Conference Previews for the 2024 season - ECC

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50% off your first year.

Intro

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Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creek 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 D2 Lacrosse's Plymouth Rock, Danny Moran.

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Kevin Stenstrom, my prolific podcast producing partner. How's everything going in Northern Virginia this evening? Well, you know, we're right here at Thanksgiving. Yes, we are. I'm excited.

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And this episode drops on Thanksgiving, so that's why, you know, I had to call you the Plymouth Rock. You're the foundation. The foundation of probably not D2 Lacrosse, but at least this podcast. Let's go that far.

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Let's hope I can give you a little bit more than corn this evening. A little bit more than maize.

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I'm sure there'll be a little stuffing involved in it as we go forward. But let's move on.

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Before we get started, I want to congratulate you and your son. Your son was uh sworn in in the Air Force the other day. He was last week. And who got to swear him in? I did. Old man. I did.

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I got to put on my my uniform, haven't had it on for 15 years. And that uh first I want to say I did fit into the pants. Let me just point that out right now.

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You're foolish.

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But then I I didn't have half the stuff I needed for my uniform, so I had to go to the uniform shop and get some things. So it was kind

ECC

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of funny. But it was, I'll tell you what, that was a real highlight for me. It was a very proud moment. I'm proud of all my kids, but to be able to do that and have him raise his hand and I give him the oath of enlistment, which I I did when I was in active duty to many enlisted uh who asked me to do it, but to do that for my son was really cool.

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Yeah, that was very cool. I'm sure you're a very proud papa. He's a great kid, and uh he'll be fine. He'll be he'll be he'll be all right.

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Yeah, he will. He will. He definitely will. But let's move on. Let's move on, talk about what we were supposed to talk about today. Last week we were in the West. Today we head back east to the actual East Coast conference. The ECC. The ECC. So let's get into it, Danny. I think there could be, there could be some changes are happening in this conference this year.

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Yeah, you know what? You may be or may not be correct. We'll see. We'll have to see. We don't have a crystal ball, but yeah, it looks like, you know, there's some things changing in this.

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I think there's a window. I think there's a window for some teams to take on Mercy this year.

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You know what? I agree with you. I agree with you. I think this uh couple of coaches that have done really good things with their teams in this conference and have moved their prospective programs forward. And uh, you know, the Mercy Mavs of they got a target on their back. You know, they've been they're in the they were in the championship two years ago, and they were in the NCAAs last year with a real big good chance to get there. You know, Mercy's always a really good team, you know. And uh we want to talk about Mercy first.

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Let's get them, let's get talk about them first. 14-4 last year in 2023, 6-0 in conference. Once again, the ECC Champs, they lost to Lemoyne, Mercyhurst, and Adelphi in all close games. And that's nothing to be ashamed of. No. And then they lost to St. Anselm in the first round, but only by one goal. They were in it last year.

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That was a very good game.

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They were in it last year to make another run.

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Yeah, the maps were stacked last year. They had signature wins, an 18-15 win over Seton Hill, who was ranked number 12 at the time, a 14-12 win over Bentley, who was a phenomenal team last year, and a 9-7 win over Frostburg, which was a big win for them last year. Yeah. In a great game. But you know, Kev, they lose some studs, man. They they lose some. Yes, they do. Real studs.

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All Americans.

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Connors, Kipnas, Gibbons, Brady Kearnan, Tommy Amano. They're all gone. All Americans, all region, all conference studs.

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Yeah, Adam Higgins and Fitzgerald in that. And that is a stack of guys that they have to replace. Now they are returning some really good players, too.

unknown 5:57

Yeah.

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Got TJ Heider.

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The finisher.

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Yeah. Andrew Calabria. Yep. Greg Gibbons, the brother, he was he was number six scorer last year, so he's gonna have to fill in his brother's shoes. I don't know if Judson Gerville's coming back or Tyler P. Attack, but if they come back, that is a strong defense coming back. And they do have Jason Cooner for face-off specialist, and he was at 66% last year.

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Yeah, Jason Cooner was very, very good last year.

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He took more face-offs than P. J. Gurl's.

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Yeah, and P. J. Guros the year before was the man. Yeah. So they they split time and then, you know, Cooner wound up taking most of the face-offs towards the middle of the season, towards the end, and did a phenomenal job. Yeah, TJ Heider had attacked. He was like one of the best shooters, or if not the number one shooting percentage attackmen in the country. He had 59 goals, Kev. 59. Yeah. On a team that was loaded with studs that could score. You know what I mean? It's crazy. And uh, you know, that's a team that's just very good. They were like loaded last year, like you said. They were good in all categories. They outscored their opponents, they're face-off by committee with the 62%, like you said. Um, they clear at a high margin. I always call them the cardiac kids because they seem to let teams in it at the end. Yeah. And then find a way to win.

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They find a way to win. They did that two years ago and they did that last year. But they've got some, they had no real weaknesses on their team stats. They won the ground ball war convincingly. They were 49% on man up.

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Yeah, they're good, man. They were a good squad last year. Studs, midfield attack, you know, they could get guys to draw the double from the midfield and dish the rock. And they weren't afraid to dish the rock. And and they were a good, really good, solid squad. And they yeah, go ahead. This this year, I have question marks now for Mercy. Who are gonna be the guys to step up? Because not only were they stacked, they were deep last year. Yeah so now you you lose all those guys, you've got to have a lot of guys to, you know, playing in playing spots that they're you know gonna get more minutes than they're used to. So it's gonna be interesting to see what Coach does with Mercy this year and how that offense looks.

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Yeah, and not only the offense, I totally agree with you on the offense, but if Gerdville and Piatak do not come back, their defense, I mean, those are two key defenders they had last year. That that put some big holes. If they come back, I think they'll be okay on D. And the real question I have is who is going to be in cage?

SPEAKER_03 8:56

Well, that's it. You know, Tommy Amano was one of the best in the country, a top three, top four in the country last year. So, and I mean he made saves that were just incredible in some big, big games at some big, big moments. So to lose somebody like him in goal is huge. And uh we'll have to see what they put out there this year. Maybe it'll maybe it's goalie by committee. Who knows? But again, I have some question marks for Mercy. I think there's a lot of big shoes to fill, Kev. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 9:30

No, I agree. I think they'll still be a really, really, really good team. Uh definitely a top 20, definitely a top 15 team, probably based on who they're bringing back. But I like I said, I think that leaves a window for teams like Frostburg State.

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Yeah, absolutely. 100%.

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I mean, you look what Frostburg State did last year, 13-5 and 4-2 in conference. They had a that was a huge improvement from the last year, and they moved up into the top 20, and they beat Tampa and Roberts Wesley.

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Yeah, Coach Gardelman did a really good job last year, but they lost to Mercy Hurst, and they lost to Malloy, and they lost to Mercy, and they lost to Seton Hill. They need to get two or three of those type of win of those type of games on the win column.

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Right. And I think, though, this year, they're not losing much. They're loaded for Bear because they're not losing much except for the goalie this year. They're bringing back two of their three stars at attack, Bubba Love, best name in LaCrosse.

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Best name in all division, too, for sure. Like I gotta love that kid.

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And Austin Sites.

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Yeah.

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Both of those guys are over 70 points last year.

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Austin Sipes had 43 goals and 35 assists. He's a beast. He's an animal. And he can score and dish the rock. Yeah. He's a two-sided knife. You know what I mean?

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And they've got a they've got a lefty shooter, Tyler Dooley, who's probably going to be in the mix and played a lot of EMO for them last year. Then you look at midfield, Danny, Owen McCown, Chase Buckwalter, Cole Blanch, Parker Masters, who, as coach, as coach says, he does a lot for their offense that isn't seen. Doesn't show up in the stats, but you've got guys that are solid like that and setting everyone else up, probably from hockey assists or whatever.

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Yeah, that crown ball, the kid that makes the good pass, that makes the extra pass. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

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Now they do lose Jake Bowman, who was great for him last year. Stud goal scorer last year for him. So those other guys have to step up, but they're deep. They're deep in midi. And then you look at in their short they're they're D MIDI's. Evan Deere, who's probably my favorite player in D2, only because he he is at best 5'4.

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Yeah. Yeah. But he doesn't do that. But he doesn't play anyone.

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No, he doesn't play like he does not give an inch. He is their catalyst. And you got guys like Drew Mulleno, Aiden McCullough, they've got guys that they've got enough, they've got depth there. Then in LSM, shot Seamus Kearney.

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Yeah. They're talented and they're deep. And you're right. And you're right. And you know what? Mercy losing all of those guys. Can Frosburg be the team to take take that spot this year?

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Yeah, I think that it's it's open-ended. Like you said, the windows there. The windows there. They've got to do they I mean, obviously, duh, they've got to beat Mercy. They made it close last year, but they got to turn the corner. I think the tough thing is once again at goalie. Mitch Meckley last year for them was outstanding. Yes. Now they've got two guys, Nate Jones and Logan uh Covey, who are playing well, good doing well, and it's a good competition. But that that is once again huge shoes to fill.

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Yeah. But you know what? Coach Carleman's got something going on out there in Frostburg State out there. He's got something going on. He's gotten good players, they're deep, they have great facilities there. It's it's it's it's very attractive for a lot of good lacrosse players. So I wonder what kind of freshman class he brought in. I bet you it's pretty damn good.

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Yeah, I mean, I think he's got several that are working into the mix. He's got several young players too, so he's got a good mix all the way across.

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Yeah.

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But you know this next team we talk about, I think, is the real wild card, and that's Roberts Wesleyan.

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Yeah, the Red Hawks.

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Nine and five last year, four and two in conference. You know, here's what I'd say, Danny. Yeah, they they didn't beat better, a lot of better teams. They lost Lemoyne, Lewis Mercy, and Frostburg. And they lost to Frostburg in the semis. But they have a roster of like 27.

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Yeah.

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Yeah. And they grind everyone down. They know how to shoot. They know how to play offense and they play good D. Last year was, I think, the first year in a while that they had two goalies available. Remember two years ago, they had one goalie. If he gets in, what happens? So I am really impressed and have been the last several years as we've been doing this, what Coach Rocky Delfino can do with a small roster.

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Yeah, Coach Delfino does an amazing job with the with the Red Hawks there, Roberts Wesley, and only 25 players. Yeah, they played some big boys and they lost, but you know what? They didn't suck in those games. You know what I mean? They were competitive and and they had some signature wins. Nice win, you know, over St. Rose last year, and a tough one-goal win over Malloy, who was a up-and-coming team last year. So the thing about Roberts Wesley, and I think that the schedule is kind of like was kind of middle of the road last year. I think for in order for them to make a move nationally, they would probably have to add some depth, add some more players, and maybe toughen up that out-of-conference schedule.

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But yeah, I'd like their out-of-conference schedule this year. They've got I think it kind of equates to last year, and you're right, maybe bump it up. But you look at some of the teams, Seton Hill, Barton, Mount Olive, Mount Olive, St. Rose again. I mean, I think you can't you can't count them out. I think there's some good teams. And if those teams continue to play well, like you said, for the national viewpoint, that's what gets them in the mix, right? And uh and then in conference, Roberts Wesley and need to start, you know, they've got to beat Mercy, they got to beat Frostburg, which I think they may have a chance. They lose Reed Jikowski and Jordan Dietz, which are that's pretty big shoes to fill.

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Yeah. Gunnar McMillan comes back to junior attack, man. He had 41 goals and 15 assists last year. He's from Henrietta, New York, Kev, just in case you wanted to know. So Gunnar's coming back. Uh, Andy Davis in goal is coming back. So you know what? Overall, overall, in all their categories in their team play last year, they were pretty solid. They were pretty solid and all, except man up. They can improve on the man up. There's less than 30%, Kevin. Yeah.

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Yeah, exactly. I had the exact same, exact same stat that I pulled out. They were solid in every in fact, exactly. No, it says exactly what you said. All team stats were solid except maybe uh their man up. Now, the other good thing on their defensive side, they're returning some good guys, Parker Brosser, Luke Devilak. They've got two freshmen that played last year, Brady Kustra and Connor Pierce. And they also have the same thing on attack with Curtis Dennison, who was a freshman last year. So you think of like we talk about freshmen getting to play under their belt and then coming back the next year. We have seen that like with Wingate when their whole D was almost starting as freshmen a couple years ago and where they are today. I think that's gonna benefit Roberts Wesleyan this year and next year.

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I couldn't agree with you more. And I think Roberts Wesleyan is one of those teams that you don't want to play, Kev, because they're gonna be competitive, they're gonna bring players out there, they're not gonna give up, and they got a chance to knock you off. So I think there's two teams right there, Frostburg State and Roberts Wesleyan, that are both gonna improve.

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100%, 100%. And then you got the team that has just continued to improve the last couple of years under Bill Dunn, Malloy.

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Yeah, they're my like sleeper team this year, Kev. Now, now Coach Dunn has a couple of years of recruiting now there, and you saw what, you know, ever since he got there, it's just been improvement, improvement, improvement, improvement, improvement.

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So this is how this is yep, this is how it is.

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He's got another class, he's got another freshman class coming in, and he's right on Long Island.

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They were three and nine in twenty-one, seven and ten in twenty-two, nine and nine in twenty-three.

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Yeah, four and two in conference.

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Yeah. Four and two in conference.

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So, you know what, Coach Dunn has got things going quickly in the right direction.

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They are a team of improvement. First of all, the roster's now over 40, so they've got depth. They improved their goals per game to 11.6 and decreased their goals against average to 10.5. Save percentages up. Their goalie had uh Christian Michaels at 73%. Faceoff improved to 47%, which seems like, okay, that's not great, but it was at only 25% the year before that.

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Yeah, man. I like Malloy. I I I tell you, I just like what they're doing. Their signature wins last year. A nice 11-9 win over Georgian court, Mickey Hover, and the boys. Yeah. And you know what? That's a that's a tough game, those two, when those two teams go at it. And a 15-14 overtime win against Frostburg last year, Kev.

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Yeah, which I did not expect coming. And you I watched that game. Yeah. And it's exactly how the the score set it. Malloy played them dead even.

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Yeah, man. And you know what? They got good players too. I mean, you got Chris Delaney, senior attack, 38 goals and 23 assists last year. Uh Sean Palencia, 31 goals and 10 assists. Jack Herzinger, he's an attackman, 21 goals and 15 assists. And then they had All-American as a freshman, LSM Thomas Culford. We had him on our podcast last year. That kid was a third-team All-American, all S all ECC. He had 78 ground balls, 36 cost turnovers as a freshman guy. I know.

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And you watched him play. That guy is.

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70, 78 ground balls.

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Well, I if you watch him, Danny, he is a machine, he is so quick to get to that ball.

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It's his feet. He's uh he's a handful, and he's all over the field. He's everywhere. He's a unbelievable player. And again, as a freshman, he put up those crazy numbers, got himself on the third team All-American list as a freshman, and Coach Dunn has him. Coach Dunn has him. Yeah. And you know what? I think this is like again, I Malloy's my sleeper team this year. I think they're a team to watch out for. I think they're going to be a very formidable. Not the old Malloy Lions like everybody's used to. I think they're going to be very formidable. Yeah, but look at their out-of-conference.

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This is strong. Seton Hill, St. A's, Pace, Adelphi, Chestnut Hill, Post, Georgian Court, Wilmington.

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Yeah.

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That's great out-of-conference schedule for the wise.

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And I think they're going to be up to the task. There's four ranked teams right there. Seton Hill, Saint A's, Pace, and Adelphi. All will all be preseason top twenties. Yeah. Yeah. So they'll all be ranked. So he'll be he'll be facing top ten teams.

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Yeah, and then they've got, you know, they're also playing uh Southern New Hampshire, Dominican of New York, and Bridgeport, which aren't slouches. They're probably right at at Malloy's level in some respects.

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They better watch out for Malloy this year. Yeah.

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Yeah. Yep. Coach Dunn has this team building and improving. He's got a cooking, man.

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Those cylinders are cooking, man. He's just getting that engine warmed up. So I like the Malloy Lions. I think they're going to be a good squad this year.

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But you know what? We talk about their improvements. This team really improved from the year before. St. Thomas Aquinas. Yeah, located up in Spark Hill, New York.

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The Spartans.

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Yeah. We had them on. They were 6-7 last year. They were 2-12 in 2022. I know, right? That's crazy. They beat Felician, Bridgeport, Dominican, and Caldwell. They still have a small roster. They improved. Talk about improvement. Goals per game, 10. Doesn't sound like a lot, but that was an improvement for them. Goals against average, 12.8, which is another improvement. 55% save percentage. Their face-off was up to 48% when it was at 36% before that. And their clear percentage, although still could use improvement, is at 79%, which it wasn't there two years ago. So what do you think the problem is with this team? I think it's depth. And they still improved. Their top scorer, Ryan Christensen, was a freshman last year.

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33 goals. Yeah. Now they do.

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Yeah. Well, they lose Steven Apicella and Braden Stross, who were their number two and number three. So I don't know, Danny, it's it's going to be who can step up. You know, their LSM, who was also a freshman, Daniel Smith returns, along with Frank Schaefer and J.T. Perry. So I think on the defense side, they're solid. It's what can they do on offense and who's going to step up to really bring him to that level or get him over 500?

SPEAKER_03 24:08

Right, right. I agree. But they had two young players that got some run last year. They might have to step up into bigger roles. Reno Molina and John Payne. If they can contribute, because they got burned last year. They have a couple of goals between them, but they were getting time.

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Yeah.

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So if they can step up a little bit and uh, you know, if Coach can add a couple more onto that roster, you know, and who do they play? They play Chawan, they play Virginia State, AIC, Georgian Court, and Bridgeport out of conference. You know, so hey, you know what? Five and seven overall, not too bad with only 26 or 27 on the roster, Kev. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

You know, so I've got that they're also playing Holy Family, Dominican, and Post for out of conference teams in the CACC. And I think that's a good out-of-conference for them. You know, we talk about iron uh sharpening iron, but sometimes when you've got that small of a roster and you try to go against the big boys all in your out of conference, you're not gonna have much of a team left, probably, by the time you get into conference. Yeah.

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If you're not beat up, right?

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If you're not banged up and on injury reserve. So it'd be it's gonna be great to see if they continue to improve this year. I think they we talk about windows. I don't think they have a window to uh compete against Mercy this year, but I think they have a window to improve.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

Oh yeah, I expect them to improve. I just think the only problem with them because they play they play they play formidable lacrosse. They're a good lacrosse team. They don't stink. Don't let the records show you, you know, the the record doesn't speak for itself, you know. They're they're short on numbers and they play good teams. So and they go out there and they fight. They don't get beat up every game. They're they're pretty good. I just think if they could add some more bodies, you know, add some depth there, I think uh that would that would help that squad immensely. 100%, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 26:09

But here's another team. I guess this is kind of like the conference of improvement from last year to Uville Saints.

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Yeah, out of Buffalo, New York.

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Four and eleven last year, which doesn't sound great, but that's their first four wins in their second season.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

Well, they were a big O for in their inaugural season in Division II, and they added four wins in their second, so they improved, Kevin.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Yeah, yeah. And it's interesting, so they beat Dominican and Felician, both uh French coach rival games, Danny. That's right. We had all three coaches on, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and they and he holds the trophy. And I'm sure he's gonna want to do that. Coach Wilson holds the trophy this year. I'm sure he's gonna want to do it again, and then they beat Bridgeport and UDC. And this year, Danny, they're up to 28 players, which is the most ever for them. So this team is about building depth right now, if you look at it.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

Right, and they're only in their third year in Division II lacrosse, Kevin. So they're they're not in, you know what? They're in upstate New York, they're near the Canadian border. I think as more lacrosse players find out about Deuville, I think they're only going to get better and better with each year. Now with Jack Wilson there and and the old former Georgian court coming back. Mike Ventreska. So let's talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

That's not the only thing. So they have uh Coach Tyler John comes back for a second year. They add in Mike Ventreska as a graduate assistant, and they add in uh Coach Nick Miller to the staff, who's helping out on the offensive side as well. So they've got four coaches, including Wilson. And they when they started last year, Danny, Coach Wilson had no assistance. I know. Coach Tyler came in around February. Yeah. You can imagine that is such a multiplier effect for the team, the players, to have that many coaches helping them out, being able to ask questions to them.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

That's that's awesome. That's pretty cool. All right, give me the helmet. Let me show you. So that's who's got an extra pair of elbow pads. Let me show you how this is done. Yeah. But you know what? That's that's great for first of all for Coach Wilson. Can you imagine just being a college coach with all the hats that you wear as a head coach in the college ranks? You know, you're talking to parents, you're recruiting, you got A B's, you got professors, you got the kid who got in trouble last Tuesday night, you know. Yeah. And you know, there's so many hats. And to not have an assistant to take care of just one thing for you, but to have three assistants that will help out, that's gonna, that's gonna make practices better for TV. You know, that their practices are gonna going to be more on point and sharpened and you know, more sets of eyes on things. Hey coach, did you see that? They didn't slide early. Hey coach, we got to do this on a clear. You know, maybe that coach wouldn't have seen because he's got 10, 20 things in his mind. I want to do this drill, I want to get that thing going. So now you have these extra sets of eyes. Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

Just that coach to player ratio.

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Yeah.

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What a difference.

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Yeah. And you know what? They were young, and I expect you will to improve on that 4-11 record. Yeah. Can they get going in conference? That's the question. Can they get going in conference?

SPEAKER_02 29:56

But I'll tell you what, they've got let's just talk about some of their players. Their strength, I think, is in their attack, because Tristan Engelhart, Stefano Evan, and Brady Ruffalo are all coming back. And Englehart.

SPEAKER_03 30:08

Englehart had 46 goals, Kevin. This kid can play. He can play. Well, and Coach Wilson says he thinks because the U was on defense most of the time. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 30:23

And he said that he thinks Stefano, in his opinion, is probably their best player hands down. And I just saw something out of lacrosse reference talking about him and his increased efficiency and everything. I think that's their strength. But then you look at midfield and talk about having to build depth. So last year, Nick Scholet and Suman Lamal, they were their workhorses and they had to play both ways. And that's why their offensive numbers weren't that strong. But now with with more guys coming in, Luciano Gonzalez, Carson Kent as a freshman, Tyler Vinkle, and Jake Bush, they now can focus more on the offensive side, and they've got help at the mini level.

SPEAKER_03 31:11

Yeah, I think it's gonna be a better team this year, the the Saints at Uville. I really do. And you know what? They got a really good goalie in Reese Eck.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

Yeah, yeah, they do. Reese played uh really well last year. His his save percentage was only 40%, but he kept them uh in games last year.

SPEAKER_03 31:30

He had 20 saves versus Malloy. He's got some big game, big number games, but again, his team was on defense most games. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

So that kid was getting fired upon like a duck at the uh Well, and you you talk about iron sharpening iron, they've got a red shirt freshman, Ryan McGuinness, who coach says this is where the battle's been in the fall. And I think they're just gonna help if they if they've got the right attitudes towards it towards each other, which I'm sure Coach Wilson's taken care of, they both were are gonna help out their team.

SPEAKER_03 32:09

Yeah, I I think you know, I think that I think Deuville's gonna be an improved team too. Yeah. So I so we got Mercy on top. I think they're gonna have a different, different kind of score the year this year. Frostburg's gonna improve, Malloy's gonna improve, Roberts Wesleyan's gonna improve, Deuville's gonna improve, St. Thomas. We gotta see. Gotta add some, we gotta add some on the roster, but they got some key players coming back. And then we got UDC Firebirds. The UDC University of District Columbia, the Firebirds coach Matt Marit, who was on our program. What a great kid, right? Yeah. Yeah. I think I really do believe he's a special kind of guy.

SPEAKER_02 32:53

He's he can turn this book around. It is not gonna happen this year. No. It's not gonna happen. He's he's so as usual, their schedule's not out, their roster's not up. You figure they're probably gonna be a small roster, about 25 or 26. But Coach Merritt, remember, was a volunteer assistant for the past eight years before he even got paid. And he started the program as a player.

SPEAKER_03 33:18

Yeah, he's a special kind of guy, man. He really is. To stick around like that.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

Yeah. This is a rebuild. Throw out the stats. Yeah. Let's see what he does with this team. Remember, we talked about some of the soccer players that have bought into lacrosse, but that was one of their problems last year. You had soccer players you're trying to teach in season how to play the game. I couldn't imagine that at the college level. I couldn't imagine that. He's got that base that he can build on, bringing in, bringing in other players. He still needs more depth. But like we talked about with him and other coaches, Coach Church, another one at Virginia State, it's more it's more than just about wins and losses. It's about what they're trying to do with these men and make them into men.

SPEAKER_03 34:07

That's right. Building cultures, building them into fine young men. But you know what? They want to win games, Kat. Don't get me wrong. They want to go out there and eat.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

And I and I think he's the guy to do it. Give him a few years.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

Yeah, I do. I think this this is a squad, you know, kind of went through a couple of coaches quickly. And you know what? I think if he sticks there, and he's been there for eight years an assistant, so I don't think he's going anywhere. I think he likes it there. I think he feels like it's his home. And now he can put his stamp on it. You know what I'm saying? I just I just think that he's an excitable, really positive, you know, coach, young coach that's looking to make a stamp on this. And but when he was on our program, he spoke all the right things. It wasn't about wins and losses. You know? It was more about building a culture and building fine young men and you know, building, you know, good dads and good parents and and in the future. And just just that kind of talk out of him was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

But I think what, like you said, they do want to win. Uh he's not there just to sit and be 0-10. But I do think uh him building that culture is going to lead to those wins. I agree with you. I agree with you 100%.

Coach Badger of Mercy

SPEAKER_02 35:25

So there's the roundup of schools, Danny. Uh and as always, we are bringing on a coach to help us out. As you know from last year, uh Mercy, top team in the ECC, had a new head coach enter the scene, Ryan McSpadden. Although he wasn't new to the program, right? He played there and was an assistant there. Yeah so, like I've done several times for the these conference previews, trying to get him on to do it. Asked if he could come on for the conference preview, and he wanted to make sure that we got a real unbiased perspective. So he deferred us to his defensive coordinator, Eric Badger. And you know, Danny, we always say a head coach is only as good as his assistants, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:08

He's only as good as his assistants, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

So let's bring him on the real workhorse of the Mercy Mavericks, Coach Eric Badger. Hey coach.

SPEAKER_03 36:19

Hey both. Hey coach. How are you? Good, how are you? Sorry about last week. We had some Wi-Fi problems with you last week. We apologize uh up and down. How's it going?

SPEAKER_00 36:30

Good, good, yeah. Glad glad to finally get on here. I know some schedules and that. We had some conflicts, but but happy to be on. Avid follower of the podcast, too. So glad to be here. Thank you so much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:43

So let's start off. Why don't you give us some background on you and your lacrosse journey and how you actually got to be an assistant at Mercy?

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Sure. Yeah. So starts way back. I I grew up in Syracuse, New York, so lacrosse is is pretty much a religion there. Um obviously. So uh yeah, I went to Fablom Alien, so you've probably heard of of West Jenny and everything. FM and now it's kind of Beevil has has taken over central New York for class A, class B, obviously, with their back-to-back state titles. And then and then um yeah, ventured. I took an untraditional route, I guess you could say, and went to junior college, so played two years at Onadaga Community College for Coach Chuck Wilbur.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

Yeah, we've heard of that. We've heard of Onadaga too. Slouch program, slouch program.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

Yeah, was fortunate to to win the national championship there and everything. Uh play with some some great players. Um, obviously Coach Wilbur is not there anymore. He's coaching Cicero and Nos Syracuse, but him and I are in constant communication. And then ultimately um ended up at Mercy for for my last two years. So uh coach Coach Levine, who who was the head coach at the time, reached out. Honestly, hadn't heard of Mercy uh in that beforehand and and didn't really know much about D2, but yeah, glad I went there. 2019 obviously was kind of our breakthrough year when the ECC in that. Um, and then was away from the game for a bit, started in the corporate world where I still am now, but uh obviously with with Coach Levine moving on to LIU, they they hired Ryan to kind of keep the culture uh that we had built at Mercy. Obviously, he's one of the most decorated players in program history on that. So I kind of jokingly, honestly, I was like, if you need someone to help out, like I'd love to do it. And and the rest is history, I guess, for for the last two years that I've been there now.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

So um so so coach, I just have to say one thing. I was in the Navy for 23 years. You know what Navy stands for, don't you? Never again volunteer yourself.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

So you volunteer yourself and he's like, come on in.

SPEAKER_00 38:59

Yeah, pretty much. He was like, All right, we'll we'll we'll take you on. So yeah, obviously last year was tough with getting him to campus and missing fallball, and we were grateful that Coach Cross was there and everything. Um, but yeah, I I loved doing it last year, looking forward forward to this year as well.

SPEAKER_02 39:18

That's that's a great story. I wanted to capture all that because we you you gave me some of that information. I felt it was it was so good I had to let you speak it yourself instead of my coming out of my mouth. But last year, you know, your team once again had a great season. 14-4, 6-0 in conference, winning the ECC championship, and losing only by one goal to a Grant Saint A's team in the NCAs. So it seems like the transition with Coach McSpan was pretty seamless. What was the secret to that, especially with him missing the beginning of the season with the fall ball?

SPEAKER_00 39:53

Yeah, I think it it attested to kind of the senior leadership we had, obviously, with uh Jack Gibbons, Tommy Umano, all kind of coming back um for their their COVID bonus year, and our grad assistant now, Jake Fitzgerald, um, and Jack Kipnis. So I think that really attested to it because those guys had been through the program for what was then four to five years, and that and knew kind of what it took to get to the level that we wanted to be and you know getting to the national championship game in 2022. So uh Coach Carras, myself, and and everyone kind of leaned on them too for their leadership and and you know getting getting the things done that need to be done.

SPEAKER_03 40:40

All good players, all really, really top-notch players. Kipnis and Randy Kearney, man, the list goes on.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

That that's the question. I mean, that's not not only seniors, quite the group, all unbelievable players. So who is coming back and who is stepping uh in to fill those shoes?

SPEAKER_00 41:04

Yeah, no, I think we're fortunate too. Like last year we had a lot of junior sophomores juniors give us a lot, a lot of good minutes. Obviously, this year we have uh Justin Gerville, who was first team All-American, probably one of the best. He is coming back. Yes, he's back. Um TJ Heider, he's back.

SPEAKER_03 41:21

The finisher, the finisher.

SPEAKER_00 41:23

Yeah, one of the best finishers in all three, all three uh divisions, I'd say.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

I think he had the best shot, the shot percentage in the country last year.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Yeah, he's he's phenomenal. So we have uh Tyler Pajak, uh, he was an all-American shorts team, so he'll be a senior this year. He's back.

SPEAKER_03 41:44

Oh, another very, very good player.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

Andrew Calabria, he's back. He'll be a senior this year.

SPEAKER_03 41:50

Another very good player. He's a stacked man.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

And then obviously, our second team, all-American Fogo, uh Jason Keener, he'll be back this year. So um, yeah, obviously huge to have him back, possess the ball uh and everything. He he was a big piece for us last year. So uh a lot of those guys are back, and we have a lot of young guys who maybe necessarily didn't play a lot last year that you know are gonna fill some roles this year for us for sure.

SPEAKER_02 42:17

Yeah, I'll tell you, just the ones you just rolled off. It doesn't seem like there's gonna be much much difference in the Mercy team. I was looking at earlier when we talked about I'm like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 42:30

You got face off, you got attack now. You got goalie now, you gotta fill that goalie spot.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

Goalie is gonna be a is that a true competition going on right now, but between the pipes?

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Yeah, I would say so. We have uh Peter Murphy, uh he was a freshman last year who um gave us some minutes, but obviously we had Tommy and then Joe Tortorella uh as well that are both seniors, and then we have a freshman, um, Cam Dorfman, who came in from uh the islands. So both both are looking good this fall. We we're both uh impressed with them. So definitely, definitely looking forward to the competition going into the spring here, too.

SPEAKER_03 43:06

That's great. That's great.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

So I didn't see on the website yet your out-of-conference schedule is not out yet, or your schedule's not out yet. Can you shed any light on your out of conference and what's what's what that's gonna be like?

SPEAKER_00 43:17

Yeah, I I think it'll uh it'll be super competitive again. So we're opening the year against St. Rose, um, who's really pretty pretty good right there in the NE10. So I think they have a lot of guys who who came back last year too. So expecting them to be a bit better than they were last year. Um Bentley, we have on the schedule again pretty early in the season. So obviously they beat Adelphi twice last year, made the tournament. Um and that's uh Adelphi will also play. Uh Seton Hill, Mercy Hurst, um are all on the schedule too. So pretty pretty robust conference schedule again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:55

And I'll tell you what, uh Danny, you you can attest to this, right? The Adelphi mercy game. Is always good.

SPEAKER_03 44:02

I've been to a few of them, and they're really they they get after it. It's fairly good to watch teams of that caliber play against each other like that. It's just, you know, electric, it's fast, it's physical. I expect nothing less this year.

SPEAKER_00 44:18

Yeah. No, I'm sure. Sure it'll be a good game. And yeah, we we kind of have a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth from from last year with how things went. But as you should. Yeah. You should.

SPEAKER_02 44:29

That's what you want. You're not a competitor if you don't have that, right?

SPEAKER_03 44:32

Adelphi's losing some big boys, though, too. But they got Dylan Renner coming back in goal, but they're losing some guys too. So to catch them early, catch them early.

SPEAKER_02 44:44

So are there any specific goals that you you guys have set for the team this year for the program what you're looking for?

SPEAKER_00 44:51

Yeah, I think um, you know, it starts from the base. So obviously everyone's goal it should be to win the national championship. But what we're trying to focus on this year is thinking of that pyramid and starting at the bottom level there. So from a defensive um side of things, we want to get back to kind of where we were in the past of having one of the top defenses, you know, statistically in the country. Um, I think last year, giving up you know, some double-digit goals against teams, it kind of bit us in the butt there. So we're our main focus on the defensive side of the ball is kind of getting back to being a top five, top three defense that we were. And those will kind of build on build on each other. Um, we've been fortunate in the ECC to you know be very competitive within the conference um these last four or five years. And that's so winning the ECC, defending home field, all those critical things to hopefully compound to reach our ultimate goal of the national championship. But obviously, there's a lot of things, things that go into that to ultimately get to that point, and only one team can can win it in the end. So um I think those are kind of some of our larger goals, uh, you know, the smaller ones leading into it.

SPEAKER_02 46:08

Interesting. Yeah, that that is. And so then you talked about it quickly. Obviously, you guys have been on the top of the ECC, but what do you think of the competition this next season? I mean, I personally look at it, and there's some teams, obviously all the teams, but there's definitely some teams in the conference uh that are ready to knock you off your pedestal, starting with probably Frostburg State.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Yeah, no doubt. I I was looking at that, and they have a lot of good talent coming back this year, I think. They have their 24 roster out, and three of their top four scorers are back, and two of their top three close defensemen in LSM are back. So I would assume like, yeah, they'll be they'll be right there with us. Obviously, they were right there with us last year for a majority of the year, too. We played them in a close game at home, and then in the ECC championship, they got up on us early, and and we were able to fight back in that. Um, but I mean Roberts and Malloy are probably gonna be right there too, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

I was gonna say that. Roberts Wesley, and they pack with that small amount of folks on their roster, they pack a mighty punch when you go against them. And Malloy is just climbing.

unknown 47:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

I expect I expect Malloy to be very much improved this year.

SPEAKER_00 47:21

Yeah. No, I I definitely agree. Roberts, yeah, they they're bringing back four of their top five scores, I think I saw. Um, and they have some great players, some some crafty guys in tight, especially. Um, and they know how to score goals for sure. I I think each year they they've put up at least 10 on us. So um just their their offensive scheme of kind of how they do things, and they're not afraid to throw it in tight spaces, and they know they got guys that can catch it. So uh they'll be right there. They're they're always a good team. And then obviously Malloy with with Coach Dunn, he was at NYIT forever. Yeah. Um and that in and we won against him both my years. So he's a great coach, has a has a good mindset. Um, and I know he's getting that program going in the right direction. Obviously, they beat Frostburg last year, too. Um, so I I know they're on the uptrend uh there too. And then um, yeah, I'm close, pretty close with coach Jack Wilson from Deweyville too. Um, and I know they're a pretty relatively new program, but I think they'll be headed in the right direction here soon and UDC as well. I know they've had a lot of a lot of turnover, um, but they they were once you know pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 48:30

So hopefully they well, they've got Matt Merritt now as a coach who's been there forever, played there, a volunteer assistant coach for Dan. We were joking with him when we had on the podcast. Danny was saying he'd been there for 30 years.

SPEAKER_03 48:41

Didn't he go to Onondaga too? Didn't he go to Onondaga too?

SPEAKER_02 48:44

No, that was that was the Coach Church. Yeah, Coach. Oh, that's church. Okay. Okay, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 48:49

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 48:50

And and then you look at De Uville. So, you know, I think Coach Merritt's gonna turn UDC around. And then you look at Deuville, they got four wins last year, first four ever, and now they're building depth. So it may not be this year, but the ECC is gonna get tight in years to come. Which I think is great for the conference and great for D2.

SPEAKER_00 49:12

Yeah, no, I I definitely agree. I think we'll definitely start to see you know some more parody within the conference. Uh obviously, we're always hoping, you know, we're we're winning it each year, but um it's uh it's always good when the the conference is competitive too, especially last year. Frostburg going down, beating Tampa. You know, it kind of put the ECC back on the map to where it was when LAU Posts and NYIT were were in there. So um I I think we'll we'll start to see you know some of some of us get those go those big uh out of conference wins again, so which would be great.

SPEAKER_02 49:48

I now know why Coach McSpadden deferred to you for this podcast. You had all the answers. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 49:57

So well spoken, so well spoken. It's got that mercy degree working hard.

SPEAKER_02 50:05

So we really yeah, we appreciate you coming on. It's been it's been great having you on and and listening to you and hearing where the team's gonna go. And of course, we'll be watching Mercy as we always do.

SPEAKER_03 50:16

Yeah, and I want to see I want to see that kid Corbo get on the field this year, man. I like that kid. He's got Hutzpa, man. He's uh let's get him on the field, coach. Yeah, I'm pushing for Corbo. Mikey, if you're listening, I'm pushing for you, brother.

SPEAKER_02 50:31

That's not a paid advertisement, by the way. Danny did that one for free.

SPEAKER_00 50:36

No, definitely open for good things out of Corbo. Uh, a lot lots of positions on the close D to fill in. And competition is still pretty open for those last few spots. So um definitely, definitely love that you guys had had me on. I listened to the podcast, as I said, each week. Just listened to the the R Mac one uh yesterday on my on my way to Farmingdale for some recruiting. So uh definitely an avid follower and glad I could finally get on here.

SPEAKER_03 51:02

Well, thank you so much, Coach Badger from the Mercy Mavs. We really appreciate you. We apologize again for last week and the Wi-Fi problems and pushing you back. But you've been an excellent guest and most cordial and most gracious, and uh we really appreciate you taking the time. And we wish the Mavs nothing but luck. We'll we'll be watching you guys, I'm sure. I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys put on the field offensively this year with all of those big studs, you know, not around anymore. So I'm very interested to see what the Mavs do offensively. I'm sure with you at the helm defensively, they'll be just fine.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

Appreciate it. Thank you.

Final Thiughts

SPEAKER_02 51:42

So Coach Badger Mercy was the real deal. I'm glad he came on versus uh not versus, but he was a good choice that uh Coach McSpaden had him come on instead of himself.

SPEAKER_03 51:53

Yeah, McSpadden's scared of us, Kev. He's scared. He don't want to come on. No, Coach Badger, what a well-spoken young man. He knows what the team wants, he knows what the team needs. He's very engaged with the team. Um he's gonna be running the defense for them. He's got some studs there on defense.

SPEAKER_02 52:11

Yeah, it's good to hear that Gerda Vell and P attacker coming back, too.

SPEAKER_03 52:14

That's gonna help him out. Yeah, yeah. So um Coach Badger was a great guest, and uh wish, you know, mercy all the best. They're gonna they got a target on their back. You know that guest.

SPEAKER_02 52:24

They do, they do. Okay, to move on, Danny. First, let's just start off with some full transparency and another slip-up. We called I know Senior Moment. I didn't want to say that. We called Concordia University of Irvine California, California University of Irvine. And here's what's funny. I think I got that that was a slip of the tongue because I had a college friend talk about their son on Facebook at California of California Irvine. Irvine. Two schools in Irvine. The one who's in D2 lacrosse is Concordia. It doesn't matter if that that Facebook thing came on. I should have gotten it right. I apologize for getting it wrong. I'm just gonna call him C UI or Concordia from now on.

SPEAKER_03 53:15

Got a horn? Oh you got a horn every time we mess up, we gotta put the horn out.

SPEAKER_02 53:24

Yeah, we do. But then if we call him C UI, I was thinking about this, Danny, in the RMAC, you'll have CMU, C UI, and C S U.

SPEAKER_03 53:33

You have too many C's, Kev. Too many C's for me. All right.

SPEAKER_02 53:38

So we'll we'll so we apologize again.

SPEAKER_03 53:40

We apologize. We apologize, folks.

SPEAKER_02 53:43

There's a lot more. We apologize to Coach Voss and his whole team. Concordia. We're excited to have you in the RMAC. So let's hope, Danny, with that, that we can get this next scorebreak feature spotlight of the week correct. This one this week is about their chat feature, Danny. You've talked about this when we had Jordan on and Ben. They provide a built-in messaging platform so you so the coaches can connect right with the players directly in the app. So it makes it easier to distribute content with the team, whether you're sending messages or attachments or film, right? And it's like uh Jordan was saying how it makes the the we talked about it with uh De Uville and the coach to player ratio. Well, your coach to player ratio can drop to just a couple instead of 50 in a in a film room.

SPEAKER_03 54:39

Right. Instead of 50 in a film room, I can send uh three clips just to the attack and say, Listen, this is what we need to do. Or this is what we not we don't want you to do, or you know, or I can send uh two clips to the defense and say, This is perfect, this is what we have to do tomorrow. So it can be just for two or three guys. That's that's awesome about that.

SPEAKER_02 55:00

Yeah, and you you can have a discussion instead of having it in a big room, you can have it during the we during the couple days that you've been talking about it, or during that, you know, from one practice to the next, and then you try to execute it in practice.

SPEAKER_03 55:12

Yeah. It's just an amazing feature. Yeah.scorebreak.io, mention in the grease, and get 15% off that first year. Don't forget, yo.

SPEAKER_02 55:23

Don't forget. I love it. I love it. One other piece of news before we move on. Dominican University of California. D2 team coming in this year, but they're independent, remember? Right. They were just accepted into the RMAC for the 25 season.

SPEAKER_03 55:40

All right, so the RMAC is growing. Now we just got to get that P-12 growing, and we're off to automatic qualifiers. We're inching closer and closer.

SPEAKER_02 55:50

Yeah, that's it's it's just great news for Dominican for the RMAC and Division 2. So to close out, Danny, we have a few shout-outs. As you remember, on my travel to Orlando, I got to go watch the Rollins alumni game. Got to meet up with Shahe Katadurian, Mikey Bergman. I missed seeing the Hansen brothers. They actually DM'd me uh afterwards. I got to have dinner and a beer with with Coach Lewis. Nice. And at the end of that, what did he do? But he hands me some Rollins swag, which we now have in our possession.

SPEAKER_03 56:30

Yeah, you're an A-lister now, Kev. You're an A-lister.

SPEAKER_02 56:34

But get this. Then I get home from all my travels, and what's waiting for me? Some Montevallo swag from a Falcon Mom fan, Melody Brennan.

SPEAKER_03 56:46

Yeah, Melody. She loves the podcast. She gives us, she shares it, she gives a shout-out, she she DMs us. And let me tell you something. The tailgate families who chip in and and the and Melody and that Monte Valo swag is nice.

SPEAKER_02 57:03

Yeah, we are now officially part of the Brewster Club, as they call it.

SPEAKER_03 57:08

I think I fit in just perfectly with the Brewster Club.

SPEAKER_01 57:12

I think you do.

SPEAKER_02 57:13

So a big shout out to Coach Lewis and Melody and the Montevallo tailgate fans, the Brewster Club. The Brewster Club. We appreciate it and we say thanks. Not that we're saying that everyone has to send a swag, but it was a nice couple weeks to get that stuff. We really, really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 57:30

It's really nice stuff, too, man. It's really nice. Thanks, Melody, and thanks, Coach. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 57:38

And with that, Danny, that's a wrap. That's a wrap, guys.