Conference Previews for the 2025 Season - Great Midwest Athletic Conference

Itnro

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the man who has my early vote for 2025 man of the year, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny. I'm not running for anything. No voting for me. Oh no. It's it's you know, it's all it's all right in. It's all right in votes. It's all right in votes. We'll have you on the on Time Magazine, the cover of Time magazine.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Oh boy. No, don't do that. Don't do that. You'll you'll ruin the cover. You'll ruin the cover. How's it going, my friend, tonight in Northern Virginia? Cold over the day?

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Uh it's well, I'll tell you, I'm not. I traveled for this recording. I'm actually in West Virginia. I am in West Virginia with my family. We came up here for a few days to do some skiing. Really cold when we got here. Beautiful conditions, though, for on the mountain. Um, so it was fun. We head back home tomorrow, and uh, and then life goes back to its usual pace.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

Look at you, and you brought all your mixing podcast mixes with you to Western.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Put in my backpack. You're right. You you are the consummate pro, my friend. Right. Well, I've had a dude, you know, I've done this a few times with you when I've been on the road. So it's uh, you know, get used to it.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

As they they say in showbiz, the show must go on.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

It must. It must. But let's move on now. This week we get to preview a conference that has a lot of changes, Danny. Look at Mercyhurst is out, went D1, but Davenport and Northwood are in. Yeah. We're gonna head out to the Midwest, guys.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

We're gonna head out to the Midwest. Not to Ohio, to Michigan, yeah. Yeah. I love this song. Outlaws. Good harmony.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Yeah, the outlaws. The G Mac, Danny.

GMAC Preview

SPEAKER_02 2:31

G Mac. Good, good, good conference. Now we can do some good teams. Up to 10 teams, Danny. And to me, though, this is a totally new look conference.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

Yeah, without Mercyhurst. I don't know, man. Totally, totally different.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

I miss the show. Yeah. Well, let's, I mean, I was gonna save it when we talked Seton Hill, but here's something that they have played, Seton Hill Mercyhurst played in the last seven straight GMAC conference championships. And if you don't think those were epic battles all the time, either in season, regular season, or in the championship. They beat each other up in the GMAC, man. They really do. Yeah, they were the two top dogs. And now the real question is to me, Seton Hill still sits on top.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

But after that, it gets very, very muddy to me.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

Yeah, I have to agree with that. You know, I I I don't know what to say. Like Mercy Hearst leaving. Mercy Hearst met met, I guess you could say they made a mark for me. They were just a a well-run program, really good players. Just, you know. Yeah, yeah. What Chris Ryan was able to do there for years. And and then, you know, now with the new coach and just, you know, to see them go to Division I like they played Alabama in basketball like last week and got destroyed. It was like 94 to 35. You know what I mean? Like so you're you're they're going up to the big boys into division one. And I wish them all the best of luck, but GMAC's gonna miss them. And now it I hate to say it for the rest of the group here, but Seton Hill, it's Seton Hills to lose.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

I agree, especially if you look at how much they are bringing back. But let's let's go back a little bit. You know, Seton Hill, head coach Brian Novotney, they were 11 and 6 last year and 7-1 in conference.

SPEAKER_03 4:28

Yeah. They lost to Mercy Hurst by one.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Yeah, well, they lost him twice, Mercy Hurst by one in the uh regular season. Then they lost him again in the championship. Yeah. And that'll tell you how good it was because you remember the new coach for Mercy Hurst coming in. They started off a little bit slow, they got their feet underneath them, and then by the time they played Seton Hill, they beat him twice. It was always a good one. But they, yeah, it was it's tough. And I'll tell you, starting out, you know, we ask all the coaches to give us some previews on their team. Coach Navati always comes with a good quote. He did last year, he did again this year, and this is what he had to say. Sitting at home for the last two NCAA tournaments has left a very hungry and motivated group. I think he's gonna have these guys playing hungry all year long. Yeah, they don't lose a lot, man.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

They're always come back. They do not. They lose Cage Williams, Peyton Genster, and Benny Cogliandro, who was good. Defenseman Blake Morrow. They have 45 on their roster, Kev, and they brought in 10 freshmen. And they do return junior attack, Nate Herbster. Yeah. 30 goals, 16 assists, 46 points. That's a good year. Senior MIDI, Braden Lockier, great player. Yeah. Junior MIDI, Wade Brunel, another great player at 42 points last year. Junior MIDI, Cardi Green. They're good at midfield, man. Carter Green, 28 goals, 10 assists. Uh senior attack, Connor Zostant at 14 and 16, 30 points. Like, you know, they had a lot of different guys scoring multiple, multiple points for them. Faceoff, senior Mark Strunk, 58%, and Jared Chance. The face-off comes back at 60%. Those two guys, you know, split time at face-off.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Goalie comes back, junior Will Cody at 54%.

SPEAKER_03 6:22

Will Cody, he's pretty good. Short stick midi, Justin Dean comes. Like a good portion of this team comes back.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

Yeah. Three short stick D midis. Justin Dean, Ben Rowan, and Aiden Brunetti. And then on defense, Holden Charbonneau, Charlie Hudson, and Alex Callahan, all that were starters last year.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

Callahan's had 51 ground balls and 28 calls turnovers last year. He's a beast out there.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

And and you talked about it. Now, some of the players you mentioned as MIDI are playing on the attack line. Here's their attack line for this year. Nate Herbster, Connor Zostant, and Wade Brunell. All seasoned folks. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

That's 100 points right there from last year.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

Easily.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Easily. Yeah. They they are they are that's why I say like they're just stacked. And you look at last year's team stats. Man up 40%, clear is 91%, faceoff 59%. They lost three games by one or two goals.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

Yeah, but they lost to like UND. They lost to Mercy. Like ranked teams. Right. Rank team teams.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

And that's what they do. Even in their, you know, their out of conference is always stacked to get them ready.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

And this is who they have this year. That might be the hardest out-of-conference schedule that I've seen yet, this one coming up.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Yeah, Roberts Wesleyan, Chestnut Hill, Tampa in the Crown Classic. You've got Pace, Lewis, and Frostburg.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

That's that's a stacked. That's a heavy out-of-conference schedule. All of these teams of Roberts Wesleyan, above 500 team, Chestnut Hill, C A C C champs, Tampa, NCAA, the Final Four last year. You know what I mean? UNE and NCAA's last year. Pace Pace, NCAA team. Lewis. NCAA team. And Fallsberg knocking on the door. Who's a top 20 team, you know? That's quite the out-of-conference schedule. And if Coach can get out of there with three or four wins, they're going to be a team to watch, Kev. Yeah, this is nationally.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah, this is what he says. Story for us this year. We have to win more games. That's all as simple as he put it. It's just that simple. We have a really challenging out-of-conference schedule. We just talked about that. It tests us yearly. We have to limit the dips in our performance. If we want to be playing in late May, we have to beat good teams. We didn't do that last year. That's a very good self-assessment of where he's got his team ready to go. But you know what? They were kind of relatively young last year. There was a lot of sophomores and juniors playing last year. I mean, when you only lose Gensler and Cage Williams, really. I mean, you lose a little few more. They had some seniors that were weren't starters, but brought experience. Yeah, and and and brought the leadership. But I don't think they'd really they don't fall far from the tree on any of that.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

No, they don't lose a whole lot. Like I said, they got 10 freshmen. I'm sure some of those freshmen are pretty damn good. I bet you a couple of them find their way onto the field for Coach Novotney. Um, as the way I see it right now. Seton Hill looks darn good. They look stacked. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Speaking of that, he says there's a red shirt freshman, Riley Grudel. I'm sorry, Riley Grudy. He says, Well, turn some heads. He said, look out. So he's already got some guys that are stepping up that are younger. Then you, when you've got when you've got those young players who don't have to put it all on their shoulders, I think it makes it a little bit easier for them.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Yeah. You know what? Seton Hill's another team in Division II, Kevin, that's always very good. Oh, yeah. You know, since I've been involved in Division II now, going on over a decade, I mean, Seton Hill's, I remember the first time I saw them play, they were number four in the country. They were good, man. Like they were good, legit squad. And every year they put out really good teams. I s as the way I see it, I don't know if anybody in this conference can knock this team off right now.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

I on paper right now, I agree 100%. I think you said it best. It's theirs to lose.

SPEAKER_03 10:42

Just think of that out of conference. Like I said, RW, they're way above 500 team. Teston Hill was the CACC champs last year. Not a scrub team by any means. Right. Tampa and at the Crown Classic, which will be cool because I'll be there. So maybe I'll get to see some of that game. UND Pace, Lewis, and Frostburg, that's a that's a that's quite the out-of-conference schedule.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

That might be the toughest schedule that I've seen so far out of any team. It matches right up there. I can't think of another one that's that beats it out. Okay, where do you want to head next? Let's go to Lake Erie. Got it. The storm.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

The storm. Painesville, Ohio. Yeah, another Ohio team. Um, Sam Aston, the coach, eight and eight last year. Six and two in conference cap.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

Yeah, they started off slow. They started off one and four. They lost to Seaton Hill and Mercyhurst, but they they battled back. You know, when you go six and two in the conference, you lose to those two teams, which is probably expected. They're not at that level yet. But they had some really good players. They lose a lot this year, Danny.

SPEAKER_03 11:54

Yeah, they lose their leading their leading scorers, man. A couple of them.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Yeah, the top score, number, and then number three and number four. So top score Dawson Kindle, number three, Jackson's Jackman Schoolie, and number four, Kevin Albright.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

You know, they brought face off.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

Yeah, they well, here's what's funny about Brockmeyer. Brockmeyer was a defender. He was an all-American, Danny. He had 85 ground balls and 38 cost turnovers. And he was also uh he played on defense. There their main face-off specialist that was listed was uh Sean Kervin. Hope I say that right. C-I-A-N is his first name. But he didn't get it. I think he was injured last year. And he should, and he's back this year. So maybe that's that's the difference. But they lose on D. Graham Lofstead, like I said, Garrett Brockmeyer, and starter Colin Farrell. So, you know, they lose their goalie. There isn't a spot. They they lose special teams. They lose guys on offense, they lose guys on defense. I mean, they bring back some guys, Andrew Kramer on offense, Billy Coughlin, and Tim Woods. I mean, Andrew Kramer had 31 goals, 12 assists. That's nothing to sneeze at. That's really good. Billy Coughlin, 15 goals, nine assists, Tim Woods, 14 goals, six assists. These guys are needed gonna really need to step up to make up some of the firepower that were lost by Dawson uh Jackman and Kevin.

SPEAKER_03 13:22

Sophomore Midi, Robert Well comes back. Sophomore Midi, Kyle Gardner, short sticky midi, uh, Sean Gavin comes back. Uh defenseman Colin Farrell. You know where Colin Farrell's from?

SPEAKER_02 13:34

They lose Colin Farrell. Oh, he's gone? Yeah, I yeah, I think he is. I think he's a senior. He was a senior last year.

SPEAKER_03 13:42

But they're bringing back my man, their goalie, though. Gavin Conlin's gonna come back, and he's I think he's gonna get the start this year. He's got plenty of burned in the last couple of years. And Gavin, if you remember, was Team Ireland's uh goalie uh of the international U-20 uh international across.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

So they that's good. Their starter last year was Mitch uh Kivala. Yeah. Now, now he was at 50%, but Gavin, if he's got all that experience, that that helps him out a lot.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Yeah, Gavin got a lot of burn last year. The last two years, actually, he got Bernie and I think this is it, I think it's his year. I hope he gets the start. Good kid, good family, um, loves the game. You know, good, he's a good uh ambassador for the game when he goes to Europe over there. He's he wears the green socks, he's got the mustache, he's quite the character. Um they're out of conference schedule, uh Undy, Lewis, Deuville, and Wilmington. Here's the problem, Kev. Only 28 on the roster. Six freshmen, although they do have a good mix of upper and lower classmen, you know, to keep to keep the things rolling. Yeah. My my question is on this team face off. So this team, this team has been middle of the road, kinda last couple of years, at that eight and eight type, you know, seven and nine. You know, they've been right there the last couple of years. Last year they did really well in conference at 6-2. So I have a they do have a chance to get back to the city. They do.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

They I'll tell you, I remember our preview from a year ago, and I because I went over it before I did this one, and it really was like they had a strong, strong defense coming back. And that was gonna, to me, that was gonna be their signature. And they did have a strong defense, and they played well. The problem is you lose all those guys, and now there's a lot to fill. Now, Coach Jackson's been before, yeah. Let's see what he can do. Let's see what they can bring. I think that you know they uh they're always uh a team that is in the mix for the G Mac, you know, especially that below what it was, Merceners and Seton Hill. They don't match up with Seton Hill this year, I don't think. But let's see what they do with the rest of the.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

I was just surprised. I was surprised at the low number on the roster is at 28, at 28, and only six freshmen.

unknown 16:09

You know.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

Yeah, we'll see that with yeah. You'd like to see like 10, 12, 13, 14 freshmen. Because you know what? You're gonna lose one or two anyway. You know, it's too far from home, I miss my mom, it's too cold here, or whatever the case.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

Or it's it's it's more work than I thought it was, and you know, yeah, yeah, right, right.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

So I I predict the storm to kind of be in that same 500 range, and and you know what? Maybe they can go six and two again in conference. We'll see.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

Yeah, I actually think there's a team like uh Walsh Cavaliers that may be better suited to make that next step and maybe go and be able to beat Lake Erie this year.

SPEAKER_03 16:57

All right, let's talk about the Cavaliers from Walsh then.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

Yeah, so headed in Canton, Ohio. North Canton. Yeah, so head coach David Salter. As being an assistant from Lander, as you remember, you know, and one of his assistants, his assistant is Kyle Di Crespino, who played at Lander last year.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

Yeah, well, good.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Kyle being back up where he where he uh lives.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

Is that where Kyle's from? Is he from?

SPEAKER_02 17:25

Closer up there, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. All right. So uh yeah, six and ten last year at four and four in conference. Um a bad team, you know, not another kind of middle of the road type team.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Yeah, they start off slow going 0-5 with a tough schedule, then they bounce back. However, they did win their first ever GMAC playoff game and overtime 11-10 against Wheeling last year. So this year that their out of conference is going to be Lewis, DeUville, Frostburg, Roberts Wesleyan, and then Lander. So Coach Salter goes against his old mentor and coach Antony Laporte.

SPEAKER_03 18:10

Montevallo's there, too. And uh later in the season, I think they play Montevallo. Yeah, okay. And they play a D3 team, Marietta College. Um, they lose.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

I think that that is just a scrimmage, though, from what a scrimmage?

SPEAKER_03 18:25

Yeah, yeah, that's a scrimmage. Okay. Because some of these teams do play like D3 teams because of travel and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

Oh, yeah, yeah. You'll we'll see some more with that coming up.

SPEAKER_03 18:34

So uh they lose Kobe Bauman, really good player for them last year, and Adam Tinline to combined 97 points, Kev. You know, they're they're they're top two scorers on Walsh. But they do return junior maybe Ty Pilkington at 20 and 14. They returned senior attack, Hudson Dennell at 25 and 4. Um both face-off guys come back, and then what their one face-off guy had 16 goals and seven assists, James Sternberg. Yeah, and the boy can ball, man. He's facing off, and he's putting the ball in the back of the head.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

Well, and then their primary face-off was specialist of the year, Joe Rush. They were turning specialists of the year, all conference second team goalie, Alex Moffshan, and all conference second team defense, Mike Salowick. So they've got some great players coming back.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

Very good players coming back.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Like I said, on D they lose Matt Miller, who had 20 ground balls, six cost turnovers. Well I said they returned Sowalick, Alex Sullen, and LSM McGuire Smith. So they've got a real they don't lose much. Again, they're like Seaton. Now they don't have the the numbers that Seaton Hill has and the number of players, but they don't lose much.

SPEAKER_03 19:51

No, they don't, but you know, uh, with only 28 or 29 on the roster, Kev, it makes it hard to play those big boy teams, you know? Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

But if you look in if you look in conference, a lot of the teams minus Seaton Hill are right in that high 20s, mid-30s. So you're competing against those guys right now. I think Walsh could, and I think another there's a couple other teams. I think Walsh could could improve this year. It could be closer to a 500 team.

SPEAKER_03 20:24

They average 37 shots per game. Not bad. That's respectable. Um, you want to get it up to 45, 48. You want them in the 40s. Yeah, you want them up there, you know. Hey, their man up was at a 46% rate last year. Very respectable. They clear at 82%. So the team's not bad statistic-wise, you know. I just think it's a numbers game with them. Second, second set of middies, that second set of attackmen, that second set of short stick demands to give these guys blows.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

That's what told us when he sent us, too. Yeah, you're right. He said the team group growth, you know, the team growth went up a ton. They have 18 freshmen come in. You talk about that, right? You want something in the team. So they've got like 18 freshmen coming in. They're gonna have a little bit bigger roster. Um so I think you know, depending on the freshmen come in.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

They didn't put their roster up yet, though.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

No, this was it, this was from what the coach told us in the in the preview.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

I'd like to know the number. I'd like to know the number. Yeah. Because that'll make a difference. I mean, Walsh is poised to maybe, you know, take a step forward.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

I I agree. I think they could be a five hundred team or better, depending on how they play some of the the the the rest of the conference, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:44

I mean they're out of conference, it's pretty tough, though. Yeah. Lewis, Frostburg, RW, Landor, Montevallo.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

I mean, Diouville's a winnable game for them. But the other ones are gonna be tough, man. Yeah, a hundred percent. So even Even if they went one and five in the beginning, five of those teams are probably four of them are ranked, you know? Right. So so right.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

So let's see how they do. Let's see what Walsh does.

SPEAKER_03 22:14

Yeah. Right. Where do you want to head next? Well, you know what? We might as well go to the school that's so close to them that it's only The Battle of Canton? It's only 4.4 miles away. The Malone. The Pioneers. The Pioneers of Malone.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

Head coach Michael Campbell. They went 8-9 last year, Danny. And 4-4 also, just like Walsh in conference. They they just like Walsh start off slow. They beat shorter, but then lost to William Jewell, Quincy, Davenport, and Frostburg. They lost to Lake Erie in the first round of the GMAC. But tell you what, this is the third year for this team. And to be in their second season, be eight and nine and four and four.

SPEAKER_03 22:59

Yeah, I was just going to point that out. They were pretty decent for a second year program, you know. Well, you remember how they start off.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

Like, I think they won their first year. They won like the first five games or like four of the ends. Like crazy. Here's another team. So I I was talking about Walsh. This team, they've got some real studs coming back, Danny.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

They do. They do. I 100% they do. Talent Heath comes back. Yeah. He was all conference last year, wasn't he? First team.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

46 goals, 37 assists.

SPEAKER_03 23:38

That's balling out right there. That's balling out.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Smart Gianso, too.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

He was also first team. Smart Gianso, yeah. We called those two guys' names a lot last year. Yeah. They both balled out. Between the two of them is like 130 points.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Then you've got, yeah, but then you've got Luke Ori. He has 34 goals, 19 assists.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

Another good player.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

Midi Ramsey Bernard, 21 goals, 16 assists. Kenny Geiser. 25 goals, 11 assists. I mean, they've got guys that can just shoot the ball. And you know what?

SPEAKER_03 24:13

They play a good brand of ball. Yeah. They play a good brand of ball. They moved the rock again, again with the numbers. But it's only their third season now this year.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

Right. So they were at 28 last year on the roster. Now their 2025 roster is not out yet. They were at 19 their first year. They went 8-9 with a roster of 28. So that shows you what you can do with a small roster if you stay healthy. They are experienced in 2025.

SPEAKER_03 24:43

Oh yeah. They bring back just about everybody.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

Yeah, on defense they lose. Yeah, they lose Phillip Bell on defense, but Wayne Keating comes back at defense. Bryce Christmas at LSM, 57 ground balls, 16 calls turnovers.

SPEAKER_03 24:57

Do you know where Bryce Christmas is from? The North Pole. St. Augustine, Florida. Can you believe it? Yeah. I was like, where's this kid from? Christmas. He's probably from Minnesota, somewhere out there in Michigan, Ohio. No, he's from St. Augustine. I love Nick Sanderson. St. Augustine, Florida to go to Kingdom. Now that's a reversal there. It certainly is. Good for him. Bryce Christmas. Yeah, he comes back. Good LSM.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Yeah, Nick Sanderson on D comes back, and Cody Bolgart on D comes back. So they've got depth and experience. Depth from all the positions. Maybe not depth, you know, several deep in each position, and that's where they need to get to.

SPEAKER_03 25:43

You know, Kev, this was my uh my my note on them. Another very young team, only third year in Division II. They need numbers, they need the depth, but they do show promise. Oh, yeah. And and they show promise in certain areas too. They need to improve their defense. That's what they need to do. They just need to tighten it up on D. And I think they averaged 45 shots a game last year, Kev, which shows to me that they can dominate offensive possessions and keep the ball, stay out of the box, but they couldn't stop the other team from scoring. So if they can share up the defense and tighten up the defense, I think you're going to see a little bit of an improvement with the Malone Pioneers and Coach Campbell and the boys.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

I agree. Let's go over their out-of-conference. You said it really well in your notes, Danny, better than I said. So I can't I cannot do better than that. But here's their out of conference, which I think is pretty good for them. Deuville, William Jewell, Mars Hill, Frostburg, Montevallo, and Virginia State. Perfect for them. Yeah. I mean, I think they can they're well matched with some of those teams like a William Jewell, Mars Hill. You know, they've got to reach for Frostburg, Montevallo as well.

SPEAKER_03 27:00

You know, and you so I think I think that's a that's a great out of confidence for them. Just think, just remember, it's only their third year in Division II. So this is a program. They put the first building blocks down. Now they're getting to the second building block. They got players, they have seasoned players. Now they need to improve in the areas that they need to improve in, whether it be man up or whether it be clearing or just possession or staying out of the box or just playing better defense, not having the other team score as many goals as you know their their opponents did last year. But like I said, when you average 45 shots a game, Kev, that shows that you can get the ball and keep the ball. And get shots on goal. You know what I mean? So for a team that was only in its second year to be 8-9, 4-5 in conference, with only 28 on the roster, and again, mostly freshmen and sophomores, mostly. They had a few, yeah, yeah. Yeah, sprinkled in. Yeah. But predominantly freshmen and sophomores to just do what they did and how they did it is a testament to Coach Campbell, man.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

I agree. I totally agree. And I'm looking forward to see what they do this year. Really excited to see them. Let's head to the team that's down the street from where I am sitting tonight in Davis, West Virginia. Down the street is to Long Street. It's about 40 minutes. Elkins, Elkins, West Virginia. To Davis and Elkins. And I have to apologize. We have to apologize to the head coach, Tyler Fry or Frey. Tyler Frey, here's why. He started last January as well, just like Lance Olson of Emmanuel. And we did not get him on the podcast for the coaching changes. And he was kind enough to send us information on his team and a preview, and it said he loves the podcast. So, because of that, we're getting the coach on it sometime because I feel bad that we left him out. He deserves his time on the podcast. Absolutely, we'll get him on. He started January 2024, so just like Lance Olson, really, he's in his second season, but really he couldn't do anything that you can't do anything while you're you're flying the plane. You can't build it while you're flying the plane.

SPEAKER_03 29:20

One recruiting session in, you know. Yeah. He just finished his second recruiting session just now because there's some tournaments going on now, Christmas tournaments and stuff. Yeah. These colleges go to. He's starting basically from scratch. You know what I mean? Like they threw him right into the deep end of the river. Yeah. And uh with a team and uh and you know, Davis and Elkins, we have to admit, Kev, they've struggled.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

But they've struggled a lot, I think, because of all the coaching turnover. They've had three or four coaches since we've started this podcast, and we're in our like our fourth or fifth year. Yeah. I mean, that's how many they've had. They've had a lot of turnover. Um, he's now there for his second year. They were 4-11 last year, 0-8 in conference. So he, like we said, his work is cut out for him. But this is what he says the roster's at 34. So that's not great, but it's not bad either.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

No, it's it's not bad. He's decent for them.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

And look, look at he says they're still fairly young, but have some senior leadership. They've got two fifth years, three seniors, three juniors, sixteen sophomores, and nine freshmen coming in. So he was just under, you know, he didn't have the double digits of freshmen coming in. Really, he's just getting his feet under him for recruiting to begin with. You know, they do return one starting defender, the entire midline, and two attack. So they've got some things to work on on both sides of the ball, but it's still gonna be a building year for them.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Oh, 100%. I mean, they did lose some bigger players for them. They lost face-off Buddy Brown, defenseman Rob Stevens, and then goalie Josh Cassanyi. Um, so some questions, you know, I have who's gonna get the start at goalie. Is it Jacob Wilson who had burnt, got burned for them last year? I got questions uh at face-off, what they're gonna do at face-off. But like you said, Kev, a really big part of this team mostly returns. Everybody mostly returns.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Yeah, it's funny. Their leading scorer last year, Josh Allegra, is was actually recruited to play D, and he's going back down a close D this year to shore up that defense with young guys. He's got, you know, three sophomores and two freshmen that'll be getting playing time on defense. But they're returning fifth-year attackmen and captains, Tanner Delorme and Jake Stairs. So they've got some leadership there. They also return number two scorer, Owen Taylor, Xavier Jankovic, Amidie, and Devin Garcia, number four score. So uh they've got some guys on offense coming back. What coach says you're asking about goalie. He said, out of early practices, freshman goalie Averon Lithincombe looks to be in the lead for the starting job, but he's got another freshman and a returning sophomore. All three are competing to start. Okay it's good to have a goalie room where you've got some competition going on to make it, you know, to sharpen the all of them up.

SPEAKER_03 32:28

Again, you know, Tyler Frey got thrown into the mix kind of late last year. He doesn't really even have uh a committed anybody that committed him is gonna come next year. Yeah. Unless, you know, unless he got a training.

SPEAKER_02 32:43

He got some guys late.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

Yeah. You know, if that happens. But so there's really those are none of his guys, Coach. You know, that's none of his guys. Um, they got outscored almost two to one last year. They only averaged 26 shots per game. Their man up was at a bad 14%, 434 turnovers last year, Kev. That's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 33:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:09

So they're throwing the ball away. Um it's a team that's a work in progress. A new head coach, new moniker, new mark, new stamp, you know, new offense, new defense, new terminology. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

And it's that all started in January. Yeah. You know, and so I mean, they were thrown in turmoil last year when their head coach was let go during fallball. So they really were just scrambling last year. Let's see what he can do. Here's, I mean, his goal, his expectation is seven to eight wins this year. I think that's lofty. I think, you know, their D is young. Looks like they are deep at attack, but they're D John. Can they, you know, can and really, like you talked about, can they put more than one MIDI line out there? And can they control the middle of the field?

SPEAKER_03 34:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:02

Those are other things in the order.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

Uh Deuville, Shorter, Emmanuel, Holy Family, Virginia State, Lees McRae at Virginia Tech, by the way. Yeah. And and Roberts West win. Um, all right. If this team is what what did Coach say he's looking to get how many wins in conference?

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Seven to eight. No, he said he's total seven to eight wins this year.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

Seven to eight. So that would mean he would have to win the four games that they won last year, plus three conference games. Okay. So out of their conference, Diouville's a winnable game, but I don't know if they can beat Deuville. They'd have to show me. Yeah. You know? Shorter, I don't know if they can beat Shorter, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

I think that'll be a close game. I remember Shorter is does not have a lot of players either.

SPEAKER_03 34:52

So Emmanuel, you know, that Holy Family, Virginia State's a winnable game for them. Lees McRae, maybe. I think it's going to be a different look with John Grant Jr. there at least McCray. I think I think they're going to be a lot more competitive than usual. And then Robert Swan, I don't know. And then they go into conference, Kev. And they're going to have to play teams like Walsh, who went four and four, and Lily Peary that went six and two.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

Hey, but I give the coach credit, right? He's putting it out there. He's saying what he he his expectations are. So let's see what he can do. Let's now that he's got the just like we talked about Lance Olson and Emmanuel with a full year now under belt, a full fall ball. Let's see how this team looks. Once again, I don't think it's in wins and losses. I say it's just improvement. Right? You've meant some of the team stats, the shots on goal, etc., etc. They build on that for the future.

SPEAKER_03 35:53

You know, let's see what Coach Fry can do.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

Okay. How about moving on to Kentucky and Thomas Moore?

SPEAKER_03 36:04

Crestview Hills, Kentucky. You know where that is? It's across the river from Cincinnati. Just on the other side of the river from Cincinnati. It's a stone's throw. It's Kentucky, but it's really kind of Cincinnati, isn't it? Really? It's kind of close. Yeah. Two and ten last year. One and six. Coach McGuinness.

SPEAKER_02 36:25

Yeah, I had them at two and six. They beat Tiffin and Davison Elkins last year.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

Oh, two and six in conference?

SPEAKER_02 36:32

Yeah, yeah. Yep. Because the two wins were wins in conference, from what I had. They're out of conference this year is Montevallo, Tusculum, Earlham College, which is a D3, Mars Hill, and University of the Cumberlands, which is an N-A-I-A team.

SPEAKER_03 36:53

Yeah, they're traveling. They're going at Tusculum at Montevallo. So they'll be going down south in the beginning of the season. Good for Tiffin. Yeah. Thomas More. Thomas More, rather. This is another team. Enters their second season. So team that's building, laying down the building blocks for a program, brand new program. Another team with basically mostly freshmen and sophomores on the squad. They brought in 13 freshmen this year in a transfer. And now they have 36 on their roster. Impressive, Coach McGuinness. Impressive to get them up. They bring back junior attack, Spencer Lethbridge, 15 goals and 14 assists. Attack Bryce Collins comes back. Defenseman Zach Colbert, goalie Trevor Amanza. He's another one from Cincinnati. Both face-off guys, Steven Sadowski and Ian Bones. I don't know, man. I think this team is maybe poised to make a step or two up.

SPEAKER_02 37:58

Yeah, I mean, they're building, right? The key is to develop efficiency and consistency on this team. And the players are coming back. They lose number two Bryce Collins in scoring. But you, like you said, all their close D returns, they've got a bunch of short stick D minus, Ian Burns, David Billings returning. You talked about the goalie. All their face-off specialists returned. They're poised to grow this year as a team.

SPEAKER_03 38:24

Yeah, you know, again, they were mostly freshmen and sophomore last year. So they were learning the NCAA game. Yeah. And you know, if I said it once, I said it a hundred times on this podcast, I'm freshmen come back this sophomore year. Bigger, faster, faster, stronger, better. Um, so that adds, they struggled though last year to find goals, all right? They only scored 74 goals all year. Yeah. There's kids in NCAA Division II that have more points than that. Yeah. You know, so it's a team that struggled to win face-offs, struggled to hold on to the ball, struggled. But again, young, wet behind the ears, green, whatever you want to call them. Yeah. Tinhorns, whatever they call them, horns, right? They were young learning the NCAA game. Exactly. In a tough conference, in the weather, you know what I mean? Like they're playing the Seton Hills, they're playing Mercy Hearst. It's not an easy, yeah, not easy for a team like Thomas More Saints to go up against the guys like that with 58, 57, 58 on their roster, just throwing in out of the lines. Yeah. You know, guys LSMs after LSMs. You know, makes it hard. But you know what? Coach McGuinness did a pretty decent job of getting people there. And um they're gonna, like I said, we built their building, they got the blocks done. These kids come back bigger, better, stronger, faster. I expect to see them win at least two more games, three more games.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

Yeah, and now here's here's another team that came in last year, same as Thomas Moore, brand new program, the Tiffin Dragons.

SPEAKER_03 40:09

Yeah, Coach Travis Brown. Four and ten last year, one and six in conference, located in Tiffin, Ohio. Ohio's the theme tonight, Kev. It is, it is.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

And like you said with Thomas Moore, this team took their lumps also, right? Which is to be expected. But now, Coach Brown has this roster up to 42 players.

SPEAKER_03 40:34

Yeah, very, very, very impressive. Hey, like we just said, Tiffin was brand new to Division II last year in 2024. A couple of their wins came against D3 teams, but that's okay. You know, that's the building blocks of a program. You gotta start somewhere. And they're out in Tiffin, Ohio, so they're getting teams close by. Right.

SPEAKER_02 40:56

Proud of conference, they got you know, they gotta travel in conference.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

And they beat Davison Elkins last year by one. Uh, the team is made up of mostly freshmen and sophomore as they look to continue to build their program, Cut. The entire attack unit comes back. They were all freshmen last year. Um, again, like you said, 42 on the roster. They added 22 freshmen.

SPEAKER_02 41:22

Yeah, yeah. They have 18 sophomores and one junior.

SPEAKER_03 41:26

So this is a team I think a bunch of those freshmen are gonna get some burn. Yeah. And I think it's gonna be a little bit of a different look for the different dragons this year.

SPEAKER_02 41:38

Yeah, I agree. So, yeah, I I totally agree. Not only on offense do they return a lot, but their whole D returns, right? They've got Dominic Jakona, Grant Pryor, you know, it's Schortzick D. Mitty, LSM, Gabe. Now you help me with this name. Maris Karina. Maris Karina? Got me on that one. And and and D Pole Ryan Herberts. I mean, they've got all of them coming back. I think they've got the foundation. Now they've got the roster depth. They have to build that roster depth with, you know, getting them experience and playing together and gelling, getting that chemistry going. But I think this is another team that can make a little more noise than they did last year in D2 and maybe even in the conference.

SPEAKER_03 42:24

Well, definitely in the conference. I mean, last year, uh as a brand new team, that they had their numbers team-wise are better than some of the other teams in this conference. They averaged 33 shots per game. Their man up was at 23%, face off was at 30%, uh 36%. Yeah. But you know what they did a really good job of? Staying out of the box. They didn't they didn't have a lot of penalties against them, which shows discipline, which shows a good coach team, you know. Uh their out of conference includes three Division III teams this year, which is good for Tiffin. Uh keep it going on like that. Uh build those blocks and and step on those blocks and and take those steps forward. Uh, they also include Caldwell, Lewis, Felician, Dominican to New York as well. So I think that's a good out of conference schedule for Tiffin as they can as they continue to build. Again, folks, this is a program that's in the in building. It's this is only their what? Second year? Second year.

SPEAKER_02 43:29

Maybe their second year.

SPEAKER_03 43:30

And Coach has 42 on the roster. Yeah. Pretty impressive for Coach Brown. I think that I think the Tiffin Dragons can make a couple of couple of steps forward this year, I think.

SPEAKER_02 43:42

Yeah, they can. They have a like I said, they've got the roster depth. They've now there'll be a second year playing together. I think um they they are a team that you can't overlook anymore. And we'll see how they go.

SPEAKER_03 43:57

Now, I mean, I I think they're gonna be a Team that, you know, is will probably be pretty competitive in conference.

SPEAKER_02 44:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

They're not ready for the Seton Hills yet.

SPEAKER_02 44:10

No, but that's what I said at the beginning when I said, you know, Seton Hill, like you said, there's to lose every everyone after that, it gets really murky to me. Like I think they're all going to be competitive against each other, which actually will be a lot of fun to watch.

SPEAKER_03 44:24

Yeah. It will be. I mean, I think, again, I just don't see Tiffin beating the Seton Hills yet. You know what I mean? No. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

But but with that roster, can they put in a scare to uh to uh Lake Erie?

SPEAKER_03 44:40

That's what I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_02 44:41

You know, now that they're what can they do against Walsh and what can they do against Malone?

SPEAKER_03 44:45

They're only one and six in conference. I think they're gonna do better in conference this year, which is which is what they want to do. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 44:54

Get in the tournament. Okay, now we have two teams left, Danny, and they're both teams that enter this year. We talked about the beginning. There's one that's brand new, there's one that's seasoned, although they've only been in uh D2 for six years. Let's start off with them. Davenport Panthers out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

Yeah, the Davenport Panthers move into the GMAC this year. Um I think that this team is gonna make some noise in the GMAC.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

Well, I'll tell you what. Last year they were 10-4, and they were two and four in conference in the GLVC, right?

SPEAKER_03 45:37

Uwindy, Lewis, Maryville.

SPEAKER_02 45:39

And they were showed improvement every year. Remember, they came in the uh into D2 as a new team in 2020. They really have been building ever since. And last year they had a really good roster size. They were up to in the 40s. Um, they beat all the GMAC teams they played last year out of conference. Tiffin, Wheeling, Walsh, Malone, Lake Erie, Thomas Moore. So my question was: are they going to be a force to be reckoned with? But go to what their roster looks like now. They only have 28 on the roster.

SPEAKER_03 46:13

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 46:15

That shocked me when I saw that.

SPEAKER_03 46:17

Yeah, they lose a lot, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

SPEAKER_02 46:20

On the defensive sides, they lose a ton. They lose Shortstick, D. Minutes, Calen Sec, Caden Seeley, Luke Eichbauer. They lose D Pull, Brody Baker, and uh Chase Post and Andy Trapp and LSM Griffin Poe. They also lose goals.

SPEAKER_03 46:36

All starters. All starters.

SPEAKER_02 46:37

Daniel Malama. They lose their whole defense. Their whole defense has to be revamped.

SPEAKER_03 46:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:44

Not what you really want. You know, you want to lose a few and be able to gain. They were so strong last year, and they lose all that. Now, in offensive sides, they lose number three score, Keelan McEwen, but they return number one and number two, Braylon Baker and Jaden Ashley.

SPEAKER_03 47:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:02

So on the offense, between the two of them. Yeah. They look really solid or more solid on offense. Defense is the big question mark. Like for goalie, who's going to come in for Daniel Milano? Is it Antonio Hart, Chase Fisher, or is it going to be the transfer from Wingate, Jacob Feldman? They've got some choices, but it's up for grabs. And it's up for grabs on the starting D. And then you look, you would say, okay, if they're still at like 40 players, they had guys in the wings ready to go. But they're down to 28 from their roster, from what I see today on their website.

SPEAKER_03 47:41

Again, they lose a lot on the defensive side of the ball with only 28 on the roster. They had 36 last year. Yeah. So middle, middle of the road type team in the GLVC. But I think they're going to be more than a better than the middle of the road in the G MAC.

SPEAKER_02 48:00

So I just have a lot of questions. I just have so many questions on them this year with the face off and goalie.

SPEAKER_03 48:08

Yeah. There's definitely questions there.

SPEAKER_02 48:10

And so if you look at teams like Walsh and Malone that are bringing back solid, experienced players, they Davenport lose so much on defense. If they can really turn it around, I mean it's their defense that's going to make or break them.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

I mean, they went 10-4 last year. I mean, they're out of conference in their updated roster. They haven't been posted yet.

SPEAKER_02 48:40

So well, their updated roster's up there. They're rostered. That's what I said. Their 2025 rosters out. Oh, it is out. Yeah, and their 2025 out of conferences, U Indy, Quincy, Maryville, Lewis, and Westminster. So that you want to that is a very tough out-of-conference, and it's really back to their GLVC roots minus Westminster, which is a good, good team. So they'll be tested early, and maybe that really gets them ready for conference play.

SPEAKER_03 49:10

Yeah, they might be, they might be, they I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 49:13

We'll see.

SPEAKER_03 49:14

That's going to be tough to call.

SPEAKER_02 49:16

Yeah. They could do great and they could have some struggles. I just don't know which way to look at it right now.

SPEAKER_03 49:23

Yeah. Yep. Okay. You know, nationally, they're like a middle of the road team, though. You know, they were like their massy rating was at like 45 or something last year. So remember the middle of the road.

SPEAKER_02 49:36

Yeah, right. They were a building team, and we saw this. I saw this every year that we've been doing this podcast, how they've improved. And last year, even though they were two and four in conference, they played those teams tough. More competitive? Very more competitive. Now, with that said, you think about all they lost on defense this year. And that's why it's going to be a challenge. A bigger challenge than I thought. Like I when I first was going down their record and what they did, I'm like, they are going to make some huge noise. And then as I look at who they lost, I'm like, now, like I said, it's just a question mark. I have no idea how to pick what which way they're going to go.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

I agree. We're just going to have to see. And like I said, that that out of conference isn't that easy.

unknown 50:23

No.

SPEAKER_03 50:23

It's going to be tough. So we'll see. We'll see. Interesting. That they come in from the GLVC to the GMAC. Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 50:32

Yeah. Last team now. Brand new this year. The Northwood Timberwolves. Timberwolves.

SPEAKER_03 50:44

I was waiting for you to do that, Danny. Coach Jake Friedel, located in Midland, Michigan, Calvin. First year coming into Division II. Division II continues to grow, my friend. Continues to grow. I really don't know much to say about this team, uh, except for what I could find out. 35 on the roster.

SPEAKER_02 51:07

Which is pretty darn good. It's phenomenal. For your first year. Now he was hired back in 2022. Where are they located? Where are they located?

SPEAKER_03 51:17

Yeah, yeah. 35 on an inaugural season from Midland, Michigan. Now remember.

SPEAKER_02 51:24

Remember, Coach Friedel had some guys in last year. He was hired back in December of 2022. So he brought guys in for the 23-24 season that they played some scrimmages, they they got to practice. So he has some guys that are already ready to go. That's how he's built this roster to 35, but that is really good to do. Those guys itching or what?

SPEAKER_03 51:45

Those guys are itching, you know? Because he's had a couple of guys there a year without playing games. Yeah. You know, he talked about that with us, which is pretty cool. Yeah. Um, they have 13 games on their schedule, which is great for inaugural season. You know, you don't want to kill your kids with 35 on the roster. Um, their first four games, Kev, are on the road. At Quincy, at Rockrest, at William Jewell, and then at Davenport.

SPEAKER_02 52:17

Wow. Davenport's their first in-conference game, then, right? I wouldn't see that. They also have Lewis.

SPEAKER_03 52:25

And then host. And then they hold their first home game, they host Satan Hill. Wow. Yeah. So Coach Friedel, your work cut out for you, my friend. But I'm really looking forward to seeing the Timberwolves go. Uh again, 35 on the roster, which is pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_02 52:50

This is what I say, Danny. This is what I had in my notes. Are they gonna follow the likes of a William Jewel that had that many on their roster their first year and ended up with a pretty darn good season? Under 500, but they were right right under 500. Can they do that? They got some guys that have you know were there for a year, chomping at the bit to play. He was able to keep them motivated and hungry. You know, it it wouldn't I wouldn't put it past them that they they they get some wins that we weren't expecting.

SPEAKER_03 53:22

You know, I don't know. Because basically, mostly freshmen, right, Kev? Mostly freshmen.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

Eleven sophomores.

SPEAKER_03 53:31

11 sophomores without real game experience in the NCAA.

SPEAKER_02 53:36

But Luca William Jewell did in their first year.

SPEAKER_03 53:41

I think they're gonna have to get their training wheels on the first couple of games. I think it's gonna be it's not gonna be that easy for Northwood Timberwolves. I think they're going to learn, I mean, they play Quincy Rockhurst right right away, man. Yeah. They've got a tough out-of-conference. 100%. That's like your little West Texas tech and in walks Ohio State. You know what I mean? That's what that's like. So it's gonna be tough for Northwood, but you know what? I think they know that. I think the guys that are committed there and playing there know they're part of something special, building a program. Um, whoever's a freshman or sophomore, by the time he's a senior, is probably gonna be leading the school program in points, or you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 54:29

Like yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:30

So there's a lot of firsts that are gonna happen for Northwood this year. It's a lot for young freshmen and sophomores. I want them to get that year of NCAA under their belt, yeah, in the Seton Hills, playing the Daven, you know, playing the Quincy's and the Rockhursts and you know, some of these better teams, and these young guys get to realize okay, that's what we need to be like. So I'm looking forward to seeing the Timberwolves play. And um, I hopefully they, you know, they they they're formidable.

SPEAKER_02 55:04

Yeah, now guess what, Danny? I totally screwed up. We have one more team to talk about. Uh-oh. Wheeling. Oh, I got that. The other West Virginia team. Yeah, the Cardinals, you knuckle that. I know. As I as I'm sitting here, I'm like, wait a minute. I know there's a team we hadn't talked about. Went right past my notes. Head coach Gage brought Bradshaw. They went 7-8 last year, and four and four in conference. Another team that went four and four, and I think this is another team that continues to improve.

SPEAKER_03 55:37

I make a prediction that Wheeling is going to be a really good team this year. I'm not talking about nationally, but I'm talking about in conference. I think they're gonna be tough. They don't lose anybody, really. But midfielder Mike Anderson, okay. He had 47 goals, nine assists.

SPEAKER_02 55:57

Yeah, I had him at 53 goals, 11 assists. He's their all-time leading scorer at Wheeling.

SPEAKER_03 56:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:04

But, but you're right, and they lose Jacob Nipple, as well as senior leader and Captain Brody Favor. But they do return their whole starting midline, Brenner Chase, Dylan Laverne, and Dakota Strong, as well as attackman Ty Taylor.

SPEAKER_03 56:20

Ty Taylor had 26 goals, 24 assists. Junior Mini, Jack Rowe, 28 and 13 last year. Junior Mini uh Brenner Chase, 16 goals, 20 assists. Nice. He likes to, he likes to dish the rock. You got Gabe Hennon coming back, defenseman Owen Worley, 24 ground balls, 15 calls turnovers. You know where Owen's from? Where is he from? You're gonna it's it's like it this is amazing me. Plano, Texas. There you go. Going to West Virginia. Like it's crazy. Kids from St. Augustine in this, and kids from Plano, Texas in this uh conference. Pretty cool. Um Adam Zidanowitz comes back, 54 ground balls at 32 caused turnovers last year. Face off Dom Codaldo comes back. He's at 37%. They had 29 on their roster last year. And based on how they recruited, this team is still very young, and they bring back a large number of players, Kev.

SPEAKER_02 57:22

Yeah, coach told us that they're gonna be, when he was on uh talking to us, they're gonna be in the mid-30s. He brought in a class of 14 freshmen in one transfer, excellent, which is really good. You know, they've got their goalkeeper, Austin Hall, returning who was at 55%. You talked about some of the other D players that are coming back. They do lose short stick D. Millie Midi, Dylan Mathias, and and close defenseman Justin Stewart. But they've got, just like several other teams, they have got a lot of pieces coming back. And look it, they lost to Walsh in overtime in the in the GMAC tournament. And the coach told us they did Walsh, you know, Walsh played a good game. They deserve to win, but that left them with a very bad taste in their mouth, and they are very hungry. His team is very hungry. He says he lets the seniors come in and talk before each season, and all they say is all we want to do, I don't care about individual stats, all we want to do is win. That's all we want to do.

SPEAKER_03 58:30

Yeah. Got a good out-of-conference schedule, St. Thomas, Chestnut Hill, LMU, Frostburg State. That's a good out-of-conference schedule. Yeah. I like wheeling this year. I think they're going to be formidable in conference. I think they're going to be a team that's probably going to win more than four conference games this year. I'm with you on that.

SPEAKER_02 58:52

I'm with you on that. I think, like I said, it gets murky, but they're a team. If you look at how much Lake Erie lost, they're a team right there with Malone. Probably even a little more experienced than Malone. And then you've got uh, you know, Walsh. I think they're right in there. They are going to be they could be end up in the championship.

SPEAKER_03 59:20

Yeah, this is kind of interesting. You know, uh adding the two teams, it's a new mix with Davenport and Northwood in there. Um just seeing on paper, Seton Hill, just what Coach Navali's been able to do year in, year out. Um, really good athletes. He's a great recruiter. He goes to great lengths to get good players to come, and they're good kids too, you know. Even though they lose some players, Seton Hill, they return a boatload, Kev. And all these kids are good. They've got a gr insane out-of-conference schedule. Like I said, out of all the teams we've done so far in our conference previews, I think that Seton Hill has the hardest out-of-conference schedule so far that I see with RW, Chestnut Hill, Tampa, UND, Pace, Lewis, and Frostburg. That's that's quite the out-of-conference. Uh, Lake Erie, they lose a boatload, especially on the defensive side. They do return guys, they only have 28 on the roster and six freshmen. I don't know what that's gonna do for them. Is it gonna give them the boost to get to get to that next level? Or is somebody like Wheeling gonna come up or Tiffin or St. Thomas More or Walsh or you know, or even Malone?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:42

They're all in it, Danny. They are all in it.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:46

So, like, I like what Malone does. I like what Walsh has been doing. I think Davenport maybe could make some noise in this conference this year, depending on how they start out. Again, they got a pretty tough out-of-conference schedule. But be that as it may, uh GMAC's always been pretty good. Going to miss Mercy Hurst again. Mercy Hurst always made a mark on me. I always thought it was a great program. Um, just like what Coach Chris Ryan did there, and he's there for a long time. And them guys were big. He got big boys and athletes and guys that could shoot the rock. So not to not have Mercy Hurst in there kind of sucks, I think, for Division II. But everybody else in the GMAC is licking their lips now. Oh, yeah because that's one less powerhouse that they have to deal with. Yeah, and again, I think it's Seton Hills to run away with, actually. I I agree.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:42

On paper right now, 100%. I I I don't see anyone really matching up this year. Let's give them some time. But I'll tell you, the race is for number two, number three, number four.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:53

You know, and you know, just thinking about what Coach Aston's done at Lake Erie, their team has improved every year. You know, so like like two years ago, I remember they played Mercyhurst that night, and they damn near beat them. You know, they're gritty, uh a gutty, gritty team. They're not laying down for nobody. And they go till the clock says zero, Lake Erie. So Coach Aston coaches, you know, he coaches his ass off up there. And you know, Malone going eight and nine and four and five last year with Coach Campbell. I just think that it's it's Seton Hill, then Malone Walsh, right? Who else? Yeah. Lake Erie's in there.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:37

Malone Walsh, Lake Erie uh Wheeling.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:41

Yeah. Maybe does Tiffin make a move this year? Does Davis and Elkins make a move? You know, like we'll see. Interesting, interesting conference, G Mac.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:51

It's gonna be fun to watch as the season progresses, especially when they get into in-conference play.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:58

It's been interesting so far as we inch our way towards the season. We only have a couple more conferences to uh to break down. Um haven't really seen one clear-cut super duper team yet, uh, have we?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:12

Yeah. Yeah, except for Adelphi, which we haven't talked about yet. Well, we haven't talked about it. We haven't talked about this. You and I talk about them a lot. Yeah, Sunshine State. I haven't even where I start my preview uh this week.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:23

You know, so you know, Tampa Rollins, Florida Tech, Florida Southern, a lot of good teams. Uh, you know, uh St. Leo, Lynn, a lot of good teams. Um it's the you know, and then we have the NE-10 that, you know, Pace. Yep, those are our two St. A's two to finish up with. And a Delphi. Um, so again, like as I've done my homework, there hasn't been really one soup, the one team I could say that looks really good, really good on paper right now, out of all the conferences, is probably Limestone. I agree. I agree with that. And then the team with the best out of conference schedule right now that I could see is Seton Hill. Yeah. So whether they do good or bad, I mean, they're gonna there'll be they're gonna be in the mix of the NCAA tournament, I think.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:14

I agree. I agree. So let's close it out.

Shout outs

SPEAKER_02 1:04:17

Do you have any shout-outs for tonight?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:20

I have no shout-outs. It's the end of the holidays. I want to relax, I want to put my feet up, stay out of the cold.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:27

I I I've got one. I've got one, and that is to all the teams showing success in the classroom. I've been seeing this on social media, watching these come in. All these teams, Danny, easily beat my GPA in college. And they're they're they're averaged together. So it's not like their one star is beating me, it's their team beating me. You know, it takes dedication to be able to play an NCAA sport and academics. It takes dedication, discipline, it takes time management. So I just say to all those teams, congrats on what you're doing in the classroom. We talk all the time about what we see on the field, what we look forward to seeing on the field. The coaches talk about it more than we do about what they're trying to do for their players academically and maturity-wise, like making them into the right men to go out in the world.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:32

And I think that's important. The good coaches do that anyway. You know, the good coaches know that academics is everything. You know, that's what you're there for. You know? Yeah. This division two, there's no NL NIL money, there's no uh, you know, nobody getting rich here. Right. So these so these kids are coming to get an education, Cap. And that's what it's all about. And it's not, and it's not easy to go to college. Forget being on a team, forget playing sport. It's not easy going to college. Uh it takes a lot of discipline, it takes a lot of maturity, uh, some of which I had none of when I was at school. And I'll be the first one to admit it. You know what I mean? Yeah. It takes it takes a special person to be a student athlete. And I agree with you. I give these kids a lot of props. I mean, my son, he's a pre-dental major, he's taking ridiculous classes and playing sports. He he he came home for the holidays. He's been doing nothing but sleeping, man. Yeah. He's sleeping like 13-hour days, you know, like he's just catching up on all his rest.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:43

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:44

So, you know, it's it's hard. And I I agree. It's pretty awesome to see. I've seen some of the Instagram posts that these schools have been posting about their uh team GPA. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:56

It's pretty cool. It's very cool. So, with that, Danny, for the GMAC conference preview, that's a wrap. That's a wrap, yeah.