Conference Previews for the 2024 season - RMAC

Intro

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Vens Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Sentrum, and joining me as always is that co-host extraordinaire, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Hey, Kevin, my prolific podcast producing partner. How are you tonight? And you're not in Northern Virginia. You are in Orlando, my friend. Oh, and that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

That's a good thing to point out. I think we mentioned it uh at the Peach Belt preview, which we we finished last week, but actually we're recording in the same week as I'm in business in Orlando and I'm in a hotel. It's not the same. I don't have my same setup. It's it's we're we're doing things mobile. I actually had to use my phone, which you're doing right now, but I use my phone for the first time ever on the podcast when we did the Peach Belt preview. And it may not sound right, but people just have to bear with me. We're on the production schedule now. We're doing one a week. We got to get this stuff going and rolling.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Yeah, man. Hey, you know what? Sometimes you get these things, they the little bumps in the road. Hey, we're you know, we're certainly not professionals, but we're getting better. We're getting better. Hey, but you know, you you were in the military, you know, improvise and survive, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:39

That's right. That's right. Just uh improvise, adapt, and move on. That's and so now we're moving on. We're moving

RMAC

SPEAKER_00 2:46

on to round two of the conference previews, and tonight we're heading to the RMAC. The RMAC grows. Yeah. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They grow by one team this year and will go to six next year, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Yeah, man. I'm excited for the RMAC. I'm excited for the RMAC. The RMACs needed this, they needed the boost, and they got a new team coming, and one more coming next year. So I'm excited for the RMAC. Division two is growing, Kev.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Yep, it's fantastic. It's gonna be fantastic to see. So let's get into it. Let's talk about the big dog first. There's a couple big dogs, but there's one that usually is landing on top, and that's Colorado Mesa.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Yeah, Coach Troy Moyer over there, Colorado Mesa. Hey, how about a year that they had last year, huh? Unbelievable. Overall, 6-0. Kevin, making noise nationally. A lot of people thinking that they should have, you know, maybe they got a little slighted.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

They got, you know, people felt that they got slighted, you know, and we were told, which we should be.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

I love it. I love when they engage with us that way. It was great. And and they they were right on the cusp. I mean, they were in years past that we've been doing this podcast, they usually would have a trip up in conference against against Westminster, whether it was in season or in the championship. And this year they ran the table on them, which helped them. And not only that, but some of their wins, right? They beat Rollins, Mount Olive, Rockhurst, and Florida Tech.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yeah, Rollins was ranked number seven in the country, and Florida Tech was ranked number 20th in the country when they beat those teams. So those are big signature wins for Colorado Mesa.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Yeah. Now they lost to Belmont Abbey by one goal in Tampa. And so that kind of where it starts to even it out. But that's if you think about that, what they had to do, first 10 games on the road. Tough and they they come away with you know two losses, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Yeah, amazing season. And you know what? They have an argument for trying to get into that NCAA last year. Again, Kevin, you hit the nail on the head. They were right on the cusp. Could have been went either way. I think there was maybe one or two teams on their schedule that kind of hurt them just on a power ranking kind of scale. And that's about it. But man, you know, they they they were solid in all categories. You know, they they play well together, they play fast, they protect the ball, they don't turn the ball over, they clear the ball at a high rate.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

95%, Danny, is their clear rate. Yeah, I mean there's there's like infinitesimal improvement there. Face off at 67%. I mean, it's just and then their shots. If you look at their shots, Danny, they took 991 shots last year versus their opponents at 547. They are a volume shooting team, and that's that's their one of their MOs, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah, well, big reason of that is Dylan Czech. It's the all South region face-off kid, all American honorable mention. He's a beast at face-off, you know, and we had him on our program last year. Really good kid, and he's a big reason, you know, they get a lot of possessions, Cap.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Yeah, he is, but then they've got guys like Mike Edwards and Canyon Rhodes who chip in that much smaller percentage, but the the the face-off win percentage doesn't drop. It's not like you see him at like say 70%, someone comes in and wins at 50%. They're all at that high level. So he gets to stay fresh. He's got guys that can take the ball uh you know on the face-off and keep them going. It's it's amazing. Then you look you look at their shooters. They averaged 19 goals per game last year, Danny, and they've got guys a lot coming back with guys like AJ Switzer, the Brummets, Drew Eichelman, James Steinkey, you know, Hunter Holcomb. They've got a lot of options that work well together, and and it's and they're most of them are coming back.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Yeah, Jed Brummet, 6'2, 220-pound attack man. That boy's a beast, man. Are you kidding me? I don't have my diesel train uh sound effect tonight. But if I did, I'd be playing it right now. He had 63 goals and five assists. So he's he's not dishing the rock too much. He's when when he gets it, he's looking to score. He's not looking to get uh but then AJ Switzer, who you who mentioned, he had 42 goals, but he added 36 assists last year. Yeah. He's a well-balanced player, so he's scoring goals and he's assisting. And then, you know, Drew Eckelman with 25 goals and 33 assists. They had goalie by committee last year between DeSett and Bayless. Uh, you know, they're a good squad, Kev. They're deep, they're well coached. They have a really good out-of-conference schedule again this year, too. They're gonna play Lewis, they play uh who else?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

They got Tampa, Tampa, Florida Southern. Yeah, and Flagler, you know, Flagler could be one of those trap games. You would think that they can beat them, but Flagler coming up, and if they've got those hold on. And then they they've got uh Dominican of California who's gonna be coming to the RMAC, but not in right now about a conference. But if you look at the other teams, and they're they're a wild card, I think. Both them and and California University of Irvine are both wild cards uh for these guys to play because they came from clubs. So you don't know what's gonna happen. It's gonna be interesting to see.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Right. But you know, the Mavericks and Coach Moyer does a phenomenal job, and it's gonna be tough to take those guys down. It really is.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

That's my note here is if they stay hungry, I don't see how you beat them in the RMAC. And depending on how they do out of conference, they could they could be on the road to NCAA tournament as well. They do what they did last year, they'll be in the they'll be in the in the hunt.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

I think that's the plan for Coach Moyer in the Mavs this year. I think that's the plan. Yeah. I don't see too many, I don't see any patty cakes on the schedule this year, you know. No. So no I think the Mavericks are gonna be a really, really good team, a team worthy, a very formidable. Uh one of they're gonna be one of the better teams in the country, Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Yep. Okay, let's move on to Westminster.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

The Cripples. Joe Kowan, head coach over there at Westminster. Another coach that does a really good job with this team, Kevin. Yeah, he's a good coach. And I mean, they were eight and eight overall, but they're four and two in conference last year. A couple signature wins versus Rockhurst last year and Lynn. Two big wins for them. Um, another team that's pretty formidable, Kevin. They they have athletes there. They uh they put out a good product on the field. Um, again, pretty decent in all categories. Baseoff, they clear the well, shot percentage. You know what? They got to stay out of the penalty box. They had a lot of penalty minutes last year.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Yeah, but you know what? I agree with that. I agree with that. But some of the things, if you look at their stats from 2022 to 2023, they all kind of improved. They improved man up to 42% this past year. They improved their face-off wins to 55% goals per game and goals against average, 13.8, 9.6 improvement from the previous year. So you see these incremental improvements. They just didn't get it this year. They didn't get that win against Colorado Mesa like they usually do. And I think that's what they're looking at. And they're bringing back some good uh shooters. You know, they've got the top scorer, Merrick McMahon returns, and I think Luke Silstrop is coming back as number two, and Joe Celentano is number three. So they've got their court coming back on the offensive side. I think on the defensive side, they you know they lose their LSM Carson Caps, who was good. He was a good player. So uh Jackson Wigger will probably need to step up there. Some stronger contributors on D, but they've got Jacob Pickett, Tim McGuire, Leaf Liam Profit all returning, and I'm sure they'll be counting on and look to to really shore up that defense this year.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

100%. You know, again, Joe Kerwin does a really good job with Westminster. That's another team that there's a lot of traveling out to the East Coast. You know, they're out of conference schedule, they're gonna head down to Florida. They're gonna be play Florida Tech and Tampa. So, you know, those are pretty, pretty formidable teams to come play against. And uh they've got Maryville back on the schedule, yeah. Yeah, Maryville's not an easy game, you know. You know, they're a good team as well. So, you know, let's see what the Griffins can do this year. Uh, improve a little bit on that over in all record, maybe try to improve on that conference record, get that win over Colorado Mesa. It's gonna be tough. But they got the goods to do it, you know. They've got the game. And they've done it before.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

They've done it before. And so I think I do think that last year, Colorado Mesa was somewhat more of a juggernaut playing in conference. I mean, it they were really good because I think if I remember some of the games I watched when I watched Westminster against Colorado Mesa, Westminster was in it at least the first half. But they they couldn't hang.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yeah, they're good, man. They're just yeah, it's it's it's it might they might be one or two players short. You know what I mean? One of those teams.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

You know, might be a good one. Yeah, now they lose they now they they lose their goalkeeper, Jacob Miller, who doesn't return, and he was pretty damn good for him them last year.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

He was solid between the pipes for them, and he's been so you're gonna see some new players for Westminster step up this year, and um it's gonna be exciting to see what the Griffins can do. I mean, the RMAC, they got a chance to do good things in the RMAC. So let's see what Westminster can do this year.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Yeah, let's move on now to CSU Pueblo. One of my favorite nicknames, if you want to bring it home for us. That is a pretty cool nickname. Yeah, yeah. Now I'll tell you right now, I do not think Coach Blair had the season he was hoping for. They ended up one and thirteen and and one and five in conference. Yeah, they they struggled.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Um, if you look at their team stats, they they need help in in all categories, Kev. I mean, gaining and keeping possession seems to be a problem for the Thunder Wolves. They're they're not winning face-offs, and when they're and and when they gain possession, they're turning the ball over.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Um yeah, they they got decimated in ground balls versus their opponents. 278 to 501. And that just tells you, yeah. Yeah, they they turn the ball over and they're not getting it back, and they're losing the the the ground ball four.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Yeah, they're on defense all night, all night. So, you know, it again gaining and keeping possession seems to be a problem for them. Yeah, they have 34 on the roster this year, which is not huge, not small, kind of in the middle, kind of like where Coach Blair wants it. Um, but they they they could use some numbers, I think, a little bit. I think they could use some help in the numbers area, maybe get a little deeper. And uh as far as their schedule, uh as of yesterday, their schedule wasn't posted. Did you find anything on the street?

SPEAKER_00 14:30

No, no, that's the one thing they're they're out of conferences and isn't out really yet. It's and the same thing with with Adam State, they they're just not really listed yet. So we'll have to see. You know, they Logan Naves, their top point getter last year, who was a senior, not sure if he's returning, but the number two and number three for them were both freshmen.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Lane Leslie and Nathan Lederman. Yep. Yeah. So maybe they can build off of that. Yeah, they showed promise, you know, as freshmen last year. Got got a bunch of play. So let's see what uh Coach Blair puts out this year with the Thunder Wolves. Again, they struggled only one in 13 overall and one in five in conference. They need a little help.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

They do, and I hope to see them do better because like we we look at every conference, and we talked about this with Coach Lang last week with Peach Belt. If you can raise the bar for all the teams in your conference, that makes your con your schedule then more difficult when you do those algorithms that we talk about, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:37

And so yeah, the RPIs, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yeah, yeah. So so we'll see. I I really hope they do. And that's the same thing with Adam State. Adam State's kind of been at the bottom, but uh, you know, they were two and eight last year, the Grizzlies, and one and five in conference. So they actually beat CSU Pueblo, which probably was a one of their first wins I've seen them have in conference for a while.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Yeah, they that's another team that kind of struggles, and they've been struggling for a couple of years, Kevin. Um, again, it's it's it's numbers, it's a numbers thing out there. There's only 34 on the roster, 35. Um they need help, you know. Again, that's a team, you know, in all categories. They they don't clear the ball well. They don't have good face-off percentage, they're not stopping the other team, they're turning the ball over.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

So now they've you're right, you're right. They've they've shown a little improvement. Their face-off percentage improved to 44%. That's still not above 50%, so it's it's tough for them to get the ball on offense. They're still lacking in their shots versus opponents 27 shots per game. Vice opponents 43, but that actually they held their opponents to less shots per game, which used to be 54 in 2022. So there's there's small incremental improvements, and maybe we see that keep going. But you're right, like they they also lost the ground ball race by a wide margin, but close the gap a little bit on cost turnover margin. There's just some things they've got to continue to do. It looks like on the defensive side, they've got some guys coming back with Jamal Wilson, Caden Holquist, and Hunter Bennett, all sophomores. So maybe their defense gets a little bit, you know, they're a little bit more experienced. Maybe their defense helps their offense by just, you know, at least keeping the goals against down to a better number.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Too bad their schedule wasn't posted yet. I'd really like to see who's on their schedule outside of conference.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yeah, so you know what? That's that's happens every year, and they play a shorter schedule than the other teams. If I go back and look what they did for 2023, they're playing maybe I'd have to go back and look at it, but a 10 to 12 game schedule versus a 14 to 16 game schedule, if you know what I'm saying. So and I think that's probably on purpose right now. You know, what like we said, I'm not I'm just guessing here, you know, they would have to travel a lot. It's probably what their budget is is allowing for. They play teams that are in NAIA or that are probably closer to them than traveling to go to another D2 team, which is fine. I mean, you you got to do what you gotta do, but that the to get to that level where they're gonna be able to compete in the conference, they're gonna have to start getting a little more mature in their schedule, I think. I couldn't agree with you more. So now let's go to the new team. The new team, yeah. California University of Irvine.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

The Golden Eagles. First time we've ever said those words here on the Indicrease podcast, you know? That's right. So that's we got a brand new squad, California University of Irvine Golden Eagles, coach Jesse Foss. We had him on the program, Kev. Um talked about how excited he was to be coming into the Division II ranks. Um I think it's a great addition to the RMAC.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

I I'm telling you, this is a real wild card. I mean, they're new to D2, but they're MCLA national champions, Danny. They have a natty. If you don't think they're coming in with some we talked to the coach, they're not coming in with a swagger, but they're coming in with experience. They the MCLA, when you win that, that's serious stuff.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Yeah, you're a good team if you win the MCLA. But still, it's still Division II. It's another, it's another whole ball game. Um, I expect them to be pretty good. They got numbers, Kev. They're deep, they've got players, juniors, seniors. It's not like they're a brand new squad.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

46 on the roster, Danny. Come on now. They're they're coming right in, loaded for bear.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

They're loaded for bear, Kev, exactly. And I expect them to be a really competitive, formidable team in the RMAC. And I I am excited to see this team play. I want to see what Coach Foss, how they play. I want to see what they do, you know, how they run their offense, what they do with their defense. I'm excited to see this team play.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

We don't have stats on them. They don't show stats from their club teams, which is the other thing. You get we have it's it's a blank slate that we get to watch.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

It's a blank slate, is right. So that's what makes it exciting to me. Yeah. I like the fact that you know, they got juniors and seniors, they've got, you know, they've got leadership, they've got guys that have played have you know three and four years of college under their belt, a little bit more mature. It's not like they're a brand new program starting from scratch, and this is their first year out.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

That's not and they're not holding back on their out of conference. I mean, they're playing they're playing both Dominicans in D2, Dominican California and Dominican of New York. Right. But they're also playing Rollins and Florida Tech and Palm Beach Atlantic on their on their Florida swing. Yeah, man. Yeah, and so the other thing I have written down, which I'm excited for, is their home opener is against Westminster on February 23rd. Tell me we're not gonna be that's gonna be a marquee game we talk about in season. Who do you like? Well, I you know, I I I don't know. They're playing at home. Westminster is a great team. That is gonna be that could be a barn burner.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

It could be. It could be an exciting game. They're home opener against Westminster, their season openers versus Adam State. Yeah. So the the way that conference does, they play like all four teams. Once and then they play them again, and it's part of the conference.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

In conference, right, exactly. So they play each team twice. And so um it's gonna be exciting. It's it's it's gonna be an exciting run. It's gonna be an exciting thing to see watch this conference over the next couple of years grow and mature. And and like I said, maybe those maybe Dominican and CUI lift all teams up because they're like these guys are new. We don't want them CSU Pueblo Adam State. We they want to beat these teams. Of course, they want to beat these club teams now in D2. Of course they do.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

But I think it might be difficult to beat this one. Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree. They got pedigree, they got a background. All right, so they're stepping into division two. It's a it's a it's a new ball game, it's definitely not MCLA, you know, or club, it's definitely not that. It's a little bit more intense, I think. But you know, again, they're in the RMAC, which isn't the strongest of conferences, but getting there. And I think this team is gonna help that conference get stronger. 100%.

Coach Moyer of CMU

SPEAKER_00 23:12

All right, Danny, that completes our rundown of the conference. So let's move on and bring in a coach who really knows what he's talking about. Coach Troy Moyer entered his first season as head coach of Colorado Mesa last year, but he was not new to the program, as he had been the assistant coach, I think, since like the 2018-2019 season. So he but he would been there for a while. Now we couldn't get him on last year, Danny, when we're doing our coaching changes because he was you know just going tackling his new duties.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

It's a it's a big jump, it's a big enough jump to go from an assistant to the head coach when you start dealing with all more leadership for like the whole he was on the road for the whole year, he wasn't even on the coach. I mean, my god, wouldn't they have like 10 away games?

SPEAKER_00 23:57

Yeah, no, and that's funny you asked that. That's one of my questions for him tonight. Is like, how did you even deal with that? But why don't we instead of us just talking about him, let's let him tell us.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

I'm excited to have him on. I've been waiting on the land to have him on coach, uh Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Okay, so hey coach, how you doing?

SPEAKER_03 24:15

Coach, I'm good, I'm good, guys. Yeah, thanks for having me on. And and again, I apologize about last year, just a whole lot of new stuff happening. No, you know, new athletic department, new new head coach in me, and just trying to get my feet under me before uh I went out and had to put my foot in my mouth, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

So Dan and I do that every week, at least once. No, we totally understand, coach. And we it we and I I appreciate your your honesty and your candor getting back to me last year when you said, hey, I'd love to come on, but it's just a little bit too hectic. Totally get it. And and luckily we're still doing the podcast, so now we're able to wrangle you on this time. But let me ask right off the start, what was it like not only taking over this program last year, but then having the success that you had last year? You guys were bawling out all year.

SPEAKER_03 25:05

Yeah, yeah, I think um, you know, it when I was going through the process of, you know, applying to the job and and getting hired, uh, things were definitely up in the air and it was hectic. And you know, you had your your nerves about you, what are what are we gonna be like? Um, how's the team gonna do? And I knew we were talented. Um, I knew we could we could be successful. I just you never really know until you start rolling with things. Um I gotta I gotta give a shout out to all my guys, my my seniors from last year, some of the fifth year guys, I mean, they made things super easy for me. Um, right off the bat, they were just like, Coach, we trust in you. We know you're gonna lead us in the right direction. And so that made the fall and everything kind of a breeze. Um, and I say that now, obviously, it wasn't a breeze in the moment. Um, but looking back, it was like, man, I couldn't ask for a better start. Um, and then when we got in the season rolling, you know, we we opened up with Colorado College, which is a division three opponent that we were able to play against here in state. Um, again, nerve-wracking first game as the head coach, but you go out, I don't want to say you don't really have any stock in it, but you at least have that fallback of, well, it's not a D2 game. It's not gonna necessarily look uh negatively upon us if we don't do super well. And the guys came out and they just crushed it. Um, we had a pretty big lead to open up with, and then they started coming back, which gave us a little bit of a test at the beginning of the year. Um, and then yeah, I mean, it was just every game after that. We tried to focus, you know. I I said it was for the team to focus one game at a time, but I think it it was also for me just to be able to kind of stay in the moment and not look too far ahead, not you know, worry about the one that that got away from us or whatever, but just continue to focus on the next game and the next game. And um, the guys really bought in and did a fantastic job with it. So it was awesome. It was an incredible ride for sure.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Yeah, coach quite the schedule last year, you know, came out east a bunch of times, played Lees McRae, Beaumont Abbey, Mount Olive. You guys seem to play Mount Olive a lot, which is a good little rivalry from west to east. I like that. Uh, you played Rockhurst, you played Quincy, played number seven Rollins, and beat them. I mean, you guys really played well last year. How did that feel going like towards the end of last season now, your first season there, and you're saying to yourself, wow, we're on to something here. Well, what was going through your mind there?

SPEAKER_03 27:33

Yeah, I think um, you know, uh again, our we had a pretty senior laden class. Uh, definitely some some returners, some older guys that uh had been around the program for quite a bit and knew what it was gonna take. And you know, we get to that that Belmont Abbey game and we drop one, and the whole thing was just stay focused. One's not gonna kill us. Um, you know, I I actually wasn't here in the 2018 season, but uh that was the last time CMU was able to make the NCAA tournament. Yeah, um, and they had done it losing some games that season. And so I kind of just kept pointing back to that saying, listen, guys, it's happened before, it's happened before. We picked up that big Rollins win, and that kind of just I think that might have been a little bit of the turning point of our season. Obviously, we had Tampa uh after that that didn't go our way. But you know, when you when you go out and beat a team like Rollins, who had a a heck of a year, I mean, yeah, they were they were talented from top to bottom.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

And so one of the best defenses in the country, too.

SPEAKER_03 28:34

Oh yeah, oh yeah, and I mean their offense, everybody. The whole team was stacked. And so you go out and you win that one in Salt Lake City and you get a little bit of wind under your sails. And like I said, the big focus was just let's let's stay one game at a time, one game at a time, you know, leading into the RMAC schedule. You know, you've got some games that um on paper maybe you should win, but stranger things have happened, yeah. And if you lose your focus, that's the the worst case scenario. And so we really did treat just every game one game at a time, and we just tried to stack as many wins as we could, and and the whole thought process was let's give the committee a a real thought here, and they're gonna have to come up with a solid reason to keep us out. And you know, we're saying that week in and week out, and then at the end of the year it happens, but yeah, um well it worked, man.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

It worked, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Uh it like like we were we were talking to you before we started recording, we got a lot of messages from your fans talking about why you should have been in the the tournament. We had like the commissioners from the CACC who's on the NCA committee come on with us, and he gave us a great explanation of just how it stacks out and and just on the outside, and that kind of goes to how you guys always build your schedule to if you play well like you did, make it tough on them because you you had the first 10 games of your season last year were away, and that's to build that schedule. I said, But what was that like? Yeah, how do you do that? I mean, not having a home game, is that just like you said, just stay focused one game, you get the next game, it's not worried about where it is, let's just play our our way.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think um it it speaks a lot to the character and the kind of culture of the guys on the team that we have. Um, again, that's a thing that's kind of just been ingrained to them. Last year might have been the most away games we've had in a row, but it's nothing new. Um, you know, even my first season was 2020. We played six games on the road before we had a home game um against Rockhurst, I believe, if I'm correct in that. And so, you know, ever since the guys that last year were finally seniors were freshmen, they it's kind of been ingrained to them. We take those big trips pretty much every year. We know that we're gonna have to go on the road a whole lot. Um, you know, it luckily we've got the academic side of campus supporting us in some of those trips and and working with us and the guys, and as long as they're communicating with classes and all that, that works out. But yeah, it was it was uh it was interesting. We called it we definitely referred to ourselves as the Road Warriors. Uh that was our little nickname all year long.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

We thought it was amazing. Kevin and I we would speak about it almost every week, like, dog, they're on the road again, man. They're on the road again, they're on the road again. And I said to myself, wow, if I was a player, what would that be like for me? You know, like how can you get yourself into focus mode on the road so many times? Did you guys have any secrets or any things that you did, or any like, you know, pre-game or pre no, nothing special?

SPEAKER_03 31:44

I don't think so. We tried to we tried to be as upfront and honest with the guys, you know, even down to the minute on game day. Hey, you know, we're we might be flying into Charlotte and we're staying in a hotel there, but we've got a two or three hour drive out to Lee's McCrae. We're gonna stop halfway, we're gonna get ourselves some Jimmy Johns and Jersey mics, get our minds right, you know, fuel up, drink some water, and then we're gonna get back in the van and get to the game. And um, I think with just kind of you know being as open and apparent with the unknowns that can happen in the travel schedule and just trying to make sure everybody knew what was going on. Again, it was it was senior upperclassmen driven. Like they they wanted this thing so bad, they wanted to go out strong and and be on top. And so, you know, it wasn't any real um kind of, I guess, like fight back and forth with the guys and how to stay focused. They just they did it, they were ready to go. Um, actually, a couple of our our closer games, the the you know, four-hour drive over to Pueblo or Adams, those are the ones where it's like tough to get the guys to focus because they spend four hours on a bus. We can't really stop. It's I don't know why, but you know, the the ones where we fly across the country, they they look at that at like a business trip.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

So yeah, yeah, that's pretty exciting. And I'm looking at your schedule now, so you guys get to travel west. Oh my lord, you guys get to travel west instead of east, coach. You're facing Dominican and Concordia University of Irvine, the two new programs in Division II. How's that gonna be? What do you think that's gonna be like?

SPEAKER_03 33:19

I yeah, I'm excited. You know, I think that those are gonna be two pretty competitive programs. Um, I'm not as familiar with with Dominican and their coaches, but I know that they had been in D2 prior to me actually starting to coach in D2, and then they're coming back. You know, I know Coach Foss out there at CUI uh worked with him through the adrenaline and West Coast Stars and just a recruiting circuit. So I've known him quite a bit, and I know he's got his ducks in a row. Um, so I'm not gonna be surprised by those guys being competitive right away either. And so I'm excited. It'll be nice to get West. Hopefully, they have some good weather for us and we can escape Colorado. Um, but yeah, no, I I think it'll be nice.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

And you get to go to Florida again, man. You got Tampa and Florida Southern and Flagler, who's a real good and up-and-coming team. That's a real that's a nice little out of out-of-conference schedule this year.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

Well, you add in Maryville and Lewis in there too. I mean, it's the out-of-conference schedule that you're saying again, it's gonna be tough to keep us out of the conversation for the NCAAs if you play well. Do you feel like you need to almost run that table again, though, to be in that consideration?

SPEAKER_03 34:29

Yeah, uh as unfortunate as it might be to say, I do, um, but I think that's a known thing. You know, we talk about it with our guys, we talk about it in the recruiting process. It's not easy. Um, but you know, if if we do our job and get there, we can confidently say we earned it. We're one of the best teams in the country. Um, and so, you know, I I think when we're even looking at scheduling, you know, this year trying to make sure that we got the right teams on the schedule. Um, we reached out to quite a few teams that by the time we were able to connect with them might have been full already. We had obviously some scheduling conflicts of not being able to make the game time work or whatever. Um, but I think the teams that we were able to get, we're we're excited for. I know that they're competitive. I know that they're gonna give us a run for our money. I'm hoping that we can take care of business and do what we've kind of always tried to do and just be the best out-of-conference team we can possibly be. So that when we go into go into in-conference, you know, we're putting ourselves in in the conversation.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

Well, I think you're gonna be in pretty good shape, coach, because uh you're bringing a lot of studs back from last year.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

That's what I was gonna say. Mr.

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Dylan Checkets, Mr. Dylan Check it's at face-off is one of the best in the country, coach.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

Yeah, yeah, we're we're super excited to have him back again, obviously, for his senior year. Um, and not just for what he does himself on the field and the numbers that he can put up, but I'll I'll be honest with you. I and I think you could probably ask the guys on our team, he's great for the other guys. You know, I I don't think of just having one of the top face-off guys in the country. I think we've got one of the top face-off stables. I'm pretty confident anytime we go out there that no matter who goes to the dot, they're gonna give the other guy a tough day. Um, and we've kind of proven that if you look back at our stats, you know, not everybody always gets to play, but when we can get them out there, they they take care of business. And I think a lot of that starts at the top with the guys like Dylan Checkets and Mike Edwards, who's right behind him, and Canyon Rhodes and the rest of the guys. Our face-off stable is something special.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

And then you add in problems to have, yeah. No kidding, because it it saves wear and tear on a guy like Dylan Checkets now and then. We had Dylan on, and I'm sure he would love to take every every rep, but sometimes you know you can get injured pretty quick. That's just a tough, tough position to stay in all the time. So to get a little rust from some rest for some other guys that can bring it is awesome. But you also, I think, if I'm reading your roster correct, are you bringing back like your top six scores? Is Switzer, the Brummet brothers, are they all coming back? Stanky, Eichelmann, Eichelman, Stanky.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

They're all good players, Kevin, and coach. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

So I mean, yeah, go ahead, coach. We've got a good handful of those guys. Uh, Jed Brummet is not currently with the team, he's doing the the real life thing and working. Okay, and AJ Schweitzer is in grad school right now and trying to make up his mind whether he's gonna come back in the spring or not. Uh he's he's still on the fence, but we got James Stankey back. Um, unfortunately, Drew Eichelman tore his ACL uh earlier this year. Oh no. Yeah, same leg that he tore two years ago. So that's that's you know a big loss, but he's been fantastic as far as it's almost like another coach on the field. He comes to practice every day, he's there involved with the guys. So he's been great. We're excited to have him just around.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

Um, because he's a good player. He's a good he's a really good player.

SPEAKER_03 38:03

Yeah, yeah, it was it was a tough, tough blow when that became official. Um, but you know, yeah, he can control some of those things.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

I don't know if Drew really cares, but pass on from us that I hope he sticks with the team and helps out that way. My son, his senior year, blew out his ACL, MCL, and meniscus second week of the season. And that's what he did. He did he went to every practice, every lift. He helped out the team the way he could. It's tough. It's not easy when you can't be on the field. So I I feel for him and and hope he uh you know he recovers quickly and uh you know helps out the team as best as he can.

SPEAKER_03 38:41

Yeah, no, I'll definitely pass on the the the well wishes and and thoughts. And that's to it, that's the type of leader Drew is. He just wants to be there.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

So that's awesome. Good kid, sounds like a good kid. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, well, and that adds that kind of shows the culture of your team, I think, when you got guys like that who are stepping up and doing that and and continue to be there for the team. Uh, just like you said, Dylan in the special, the face-off specialist room, right? You know, you you have guys like that, that creates a culture of not just winning, but the right culture as a team to be on the same page and and build on that chemistry. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:44

And I think you know, a lot of that uh started with the guy that came before me and Coach Smith. He had been around the program for quite some time, won a bunch of games, but he I know he worked extremely hard in creating the right culture and bringing in the right type of kid that he knew he could rely on. And I just think we're we're seeing the fruits of that labor and just trying to hope and that we can continue on with it.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

So right. So let me switch to oh go ahead, Danny. No, go ahead, Kevin. Go ahead. Let me just switch to we talked about you know CUI and and Dominican. Dominican not coming into the RMAC this year, but maybe next year. What do you think about that growth in the RMAC with uh CUI coming in? Is it exciting to you to have some new teams in the in the conference?

SPEAKER_03 40:29

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think it's exciting. You know, I'd like I mentioned, I think that they're gonna be pretty talented right from the get-go. Um, and you know, obviously, I'd say along with that, the hope is that hopefully in the future here, uh Division II lacrosse starts to think about adding an AQ. And so we got to have six teams in our conference to be in the running for that is is what the word is. And so um we're we're not necessarily in a position to be turning people away from joining the conference, especially when there's not too many other options out here. Right, right. But so, but yeah, I think it's it's you know, multi-reasons why we'd be excited about it. Tough competition, more new faces. Um, you know, we love playing the RMAC teams, but it has gotten to be old in the past. You see the same guys over and over again, and it's just a grind. And another one.

SPEAKER_00 41:19

And you play them twice every year, you know. Every year you're playing an RMAC team twice, which makes it like you said, you know them. You know them so well. Bring in those other faces. And I Danny and I talked about this a couple of times on the podcast. Getting to six, like you're gonna be able to do in another year, just really set you up going forward. And it'll actually, I think, help even other teams maybe want to join Division II and join the RMAC because now they have incentive. Because if they get to the AQ and you have six teams in the conference, now they've got a shot. They don't have to do as much travel as what Colorado Mesa's done in years past, right?

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And that's that's kind of something that we keep uh putting a bug in the ear of our athletic directors. I know all the other teams talk about it when we have our coaches' meetings or just out on the recruiting trail, just making sure that we're we're staying uh and being that squeaky wheel, I guess. Yeah, for lack of a better term, there. But that's the hope.

SPEAKER_01 42:15

I get it.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

Yeah, yeah, that's that's the hope that hopefully we can just continue to grow this. I you know, there's lacrosse out here in Colorado is pretty big, especially on the front range.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:24

Um, you know, and there's tons of schools out there in the Denver area. Uh, you know, I'm thinking of a few here in conference that I wouldn't mind seeing have a Division II lacrosse program and join the league and be competitors. Um, and I I know that there's been discussions. I don't know how serious they are at at the conference level, but you're hoping that we can get there and entice some of these other schools to add and and continue the the Western expansion of the sport.

SPEAKER_01 42:52

So I think that's the only thing the sport's missing right now. I mean, it's growing exponentially. We're adding more teams. Uh Division II has more teams in Division I now. To not have AQs, I mean, I know we have to have six and every all of that, but to not have AQs at this point, I think is kind of stupid. I think they got to find a way, the NCAA, to make that happen. And um uh growing the game out west, then and I've never been west that far west, coach, but I know that there's good players coming from the Colorado area, from California, even Seattle, Washington, they're they're producing players out there. The game is just growing.

SPEAKER_03 43:36

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've got a kid in our 2024 class committed right now from Idaho. Like I I never coming from Pennsylvania, never would have thought I'd be saying that, you know. But he's talented. Uh we got athletes out here that are picking up the game and willing to learn, and they're putting in the time and the effort to try and catch up to some of the guys that might have been playing since the time they were born. Um right. The growth is happening at the high school level. I think it just needs to follow suit at the the collegiate level and give some more of these guys an opportunity and a place to play.

SPEAKER_01 44:10

What do you think? Two more years and we have AQs?

SPEAKER_03 44:14

I I hope so. I hope so. Yeah. I think the word that's been passed around is 2025. They're going to talk about it for 2025 season. So yeah. I'd love to see it.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Oh, I'm sure you would because you'd be right. You'd be in it every year. Every year.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Well, I well, I think the thing, I think it is if you get like eight, so first of all, you get eight teams, say you get up to eight teams in the RMAC, right? And now you're playing seven of them. Now you don't have to have as big an out-of-conference schedule. So you don't have to do the huge travel, which also helps with the with your players academically. I mean, that's got to be a tough road to handle if you're gone for 10 days, two weeks to uh on the road with academics because they're not professional athletes. They've got to get a degree, they're division two student athletes, and uh, you know, student is part of that that phrase, right?

SPEAKER_03 45:13

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, we we take a big focus on academics, you know. Like I mentioned, the school does a nice job of supporting us. The president of our school was a collegiate athlete, and so he gets it and is supportive of the athletic programs. Um, so you know, it it helps in that sense, but we make sure that we run study hall on the road and all that stuff. Um, we try to do it in the hotels as much as possible. If we're spending time on the bus, it's nice because the guys don't have a whole lot of other things to do. They're sitting on a bus. Um, and so again, that's another thing that I think has just kind of been indoctrined into our team culture and and it's what we're about. Yeah, you know, if you're a freshman making a trip for the first time and you look over and you see James Stanke, senior all-American, sitting down and doing his homework, you might think in your head, well, I should probably do that too. Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

Good role model to follow. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 46:06

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

Well, coach, this has been a lot of fun having you on tonight. We're really happy that we could finally get you on, and you know, we'll be watching CMU like we do every year. And and really, I would love to see you guys in the NCAAs, even though you're in the South region and I've got you know my own favorites in the South region. I I would not mind. I would love to see Colorado Mesa make the NCAs this year.

SPEAKER_01 46:31

Me too, because I think it's great for the game, you know, just the game itself and the way D2 is set up. We can get you know CMU in there, it's it's huge. It's huge.

SPEAKER_03 46:43

Yeah, well, I I appreciate that, guys. And you know, hopefully, hopefully it happens and and it's because we deserve it, you know. That that's what we're looking for. We're not looking for a handout, but we're looking for the opportunity to prove that we are where we believe we are in one of the top six teams in the region. And so if we take care of business this year, uh and and maybe clean up some of the mistakes we made last year, we're gonna give them something to think about, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

Well, Coach Troy Moyer, Colorado Mesa University. Thank you so much for coming on the show tonight. We wish you nothing but success this year, coach. Um, I actually Kevin and I like watching Colorado Mesa. We talk about them a lot. We really do. Hey, did you see the game? I actually watched the game against Mount Olive two years ago that went into overtime. That was just a great, great lacrosse game. And let me tell you something. That game two years ago at Mount Olive, you guys were on the road. You'd been out on the road for like two weeks already, and Mount Olive was ranked at the time. You guys were ranked like 19 or 20 or so at the time, and it was one of the better games of the year that went into overtime. And it was just, and I remember saying to Kevin, hey man, this Colorado Mesa team is legit, dude. Like they come from out west and they are legit. They're coming out east and playing these boys and playing them hard and giving them a game. And coach, I wish you nothing but success this year. I think uh gonna have to watch CMU big time. I think it's your year. Well, I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03 48:14

Yeah, uh we're just trying to put in the work. And like I said, if we focus day by day and just take it rep by rep, moment by moment, I think we're we're giving ourselves a shot.

Final thoughts

SPEAKER_00 48:26

Hey Danny, that was uh that was a really fun discussion with Coach Moyer. He has a few players out this year that we both thought were coming back, but I still think they're gonna be formidable in the conference.

SPEAKER_01 48:38

Oh, yeah. Coach Moyer is he's got a good team, and he's got a good team ahead of him and in front of him. And well, everybody's gonna be looking to take him down, right?

SPEAKER_00 48:47

Yeah, yeah. And I the other thing I find interesting is this will be a fun season. The next two years will be fun seasons to watch as the RMAC grows with California Irvine this year and then Dominican next year, just to see what those guys can do in the conference.

SPEAKER_01 49:05

Yeah, I'm I'm excited to see California Irvine play. Um it looks like they have a formidable squad already, Kev entering Division II, coming from the uh club ranks. So um it'll be interesting. I think it's great that the RMAC is growing and we'll get up to six next year, and you need a couple more in that beach belt, and then we can go to automatic qualifiers.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

Yeah, that will be awesome. All right, so now to close out the show, what we'd like to start doing each week to highlight our partnership with Scorebreak is give our listeners kind of a feature spotlight each week on the different features of Scorebreak. So, first up this week is their premier product, Airborne. It provides coaches with instant replay and analysis capabilities on the sideline. So it kind of offers that streamlined and holistic approach to sideline replay that's integrated within the platform. And you know how easy things are to set up in that platform, as we saw their demos.

SPEAKER_01 50:14

Yeah, and you know, can you imagine that halftime having like five or six players already lined up to say, hey guys, this is what we want to do, or this is what we don't want to do, and it's right there on the sideline. Like you don't have to wait for a coach to go back to the office and uh download film into Huddle or anything like that. This is like right there on the sideline, Kev. So it's pretty it's pretty cool stuff.

SPEAKER_00 50:39

And the other thing with this airborne product within scorebreak is actually the division one teams probably are going to be using that for replay for the plays that can be used for replay this next year as the rule change happened. And so division two won't have all those camera angles, but if division two, if you've got this this capability, it could be used for those games in those tight spots if needed. That's cool, kind of cool. So that's our second one, Danny. In the books. Next up is the ECC next week.

SPEAKER_01 51:18

Yeah, the conference preview is with Kevin and Danny is underway for 2024. Kev, I'm excited. It's almost Thanksgiving. The kids are going to be home for a couple of days, go back, take their finals, come home for Christmas, and then they go, you know, they go back to, and it's go time. We are right around the corner, and I'm excited to uh talk about the ECC. But the ARMAC was fun tonight.

SPEAKER_00 51:44

It was, it was, and the ECC will actually be coming out on Thanksgiving Day. So a little Thanksgiving present for our listeners. Go gobble gobble. With that, Danny, that's a wrap. That's a wrap, yeah.