Conference Previews for the 2023 season - SSC

Intro

SPEAKER_00 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 Stenstrom, and with me as always is Mr. Heatmiser himself, Danny Moran. The Heat Miser. The Heat Miser. How are you doing, Kevin? How's it going tonight in Northern Virginia? It's going well. It's going well. You know, I called you that because you're always hyping up playing in the warmth of Florida. Since this preview is on the Sunshine State Conference, I thought, well, you're the leader. You're the leader in the Sunshine State, Mr. Heatmeiser. So where do you want to start?

SSC Preview

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Well, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Let's just talk about how great the Sunshine State Conference was last year with a bunch of teams ranked and just shooting upwards. But you got to start with the national champions. Tampa Spartans got to start with them. Yeah. Pre season number one, I think.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

That's right. And let's talk about the for a second. We've talked about this. You and I have debated this off podcast on where they stand. But if you look just purely on the preseason poll, they rank right up there a number of teams with the NE10 and the SAC. NE10 has five teams. The SAC has four. Sunshine State Conference has four. And leading it off at number one is Tampa Spartans last year, 21 and 0.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Yeah. Yeah, they were they were very, very good, Kevin. They were national champs. Um had a couple of tough games in there during the season, you know. I know Florida Tech had a good game with them. And uh, but you know what? They're just they're stacked with studs from top to bottom, starting with their, you know, their coach with JB Clark, who's been there, been there, done that.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Right. And so both JB Clark and Ryan Sullivan, their assistant, were national coaches of the year. And and well deserved. Well deserved. Well deserved. Well deserved. And you're like you said, they had some close games. They had a close game against Seton Hill in the regular season, as well as Florida Tech, and then Lenore Ryan in the NCAAs was a great, great game. But guess what? They always won. Their team chemistry is just amazing. Um, and so let's talk about let's talk about some of the people. It seems like they've got a lot of guys returning too. Yeah, starting with let's start with Blake Ulmer. Let's start with there. Right. 63% save percentage.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Yeah, the kid, the kid's a stud in between the pipes. Kev, we had him on our prog our program last year. And I remember asking him, Did does the balls look like big old bouncy balloons coming at you? And he and he was humble and he was like, Yeah, I'm seeing the ball pretty good. He said, But you know what? He's a stud. He makes plays and he gets hyped, and he's a really good guy.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

And then also, but get this also returning and anchoring their D is Matthew Beddo. Yeah, Bido, he's the national player of the year last year. 78 ground balls, 48 cause turnovers.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Yeah, but how many goals did he score? He scored goals too, man, with that bowl. He's he's he's uh a threat uh at with every part of the game, Bido. I'm telling you, he he he's uh he causes turnovers, he scoops up ground balls, he plays defense against the best players on the other team.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

He's just so damn athletic.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

And then he gets down the field, he can clear. Yeah, and then and and then you know what? He's a threat to shoot the ball. He's a threat to shoot. You know, he he'll look for the pass first, but if you're not covering him, he's gonna go right down the pike and take a shot. And a lot of times they go in, man. So he's a stud. And they got other guys coming back. They got Danny Fitzpatrick coming back, our man from Chester, New York, upstate a little bit. He had 39 and 12 last year. They got Harry Kulkowski, another another stud, 27 and 34 assists last year. And the guy who I think got snubbed out of an all-American bid was a Tacman, Luke McAnney, with 48 goals and 16 assists. I think he got snubbed last year. That kid's a spark plug. I love watching him play. Oh, yeah. He is fun to watch. He reminds me of like what Allen Iverson used to do on a basketball court. You know, that just the quick crossover and turnovers and stop and start and bang, boom. And he's just an exciting player. You can put the ball in the biscuit, man, like like nobody's brother, man. He's really, really good. They are how he didn't get an all-American bid last year is beyond me because he was a real big part of that offense last year.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Without a doubt, they are loaded on offense. Uh, they now lose a little bit on D. Sam Collinwood, Cormick McCarthy, Owen Matukis, Christian Barodiak, and their LSM of the year, Sean Nislek. They're all gone, but they're, you know, they've got Brady Stoll coming back at LSM. They've got a transfer from Palm Beach Atlantic at LSM, Gunnar Gebline. He had for Palm Beach Atlantic last year 66 ground balls and 43 cost turnovers. And they've got a short stick D MIDI transfer from VMI coming in, trans cannon. So they're reloading like they always do in the gaps that they see that they have from the the folks that they lose. So I definitely see them as number one again this year. And the only thing that I can say, the only challenge they're gonna have is keeping that chemistry and keeping focused to win again in two years in a row.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Yeah, it's it's called the hunger. Yeah. And you know, what what did Kirby Smart say in the national championship? We hunted or hunter. So usually number one is the hunted. Oh you know what? In order to keep that little chip on your shoulder and keep it going, I mean you you need to be the hunter. So you get that you get that chip? Do you want another one?

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Hell yeah, you do. Yeah, you do. You remember we talked to their players after they won last year. We talked to a lot of the guys that are returning. And you could see they they were smiling ear to ear when I said you guys are, you know, they were ready. They wanted again this year.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Yeah, they like each other, man. They like each other. You can tell they were genuinely, they they all, you know, shout out to each other. You know, at Tampa, these guys are good, Danny Fitzpatrick, Kukowski, McNanny, Beetle, Ulmer. They're all, you know, they're all studs, and they're gonna be very good again. They're gonna be very good.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

100%. But but there are some other teams that are gonna try to challenge them this year, and why don't we go to Florida Southern? The Mox. 12 and 6 last year, 5-2 in conference. Not too shabby, man. And guess what? Three of their losses were to Tampa. One out of conference, one in conference, and one in the tournament final.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

What does that tell you? It tells you Florida Southern was a damn good team last year. You know, 12 and 6 is a good good record.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

Yeah, then they lost to oh, and for but we one thing we have not mentioned yet. They beat Lemoyne. That's right. In an epic battle last year. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

That was some game. I watched that game.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

That's right. It was an amazing game, and and then you know, they they lost to tech in overtime, but they beat Rollins in in overtime in the tournament. So that'll tell you if you're looking at what the the con how the competition is in this conference, how close they are.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Yeah, yeah, 100%. They got some great players there. Jeff Atlas, how many times do we call himself his name last year? I give the stud. He had 44 goals and 49 assists last year.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Yeah, now what I've got him not coming back this year, but they are returning Sean Nolan, who was their number one goal scorer. 57 goals. 57. Yeah. And they also have meetings Jay Minor and Matt Lametzpeck returning.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Jay Minor's a good player, too, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Yep. And another Canadian coming back with Matt, uh, Bryden Roboshow, who, if you look on from the scoring, he started to come on late in the season and just played better and better. So they've got a lot of returning guys on offense. Yeah, but they had a really great FOGO. Yeah, that's going to be the tough replacement. Kevin Horowitz at 64% last year.

SPEAKER_02 9:19

He was great. We had him on our program because he was just a stud at the FOGO last year. We had to get him on. What a great kid he was. But when you lose him, that's big because that got, you know, Florida Southern went into a lot of games, a lot of games with possession of the ball.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

That's right. Now, and and the real question is who takes over? Is it they've got Jay Minor that's done it before? He didn't have many last year, and then they also have three freshmen that are in there. So it'll be that will be, if you ask me, Danny, that's the big question mark. Is that the biggest off X for them?

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Because you know what? Uh statistically, as a team, they had 51 shots per game. Yeah. It could be a little bit better on man up. They were at 23%, but the faceoff was out of control. I mean, they were just amazing at the face-off. And you know what? They brought in 20 freshmen. So it's going to be interesting to see what Florida Southern uh will do this season. I'm looking forward to watching them early to see what they're like.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Right. They, but you know what? They've got some, just to close it on the other side of the ball on D, they've got a lot of them seem to be returning. Nick Shannon, Zach Fitzgerald, two strong LSMs in Cole Williams and Griffin Phillips, and their goalkeeper, Max Freestone, returns. So, like I said, I think they're pretty well balanced on both sides of the ball. Big question is what can they do in face-off? And just to point out, they are ranked number 17 in the USA lacrosse preseason poll. So they're another one that is right up there.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Yeah, they're they're a squad to be reckoned with, 100%. And they were every bit of a tough team last year that you can imagine. So, you know what? Those kids are seasoned now. Those kids, you know, the younger kids, the sophomores and juniors from last year are moving up. They're going to be bigger, stronger, faster in a year under their belt, know that they can play ball. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Exactly. So let's move on. Let's talk about Rollins, the Tars. Another team right at the top. You know, last year I said that they're always a team that's above 500 and always dangerous. Well, they proved that well above 500 last year. And guess what? They're going to be the same way this year. What were they 12 and 3 overall last year? 12 and 3, 5 and 2 in conference. They started off 8.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

That's a great season.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

It's a great season. They they their first loss was to Tampa and they lost to Florida Southern twice. The second time, though, in overtime. So and they're they're number 19 in the preseason poll this year. Here's their out of conference for Rollins. Very, very challenging. Limestone, Newberry, Anderson, Flagler, Barton, Westminster, Colorado Mesa. The last two, they're going out till Salt Lake City to play those two teams.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Wow. Wow. That's some that's some schedule. That's a very telling schedule.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

If they go 50%, they're going to be an amazing team. And I think they can go 50%.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

I I think they can, I think they have a good chance at going 50%. Now let's look at let's look at who they lose from last year. And this is going to be a little bit tough. They lose some key, key players in each sort of position. Lose All-American Bailey Pringle at attack, all-American Finn Gent at midfield, scholar, all-American Charlie Rask on D. He was a four-year starter, along with four-year starter at the short stick D mini position, Rob Champagne. But the good thing is, although they lose that leadership in each one of those positions, they've got some strong guys returning, especially, let's look at it, all-American Justin Eisenhower and Connor Thornton return to anchor the close D. They've got senior Jared Kotar and sophomore Evan Tesla who are competing for that third spot. They've got an LSM and Nelson Tolameko that returns from AL ACL surgery. So uh and they've got some starting short stick D midis in Davis Mosher and Hogan Palmer all coming back. So uh I think, like I said, they lose some players, but they're gaining a lot more. And the the I think the tough thing, Danny, in my mind, is going to be goalie. They return all four of their guys, uh senior Cody Eiserman, sophomore Bradley Peterson, who had the bulk of the minutes last year, and then some two juniors, Patrick Thomas and Trevor Dorfman. They all kind of played solid uh during the fall, the coach was telling us. They have a fifth goalie who is a transfer from Syracuse. I hope I get his name right. Shea Kachadurian. Wow. So Syracuse transfer? Syracuse transfer. Wow. Their Q the percent last year was about 49%. So obviously that's where they want to try to see improvement. And with this batch of guys, I think they can get there. It looks like the transfer may have the upper hand right now, but we'll see. And then if you go to the offensive side, seven of their nine top scores are returning, Danny.

SPEAKER_02 14:43

That's solid. That's solid. Sounds like most of their defense is coming back and intact. Sounds like, you know, all right, they're gonna lose, you know, Bailey Pringle. But they're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Yeah, but then they yeah, they've got MIDI's Justin White and Grant Hansen coming back, attack Jack Johnstone, Marshall Ellison, and Justin Spencer, and they were very active in the transfer portal. They got an attackman from Syracuse, Mikey Berkman. They've got another attack slash midfield from Umas Lowell, Neil Kremen. Harrison McKee comes over from Clemson Clemson, which is a club program, but he was heavily recruited by Rollins a couple years ago, and now he's with them. Ty Lawton, a MIDI from Wagner, and Billy Metz, a MIDI from Providence. Wow. People tell me that's not now. They don't always, you know, D1 players don't always work out coming to the new team. But if you've got that amount of guys and the guys that you have returning, think of the talent pool you get to play with.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

You talk about fresh legs. Like I just I now I'm really interested to see Rollins. Now you got a Syracuse transfer in goal and a Syracuse transfer at MIDI. Attack. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

So I will tell you, I think this year, like I said, I think last year I said they would be pretty dangerous, and I I I was uh I was putting my place there much more than dangerous. I think this year, watch out. I think that they may be able to compete against Hamlet.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Well, I'm gonna be interested to see. And so who does Rollins have first game? They have limestone. Yeah. Wow. So Rollins looking to get limestone early. And that's gonna, you know what? That's gonna be some game to watch.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

That's gonna be a great game to watch. I'm interested to see circle that one.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

I'm interested to see the transfers and and if there's gonna be, you know a big factor.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Right. Have they gelled with the team? And right, there's a lot of different factors you gotta figure out on on what they do, but they they've so that's interesting, Kev.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

That's interesting stuff, man.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Yeah, yeah. But there's another team that wants to get back and even improve from last year, and that's Florida Tech. Panthers.

SPEAKER_02 17:14

I like their uniforms, man. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

When they wear their blacks, oh yeah, they look nice, black, yeah, yeah. Well, they were 10 and 6 last year, but they were five and two in conference.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Still, man, they're above they're above 500. They were a good, solid, really solid squad last year.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

And as you remember, their head coach, Brad MacArthur, really didn't join the program until about like the third or fourth game. Third game of the season. He came in after, I think, Leno Ryan game. So uh, you know, they they got rid of their head coach in December and then brought in uh Brad MacArthur probably February time, sometime. So they were they were good, they were playing well before he got there, but I think that solidified and got them clicking. They beat Belmont Abbey in double overtime, they lost to Tampa in double overtime, they beat Florida Southern, Florida Southern in overtime, and they had eight games decided by one or two goals.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

So that will tell you how close they were to even it's a it's a team that plays really high-level quality lacrosse. You know what without a doubt. No, they do the Panthers, they're good, man. Zach Ross can go and he's coming back yet. 46 and 21 last year. Colin Stewart, 38 and 13. They got players, and you know what? They're out of conference, like you said, they got Tampa Flagler, LR, Barton, and Colorado Mesa. Some pretty good teams on their out-of-conference schedule.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Yeah, yeah, they do. Now, the thing that I'm curious about, they lose a lot on defense. Their 2323 rosters, not out yet, but here's all their grad students from last year that they're losing. Josh Vedder at D, Cole Marini at D, Sam Balch at D, as well as Matthew Hill at LSM, and their goalkeeper, John Hulsman. It's a lot. That's and Justin Williams was a senior last year at MIDI. I don't know if he's coming back. So, but Josh Fedder was a crazy good player last year to watch. Yeah. And their whole D. So that's my question is it looks like, based on just looking at the 2022 roster, that they have to kind of reload on the defensive side this year.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

Well, you know what? They're they're they're growing them lacrosse players down in Florida now. And the Sunshine State is recruiting real, real well, Kev. They recruit well. These kids from the north are coming down in droves to come down and play and play really good lacrosse and and and and be in the sunshine. So I'm sure Coach McArthur has done his fair share of recruiting. I mean, they were a pretty good, they're a pretty solid squad last year. They ended up like in the top 10, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Very close. I want to say somewhere in the top, definitely the top 15, top 12. Yeah, we have to go back and look. But they you know that now their face-off was at 45 percent last year. And if if you I would think they want to see if they can get that above 50 this year, um, if their D is really younger, a younger squad. Um but their offense, they've got like you talked about, their number one and number two goal score point getters and goal scorers are coming back. So their offense is going to need to carry them through if they've got a younger defense. But let's see, let's see who they bring. I this is just going off of what I can see uh from their 2022 roster.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Yeah, you know, they averaged 44 shots a game, they cleared at an 87% clip. You know, not too much, not too shabby of a team, man. There wasn't too many, too many weak spots, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 21:16

No, and they always played tough against every conference opponent. I mean, you I went through those before, just crazy good games, and I expect the same thing from them this year. Yeah, yeah. The Panthers. Okay, all right. Now let's talk the Fighting Knights of Lynn University. Lalyn, the Fighting Knight.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Okay, they went five and nine overall last year, Kev.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Yeah, they were three and four in conference, but they lost four games by one or two goals, Danny. There's a few games I saw that they got down early and then clawed their ways, clawed their way back, and then there were some others. I always thought they were kind of in it, but they just couldn't close. So, and that kind of shows with the four. Games being one or two goals. So, you know, maybe they can turn that around this year. They're they're under an interim coach right now, as we talked about in the coaching changes with Mark Miller. He was previously assistant, the assistant to Coach Kingsbury, who's moved on to Mercer as an assistant. So there's but the good news is he's been there. And so it's an easy transition, easy consistency. Uh, same groundwork. He knows the team, he knows the players.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

So it's important. It's important.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Now they're out of conference, Danny, is Newberry, Adelphi, Flagler, Farmingdale State, which is a D3 team, Dominican, CSU Pueblo, Westminster, Davis and Elkins, and then they play Pace up at Johns Hopkins.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

So they're gonna play at least three ranked teams, maybe four. Yep. You know, so you got Newberry, they'll probably be ranked. The Delphi probably be ranked. Pace will definitely, well, Delphi definitely be ranked. Yeah. Pace will definitely be a rank. And Westminster is always knocking on the door to be a ranked team. So and Dominicans up and coming squads, that's a pretty, that's a great out-of-conference schedule. It is a very good out-of-conference. Because there's some quality lacrosse teams there, you know, with Newberry, Delphi, and Pace just right off the top, you know. So it'd be interesting to see the Knights, you know, under a new leadership. You know, they st they still have Joe Mikowski coming back 23 and 10 last year. They got Jalen Stanton coming back. He had 23 goals and three assists last year. Let's see, let's see what uh coach can do.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

Yeah, I think they're out of conference. Really will be the litmus test to see what they can do in conference this year. I think this is more than other teams. I think this is going to be telling to see where Lynn goes this year. As you remember, in 2021, they just played really, really well. So they kind of played under what they what we were expecting of them last year. So let's see what they can do this year. And I think this out of conference is a great test for them.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

If they can win five out of eight, that's great. That's a great start. Yeah. Yep. If they can win five out of those eight out of conference games, then then you know we'll we'll know where Lynn is for sure.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

I I agree. I agree. Okay, let's let's talk St. Leo. Let's talk about the team that is coached by probably one of the coaches that's most respected within Division II, and that's Brad Jorgensen.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Yeah, we love Coach Jorgensen. St. Leo Lions, down there on the west coast of Florida, not too far from Tampa. And uh it's not a not a tough place to go to school, man. Um, last year they struggled a little bit, yeah. They were very young, they were very, very young. And uh they only went one and six in conference, and that's not really St. Leo. That's not them.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

No, and and even they were six and eight overall, which isn't St. Leo either. In conference game was just a tough road for them last year.

SPEAKER_02 25:23

It was one of those years for the, you know, sometimes you get the cycles. You get the cycles, you have an up cycle, you're in the middle cycle, you're in a down cycle. I think they were just on a down cycle, but St. Leo's never down for very long, Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

No, now the theme this year for them is at all. Yeah, right. No, you I agree. But once again, the theme this year is youth. They've got 24 true freshmen, and coach let us know they only have one player out of the 49 who's going to exhaust eligibility.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

Wow, that's great. I know Guy Bistro comes back. He had a he had a ball of a season, 34 goals and 25 assists. That kid's a beast. Justin Williams is coming back, 23 goals and 16 assists. Ryan Marr is coming back. You know, they they have 21 freshmen coming in. Hey, and a shout out to one of my son's friends who's a freshman at St. Leo, Thomas Nealon. Go get him, kid. Play off with Coach Jorgensen. Yeah, my boy Nealan. I love that kid. So he's a freshman down in St. Leo, and uh, he's one of the 21. So I expect St. Leo to be much more improved team this year than they were last year. And uh, you know, they averaged 41 shots a game last year. They man up was at 45, Kev, which is pretty damn good. Yeah, they were yeah, they were clearing the ball at 80, and their face-off was at 55. Their problem was they couldn't stop anybody.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Yeah, and they are gonna looks like they're gonna be young on D again, although they've got uh LSM Kyle Proto returning. And even Coach, when he emailed us with this information, he says he's looking forward to this group. They're they're fired up, they're they're looking to be more competitive. It's a more competitive group this year, he says, although they're young. So sometimes that's not a bad thing either. No, you know, and like you said, everyone loves playing for Coach Jorgensen, so they are going to try their it, they're not gonna give up any games.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

No, St. Leo's always been a great squad. They've won conference, they've won the Sunshine State a few times, they've been to the national championship. Coach Jorgensen knows what he's doing, man. Yeah, and they'll be back. He's the guy who started the Sunshine State conference. So you talk about yeah, you talk about respect, all these coaches respect the heck out of them. And um they're out of conference schedule. Look who they got playing limestone, yeah, and UAH, Davison Elkins, and Flaggler's gonna be I I like the flaggler, man. I just like their schedule. I think that's another another show for another time, but they're just up on a lot of people's schedule, which is really good for them. And they got shorter in Tusculum on there, so they have a really favorable schedule this year, Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Yep. I mean, obviously with Alabama, Huntsville, and Montevallo, though, and Tusculum, I think those are gonna be and flaggle. I think you're right. I think it's gonna be a challenging but a good out of conference for St. Leo.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Absolutely, 100%. Some state conference is pretty good, Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

Yeah, well, if you look at it, a lot of these teams, even if they had close to winning records overall, they get in conference and they beat each other up. That's right. And here's here's another team that's looking to turn things around this year, and that's Palm Beach Atlantic. Palm Beach Atlantic. They were five and nine last year, one and six in conference. They beat Emory Riddle and North Greenfield, which was a good win for them. And they only lost to Tampa by three. Yeah, but they struggled a little bit last year. Yeah, yep. Now, Jesse Venata is no longer the interim. He was the interim last year. He was named the head coach after last season in May. Okay. And he has a new assistant with him in Brett Bernardo, who coached and played at Liberty, but most recently coached at Messiah, which is a good D3 school. So he's got support. He's in his second year as uh now with the interim removed. So hopefully they can start to move on up. Their out-of-conference this year is pretty darn good. They're playing Flagler, Adelphi, St. Leo as an out-of-conference. They're playing them twice this year, Barton, Davis and Elkins, Quincy, and Colorado Mesa.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

That's a nice even keel. Even keeled for Palm Beach. That's a good out-of-conference for them. I I think they're going to be tested, but they're also going to play some teams where they can maybe rack up some wins.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

I agree with you.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

I agree. So I think what killed them last year, though, Danny, looking at their stats, is penalties. They spent too much time in the box. That'll kill any team, you know.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

And then they're even even really good teams. If you're if you're a team that's struggling and you're in the box, it makes it for a long day, Kev.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Oh, it does. It does because you're always playing behind the eight ball.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

Yeah, you're always playing catch-up. And that's like it's hard to do that.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Even even if your if your penalty kill is good, you're still not on offense most of the time. And when you're on offense, you're trying to just milk the clock to get out of that penalty. And what also didn't help them add with that that their man up was only at 27%.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

Yeah, that's tough. That's tough.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

So they put those two together. You they improve on those two things, get their penalties down, and improve their man up, they could have a different season.

SPEAKER_02 31:15

Yeah, it'd be interesting to see where Palm Beach Atlanta goes this season. I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Yeah, they've got their top two goal scores returning. Henry Sloan, he had 31 goals and 10 assists, and Hunter Hoffman, 20 goals and six assists. And attackman Caleb South is coming back. Now, here's the deal. We already talked about this. They lose one of their top defenders and Gunnar Gebeline, who transferred over to Tampa, and Tegan Hirsch. So they do have Dylan Hunt and Aaron Michaels coming back, and their goalie Ben Lightsey is returning, but they have some key losses on defense that they're going to have to reload on. So I think this year to me is to gain improvement from last year, not a few more conference wins for that.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Yep, and get some of these young guys to step up. It's their turn now. Their turn, their turn in the pool. So let's see how good they swim, and uh that's what gets your team started. So let's see what Palm Beach Atlanta can do. They've got a little bit of an uphill battle, but I think they could be all right.

SPEAKER_00 32:15

Yeah. Yeah. Now the other team that's on the uphill swing or trying to get on the uphill swing is the Eagles of Emmy Riddle. Four and 13 last year, one and six in conference. They beat Flagler and Mahanavalo, but they lost to teams like Davenport, Lewis, and Maryville and Lander, which those last three were very, very tough. They had a very tough out-of-conference last year, and that's after not playing in 2021. So they were already kind of behind a lot of other teams.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Yeah, they had to kind of retool everything. Not playing in 2021 was tough for them. Because it's relatively a new program.

unknown 32:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:00

They start around 2018, but you know, there's 2020 and 2021.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

Right, right. So it's almost semi-new. You know, you have some seniors there, maybe even a graduate scene, you know, graduate there, but there's not a lot because of the 20 and 21 season. Yeah. But Coach Wims is a great guy. Who wouldn't want to play for him?

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Yeah. And he even talked to us. I mean, I, you know, we're gonna have him on in a few minutes. You know, he knows what he's gotta do. He knows that they hadn't played, and last year was trying to shake the rut rust off. But I'll tell you what, he's not backing down. I thought their out-of-conference was tough last year. This is what it is this year. It's crazy good. Limestone, Anderson, Montevallo, Alabama, Huntsville, Lander, and then he goes against his old boss, Belmonta Abbey. It's crazy, man.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

That's a great, that's a great out-of-conference schedule for Emory Reddle.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

There's no easy game in any one.

SPEAKER_02 34:06

And then he goes in conference. Yep. So guess what? That team is only going to get better and better, Cav. Yeah. It's only got one way to go, and that's get better. Which is always a possibility, but you know what? They got players coming back. They got guys.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Yep. Five of their top six scores were were freshmen last year. Only Coleman Jacobs was a sophomore, and they're all coming back.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Well, just think how much better they're going to be this year playing as a group like that when all of them are freshmen. Now they're sophomores. These kids are going to be four-year starters. So they're only going to approve. Every coach, everybody will tell you the biggest difference that they see is from freshman to sophomore year in an NCAA player. They come in with so much more confidence, bigger, stronger, faster, just a different kid. And now you got all your top players are in that category for Emory Riddle. That's a positive, positive sign.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Yeah, without a doubt. And they've got some things improved. Their man up was only at 20%. Their face-off was great at 57%, but they had marker, so who they lose this year, he was their face-off specialist. He was just phenomenal. He was first team all conference and an honorable mention all region. But I think the real problem was they turned the ball over too much.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

Yeah, they lose steam at the end of games. You know, they didn't have the depth. You know, they didn't have the depth. So, you know what? I think at the end of games last year, they they they got tired, you know. They they got tired, and I think that was a problem. But let's see what Coach Wims can do this year.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

Let's yeah, yeah, I think that's enough of us talking about his team. Why don't we just bring him on and have him talk about Emory Riddle on maybe the conference?

SPEAKER_02 35:57

It's a great idea, Kev.

Coach Wims

SPEAKER_00 35:59

Coach Spencer Wims. Welcome. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 36:03

I'm doing great. Thank you guys for having me. Uh, I hope my voice doesn't sound too worse for wear with camp prospect camp and first day of practice.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

It's go time, coach. Coach Wims from the Emery Riddle Eagles, Emery Riddle down in Florida. So good to have you back, man. You look great, you look young, you look bit, you look tan. You look really, I'm jealous of you, big time kid. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks so much for coming on. How's everything been? How's it going?

SPEAKER_03 36:31

It's going great. It's going great. Had our first practice today, woke up, had a nice little sunrise run um to the beach. Um, guys, guys are ready to get after it. I couldn't ask for anything more out of our guys for a first day. Um, obviously, first aid energy is always there. Um, that's always something to be great about, but conditioning was there this year, and that's that's something that hasn't necessarily been there in the past. And it's really nice to see the guys come back ready for a two-hour practice. I think we were ready to cut it short at one and a half, and and they were they were still going. So it was it was really nice to see the guys come back ready and in shape to ready to go.

SPEAKER_00 37:07

That's great. Yeah, that sounds awesome, coach. Of course, you kind of lost me after you said run to the beach, like you weren't like digging digging at us from being up in northern Virginia and New York. I just want to point that out to you. Hey, coach, last year we had you on at the very beginning of the season. You were like one of the first in our regular season podcast episodes. So can you just give us your perspective on how last season shaped up for you and your team and and what you felt about last year, what you learned from it?

SPEAKER_03 37:36

Yeah, absolutely. Last year was kind of the year that we were we were happy to be back, um, taking the year off before and and not playing. We were super excited to come back and and get some competition and and and the wise coach I am, I decided to schedule 17 and it turned into a grind for us for absolutely sure. I don't think we had any slouches on the schedule, um, and and really learned a lot about ourselves and and learned a lot about ourselves as coaches as well, what this team needed in terms of motivation and different things like that, and and learned just tough lessons. I mean, lessons you learn when you have four one-goal games and a couple two-goal games. Yeah. I think what was exciting about it is we saw the progression. Maybe while we were in it, it was tough to see. Um, but we kept getting better throughout the entire season. Unfortunately for us, our competition kept getting better throughout the entire season. Yeah. And um, so we had some great games towards the end. But I think this group just learned what it was like to be back in college lacrosse and learned, especially for our conference, what the Sunshine State lacrosse is really about and what that level is, and how you got to bring that level day in and day out to practice, to lifts, um, and just compete at that level to in order to be able to really do something in this conference.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

Now, now, building on that from last year to this year, what have you seen so far that you really, really like?

SPEAKER_03 38:57

The competition level. I think that's the biggest thing that I really, really liked out of this group. They came ready from day one to compete and and to get after it. And and so the leadership. I I really think we have a great group of four captains. We kind of went the uh the hockey model of captains with two captains and two assistant captains this year. Ryan Manning and Marcus Needham are our two captains, as well as Kurt Pelchin and Coleman Jacobs are our two assistant captains. And they really, really took this team as well as our upperclassmen, but with just the leadership in all right, I'm ready to step in and say something about a drill not going the way, and a couple of guys are speaking up before me. I'm ready to uh, hey, our practice doesn't look like the energy is there, and guys are picking each other up and and in positive ways, not just yelling at each other for dropping a ball or not doing the right thing, but but coaching each other up and saying some things before I can say them. And I think that's the most exciting thing as a coach, finally. I mean, yeah, I'm in my sixth year now, which is crazy to think about, but it's really finally our fourth full season. And and I think by the time you get when you start a program and you get to that fourth year, the guys should be doing some of those things. Those guys have listened to you for four or five years. Ryan Manning's the the lone guy who's been with us for six years now, um, getting masters, doing some amazing things. Um, got a Northwood Grummit job, and our athletic trainer jokes with him day in and day out that hey, a couple of years, few years, five, six years from now, I'm expecting some some big things out of you and possibly being an astronaut and doing some amazing things. So that's something that we have guys who are just doing amazing, amazing things, but really the leadership and and the understanding of showing up ready to work, not showing up trying to get in shape was the biggest thing I think we learned from last year.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

That's that's phenomenal, coach. That sounds great. I'll I'll tell you though, from looking at your roster, your team still is really young, from what I can tell. Looks like you got 27 of your 34 players are still either freshmen or sophomores. So it must be great. I want to ask you about that, but it you must the leadership of the the more senior folks must really be helping out this year. If they're doing that stuff and getting those guys, you know, practice ready, game ready, condition wise, already for all that young talent you've got.

SPEAKER_03 41:21

Yeah, absolutely. I think uh a little bit of the roster, obviously, when we sat out for two years, we got guys with two extra years of eligibility. So some of those guys are like a Marcus Needham is is going into his fourth year with us, sophomore on the field and doing some good things um for us. And and a couple of those guys are in those same bucket, but we also have some young guys who've really stepped up as well. And yeah, it's exciting. It's exciting to have our roster size and only losing five guys um coming back for the next year. Um but there's a challenge as well with some of the guys. You got to make sure they understand that, hey, we got to work for this year. I understand that, hey, some of the freshmen and sophomores are thinking, hey, next year we're gonna be really good after we get some after we get some seasoning, or when I'm a junior, I think we could do some really good things. But right sure, they they understand, hey, uh Ryan Manning, who's been here six years, this is his final go.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

This is this yeah, he wants it this year.

SPEAKER_03 42:21

He needs it this year, absolutely. And for a guy who was on that first team that went one and twelve to see what we are now, and for him to be a leader and a guy, I mean, he's he's the poster boy for Embry Riddle lacrosse. Um he's gonna be a fun one to watch this year at the LSM position. Um, really transformed himself over the years and gotten in shape. But I mean, same with our other guys. I think they've looked to that and seen hey, this is what a kid can do in four years, and not kind of tail off but ramp up to his senior year and and and hopefully have a really successful year.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

Yeah, that's great. That's great.

SPEAKER_00 43:00

Yeah, and from what I can tell, you are losing, like you talked about, you're losing some key guys, some key defenders in Jacob Morin and Michael Forte, and your face-off specialist, Mark Urso, who was all conference, honorable mention, all region. So have you seen other guys ready to pick up those reins?

SPEAKER_03 43:20

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Obviously, losing an all-conference first teamer is is tough. Um with one of the blessings in disguise we have with having such a great university was Mark was planning to come back this year and play with us and give that final season a go. Um, did his internship over the summer, got to the end of the summer, and his internship said, Hey, we'll pay for the rest of your grad school. We need to get you full time right now. And hey, I that's what it's all about, right? Yeah, you can't say no to that. No, no, one hundred percent.

SPEAKER_02 43:52

So he's got a job and they're paying for his school. So you gotta jump on that. 100%.

SPEAKER_03 43:57

Don't fault him at all for those opportunities. Oh no. And that's exactly what we want our guys to be doing. But 100% Andrew Ewalt is going to play a big role for us in the face-off X. And if you look at Andrew's numbers, just raw numbers, of course, he took a lot less than what um Urso made. He's right there on board with what he's doing. And I I we've got a lot of trust in Andrew and a couple of guys behind him. Sean Anderson, who will be a senior this year, who's going to do some good things for us at the face-off X. We have some guys who were absolutely going to work horse there. Ryan Manning coming in, kind of been a do-it-all guy. He's taken faceoffs, been a short stick midfielder for us, been a close defender, been an LSM. Finally gonna kind of put him at home at LSM, which is what he likes to be. Um, he's been a team player throughout and through, but I think he's I think every once in a while we gave him the short stick, he's he's happy to have that pole back in his hands. Um really do some heavy lifting there uh at that LSM spot for us. Absolutely, absolutely. And then we got a trio of guys down low in Kurt Pelchin, Preston Modrie, and Josh Bushong, um, who who all got time, good quality time last year, um, that it can do some really good things on the defensive end at the close um spot for us that we're excited for and and and excited to move on. But uh you can't replace a uh a captain like Jacob Morin, who's another one who's doing amazing things. Um, our guys, I I mean, I get jealous of them and some of the stuff they're doing. Jacob Moarin currently is uh living in the Florida Keys, getting his flight hours up, flying a skydiving plane um for some guys down there. So could be worse, right? Could be worse first job out of college. Um, just getting up in a plane with the parachute and willing to jump out.

SPEAKER_00 45:45

So yeah, yeah, too bad. Yeah, because he gets to stay in the plane when when they jump, you know, that's the most beautiful thing. I mean, I was a naval aviator, so I didn't understand guys uh jumping out of a perfectly good airplane ever.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

So I joked with my wife that hey, I'm interested in going down, but we just had our second about five months ago, and she's like, No, you're your feet are on the ground, you're going anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 46:10

You are here, sir. Well, congratulations on your second there. That's awesome. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

That's what's so great about Emory Riddle University, man. And so what what that college is able to the opportunities it's able to afford the kids, not only on the lacrosse field, but you know, what they get to do in life afterwards. Those are some pretty cool things for sure.

SPEAKER_03 46:31

It's amazing, especially when you got hey, um, Coleman Jacobs leading score from last year. Jacob Moran was one of his roommates. Um, not uh in like this pass over winter break, drove down and and did some skydiving with him. And that was like that's something that you don't get to do every day. Have a buddy who's like, yeah, come on down, stay at my place, and and and let's get let's do this. It's it's really amazing and exciting to see as we finally get these alumni and these guys that are graduating through the program who are coming back. Jacob Moran's come back multiple times, obviously, only being um a short um three-hour drive, four-hour drive down from us. He's come back for for just seeing the guys and being a part of it. He misses it, obviously, but is doing good things. And it's really, really cool to see some of these guys come back and what they're doing. It's it's it's just amazing. It absolutely is. And then I see their homework, and I'm like, okay, I understand why you're getting some of these jobs because I wouldn't be able to do any of that.

SPEAKER_00 47:26

Well, I and I tell you what, coach, you know, obviously Danny and I talk so much about on this podcast about the game and about the teams, but we've mentioned this a couple of times. I think the other great thing that they do in D2, and what you coaches focus in on is it's the whole being, it's the whole person, and what you're trying to get them ready for after their college days and after they play lacrosse. Because let's face it, very, very, very few in Division II are gonna make or gonna be able to play professionally after this. It's uh it's a handful, right? And and so there's other things that's gotta be prepared at. And I think that's great that you are talking about that because I think that's important for any listeners we've got that are high school age that are thinking about what do I want to do for for lacrosse? You gotta look at these schools, you gotta look at Embiy Riddle and the other schools in Division II that that will fit what you want to do with your post-career, post-college career, post-playing career.

SPEAKER_03 48:24

Absolutely. I think you you gotta take that into account and and understand that not everybody um has has a plan when they go there when they're a freshman in college and they can see different things out. But there are some individuals who have those ideas of what they want to do and understand that there's there's some amazing possibilities out there and and not close your yourself out. I think that's that's an exciting thing for me in division two, as you see across, especially the southern teams and and some of the teams out west, is you see guys from all over the country coming to these universities and playing willingness to go anywhere and try something and and and see if they can do it and and be out there and put themselves out there for a university and see what happens. And if they can find a niche that they're really excited about, that's just gonna make going to class, doing those other things really big. And and as you said, division two, that life balance of hey, yeah, absolutely. We're here going to play a high level across. We're we're trying to get better every single day and we're taking no shortcuts. But yeah, when you're off the field, yeah, you got to get your study in, you got to get that stuff done. But also, hey, you got to have that balance of your free time, whatever that may be for our guys, whether that's the guys that want to go to the beach, for the guys that want to go golfing. We just had a team outing at Top Golf that the guys are having a lot of fun at. And what whatever that other release is for you outside of the bus, you got to have those balances because if you just go fully into those things of okay, it's all across, it's all academics, you're gonna burn yourself out at some point because there's a lot of pressure in those situations. You got to have some non-pressure situations, and I think um that's something that's big with us and making sure our guys have that time off, that that understanding of, hey, fall, yeah, we're trying to get as good as we possibly can, because in spring it's a grind as we get to different things, but go um, go to the Florida, Georgia game if you want to, go to some of these different places, obviously Disney World down the road from us, but all that different opportunities to go and have that balance is huge for our guys because it makes you a more well-rounded person, understanding that hey, yeah, as much as I want guys who live, eat, sleep, breathe, lacrosse, I know that they need to have other sides and other things that that make them tick and and make get them going.

SPEAKER_02 50:35

100%. I couldn't agree with you more. And you know what? And that's one of the reasons why that that conference lacrosse wise has really has last year was just an unbelievable year for the whole conference. You know, you guys are drawing players from all over the country, like you said. I don't want to stay in Minnesota and and and play lacrosse, you know. Like if I can go down to Florida and and go to Emory Riddle or any one of these Florida universities and play high-level lacrosse and get to do what you just said. Have some free time, get some lacrosse time, some run time, some study time, and that balance that you talk about. It's amazing. Good stuff, coach. Appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00 51:19

Yeah. So, coach, let's talk about about the SSC and the competition. We were talking about that before we started recording. Um, and really it's starting to look like they're rivaling your conference is rivaling the SAC and the NA10 with with four teams in the preseason top 20. So talk about you talk about the grind of the whole season, and you're out of conference. Last year and this year is tough, but then you got to go into playing against your own conference. Talk about playing the teams in your conference.

SPEAKER_03 51:49

Yeah, absolutely. I think we had to toughen up our outside conference to get ready for for our conference play to kind of get to beef up.

SPEAKER_02 51:56

I'm looking at your out of conference right now. I'm like, whoa, okay. But go ahead. I'm sorry to interrupt.

SPEAKER_03 52:02

No worries. Yeah, we'll go, we'll go in conference, and then maybe we can talk a little bit at the end of an out of conference. But that that Sunshine State conference, obviously, we got to start with Tampa and just what Coach Clark has done um there. I was able to be the site rep for that Lenore Ryan um Tampa game last year, and and what uh two great teams that that got to play against each other in a high rate game. And honestly, yeah, there's some close games throughout the season for Tampa, but I I think that might have been their best test of the entire season right there. It was it was a great back and forth game, two really good teams. But Tampa just just was able to take it to that next level, and and and kudos to them. And and they're bringing back some some heavy hitters that we're excited to play against as well. So yeah, they are. And then and then you go right right beneath them um with I think kind of the three teams that that made our conference tournament last year in Florida Southern, Rollins, and Florida Tech. And they're there are no slouches either. I I know Rollins has brought in some guys, some chance and and returned some quality, quality players as well. So definitely itching to get another shot at Florida Southern. I know Florida Southern lost it a little bit, but Marty's got enough guys there that he's gonna pick somebody up. And and they lost, they had a guy out all season last year that's gonna come back and be pretty talented at the attack position. So that's gonna be another beef one that's going. And tech is no slouch either. Probably gave Tampa outside that Lenore Ryan game we talked about, probably Tampa, yeah, some of their best games. So, like those three teams right there are ready to go and and really beef up. And then you come down right after that, and and coach um Jorgensen at St. Leo, he's not gonna be sitting at that record long. I'll tell you the guy's known too much. He's he's the man who started it all down here in Florida, and that team is gonna be coming back on the rise um and and really excited to see what they're gonna be doing. And then you got myself, um, PBA and Lynn as well. That there's just all guys who can go. I mean, Tampa got a transfer. I mean, I don't know how many conferences could have a team tied in last place, have a kid transfer to the number one team in the country, number one team in the conference, and become a big time player and yeah, gonna be at a PBA. Like that, the rich get richer a little bit in that aspect of it. Yeah, but that's that guy's gonna be a good player for him. And I don't know too many conferences that have guys top to bottom that really could could compete at that level. And that's that's in my thought process of it. Of course, I'm biased being in Sunshine State, but top to bottom, you put your number one versus our number one, you put your number five versus our number five, you put your number eight versus our number eight, and I agree, man. See some really, really good results um down the line versus every conference, and especially other ones, SAT conference get it is getting it going. Obviously, Conference Carolinas. I I know Coach Barrett and and everything that they're doing, and and obviously Mount Olive, Coach Corey Struss over there as well. Um North Greenville, like they have some tough teams, and then hey man, I play half, I play all the conference tournament peach belt teams, and I know exactly first hand too. So they're definitely getting it going. So no, I I'd love being in this conference. It's it's it's tough day in and day out, but it's what you want as as a as a coach and as a player is to compete against the best and measure yourself. Sometimes you're not going to be where you need to be, but you're gonna know where you are, and and there's no slouchers week in and week out. Yeah, no. We have Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday. Those those are some tough weeks.

SPEAKER_02 55:35

Yeah, yeah, no doubt. But man, I'm looking at your schedule now out of out of conference, playing limestone, you're playing Flagler, you're playing Anderson, and then like you said, the peach belt guys, Montevallo and Alabama Huntsville, they're they're all very good teams, coach. These are all quality teams, and I you know, I just I commend you on this schedule, man. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 55:58

Thank you, thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, I mean, I I we kind of had the mentality that let's go out and play anybody when we can, let's let's get some good games on the on the schedule. And like I was kind of alluding to earlier, about we we needed to get this out-of-conference schedule tough so that we can be prepared and we're not shocked at the level of Sunshine State when we get to it. No, no offense to the teams we played last year or anything like that, but adding a team like Limestone, obviously an alum there and and and know Coach Stoyer, played with Coach Stoyer, excited to get him on the schedule. This is I looked it up the other day. This is my first time, this will be my first time back at Limestone since 2014. So here we go for 10 years and and excited to get back on that field and get those butterflies of game day again, be at the rock and all those great things there.

unknown 56:45

Cool.

SPEAKER_03 56:46

Um then obviously also got um Coach Barrett finally on the schedule, been hounding him for years to get on the schedule. Um going up to Belmont Abbey and getting able to play him up there and and and excited to be in North Carolina. I got a couple North Carolina team kids on the team that are excited to play um in the Carolinas, and and those are gonna be some amazing and fun games to have. And then obviously our Peach Bell conference and and the Anderson game as well, like um, and open it up with Flagler, who's gonna be looking their chops to get another chance at us. So we ruined kind of their their opening day game last year, and I know they're gonna be ready, and and they got some guys coming in too. Um, as well. So it's just it's it's a lot of fun to get excited about these games. I know when we're in it, sometimes we start pulling our hair out, wondering, hey man, I got another one of these ranked teams, I got another one of these these guys who who got D1 transfers all over the all over the team. But I think we finally have a group that that understands that level and understands to embrace that challenge, kind of embrace the fact that we get to measure ourselves. I've been listening to a lot of Phil Jackson podcasts and different things, and he has this quote about embracing your enemies because they can make you better, and not that we're enemies with anybody on our team to that level, but embracing our opponents and the level they are and not disrespecting them and understanding, hey, because we we have to get ready for them, that makes us that much better. So I'm super excited to be playing these teams and see where we stack up.

SPEAKER_02 58:15

Excellent, coach. I'm now really excited for the season. Yeah, yeah, I'm all pumped up. I'm ready to go. There we go.

SPEAKER_00 58:23

So I got I got uh one question left. We're kind of go a little bit uh higher level here as we just went through your whole your whole season and who you're playing. So let's just do obviously your goals were to kind of knock the rust off, get back into playing shape, play the teams, get just enjoy playing again. What are your goals for this season? Do you have any more any specific ones that you're looking for?

SPEAKER_03 58:46

Yeah, I think the the big specific one for us is make that conference tournament. Um I think that's that's a goal that's that's attainable. It's tough, obviously. Only half our teams make the conference tournament. So we gotta we gotta definitely grind. And and as we alluded to earlier, we got a lot of good teams in our conference that we're gonna have to to grind out against. But making sure that we understand that that's that's a goal to for this program to kind of put ourselves on the map, make that conference tournament and see where we lay. Um, in terms of out of conference, in terms of just our play in general, I think for us, I believe that we we faded a little bit in games in fourth quarters. I I really think that we we got tight in situations, we we got nervous in situations. Obviously, losing a couple of those early starts to get in your head. I I go back to that North Greenville game over and over and over again um from last year, and just thinking about that fourth quarter in overtime on what we possibly could have done to change it. Um, but also understanding that hey, it's it's water on the ridge, a ball bounces another way, we win that game, and and everything changes in our mindset of how that game went. So understanding that, hey, a ball can bounce one way. We still played at that level the entire game or portions of the game that doesn't necessarily define us because we lost that game, and understanding that we can really push more of our end of practice situations, putting more pressure on our guys when their legs are tired, after they've had an hour, putting some some drop rules, doing a passing drill and counting our drops at the end of practice, saying, Hey, these are the moments that matter. This is it may not be the save or the goal that's the biggest play. It may be that ground ball to roll back to clear. It may just be the time you got slid to and you had to exit out of it quickly and make a hard pass to a guy across the field. And and those mundane plays that seem like everyday plays that last year, I think, especially when we got tired, that pass would be at a guy's feet, or that ground ball wouldn't be wouldn't be picked up, or that clear would be failed, and they'd have another another 80 seconds to play offense against us. Yeah, I think those are the moments that we're trying to pride ourselves on in terms of practice and and what we're trying to do. And then lastly, I think honestly, our guys would love to hear me, love hearing me say this is give them a little more rest. Uh, we we were we were Road Warriors last year and having a 15-hour bus ride back from uh St. Louis, followed up by a three and a half hour bus ride to Savannah, no less than three, four days right after. Uh, I think really, really, if it wasn't our legs, mentally we were drained, especially coming off of two losses on a trip like that. Um, I think mentally we were drained going into Savannah. No, no, no shade towards Coach Lapore at Lander, but they played a great game. They beat us fair and square and took it to us. But I think we kind of went into that game feeling a little sorry for ourselves, and and rightfully so. It was a lot of bus rides. So I wasn't excited to get on the bus again either. Um, but kind of departmentalizing that and understanding that we we can get through those things, but also giving the guys an extra day rest here or there so that they can um kind of recharge if not just their legs, but their minds to get them exactly. And hey, as we were talking about earlier, that balance of okay, I can I can put that to the side for a little bit and and just concentrate on my schoolwork, or hey, it's a Sunday, I can just hang out for a little bit, maybe watch some other lacrosse games, that kind of stuff. Right guys, a little more balance and and a little more rest as we gear up through the year, and that shows in not playing 17 games again. Um, I think it's gonna be a big, big advantage for us coming in this year. And I'm super excited to see what the guys are gonna do with it. I think uh, like I said, we're we're a short 11 days away from our first scrimmage, so we're trying to push, trying to push. But as I can keep getting in my head, hey, we push for those two hours of practice, but give give them some rest, give them some rest, coach. That they'll be all right. They put in all of their hard work and they're ready for the season.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:59

Good man, good man, good stuff, coach. I really appreciate it, man. It's like I I love listening to you. I said last time I was like, gonna hang out with this guy. Like this Danny, I'm ready to go.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:09

It's two weeks. So we're like two, three weeks of gonna, he's got me ready to play right now. I can't play, but he's running me for the season.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

Yeah, I'd love to get out of Long Island right now and get down to Florida. Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:21

Absolutely. I know Coach Duncan would love to get you guys down, maybe that flagler game. I'm not sure. I mean, it's a Wednesday, I know that's a tough day to get out there, but I'm not sure how many of the college games are gonna be being played on that first Wednesday. So absolutely. Anytime you guys want it, we we'll figure out a way.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:37

And I'll tell you what, I can work from anywhere. I I work from home, so I can work from a hotel and then go to the game. I figured out a way to do that, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:45

Here we go. We'll get on Coach Duncan. We'll see, we see we can get some some hotel comps, and we'll what we gotta do.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:52

Any extra dorm rooms that I can do, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:55

Absolutely. Oh, hey man, with the dorms we've built here at Embry Riddle, man. Uh, we we toured so we've built four in the last four years, five years since I've been here. And we toured them when they first opened. We had me and my assistant are joking with each other, nudging each other, walking through. And it's like, they got any extra space? I mean, come on. I mean, you got volleyball courts, you got the cafeteria connected to the dorm, you got basketball courts, you got little fire pits. Like, come on, what what are we doing here? We need on campus.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:25

That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, coach, I really uh wish you the best of luck this season. It's been great to have you on again. You're a great guest. Um, I'd love to come down, man. You got me got me itching now. I wish you all the best. I really do, man. Uh I'll be I'll be watching, I'll I'll be watching you boys this year. We'll be talking you guys up on the podcast for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:46

For sure. Absolutely, absolutely. And don't don't think I forgot that you picked Flagler last year. So I still got this in my mind. We'll see we'll see you on the on the preview as it's coming. I won't hold it against you. I understand Coach Duncan's a very charismatic guy. He got you going as well. So I'm trying to do my part. But thank you guys so much. I know I know so many D2 coaches now that that I talk to, and and we all listen. We all we're all trying to hear what one coach says and maybe steal some information, but also you guys are entertaining too. Like you, we we really we get chuckles out of it sitting here. You help with my uh my car ride in. Whenever a new one drops, I get the alert, I throw it on. So I know a lot of coaches are are listening to you. And then the last thing I'll say is we we got to get you guys a sponsorship deal with somebody. Someone I'm hearing. I we're we're we're right behind you on that one, coach. Absolutely. We'll we'll work on something and and do something. We'll see if we got anything down here. But I know there's a lot of coaches out there who love listening, and and I know there's a lot of players and a lot of a lot of parents who are getting some amazing information from you guys because you guys just did this out of love. And that's that's that's the best part about it, man, is is hearing the the enthusiasm you guys have for this this conference, this this sport, this division, everything. So thank You so much for having me and look forward to doing it again for sure. Maybe one if I uh if I get one of these ranked opponents, you guys put me on again. Yeah, absolutely. I'll try to hold up our try to hold up on the other.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:11

Yeah, you know what you can do, Coach. You can bug me. I know I bug you to come on now. You can bug me. You say, Hey, man, put me on.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:18

We'll do that.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:19

Absolutely, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:20

Thank you guys. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:21

Anytime, anytime. Coach Spencer Wims, Emory Riddlehawks. Thanks so much. We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:27

I'll

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 1:06:28

tell you what, Danny. As Coach Wims was talking, I swear he was going down my notes of the of all the different teams.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:36

Coach Wims is an amazing guy. I would love to play for him. I would love to hang out with him. He just seems like a chill guy, but smart, attentive, accurate, acute. All the all the adjectives I could use for a really good young, energetic, enthusiastic coach who loves what he's doing. Obviously loves what he's doing. And you know what? He's hanging around a bunch of smart kids. All these kids are going into the aviation aeronautical engineers. They're working for Gorman, Thurman, Gorman. North of Brummin. North of Brummond, and you know, NASA and Delta and what a great little school, huh? What a great little school.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:18

And and he gave a great rundown of the conference, which I think really kind of says how competitive it is. And he got me so excited for this season. So I really think, Danny, if we can get some kind of sponsor to get us down to that flagler emory real game, I'll stay in the dorm.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:40

I'm with you, kid. I will take the I will make sure I get the time off if we can get that to happen. That would be great. I would love to do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:48

That would be fun. Hey, but before we get going, we have a little other news. One of our listeners kept us on us uh by letting us know there has been an update that UND's out of conference schedule. Instead of playing, yeah, instead of playing Walsh, they are playing against Lemoyne at a neutral field in Cleveland, Ohio. So let's just I so we have to give a shout out to David Heslip. I hope I said his last name right. I'm keeping us updated and honest. And I tell you, I love that that kind of feedback. When we get something wrong and someone can point it out, I don't have a problem saying that we we screwed up and that we can we can rectify that in another podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:27

How about Big Dave sliding in with the information, huh?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:30

And he he was so nice because he said, Hey, great rundown for GLVC. Just thought I'd let you know. Little change in the out-of-conference schedule.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:40

So that's cool. They're playing Le Moyne out in Cleveland. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:43

Yeah, yeah. Their schedule just got tougher, and we'll get them even more seasoned for for the year. But uh and we'll be talking about the NE10 next week, Danny, after this podcast. Wrap it up.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:57

This one this one, this Sunshine State Conference Kev, scary good conference, top to bottom. You know, um, they made a lot of noise last year. All their teams were really good, knocking on the door of the NCAAs, a few of them. Just, you know what? If you're gonna play a Sunshine State Conference team, you're gonna be in for a game, guys. This conference is just growing by leaps and bounds, and they're getting quality players to come to these schools, whether it be Tampa, Lynn, St. Leo, Rollins, Florida Southern, PBA, or Emory Riddle. They're they're all got really good players on these teams, and they're getting better. And the state of Florida alone just is producing more and more great high school players.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:42

Right. Right. That's they're getting better in state. And uh if they can keep them in state, yeah. Yeah, it's it's and I and I think the schools are doing that, and then they also grab from other places. And and because we've talked about this, and coach even mentioned it, why wouldn't you want to go down there?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:04

Kev, I've been saying it since the podcast began. Why wouldn't you want to be in school in Florida? If you had the opportunity and maybe a little bit of an offer, whether it be academically or athletically, or maybe both, why not take that opportunity? It might be a little bit far from home. I know my oldest son went to St. Leo. It was tough to come see and play. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah, it's tough getting from Long Island to Tampa, you know? So it could be tough, but these kids get the opportunities in front of them, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:37

And I'm gonna go back to something Coach Jorgensen told us about when we had him on, like our second or third coach on the podcast, when he said, the great thing about the Sunshine State Conference is every school is unique in what they're offering. And so you can find one of those schools down there that fit what you want to or what you think you want to do academically, and you know, where it's located. Do you want to be on the west coast? Do you want to be on the east coast? Do you want to be in the middle? Do you want to study engineering? Do you want to study liberal arts? Do you want to do business? Do you want to do more sports? Do you want to have more of an international flavor like you have at St. Leo? I mean, I think he hit the nail on the head that playing down there, he he said a player does not fit every school in the Sunshine State. A player may fit one or maybe two based on what he's looking at. And that's the diversity that the Sunshine State Conference from an education standpoint and from a cultural standpoint and from a location standpoint brings to Division II.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:42

Yeah, it gives them a lot of different different avenues you can choose, huh? Pretty interesting conference. And yeah, lacrosse and lacrossewise, there was they're good, man. They're good. They made a lot of noise last year. And they're gonna make noise. I don't think you guys really know. I don't think you know how good the Sunside States conference is. Well, he he was right, man. He was right. He knows he knows, he knows. Because he's right, he's been there the whole time. He's right in the thick of it, right in the heart of it. So Sunshine State Conference, great conference, top to bottom. Tampa, of course, being the lead dog right now. And uh with Blake Ulmer and goal and all those guys, it's a they're a good team. So I I expect nothing but real good lacrosse out of the Sunshine State Conference this season, Cov.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:38

Totally agree. That's a wrap, Cov