Conference Previews for the 2023 season - GMAC

GMAC Preview

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 with me as always is our top chef adding the great ingredients and making the sauce for D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Cooking it up, Kev. We're cooking it up tonight, baby. We're cooking it up. We got all the ingredients tonight. How's it going in Northern Virginia this evening?

SPEAKER_03 0:41

What can I say, Danny? Anytime I get to talk lacrosse with you is a great day. Yeah, man. It's fun.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

It's fun, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Let's move on. We get to talk and discuss another great conference tonight. This time, we have a conference, once again, that is very competitive across, but it still has some top dogs. And they, those two top teams, they gave us a thrill last year throughout the season. Oh, yeah. I'm talking about the great Midwest Athletic Conference, the GMAC. GMAC conference. Tough man. Yeah, eight teams in this conference. But do you want to start with the two kept battling each other out last season?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

The perennial national powerhouses. You got two in one conference. Yeah. Perennial national powerhouses every year. You have the Seton Hill Griffiths and the Mercyhurst Lakers every year. You can count on it. Just, you know, if you got if you're a gambling guy, they're going to be in it at the end. They go to the NCAAs, they're there. It's just, it's what a what a conference to have two national powerhouses in one conference. Yeah. And these guys, when they play each other, they go at it, Kev. Yeah. They go at it. It's as good a cross as you can get.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So yeah, let's talk about that. Let's the first one I remember is the first uh game they played against each other. Uh Mercyhurst, it was at night game. It was like, I think like 30 degrees there. I'm sitting out on my back deck in a short sleeve shirt, and I'm comfortable, and everyone else is in hoodies, not even hoodies, like winter jackets up there. It was senior night, I think, for uh for um for Mercy Hurst. For Mercy Hearst. Yeah. That was an unbelievable game. Unbelievable game. But let's get to it. Let's talk about Mercy Hearst first and go through it for them. So they were 11-5 last year, but they were 6-0 in conference because they beat Seton Hill in that regular season game. However, Seton Hill came back and they beat him in the GMAC finals, and then they beat him in the NCAA quarterfinals, which was another thriller. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Beat him two weeks in a row. That's what's so really kind of cool about two lacrosse, man. These played in the same conference, played each other, you know, each one won. But Seton Hill comes back. Seton Hill didn't have a start of a season last year. They had a little couple injuries in the beginning of the season, better players, but as each game, they just got better and better and better and better. Then wound up taking the GMAC championship last year, taking it from Mercy Hearst in the end. In a thrilling game. A thrilling game.

SPEAKER_03 3:42

Yeah. But a little bit more on Mercy Hearst for this next year. As you can imagine, they had great team stats. 17 goals per game, goals against average at 9.2, their man up was at 45%, their face-off was 69%, and clearing was 85%. I mean, it's like you talked about. It's like an automaton. They always have those kind of stats for their team. They're amazing. Yeah. And they're bringing back their top three scores. Ethan Landamore, Bryce Johnson, and Miles Hamm.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Those guys led the country like as a group last year scoring, if I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

Yeah, so Bryce is a MIDI, and Ethan and Miles are attackmen. And both of those guys, the transfers from D1, both Canadians.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Right. And Landamore was a first team All-American, man. Yeah. He was put in a basket. How many points did he have?

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Well, he had 71 goals and 15 assists. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Oh boy. And he's coming back with another year of Gern Stronger.

unknown 4:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Oh my Lord, they're going to be tough, man.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

Yeah. And then on D, Liam Bogaden was a senior, so I don't know if he's coming back for fifth year, but they do return Gavin Ingalls, Stephen Morley, Charlie Gleason, and Derek Cohut. So once again, even when these type of teams lose players, they reload. And it looks like for Mercyhurst, they're not really losing much this year.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

They never lose anything, Kevin. Since I've been involved with Division, Mercyhurst, they don't they don't have any damn players. They just keep retooling. What did Coach Ryan say to us? He has he goes after Division I players. Yeah. Yeah. He wants Division I players to tell him no. And then he joked that he got he gets told no more often than yes. He's a funny guy. Yeah. So Chris Ryan, you know.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

Chris Ryan now has a has a PL championship under his belt.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Yep. Yeah, he's making money, man. He's got bank. He's got bank, Coach Ryan at the for the Lakers. But you know what? They're a great squad. They do it year in and year out. Expect them to be good. You know what, though? What was surprising last year is four of their losses came to ranked squads.

SPEAKER_03 6:13

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

So, so you know, they're on the opposite side of those, you know, they're usually beating ranked squads most of the time. Right. But so they came up short in big games last year.

SPEAKER_03 6:28

Yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure that's something that uh Coach Ryan wants to do a little bit differently this year. So let's move on to Seton Hill. Now you look at their record was only 13 and 7. And like you said, they started off really slow. They lost to Lewis in their first game, and then Florida Tech, which was not ranked at the time. So I think there was a there was a point in the season where Seton Hill was not even ranked in the top 20.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Was it? There was a week where they weren't. And then they turned into like a two or three-week period where they weren't ranked. And then they started putting they started stringing some wins together.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Yeah, yeah. And so we we re reached out to Coach Navotany like we did the rest of the coaches, and I I have to read this from Coach Navotney. He said, as you know, and I feel like we say this every year, we graduated a really good group, several all-Americans, and those guys are always difficult to replace. This is not an unusual place for our program or our players, though. Good programs have to replace good players every year. I think the current crop of guys is hungry for that opportunity and the challenge. And I point that out because you know Coach Navat is going to have them ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Yeah, he's he's kind of an intense man, and I think he wants to get it done over there for Seton Hill. One of the first games that I saw my mid-son play was against Seton Hill. They were ranked number four in the country. That was eight, nine years ago. So every year, Seton Hill is in the mix, too. The Griffith, Navotney does a great job. He really does. And that's another thing that just retools their national powerhouse. Seton Hill, national powerhouse year in and year out.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

Yep. And on, you know, so for Seton Hill, they're going to be playing four different attackmen Andy Davis, Peyton Gensler, Jack Ellis, and Vinnie Cugliandro. They started seven different attackmen last year because of injuries. So all four of these guys played significant minutes, aren't going to bring that to the table this year. And then on the midfield, you know, what coach said is that's probably an area where there's going to be a little work in progress at this position, but they've got a bunch of guys coming back. Jeremy Sorz Swarzo, Grady Arnold, Justin Deanne, Cage Williams. They were all contributors last year, and Jeremy was their fourth leading scorer last year and one of their leaders. So and then they've got uh they've got a strong short stick All-American D MIDI coming back in cage. So that they've got some players coming back, including their goalie. Including their goalie, who their goalie Josh Miller. He started three-quarters of their games last year, and then Kevin Moe took back took it back over.

unknown 9:22

Right.

SPEAKER_03 9:24

But this guy got significant minutes, so you know he's battle tested.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yeah, you know, losing Moe is a big one, but you know, again, like Coach just gotta replace. Here we go. One guy gone, he graduates, gotta replace them. So he got at least he got with some minutes under his belt, and that should be good. But Coach Navotany's a really good again. They're coach, they're in their powerhouse, they're always ranged. They're gonna be in it no matter what. They'll be in it. You mark my words. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Okay, let's move on. Let's talk about Walsh, the Cavaliers.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Cavaliers.

SPEAKER_03 10:01

So they were four and ten last year. They were three and three in conference. When we talked to Coach Scovarch last year, he wanted to start out faster last year, but that really did not happen. They did not, I think they lost, I think they lost their first four or five games, maybe four games. So they're gonna have to, you know, obviously get on a faster start this year. They're out of conference, though, is is pretty tough. They've got Maryville and then Malloy and then DeUville. Then they go Frostburg, Davenport, Lewis, Mercyhurst, Roberts Wesleyan.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

That's tough out, that's tough out of conference right there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Yeah. They graduated 13 seniors, too. So that's going to be tough. Now they've got some notable returners coming back on attack. They've got junior Colby Bowman. He's been a two-year starting attackman. And then Isaac Sturts, who's a senior and looking to kind of balance things out and help to share the workload with Colby this year. And then once again, they've got some more senior guys, uh, upperclassmen for uh in MIDI. They've got Tosh Pazak and Evan Sturts, a junior and a senior, looking to step it up this year. They had good minutes and grew a lot last year, and they're they're hoping to come back. And then on defense, they've got uh junior and Matt Miller. He was a mid-year transfer last year, and he worked his way into a starting spot. So that's that's something positive to think about on their defensive side. And then they've got a sophomore, Mike Swalik. I hope he said his name right. He was third team all conference as a freshman last year. Yeah. So they've got some things to build upon, but they've got to do some improvement in face-off. They were at 36% last year.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah. And their man up wasn't very good. They only had 12 goals, 55 chances. Yeah. That's not that's not too good, you know. So they'll they'll have to clean up face-off, they'll have to clean up their man up. And three and three conference, it's you know, it's a it's a tough conference. So it doesn't surprise me at all. It is. But they need help. They need some help.

SPEAKER_03 12:16

So, I mean, I if you look at it, you look at kind of Walsh and Lake Erie, the next team we're gonna talk about, they're kind of at the the mid-tier level, I think, within the GMAC right now. Um, interestingly, and they're they just got to make that next step. They've got to win some of those out of conference. I think what Coach Skarch said for his team last year is exactly what he needs this year. They need to get some early wins. They need to stack up a few out-of-conference wins. And especially with that schedule for him, if they can do that, that'll really help them and build their confidence when they go into conference play. I agree, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

So let's competitive.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

Yep. You just hit the nail on the head, Danny. It's really becoming more competitive in some of the game in some of the games as well. Um, let's talk Lake Erie, the storm.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

The storm. I like the storm. It was pretty good last year, Kev. I knew it was going to be a better last year.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

So this is what's interesting. They they were in 7-7 last year, 4-2 in conference, and that was an improvement to from 2021. So Coach Ashton has really improved his record each of the past two years. And and my question looking at all this stuff, Danny, is is that the kind of the tipping point? Getting to 500, is that the tipping point where now he's he can move those scales past that? You know, it's still, you know, playing Mercy Hurst and Seaton Hill are one thing, but what can they do better out of conference and then in conference against those other teams?

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Well, Kev, you know what? They had some really good wins last year. They beat Frostburg State and they beat Lewis. You know, Lewis is a good team, and it's always Frostburg. Yeah, but you know, Frostburg that game back. But you know what? You uh like you said, Coach Ashton has improved that team from the year pretty they're pretty good at face-off. They were at like 60% last year. They're almost, you know, they're they're pretty good, man. They I feel they were one or two studs away from taking that next step. So I heard through the grapevine that they brought in a transfer attackman to look to to look to uh open up the offense a little bit. So maybe Lake Erie took that step by getting this transfer in. I don't have the kid's name right now. I do, but I don't want to mention it right now. There we go.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

But um, yeah, so I had my little uh Yeah, that I mean I think that would be interesting. They have their top scores from last year, returning Nick Askin and Dawson Kindle. So and they had a young deed last year with Colin Farrell, Tommy English.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Dawson Kindle. Dawson Kindle. Dawson Kindle, 6'5, 225, Cap. 6'5, 225 midfielder. Oh boy. Scary. I wish I had a train whistle right now. Train whistle. So yeah, that's that's scary. So you know what? Again, I felt that Lake Erie was one or two players away from taking that next step. Maybe they took that step this year.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

Yeah, I'll tell you what, last year, when the where they started off, I'm like, wow, they look much improved from what I remember the year before. And then they kind of took us taking a step back is wrong. And then they they you know they they didn't play as well. Now I had my probably my expectations up. And now they still improved, and I I believe they're gonna improve again this year.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

I I agree too, because they were young last year. Yeah. They were young. So a lot of these guys are coming back, you know, and if they can just clean up a certain first of all, they're they're in a league where Seton Hill and Mercy Hurst are two national powerhouses. Yeah. So, you know, that's just got to think about that. So they're gonna play those guys. That that toughens their team up. That gets them ready for the those next tier guys. Yeah. And if they can beat those next tier guys this year and not have any losses, because they b they were competitive in almost every game.

unknown 16:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Almost every game. Yeah. They got blown out in a few, but you know what? They're gonna be. They went four and two last year in conference, and and they were 500 at 7-7. So I expect to be a better. I hope that next step this year. Yep, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_03 16:47

Okay, let's talk Davis and Elkins, the Senators. Now remember new coach coming in last year, and really it's Coach Buzzard, who's the associate head coach, really runs it. They were 2-12 last year, one and five in conference, but that's not the interesting thing. I actually ran into Coach Buzzard and his team at the PLL semis in DC. They were sitting a few sections away from me and my son. So I went over to talk to Coach Buzzard. Actually, I went and find him, and he came over and talked to me because he wasn't there at that time. We had a great little discussion, you know. Bottom line is he feels they're in a better position this year. They had some injuries last year with a small roster that really hurt them during the season. He feels their roster's now like up at 33. They've got more of that depth. So they're in a much better position this year to compete. And I think they're out of conference. Based on what they're where they ended up last year at only 2-12, they got some heavy hitters for them. Roberts Wesleyan, St. Leo, Palm Beach Atlantic, and Lynn in their out of conference.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

That's a good out-of-conference schedule for Davidson Elkins. Yeah. Boys out, boys are out in West Virginia, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

So uh, you know, uh like we talked about with other teams in this thing, they need to improve their face-off and and ground balls and cause turnovers. They were didn't do as well as their opponents. And and obviously, those are key stats. If if you're losing the face-off and yet you can't turn the, you know, and you're on defense and you can't turn the ball over and get it back, you're you're you're behind. You're behind the A ball a lot of times.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Yeah, that's you know, it's tough. They're one and five last year in conference, two and twelve overall. It's a tough season. It's a long season. I got a couple of inches in the beginning of the season for those guys, but you know, they're gonna need some help, you know, the Senate. They're gonna need a little help again, tough conference. Yeah. But they got that good, that good, that's a good out-of-conference schedule for them.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

Yeah, and they do have their top three scores, returning in Tyler Kalodka, Nolan Morrison, and Austin Dirks. And they've got some good defensive players with Travis Scala, who was consistent on D, and they've got some new standouts from last year that really played well last year. Julian Brzezinski and Jacob Marenko, Makarenko is his name. So once again, they've got some of the anchors that are there. They have to build around that with more depth.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

Yeah, that's that's the key. Some of these teams You know, they're just playing with twenty-five, twenty-eight, twenty-seven guys on their roster. It's tough, Cap. It's hard to run a good practice. It's hard to run a good practice, it's hard to get things done if you only have a certain amount of players for this and you know, certain amount of position players for that. So it makes practices a little bit difficult. But we can get players out there in West Virginia. You know, come on and your boy, yeah, with in your hand, coach, man. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 19:55

Yeah, and here's another West Virginia team we can talk about, and the same thing. It's probably Depp that is holding them back, and that's Alderson Broadas.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Alderson brought us. That's another team, again, struggling to get players. Uh 0-6 in conference 1-11, or they won one game last year. At least they had that one dub under their belt. You know, that's gotta be fun, but it's it's Coach Maloney has he has a tough thing there. He's got it's tough for him.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

So he he's in his fourth season as head coach now. Um, he was the assistant before that, but now he has an assistant in lead testor. So I'm hoping that can help improve things uh for their squad. Uh, you know, it looks like, you know, they're like we said, their roster is small and they're and they're a young team. So maybe from last year, from what they learned, and they get more, they became more seasoned, they'll be able to, you know, to step up this year and play. Now they lost. Unfortunately, they're losing their top two scores in Connor, Kelmbacher, and Braxton Roman. Uh, but they've got other guys returning in there, and their their D was young last year, just like just like Davis and Elkins. So maybe those players, uh, in Alex Saipa, Ryan Barndaller, and their goalie, Noah, Christopher, maybe those guys can really help out in anchoring their team on the defensive side.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Yeah. You know, it's another year of maturity, getting bigger, a little stronger, and understanding the double A game, those guys. You know, just a few more players. We need some ingredients for the cake, you know.

unknown 21:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

So I that's what Coach Maloney's missing at Alda's auto. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

Yep. So let's move on. Let's move on to Wheeling. The Cardinals. They were four and nine last year and two and four in conference. So once again, they s showed improvement from twenty twenty one in their record. Now, what I found out interesting here, Danny, is in our crack research squad missed this. Their head coach when we did the conference preview last year was Nick Anagnostis. But he didn't finish out the season, I don't think. What I look when I look back at the their website, their their grad assistant great Gage Bradshaw, took over in the season last year. Oh wow. He's kind of entering his second season as head coach. Now, I'm hoping it had a lot to do with him and how they improved last year because I'll tell you one thing I've seen, and we talked about it last year in the preview. They've had a lot of turnover in coaches in Wheeling. And Wheeling back in you know 2012 to 2014, 2015, they were a damn good team. And so I'm hoping that Coach Bradshaw gives some stability to this program and and they he can really improve upon what they did last year. I mean, their team stats last year weren't horrible. They were 41% at face-off, which isn't great, but it's better than we've seen some other teams. So I I think they've got some areas of improvement, but you know, I'm hoping that him being there again and he can build on that. I think that's what they they really have to have to look at.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Yeah, they were young last year, too. So they got their guys coming back: Mike Anderson, Brody Favor, Jay Knippel, all juniors, atachmen, and they're all coming back. Hey, Mike Anderson put up 44 points last year. That's not too shabby, dude. They got they they got players, you know, they're in a tough they're in a tough conference. They're out in West Virginia. I don't know if kind of recruiting goes on out there, you know. I I wonder if that's a problem. You know, because these three schools, if you think about it, they're the on the bottom end of this conference, and and they're in West Virginia. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:04

So Yeah, that's interesting. We're gonna have Coach Maloney on in in a few minutes, and we can uh we can talk about that and maybe ask about recruiting. And I I would love to get Coach Bradshaw on and really talk to him about what they're trying to do, wheeling, and and see about that stability. I mean, we've we've talked about this with a few other coaches on the coaching changes this year. You look at Shorter and Coach Vance, and he talked about that. You know, they've they've kind of had you know a revolving door a little bit, not every year, but every few years with coaches, and you really need to have a a little more stable head coach there for a few years to be able to get what he's doing and not keep on changing things around. And so I I hope that this is what uh Coach Bradshaw is gonna be able to bring for Wheeling and the Cardinals.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Yeah, I wish them all the best of luck this season.

SPEAKER_03 24:56

Okay, and then finally, the new team on the block. Malone, the Pioneers. We talked to Coach Campbell on the coaching changes, so this is their he's coming into a tough conference, and he has a small young roster this year, but uh, it'll be interesting to see what they can do. And I love the fact that I'm already trying to build this crosstown rivalry with Walsh. We're only 10 minutes away.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Wow, Malone. So it's like an expansion club, first year club. You know, they're gonna take their bumps, but they're gonna learn the game. These guys are gonna learn the NCAA game, and and it'll be a learning curve for everybody involved. And again, tough, tough conference. I don't know what kind of uh the Malone post they uh schedule yet. Their schedule is out. It is out. Who do they got?

SPEAKER_03 25:51

So they've got uh Lees McRae, then they're playing Quincy, Felician, Hill College, DeUville, Frostburg State, Mount Vernon Nazarene, then they go into GMAC, basically. They go in in conference. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

That's a good first season schedule. You know, you don't want to put too many dogs on your schedule, you know. Just like getting beat down. You know, that's that's not that's no fun. So you play that group. That's a good that's a good first season. Let's see what Malone does, man.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

Yep. And then next year, the GMAC adds two more with Thomas Moore and Northwood. So they're gonna go from eight teams to ten teams. Uh that's a lot happening in the GMAC this year, next year.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Wow. That's that's great. What if how how great for Division II just keeps growing and growing. But you know what? We've lost a few too, you know. We've lost Queens. We you know, we've lost Lyndon Wood in the last year. You know, Merrimack five years ago we've lost.

SPEAKER_03 27:00

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

So Des Moines is on the cusp. It's on the cusp. Who knows? Looks like it might be a done deal from you know, things that have been coming around the the neighborhood, but hasn't been mentioned yet officially. So I think it kind of stinks when those big teams move up to Division I. Yeah, it's a bummer to see them go. I like playing the big boys. Yeah. Because you know set the standard, you know.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

But you know, you look at some of these teams like Frostburg, and we'll talk about it in other conferences. The Sacks certainly. You look at the Peach Belt, there are teams that are young that I think will step up and they'll become the next Lemoines. They'll become the next Mercy Hurst, the next Seton Hills. So I agree with you.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

Especially in the South.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

Yeah. Yeah. But enough about us, Danny, and us uh babbling on. Let's bring in an expert from the conference.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

I like babbling.

SPEAKER_03 28:00

I do too. I don't know if everyone else likes it, though. So why don't we bring on uh uh Allison Broadas' coach, Coach Ace Maloney, and hear what he has to say. I would be interested to hear what he has to say about uh recruiting in West Virginia. Hey, Coach Maloney, how are you doing tonight?

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Oh, I'm doing great, guys. Thanks for having me on.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Hey, Coach Maloney from Allison Broadas out in West Virginia. Thank you so much for taking the time tonight and coming on in the increase with two buckleheads. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Oh, thanks for having me. It's a pleasure.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

Yeah, it's great to have you on. Just to start off, Coach, I think you're in

Coach Mallonee of Alderson Broaddus

SPEAKER_03 28:37

your about to enter your fourth year as head coach, and before that, you're an assistant. So, what was that like going from being an assistant and then taking over as the head coach to begin with? Because we actually interviewed several coaches this year that have done that exact thing, either at Lees McRae with Josh. We haven't interviewed him, but Josh Singleton taking over, Troy Moyer in Colorado Mesa. So I'm just curious from your perspective, does it change a lot? What was that like? And then what progression have you seen in your program since then?

SPEAKER_00 29:07

Well, I I think the biggest struggle for me was you know, as an assistant coach, you kind of got to be really tight with with the guys on the team, and you're kind of like the liaison from the guys to the head coach, and you kind of get you know a lot of the a lot of the dirt, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:24

Um and I think the biggest thing for me was you know having to become the the the the head honcho and and kind of detach myself a little bit from from that aspect of things and and kind of let um that go by the wayside because you know I think it's the head the head guy is supposed to be a little more little more detached, obviously know the pulse of his team, but you know, not hanging out with the guys and all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_03 29:53

Yeah, that must be actually kind of tough to do.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Yeah, it was it was it was a struggle. The first year was definitely, you know, it was a definite struggle on that aspect of things. And obviously, my first year, you know, being COVID, um kind of definitely just threw everything in the in the topsy turvy category and and kind of you know made it harder for me.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Yeah, that was a tough year for everybody, coach, no doubt. Definitely must have been a tough year as a first year coach at a program. So, you know, that's gotta be tough. But you've come a long way. Let's go uh what do you got coming back this year? You got any big big players coming back?

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Yeah, we returned most of our most of our team from last year. Um unfortunately, we graduated our top two uh point guys in Connor Kallenbacher and Braxton Roman, who are now doing great things in the in the world. Um our leading score, our third leading scorer is back, Tanner Delorme. Uh he's gonna be attacking for us uh from Canada. Um and you know, we return our whole entire starting defense, which is great, including our uh starting goalie, Noah Christopher from last year, who had over 200 saves on this season. Um but I'm really excited about the I'm really excited about the new guys coming in that we got. We got a really good hungry group of freshmen.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

That's great. Where do you go to recruit in Virginia? Do you come to the East Coast? Do you go do you go to the Midwest? Or you you know, where do you go?

SPEAKER_00 31:22

Most of our guys are uh mid-Atlantic guys, so we have a fair amount of Maryland uh flavor on the team. Um I myself am from Maryland, so I like to hit that as much as we can. Um trying to get more into the Ohio's, the Virginias, you know, Carolinas, those kind of places. Um this year we actually do have a young man from uh Utah on our team this year. So wow getting out in that west west coast corridor.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

Different mountains, different mountain chain out there around you, bringing bringing back to Appalachia. I like it. I like it a lot. And that's what's kind of interesting, Coach. You know, West Virginia is not uh really a hotbed for lacrosse, and yet it is for D2. I mean, there's three schools right in the GMAC, you, Wheeling, and Davis and Elkins. So are you guys do you compete a lot for the same sort of players? Or I, you know, or do you do you have your own, like you said, you're from Maryland, so you you have a kind of a niche in Maryland you can go to. I'm just curious about that.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Yeah, I mean, we we all do compete for the same kind of uh kids because we're all kind of the same you know type of schools. We're all small liberal arts schools, um, you know, trying to trying to you know pick and choose the guys that are gonna help us compete with the with the Mercyhursts and Seton Hills of the world. Um you know the Pittsburgh area now, which is you know only two hours north of us, has just exploded with lacosse. Um that's great. The eastern Ohio uh area is now big with it. You know, Cincinnati is is coming up, so that's only five hours away. So we're in a kind of nice spot where you got you know, Cincinnati's you know a couple hours, Columbus is a couple hours, um Baltimore's like four, uh Pittsburgh's obviously two. So we're in a nice little spot, you know, and we got a great school here. And from the education aspect, I don't think you can you can beat it.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

Yeah, that's really interesting. And and uh even from Northern Virginia, it's two and a half, three hours. I know that because my son is living in Morgantown right now, so I've ventured out to go visit him in one day. So it's not bad. It's not a bad trip. I hope that you can pull from Northern Virginia some more because there's good players there, not the same as in Baltimore, but uh, you know, good good you've got a good mix. I I forget that where you're so centrally located when you talk about especially Pittsburgh and now eastern Ohio, what you can really pull from is great. But from those other schools too, is that is that a kind of a natural competitive rivalry within the the GMAC itself with Wheeling and Davis and Elkins?

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Oh, for sure. I mean, you know, Davis and Elkins being only 30 minutes down the road, very similar school systems, very similar sports. You know, we're that's that's definitely been the heat of rivalry over the years, and and going beyond just lacrosse, it's been kind of the the rivalry of of all the sports here between the two people.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

Yeah, and and wheeling's kind of getting to get into be the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

So that's awesome. Yeah. Have those rivals to get the kids my dog, you know, get different. You know, it's a big game for them. It's you know, bragging rights and all that stuff. That's what's so great about that's what's great about college ball and and these conferences, you know. They they have their rivalries, their rivalries within their conferences and stuff, and that's that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

No, that's that's one of our goals, you know, every year as a team is win the state of West Virginia, win states. I don't go of ours every year. And you know, if we beat if we beat We Davidson Elkins, we beat Wheeling, you know, we've won the state of West Virginia. That's definitely one of our goals uh each and every year uh before the season starts.

SPEAKER_03 35:09

That's that's a you know what it's funny. Last year when we bring were going through the season, I don't think I really put that together, all three of those schools. And I think those are definitely on the list to watch this year because of that. Win win the state, win West Virginia. What other goals coach do you have for this year that you've set for your team?

SPEAKER_00 35:29

Well, I mean, number one is to uh be a better team at the end of the year than we were at the beginning of the year. Um, you know, compete in every game is is always one of them. You know, I always tell the kids, you know, if we compete to the to our max capacity and play our hardest, you know, the scoreboard's gonna take care of itself, win or lose. And if we can come off the field, you know, feeling like we gave it everything, you know, you're gonna win some, you're gonna lose some in this in this business of sports. And uh, you know, those are the probably the two biggest um that we go. Obviously, we'd love to make playoffs. Um you know, that's a tall order in our conference. Um, but I think you know, we can definitely uh sneak in there.

SPEAKER_03 36:13

Yeah, I mean, I think it's building blocks, right, coach? I mean, it's building block. Really, if you win West Virginia, you're that one month step closer to making the playoffs because you beat two of the teams in the GMAC. So, I mean, I think I think it's interesting. And and so your roster, too, was you know pretty small last year. Have you built some depth in this incoming class? Is that one of the things you were trying to do?

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Uh that was one of the things I was trying to do. Uh, unfortunately, there was a lot of other plans that happened. So we're gonna be about the same size as we were last year. Uh, we had some unexpected guys, you know, freshmen not show up to school for whatever reasons.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Um, we've had some returners not come back for various reasons that didn't say anything until very late. Um, so I wasn't counting on those things to happen. But um if you know, if everybody had stayed and and everybody come that was a freshman for this year's class, um, you know, we would have had probably around 30. So but we're gonna be another small roster again.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

That's tough, man.

SPEAKER_03 37:19

That's yeah, well, yeah, like you always say, Dan, what do you say about uh you know you go to the dance, you dance with who you who you come to the dance with. Yeah, so I mean, you've got your team.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

An old coach said that to me, you know. I've had some small roster coach for a long time. I've had some small rosters where I didn't have a whole lot of depth, you know, and you just you go out, eat, you know, you just you know, sometimes the ball rolls your way.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

Yeah, I mean I like the guys we got. Um, you know, they they worked hard in the fall, so I'm really excited to see what it what we can do when it, you know, when it counts.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

Well, having having their whole starting defense plus running goalie come back, I think that's a big big plus. Big plus. You know, you get you got a little bit of that, you know, stuff under the belt. They've got a good year of it where they played high level across and uh played again in the GMAC and played with some of the best teams in the cover. And um and they learn from that, you know. So that that they'll they'll only play our squad themselves offense. I'm looking forward to seeing offense uh do some stuff this year.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

Me too. Me too.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

So uh coach, let me ask you this. What what do you try to sell for players, students looking to come to or who's looking to play college across? What can you uh what does Alderson Broad us you think bring to the table for for those type of players?

SPEAKER_00 38:53

Well, I mean, first and foremost, um you're gonna get a great education here, especially if you're looking to do anything really in the health sciences, education, business, sports management. You know, those are kind of our top programs. But we definitely you know hang our hat on the exercise science, nursing fields, those kind of things. So if you're looking to do that, you're this is the place you you're gonna get one small class size, more intimate setting, you're gonna know your professors on the on the academic front. Two, you're gonna get the opportunity to play, you know, from an early onset period here. And I try and sell that, you know, as best I can is that you know, we rely heavily on our freshmen to play and to play a lot for us uh from from day one. And you know, I myself was a player and I wanted to be somewhere where I could step up on the field right away and have an impact. And our freshmen have impacts from day one here. And those are probably the two biggest selling points that I saw incoming recruits.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

That's important for lacrosse player to hear, you know, lacrosse player with a little here. You know what? You have a chance to play right at right out of the gate. That that's that's enticing, you know. They get good grades, they get academic scholarship, you know, that type of thing. And you know what? It's attractive to to young players. And it's uh especially since you know you're so close to Natty area and the Pittsburgh area that is just loading with high school and youth cross now. I think it's even more uh of an opportunity for lacrosse player to play at Aldison Brooks, you know, they didn't go there, man. Just cool out.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

I mean, I was I was at I was at the Pumpkin Classic up at uh Seneca Valley a couple weeks ago in the Pittsburgh area, and the amount of talent this year was probably the best I've seen across the board in in you know my seven years of being out here as a as a coach. Um 24s, 23s and 24s, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

That's that's awesome. So let me then flip it. What kind of player are you looking for?

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Well, I'm looking for the guy who wants to come in and work hard, both in the classroom and on the field. Um, you know, is gonna be a good we guy, not a me guy. Um, you know, is a community guy and you know talks to everybody and yes, sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am type of guy is respectful for uh to the maintenance workers, to the cafeteria staff, to the housekeepers and all those guys. But what it comes down to is, you know, I want guys that are gonna work their butts off in the classroom and on the field and be, you know, willing to give it their all.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Can't ask some coach. That's well done. Excellent.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

Yeah, that's that's building the right culture, especially when you said we instead of me. I I think that's really important and it and it sets kind of the tone for how you're trying to put a team on the field and even off the field, you know, like you you just pointed out, that respect goes into that. So that's that's phenomenal. Um I'll tell you what, coach. I'm looking forward to watching Dollars and Broughtis. I'm looking forward to the West Virginia State Championships this year. I'm gonna put that in there. That's that's cool. That's gonna be great to watch. I'm really looking forward to that. And I I really hope that you guys have a good season this year. Improve from last year. Like you said, it's not always on the scoreboard, it's improving in every aspect of the game. I guess that's one more question. Is there is there any aspects within the the game, whether it's face off, it's it's man down D, or that you're really thinking you really need to improve on a gap you're trying to close a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 42:45

Yeah, I mean, I think from last year, our clearing um really needs to improve. You know, you can't you can't give the Mercy Hearst and the Seton Hills extra possessions, right? They already get enough as is. Right, they get enough possessions as is, but you can't give them extra possessions. So I really want to see you know us improve in the clearing game first and foremost. And then um two areas probably after that. One, the face-off X, been telling our face-off guys, you know, if we're not gonna win it, we gotta make it a 50-50 at least. We we gave up too many fast breaks uh last year off face-offs, and then probably the third one would probably be our man up unit. We gotta cash in when people make mistakes. So those are probably the three. But uh we gotta clear effectively and efficiently this year, uh, so that we can give our offense you know a chance to score and our defense a little breather.

SPEAKER_03 43:49

Well, that's great, coach. Those are are areas that we've seen many times with other teams as well, as you look at the stats. So I I appreciate your candor on that and and uh I said we look forward to watching you guys. I think it'll be great to watch you this year and and see what your team can bring to the table. So, really, thank you for coming on tonight. It's been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 44:11

I appreciate it, guys. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 44:13

Yeah, coach, you're great tonight. Really appreciate you taking the time. And uh, I actually know how to say Allison brought us now, and I really appreciate that. So if there's something that I I educate myself every one of these podcasts, no, coach, thanks so much for uh coming on tonight. We really appreciate it. And uh all the best of luck with this season. We'll keep an eye on you.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Uh I appreciate it, guys. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 44:40

Well, Danny, there you go. There's our discussion of the Battle of West Virginia. It really interesting how all three schools kind of compete for the same players, and they're all fairly small schools, which may be one of the challenges when you're trying to bring bring players there, but they're in areas where they've got a pool of talent across Pittsburgh, Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio. So hopefully the all three teams will start to be able to build up in their programs.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Yeah, Willing, Davison, Alderson Ross out there in West Virginia. They're gonna fight for the you know the West Virginia trophy. So who's the best in West Virginia? I think cool. Coach Maloney described that. I think that's really cool. You know, just it just need we just need some more players out there. Just this depth. It's only a depth thing.

SPEAKER_03 45:33

Yeah, I uh anyone of our listeners that have that are either players or are parents of players looking, like Coach Maloney said, you get the chance to play as a freshman at one of these schools if you decide to go there. So I would definitely check them out, all three of them, see if what they have to offer fits you as a player, and go from there.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

Yeah, a hundred percent you get to play, you get to play. You know, you know what? And if you're smart, you get a little academic money, and if you're really, really good, you'll get maybe a little athletic money. Next thing you know, you might have 50% of your tuition paid for. And you go play, not sit, not sit, not six six a.m. and runs for an hour and a half and you know, do all your lifts through all the drills and then not get in the game on Saturday. Right. So you get you get a chance to get up, run, lift, and play on Saturday if you go to those type of schools. And I think it's a good thing for Division II.

SPEAKER_03 46:42

Yeah, and you can build something.

SPEAKER_01 46:45

You can build something. Kevin, the game is growing. It's growing and growing. It's growing areas that we don't even know about anymore. Telling us, you know, we're in we're on the east coast, so you and I are in hotbed, so we hear all everything on the east coast. Well, we don't know what's going on in Midwest, West Coast, Southwest, what's going on in Texas? We don't hear much about that, but you know what? They're producing teams, they're producing high school players, and these players are making their way into Division II.

SPEAKER_03 47:19

Yeah, yeah, and so I think Danny, I got nothing else to say tonight. That's a wrap.

SPEAKER_01 47:29

The GMAC. That was a good that was a good rundown for the G Mac. That's a wrap, Kevin.