

Yeah. And their face-off wasn't bad, close to 50% at the face-off, but they were only averaging 33 shots. See, see, these these these I guess you I guess we could call them the lower echelon teams of this conference are only averaging 30, 30, 35, 33 shots a game.

SPEAKER_03 27:42

But the the thing I yeah, the thing I point out with that, you're right, they got to get higher, but they seem to do that from year to year. And so their next progression is to get to that 40 plus.

SPEAKER_02 27:52

But I what I was just gonna say is now you you put your roster from 25 to 40, you got fresh legs now. Now you can compete a little bit, you can do things at practice, you can practice clearing and and with all with all the defense there and and everybody doing their thing. You can do so much more in practice, running drills-wise. Now, you know, depth is important to these schools. Very important. If they want to compete for depth, they need the depth, and they're putting the depth together. So if you look at the GLVC overall, top to bottom, it's growing. It's growing by, you know. I mean, we lost Lindenwood, but there's more players joining teams in the GLVC now.

SPEAKER_03 28:35

Right. And then they're we're gonna gain uh William Jewell as a team next year. So yeah, and and so just to go one more step here, their top four scores at Quincy are returning and Jordan Ernst, Jamie Brain, uh Preston Willman, and Blaine Lawrence. So I mean, I I think with their out-of-conference schedule being as strategic as it is and going to be a real test to see where they really are this year, it may be their time to break out a little bit more, get above that four and ten record that they had. I say they win more than four games, Kev. I tell you, I think they could win their first conference game. Let's let's uh let's hope and pray. Yeah. Well, for Coach Ruppel. Why don't we bring Coach Ruppel in right now? I think that's a great idea, Kyle.

Coach Ruppel of Quincy

SPEAKER_03 29:32

Hey coach, welcome. How are you doing tonight? Oh, fantastic. Thank you for having me on.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

Hey, Coach Eric Ruppel from Quincy University. Thank you so much for making the time to come on the podcast for this one.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

So, and let's just start off, Coach. Uh, we talked about that before we started recording. How last year, when we did the intro for and the preview for GLVC, I'll be honest, Danny and I knew nothing about Quincy and your team. You know, we we were just we were neophytes a little bit in the GLVC and certainly on some of the teams that we we really hadn't seen played. Um, and then through the season, I got to watch your team a little bit and got to know you, and we sent out information. You sent some really important information I think people don't realize about Quincy. First of all, you're a very young program. You started in 2020, right when COVID hit, and and it shut down the program. So, what was that like starting the program that year, probably with high hopes, at least to get things going and and to be shut down?

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Yeah, um, you know, we the recruit year went really well. Um, we had four games into our season. Uh, we started our spring break trip, actually. It's a little cold over here, so we start a little bit later than most. We were down in Tennessee and we started watching the basketball tournaments. And I think it was the A10. They pulled them off the court. We're in the hotel room watching this NCAA team that pulled off the court, and my boys are just looking at me like, uh, what about us? Uh, two days later, we had to drive back from Alabama, uh, from Huntsville, Alabama. Uh, we were, I think, the last Division II game played, and it was only game four or five for us. It was very, very young into the season. And then they immediately had to go home. And to have an entirely freshman crew go home, and no one knew what was going to happen next uh was a little bit uh eye-opening for me. I think every coach in the nation probably felt that way as well. Yeah, but our guys, I mean, Quincy's in the exact middle of the country. All of our guys were flights away at the time, minus the Chicago and St. Louis guys. Um, so it was real touch and go on if they were able to come back and if things were gonna go normal. Uh, luckily, now we're in the future, things went well. Most of them did come back um out of that original class. I still have 10 on the team, uh, getting ready to play in their senior year part one, because they'll get next year as well.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Um, which was a huge testament to those guys. The minute the school opened back up, they said, Yeah, we're coming back. Um we were able to recruit a little bit, a lot of that second class, um, which my son now juniors are kind of the heavy hitters on the team. A lot of them had to come sight unseen. They just had to kind of take a chance on on anywhere. You know, no one could really recruit. Uh, they did, they have done valiantly. And then since then, the ball has kind of started to roll. But it it took some time. Um, you know, the whole second year we go conference only, so I can't really put them up against teams kind of of comparable strengths. The GLVC that year, uh I mean, the GLVC year in and year out is a monster, but that year we had four teams in the top 20. Yeah. I had guys who had only played five games ever. Um, so all of us new programs struggled a little bit that year. Um we got the worst end of it. Um, and then last year kind of felt like our first real season. And that's kind of how I expected it to go. You know, we'd win some games, we'd lose some games close. You know, sometimes you just get every short stick possible. I think we played Lindawood and UND with six starters out injured. But last year was the good growing pains. They did every facet. They were in tight games, uh, they won some games, they lost some games and had to realize they had to try a little bit harder. Um, but for the most part, uh they responded pretty valiantly, uh, especially this fall. Uh, it's been really fun to coach them through the fall because you know, I've got 20, 20 of them on the team that had to experience some level of college COVID. And so their motivations are strong.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

That's they're looking to get out and play ball for sure, man.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Yeah, and with this year's schedule, I'm making sure they can get out and play ball. Oh, yeah, yeah. 17 games.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

Yeah, well, let's talk about that really quickly and we'll go back. I looked at your out-of-conference schedule, and you have really stepped it up this year. You know, playing teams like Lake Erie, Colorado Mesa, Monte Valo, Flagler, uh, Palm Beach Atlantic. That's awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

Yeah, we're going for it. What are you looking for in those schedules? Yeah. So I the the biggest thing more than anything else is just finally getting these guys out at a national level schedule. You know, year one, COVID, couldn't do anything. Year two, conference only, couldn't really do anything. Year three, I played it extremely cautious. I stayed as close to Quincy as possible. Um NAIA's and some D3s for that. Uh, you know, we'll do the same this year. We'll stay a little close to. But I wanted, I mean, some of these guys have been here four years and haven't really gotten kind of that college, you know, spring break trip that a lot of teams do experience. You know, the one time they got it, they had to go home halfway through. So a pretty strong slate. We're playing the three GMAC teams. We're opening up at Lake Erie, as is tradition with us. Uh, we will open up with a neutral site game at Lewis. Um, shout out to O'Prozy for always making that happen. So it's good, man. It works out great for us. Uh, it gets both of us a game with usually a pretty decent level opponent. Last year was Wheeling, this year's Lake Erie. Um, and then we'll we'll always play rockers twice. They're just pretty close to us, relatively speaking. Um, there's this magical highway called Kansas City, Chicago, it's just way, and it goes through Quincy. So we're about three hours from there. Um, and then I tried to strategize it a little bit. We we wanted to return a trip uh to wheeling. Uh, I thought that was pretty important for Coach Bradshaw to get that game, and I'm happy we could. Uh, we're gonna play Malone, which will be a first-year D2.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

And then we go into a couple D3 games. Monmouth College is right up the road from us. They're about an hour and 15 minutes. It's it's a D3 game, but it's also kind of a no-brainer from a travel perspective.

SPEAKER_03 36:02

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

When we're in this part of the country, you know, we got to make it happen, however, we can. And then neutral site, Mesa at Rockhurst. We had a pretty good game against Mesa last year. So we're really excited to play them again. I know, I know Troy's gonna have those boys rolling. Um, and I hope Vince is happy with retirement in Florida, but uh we'll play. He sure he is. Oh, absolutely. Um, and then I wanted to challenge them a little bit. Our conference is extremely grueling, week in and week out. Yeah, GLVC, man, we are just a bunch of big corn fed kids that can hit really well. I was looking up uh this stat today because I wanted to make sure I would get some stats right. Uh, just about every single team in the GLVC is top 30 or above in defense, us included. Um, so you know, those polls can hit really hard. So I have to give them a little bit of a challenge. So if you teach belt champions at Montevallo, um Brian Duncan is doing a phenomenal job at Flagler, so we had to get them on the schedule. So you're going down, but you're going down. Yeah, well, it's the the second week of March is still a little cold in Quincy. We need some sun.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

But oh, it's at Quincy, they're not you're not going to say Flagler.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

Yeah, we're going to Flagler and Palm Beach Atlantic.

unknown 37:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

Kids aren't going to want to pack. Yeah, let them see the beach and and stuff. But I think Flagler's going to be a dark horse this year. So they they really picked it up. That first year for any D2 team is hard, but if anybody can give it done to Ken. Um, and then Paul Palm Beach Atlantic, I figured was just a pretty good game for our points. They're pretty similar to us in the SSC. Same values for the university, which I think are kind of important at times. Um, and then we come back, we play uh Pueblo and Adam State again, and then we go into conference. So it's it's gonna be a test for these guys. Now I've got about 40 on the team these days, so we've got we've got some health, and uh, we're pretty deep at at most positions. So great, you know, it'll be grueling, but I think we'll be able to manage.

SPEAKER_02 38:05

So things are looking, Quincy. You're like you sound excited for the season, coach. Oh, absolutely excited.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

So let's talk about your team. Now you are returning 100% of last year's roster and team that was there on both sides of the ball. So, how do you feel? You feel like your team has finally found its footing, as you you said to me on that email. And what is that? That must be exciting. The the boys must be excited.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Well, we're we're not gonna finish in the 60s and goals scored. Uh um, I think a big part of it, our defense gelled very quickly uh last year and could really keep us in games. Um, we held a couple teams to kind of their statistical lows for a win or a loss, whatever. Uh, but they they really proved their worth. Um, the offense, we had a little bit of growing pain still. Division two lacrosse in general, you just have to be a little bit older. You know, it's an academic sport, it's very junior, senior heavy, and we were mostly sophomores. So you could tell in some games we were getting it, in some games we were just a little young and kind of making some mistakes still. Oh uh, and then you know, our uh our leading point scorer, Jordan Ernst, goes out for a couple games with an injury, kind of leaving Jamie Brain, not by his lonesome. We've got some guys, but Jamie Brain is a different animal. Um, we're very happy to have him. So, what I did this year is well, you know, starting two years ago, I kind of saw this on the wall. So we started recruiting heavily, heavily offensively. Some cards fell in the right direction. So I think we've got some guys that can work around those two. The others around them are now just getting older and better. Um, our attack line is all juniors. Uh, our first and second midfield line is uh juniors and sophomores and seniors. You know, not starting a freshman is probably a blessing for me at this point, because for the last three years a freshman started at some point, whether it was because I wanted them to or not. Uh now the freshmen get to learn a little bit, and these guys who have now been playing for two and a half years at the college level can really find their foot, which I'm extremely excited for. You know, last year we had two guys score 30 point 30 plus points. Um, those were my two heavy hitters. They're back, they're still in the starting lineup. Uh, but we have some pieces around them to maybe not get them as smothered as they were last year. I think we've got a really good balance for our starting sets.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

That sounds great. What more can you want it? You sound so enthusiastic. We're looking really looking forward to the season. That's great. I I'm hoping that Quincy can really, you know, make that step, make that step, that you know, that next step, because that GLVC is a tough one, man. It is, and you get there too, but you got the weather, it's cold, it's nasty at the beginning of the season. I know how it can be.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Yeah, so we'll we'll see how they do. I'm I'm very excited. Um, obviously, but I think this is the first year where everything is starting to kind of go right, and then all of the things that could possibly go wrong that are out of our control are kind of over. You know, the the boys have been here a while, so grades aren't an issue. Getting here is not an issue. You know, it it is kind of hard to get here those first couple times because you have to fly into St. Louis or Chicago and then drive a bit. Now the boys have their patterns and they know how to get here, they know when to be here, they know in shape. You know, that first those first couple years, especially with uh, you know, young freshmen, they'll go home for winter break and just sit. You know, now this winter break, they're working out, they're running, um, heavy, heavy sprinting to be specific. Um and not just sitting on the couch playing video games. But I also, you know, they they got a schedule that they're excited for. There's some things that we've done as a program over the last year that has really helped step up uh a lot of culture things that we do that they just really appreciate. Um we redid our locker room. Uh you know, our locker room is technically brand new, but it was built interesting to say the least. So over summer I demoed a little bit of it and opened up some space, and now it looks like a real locker room, which is exciting. The police are ecstatic. Um there's just a lot of buy-in from the place all over the place, uh, which we're I mean, I'm really happy for. So, you know, in our case, January can't come soon enough.

SPEAKER_03 42:43

Yeah, yeah. So let me we talked about this quickly, and Danny mentioned it, and of course you did too, the GLVC. You know, last year you're four and ten, but you're oh and six in conference. So, what do you think it's gonna take this year? And I'm gonna say this year you win a conference game. What is it? What uh what's the missing piece? Is it now that you've got more seniority in your guys, or is it something that you feel that you to get that GLVC win?

SPEAKER_00 43:10

Um, I absolutely think it has to do with seniority. Um, we were put into some situations last year where we could take over games. And we just, you know, our defense was keeping us in a ton of games. Um, you know, Meryville, we were in, uh Lewis, we were in for a bit. Um Davenport for some reason is just always our worst game ever. They have to come to us though this year for the first time.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

Um, but we were in we were in a couple of those games, and you know, that just instinct to uh put the pedal down and go, we just didn't quite have. Um, you know, we played those stretch of games where I we had Mesa in between conference games. And if you look at those stats, you know, the the scores start getting lower and lower. And lower as we go, which was great defensively. But offensively, those scores kept going lower and lower and lower as well. So our guys just couldn't really get that instinctual. All right, I'm going to put the ball on the back of the net. I think some was age, uh, some was discipline. And it was a big point of emphasis with my entire offense this fall. They owned up to it. I owned up to it. We said, guys, something's got to change. And we all kind of agreed on a couple things that we're going to do. The boys bought into it, and the fall went very, very well for us. We played a couple fallball games and I had to pull in the reins. So I'm happy. That's great. But we'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_03 44:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:42

Um, we buy it, we have the age.

SPEAKER_02 44:45

So you got depth, and you got the kids, like you said, got a couple of years on, you know, they know what it's like to be in VC. They know what it's like to play all the opponents. And uh, you know, sometimes kids get tired of getting around. They just like change and you get a little change on offense, a couple couple of new guys come in, put a little spark into it. And it really could change things. I'm looking forward to watching Quincy just by the way talking to us tonight, you know, because honestly, I've never seen you play. And Kevin, I watch a lot of games. We'll watch three, four, five, six a week. Well, I have no life, so that's what I do. I'll come home from work three, four o'clock, and I'll throw on a stream game from Wednesday or a Thursday game. I'll catch one. Or maybe you know, I'll watch two or three games Saturday if it's cold in on Long Island. So if it's if it's really cold, I'll just come home and watch. I'll just stream games. Hey, well, who's playing now? Okay, I'll watch them. And so this year, I'm gonna put right on the top of my board to watch you guys for sure this year.

SPEAKER_00 45:52

Yeah, we I mean we've got some good ones. That Mesa game will be good. Anytime we play a conference game is obviously gonna be very good.

SPEAKER_01 45:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:00

Um, and then I I really think that Flagler game, uh, you know, I can't say enough good things about those coaches and that program. Yes, gonna be one to watch.

SPEAKER_02 46:10

You know, well, how do you what do you think about being goodbye? Not having to face them again.

SPEAKER_00 46:17

You know, okay, so from uh a planning standpoint, um, it hurts. They're our closest competition. It's an hour and 35 minutes to Linda Wood's campus. Um but I mean, dear lord, if they didn't look the part last year already with um all of their fifth years and transfers, I think they're gonna do fine in the A Sun overall. You know, they're probably gonna have some growing pains year one, of course, going up to that next level. But I mean, Jimmy's gonna have them rolling. It's a beautiful campus, it's a good program. I think they'll be fine.

SPEAKER_02 46:50

So do I. I do too. Actually, I was kind of disappointed to see them go. I like the big dogs, you know, playing that pull across two. You really brings the attention to it, you know. You don't realize, but talk about it at the time that there's so much D1 caliber players playing division two level for whatever reason. They got through the crowd, grew late, or they weren't with the right summer team, or they weren't with the right high school team, or things happen, you know, and the next thing you know, you got some kid on the division two team, and you're like, what school? Where's that? And the next kid's an all-american, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 47:27

So um, and I mean, we're we're not we're not done to that either. You know, I've got I've got a D1 kid on my team who did pretty well, and just for whatever reason, he's here now and he's doing phenomenal. He was injured last year, but that's okay. But yeah, I mean, week in and week out, you're seeing all these top-tier kids play. And I I think some of it is that there's just not a ton of D1s or D2s, so I think the pull saturates a little bit. Um, I think lacrosse nationally at the high school level is to a point where you know they could probably flourish with some more teams, but you know, for whatever reason, they're not there yet. But I think Lindenwood and Queens going up, and then now future Le Moine going up will probably only help. And then D2, I mean, even in our conference, um, you know, next year we add William Jewell. Right. So we'll have another team in the conference and hopefully a couple more because the GOVC is a conference, it's huge. It's 14 teams. So if we could even have half of those or a little bit more than half, it's gonna help travel and it's only gonna help competition. You know, I came from the RMAC originally, and no one really ever wants to deal with that, where it's only four teams year in and year out, and you don't know who you're gonna play, and you got to double round Robin. Uh we're fortunate enough to be in a location where, you know, we'll we'll play a couple teams twice just to you know keep the budget happy, but we can still get out and play. And more conference teams add, the more we're gonna be able to go out and play teams.

SPEAKER_03 48:56

Without a doubt. And and we've I've talked about this with Danny. It is a shame to see those schools go, but at the same time, we've got schools like yours, Coach, that are young and they're hungry, and they could become in the next five, 10 years, the next Linenwood, the next Queens. And that's what excites me about where D2 is going. And really excited to have you on tonight and talk to you and hear more about your program. Like Danny said, we we didn't know much about it last year. I watched a game or two during the season, and I'm telling you, it is gonna be fun to watch this year. So thank you so much for coming on.

SPEAKER_00 49:33

Oh, thank you for having me. This has been a pleasure, Coach Rule.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

I can't say how much we appreciate you coming on. You are a great tonight. We really enjoyed everything you said about Quincy. It's sounds like the program is moving in the right direction and moving in the right direction quickly. You have a nice size roster, you have a great out-of-conference schedule, and uh and of course a tough GLVC schedule. So really looking up at Quincy. I'm I'm really looking forward to watching you guys this year. I really, really am. Oh, thank you. I appreciate

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_02 50:07

it.

SPEAKER_03 50:08

Danny, after our preview of the GLEC and talking with Coach Ruppel, I think the GLVC is going to be really intriguing to watch this year, even with Lynn and when God, like I said at the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 50:20

I agree, Kev. Again, again, you know, a blue-collar physical conference with good teams, Undy being a national powerhouse, Rockhurst doing a lot of damage last year. Lewis, an up-and-coming team, what Coach Bruce has been able to do in such a short period of time. Maryville on its way up, you know, did the great in the stats last year. Clayton Clarette, freshman of the year. Davenport, you know, again, they got a couple of things to work on, but they got more players coming in. And and Quincy now as well. You know what? I like this conference. It's a scary conference. I don't know if teams want to play teams in the GLVC. You know, like, hey, we got Lewis coming in. That's not going to be an easy game, you know.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

You look up and down this conference, there's only six teams, but there's four strong teams, and then two other teams that are going to try to be dangerous this year now that they have depth.

SPEAKER_02 51:18

Yeah, it's a conference everybody has to uh acknowledge and recognize about the teams from the GLVC. I mean, they're just it's not a pushover conference. I mean, people might say, where's Davenport? No, they they they they got players out there, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, they and they they're gonna get better and better. And this whole this whole conference is a scary conference. I wouldn't want to play any team in this conference, really. If I had to go to their home field, because it doesn't get warm there until what, like after July 4th weekend, right? I know I'm just teasing, but man, it's cold up there, man. I was like watching last year. They pushed snow to the side of the field. Yeah, you know, people in park is at the game, you know.

SPEAKER_03 52:07

I love it because I'm here watching it on my monitors instead of there in the stands. But you know, that was it's uh it was a really good rundown. Hey, so but before we move on and close out tonight, we have a little late. When I say late, not breaking news, but late as we didn't catch this lacrosse news. That it's our our crack research team let us down again, Danny. We may have to fire them, but then we wouldn't have a podcast. Uh after so after our CACC preview, one of our listeners, Bill North, reached out to us, let us know that there's a new coach at Chestnut Hill, which I did not catch. Jim DeCarlo has taken over for Mike Terranova. Now, Coach Terranova moved on to become the director of lacrosse operations at Harvard. Wow. But Coach DeCarlo has been a fixture in Chestnut Hill's lacrosse program for the past seven years. So he was a player from 2014 to 2017, and since then he's been an assistant. So I that seems like a damn good choice to take up for Coach Steranova, if you ask me. Yeah, they're gonna go right to the they'll be at the conference championships next year at Chestnut Hill.

SPEAKER_02 53:22

They'll be there. I didn't know that either. I didn't, I just heard that news. But where'd you say he went?

SPEAKER_03 53:27

He went to Harvard to be director of the yeah, he's the director of lacrosse operations now. We wish him well, and of course, we certainly wish Coach DiCarlo well as he takes over Chestnut Hill. Yeah, good luck, Coach DeCarlo. Can't wait to get you on the show. That's a great idea and a great way to end the show. But until then, Danny, I think that's a wrap. That's a wrap, Devon.