Conference Previews for the 2023 season - SAC

SPEAKER_01 0:10

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 Stentrom, and with me as always is the man who routinely kicks Father Time's ass, Danny Moran. How's it going, Danny?

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Ah, that's a good one. You know what? That's what I'm trying to do. I'm actually in the process of trying to kick Father Time's ass. You know, in the end, Father Time always wins, you know.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

He probably did, but I'll tell you what, you look younger and younger. Maybe I'm getting older and older, but you look younger and younger to me. So there you go. Well, thank you, my friend. Appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Kevin, that was probably the best intro podcast so far. Mr. Stenstrom, doing tonight in Northern Virginia.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Doing well, doing well, getting ready for the new year. Um, and uh and looking forward, you know. God, we're getting close, Danny. We're getting close as we turn the corner of 2023. Yeah. Couple weeks tonight. Yeah, tonight, as we head into this new year, we're really finishing off 2022, reviewing the conference that I think rivals the granddaddy of them all. The SHC.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Yeah, you know what? Some might argue it's the best conference.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Some might argue. Oh, actually, I think you and I argue now and then as we go back and forth and discuss it. Yeah, it's a close, it is close between those two, but this one is a big one, and we got a lot to cover tonight.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Yeah, it's one of the bigger conferences in the country. Um, just unbelievable teams, powerhouses, national powerhouses, and this couple of them. Not just one, not just, but at least three, and then a couple of real up-and-comers that can really, really good lacrosse that have a chance to make a difference in the conference. It's it's really the conference.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Yeah, I think once we get through this whole preview, I think one of the things that people will see is how tight this conference could be coming. Maybe not this year, but look in 2024. So let's let's get started though. Yeah. All right, so let's start off with Lenore Ryan.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Yeah, the big Lenore Ryan playing the bricks up there in Hickory, North Carolina. The last year they were nine to one uh in conference. Uh SAC champions, um, NCAA at bid. Um, stubbts love the field on both sides.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

They're so interesting in their in their regular season, they are they lost to limestone the regular season, but then they beat them in the SAC tournament championship. And like you said, realistically, I mean they lost to U Indy in their first game, but then they came, they came roaring back. They were the same team as they usually are year in and year out, just stacked with players, and I think they're gonna be that way this year.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Yeah, a lot of their guys come back. Uh um, Toron Axelston back. He had 41 goals and 13 assists last year. That kid was a handful for every single n that Lenore Ryan fell here. He was just fantastic. And you got Miles Moffitt. What a great name that kid has. Miles Moffitt, 22 goals and 23 assists. Evan Voss. He was another one kind of silently, you know, he's behind those other guys. 22 goals, 22 assists. Will Canada, another one, oh, a wind gate killer that Will Canada is. Man, he had 24 goals and 18 assists. Then you got my man Bryce Reese. I think he's uh one of the captains for Lincoln Ryan. So this is in there, great athlete, 15 goals and assists last year. All those guys come back.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yeah, they are stacked on offense. Now, on defense, they're losing a few key players. They lost D. Middy, Mitch Link later, and then their defenseman, James Brueger, and their goalie Noah Johnson. So they've but they're retooling already in there. They've got Victor Powell coming back on D, who is incredible. Incredible. Then they're adding in transfer Riley say at midfield. He was from Loyola last year, and they're captain. And they've got junior mini transfer, Lane Hatch from Seaton Hill. So now I don't know if those guys are going to be they're maybe focused more on offense, but they're gonna probably, you know, help out on both sides. And now to fill the gap of Noah Johnson, they have two goalie transfers, Rob Pensabine from Cabrini and Nolan Hoffman from Colorado Mesa.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Yeah, so they brought in guys to fill in some spots, but the team is loaded, Kev. They're loaded. You know, D1 transfer, D2 transfer, a couple of D3 transfers. Yeah. Um, you know, with Victor Powell. You know, losing Noah Johnson, I don't care what anybody says. That was really, really good, especially towards the end of the season last year. So losing him is huge, but I expect Lenore Ryan to be a national powerhouse, top five team in this country with uh a chance to be tournament champions again, and and uh definitely is a team that's NCAA probably already. They're probably a preseason top five pick.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

I I'd agree with that, without a doubt. I put them in my top five in the 2023 season, just the way they're stacking up. Like I said, I I think a lot will depend on on their defensive side of the ball and how those transfers kind of match up with the players they lost, but you know they've got depth on that team, not just the transfers coming in. So I I don't see them skipping the beat, and I definitely have them in the top five.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yeah, you know what? Paradigm comes from along they love those physical defenses, and that's one thing the Orion is they are physical, they are not afraid to sit up, they get after it.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

They're they're the top five squad have they're just loaded top to bottom. Yeah, yeah. So let's talk about one of those other teams that was uh nationally ranked and went to the NCAs last year, and that's Limestone. Yeah, this is 17 and three, yeah. 17 and three last year, nine and one in conference. Their only regular season loss was an overtime loss to Wingate in the Crown Classic, and that was a classic game. That was a great game. In that place, what's the name of that place again? It's uh I think it was Veterans uh Memorial Stadium.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Beautiful venue. Beautiful venue. Crown Classic usually has a woman's game, a D1 men's game, and a D2 men's game. So you get three. It's kind of like a pretty cool afternoon and evening of lacrosse, the classic.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yep. Yep. So that was their only loss regular season, and then you know, they they ended up beating Wingate in the NCAAs, but they they lost to Lenore Ryan in the sack tournament final, but they made it all the way to the Final Four and lost to Tampa, which you know, they were a juggernaut last year. So they were a team to be reckoned with last year. Now, this year, let's just talk about their out of conference. Their 23 23 out of conference lines up like this Emory Riddle, St. Leo, North Greenville, Rollins, Florida Southern, and Lander. And then their first conference game, guess what? Is a rematch against Wingate at the Crown Classic. Limestone, you know, a Berthorrier comes for his second year as head chief there.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

He's a great recruiter. You know what? They lost a lot of guys, Kev. They did. They did. And and uh and now I'm curious to see what limestone's gonna be like because they lost a lot of guys, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

I totally agree. I mean, last year they were stacked, but this year, on the offensive side, they lose they lost Gavin Kesselring, Owen Consoletti, and Dorian Faster. Those three were key guys on the offense for them. Yeah, crazy good, all three of them. Then then look on the defensive side. Kendall Collins, Steve Werner, Moses Allen, and then their goalkeeper, William Baxter.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

It's huge, a huge loss. All those kept. You might be able to replace two or three, but I don't know if you can replace all of them in a single season.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Yeah, they've they've got their number two and three scores, returning Mike McGary and Chris Erneston, but I I just see them having to reload and retool on D. In fact, when we when we sent this out, Coach Storier was kind of to give us some information. He basically said, look, it we're we're just hoping to compete with Lenore Ryan, Wingate, and Newberry, and and and other teams in the sack. And I will tell you, as you and I know, Coach Storier is a very humble guy. He he's very low-key, he's very respectful. He's respectful of the conference and that and the competition. So I think you're right. I I think he'll be able to put a good team together. It's just will they be at the same level that they were last year?

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Um that's it's gonna be curious curiosity for me, is really interesting to see where limestone's gonna be this with just too many key players gone. I mean, you had six, seven starters, Kev. You know, a couple all Americans, all conference guys led led the nation or in the top ten in their respective category. It's gonna be interesting. But Mike McCartney's a really, really good player. Oh, yeah. He had 47 goals and 14 assists last year. That's not come on. That's not the you know, that's nothing really and look and Erneston had 44 and 14 assists last year. So these guys can put up points. Right. Can they can they keep the ball? Can they keep the ball out of the net? Is the defense going to be able to do because some of these teams in the S are big, strong, and fast, Kevin?

SPEAKER_01 10:50

And then and then who do they get to replace William Baxter in goal? They've got other goalies, you know, that that have played, and I I just think it'll be like you said, it's going to be interesting to see what they put together. I'm very confident that Limestone will be a ranked team and will be very competitive. Oh, no doubt. They were just a juggernaut last year. Uh we talked about Tampa, but to be honest, they just seem to get better and better. And if you looked at that Crown Classic game from last year, I guarantee the reason why Wingate and Limestone are back is because of the show they put on. And that game came down to anyone could have won that game in overtime. It was a back and forth game. And I will tell you, then Limestone took care of Wingate in the NCAAs.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

Yeah, they sure did. They sure did. Um, you know, they they wingate came towards the end of the game. They did. They didn't have enough time. Nah, gave up too many early first, second quarter goal, put them in a hole pretty quick. But again, back towards the end. Um, again, I think Limestone is in in limestone's been so for so long with so many championships under its back. That's one of those teams that uh odds marked their character for.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Yeah. Oh, yeah, they do, and and I I guarantee that's gotta help them. You know what helps them in recruiting. They've got players coming there just because it's limestone. Uh a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

I have a good friend of mine that I worked with for over 30 years. His son's a foreman, and he's at limestone. And he's a damn good player, man. So, you know, he he he went to limestone to play quality lacrosse, you know, and and and be the exactly and be on a part of a team chance at a national championship almost every year. But this year, I you know, they have a target on their back because they're low because they're limestone. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

And let's let's look at something just from last year. There's some of their stats that I think are just so telling, I think, of their how good their defense was last year. They had over 200 more ground balls than their opponents. And they had 250 more shots than their opponents. So, what is that that I think even shows how good their D was? Because they they their offense had so many more uh opportunities because their D was shutting them down.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Again, the Livestones, you know, always been a great team, tons of national championships, built a perennial powerhouse year in, year out. You know, JB Clark was there for a long time. You know, Brendan Storrier was there as his his assistant for a long time. He's gonna have them ready. He's a good coach, no doubt. And he's a really good recruiter. And you know what? Yeah, they they might be a little short on the defensive side, but I'm sure that coach will have them have them playing at a pretty high level.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Well, I'll tell you what, they've got a good out-of-conference that kind of builds on itself, and they're playing some really tough SSC teams that I think will just I think that's how they're going to prime their new players at Gel to get ready for the sack. Perfect. Exactly what they wanted. Yep, yep. Okay, let's move on. Let's let's talk about the other crown classic team, Wingate, the Bulldogs.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

Wingate Bulls, Coach Tim Boyle, uh, 8-2 last year's conference, 13-5 overall. They're a great team. Another great team, you know. Stacked both sides of the ball, top to bottom. They're a nine-ranked team. They got as high as number three year, Kevin. You know, they beat by limestone in the uh, I mean by Lorine in the um sack tournament, and and they got beat by limestone in the NCAA. Guess what? Two fantastic teams.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Right. Two fantastic teams. The one killer for them last year was losing to Anderson in the regular season, which dipped them down, but then they came back and they played well. They beat Linenwood in the first round of the NCAAs, then came up against uh against Limestone and just ran out of time. They were starting to put it together, but yeah, good, good team. Really good team.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

You got national attack mid year and the national midfielder of the year on the same squad, both first team all-ends, both of them coming back.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

That's right. Willie Greco and Danny Riley. Now they do lose Bobby Patton and Adam Vedovnik on attack. That was the threesome that they had for two years on the attack line. Greco, Vedovnik, and Patton. So it's hard to replace Bobby, Patton, and Adam Vedovnik. We'll see. They do have a transfer from West Point uh that that could fill in there, talking to Coach Boyle. He didn't get much playing time uh this fall because he he pulled his hamstring in the first scrimmage. Um, so they didn't get to see much of him, but they're hoping that he'll be back and ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Well, you know, Coach Boyle does a great job of recruiting. Um, they brought in 26. They are they're they're this year's Delphas, last year edition. They are loaded at the midfield. They are come in waves. They just there's so many, and they have a very good freshman class that came in. But next to Danny Riley, you still have John Natoli, Damon Legassin. Right. And and that's what I was gonna say. Yeah, yep, go ahead. Really big controls last year. Natoly came both ways, Kev.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

He's a both way guy. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's what they're gonna want to do too, is play a little more transition.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

And and Lingon, he's as athletic as it came, but you know, he was on a team with Vodovnik and Patton and Greco doing their thing down low. Listen, Willie Greco might be one of the best players in all of Division II. It's gonna be hard for everybody to stop what he can do. That kid had 46 assists, uh I mean 46 goals and 68 assists last year. His vision is insane. Yeah, there's nobody, there's nobody that can guard him really. You know what? I saw Lenore Ryan, I saw Victor Powell do a good job on him, but you he you can only hope to contain him. He's gonna get his. He's gonna get his.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Yeah, and and I I I totally agree. And I think what you talked about with the midis, not only the three you talked about, but having uh a new batch of young middies coming in and playing, that may allow them to be more balanced on offense than just relying on the attack line.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

I agree. I mean, and that's uh maybe one of the reasons why spoil brought in so many he he he brought in face-off guys and he brought in goalies, and and he's just making everybody work.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

So yeah, let's talk about that for a second on the face-off side, right? Because that's really interesting. They've got five face-off specialists this year. That's more than I've ever seen them have. They bring back James Cotcamp and DJ Jones, who are really at the top for them. And and Cotcamp, from what coach is saying, did a great job during fallball with DJ Jones right behind him. But then they got three freshmen in the mix. So talk about having options, yeah, which they didn't have before.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

That's right. And they push and they're pushing each other. That's one of the areas where the Bulldogs struggled. I wouldn't say struggle, but that was one of their weaker parts of their game, was their face-off last year.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

That's interesting, Danny. I went and looked at the stats. Do you know what their face-off percentage was? 30%. No, 51%. Really? But then you go look at it game by game, and you look at it when they face Anderson, Limestone, Lenore Ryan, the tougher teams in their conference, they're well below 50%. And there's the difference. Like when they have to go up the the teams they're losing to, Wingate, obviously ranked in in the top 10 to play against top 10 teams. That's where they would falter now and then is not winning the enough face-off. So they're having to play D first and get the ball back. And their defense last year was really, really young. And this year, top 10. Top 10. They were still really good. Now they're coming back. Their close D is intact. Their rope defense is what needs to reload. They lose Mike DeLege, but they at LSM, but they still have Joe Carnish, who came on last year really, really strong. He's good. Really, really good. They lose their D mid their starting D MIDI line with AJ Low Miller and Mark Tackard. They've got Trent Connolly, they've got some guys that are gonna have to replace. So that would be the besides what you talked about, face-off specialists, and where what can they really improve on those against the real the top 10 teams? The only reason why I look at D MIDI.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

The only reason why these guys talk about Conch and Connolly get as much as the other, because the other guys were there for four years. They're that good. Conch is that good. He's stepping right into spot. There's gonna be no difference at LSM. None. It might it might even be better this year.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

I agree. I don't think there's gonna be a step down at LSM. I am interested to see how the D-minis, now they've got several that are already lined up, they got playing time last year, so it's not like they have two freshmen that are able to play. They've got guys that are ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

Stacked at midfield. They're gonna be, Kevin, they're gonna be a really tough team to play. I think Wingate's really poised right now, right now, to make a stage.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

And here's one other thing just to talk about before we move on goalie. So last year, as you remember, they had two goalies, Casey Carlson and John Capone, who would share time. Casey would usually start the first half and then Capone would come in the second. Casey Carlson has transferred to U Indy. So now it's John Capone's net. Yep. And I I think that may even help them in the end.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

Well, you know, they they share the duties, like you said. I don't understand that. I get that. You know, that's just me. I never played the game, Kev, so I can't make that decision, that type of thing. But I think to one that you can count on. And if he has a bad game and you have to pull him and you or they're, you know, somebody out and you let somebody's freshmen in there and get their run. But uh he he's proven he's played games, done well games. He's a senior now. He's not a young, you know, not not a fight at the NCAA anymore. So again, I think I think the Bulldogs are poised to really make a run at a national championship this year. They're that good. They're attacking, it's gonna be good. They have Riley, that kid, that kid's good. They have Natoli, Lingosin, um Carnett. They're just deep. They're deep and those kids are good. And now with that really freshman class, they had a really freshman class, stacked at middies. Like a Delphi was last year. Chinese arm just bringing in fresh legs, legs, fresh legs, fresh legs.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

They're gonna be now let's let's let's see. I mean, they they're gonna have to change the things and how they do their offensive scheme, and they still have Lenore Ryan. That's all I'm gonna say. Lenore Ryan is stacked on offense, so we'll see.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

It's two teams. That's that's what you sign up for to watch.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Exactly. That's and then add limestone. Add limestone in the mix, and now let's get to some other teams that are going to be a threat, who are going to play these teams tough. And let's talk about one of them, Newberry, right now. Yeah, the Wolves. 10 and 7 last year, 6-4 in the conference. They beat Mount Olive and Lynn out of conference, and they lost to Queens in overtime in the sack tourney. So they're always a tough team. They're out of conference this year. Is Emy Riddle, Young Harris, Belmont Abbey, Lynn, Mount Olive, and Rollins. So a really good test for Newberry as they head in to the conference play.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Yeah, six-and-four last year in conference, 10-7 overall. Let me tell you something. Coach Cotter's got them boys pretty good. Epp some rewards coming back. Or Westmoreland, 46 goals and 22 assists. He was first team all sack and second team all region last year. Kev, that kick can ball. Oh, yeah. You got Curtis Bucta with 39 goals and 18 assists. Scott Reed, who had 30 goals and 12 assists, and Ryan, who had 30 goals and six assists. So they have some core players on offense coming back.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Yeah, their top four, those are their top four, right there. Top four scores from last year returning. That is phenomenal. That's that's a real good start. That's a good thing to have. Now that yeah, now on defense, because their 2023 roster is not out yet, that may be where they need to reload a little bit, from what I can tell. I don't know about what you saw, but Jack Travasas is coming back. He returns 48 ground balls and 29 cause turnovers. But they had two seniors that may not be coming back, depending if they do their fifth year or not. And so that that's the case, they may need to do some reload on D. Yeah. Um, Bronx also comes back.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

They're gonna be young on defense. We'll we'll have to see. But I think they're gonna be a good team that's gonna be competitive in the SAC. It's out of conference. I mean, Emory Riddle, Young Harry said, Belmont Abbey, Lynn, Rollins, and Mount Olive. I mean, that's a really good out-of-conference schedule for Newberry. If they could go 75% on those games, watch out.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Yeah, without a doubt. They are always a dangerous team, and then they continue to improve each year. And and I I think they could improve even more this year. Like you said, I think the critical thing, there's a there's a couple things. If they really can get a few more out-of-conference wins and then start to really compete against the the top teams in the sack, that's that's their next step.

SPEAKER_02 26:09

Yeah, let's see what they do on the defensive side this year and how how they start out. Again, if they can get 75% of that out-of-conference schedule and can go away with W's on those, they're gonna be a team to reckon because they've already went six and four last year. Zach, they're add six more games. They could be a 12-13 win team very easily, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Yep, yep. Yeah, you've got it. You've got it. I agree. So let's move on to Anderson, the Trojans.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Yeah, the Trojans. Mitchell, what a job Mitchell has done, huh? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

So last year they were they're above 500. They were 9-7 and 5-5 in the conference, with some critical wins for them, I think, for their their season last year, beating Wingate and North Greensville, two really good teams. And they lost to Newberry only by one goal, 14-13 in conference. So they they're close. It's interesting, they had some inconsistencies. They beat, they would, they beat Wingate, then they lose to Kataba. You know, so there's some things that they just couldn't keep it rolling, but they are really close to just knocking it out of the park. Well, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 27:29

They have Cam Weeks, okay? He was face-off player year, first team All American, team all conference, first team all region. Kids are stud at face, absolute stud. Um, in the wingate game, he was injured, and he was going out. He was hot out there and and beating his man every single time and just getting getting possessions.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Well, and that's what that's what happened to them the next game.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

He was out was injured. That's a couple of games, yeah, a couple of games towards the end of the season, didn't play Kev. And guess what? They didn't win those games. Yeah. Yeah. You know what? They're a really, really team. They got Logan Gaddis coming back. That kid, he's a he's a mini Willie Greco. 20 goals and 54 assists. Talk about vision, talk about knowing where to go with the ball, knowing what to do, IQ, quickness, all of that. Logan Gaddis has it. And Anderson has him. You know, he's coming back. And Nick Calabres, we talked about him last year. He had a solid year, 19 goals and 12 assists. And then you have Garrett Hawkins and Bo Henson are coming there. He's a graduate uh graduate this year. He had 51 goals last year. He was fifth in the sack for scoring last year. He's just he's a beast.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Got five solid, solid players on offense coming back. Right. And then you look on defense, they've got two returning all-sack players in Peyton Jefferson, as well as their goalie, who is third team, Joey Heckle. And like coach said to us, nine of ten of their leading scores are returning this year, and all their starters on D are returning. So they are gonna be very, very solid. It's the same team they had from last year, and they're they're they're just only gonna improve.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

How about that kid Robertson on defense? He had 32 calls last year. That kid gets after, man. Yeah. So they got players there at Anderson, and you know what? I think that's the next best team after the Lenore Ryan's, the limestones, the Gates. I think Anderson is there.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Yeah, I think they're right with Newberry. I think for them this year, they need to back up that wingate win with a few more state wins. They need to like start to beat the Newberries and the Catawas in their conference, which is not an easy task. I'm not saying that's easy to do. Those teams are good, but that's kind of their next step because they've just like Newberry, they improve every year.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

And they're on a conference schedule. They have Chong, Florida Southern, and they're going down south. Uh, they got Lees McCrae, young Harlands, and North Greenville on their schedule at the conference. So, you know, they have some really good squads on, you know, Florida Southern and Rollins and North Greenville right there. That's that's a good, that's a good out-of-conference for Anderson. I think that team, I what Albert Mitchell has been able to do in such a short period of time there, and the school's beautiful. If you ever see anything like the picture or take a virtual tour, it's absolutely gorgeous, and it's in South Carolina, and it's just got anything and everything for young lacrosse player to to take it to the next level. It's a it's a good school, and during a great conference, and they quality lacrosse kind of.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

Yeah, yep. But let's move from South Carolina to the mountains of North Carolina and talk about Mars Hill. Oh, Mars Hill.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

My man, Joe Turner at the helm there, second year coming back. Um they returned some midfielders, sophomore Brandon uh Woodward comes back with four goals and five assists. Cole Ross comes back and 13, five assists. What makes these guys kind of have their like army knives they fall? Yeah, they play offense, they play defense, they come off the wings, they do a lot of special things. They're very, very athletic and very good.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

So that's a good start for June. Those two players combined for 45 ground balls as freshmen in the sack.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

Yeah. So they're only better in the sophomores now under their belt. But you know, they went 0-10 in for instance, you know, turn his third year, first year there, didn't really have his guys kinda. So now he's like he's retooling there at Mars Hill. They went four and eleven uh overall, which, you know, is tough, but again, re retooling it.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

Yeah, exactly. You know, they started off pretty strong. They went four and one out of conference, but once they got in conference, it was a little tough for them. As Coach Turner told us, that just hardened them. They are ready. They are ready for this year. They've got a good out of conference with Belmont Abbey, Lees McCrae, Montevallo, Barton, Young Harris, and Alabama Huntsville. So they're playing some really tough teams for them that I think they they just upped their game this year with their out-of-conference.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

100% Belmont Abbey's always a good team, Valo. Well, you know what Monte Valo is and the Alabama Spills are a good team. But you know what?

SPEAKER_01 33:02

He's got the core of his defense coming back. Yeah. Yeah, he's got Ben Clark uh coming back. He had 20 ground balls, six cause turnovers. Cole pickle, uh, 31 ground balls, 16 cause turnovers, and And a foe. 36 ground balls and 11 cause turnovers. So that is a really good defense. 6 foot seven inches. Are you kidding me? Well, luckily he's on defense. He's not really running at you, but he's a wall to get through. How are you gonna do that?

SPEAKER_02 33:40

Seven inches with a six-foot pole boy. So, you know what, Coach Turner, he's he's getting ready to take that team to the next step. He's got his first year of all his recruits this year, and guys that you know when they go to Mars Hill and play for the boys up there. I like that school. It's a really nice campus, Kev. I don't know if you've ever been to Mars Hill.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

Just seen pictures of it, just seen pictures. I have not been to the campus. It's a beautiful area, without a doubt, in North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

It's up in the hills, it's really just absolutely gorgeous. Great, just a beautiful campus, really is.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

Yeah, so uh I have to share this because Coach Scherner passed, gave us some fun facts for the team, and I thought it would be cool just to share them with with our listeners. So, first of all, senior transfer Sabian Williams, he competed and will play for the Jamaican national team this fall with eyes on making the team for the world games in 2016. Hold on, we'll just Jamaican the Jamaican national team. The Jamaican national team, yeah. And Coach Turner has nine international players on the team. That's cool. Eight Canadians and and one from England. And the best fun fact is this year is year 25 of the Mars Hill Lacrosse program. Yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

They've been around a long time, and you know what, Kevin? It wasn't too long ago where Mars Hill was a really, really good team in the top 15, top 20, really competitive. I remember when my oldest played Leo, um, St. Leo was a really, really good team. We won the Sunshine State Conference that year. They had a couple of all-Americans. We were on Mars Hill, man. Dar booty, they were very fast, very aggressive. St. Leo fans weren't ready for that. And Mars, and I that's the first time I went on Mars Hill and saw the campus, actually saw my oldest play against Mars Hill. And Mars Hill had their way with St. Leo that afternoon. So it's not they're not far removed from being a really good squad again.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

Right. I I think I think it's still gonna take a few more years, but I I think I think Coach Turner is gonna have them in a better spot this year.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

Yeah, he got a good job too, because he's a really he's a very good recruiter. He's got a ton of high-end coach degree, and he's got a national championship himself. So he's he's interesting for recruits.

SPEAKER_01 36:20

Without a doubt. Without a doubt. All right, let's move on to Tusculum. Pioneers. Yeah. Located in Tennessee. That's right. They were nine and seven last year and three and seven in conference. They started really strong, Danny, with a 7-0 start. All they won all their out-of-conference games and their first conference game against Mars Hill. And then they had other conference wins against uh Lincoln Memorial and Coker. But you know what? Coach Tapp was hired really after fallball last year, so it's kind of in a tough spot. They they actually, with that record, five 500 record was great, but not as great, I don't think, as what Coach Tapp would want to see them in the SAC.

SPEAKER_02 37:09

No, but you know what? That was you knew he's gonna take his lumps in the SAC. You know, you knew he was. Win three games in the SAC, it's not an easy task because everybody can play in the C. But there's Studs coming back. They got a graduate Jordan Daniel coming back. He had 19 goals and 20 assists. Um, he had Sean coming back, Wesley Phillips, and graduate uh uh Nim and 53 goals. Actually, record single season record that for the program there last year. He's coming back. Guess what? He's 6'4 and 235.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

He's a beast. Yeah, yeah. Then on the defensive side, Tyler Nunemacher, Will Cookman, and Nick May, their LSM return. Now, Nick wasn't their starting LSM, only started one game, but he had some great stats. So they've got a core of defensive players to start this season off. From what I gathered when I looked at their stats, from what I gathered, it looked like used number of defensemen.

SPEAKER_02 38:13

It looked like they had more than just three or four in rotation. So maybe they had some some injuries last year where other guys got starts in game time. Yeah. That could be that could be it. But it seemed a rotating defenders. I'm gonna be interested to see what they do on defense. They act they averaged 36 shots per game, and they averaged 13 goals per game last year. They have uh 32 on their roster, only five freshmen.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

Yeah, I'd have to go back and look. I didn't count that up. That is small. So, like I said, I counted their roster.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

They had 32. Five were freshmen. So I don't know if that's accurate or, but that's what I got off their website.

SPEAKER_01 38:57

So we'll just have to see. I mean, they had some pretty good stats last year. Their face-off was up to 51%, their man up was at 56%. They're they're not a bad team. They just have to, I guess, get a few more with this core group they've got there. Maybe they can just, you know, bring it a little bit more home this year. Kev, they went nine and last year. Not a bad ball. No, especially with the coach coming in when he did. That's my whole point.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

Exactly. And they're playing in the SAC with Lenore Ryan and Wingate, some really, you know, powerhouses, not just really good teams, but about national powerhouses. Exactly. So they have to face three or four of them every single season.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

Crazy. I know. And here's another team that has to do the same thing. Kataba, the Indians. Yeah, five and ten last year, but they were five and five in the conference. But here's the only thing I've got to say. Coach Mike Murphy. Yep. I'm not sure we need to say anything else. No.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

Formidable squads. I've seen them play many, many times. They play a great out-of-conference schedule. And, you know, Catawa, they got Matt Mitchell coming back, Tucker Fanzo, who we called out a lot last year. Yep. And Bacari Neely, all of those guys, you know, double-digit goals. Who had 28 goals and six, 22 goals in 12, 18 and 3. They're a good squad. And they're only going to get better with Murphy at the helm now.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Yeah, I think it's really interesting. I started to look at the stats, and then I just wrote, Do they really matter? Because what he's trying to do is rebuild their winning culture for his alma mater. And he's talked about it with us on the on the coaching changes. He even said to his seniors, he said, Look at I'm going to win here. Do you want to join me this year? Because I'm, if it's not this year, it's going to be in years coming. And he said, having the winning attitude and everything you do, win, win in the classroom, win every little thing. And and I think if he brings that, they were a scrappy team, they've always been a scrappy team. They may not have a huge jump this year, but I think they're going to be tough to play against this year, as always. Here's what also is interesting, Danny. They're out of conference. It's a crazy schedule. First of all, they've got Mount Olive first game. That's great. Then it's Belmont Abbey, Lemoyne, and Montevallo.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Here they pay, here they play Le Moine. Do they play at Homewood Field? Yep. So they're going to travel up and play at the famed Homewood Field at Johns Hopkins University and play Le Moine. That's unbelievable. That's great. I think that's how Tab's ramp.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

It's going to bring a whole new attitude to Toba, India. Exactly. All right. So we got two more teams to go. And the first, Lincoln Memorial, the rail splitters. 4-13 last year, one and nine in the conference. But that was a four-game win improvement from 2021. They didn't win anything in 2021. And Coach Wilson really had to rebuild after 2020 when he came in. The roster was at about 20 at that time. And now it's up at 45 this year.

SPEAKER_02 42:37

Great job of getting guys back to come back to LMU for Coach Wilson. But they got some returners coming back. They got Francis O'Hare at 29 and 29 as a freshman last year, Kev. Yeah. So he's there for sure. And he's only going to get and he's Conroy out of Kalamazoo Min, Kev. Love 27 goals and five assists. And Caleb Redos coming back. Six goals, eight assists. He's out of Mars, Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

He's out of this world, Danny. He's out of this world. Yeah, so those are all freshmen. Guess what? On D, their starting defense, Dylan Ricketts, no, Nolan Culbertson, and John Lombell were all freshmen last year, too. Yeah, very young. Very young. They're young, but you're gonna build uh, you know, their sophomore year is gonna be a huge jump, I think.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Yeah, it always is. It's probably the big jump for year for players from freshman to sophomore. You see such a big difference when they come back after that sophomore year summer. They they just know the game better, know know the drill, and they do a great job. Expect LMU a much better and much improved team, especially with their depth that they've added.

SPEAKER_01 43:58

Right. I I mean I think there's still a lot of work. To be done. They have 18 freshmen, so they're still going to be young. But I think that depth makes a lot of difference for them. You know, so hats off to Coach Wilson on what he was handed and how he, his staff, and his team have really responded over the last couple of years. And I think it'll be interesting. They've got a good out-of-conference with Lees McRae, Maryville, Lander, Young Harrison, Manuel, and Choan. So I think that'll be a good test for them as they go into the SAC. And I think they're they're kind of in the same boat as Kataba in a lot of ways. Kataba had a better, a little bit better record than them last year, but I think in some ways they're they're making that incremental push, both teams, and they're only going to get better. And it may not be this year, but like what's what I said in the beginning, the sack by 2024-2025 is going to be tight. Yes, 100%. I totally agree.

SPEAKER_02 44:55

And let me just go to the team this year. They're not gonna, you know, they're not gonna set records yet, but they're gonna be a much improved.

SPEAKER_01 45:03

I like the fact that they have dead now. Oh, yeah. And here's another team, Danny, that really has created a lot of depth in just a short amount of time, and that's the Coker Cobras with Coach John Snow, who's in his second season coming from NAIA champs Reinhardt. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:22

Yeah, Coach Snow. He had his first last year, took his lumps a little bit two-eight in conference, but uh two and fourteen overall. He knew he told us he knew it was an uphill battle when he first got there. He had to put the pieces together and and start getting his guys in there. But they have some they have some really pretty good players coming back again. Um, just after he comes back, he had 31 goals and six uh six assists as a freshman last year. And you know where he's from, Kev? Where city California. Yeah, but he's coming all the way to the East Coast, and um they have a junior Cal Difference had 27 goals and 28 assists, and you don't want to guess where this young man's from. Where's that?

SPEAKER_01 46:13

William Australia, mate. There you go. Coach turns over every rock to get players. I love it. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

He's got a kid from the West Coast, and he's got a kid from completely on the other side of the globe, another coast. Oh my lord. I mean, it's just fantastic. You know what did this year? He brought in 25 freshmen, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

Yeah, well, I'll tell you what, his roster is now above 40, and they only have one senior. So, just like you said, he's got all those new freshmen, still a very young team, but just like Lincoln Memorial, they now have the depth to be able to do what they want, and only in not only in practice, but realistically to really kind of look at what they're gonna do in game situations. And if they have injuries, now they've got they've got depth in players to to bring on, young, not necessarily seasoned in the game yet, but that's exciting for them.

SPEAKER_02 47:23

Yeah, and they have um who do they have? They have Emmanuel, Lander, North Greenville, Chawan, Barton, and St. Andrews. But you know what? If you know, like I said, it's the ingredients. You need you need to make you need all the ingredients. He didn't have all the ingredients last year. No. So now you said one senior on the squad, they're very young, five freshmen. Now he's starting to put the ingredients in. It's gonna be a building block, might be another two, three years before that that team is where they want it to be. This team has every to go up for this.

SPEAKER_01 48:18

Yeah, I totally agree. I I think they will have a tough time again this year, but I think, like you said, it's building blocks. If they can close the gap on some of the on some of these teams, either in score or how they play, if they improve their play and improve some of their team stats, you know, the wins will come. It may not be totally this year, but I guarantee the way he's building it, just like Lincoln Memorial, watch out in a couple years.

SPEAKER_02 48:43

Well, like you know, they're they're bringing in they're bringing in big classes, you know, they're getting players back come to the school. And it's all about ingredients. You need players to do certain things, to get to certain places. You need things. Again, I agree with you. It's gonna take a couple of years, you know, but I think they're gonna be improved from last year.

SPEAKER_01 49:05

Yeah, and let's not discount these teams either. They are exciting to watch. I watched Coker several times last year, I watched Lincoln Memorial. They are fun to watch. They they try to play fast, they're not gonna back down. Sometimes the score doesn't go their way, but they're really fun to watch. And I it'll it's gonna be exciting to see what they can do this year and where they improve.

SPEAKER_02 49:26

You know, they're in a very physical league. The SAC is physical, man. These teams get through it. It's a great brand of ball in the SAC. Yeah, yeah. From top to bottom. Really?

SPEAKER_01 49:40

Yeah, exactly. Well, Danny, that that's the rundown.

SPEAKER_02 49:45

You know, Kev, when I think about the SAC, I I think about wow. It's like, wow, what what a conference it really is. And you know when you look at you know, the the Tusculum or the Cobras or the Cobbers, and you're like, but they're against powerhouses. Yeah, you know, and they're only gonna get better. And what with with Coach Murphy being at Catawba now, what what Coach Wilson is doing at LMU, bringing in all these guys, what Anderson has been able to do, you know, a short period of time, what Coach Cotter's doing at Newberry on 10 and 7, you know, just like then you add in Turner and then you add in Snow.

SPEAKER_01 50:28

It just seems like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 50:30

Yeah. Coach Turner, man, he's a great coach. He's gonna get his. I guarantee we said four years. That was last year. You and I said, right, give give Coach Turner four years at Mars Hill and watch what that's cool. Because you and Matt, like you said, the 25, 24, 25 seasons for the SAC are gonna be amazing. Yeah, they really are.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

This year's gonna be fun as well. But let's let's move on because now it's time to let a coach do the talking. And we get to speak with one of those coaches who we just talked about, but basically had to do a reboot when he came on as head coach. And it looks like he has his program poised to turn the corner and be a real threat in the SAC. And we got to sit down, Danny, with Coach Wilson from the rail splitters of Lincoln Memorial a couple of weeks ago, and it was really enlightening to hear what he has done and where he wants to go. So, what do you say, Danny? Should we just bring him on and get it started? Let's get Coach on. Hey coach, welcome. How you doing?

SPEAKER_00 51:45

Doing well, guys. Thank you for having me. Excited to excited to get this this uh interview little process going here. It's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_02 51:52

Coach Wilson, LMU L Splitters. How are you doing tonight? Welcome to the show. We really taking the time.

SPEAKER_00 51:59

Oh, absolutely. Thank you guys for the invite. Um,

Coach Wilson of LMU

SPEAKER_00 52:02

you know, I've had a chance to listen to it a little bit, and I got a little bit jealous. I'm like, well, where's my where's my invite? So finally came through and so I was excited, excited to do it. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 52:13

We got the same thing from Coach Turner last year. We both know him from uh pre his previous lives, and he gave us grief for having us on him on so late. So we'll take we'll take that punishment from you. That's that's fine. I got it. So, coach, just to start off, I said last year on our preview that you had to almost totally rebuild after the 2020 COVID season. Uh you know, I I we talked about this just a few minutes ago. I think the team went from like over 40 players down to 20 or less when you came in for your first season as the coach. So, what was that like and how has the rebuild been going? Because it's I feel it's almost like a reboot like young Harris had to do.

SPEAKER_00 52:57

Yeah, it it was uh it was an expansive and exhausting product and process. Um, you know, I came in from Newberry where you know we were kind of used to it, um, or at least I had a feel for it uh with Coach Cotter. And um I was there with with him there at the beginning. So I had an idea, um, but I was hoping that I wouldn't have to completely retool, you know, the whole thing. But um yeah, you know, going to you know from 40 something to, you know, I think we uh it's somewhere in the 20s, probably my first year, my that semester. Um, it was tough. Um, you know, I told I told my assistant and and the guys at the time, like, hey, you know, this is probably gonna be where we learn a lot about ourselves as coaches, like, because if we can figure something out and we can get something to work within this process, um, with no face-off guy, one goalie, you know, 18 subs or you know, 18 guys total, whatever it was, it's we're gonna stop yeah, we're gonna get creative here. Um and so it was really good. And you know, I I don't hold any grudges for the guys that decided to to you know go on to to different pastures, and you know, we said, hey, we'd love to keep you guys here, but I understand if you'd like to to explore other options and that's fine. And um, you know, most of them did, which was okay because you know, I came in late September, um, and you know, I didn't really get a great chance to meet a lot of the guys um during that time. So um super thankful and and the guys that stuck around were were awesome without them. It would have been, I don't know what we would have done. So the fact that you know we had five, six, seven, eight seniors, whatever it may have been, to stick that through and stick it out and for better or for worse, go with us was was awesome. And so really the credits to to those guys for really keeping this thing afloat when I when I came in and the guys that were younger, you know, sophomores and juniors that have still stuck around, um, kind of believing in in what we've been trying to do has just been it's been awesome. So um, you know, recruiting, that's how you, you know, that's how you build these things back.

SPEAKER_02 55:17

Yeah. How'd it go this year?

SPEAKER_00 55:20

Pretty good. You know, our our first class, I mean, last year was really the first time that I'd been, you know, we had our our own class, right? So the 20, I can't even keep track with these young kids anymore, the 22 class, the 21 class. Um, so that was, you know, this past year, the end of our season last year, that was the first time we had a full like fall, spring, summer recruiting. So, you know, it was really just our first time getting into it. So this year, we, you know, I think we got about 21 guys in. Um, wow, yeah, it's great. We've been great. Yeah, we've been getting after it. My staff is phenomenal. You know, the support from the university is fantastic. The the guys we have on campus right now, the current players are really welcoming. Um, so it makes it easy recruiting-wise. Got about three, I think we got two or three transfers, and then the rest are freshmen. So about 18 freshmen or so in this class. So we're really excited about that. And so we're back up to normal numbers.

SPEAKER_01 56:24

Yeah, looks like your roster is like at 45 or so from what I saw coming in, which is what a difference from 2020. That really has got to help. Not not only depth in the games, but how you can practice.

SPEAKER_00 56:40

That's uh that was the biggest thing I think people often forget. Um, it's and it often shows up, right? Um, yeah. You forget how important riding and clearing is when you're just watching the game. Um, but when you're a part of it and you're losing face-offs, you know, and you're not clearing the ball well, whew, those uh those limestone and wing gate and LR games can can get out of control. But um, you know, we've really mitigated that in our first recruiting class in this past recruiting class of the guys that are on campus, our freshmen on campus now, or just just crushing it. So we we love we love what we've seen, but you know, still young. So we you know we make freshmen sophomore mistakes, yeah, which is uh which is okay, you know, being thrown in the fire, you know, by the time they're juniors and seniors, there's they're not it's gonna be old hat.

SPEAKER_01 57:32

Gonna be different. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 57:33

I've say that all different team, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:35

I love when freshmen I I do. You know what? That's your future right there. And you know what? You get a kid who's who's who's earning minutes as a freshman, man. By the time he's a senior, he's a seasoned veteran. He's he's gonna be there, especially in the sack. You know, that I mean, that's one unbelievable conference. I mean, I mean, just from top to bottom, man. That just you know, you you mentioned the limestones and the wingates and the LRs, but you know what, the newberries and the abbas, and they're pretty good as well.

SPEAKER_00 58:09

Yeah, yeah, it's uh it's a lot of fun, and and truthfully, that's a great uh recruiting tool for us. Like, you know, you obviously I think like everyone else in our conference, you want to target, you know, the best athlete, the best lacrosse player, the best, you know, student and the best young man that you can find. And you know, sometimes that's trying to find those diamonds in the rough and those low D1 guys, and you say, Hey, look, you can come to us and you're gonna be playing against the best of the best.

SPEAKER_01 58:39

And D1 caliber teams.

SPEAKER_00 58:42

Yeah, essentially, essentially. Um, so it's been a lot of fun, and uh, but it is, it's a grind, and uh, you know, our our freshmen are gonna learn that this year when they you know get tossed right into it, and but they don't know what they don't know, yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_01 58:58

Well, it's but it's it's right, right. It's interesting, coach. Your your out of conference schedule has some some tough ones too with Maryville and Lander. Is that is that the proving ground for your freshmen, or is that how you're trying to test your team early, or what's the what's the thought process behind that?

SPEAKER_00 59:15

Um truthfully, the the Maryville one, you know, we're we're certainly excited for. Um, but that was a result of us that our first year only having 18 guys and and just knowing that 17 games, I think, that the previous coach had scheduled. We're like, there's no way that we're gonna be able to get through that many games with with this few legs. So Meryville was was kind enough to say, okay, we'll you know, we'll put that on the back burner and when you get a chance, get back up here and and return it. And said, absolutely. So no, it's gonna be great. Uh, we're look really looking forward to that. Lander is is an exciting program, you know, kind of in the same boat of um it's probably their fourth or fifth year as well, right? Yep, yep, yeah. Lapore's got that thing humming. You know, these lease McCrae is gonna be tough. Um, uh, you know, that's the beauty about Division II lacrosse is that there's really there's really not very many easy games out there. Every every game is is wild. Uh you never know what you're gonna get, especially with young men at their age. You know, if they if they think they've got it in the bag, then you you you could lose to anybody on any given day. So yeah, it's uh it's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:31

That's the truth, man. Mary in February.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:35

It's cold. Yeah, it's cold. That's gonna be chilly. That's gonna be a chilly, I imagine.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:40

I'm sure Coach Stark likes it that way, though. Bring bring the rail splitters to him.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

Yeah, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:46

He's a good guy, though. That's that's nice of him to hear that he said, Okay, you know, I totally get it. We'll we'll hold off. So that that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:53

Um, I was just I was just looking at the your your schedule. Hold on, dude. That's a tough schedule. That's a hard schedule. You'll look you there's possibly five five ranked teams on that on that schedule. And you know what? That's only good for Lincoln, man. But I think that's a good you know, recruiting tool. You're playing playing top-notch quality lacrosse.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:17

Ding.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:19

I don't like bells.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:22

And and truthfully, that's you know, it's what's awesome about our conference too, and and I'm you know, hopefully the other the other coaches would attest to it, is is that I when you really talk to all the coaching staffs and that are in the sack, they're just all great individuals. I got a ton of respect for every single one of them. And I would love to hang out with them, any one of them, any day of the week, because they're just down-to-earth, normal guys that just uh it's just it's so fun to be part of that fraternity and to, you know, if when Lincoln Memorial is playing well, and you know, the Coker and Mars Hill, and we're all playing well, that just makes the conference, you know, that much better and that much tougher. Um, and so it's always a good showing for for all of us as as a unit to eat up as many of those South bids as we can as as uh as SAC uh you know institutions.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:19

You know, I don't think being under 500 in the sack is like the worst thing, you know, like you're playing such an like you're playing like full or five ranked teams, and the other two are just as good. Mars is a good team, good, you know, well coached, and and core is you know gonna be coming there. They got a good coach there, and now Cabba's got Murphy there, and you know, Murphy's been doing great things at Mount Olive for a long time. So that conference, I I don't know, Kevin. I think it might be the toughest conference in the country right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:57

Well, if you look like we talked about, like you just said, with Murphy, Coach Murphy going to Kataba, you look at now second year for Coach Snow at Coker and Coach Turner at Mars Hill, they're all building something strong. And then you look at Coach Wilson, what you're doing there. I mean, you look at the last two years, 0-9 your first year, 4-13 your second. That in and of itself, based on where you started, is a huge success. It's a huge success. And and now where your roster's at, I mean, the sack is gonna just be dangerous top to bottom this year. But coach, what what do you think beyond improving the record from 4 and 13? What other things are you trying to accomplish this year?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:41

You know, I think uh, you know, you you mentioned our record the past two years and and the growth. Um, you know, that you obviously as as competitors, we do want to win, but uh the biggest thing is just the young men that have really, you know, obviously the coaches just coach, it's the players that really have have driven this thing where where it is now. And I'm just the the ugly face piece of it, you know, the talking head for for the guys. But you know, I think as we continue this, and and if I'm getting back to you said how are we gonna continue to process it?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:16

I'm I'm what are you what are you trying to accomplish this year?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:21

Yeah, um, I think the biggest thing is now teaching the the guys like how to win, right? How how to continue to to keep and keep and maintain that focus within within the context of the season, right? Um we're still really young, like I said, I would you know we've got 40 guys or so that are underclassmen, sophomores and freshmen. Um so them, so the sophomores have a pretty good idea of what to expect now. Um, but it's them now learning how to lead and those guys learning how to to keep this process going in a very difficult and time-consuming environment and a highly competitive environment and just keeping that focus because it's it's really easy to lose focus in games and on short weeks or games that you think you you're gonna do really well, or games you think you don't have any sort of shot at. And we try to say, like, hey, this these things are life lessons, whether whether we accomplish what we're trying to accomplish or not, you know, just trying to keep the main thing the main thing, I suppose is the best way to say it. But when we get into the season, it's and I talked to actually it's funny because I talked to our staff about this a couple weeks ago. It's like we just need to set small mile marks, right, throughout the season so that as a coaching staff, we also don't get caught looking ahead.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:52

Um, so like, hey, you know, Lee's McCray, can we just focus on trying to get our first win this season? That's it. Yeah. All right. Just that's it. And then going from there, like, can we can we get our first road win when we go up to Meryville? Um, so just trying to keep things kind of more dialed in, I suppose, or more small part focused.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:18

Um, you know, when when you have a young team, I think the best, I guess the best word I could use is is maturity or lack thereof, especially at the NCAA game. They're in young, they're gonna make mistakes, they're gonna do things, you know, that they used to be able to do in high school, and you can't that in the NCAA game. You know, they're doing the little things like the thing and just like just the living things are so important at the NCAA level. But I personally love when the freshmen and those sophomores get burned. I love when they get their minutes because those guys will learn the game quicker. Like you, you know, you you you can't if you're in a pool. You gotta be in the pool to swim. So these young players, and and you know, you might struggle a little bit here, make them throw the ball away at an inopportune time or you know, get the ball checked at a at a bad, but you you said it, they learn, they're gonna learn from mistakes, and that's when they're gonna get better.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:18

Yeah, and and that's and that's the kind of beauty and and curse of it, as we're at least I've noticed, you know, last year and then through the fall, like the big moments, they don't re they don't necessarily recognize your big moments, so they don't get all like frozen and like, oh man, like this is uh you know, you know, I've got to go make this play. So they're kind of like loose, loose like that, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's so that's good, but then they go out and they they they they don't know where they're supposed to be in the clear, and you're just like, oh my goodness, guys listen. Or or we've or we've just played, you know, 60, 80, 90 plus seconds of of defense, and you know, young guys want to go straight to the straight to the goal. It's like we don't need that right now. Yeah, possession.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:14

Yeah, yeah. It's got the off roll and get the defense a little red. You talk about it, coach. The the youth of your team. It looks like your top three scores last year were all freshmen, and it also looks like on your defensive side, especially close to you, and maybe an LSM were freshmen too. So I think like Danny's been talking about, they got the minutes last year. You would in the sack, in the sack that they're they're gonna have a a huge leap and just because of the experience in their sophomore year.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:48

Well, we're hoping so. Uh certainly hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:52

I didn't mean to put that much pressure on you, coach, or the play.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:54

No, no, it's no, it's good. And but again, right? So we've got a we've got a lot of guys that um and and truthfully, you you mentioned it a little bit earlier. It's like these guys also learning how to lead, right? And yeah, um, you know, fresh our sophomores and our juniors and our seniors now, and our you know, a couple of grad guys, truth be told, they they came in and there wasn't enough or there wasn't enough people or guys on the roster. So the leadership was kind of like kind of fluid, if that makes any sense. Yeah, no, and so it's it and so now it's like our leaders, our juniors and seniors and grad guys are still trying to learn what it means and what it's like to be a leader, and also our sophomores are trying to pick up that slack and say, okay, you know, how do we want this to be? And and I guess the ultimate goal, going back to the question you mentioned earlier, I want the guys to start taking more control of the team, right? Like we want them to lead themselves, we want them to make this kind of the well-oiled machine that you know that the top four or five guys in the conference have, where it's just like you come in and this is the way the process works. And um, you know, entering my third year now here at LMU, it's you know, we're still as a staff, we're still trying to find that like how do we put these guys in those positions? But um, yeah, you know, it's just uh it's kind of exciting and it's yeah, you know, there's some dark days, but there's a lot of there's a lot of fun and in watching the growth of it. And that's uh, you know, there there is some some higher expectations on the sophomores and the juniors and the seniors, but um, you know, they're they're a good group of guys, great group of guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:46

That's good. You know, Rome wasn't built in a day, coach. It's gonna take a little bit, but you you know, you're getting there. Got the roster back up there where you can have, you know, good, solid, you know, uh aggressive practices and and work on those little things. And and that's only a it's not only a plus for team, your squad, it's the you know, the game itself and and the conference.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:09

Yeah, I agree. And it's uh you know, same, same thing. You you got the numbers to to, as you guys mentioned a little bit earlier, you know, you have the numbers to run a full full practice, and the guys every day, you know, throughout the fall, we're like, holy smokes, coach, what is this? They're they're loving it because all of a sudden now we've got a a you know, a practice playbook that opens up drastically because now we can use drills that we weren't previously able to do, and you know, things like riding and clearing and and face-off and you know, simple stuff that is so massive that you're just able to spend way more time focusing on because you have the legs and guys can get their reps. And right that's just that's been a massive, massive help.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:53

Well, I tell you what, coach, I think it's gonna be really interesting in the sack this year with what you are bringing and the rail splitters are bringing, along with some of the other teams that we talked about. And we really thank you for coming on and giving us your insight. I think it's gonna be really neat to see where LMU goes this year and how they compete out of conference and then in the sack. So thanks so much for coming on.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:17

Yeah, absolutely, guys. Thank you so much for having me. And uh hopefully we can, you know, LMU can surprise some some some teams this year, and the sack can go on and have five or six teams in the south and and get after Tampa or something. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:32

Coach Wilson, thank you so much for taking the time with us, uh, LMU Rail Splitters. Uh, we had a great time talking to you tonight, man. Great guest. We really appreciate it. You nothing but luck. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:45

That was great, Danny. Hearing from Coach Wilson. I thought it was really cool what he said about how they're setting small mile marks as goals as they move through the season and trying to build on each one. Let's get the the first win, let's get our first road win. Let's I think that's a great way to look at the season for their team. Coach Wilson, great guy.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_02 1:13:06

He's just to come on with us and really just get down to the nitty-gritty about everything. Just he's a charming guy. He was just a really good guy, knows what he wants and is knows his team. I like him a lot. I'm glad he came on the show tonight.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:21

Yeah, and I thought it was really cool. I talked about the fraternity of coaches in the SAC. I think that's another testament to D2 coaches helping other coaches to make the division more competitive.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:35

Yeah, they're they they all want this conference to be the best conference in the country, Cap. So they all, you know, they all help each other. It's a small community, small fraternity of these coaches. They all know each other, they all hang out, they all try to get the same players. You know, they're all they're just they're just a another breed of guys. And and Coach Wilson was a perfect guest tonight. He's he's just perfect for LMU. Yeah, he'll be perfect in the SAC. Yeah, you know, he's he's gonna take his lumps a little bit, but he's got we talked about ingredients, he's got ingredients fixing mixing it up.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:11

Exactly. All right, so before we sign off, Danny, there are a couple of newsworthy items I thought we'd want to share. Now, by the time this comes out, they're gonna be a couple weeks old, but I thought we'd want to mention them anyway. First, Davis and Elkins has hired a new men's lacrosse head coach. David Pomeroy is still the director of lacrosse, but they have brought in Michael Zadroga. I hope I said his name right, as the new head coach. He comes from being an assistant at Kenisha's College in Buffalo. Oh, so that's kind of interesting. First of all, it's a little bit of a change in the structure. As you remember, we had uh assistant coach Josh Buzzard on coaching changes last year when David Pomeroy came in and he was brought in. Now they've kind of moved away from that. He jot Coach Buzzard's no longer there, and they brought in and now instead of calling assistant coach, he's the head coach. So this is a bit of a transition. And the interesting thing I also find is that he they bring him in after fallball of this year, going into the beginning of the season. So I think it'll be interesting to see how it plays out for this season with Davis and Elkins. Well, good luck to him. He's got his hands full. Yeah, I uh we wish him the best. Also, we want to wish Coach Josh Buzzard, who's no longer there, all the best in his future endeavors. I hope he lands somewhere. He was he was a lot of fun to talk to, very very passionate about the game of lacrosse and what he was trying to do there. So hope he lands on his feet with another another team. But the second thing, we have to give a shout out to Charlie Bertrand. He made the USA lacrosse team for the 2023 World Championships. Yeah, Charlie, the only Division II player, man, on the USA team.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:04

That's awesome. Congratulations, Charlie.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:07

First of all, it's well deserved. Like we talked about when we talked to him, you see him play, and you watch him play now on the NLL with uh Las Vegas Desert Dogs. I watched tonight, I watched them play. Yeah, I'll tell you what, it is like I said, really well deserved, and he plants that D2 flag on the U.S. team. Awesome, incredible man. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:30

Congratulations, Charlie. Go represent kit. Beat the Canadians because that's what's going on. Gotta beat the Canadian. There we go. That's who one.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:40

Well, who went to a Georgia Swarm Game? Uh, was that you? Yeah. Uh so I got to go to a Georgia Swarm game. They're opening game. Shout out to Shane Jackson who got me the tickets. Great, like two rows from the benches. I brought my my brother-in-law, my sister to the game. It was awesome. Got to meet Coach Storrier. He was there with his crew along with Coach Kendall Collins now, no longer a player. Their whole team was there. That's great. And got to talk to Coach Tony Lapore from Landar. He was there because their assistant coach plays on the team. Coach Wiedemann. So it was phenomenal.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:21

That's right. Wiedemann's on the team. I forgot.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:23

Yeah. So yeah, Andrew Q, Shane Jackson, Wiedemann, and the new coach at Mercy, all on the same team. That's fantastic. What a night. And if I'm not mistaken, Lyle Thompson had a behind-the-back uh assisting Jackson that night. Was that yeah? He was sick as always, Lyle Thompson. He's in he's in another world. That guy. Oh my lord.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:48

My favorite player to watch. Yeah. Yeah. Schreiber. I like I like watching Pennell too. Pinnell's pretty shifty back there, but yeah. I'm I'm midi. I'm more of a midi guy. Like, so I love it. You gotta go with Schreiber. Yeah, Schreiber's man. Wow, he's so good. But he I don't think he's as good as Lyle, though. Lyle's really good. But to just get to go in Georgia and see that and hang out with Storier and see Coach Lapore and everything. I think that's a great, great night.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:19

Yeah, once it was, and I have to give thank them for spending a couple minutes talking to me on their on their own dime as they were there. I really appreciate them talking with me. It was a lot of fun. I had a great time with my my sister and brother-in-law as well. But Danny, I think we're kind of like celebrity. Yeah, I tried to fake it as well as possible, you know. But I had to hunt down all these all these coaches and their players. They were willing to talk. It was great. I love it. So, but with that, Danny, I mean, it's a new year coming up in just another week. I want to wish all our listeners a happy new year, a healthy new year, and look forward to the coming season.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:59

Yes, happy new year to all our listeners. Thank you so much for listening and and DMing us and giving us uh information. You guys great. Um, our podcast continues to grow weekly. Kevin, I have so much fun doing this this year under alt with you and I doing this podcast, and uh I I couldn't think of a better person with, and all I can say is happy for my friend.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:27

Same to you, same to you without a doubt. I can't wait for twenty twenty three with you. And with that, Danny, that's a wrap.