Conference Previews for the 2024 season - Peach Belt

SPEAKER_04 0:48

And it's the reason for file of course at all levels. The overall mission is to save coaches valuable times and approved or official statements. So if you schedule a demo with Scorebreak and mention and decrease, Scorebreak will give you 10% off your first year. So visit Scorebreak today at www.scorebreak.io.

Intro

SPEAKER_02 1:31

I'm your co-host, Kevin Sentram. And with me, as always, is my sponsorship promoting podcast partner, Danny Moran. Hey Danny.

SPEAKER_04 1:42

That was a good one tonight. How's it going tonight in Northern Virginia?

SPEAKER_02 1:46

It's going really well. And like we talked about last week on the podcast, that we had big news. And obviously, based on your promo that we did right at the beginning, we revealed it. Scorebreak has come back to sponsor every one of our conference previews this year.

SPEAKER_04 2:03

It's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Yeah. It's great. Because like we said last season when they came and sponsored, we intentionally have looked for sponsors that we truly believe in. And I know to you and me, and I believe to Scorebreak as well, they would agree this is more of a partnership between us than just a sponsorship. Obviously, over the next several weeks, we're going to be promoting Scorebreak on our show. But I really feel, Danny, that we cannot do it justice to what they actually bring to the lacrosse community. So we decided to bring them on for our first conference preview, our first interviews within the conference preview. Have them on tonight, kick off our conference previews, and let them talk about uh scorebreak themselves. So with us is Jordan Henry, founder of Scorebreak, and Ben Abraham, VP of Team Solutions. So welcome guys, how are you doing? What's up? Doing great. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_04 3:00

Oh man, thanks for being our partners and our and sponsoring the show. We couldn't be more happier. Um, it's been a great partnership in the last year that we've had, and we look forward to doing many more with you guys in the future. And Kevin, you got a ton of questions and and stuff for these guys. Why don't you start them off?

SPEAKER_02 3:23

So let's just let's just start off. Yeah, let's just start off with Jordan. Just tell us about your journey and what led you to create scorebreak.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Absolutely love what you guys are doing for the community, Kevin and Daniel. So thank you very much for you know thinking of us, uh thinking of us uh highly enough to invite us to be a part of it. And uh, you know, really, really happy to be here. So, scorebreak, you know, necessity is the mother of all invention, right? And I think scorebreak uh is a tale uh with with with that at its core. Uh, you know, we've got a whole bunch of kind of different sayings, such as, you know, let it become a problem and it's in our DNA and whatnot. And like for us, it it it was it was pretty evident pretty early on that uh there was an opportunity to serve, you know, our coaches and you know, my coaches in a way that I was gonna have a better impact than I was gonna have on the field, right? Um I was lucky enough to play at some pretty uh at some pretty high levels and with some pretty amazing names, you know, going back to like my freshman year of college where I was at UMass with guys like Sean Morris and Jake Dean and Jim Connolly and Doc Schneider, Massachusetts Doc Schneider there, and um and uh you know, all the way to my my senior year over at the University of Denver uh as a pioneer with uh you know Coach Tierney, Coach Brown, Dylan Roy, who's a uh uh you know, world team winner for Team Canada, Mark Matthews, Alex Demopolis, just just some some some of these names are just absolutely fantastic. And then you got Jordan Hendry, right?

SPEAKER_04 5:08

So you were so short, Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

So here was the opportunity to kind of have an outsized impact, and and I kind of saw it coming with the iPad. I I graduated from the University of Denver Daniels Business uh School in 2010. And that was the year that uh that Apple and Steve Jobs uh uh released the uh released the iPad. And it was just pretty obvious for to me from the start that this device was gonna have an impact on coaches. It kind of felt like a coaching device, kind of felt like you know, a computer that they could have with them in their active style, going from the film room, going to the the to to the locker room, going to the field, going to the to the office, you know, like it felt like something portable, something that was gonna be on the charter flights and on the buses, you know, charter flights to Denver, buses for uh for UMass, right? Because of location. And uh and uh and it was uh it it it was how it was, man. Like it was it was an opportunity there. And uh uh I got the chance to play for uh Coach Seaman uh uh with the uh Denver Outlaws. And um, you know, Team Extreme was a thing back then. I know it's still a thing, and and and it's still out there and and and respect to them, but it it it didn't feel like uh it was kind of the right solution for uh the problem, right? Huddle uh was kind of coming onto the scene, crossover had yet to come onto the scene, and you know, we all know how their story kind of ended up. And um for those who don't know, uh they they they were acquired and shut down. And so um uh it was uh uh it felt like a real opportunity to kind of uh you know continue to play for my coaches and and and kind of being on a professional lacrosse team that had its players flown in from you know Long Island, from upstate, from a whole heavy contingent from Baltimore. I think we had some guys from Vancouver and and California. Uh, you know, that that that was that was the Denver Outlaws, aside from the guys who were in in Colorado. And um, you know, so so I I rather expected that uh we would have you know kind of like a uh uh uh a technologically driven Monday through Thursday, but um I didn't really find it. I didn't really find it. And um that kind of said to me, hey, there's there's something missing here. I bet you know the professionals of the future will be using something, you know, that that kind of connects them, that allows them to kind of work together. And uh I'm glad to say that, you know, with our partnership with the Premier Lacrosse League, you know, we've we've we've seen that vision become a reality.

SPEAKER_04 7:58

That's amazing. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

So it sounds like what you are really trying to create, Jordan, is is something like you talked about it to help the coaches make like as I would say when I was in the military, a force multiplier. How does that how does that work? How does that how does that help? Um, you talked about the PLL and being in in disparate ways. How does it help in the in the college coaching ranks for lacrosse?

SPEAKER_00 8:25

I think it's invaluable. It stretches everywhere from uh their recruiting efforts to uh their their scouting efforts to game preparation efforts to game review efforts. And uh, you know, it we we we took a good hard look at you know basketball. And an interesting thing about basketball is their player to coach ratio is just tiny. You know, it's it's one of those kind of like unsung components of of the differences of our sports. And so, you know, you you find a lot of similarities between basketball and lacrosse, but you know, one of the similarities between lacrosse and football is kind of the player-to-coach ratio, right?

SPEAKER_05 9:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

So, you know, you got you got good, you know, 14 players per per per football coach, and you kind of find uh a similar story in lacrosse. And uh uh so the technological aspect of being able to connect with your guys when you have you know that many kind of uh uh young minds to mold and and and to grow and to prepare, um, you know, is is is definitely where kind of technology can can have a uh an outsized impact. Because, you know, getting getting 50 bodies into the film room, you know, you you're just inherently going to have a more watered down uh uh experience than you know if you are doing kind of focused uh study sessions with individual kind of uh groups of your players. And this is kind of the extension of that is is instead of you know just having like your attack and and and offensive midfield kind of uh uh in a group, right? You now bring it down to kind of like the the personal level without as much uh uh heavy duty moving of atoms, having people, you know, in seats, having butts in seats type of approach.

SPEAKER_02 10:16

Yeah, that sounds like I said, a force multiply by almost creating more an extension of the coaching staff, like almost having extra bodies, like you're actually reducing that ratio by the way that scorebreak works. Is that is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 10:32

100%, 100%. We we always felt that the iPad was gonna be kind of a uh uh an assistant coach, right? Like a assistant film coach. And and of course, uh it's not just on the iPad, you know. Uh uh, we we kind of strive to meet you on whatever platform uh that you're on, and and we're incredibly proud of our Mac and our iPhone apps. And you know, we we see them gain a ton of use. Uh, but uh, you know, that that that kind of harking back to that original vision was, you know, that uh uh this was definitely gonna give an extra body. I'll give you a quick story. When I was at UMass, I uh was taking my laundry in on the loop, you know, the what you're supposed to be washing your gear on. Yeah. Um it was it was it was it was pretty late on kind of a Thursday and uh Wednesday, Thursday. I think uh Wednesday looking back on it. The reason I know that is because uh, you know, about 9 p.m. on this Wednesday, I'm walking into Boyden Hall and I see the light in the uh coach's office still on. I'm like, what's going on here? You know, knock on the door, knock, knock, knock. Anyone in here? That's Coach Burns, right? And Coach Burns is in there. I'm like, yeah, what's going on? He said, you know, what's going on with you? Why are you here? I'm dripping off on you, man. And he said, Okay, well, you know, I'm I'm I'm cutting film. I was like, man, you you you got you got like a a a newborn kind of kid, you know, you got like an infant like back back at your house, you know, that that that that I know and and and you know, we're all excited for you. Why why are you here? And he's like, look, this this this this film doesn't cut itself. And so, you know, I I kind of witnessed the kind of like dedication and passion that goes into uh you know this process, you know, film is a huge component of of getting ahead in in our sport. And you know, I I I got this inside look at it as as a sophomore, and and and it was it was super impressive to me. It had had had a big impact. And so I said, you know, as I was creating Scorebreak, there was I I knew there was a real opportunity to kind of not have to have these guys go through so much. Uh and uh um you know, not the the the name is score break, the the score from the game breaks down the film, right? People had been taking stats since the 90s, right? And earlier. Uh and and people have been filming since the 90s and earlier, but no one had said, hey, let's just take the stats and pair it with the with the video. And and that was the birth of scorebreak. So force multiplier for sure, man. It gets it allows you to have your film at halftime on the sideline after the game, just broken down already.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

That's that's awesome. That's a great story, too. That's a great story as a way to show it.

SPEAKER_04 13:19

But that's the way those things kind of happen, those ideas pop into heads. Hey, you know, it's just one thing, and like, hey, this coach spends a lot of time, he's got a young baby, you know. There's gotta be a better way. There's gotta be a better way. And it made an impact on Jordan, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Yeah, so and let me Ben, let me switch to you. Uh I I love your title, but explain to me what you do in Team Solutions.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Well, I think being, you know, quote, Team Solutions, you know, we were saying earlier, I think it's really just a fancy way of saying account manager, and that I I do sales and and support. But I'm I'm lucky enough that I get to work with coaches on a daily basis and and help them, you know, be efficient when it when it comes to film. And so I guess by definition, you know, I could say that, you know, from the start, you know, I stab I build relationships with with coaches from the time that they expressed interest in scorebreak throughout their experience with the product. And I learned pretty quickly that there's no no two teams, no two coaches utilize film the same way. Whether it, you know, they all have different preferences, they all have different workflows. And so the early stages of those relationships is is pretty much always just learning what works best for them and and how they can translate that into scorebreak and and improve it even further. And having been a coach for a high school program, uh, you know, this past year, going into another year, you know, I'm a lacrosse guy. I've gotten to appreciate the different coaching styles, you know, from being a coach myself and also talking to coaches, you know, through score break on a daily basis. But I've also gotten to, you know, build my own workflows uh with film. And so I really enjoy, you know, using those experiences to almost like collaborate with with coaches, right, so that they can can be as efficient as they can be with film. And ultimately, you know, we want to feel like we're partners with coaches, right? Not just a product itself. We want to feel like we have that partnership with teams. Um, and if at the end of the day it can save them a little more time so that they can focus on other things that they have to do, especially, you know, at the division two level, you know, we understand that those coaches have so much on their plate, right? They're they're not just coaches, they're they're having to manage, you know, all aspects of the team. So that time is valuable. And, you know, if I can save a few extra minutes, or if Scorebreak can save a few extra minutes, you know, through some uh some efficient workflows, then then that's what what we're set up to do.

SPEAKER_04 16:10

Well, Ben, you know, I I coached football for a long time and we used film and uh I used to have my middle son up there with the VC with the VHS camera filming and I would take it and I would put it into Huddle and it would take me forever. Forever. What I loved about scorebreak is how fast everything worked, and you could get stats and get hey, just the goal plays, hey, just good defensive plays, hey, the the goals that we let up and put them in order. How you could DM a group, let's say you want the three close defenders to notice something in a in a in a game clip. You could DM those guys and just give those guys the message and hey, look at what we did here. This was good. Don't do this here. Let's not try. That's what I loved about scorebreak. I mean, I just thought it was an amazing tool. I don't know how that more coaches aren't using it.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Yeah, and I you know, I think you kind of covered something that's really important and like my big message with scorebreak a lot of times is that you know, you can keep it as simple as you want. If you want to just have one button that you use to clip your film, good, bad, you can do that, but you can also get into the depths of it, you know, and and you know, both both are great options. And you know, to be able to get it to to the players as quick as you can is you know, it it goes back to what Jordan was saying about his vision of the product and and you know letting it be an extension of of the coaching staff. I think that's a great reference.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

Yeah, I find what you guys are saying really interesting in the fact of and and Ben, you you hit on on it. It is you collaborate with the coaches because each of them could be really simple or want to get really intricate. And Danny and I always talk about this all the time of lacrosse as a community, unlike other sports. I mean, like I truly believe, we truly believe that lacrosse is a really special community. And what you talked about right there in collaboration is kind of an extension of that. What do you think about that, Jordan? Do you agree with that?

SPEAKER_00 18:21

So much of this product is an extension of the coaches that we've worked with. You know, big shout outs to John Orson, Ryan Dani, Coach Brown, and the entire Denver staff. Like uh I I really shouldn't be naming names because it's it's like one of those things where I have a whole bunch of people pissed off that I didn't. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Someone's gonna be contacting you right when this podcast comes out.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Let me tell you, there's been so much feedback and so much quality feedback. And like, you know, like what I just feel honored about is that I was given the opportunity to be the steward of uh of this product with this uh community, you know. And um, we've got over 80% of Division I teams, which is absolutely fantastic, over 40% of Division I women's teams. Um, and you know, it it's growing, it's growing, it's growing. And we can't wait to kind of have that uh uh impact into the division two, division three, and high school ranks. Uh, because what our kind of eventual kind of uh goal here, without you know, kind of tipping the cap too much, is uh to have a really nice kind of recruiting network and a place that you know lacrosse can kind of live holistically, you know, like your your film from when you're a young athlete through your high school years, as you get the opportunities to level up and be able to compete at your highest, you know, we want to be a part of that. Coming from Colorado in 2005, we definitely, you know, we're we're we're surfing a wave, right? Um, back back back in those days of lacrosse really hitting the scene in Colorado. But um by no means was it kind of easy to get out. And I was very fortunate to have the ability to, you know, have a family that was able to send me to these recruiting showcases. And, you know, I'm I I I owe you know my my my you know path to being able to play this sport, right? Like that wouldn't have happened if I wasn't able to kind of get some exposure and and and and you know be able to go take the next step. And and and I'm I'm I'm incredibly humbled about the fact that you know I got that opportunity to, and it's not lost on me that a lot better players than myself did not get that opportunity to because they didn't get that exposure. And so certainly, you know, I feel like I I I owe it to those that, you know, maybe I I I got the I got the ability to kind of have the experience in front of, you know, not necessarily due do due to skill, you know. As I'm saying, like I think there's that there's there's 10 times better players than me out there that that didn't get the opportunity to go, you know. I've seen it with my own two eyes, I've been run past them, you know, they they've run past me, you know what I mean? Like it's just it's just how it is. And um, and uh uh so you know, another another kind of component of of this whole uh process is that you know we we want to give back and and and and we want to see people kind of uh be able to kind of take that next step, uh, you know, be be because we get them uh uh you know visibility. One of my most exciting things is hearing about guys who get recruited because of film that's coming off of scorebreak and whatnot. Uh personally helped a couple guys do a couple things. One of my favorites is Jason Rose from the United States Air Force Academy. Uh, you know, it's go Falcons. And uh and um, you know, I love them because they're they're they're in my backyard. down in Colorado Springs, you know, just quick, quick, quick drive down and and and I get to see them. And uh and so um and so uh you know Jason was an incredibly talented goalie there. We played uh together up in uh up in Vale together and uh I just knew that you know this kid this this kid had it right and uh I I was so pumped to see the water dogs pick them up you know coach Copeland uh you know took a look at his his film that you know Rosie and I collaborated on and exported his clips out and you know I I think actually using the product and actually kind of like you know seeing seeing seeing dreams happen from it is is is is is is super important and uh a a good way for for for us to keep our compass kind of dialed into to to true north you know well i'll I'll I'll tell you right now Jordan that sounds like a great and unbelievable vision of you know really about dreams it's a it's a it's you're helping the whole across community from pros down to high school to probably even maybe even club teams that that can utilize that for their teams and their players I'd just love for the NLL to get out of their own way like what we want to do with that is the exact same thing on that side that is so that's a very honest honest answer right there.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

So I'll tell you what it's been I appreciate you guys coming on and talking to us about what scorebreak means and what it's doing for the lacrosse community we didn't have time I know that there's a lot of other sports that it touches like you talked about basketball I think that can be kind of a synergistic way for for programs and schools to look at at scorebreak but I think this has just been phenomenal for our listeners to kind of hear my kind of in the scenes of how or behind the scenes of how it started and where it's going. So really thank you guys for coming on.

SPEAKER_04 24:03

Kevin and Dan thank you guys for having us wonderful meeting you guys thanks for the opportunity thank you for the opportunity and thank you for sponsoring the podcast we couldn't be more appreciative of you guys and it's been great to have you come on and talk about the product and a product that Kevin and I truly believe in I've seen demos of it I I I just love the product. I think it's an amazing if you're a coach out there and you don't have scorebreak right now you gotta go get scorebreak you got to get it and and and see what can it can do for your team and your program and your school because it truly is an amazing product. I mean forget Huddle and forget all of those other ones scorebreak's the way to go now and it's just it's the uh state of the art film uh and it what what like I said before what it can do and you could just send certain clips or all clips or just get or clip all the goals that you gave up or all the goals that you scored or all the goals that the lefty attack men you can just put them in order in certain ways and get them out to people the way you want to it's just an amazing product. And again we are so appreciative and we're humbled that we have you guys as a sponsor and we hope to keep it going in the future and thank you so much for coming on and talking about scorebreak tonight. We really appreciate it. Thanks guys anyone mention in the crease podcast and uh we'll knock off 15% and it won't uh hurt uh Ben's uh commission there you go 15% just right out of the horse's mouth there we go there we go we love you mentioned in the crease podcast when you when you look to go and and get a demo from these guys and uh you'll get 15% off that's awesome Jordan we really appreciate that that's awesome thank you see you friends thanks guys

Peach Belt

SPEAKER_04 25:56

all right Danny now it's time to get into the meat of it our first conference preview so let's dig into the peach belt what do you say well since you're down in Orlando and you're in Florida and you're so close to the peach belt why not start with the peach belt hey Kev, you and I go back and forth about the peach belt we you and I love the peach belt there's so much parody in the peach belt conference one of the better conferences in in division two and it's brand new i i just really love this conference so there's a bunch of good teams and uh I think we have to start off with the lander parody let's do it let's do it last year conference championships they swept the conference 5-0 and we're 13-4 overall yeah coach coach Anthony Laporte does a great job the school's located in Greenwood South Carolina Kev like you said 13 and 4 overall uh 5-0 in conference so they took care of business in conference um they're a really good team kevin um they had some good signature wins last year uh including wins over mount olive um north greenville and barton which is a really good team that win in conference carolinas last year so yeah they're a really good team they they come to play um the they they're they're one of those squads that you they're they're deep they have a big um a big roster they're well coached and they got a bunch of studs coming back to Kev yeah now the only thing they lose their top point producer Adam Mather uh he was an all-American and two-time conference player of the year and they also lose noah longest a midi which talking to coach uh lapore he's a guy that was always solid with about 25 points per year as a midi that kind of production really helps you know what I'm saying yeah definitely definitely but they have crew conroy he's coming back he had 19 goals and 13 assists last year he's a midi and you know where crew is from you know where he's from Kev where's that Alamazoo Michigan I just love saying Kalamazoo so crew conroy comes back uh Carter Wilcox comes back he's an attackman 21 goals and 18 assists last year Nolanoke who was a really really good player had 39 goals and 10 assists last year he's an attackman as well uh Kyle DeCrespino is coming back uh he had 37 goals and 13 assists so they got studs okay they might have lost one or two but these guys are going to have no problem stepping right into those roles yeah the the good news talking the coach is really they lose Adam and a few others but really their entire team is back because of that COVID year um all the guys are coming back uh for their their graduate year.

SPEAKER_02 28:59

Now Adam here's what's interesting I heard from coach Adam actually had that last year but this guy's moved on in a full PhD program at Oregon.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

There you go.

SPEAKER_02 29:11

So you know you talk we talk about division two being student athletes and that just proves that we're right there with him 100% he's gonna get his PhD he's gonna be Dr.

SPEAKER_04 29:21

Mather that's awesome man i'm I'm happy for him and you know what Lander also has some good teams on their out of conference schedule coming up this year. Kev, they got limestone on their schedule Anderson which is a real up and coming school in the SAC making a lot of noise and and Belmont Abbey so there's three schools right there on their out of conference schedule that are no joke. And uh Lander's looking to make a move Kev.

SPEAKER_02 29:48

Yeah I think that's the difference for them this year the the real move for teams like Lander and actually a few others in the Peach Belt is to get over that hump with some of those top tier teams in other conferences right so Lander loses to Anderson Coker Limestone Emory Riddle last year.

SPEAKER_04 30:07

Now they want to turn that around they've got some of these same teams coming back they've got limestone North Greenville like you said Belmont Abbey Florida Southern Anderson and they're gonna want to really get a little get a few more of those signature wins to get to that next level yep and you know what they're poised to do it they got the players they got the coach they got the mid you know they got the depth let's see if what they can put together on the field this year.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

100% uh how about we move on to the other finalist in the conference championship and that's the flagler saints the Saints from Flagler in St.

SPEAKER_04 30:52

Augustine Kevin it's beautiful in St. Augustine what kid wouldn't want to go and play lacrosse at Flagler in that beautiful school coach Brian Duncan top notch coach he's done wonders there in a very short period of time Kevin in two years he took he took his team to the conference championship um overall 7 and 10 last year and they had some big boys on their schedule they don't they're playing some good teams even though they're only this year they'll be their third year in in Division II so last year was only their second year in Division II they went four and one in conference like you said conference runners up and their signature wins Kev came in conference by beating Alabama Huntsville and Montevallo in conference those were their signature wins last year. Bunch of good players uh Antanas Makuzis how many times did we try to say that name last year and just kept screwing it up he's an attackman he's a Kenesius transfer he's out of Western Springs, Illinois he had 31 goals and 12 assists last year um also Logan Tobias a good midfielder out of Pittsburgh PA Kev. He had 37 goals and five assists and their big big dog on that team is Trace McDonald. Now he was a freshman last year. He's going to be a sophomore this year he's an attackman he led the team in assists with 33 at 20 ground balls and he caused 13 turnovers and he had 27 goals as a freshman this kid is going to be a kid to watch and I think you know what they say when those freshmen come back the sophomore year they're always a little bit better a little bit bigger a little faster a little stronger and they have that year of NCAA under their belt. So I say we keep a good eye on Trace McDonald to see what he does with the Flagler Saints this year. What do you say?

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Yeah no I totally agree I mean they bring basically are bringing their full team back they they lost a couple folks with uh their D mid captain Thomas Pritchard and face off specialist Jake Griffin along with Ty Tom and you remember Ty Tom yeah he was second mid last year but he really was the catalyst their first year for scoring purpose and and still was was a contributor last year but other than that they're bringing everyone back their goalie mate Lair comes back they've got some key transfers coming in uh one from uh uh junior college uh defender Brandon Greshalt they've got an LSM from Jacksonville University Gordon Ogden he played and started in 11 games his freshman year and then was injured his second year so now he moves over to help out Flagler and then they've got uh a MIDI Ryan Murbach from Liberty University a really really good club program coming in so they're adding in some key players to help fill some of those gaps you know coach Duncan is going to be doing that hitting the transfer portal and again what's not like to what's not to like about St.

SPEAKER_04 34:03

Augustine Florida it's not a not too shabby of a place to go to school and play lacrosse but they have they put some you know and they have Nate Lair coming back in goal last you know he he's yeah he you know he's a solid player he's got a couple of years under his belt now so he comes back between the pipes I expect him to be much improved like you said they're returning 45 players Kev. 45 players are coming back yeah and then they had a strong freshman class they had a good recruiting class and but they have a really good out of conference schedule this year really tough. They uh have Tampa and Limestone Colorado Mesa St.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

Leo and Barton on their out of conference schedule so they also white Rollins that got they they got the gauntlet of the Sunshine State conference which really that's why they were seven and ten last year and not over 500.

SPEAKER_04 34:57

But then guess what that does for them when they get to the peach belt well it's just it just sharpens the knives you know iron sharpens iron right right right the only thing that I see in their 2023 stats that they probably need a little improvement on from my perspective is their power play.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

Their power play was only at 27% and then penalties I mean they have the 81 penalties and I watching some of those games you know they they play with reckless abandon sometimes if you watch them and it's fun to watch but that gets them in the box sometimes which then causes problems. So yeah I guess you got to take the uh you got they take the risk and reward when you're playing at the at the pace that they try to that's kind of where penalties happen but I'm sure they want to try to clean that up a little bit as well.

SPEAKER_04 35:43

They're young Kev they're young you know so they're gonna they're still gonna make mistakes you know they're gonna you know they're just gonna make mistakes but this year I expect them to be much improved. I'm really interested to watch Flagler there's just something about that team and that and that coach that's attractive to me. And they just like you said they play with reckless abandoned they like to play the game hard and fast. Let's see what happens. Like you said they went seven to ten and they had a hard schedule so maybe they can turn you know if they can get a couple one or two wins out of that out of conference more than last year might be a big change for them.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

Right. And you know they're gonna be gunning to win the conference championship this year.

SPEAKER_04 36:24

Oh yeah and they're gonna have every they're gonna have a legitimate shot at it. Let's see what happens you know let's see what happens season's not that far away right so and the good thing with them too is we switched and this is kind of interesting Flagler has 15 seniors this year.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

Now let's move over to Monteval that has the Falcons they have a lot of the same thing they've got 13 seniors coming back in 2024. So they're gonna be fairly senior laden as well to get them going.

SPEAKER_04 36:57

The Falcon the Falcons of Montevallo located in Montevallo Alabama Kevin another Alabama team uh head coach Jason Lang does a really pretty good job with those guys he really does uh 11-7 overall last year 3-2 in conference um their signature wins last year a really big signature win against Rockhurst and another big win against St. Leo early in the season and you know what they got some good players coming back Kev. Oh yeah Trevain Hunter Trevain Hunter the attackman 46 goals and 22 assists that kid's that kid's a beast he's a load uh Jason Kluczek a midfielder with 23 goals added 18 assists he's coming back uh defense you got Luke Henneball you got Max Centrano and Will Summer coming back on the D side so I expect them to be pretty good Kevin I expect them Montevallo to be a team that is going to be very formidable.

SPEAKER_02 38:04

They're going to be a formidable team to play I agree I agree if you look and that's what's really exciting about this conference once again we just talked about some of the parity just in the level of players and seniors on several of these teams now you add in what they're bringing in Montevallo and I like I I think you hit the nail on the head I think their defense is going to look is very very solid this year with the returners that are coming that are coming back. And then you look at the offense they've got some guys that are going to need to step up a little bit but they've got some key returners there too. So they're gonna be a tough team and then they've got their goalkeeper Alex Agorson coming back he was freshman and defensive player of the year in in the PBC.

SPEAKER_04 38:50

Yeah no they're they're a solid squad you know there's a couple of things that stuck out to me when looking at their stats they could be better on man up as well they're they're not hitting the the better numbers on their manups and they turn the ball over a lot Kev they had a lot of turnovers they turn the ball over more almost two to one more than their opponents so if they can uh take care of the ball and and do a little bit better on man up they're gonna be a tough tough out tough out for sure and they got some boys on their their out-of-conference schedule this year they they scheduled UND they scheduled St.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

Leo and Maryville and North Greenville all tough teams yeah and add in Florida Southern so they've got a good good out of conference they got a good mix they're they're mixing it up with teams kind of at right at their level but they've got several that are really going to test them this year.

SPEAKER_04 39:47

Yeah yeah and that's where they need to be you know if they want to take those steps those steps to that next level they're gonna have to put teams like you indie on on the schedule you know what I mean yeah I I totally agree I totally agree how about we move to the Chargers at Alabama Huntsville the other Alabama I'm having fun with my uh my reverb tonight my reverb button Kev we're doing kind of like a remote thing tonight you're in the hotel in Orlando I'm going off a phone instead of my iPad which I normally I don't have any of my uh my noise and my background noise effects and sound effects tonight but we're we're making it happen yeah the chargers hey new coach Mark Fry we just had him on the program did how was he was he not awesome or what he was he brings a lot of positive energy a lot of positive energy I think that his team will feed off of I definitely I totally agree and you know what Alabama Huntsville was left in good in good hands when Connor Doyle left overall 10 and 7 good season last year but struggled a little bit in conference they went two and three the Huntsville Chargers last year um their signature wins they beat Lewis that that's Lewis was ranked all right Maryville and St. Leo so you know and St. Leo you know we we mentioned that you know these teams put St. Leo on the they're a good team they were really good last year. We'll get into that but notice how a lot of teams are putting St.

SPEAKER_02 41:27

Leo on their schedule right and I think it last year it proved out on the peach belt they they St. Leo went about 500 and you can't sleep on them. They are going to be even tougher this year if you have them on their schedule but you know what's interesting about this and this goes back to the parody of this conference yeah the Chargers were two and three in conference play but they lost to lander by only one goal in the conference yeah they're a good team you know they're they're they were they were in the conference championship two years ago you know they're they're good they're a good squad and they got boys coming back Peter Fabrizio Tacman they had 33 goals and 20 assists that boy's good man he can score any conditional rock and you have uh Gretz and Stevens and Kyle Light their role should their role should they have to step up they they were kind of younger players that got burned last year and they're gonna have to step up they were pretty solid in all their categories ground balls they clear well at 81% um they had less turnovers than their opponents they caused more turnovers than their opponents caused on them they averaged 43 shots a game I mean all solid numbers in those categories I expect Huntsville to be a pretty pretty good squad this year. Like I said Danny I think they are poised as well to to make another run back to the conference championship they've they're pretty heavy with juniors and seniors as well and not only Pete Fabrizio but Ian Arnt is returning and 20 28 goals and nine assists that's more that's a lot of these these kids are good man and then they've got Jake Shram coming back. Now he only played one game last year I'm assuming because of injury but the year before he he lit it up he was a solid contributor on their offense and then you look at their defense they've got LSM Alex Dorncott coming back 37 ground balls 17 cost turnovers D pull Colin Galinsky 36 ground balls 29 cost turnovers and then Will Costell 43 ground balls and 28 cost turnovers they're all returning so I think the D is going to be their strength and it'll and that will like we saw that could like we saw Lenore Ryan in the chief Championship. You play good defense, you create turnovers, and that gets your offense going.

SPEAKER_04 44:05

It creates easy, easy goals, right? And they put some big boys on their schedule this year. They also put you, Indy on their schedule. Maryville, Rockhurst, and Lewis. So they're going to hit some of the Midwestern teams are going to come in and come down. And uh I'm I'm interested to see what the Chargers and then and their new head coach Mark Fryer are going to do. I'm interested to see what style their play is. You know, how how drastic of a different style of play as as Connor Doyle when Doyle, Coach Doyle was there. So I'm interested to see that. So those three squads right there, Kev, you know what I mean? Four squads. I mean it's it's a kind of like a toss-up, right? I think anybody could probably either one of them could beat either one of them on any given day.

SPEAKER_02 44:59

Exactly, exactly. And then the last team that's still in the peach belt this year that's gonna try to knock on that door a little bit better is uh the shorter Hawks.

SPEAKER_04 45:13

Jonathan Vance coaching the Hawks there. Um they struggled last year, Kev, big time. They only went 2-11 overall and uh 0-5 in conference. They really didn't have any signature wins last year. But they do have some good players. They got Jaden Seeley, the attackman, he's coming back with 49 goals, six assists. And they got Grant Sanders, the midfielder, with 15 goals and 30 assists. So the kid he's drawing doubles and and and making good decisions with the ball and getting himself assists. But Kev, when you look at their numbers, you could see that they have trouble gaining possession in games. They're only about 32% on the face-offs. And they clear only 70% of the time, and they had 305 turnovers last season. So when they do get possession, they're turning it over. So they struggled last year.

SPEAKER_02 46:18

Yeah, they did, and and I think we knew that was gonna happen. We had Coach Vance on last year. He's trying to rebuild that program, to be honest.

SPEAKER_05 46:27

Right.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

They did have a lot of depth, a lot of players. What he's been able to add this year could and should help them. Now the roster is up to 28. That's still small, but when you think of where they were, that could help. The other thing is he was able to add an offensive assistant coach this fall. And he says that's paying huge dividends. As you know, Danny, and we talk about this, having good assistance makes all the difference in the world, right? And and we need and they so now that he has one, that also should help. And then if you look at it, they struggled on defense last year. And so Coach focused on getting in high-end polls in his recruiting class. So those three things, I'm not saying they're gonna be over 500, but maybe they have a couple more wins and maybe they they can you know make it make a little bit of a runner.

SPEAKER_04 47:28

Yeah, you want to be competitive, you know. Sometimes you know you don't have the horses sometimes, but you still want to be competitive. You know, Kevin, only 25-28 on the roster, it's tough, man. It's tough. It's tough to run certain drills, you you know, clearing or or learning how to stop the clear or what whatever you're trying to do. It's tough. So Coach Vance still has a little bit of a hill to climb, but I I think that let's see if they can uh do better than two and eleven this year.

SPEAKER_02 47:59

Yeah, I totally agree. Totally agree.

Coach Lange

SPEAKER_02 48:02

Okay, Danny, enough of us blabbering about what we think about the peach belt. Let's get some real help in here. What do you say? It's a great idea. Yeah, it is. It is. We get to welcome back one of the first ever coaches we had on the show.

SPEAKER_04 48:18

Yeah, he was very gracious the first time he came on. I think he was surprised as as we were to have him on.

SPEAKER_02 48:24

We were surprised that he actually wanted to come on.

SPEAKER_04 48:27

And now we get to talk to him again.

SPEAKER_02 48:29

And I'm excited. I am too. So it's Coach Jason Lang of the University of Montevallo Falcons. Coach, it has been way too long since we've had you on. It is so great to have you back. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 48:41

I'm great, guys. I really appreciate you taking the time and uh inviting me back on. I'm excited to be here with you guys tonight.

SPEAKER_04 48:47

Oh, thank you so much for coming on again, Coach. And uh gotta say that you have gotten your team into some really good places in the last couple of years. You've really come a long way, improved. Um, if you've listened to the podcast, you know that Kevin and I love the Peach Bell Conference. We talk about it all the time. And now let's talk about the Peach Bell Conference going further in the future. I mean, it's been a good conference. There's a lot of parody in the conference, and but we're we're you we're losing shorter. Am I right? We're losing shorter in the future.

SPEAKER_02 49:18

Well, we use lose young Harris this year and shorter next year.

SPEAKER_04 49:23

Okay, so shorter's shorter's still in this year and young Harris is out. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 49:28

So so what do you think about those changes, Coach?

SPEAKER_03 49:30

And and Yeah, I mean, uh, you know, I I think with with everything in in college athletics right now, it's uh it's it's the new normal, it's change, right? Um, you know, people are shuffling around. Um, you know, for whatever reason, you know, I think football has a lot to do with it. Um you know, with with some of these these moves, especially with with shorter leaving our conference um to go to Conference Carolinas. I think that was you know more of a of a football move, I think. Um but um you know, I I think that's that's been the new norm is is teams are positioning themselves and you know, trying and administrations are trying to put themselves in and um and give their student athletes different opportunities. So um, you know, we're excited that the Peach Belt is still committed to men's lacrosse. Um and that is great to hear. And we're we're we're looking forward to you know continuing to grow the conference um, you know, in in any and every way that we can.

SPEAKER_02 50:33

Well then lacrosse is I'm sorry, go ahead, Kevin. So I was just gonna add to that. I mean, it it's a shame that you're losing those two teams, uh, one, because you had us at six in the conference, which is a key thing as we move forward, hopefully, to automatic qualifiers. But if you look who's uh staying in the conference, you talk about four. I mean, I I just think it's gonna be with those four teams, Flagler, Lander, U, and UAH. That's just an incredible matchup each and every week, those four teams in the peach belt.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it it you know all those all those programs are uh have have are are very good and have gotten good very quickly. And uh, you know, I I think it's it all starts with the leadership at the top, right? You know, really good head coaches that uh you know committed to recruiting and and doing things the right way. And um, you know, it's no surprise that that those guys have have gotten their programs and elevated their programs uh over the last couple years.

SPEAKER_04 51:41

And you know what, the South, you know, there's starting to grow a lot of good lacrosse players in the South now. You know, these Southern teams don't have to go as far to recruit really, really good players. And um, I'm sure you've done your spare share of recruiting this year. How did recruiting go for the for the Falcons this year?

SPEAKER_03 51:58

Yeah, pretty pretty good. I mean, we're we're still working, um, you know, and and we'll we'll be recruiting into the spring. Um, you know, we always do. You know, we we kind of have the mindset here of, you know, we leave no leaf unturned. Um you know, there's good players everywhere. Part of that too is you know, guys fall through the cracks. And maybe there was uh a potential division one offer that didn't come through, or you know, football season ended later than expected because of state playoffs and they couldn't visit.

SPEAKER_04 52:29

Um, right.

SPEAKER_03 52:31

So um, but recruiting's been been great. I mean, we're we're very fortunate. We have a beautiful campus. Um, we have great facilities, so we're we're extremely excited about um our our 24 class so far and and potentially what what we can finish out with um you know in the next couple months.

SPEAKER_04 52:50

Great.

SPEAKER_02 52:50

It's good to hear. So, coach, let me just go a little bit, we'll we'll go back to last year, and obviously your record, you were 11-7 last year, three and two in conference, and you lost a really close one to Flagler in the conference semis. Do you take anything from last year to prepare for this year? For this year?

SPEAKER_03 53:10

Yeah, I I mean, I you know, I I think if you know, we were very um I think we were very inconsistent um at points last year. You know, we we had some really good wins um and and when we played well and and put 60 minutes together, um, you know, we were able to beat some really good teams. But uh we we were very young in a lot of important spots last year. And and even our our sophomores and juniors that had uh contributed in years prior, they were more of role role players, you know, like guys like Tom Thomas Vason and Cordell Primis and Kyle Little that you know had started our program and played in almost every game, you know, that those were our guys. And so our our our role players from years before really had to step up into those big time roles. Um and they got some valuable experience doing that last year. But I mean we we played uh on seven, six, seven freshmen um every game. Um and you know, that for for me having gone through that four years, five, six years ago when we started the program, you know, everything goes in cycle. So we kind of kind of cycled that back last year. And and we you know, we started a freshman in the goal, two freshmen LSMs, freshman attackmen, a few freshmen playing in the midfield. So it was uh, you know, I had a freshman start uh on defense a couple games. Um so for me, it was great to see when we did play well, you know, the potential that we have, and and those guys gained some valuable experience last year um playing in close games, playing in big games for our program.

SPEAKER_04 54:48

Yeah, they got a year of NCAA ball under their belt as freshmen, which you know, sometimes that doesn't happen all the time for freshmen. Sometimes they gotta, you know, do their penance or you know, play their part or sit on that bench for a year or so and learn the game. And and you know, it's sometimes I think it's good when freshmen get in because if they can contribute in any way, they come back as sophomores, completely different players.

SPEAKER_03 55:11

Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 55:12

And now how those fellas looking now this year, I bet you they look like 10,000 percent better, don't they?

SPEAKER_03 55:18

Yeah, I I mean you you know I you notice it in practice, you know, the first couple weeks when when they get back and you know, they they play with a little more confidence and and you know they know what what we're doing, what to expect. So you you know you can you can kind of see the growth from you know the end of the spring to the beginning of the fall, which is which is exciting.

SPEAKER_04 55:37

Yeah, they know where you they know where the ball wants to go, they know their slide packages, they know who's got right. So it makes your job a little bit easier too. And you know what? And then these the then the new freshmen come in and see these young guys playing well, and they say, Oh shit, I better up my game.

SPEAKER_03 55:52

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 55:53

Well, and I think also that's all good, that's great for the program.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

It is, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:58

And coach, you hit the word that I was gonna say is probably what adds to them is I'd say two things confidence, which is the word used, and then Danny's saying about now they've got that year under the belt kind of as starters where with the other guys, and the chemistry just builds on the field that they know where everyone's gonna be. Like when you watch, and we talked about this a couple years ago, you uh, you know, two years ago when I saw Lemoyne for the first time live, and you noticed, and that team was very uh senior heavy two years ago, and you noticed that uh you know the ball is going to where the player is gonna be. You know, they're they're they're peep people are going where the ball is going to be, not where they're so it's all just just so pro pr precise and and synchronized. Um and I and I think that's maybe where hopefully this year you guys, now that they that cycle has happened, right? Now you said like we had the the guys that were uh our horses, not last season, but the year before, gone, the other guys having to step up. Now they've got that time, that extra time to be able to do that, right?

SPEAKER_03 57:02

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 57:05

But if you look at your stats, the team stats, as I was looking at them, they they stack up pretty well against every uh your competition last year if you go down go down the line. So you talked about there are some areas that were weak for you. Where would you say you would like to see improvement in in some of those those areas?

SPEAKER_03 57:22

Yeah, I think, you know, la like we we need to be more more consistent across across the board. Um you know, I I thought there were, you know, there were times last year, um, you know, offensively where we we had games where we were lights out and and we played really well. And there were games where we didn't play so well, but our defense uh played great. You know, so I think for me it's getting just being more consistent um across the board. You know, when when our defense plays, when our defense plays well, our offense also has to play well, and vice versa. You know, I I do think like last year we we played two freshmen um in the defensive midfield, um, and and those guys played, made some huge plays for us throughout the year. Like I I can remember we we played we were playing at Kataba, and we had a freshman LSM throw an unbelievable like 30-yard over-the-shoulder pass to a freshman D midi in transition. Um, and and we we ended up scoring. That was a game-winning goal. Uh we went to and that was the ninth goal of the game, like three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. I'm like, okay, like that was awesome. Yeah. You know what I mean? And like for those two kids to make those two plays um, you know, consecutively to get the goal was was great. But you know, I I do think we can be a little bit more efficient offensively um, you know, this upcoming year. A lot of a lot of our youth last year was, or inexperienced last year was on the offensive side. But um, you know, those guys have been fantastic this fall. Um, we have a new you know, new offensive coordinator, Coach Collins, who's who's been doing a great job. And Coach Olson uh with the defense has you know been doing a very good job as well, you know, molding those those younger defensemen um and getting them on the same page with some of the older guys that we have coming back.

SPEAKER_04 59:18

Excellent, excellent. And you got a pretty solid defense last year. I thought I I'll tell you, we think the Falcons are a really solid, gritty team. And give gain, you know, a couple of losses last year came to ranked teams, Coach. You're playing, you're not playing a like a soft out-of-cont conference schedule. Tell us about your out-of-conference schedule this year.

SPEAKER_03 59:38

Yeah, so you know, pr pretty much the same. Um, you know, we we open with uh with Indianapolis.

SPEAKER_04 59:43

Um, it's quite the game to open up with, bro.

SPEAKER_03 59:47

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, our philosophy here is you know, we want to put a schedule together every year um that has us in contention um for the national tournament, you know, for to take care of business. So we have Indianapolis and Florida Southern, our first two games um on the road at Florida Southern. And then um we uh we host Tusculum the the weekend after that, and then uh Mars Hill. Um and then we we kind of go on a little bit of a trip heading down to uh St. Leonville. Um and then uh Thomas Moore is coming down, and then uh we have Young Harris. We're still playing, they're relatively close. Um and Emmanuel. Um, and then we go return the trip to uh to Maryville and we pick North Greenville back up um uh as well.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:41

It's quite the schedule.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:42

Yeah, that that is. I mean, it's a good I look at it as a really good mix, right? You got some really tough teams, you've got some up-and-comers. So is there something specific you're looking for that schedule? Or is it just like you said, we're just trying to get the schedule in the in the books that that prepare us to be uh in in national contention?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:01

Yeah, I mean, I I think that that's the goal, right? Like we we want to play, we want to play top teams, um, and and we want to challenge ourselves uh out of conference. You know, we you know I'm I'm thankful that we we have good relationships with with team with programs in the GLVC, uh in the Sunshine State, um, and and in Conference Carolinas. You know, I think those relationships for us are huge because you know we we have to play those those good teams. Um I think the other part of it too is you know, like when we were up and coming and and we were, you know, second year, first year, third year program, you know, some of those schools gave us the opportunity to play them when they probably didn't need to. You know what I mean? So I think that's the other side of it for me as well is you know some of these younger programs that, you know, like Thomas Moore.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:51

Yeah, and and young Eris, you know, although they're not a young program, but you know, they they they restarted a couple years ago. And keeping those relationships with those with those guys are I think are important. Because at the end of the day, if you have quality opponents um close to you in your backyard, you know, that that makes that makes your program you know better and and it makes it scheduling easier. So you're not having to drive 10, 12 hours um to get you know quality games.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:20

So yeah, it makes makes a lot of sense. You know, the um what's what's the quote there about uh uh rising tide raises all boats. If you can get if you can get the the other teams around you closer, it's like we talked with about the we've talked about this last year, the Armak having to travel so much. And and you guys at I think at one time were in the GLVC, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:42

And so Yeah, our first uh our first two years, yeah, we were we were in the GLVC.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:47

The more you can get those teams around you that are closer to be elevate them as programs helps you with your program in years forward.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:58

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:00

Now, one thing I have to point out, you already talked about some of the coaching changes, and you said that like Coach Collins, who I believe comes from limestone, is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:09

Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:10

Are you stealing a limestone guy? But what is it? I have the I have another question for you. What is it like to see a lang coaching tree sprout in the D2 ranks with Coach Burke over at William Jewell now?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:23

Yeah, I mean it's uh like uh I uh it makes me happy. You know, I I think you know it's uh you know, we we try to hire, you know, the the best people, you know, and uh yeah and I think Coach Burke is more than deserving uh of it of his own program. I mean, he he was phenomenal. Although we only had him here for a short time. Um he he was fantastic. And yeah, I was I was very sad to see him go, but extremely happy and excited for him as well. You know, even you know, Coach Doyle leaving me and uh and starting up at UAH and you know, now he's he's the defensive coordinator at Queens. You know, it's it's just great to push your people and and see them succeed. And I think you know, we we do that with our players and we want them to succeed once once they graduate and and while they're here, obviously. But I think too with with hiring assistant coaches, you know, my job is to help them develop um as coaches and as men, and and you know, hopefully when when they leave here, um they're they're leaving for you know either an opportunity you know at the division one level or or a head coaching opportunity. Um and you know, I think if we're able to keep you know pushing guys and and getting them good opportunities, we'll be able to keep hiring good people and good coaches that'll keep elevating our program. Um and that's kind of been my mindset with with our assistants is you know we're we're very honest. I'm very honest with them and tell them like you know, I will I'll help them get jobs and make calls for them. You know, they just need to let me know what they want to do and what they're interested in. And then, you know, I I help in any way I can because we all know in this, you know, in this profession, you know, there's there's movement all the time.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:13

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:14

And uh, you know, I think if if you're kind of if you label yourself as a guy that doesn't help his people, then you're probably not gonna get very good people to come uh come work with you.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:24

So that's well said, coach. And you know, you just talked about succeeding and and you talked about players succeeding. Let's talk about some of your players that you're looking to have succeed on the on the field this year. Who do you like that that is surprising you this year and uh who are gonna be your boys out there to this year?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:42

I mean, uh you know, I don't know if there's if there's any surprises. I I think you know, we we we see these guys every day, so we you know, we know what they're capable of. But you know, we're we're really, you know, really excited to to have you know two guys back on on defense, um Luke Henneball and Max Satrano. You know, those guys were have been have been great. Uh Luke Luke's a fifth year guy. Max is a is a transfer and joined us last year. And then, you know, our our goaltender, Alex Abortion, who, you know, ended up winning the job last year in the spring and and you know was all conference guy for us and all region. And then uh, you know, we're we're very senior heavy this year. You know, we with we have uh 13 seniors. So um Trevaine Hunter's a guy on offense that has has been here for a while and and has has you know just done a great job. I mean, he's uh our most consistent guy day in and day out.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:42

And uh he's a good player, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:44

He's very good. And you know, in the midfield, we have two guys that grew up together, Jackson Kluchuk and Zach LaBurge, you know, from Winnipeg, who played box together growing up. So those those guys are seniors as well. And then and they they played big roles for us last year. So we're we're excited to see them progress. You know, Ben Bolt's a guy at LSM that you know has been great, you know, came in as a close defenseman. We needed to move him um in the middle of 2022. And uh big reason we won uh the conference championship that year was moving him in, you know, to Long Sleek midfield, um, kind of solidified some stuff for us up there um at a time that we really needed it. Um so but all all of our guys, uh all of our upperclassmen have been excellent this fall and uh really excited, even some guys that I didn't mention, um really excited to to see them you know step into roles this year that were probably a little bit bigger than they've had in years past. And we have a couple freshmen that that have uh have done a good job and and really surprised us uh this fall. So we're we're excited.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:54

That's great, coach. I'm excited for you. I'm excited for the Falcons, I'm excited for the Peach Belt, and I'm excited for the 2024 season. I I can't wait till the games really start. I mean it's right around the corner. I'm like itching already, and I don't I don't even play the game or coach it. I just love the game that much. And just, you know, I watch the PLL and I watch, you know, some of the NLL stuff, and I just like, man, can't wait for the case.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:18

That's that's just a precursor to Division II uh spring season.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:22

I tell you, man, I just can't wait for the season start because you know, now with Lemoyne gone, I just think things open up a little bit in the Division II ranks a little bit. I just think that that's gonna change things a lot, you know, especially in the Northeast up there, who's gonna fight for that now. And you know, there's now there's more teams coming into Division II. We have like seven or eight new schools joining the ranks this year coming in. And I think we're headed towards automatic qualifiers like sooner than later. I think it's coming. I don't know for sure. I don't know anything, I don't know anybody, and you know, but I just I just get that feeling that it's coming, you know. I just just from just the way that it's growing and all the teams that are coming in. So I think it's coming soon. So, coach, I want to thank you so much for taking the time tonight. I know you're a busy guy and coming on with the two knuckleheads from In the Crease. Uh, I wish you nothing but the best this season, and I can't wait to see the Falcons in action. We always watch it, we always talk about the beach belt.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:24

Awesome, guys. Well, I I appreciate it, and it's uh it's been awesome. And I I really appreciate what you guys are doing for for the sport and uh specifically Division II Lacrosse because it's uh it's a it's a great brand of the game, and uh it's uh it's awesome to listen to you guys and and see how how much the podcast has grown over the last five, six years. It's been awesome.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:47

Well, thanks, Coach. We really appreciate it.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_02 1:09:50

All right, Danny. That was a lot of fun having Coach Lang on to talk about the peach belts and where it's going. And like you said in the conference, and I think he was going the same route, right? They're at five teams, going to be down to four teams, but I think they're looking at trying to bring in other teams to get them back up to six, which would be great, especially depending on where they go and where they can find teams, and maybe they're new teams coming in. But that would be a real benefit to that conference as we move forward, hopefully, to automatic qualifiers.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:21

Yeah, hopefully, you know, the fingers crossed, you know, because I I really like that beach belt, man. It's just kind of a cool conference where anybody can beat anybody. There's not one dog and there's not one little dog. It's kind of like they're all kind of nibbling at the bone at the same time, you know. I like that. So it's it's a crapshoot in that in that in that conference. I want to see if they can start out strong like Flagler, if they can get one or two of those wins and out those out of conference and make a big change. And, you know, uh Lander's a really good squad, very deep, you know. And again, Coach Bryce got something cooking over there in Alabama Huntsville. So I love the Peach Belt. I think it's a great conference, and I would love to see it grow.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:07

100%, 100%. So before we sign off, Danny, uh just for full transparency for our listeners, we basically went one for one this past week. And let me explain that. We got a DM from a listener letting us know that post-university, that's a D2 school, is not on Long Island. It's actually in Connecticut, Waterbury, Connecticut. I messed up. I messed up, I messed up bad. We started off 0-1, but then a listener DM'd us and said, Justin, we talk with William Jewell being a new program. And I was able to say, hey, thanks for that a lot. But guess what? We've already had them on the show. Go back on October 5th, go back and listen to that that episode. So by the end of the week, we were back batting 500, Danny.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:02

All right, that's a great way to look at it. That's a positive way of looking at it. But I screwed up on the post. You know why? Because there's like three posts on Long Island, LIU post, the CW post, and being from Long Island, I just came right out. You know, it just came right out. But they're up in Waterbury, Connecticut, and uh we apologize for that mistake.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:22

I apologize. Exactly. And then finally, once again, we have to thank our sponsor and partner, Scorebreak, as we move into this these conference previews. We got to talk to Jordan and Ben earlier in the show tonight, and I'm just really excited about the next 10 weeks with them.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:40

Yeah, it's a great sponsorship, it's a great partnership, and it's a great tool. And for you high school coaches and college coaches out there, it's something to look into. Uh, if you want to get your practices more organized and really it can do um a million and one things, and uh you mentioned increase and get that 15% off your first year. So I'm I'm very excited that uh Scorebreak is uh sponsoring us again, Kevin.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:08

I'm right there with you. And so, Danny, for our first conference preview for the 2024 season, that's a wrap. That's a wrap, Kev.