Conference Previews for the 2024 season - GLVC

Intro

SPEAKER_02 1:17

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 Stentrum, and with me as always is the buddy Rich of D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny. I only wish. You know what's funny, Danny? I I put that in for this intro, and then I saw you post a reel of another drummer that you said is your favorite. What was his name?

SPEAKER_01 1:50

That's Vinny Calliuda.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

I I couldn't, I'm glad I waited for you because I got Vinny, but I couldn't get his last name.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Yeah, Vinny Calliuda is my favorite drummer today, in these today's. But when I was when I was a little kid, Buddy Rich was the man. He started it all. And when I was a really young boy, starting out on drums, like nine, ten years old, my dad would wake me up if Buddy Rich was on the Carson show. On Carson. So he'd wake me up. He'd like, Danny Boyd, Buddy Rich is on Carson. And I was like a little kid. I'd wake up and I'd wipe the sleepies from my eyes and watch him do a drum solo and say to myself, I could never do that. You know? But he Buddy Rich was my original uh hero on drums, and then and now it's Vinny Calliuda, who's just an amazing drummer, just amazing feel and touch and taste.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

But thank you for that's what people on from the store podcast, they wake up just waiting to hear your voice, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Well, thanks, Kevin. How's everything going with you tonight in Northern Virginia, my friend?

SPEAKER_02 3:02

It's going well. It's going well. You know, we're getting ready for the holidays. We're recording this December 11th as we get ready. And we're just like you in your background, you got some uh decorations going up. My wife has done all her house up, looks great right now, getting in the festive mood as we move in and continue these conference previews during the holiday season.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Yes, the holiday spirit. I'm definitely in the holiday spirit. I got some lights up, I got my decorations up. I just got to get a tree now.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

There you go. There you go. We actually went uh to the to the fake tree a few years ago. When we went on a trip to to Egypt with our kids, we didn't want to leave a a tree that was up and couldn't, you know, catch fire or whatever. So we went to the we went to having you know a fake tree, and now since we're empty nesters with all the kids gone, that's just the way to go for us.

unknown 3:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Yeah, I hear you.

GLVC Preview

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Yeah. Okay, but that's not what we're here to talk about. We're on to another conference. We digress already. The one we're discussing today is one that always seems to just beat each other up in conference.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yeah, it's a good conference. I like this conference.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

And and last year, I think we saw some twists and turns and had a new tournament champion last year.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yeah, surprising. Surprising too.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

It was. It was it was good. They they deserved it once again. And that what are we talking about? We're talking about the GLBC, the Great Lakes Valley Conference. So you ready to get going?

SPEAKER_01 4:31

I am. This is a good conference, Kev. These teams beat the snot out of each other, don't they?

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Yeah. The in-conference games are so much fun to watch.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Dude, they hate each other.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

But you know what? I think the coaches, the coaches have a great respect for each other, and they've got great respect for I think the teams have great respect for each other, but once they get on that field, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

100%. 100%. They might respect each other. Respect all, fear none, right? And they go out there and you know, and they these these squad, the GLVC is a good conference uh out in the Midwest, Kev, and and these boys get after it, and they're getting after it in cold, cold weather to start their season. These guys are tough.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

And I think this season is going to be one where it's going to be really tough in conference. Really tough. So let's get into it. Who you want to start off with?

SPEAKER_01 5:25

We start off with last year's champs.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Tournament champs, Rockhurst? Rockhurst Hawks.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

The Rockhurst Hawks. Located in Kansas City, Missouri, Kev. That's right. Kevin Kelly's the head coach.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Yeah, now they were 10-5 last year and 3-2 in conference. Yep. So it was it was a unique set of circumstances last year. They they lost to U Indy and Dab important Conference play and had some interesting losses to Westminster, Colorado Mesa, and Montevallo. But they always were in the mix throughout the season, and they ended up beating Lewis in the conference tournament championship.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah, and yeah, I kind of we kind of expected maybe Lewis to kind of be in there, but I don't think we re-expected Rockhurst to get in there. And they won in their conference tournament and did well, man. And you know what? They had a good season, you know. Like you said, 10-5 overall, 3-2 in conference. That signature win last year was that 13-win, 13-8 win over Lewis. They were number 19th in the country, too. I think Rockhurst had Lewis's number last year.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Yeah, yeah. They they knew how to play them well and get on top of them. But let's talk about this year. Let's start off with their 2024 out of conference. They've got on their on their schedule, Tampa, St. Leo, Adams State, CSU Pueblo, Quincy, William Jewell. Now, those are in-conference games, but they play them twice, so they count them as out of conference.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Oh, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

And then Indiana Tech, which is an N-A-I-A team, and then UAH. Yeah, Huntsville. So I think that's a really good out-of-conference for them. Yeah. They've got some big boys on there. And then, you know, UAH, who always plays the GLVC tough. I think it's gonna, they're gonna have a good team. Now, what's weird, Danny, is I try to look at the roster on the website, but it was coming up looking funky. Like it in one spot it'll say 2024 roster, but then in the drop-down window it says 2022, and you can't get to 2024, and then the roster seems like there's 500 uh athletes on it, players on it. So I I don't know if I'm catching this right, but it looks like to me that their top three scores from 2023 are gone, but they return Alec Heflin and Ricky Bloom.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

You mean Jack Fisher's not coming back?

SPEAKER_02 8:06

I couldn't tell. The top three I saw on their stats, I could not see that we're coming back in 2024. But I could be totally wrong. It was a it was a weird way to look at their schedule. I mean the roster.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Well, yeah, from what the what I got, I think Jack Fisher's coming back. He had 27 goals and 13 assists. We had uh Grant Grant Brunswick, um, he had 19 goals and 22 assists. Ricky Bloom, uh 18 goals and 6-6. Lars Zukowski had 18 goals and 6-6. And uh Tyler Smith, the attackman out of Duluth, Minnesota, Kev. I think these guys are gonna have to step up and take some spots. And um, you know what? I, you know, they they had a pretty decent year numbers-wise. They average about 43 shots a game, which isn't bad. That's a good number to average. You know, you're you're getting you're getting control of the ball, you know. Um their man up was at a nice 45%, their face-off was at 51%, their clear is at 87%. Yeah. Pretty so pretty solid season last year.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

That's exactly what I saw, too. And that's why they're always competitive and they're always in the hunt, right? Any game they're playing, it's weird last year. Sometimes I would think they were going to win the game and then they lose. And teams they're playing that I thought they would lose, they ended up winning. Yeah. But I think the main, one of the main folks that players they're losing is their goalkeeper, Hayden Harris. Yeah. He was good. He had him, he was at it 8.6 goals against average in that 57% saves percentage.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

That's pretty damn good.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

And then on the defensive side, I think they're losing Luke Getz and Matt Buckley on D, but they're returning Matt Campion, who had 45 ground balls and 14 cost turnovers, and Luke Leonard with 32 ground balls and 15 cost turnovers. So to me, this is almost like it could be a new look for this team. New guys having to step up. It'll be interesting to watch with this changing of the guard this year and how they they mesh as a team and compete out of conference and then in the GLBC. I think they're out of conference schedule with some two Sunshine State conference teams to begin it on. It will really be telling to see where they're gonna be in the season.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Yeah, we'll keep an eye on uh Rockhurst this year. See what happens with those boys.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

Okay. Well, now how long we go to the regular season conference champions, UND.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Yeah, the Greyhounds, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Head coach Craig Stocks does a very good job with that team. That team was pretty good last year. They were very good last year. They went 12-4 overall and 5-0 in conference. Uh their signature wins, a 9-6 win over number, then number two, Mercy Hurst, and an 11-10 win over number six Wingate at the end of the season. Right in the NCAAs. In the NCAA. Yeah, and that was a good one.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

So that's what was interesting about them. They lost to Wingate in the regular season late in the year, and then three weeks later they turn around and beat them. That will kind of tell you that the type of team that you Indy was.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Yeah, they're good. They had some studs, man, last year on that team.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Yeah, I mean, if you look at it, they had the defender of the year with Kyle Bosch.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Kyle Bosch. I have a picture of Kyle Bosch covering my son. Yeah. You know what my son said? He he couldn't guard me. I was like, stop, stop, you're full of things. Yeah, don't even don't even go there. He guarded everybody there was to guard and did well. He was the first team All-American. And so um, Kyle's not coming back. He they lose a big one with him, man.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

Right. They also lose on the two other All-Americans, Josh Jackson and Evan Seussy. They lose five All-Americans on that team, Kevin. Right. Drew Billig and Ben Foster on the offensive side. And that's two studs.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Two studs?

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, without a doubt. Now they are returning White Wyatt Hour and Tristan Schaefer on the attack. And they've got Owen Braddock and Nick Rangard at MIDI coming back.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Tristan Schaefer had 48 goals last year. You know where he's from?

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Where is he from?

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Pittsburgh. He's from Pittsburgh, P.A. Owen from Western PA. Love it. Yeah. Wyatt Hour, like you said, you know, 41 goals and seven assists. Dougie Crawford on defense. He comes back, 45 ground balls and 17 calls turnovers last year. You know where he's from?

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Where's he from?

SPEAKER_01 12:49

He's from Keswick, Ontario, in Canada.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

Yeah, they pull a few guys from Canada, they do, on this team. Now, they do have a returning short stick D. Mitty that was out last year for injury, and that's Jack Sullivan. And Casey Carlson's back in net.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, he had a good season last year. Casey, he's a good he's a good goalie, man. He's very good. Out of ocean side high school, right here, not too far. His one of his coaches was my neighbor. So I knew his high school. I know his high school coaches. So yeah, he's a good player, and he does well for them out there. Um they got a pretty good, pretty good out-of-conference schedule this year. Did you see it?

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Yeah. They have a very good out-of-conference. Alabama, Huntsville, Montevallo, Lenore Rhine, Walsh, Mercyhurst, Lake Erie, Seton Hill, Newberry, and Rollins. That's a tough out-of-conference school.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

That's a very tough. That's a tough. But you know what? I'm I, you know, I always said that Coach Stocks really coaches this team well. They're very well coached. They, they, they do all the little things right. You know what I'm saying, Kev? They they're coached. They're coached up there. Um, they're very athletic. They're the defense is phenomenal last year. Their offense was phenomenal last year. They were great in all categories, averaging over 50 shots a game. Their man up was over 40%, their face-off was at almost 55%. They clear at almost 90%. Yeah. They're a solid squad, man.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

You make a few mistakes against them and you lose. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

And I I just think losing those five All-Americans is a big, big, bigger.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

So that's so coach did let us know, right? He's got some key transfers. He's got uh two middies coming in, one from Kenetius, Dylan Braddock, Justin Williams from St. Leo, who's St. Leo's fourth leading scorer last year. And on D, another Kenesius transfer, Braden Arnett. And he's got two freshmans that could, on the defensive side, could make an impact. Adam Wong, who's an LSM, and Ty Bernaducci, short stick D middy. And what I would say, I had the exact same thing. To me, it kind of looks like a reload more on D than offense, because they've got some great guys coming back on offense. And I think these transfers and freshmen will have to fill some big shoes to really you know solidify what they had last year.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

You know, what that what that team had last year was um, you know, they they played well together. They knew where they were gonna be. You know what I'm saying? Now you're adding adding players, yeah, although good players, it's gonna take some time to play and play well together. And they don't have much wiggle room with that option schedule.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

No.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

You know, they don't. So I'm very interesting, uh interested to see how you indie plays in those first four or five games of the season.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

That's exactly what I was thinking, Danny. Like, how well did they gel during fallball and when they come back on campus to really get that chemistry to that point where they can step off and take care of that off-conference schedule like they have in in past years and get some of those big wins. I think it's gonna be a bit of a tall task in some ways. But like you said, Coach Stocks knows how to coach those boys up. Yeah. And with Coach Grimes, both of them together.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Oh, 100%. I you know, the coaching is not the problem there. I think that I think when you lose five all-Americans, Kevin. Yeah, it's hard to replace all Americans with all Americans. Yeah. You know, you might, you know, you might get a player that can play, but maybe not at an all-American level. But, you know, Kyle Bosch was a handful for everybody. He that kid was amazing last year. Uh, he might have been the best short stick D midi I've seen in Division II in quite a while. Just what he was able to do to everybody he guarded. Everybody. Everybody.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

We did. We talked about him almost every week. We had him on the show last year. I just listened to it again today, not the whole thing, but little bits of it. And that's you he said, you said, A, you're my favorite player to watch. And B, we basically said, we talk about you every week. And it's getting a little boring for us to have to talk. No, we didn't say that. But he was an amazing player.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Yeah, 100%. Really, really, really good player, and a very good kid. And I'm, you know, I remember it well when he came on the show last year. But, you know, you, Indy, I think Coach Stocks has a little work to do this year, and let's see what happens with you, Andy. I don't know if they're gonna be the same team.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Um That's what I said at the beginning we talked about this. I think it's gonna be very tight in the GLBC this year. And let's get to the next team, and that's the Meryville Saints. Which I think you have to watch out for this year.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Well, you know where they're they're located? Yeah, sown and country, Missouri is the name of the country.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Yeah, it's it's right in St. Louis. It's right there.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Town and Country, Missouri. I'm like, okay. That's interesting. I didn't know that. Uh head coach Scott Stark. Um, they were 8-6 overall, 3-2 in conference. Uh their signature wins. Last year, Maryville had a 6-2 win over Lewis in a low-scoring defensive and defensive battle, and a 12-11 win over Westminster. So they had two nice wins last year for sure.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

They also beat Monteval. Now, they had some big boys on there and they lost him. Seton Hill, Mercyhurst, UAH, UIndy, and then Rockurst in overtime. And then they lost to Rockurst again in the GOBC semifinals. But they actually improved their conference record last year. So they were still they were still doing well. They, you know, and they're they were above 500. And I think if you look at who they have coming back this year, I think they're in really good in a good place. And they lose to graduation Tyler Wank, who had 28 goals and five assists, and they lose Parker Lee as a D middy and Tim McCarthy at defense. But their top scorers return Clayton Sarrett, Reed Usray, Justin Simonson, Ethan, and Ethan Olson. Most of them, uh Clayton is the attack, but the rest are midi, so that their offense is running through their midfield.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Yeah, Clayton had 31 goals and nine assists. He's from Winocky, Wisconsin, Kev. And Reed Ursay, he's a midfielder. He we called his name a ton last year. Uh 25 goals, 13 assists. He's from Alworth, Georgia. And Justin Simonson, he's a junior midfielder. He had a sophomore last year. He played pretty well. 15 goals, 12 assists. He's from Prior Lake, Minnesota. So they got they got players from all over the country. And last year they had goalie by community with Steven DeSantis and Jackson Snyder, both at 50, close to 50%. DeSantis was at 50%. Snyder was at 43%. Um, you know, pretty, pretty decent year. Uh they averaged 45 shots a game. They can improve on their mana.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

That's what exactly I had. They were only at 27%.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Yeah, paltry. Paltry. And their face-off was good last year. They're almost 60% last year.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Yeah, and they have both of their face-off specialists, Andrew Skifstad and Shea Rayburn, are returning.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

I think they're going to be a better team. I think they're going to improve.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

I do too. And look who they're returning on D Garrett Rivers, Tyler Gerstad, Cody Cornier, and John Charlton. And they all had Garrett Rivers, 36 round balls and 27 cost turnovers. And all of them were in that range. And so when I look at that, I look at a team that's poised to make a run at the conference champions.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah, a lot of their guys are coming back. They improved from the year prior to that. Their numbers are really good. They did commit 245 turnovers in the season, Cap. That's a lot. So they got to do a little bit better on mana. Hold on to the ball a little bit, protect the ball, try not to turn the ball over as much. And uh I expect this team to improve on that record. I think the Meraville Saints are going to be pretty tough this year.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

Yeah, I agree. Now, their out of conference for this season is Lewis and Quincy to begin with, in conference, but out of conference. Right. Then they go Wingate, Lynn, Alabama, Huntsville, Colorado, Mesa, and they do that at Lewis at a neutral site. Then Westminster, Dominican of California, and Montevallo. So they once again have a pretty stacked out of conference.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Not bad. I expect them to do pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Yeah, but I I I agree with you in the end. I think that they seem to be loaded for bear. And I think they're going to be tough in the GLVC this year. Yeah, I agree with you. I agree with you. Now here's another team though, Danny, that I think is also going to be tough. And they just seem to always improve. The Lewis Flyers.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

This might be a different year for Coach Peruzzi. Yeah. He's got some studs, man. He's got guys coming back. He had their team had some injuries last year, Kev. You know, I think we they lost a couple of games that we were saying. What happened? What happened? They were ranked and then they were unranked. Yeah. I think they had some injuries last year.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

Yeah, they were 10-6 last year and 2-3 in conference. They beat Lake Erie, Roberts Wesley, and North Greenville, and Belmont Abbey. But they lost to Lenore Rhine, UIndy, Alabama, Huntsville, Rockhurst, and Merryville.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

So Yeah, but they beat Undy in the GLBC semis by one 12-11.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Yeah. Great game.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Yes, yes. Great game. Baden Boyenko.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

He's coming back. He's good, man. He's very good. They're returning not only uh Baden, but also Evan Clement and Nolan Dalup. He missed 2023 with an injury, but he was all GLVC in 2022.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

So Dallop is returning. Yeah. He missed the whole season. And Boyenko, Boyanko missed six games last year.

SPEAKER_03 23:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

And he and he still had 27 goals and 23 assists and was all GLBC.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

After missing six games. So he's a stud.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Now, and then you look at what they're returning at midfield. They are stacked. They only graduated Jack Spears, so they've got Drew Andre, Nate McLean, Andrew Shemerhorn. He's a Kenitian transfer. Zach Budemeyer, who played attack for them last year and started as a freshman. So he's going to have a big role coming out of the midfield. Anthony Matteo, Kevin Blas, Hunter Laprino, Trevor Collier, Luke Schroeder. I mean, they've got a load of middies that can come in.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

And Drew Andre, who's in the NLL. In the NLL.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

Yeah. NLL draft pick for Vancouver Warriors.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

You know something? I think the injuries hurt the Flyers last year, but with all those players coming back, and I think on paper they look real tough this year.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

We didn't even talk about defense. Zach Merwin, close D, all GLEC 2022 and 2023. Kai George, short stick D Mitty. Yeah. Yeah. All GLEC 2023. Logan Sushi, LSM, Ben Manser for defense. I think, you know, they have just got a ton of folks coming back.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

Lewis might be Lewis might be the squad to look out for in the conference this year.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

And what Coach said too, and it's a good thing to point out, because there's always a little bit, sometimes there's we've seen it with assistant coaches moving on and getting the head coaching jobs or switching to a different school and head coaches changes, right? Coach Peruzzi is bringing the entire coaching staff back. They're all together for another year.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Yeah, and he's got a squad coming back. How's their out-of-conference schedule look?

SPEAKER_02 25:36

So their out-of-conference is they're scrimmaging Linenwood. I love to point that out, you know, right close. Merryville, Lake Erie, Thomas More, Tiffin, Walsh, Dominican of California, Colorado Mesa, Mercyhurst, and Alabama Huntsville.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Wow, that's a very favorable schedule for Lewis Floff.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

This might be Merryville in there, but if you if you then look at the last three, are the tough ones. Colorado Mesa, Mercyhurst, and Alabama Huntsville.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

I like what I'm seeing out of Lewis this year. I like what I see at this on paper. On paper, they might be the best team.

SPEAKER_02 26:22

And I want to point this out. They've put on Thomas Moore and Tiffin. And you'd say, why are they doing that? I mean, if they want to have a tough out of conference and be looked at nationally, but you remember we talked to Peruzzi. Other teams did the same thing for him when he was starting this program. Right. 100%. Yeah. And he's just giving back. Getting these teams in there, playing against them, I think it's great. That's a great out-of-conference. I think you're right. It's favorable for them. I think they are going to be really tough.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

I think that might be the team in this conference to look out for. They might be the number one team. I don't know, man. On paper, they just look damn good, don't they?

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Yeah, they do. Okay, let's talk Davenport Panthers.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

The Panthers from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Head coach Chris Escaviel. 5-8 overall, 2-3 in conference. Not bad, not bad, not great, not bad. Signature win was a 12-10 win over Rockhurst.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

Yeah. On senior day.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Like, you know, this is where this conference is, man. Like, you know, this is.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

You would have thought I would, I had that peg. This is a Rockhurst win. Just don't even turn around. And then I started, I think I watched the game because I saw the score. I'm like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Exactly. You know, like this is what this conference is, man. They beat this knot out of each other. And it's like anybody can beat each other on kind of any given day in this in this conference. I really believe that.

SPEAKER_02 27:52

I agree. And I actually think Coach has this team, another team that he's got them improving almost every year. Remember, they're still pretty new in D2. We said this last year in the conference previews. They used to be a club team. They came in in 2020. Right? So you've got to think, and with that being the COVID year, you've got to think they're still trying to build as well. They've got their roster up to 40. Uh, and so they've now they're at a good level for practices and depth.

unknown 28:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:24

They improved on their goals per game to up to 11.15, and their goals against average is at was at 12.5. So they're starting to close that gap. They're trying to get right out almost at that five, you know, that even split.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Yeah, they were at 23% on man up, which they need to improve. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

And they still lost only at 36. Yeah. And they did lose the ground ball war with opponents, and they were in the box more than their opponents. So they've got some improvement that need to do. But as a young team, you know, they they just got him, they've got to tighten that up.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Yeah, Jaden Ashley comes back, 40 goals and 11 assists. Last year as a freshman, he he balled out. He's from Lawrenceville, New York. Uh Keelan McCowl McCovin, McCowan. I'm sorry. Keelan, Keelan McCowan, 33 goals, seven assists. He's coming back. Trevor McDonald, a midfielder out of Brantford, Ontario. He had 10 goals and nine assists. Our boy, the Baker boys.

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Right. Now, so uh Braylon joins his brother Bodie, both transfers from Wingate.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

And they're Michigan boys, so they've come back home.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

Yeah, they're from Michigan. So uh 25 ground balls and eight cost turnovers last year for Brody. He's a pretty solid player. And now his brother Braylon meets, you know, joins him, like you said. I think with these kids coming back on offense, a year more uh uh under their belt, especially Ashley, the freshman last year, he's gonna be a sophomore. You know what they would say when we talk about freshmen coming into the sophomore year. Got that year under their belt, a little bit better, a little bit bigger, stronger, more confident, a much different player. And uh, like you said, 40 on their roster, that's gonna help them out at practices now. They can run more things and then get, you know, run clears and stuff like that and get different players on. And their out-of-conference schedule, Kev, is very favorable.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Yeah. Yeah, they've got Tiffin, Calvin, which is a D3 school, Wheeling, Malone, Lake Erie, Dominican of California, which they're playing at Lewis that game, Walsh, and Thomas More.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

I tell you, man, I think the Panthers are gonna improve. I think they're gonna be a better team this year. They should improve with that schedule.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

I think so. They've also got, we did not talk about some of their D middies, Trent Eichbarrow at 36 ground balls, 14 cause turnovers, and Caden Seeley, 65 ground balls and 30 cost turnovers. They return. LSN Griffin Pohl returns after playing one game last year. So he should be helping that out, along with defender Chase Post. He had 45 ground balls and 13 cost turnovers. So you add that in with Brody Baker and now Braylon coming over on attack on the offensive side. I think, like you talked about, one more year these guys have under their belt, they've got a good out of conference, I think is going to be competitive, but fake can favor them. And I think the tough things for them will be once again in conference.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Yeah, I agree with that. But I think with that schedule and who they have coming back, I think, and and now with you know their roster getting bigger, I think they're gonna improve. I I expect them to have more than five wins this year.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

I agree, I agree. How about the Quincy Hawks?

SPEAKER_01 31:51

The Hawks. Quincy Hawks out of Quincy, Illinois. Head coach Eric Ruppel, pretty solid last year, you know, except for in conference.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

But get this, Danny. They were 8-9, which is a huge improvement. Tremendous improvement from where they were the year before. Sure, they they went goose eggs in conference, which is really what they've got to do now. They've got to start getting some conference wins. But they beat Lake Erie and Flagler last year. Wasn't they just beat teams, you know, D3 teams or other teams that are not as good? They beat some quality teams last year.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

Definitely. Their signature win was a 12-11 win over a really good Flagler team last year. I don't think anybody expected Quincy to beat Flaggler.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

No.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

You know, Donald Griffith comes back. He's a midfielder. Kev, 6'4, 215 pounds. Out of fresh no out of Frisco, Texas. He had 39 goals and 11 assists as a freshman. Could you imagine a 6'4, 215-pound freshman?

SPEAKER_02 33:11

No.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

Oh my God. They growing big down in Frisco, Texas, don't they? Jordan Ernst comes back out of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan. Say that with a couple of cocktails, didn't you?

SPEAKER_02 33:29

I can't even try it now, and I'm totally sober.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

People be throwing spitballs at you. 39 goals and six assists. Jamie Brain, a midfield. He was a junior out of Monroe, Washington. Wow, they got guys from like Canada, Texas, Washington. It's pretty cool, actually. 36 goals and 16 assists. Kev, I counted 38 on their roster this year.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

Yeah, they're look, they're returning a lot of um good players on offense. They also have some new additions, some freshman. Coach says that this freshman class that he brought in is very offensive heavy.

unknown 34:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 34:05

And without a doubt, the best overall freshman class he's brought in to date. So that's and then on the defensive side, their defense last year was still top five in defending and being man down. They were injured at the defensive midi position last year, but both of those guys that were starters in 22 are back. Ray Lingard, who also was a face-off specialist for him, and their number one D MIDI, and then Kay Beaton. They're both coming back as D midis. Wow. All right. So I think we're going to watch them improve again this year. And I would not be surprised if they get some W's in conference. Look at also what they've done. When they talk about man up, in 2022, they were 65, 65th in the nation. This will tell you where they've gone for improvement. They finished 25th last year. Wow. Biggest statistical gain for them. And you look at some of the other things. Faceoff was 50%, clears were at 88%. Man up was at 37%, but that's better than the year before, was only at 21%.

SPEAKER_01 35:13

Yeah, but they still committed 327 turnovers. That's a lot of turnovers, man. You divide that in a 15, 14 games. That's a lot of turnovers. I only counted six home games for Quincy this year. And uh their out-of-conference schedule looks pretty good. Dominican in California. Who else? Adams State? Lynn?

SPEAKER_02 35:38

Lynn, Malone, CSU Pueblo, and then they've got some conference opponents that they're playing out of conference. William Jewell, Maryville, and Rockhurst. Which actually, I think that helps them to get ready to play conference for conference play. Right. 100%. I mean, for them, if you're looking at like we didn't win anything in the conference, loaded up with three teams at the beginning with that are in conference, conference opponents, as an out-of-conference schedule, you learn from that.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

Absolutely, you learn from it. I expect this team to be a better team as well. I expect them to improve. But now here's the thing I'm thinking now in this conference, with every team improving.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

The zero-sum game.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

Yeah, like, you know, so let's just say that Quincy is a better, better team. But since everybody else improved, they still wind up like eight and nine and one and four in conference. It doesn't mean they suck.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

Right. Right. I think I think that's a I really do believe if they look at their season after 2024 and they've got at least one conference win, that's a win. That is a goal they they've got to set. Of course they want to win more than that. Of course. But it's these in a in a conference like this, and let's look, we've got one more team to talk about, and that's William Jewell. But if you look at all the teams that have been here, and I agree with you, that's why I think this conference is going to be crazy when we get to in-conference play, because at least at least two, not if not three, if not four teams, we think are going to improve based on paper. And can they compete against Rockhurst and U Indy now? I have no idea. I think Lewis and Meryville, maybe these others, Davenport, Quincy, maybe not yet, but can they can they pull one out from Rockhurst? Or can they pull one out Lewis against Quincy? It's a possible.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Well, it's obvious that it can happen. It's happening, you know. So there's what I'm saying. When a conference just every year steadily improves. I mean, that that conference every single year has improved, Kev. Yeah. Those teams have gotten better and better. And like you said in the beginning of the podcast, they're in conference. These teams hate each other. They beat the snot out of each other. That's what they want to do. And all these teams play each other very competitively. You know?

unknown 38:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:09

They're not getting blown out. So again, with with all of these teams improving, can Quincy and Davenport actually improve their record? I know. You know, that type of thing. That's I don't know. It's I this is a good conference. You know, they always send teams that, you know, Undy's been to the NCAA the last couple of years. You know, they got guys that are getting, you know, Barryville's getting, you know, looked at ranked. Lewis was ranked last year a little bit, you know, I think injuries hurt them last year.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

I I agree with you. Let's get to the last team in the conference, the new program, William Jewell. The Cardinals.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

Head coach Ryan, Ryan Burke. Kev. 31 freshman. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

But yeah, they're gonna take their lumps. But look at that. Coach recruited a large class. A lot of times when we see a a new start, you're in the 20s. Maybe. So to get 32 off the bat, let's see, there it's gonna be it's gonna be them trying to build something this year for the next few years, right?

SPEAKER_01 39:25

Yeah, looked at their schedule. They play Malone out of conference, uh, Alabama, Huntsville, Adams State, CSU Pueblo.

SPEAKER_02 39:32

Yeah, they've also got uh Thomas Moore uh and Columbia College and N-A-IA team.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

Okay, so here's my here's my notes on William William Joel. Hope Coach Burke, if you're listening, uh good luck, play hard, and learn that NCAA game.

SPEAKER_02 39:55

Yeah, well, the good thing is for him, I mean, uh he's got a lot of background, as we know. We talked to him, he was an assistant at Montevallo and St. Leo. He played at St. Leo. He brought in an assistant this August, Andrew Briones, or Briones, I'm sorry, I'm probably killing the name. He is a grad he was a grad assistant at LMU and he played at Newberry. So he's got sack experience coming to the GLBC to help this team out. I think you're right. It's going to be a year where it's going to be one learning lesson after another for this team with all freshmen. Let's see what they can do out of conference with some of these teams, you know, and how they can compete. And, you know, like against Thomas More, which is another new program. Let's see where they can go.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

Coach Burke went to school with my son at St. Leo. They know each other. And uh, Ryan, good luck, bro. You got it's an uphill climb. But you know what? You're there, you're there. You're here now. You're here. You're at Division II, and you're in a tough, tough, tough conference, and you're playing with 32 freshmen. You know you're gonna take your lumps, but you know what? Just go out there, play hard. Hopefully, there's not a lot of injuries, and just let these kids learn the NCAA game, do a good job recruiting this year for next year. And you know what? In three years, this team's not gonna be too bad. You know why? Because they're gonna have a ton of kids with a ton of experience on the team.

SPEAKER_02 41:25

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

You know, you're getting kids, no, no one's gonna be really sitting. Everybody's gonna have a spot. They're gonna have a spot somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 41:33

And when we talked to Coach during the coaching changes uh episodes, that's kind of what he said, right? This is building, and and he's really excited about being at William Jewell for what they do academically and the high standards they have there, and I think he's gonna try to bring that culture and and bring that on the field as well. So it it'll be fun to watch them and see what they can do. It's gonna be tough this first year with all freshmen, but that's okay. That's where they learn and they move on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

Now that's the GLVC grows, you know. The GLVC grows with them coming in, and Division II grows with them coming in, and it's it's a positive all the way around. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

That's the roundup, Danny, but there's one thing we need to say before we move on to our coach's interview. We recorded with Coach Stark prior to Thanksgiving, well before Linenwood announced they were discontinuing 10 varsity sports, including Men's La Crosse. So we're going to be talking about them playing Linenwood and a few other things, but I thought we wanted to point that out before we move on to the coach's interview. Sounds great, yeah.

Coach Stark of Maryville

SPEAKER_02 42:39

Time to bring on a coach. Tonight we have the honor and privilege to bring back a coach who was one of the first coaches we talked with. Fourth ever, to be exact, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 42:52

Yeah, it was a while ago. It was it was a while ago, but it's good to have him back on.

SPEAKER_02 42:57

Yeah, it's coach uh Scott Stark of Maryville. You know, I'm always impressed with his team. He's got his program in short, really three short years to always be in the hunt in the GLVC and national rankings.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

Yeah, one of those teams you don't want to play. You know what I mean? Yeah. You just don't want to you don't want to play Maryville because they're a tough, gritty squad, and they're gonna come to play, and and Coach Stark is a big reason why that happened.

SPEAKER_02 43:26

100%. So why don't we just bring him on and see what he has to say? What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 43:30

Oh, great idea.

SPEAKER_02 43:32

Hey coach, how you doing? Great to have you.

SPEAKER_00 43:35

Coach Stark. How are we doing, fellas? Great to be back on. Uh seems like it was yesterday, but uh I guess it's been a little bit. So appreciate you guys getting me back on here.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Oh, thank you for coming on and spending some more time with the two knuckleheads from In the Crease. We really appreciate you taking the time. How's everything going this evening?

SPEAKER_00 43:55

Things are good. Things are good. Just gearing up for the holiday run here, so Just uh kind of winding things down for the fall and getting ready for holidays.

SPEAKER_02 44:05

Yeah, we would do uh YouTube if we only showed our guests, but a lot of times it's just Danny and me talking, and we've got faces for podcasts or radio. So they can't see in the background. But for our listeners, Coach is already prepping the house for for Christmas. He's because they're going out, they're leaving for Thanksgiving holiday, so he's got to start working now. So when he gets back, he's got it prepped. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 44:28

That's right. That's right. Got a got a two-year-old who's uh who's gonna certainly enjoy the uh the month and a half before Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 44:37

So I appreciate it. That's cool. Looks nice, looks nice and festive in the background for sure. Yeah, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 44:46

Yeah. All right. So, coach, you're entering your fourth season and coming off a season in which you were named co-coach of the year in GLVC. What has that journey been like the past four years and what is it like to coach at Meryville?

SPEAKER_00 45:02

Uh it's, you know, it certainly has been a work in progress, I think, and just in the sense of kind of stepping in and stepping into a program mid-COVID. Uh so you know, we certainly had its first, you know, couple of years of trial and error and figuring out how to navigate Maryville and navigate being a head coach and everything else that came with it. But uh right now, you know, I couldn't be happier with where we're at as a program, couldn't be happier with the locker room and where we have the roster. Uh, you know, I think that it's been uh it's been great. Uh no regrets, and I'm really enjoying being where we're at and kind of uh the direction of the program. So up to this point, it's been uh been a great ride.

SPEAKER_02 45:46

And what does your the athletic director and the the program are are they 100% behind lacrosse? It seems like in the GLVC that almost is across all the teams and programs that have lacrosse.

SPEAKER_00 46:00

For sure. I think the the support in the conference is fantastic. Obviously, you know, among that, when you have some ADs or a majority of the ADs support in the sport, um, you know, it certainly will only benefit your program in particular, um, or your individual program in particular. But uh yeah, you know, I was was hired on uh by Lonnie Folks, and he's actually announced his retirement at the end of the year. And so Brittany Fennel, our uh assistant AD, she'll be stepping in. And I think both have been fantastic uh in supporting me and supporting our direction. Uh, you know, certainly as you, you know, I come in uh do a program that was only four years old, uh, had a couple of different head coaches. Uh and so at that point I was walking into a program who that certainly didn't have um a whole lot of structure in the sense of you know having multiple years of support behind it. Yeah, I certainly walked into a program that you know kind of you know had some uh inconsistency among leadership and and kind of the direction of the program in a sense. And so I I got the opportunity to step in and educate, right? And so I had some years of coaching collegiately at the Division II level prior to getting to Meryville. And so just getting in and trying to educate, you know, the athletic department on what it is like to to buy a full team of helmets, right? And um get the roster where we need to. And so it's uh it's been a work in progress, but you we're certainly moving in the right direction, and the support, uh, the support today couldn't be couldn't be any better of in the sense of what we're trying to do and where we're trying to go.

SPEAKER_02 47:38

So yeah, and I think that is kind of shows in your season last year. You were eight and six and three and two in conference, but I don't think that tells the whole story. Your team went up against both teams that made it to the D2 championship, LR and Mercy Hurst. Yeah, man. Both on the road and then also had some losses in overtime. So it really shows how close I think your team is. What do you take? What does your team take from those close games and those losses against the teams that went to the championship?

SPEAKER_00 48:17

For sure. You know, I think you guys kind of said it at the beginning. I think Meryville is one of those teams that is recognized as being talented. Um, but certainly, you know, one of those programs that still needs to prove itself. And so for me, uh the schedule is never gonna not look that way. I I want to play some of the best teams. I think uh my experience in the ECAC in my early years with Lindawood uh certainly proved that our growth came from playing some of the best teams. And so I believe that for our direction at Maryville, making sure that we're gonna play as much as we can and at the same time uh make sure that we're not shying away from the talent uh that Division II has. And so uh certainly not interested in uh you know just stacking wins. I wanna I want to play the best because you know I want to compete with the best. And so, but yeah, I think I think that it's certainly if you're a blind eye to it, uh we're in the middle of the pack, right? Uh just based off of rankings. But I think if you look at it, you look at the schedule, you look at the scores of the teams that we played, um, you know, like I said, I couldn't be happier with where we're at. And I certainly think that last year was successful, but you know, if you would have stacked uh stacked a couple of those wins uh in those overtime games and we would have won uh won when we needed to, I think we would have been stuck in the uh stuck in the you know near the top 15 uh for a majority of last seas season. And it just you know when when we got those wins, uh we were kind of just on the outside looking in pretty much the whole season.

SPEAKER_01 49:50

So yeah, right there, right there. Plus you played a really tough schedule last year with with Mercieris. You Indy had on your schedule. So who's in your out-of-conference schedule this season, coach?

SPEAKER_00 50:04

Uh it's not uh it's not a secret. We just haven't uh haven't made the made it public yet. But uh we were going to open up with a couple out-of-conference games uh within our own conference. And so we're gonna play Lewis right out of the gate um after a couple of scrimmages, and we're gonna play Quincy shortly after, um, basically just to try to get a couple of games under our belt before we head down to Wingate. And so we're gonna open up uh our on-road uh schedule with Wingate on Feb 24. Um we come home and we got uh Lynn uh at home and UAH at home. I think that UAH followed by Lynn. And then we're gonna go neutral site, Colorado Mesa up at Lewis. Wow, and then we hit and hit spring break where we'll pick up uh Westminster and Dominican, and then we come home and I think we wrap up uh out of conference with Monteval. So similar out of conference uh with uh with the addition of Lynn and Wingate um without uh without Mercy or CLR. So I think those were you know similar type of schedule, but you know, I think the teams in the Peach Belt are certainly talented and yeah, obviously, obviously trying to get the uh the R Mac anticipating Westminster and uh Colorado may see be on the top of that conference as well. So all right.

SPEAKER_01 51:28

Excellent, excellent out of conference schedule, excellent.

SPEAKER_02 51:31

Yeah, that's that's not easy. I mean, you can say they're not at the same level as Ellon Merciers, but when you add all those in there, you talked about it. We talked about the Peach Belt when we already did their conference preview. All those teams in the Peach Belt, the top four teams, are are tough to play. They are like playing Meryville. That's why those games will be really exciting to watch against Meryville. Those and then you throw in uh Westminster and Dominican to see what they're gonna be able to do and Colorado Mesa. That is no joke of a schedule. No, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

So let's excited I'm excited about it.

SPEAKER_02 52:08

So yeah. So let's turn to to some of your players returning. You got your top scores returning, Clayton Sarrett, Reed Ursay, Justin Simonson, Ethan Olson. Jesus, all of them seem to return in. You got scoring, you know, you've got the D that's coming back, Garrett Rivers, Tyler Jurstad, Cody Cornier. Do you lose anybody? I didn't realize how young your team was last year when you guys racked up those wins.

SPEAKER_01 52:33

Reed Ursay's a beast. He's a beast.

SPEAKER_00 52:36

Yeah, so uh I think uh, you know, minus minus maybe a point or two here. I think we return uh everybody on the offensive side of the ball, um, all offensive points. Uh we really the only person we don't return uh is Declan Muholland, uh who's a short sticky middle for us last year. Uh and then we had uh we had a transfer out at the LSM position. But that's about it. We we return a good core. Uh I don't know if we were the youngest team last year, but certainly uh certainly turning around to be one of the uh most experienced teams in conference. I think uh you know we'll we'll sit somewhere between uh uh 13 and 14 seniors with a couple of grad students mixed in uh for this season, so it's great.

SPEAKER_02 53:26

Yeah, I'll tell you what, you're gonna be even tougher this year than last year, I think, with that with all those returners coming back. So let's switch. Let's switch and talk about uh the GLBC and kind of the changing landscape. So Lindenwood leaves last year, but you gain William Jewell this year. What do you think uh of the conference, those changes and and the competition?

SPEAKER_00 53:51

Uh, you know, I'm I think that the competition is gonna continue to be there. I think you you when Linnewood departed, you can argue that Lewis and Meredyball kind of stepped in and and certainly started to be, you know, uh just as competitive uh as Lindewood was before their departure. And obviously Indy's the top team in the country. Coach Stocks has those guys uh continually you know competing for the for the top ball. And I think uh the group of coaches is great, you know, even even with the addition of uh Coach Burke at William Jewell, um, I think he's been around Division II, he's had success at Division II uh as an assistant and certainly getting the opportunity to to be a hungry head coach as you know Coach Peruzzi and myself were as we've stepped in. And you know, I think that uh the conference in in itself uh is continuing to move forward. I mean, you've seen what uh coaches Coach Rupps has done at uh at Quincy, he's continuing to move that program in the right direction. And so I I just think that it's it's a pretty strong conference. I think there's no there's no real gimmys. Uh and I certainly think that there's parity continuing to you know come together as we all continue to try to grow. Um but yeah, I think it's pretty competitive. I don't know if you know you guys are gonna let me argue it uh being the top between your NE10 and staff conversations, but you know, I certainly think that we grow, we've we've seen growth in our conference because it's you know, we have the support there from our institutions, and I certainly think that there's a core of coaches within this conference that are you know true professionals, and and that's it has everything from a recipe to create success. And so you see a lot of consistency in our coaching, uh, and you see a lot of strong relationships uh and a lot of respect between coaching staffs, and so I'm I'm excited for it to continue to move in the direction. And hopefully uh we can convince some ADs to continue to uh expand and so we can try to try to continue to expand the numbers of conference games that we'll have, right?

unknown 55:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:57

Well, Kevin and I think that the GLVC is a pretty good conference. We we definitely don't we don't poo-poo it at all, you know. But and we've seen the growth in the last three years, uh especially in the last three years in the GLVC. I think it's a strong conference. I think any team is capable of like beating any team on any given day. I think it really is. You know, maybe for the maybe you know, the Davenports might need a little help a little bit, but you know something for the most part.

SPEAKER_00 56:26

It's a yeah, I think it's I think it's a fantastic conference. I really do. I I think that the competitive nature of it uh certainly uh creates an exciting time anytime our conference teams are playing against each other. So we'll see how things shake. This year will, you know, from our anticipation, it'll be continue to be strong and competitive.

SPEAKER_02 56:48

Danny, you and I talked about this several times. So how in the G V GLVC teams just beat each other up.

SPEAKER_01 56:57

Yeah, it's a tough it's the black and blue conference. It's the black and blue conference, yeah. Like the old NLC, the old NFC Central with the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings, you know, like it was the black it's the black and blue conference. They really are. It's a physical conference. These teams get after it. I love watching these Maryville Quincy games. They're good games.

SPEAKER_02 57:18

You know, I would be interested. I would be interested to go back and listen to our predictions during the week of who we thought were going to win against GLVs versus GLVC teams, and I bet you we're below 50% on getting them right.

SPEAKER_01 57:32

Well, that's because anybody can beat anybody in this conference. And that's that's that's what makes a strong conference, you know, and that's what you like to see. You like to see that that parody. And I know Coach Stark wants to be on top of that conference this year.

SPEAKER_00 57:48

For sure, right? Uh I think that you know we we tasted it last year and thought we had a pretty strong team, and we we came up short uh in the semis, and so I think our focus is to make sure that we prepare ourselves with our out of conference and certainly uh get to the conference tournament and hopefully play our best ball at that point.

SPEAKER_02 58:09

Well, I think you started that pretty well in fallball because I heard through the Down the Alley podcast, I don't know if you listened to that at all, but it's one in Minnesota, and they had a player from Linedwin on who talked about the fallball game that you took on your old rival and where you used to coach, and you reminded them of what D2 teams are all about and took it to them in fallball.

SPEAKER_00 58:35

Uh it was a good run for both squads. I think uh I think that uh you know we're we're continuing to figure out how to work the relationship because we were conference opponents at one point, uh, but hopefully now we can continue to work together and build our two programs. Obviously, I have a lot of respect for uh Coach Lang and Coach Frosh and what they're doing, and I'm excited for them and their new uh their new venture in div into Division I. Um, but yeah, I think both programs are trying to figure out who they are and what they're gonna bring this this fall, and it was uh it was a good run. You know, I think uh the confidence on our side is uh is is in a good place for us to kind of you know continue getting ready for January and February. And so uh I thought it was a good run, and I I look forward to many battles with those guys as they continue to build in uh you know what they are out there and and you know truthfully any scrimmage against those guys will hopefully continue to be one of the stronger competitions on our schedule. So I think it's a great opportunity for us to run with those guys, right?

SPEAKER_02 59:43

Yeah, absolutely. It's obviously easy from a travel perspective for both teams going back and forth right there across the the city. And we have had Coach Lang on. We think just like we think of you, think the most of him and love to see his program goes. But for your team, that really does help from a measuring stick and maybe a confidence boost on how you play them in some sort of scrimmage.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:05

For sure. I I've always believed that you know fall scrimmages and preseason scrimmages should be there to uh to be more of you know figuring out what you have and trying to figure out what the product's gonna look like. And so uh we're excited about the way we where we showed up in that game and towards the end of fall, uh hopefully we can continue to stack it together and make sure that the what we the way we play and how we play looks consistent and is consistent as we uh as we roll into the season. But uh certainly, you know, as much as we have the experience, we certainly have some young guys that we're excited about, and so getting them uh you know to to get up caught up to our speed and play some high competition, I think, is great. So uh certainly in a good spot, but uh you know I felt like we were pretty good last year too. So I want to uh make sure make sure that we try to do what we can, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:59

Exactly. Exactly. So talk to us about your new assistance. You lose Coach Coon does he goes to Mars Hill and takes over there, but you have two new ones in.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:13

Yeah, uh couldn't couldn't have asked, uh it wasn't the easiest transition. Um, you know, I've I've been fortunate to to have good assistance and uh Coach Burke when I first got in, uh Coach Chris Burke, who's at Wabash. Yeah. Um Ryan, Coach Ryan brother, or Coach Ryan Burke's brother, but uh then I then I was able to have Coach Coons for two seasons who I had a great relationship with. I am a big believer in putting the right people in the room uh and making sure that our staff has great relationships. And so it was important with the uh with the experience that we're returning and a lot of the fourth year and fifth year guys that we have. It was important that we brought in somebody that was important to us and that we felt is gonna help us move forward and not necessarily have to take uh take a couple of months to try to put together, uh, trying to bring in somebody that had the experience and kind of owned the room was important. So we uh we went out and got uh Coach Methune as our offensive coordinator, who who I have a good history with as you know, a teammate, former teammate of mine. Uh and then uh he's had success at the high school low auto in Minnesota. And then we uh then we also added uh Coach Rackey, who was a uh was a five-year uh varsity letter winner for Cleveland State, was a hometown kid from uh from Missouri. And so he's back here and trying to figure out what his life looks like, and so we were able to get him on staff as well. And both those guys are fantastic, and they're gonna help us do exactly what we want, and that's to keep moving this thing forward. But uh a lot of respect to those guys, and certainly a lot of respect to the dudes that uh came before them and Coach Burke and Coach Coonzie because those guys have been great to me as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:03

Sounds great, sounds like a good team.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:06

It does, it does, Coach. So with that, I I just want to thank you for coming back on a second time that you actually were willing to come and talk to us again as a testament to you, probably not a testament to the podcast, but we really appreciate you coming on. I can't wait to watch Maryville as you look at what you're bringing back and watch you. I think I'm more excited to watch. Well, I think you're out of conference and you're in conference with GLBC. It's just gonna be exciting to watch all year. I don't I don't know how I'll keep off Meryville and have to watch other teams. I gotta watch other teams too during the season. So but we wish you all the best this year.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:40

Well, I'm uh I'm anticipating uh having you guys watch us at least on 524 when we're down there with Coach Boyle's group. And so I look forward to it, guys. Obviously, a lot of respect to you guys and what you do for for Division II Lacrosse and everything else, but uh appreciate the opportunity to come back on.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:59

Uh Coach, you've been a great guest tonight, and I'm sure you'll be a great guest in the future. I love the Saints. I think they're a good, gritty squad, like I said, and I think you're poised to make that move this year. A lot of guys coming back, another year older, another year wiser, another year bigger, another year faster, another year with that NCAAA, you know, under their belt. So I wish you nothing but success for the Saints this year, and uh hope to see you soon. Appreciate it, guys. Thank you.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_02 1:04:28

It's great to have Coach Stark on again. It's been a couple of years since we had him on. It was great to have him on this time.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:35

Yeah, Coach Stark's a nice guy. Got, you know, he's gonna have a fun season, I think, this year. Should be interesting. The GLVC, like I said, man, these guys they beat the snot out of each other. And it's a good, it's a good conference. It's a lot of fun to watch, like you said in the beginning of the show. It's a lot of fun to watch this these teams playing in conference. It's it's really good.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:56

And I think, like we already said, and we're almost beating a dead horse, but I think people need to tune into the GLVC when they play in conference because I don't know. In years past, we'd always say it's either Linenwood or U Indy, and last year we would have said Undy. Rockhurst comes up on top, GL Lewis beats them in the set beats Undy in the semis. And this year, if you look at their rosters, like we talked about, I think it's a crapshoot.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:23

Yeah, you know, with Undie losing five All-Americans, I think that's gonna be difficult. You know, coach's gonna have he's got a couple of transfers coming in, and kids have gonna have to step up. But you know what? He's got Casey Carlson in goal, he's got some kids coming back. So I expect Undy to be very good. I just don't know if they're gonna be the same team. I see Lewis on paper looking at like, wow, you know, they got players coming back, guys that were injured, all GLVC guys, all region guys, you know, top scorers that were injured last year might have might have spelled doom a little bit for the Flyers, I think, in a couple of games. And, you know, all these players coming back, plus a strong freshman class. I think Peruzzi does a phenomenal job there. You know, I think he's a good coach, young, energetic. He knows the game. Chris Barrett Tree, you know. I think, you know, Lewis is gonna, and Rockhurst is gonna be a better team. Maryville is gonna be a better team. I think all these teams are gonna improve Maryville with Clayton Corrant coming back. And just, I don't know, it's a good conference, man. I like it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:29

Totally agree. Let's move on now and talk about this week's scorebreak spotlight feature. And that feature is what they call scorebreak handoff. Handoff is the film breakdown service offered by Scorebreak. Handoff provides any team, any coach with an accurate box score breakdown of the of your games and Scout film. All they have to do is simply upload the film and notify Scorebreak that it's ready, and then they do the rest of the work. They seamlessly break down the film and then return it, and it becomes easy for them to then use that film to navigate, to build playlists, and get your players watching more film with less effort. So it's kind of like that extra service. Uh you can do that yourselves. The coaches can do it themselves if they've got it, but they don't have time. Yeah. You know, you could build it with the tag boards, you can you can build it with your playlists and all that. But if if you want to pay for a little bit extra, this feature is probably really good to help you along.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:30

Yeah, a couple extra bucks and uh saves you some time in the film room. Scorebreaks a really good tool, coaches, if you're out there and you're listening. www.scorebreak.io. Mention increase and get 15% off that first year.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:46

And there you have it, Danny. We are done with another preview. Uh next week we're heading into our Christmas show. So everyone get ready for that.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:56

It's beginning to look late, great, my favorite part of the year, Kev, is a little we love like a little Bing Crosby on Christmas time, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:10

You gotta have Bang on Christmas without a doubt. I watched a white Christmas last night, doesn't matter. Very cool. Very cool. So with that, Danny, until next week's Christmas show, that's a wrap.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:23

That's a wrap, Kevin.