D2 Lacrosse Conference Previews for the 2026 Season - ECC

Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creest with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the standard bearer for D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny. The standard bearer.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Good afternoon. Good evening, Mr. Stenstrom. How's it going tonight in Northern Virginia, my friend? How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

It's going great, man. What can I say? Like we're turning the corner. We're as we're recording this. We're still in 2025, but this is going to come out in the first week in 2026 after our New Year's special on Sunshine State, and we're heading for we're, man, we've got like this one and then one more after this. This the sack. And that's it for the conference previews.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Dude, these conference previews, see, when we first started this podcast, there was only like 12 teams in Division II, so it wasn't so far. But now there's like 81 teams. Dude, this is exhausting. I was like, Yeah, when you get these.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

I actually with ECC, I had to say, well, good, there's only seven teams versus 10. You know, and seven's not small. I know. Right? Seven's not small in a conference.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

I know. But dude, when you think about it, 81 teams. And for me, once I get going, like I get into it, I start digging in for the analysis and stuff, I start looking up stuff that has doesn't even pertain to our podcast because my interest starts peaking. And next thing you know, it taken it's taken me 25 minutes to do one team, you know.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Yeah, that's right. Well, I well that is about my average, is about 30 minutes probably as I go through this stuff. And maybe it's a little bit of a squirrel effect, you know, something gets me off task a little bit, but it it's been fun.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Like I love this. It's fun, but it's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

It is. Well, it's it's draining when you're in it. But once you get it all and you look through it again, like it really kind of gets you ready. Like, I hope that's what our listeners are getting out of this. Gets you ready for the season, understanding where teams are. We could be totally wrong, right? We could be totally wrong.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

I think you just nail the bull right in the middle of the bullseye. I tell you, I think they do. I think they get ready too.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

People, because people DM me, you know, you've mispronounced uh well I'll tell you right now, I was going through it tonight, and when we get to especially UDC, some of the players, I'm already gonna know they're gonna massacre their names. And so Coach Merritt's gonna have to, and his players are gonna have to forgive me for that.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Mikey Simone's mom. She's quick to uh tell me it's Naso, not NASA, Jordan Nasso. You say a NASA, it's NASA. Well, she's the one that said we could call him Mikey instead of Michael, so there you go.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Shout out to Lisa.

ECC Preview

SPEAKER_01 3:20

But let's get ready. Second to last conference preview, and we are in the East. We're back up north away from the Sunshine State, and actually in the East Coast Conference. What do you think, Danny? East Coast Conference, guys.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Now got a little Steely Dan here. Love it, man. Now, why is Steely Dan? Why? What makes it special about the East Coast Conference? You tell me. Well, they talk about upstate New York, they talk about Annandale. Oh, yeah. September. My old school is the name of this song. Steely Dan, New York band, and the East Coast Conference has a lot of teams from upstate New York, Kev, was where Steely Dan is from. So Steely Dan's a big, big musical influence to me. I've been listening to them since the day they came out. Love playing their music. So I figured I gotta get a Steely Dan song in. I love it. And I figured the East Coast Conference, because they're from upstate New York, and a lot of these teams are from upstate, so there you go.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

That's perfect. You know, you had to explain that to me. I'm sure a lot of our listeners will get it right off the bat. I I'm a huge Steely Dan fan, but I didn't know all the ins and outs, the intricacies that you just told me about.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

You know who the original drummer was when they got together for the first time at school in upstate New York, it's a Division III school. So we won't we won't talk about that. You know who their original drummer was? Who? Chevy Chase from Saturday Night Live. No. Yes. Yes, he was their original drummer, and then he left to pursue acting. Yeah. So there you go. A little bit of musical and acting trivia from the two knuckleheads in the trees. There we go. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

That was a good segue. That was a good segue. Now that's segue back, and let's talk about the Malloy Lions.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

The Lions. The Malloy Lions from Rockville Center, Long Island, New York, Kev. The man, the legend. You know him, you love him, you can't live without him. Coach Bill Dunn. He was the coach of the year last year in the ECC.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Yeah, well, look at their record. 16-5 and 5-1. And look what they did. We said back when he took over that there would be a time when their presence would be known because of him. We knew it was coming, and this was the year.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

We said four years, and it was four years, Kev. Signature wins, 14-7 over Wilmington, a very good squad that went to the NCAAs, right? 12-5 Georgian Court, who won uh their conference championship, 11-10 over Mercy in the tourney, and a 15-14 win over Pace. They had a great season last year.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

ECC Tourney Champs, first conference championship for them, first NCAA tournament appearance, first NCAA tournament win, and that was against Pace in that 15-14 overtime thriller. What can you say? I mean phenomenal. Just phenomenal. And if you look at where they are this year and who they're bringing back, they lose a few folks. They lose goalie uh Christian Michaels, who was at 60% save percentage. I think he was a goalie of the year in the East. Yeah. Big uh big reason they were where they were last year. They also lose Luke Hickam and Brian Delaberto. Hickam had 69 points last year. Two really good players. Number two and number three scores for them, but they do bring back number one Brian Green. He's a senior midi this year. Tommy Corcoran at attack. Jake Taylor, who we had on the show. His brother Noah graduated, but he's now a senior in attack. The world famous Taylor Brothers. Yeah. We had on our program last year. And get who they bring in from other places. Zach Krug from St. Leo, Noah Hammond from Chestnut Hill, who was like their top scorer at Chestnut Hill. And Timmy Morrow from Pace.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Wow. I didn't know they got Morrow. So yeah, Brian Green, he had a great year. He's a senior now in the MIDI. First team all conference last year. 43 ground balls, 26 assists, 69 points. And an all-American. Yeah, Corcoran had 45 points. Jake Taylor, right? He's a senior this year. The attackman, 32 goals, 12 assists, 44 points. Second team, all ECC last year. Don't forget they have senior attack Justin Poolis, too. 25 goals, six assists for 31 points. Dude, they had a lot of guys putting up 29-30, 30, 35 points. Behind those guys putting up 60 points. Their midfield, what do you say, man? Jacob Faison comes back. He was a freshman last year. He had 10 goals and he had 13 points. You know, he was a contributor. Junior mid uh Mike McClain comes back. 11 goals, four assists for 15 points. How about our man at LSM? Yeah. Can you believe he's a senior now? No, I feel like we well, we did. We watched him come through. Yeah. We when he was a freshman and just like just blazing up everything from for Malloy. And we we had him on our program. And I met his dad. We talked at at a Malloy game one day. That was pretty cool. So 78 ground balls for Thomas last year. 38 cost turnovers. Second team all conference with 78 ground balls. Come on. And an all-American, also, I think. Maybe honorable mention, maybe. Yeah. Who else? Jaden McLeod comes back. Another LSM had 32 ground balls and 24 cost turnovers. Their defense, short stick D Mitty, Rocco Hogan with second team all conference, 59 ground balls. Dude, they got a squad.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah. Then you add in the defenders that are returning. Sean McCabe, Liam Taylor, another Taylor brother, Aiden Dinnigan, Eric Schiller.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Schiller, Schiller and my son Joe played at Beth Page in the in like the youth leagues. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. He's a good guy. His dad's great. And he's a good player, Schiller.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

So look at their entire defense and short stick D minis seem to return. And then you've got, like we talked about, you lose goalkeeper Christian Michaels, but they coach says there's senior John Basile takes over. He's more than ready. He's been sitting there. And they also have Holy Family transfer, James DeMakapoulos. Wow. And get this, their face-off specialist return. Brandon Panzienza at 57%, and Zach Maligres at 62%.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Yeah. Yeah. He was backing up. He was backing up Brandon there. So, you know, McCabe had a really good year last year, too. 54 ground balls, 32 turnovers. Really good. You know, he's St. Anthony's high school kid, man. He's played some of the best high schools in the country. Like, these are good players, Kev. These guys are like above average players. These guys are all really, really good. They're all coming back. And they got, like you said, Zach Krug from St. Leo. That adds a lot to that midfield, man. That really, really does. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 11:19

I think they're loaded for bear. I would say that their defense, they really didn't lose anyone. They lost a few in offense, but they've gained, they bring back a lot, and then they gain with their transfers. I think what Coach Dunn said though, when he sent us an email about this, is exactly right. Based on what they did last year, they are not going to sneak up on anyone this year. But I but do I think they're ready for that? Hell yeah, I do. Oh, yeah. Like I'm wondering if there's a changing of the guard in the ECC.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

I tell you, man, you know, with this kind of squad right now, like what they put together last year and what he's built up. Like again, when Coach got there, there was there wasn't much ingredients there. He's built up the roster, he's gotten transfers to come, he's got good transfers, Wingate, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

I kind of wonder, I look at the guys that come in for grad, they must have some great graduate programs. That's all I can think about.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Really good nursing program. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

That's why Thomas Kofod went there.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yeah, very good nursing program. So um I like this team. They were deep last year, very aggressive on defense. They do lose a couple of guys on both sides. Again, I think the biggest loss is Christian Michaels in goal. I agree. You know, I think that's the biggest loss. That's the biggest.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

I agree. That's probably the biggest right, the biggest gap right now because they've got a senior behind them that's been there. Hopefully he is ready. But look at Christian Michaels had the bulk of the work.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Yeah. He was good, though. He was really good. Yeah. Really good. And that team plays in weather, man. I've watched them play in a blizzard, you know, like it's it's not easy playing in the ECC, especially in the beginning of the season. Um, but a good portion of this team returns it, particularly at the LSM and on defense, Kev. Their offense, you know, they went through the attack last year and did serious damage. They averaged 50 shots per game. Their man up was at 34%. They had 813 ground balls over the season. Wow. Amazing. That's called aggressive defense. Uh 59% at the face-off, very admirable. Yep. And they they clear at 89, let's call it 90%. Everything is on target with Coach Dunn. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 13:48

No, I think that's exactly right. I think when you look at those stats, and we'll see it with other teams, very solid stats on a ECC teams. That's better than solid, right? That is upper echelon in most of the categories. You can't beat that. Here is their out of conference for 2026. They start off with Southern New Hampshire, then they play Pace, Wilmington, Bridgeport, St. Anselm, Georgian Court, Chestnut Hill, Post, and they end up with Adelphi.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Yeah, they're at Adelphi, at Chestnut Hill, at Wilmington, at Southern New Hampshire, everybody else they host. Another good thing, you know, when doing some analysis on this team, talk about depth. They had 25 different players in the scoring column, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

You know? They have 40 on their roster this year, and I counted nine freshmen. I might be wrong, but I'll tell you, man, the ECC, I think, has to go through Malloy this year. And that's that's that's my final answer.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

I think you could be right. Yeah. So let's move on to one of those teams that's been there for a while. And if what we say, remember, they lost him by what? One goal last year, lost to Malloy by one? That's the Mercy Mavericks.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

The Mavericks. The Mercy Mavericks coach Ryan McSpaden. They're up in Dobbs Ferry, New York, Kev, Westchester County, beautiful part of New York there. Um they were 10-4 last year, very good. Undefeated in conference.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Signature win, 13-12 over Malloy, and a 21-6 win over Georgian Court. But they lose some big players. They lose defenseman Owen Stevenson, who was phenomenal for them. Yeah. And they lose player of the year, Jimmy Asorio. Yeah. Two two biggies they lost.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

They also lose number two in their scoring, Ryan Smith.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Yeah, Ryan Smith. Aiden Babnak, he's gone. Well, I've got him returning as a graduate. Oh, he's he's coming back as a graduate? Yes. Okay, good. That's great. Yep. They do return a bunch of guys, though. The guys that have been there for a while, guys that we know, sophomore, Mitty Cole, Hunsberger. Yep. 24 goals, 13 assists. He was second team all ECC last year. Very solid, solid season for a freshman there at Mercy. Uh junior midfield, Chris Bergerson, 13 goals, 15 assists. Senior mid, our man Devin Dugnowski.

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

15 goals, three assists, second team all ECC. Uh senior AJ Barone. He comes back. Uh six goals, 12 assists, 24 ground balls, and eight calls turnovers. Solid little player there. And uh short stick D mid, Jake Norton comes back. Yeah. He was first team all conference as well. 35 ground balls. Another kid that my son Joe played uh youth ball with is uh senior defenseman Michael Corbo, the Beth Page High School kid. He's a good player. He's really good. And he's very aggressive and he's very athletic. And uh 35 ground balls, two cause turnovers. He was second team all ECC last year. I watched him grow up. He's always been a very, very good player. Senior defenseman Danny Fitzgerald returns. LSM sophomore Nick Phil Philicama? Philicama. Yep. Uh senior face-off Kenny Summit returns 59%. Great at the face-off.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Well, really, if you round up, he's at 60%. He's like 59.9 or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

He was second team all conference. He was phenomenal. And our man, player, play of the year in division two. Holy play of the year. Goalie. Camp Dorf.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

You know what's interesting, Danny? I love that kid, right? He's only a junior. And his his stats, he was at 54.2 save percentage and 9.75 goals against average, which is really, really good. And that was slightly off from his freshman year. But he is a phenomenal goalie. And I think that's kind of the core. I think he's going to be one of those guys that we're going to have to rely on to help out with.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Yeah, they had uh they had transfer Matt Magyar from Wingate, senior attack. I think he's really going to help them out a lot. Um good player, solid all the way around. Uh his his brother Jack's at Mercy. So he left, he left Wingate to hang out with his brother Jack for his senior year. I thought that was pretty cool. I like Matt. I've known him since he's in sixth grade. He's a solid player. I bet you he's the starter for Coach McSpaden. So they uh shots per game, they average about 42 shots per game. Their man up was at 38%. Their face-off was great uh combined with the two guys, 58%. They clear at 85. I bet you they'd like to get that up a little bit. Kev, I you know, I think they're a solid squad. They had solid numbers last year, maybe a step back from the 24, just a slight step back from the 2024 season.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

But well, if you look at it, Danny, and I said this two years, and I had that in my notes. If you remember, two years running, so going into the 24 season and going into the 25 season, they lost a buttload of really, really good players. I remember before the 24 season thinking, like, how are they going to even compete, right? Now they still had Heider that year. They had a few of them, but then lost a bunch last year. This is the first year where they really started to stem the tide. Yes, they lost some players, but we probably had a list of six to ten on both offense and defense that were just unbelievable stellar players. Like how I always had the question for them, how are they going to be able to regroup? They did a great job, actually, if you look at it and what their record is. They still and they don't have an easy out-of-conference ever. They play some big boys. It's not like they're just they're winning out in the ECC like they did this past year. They have a good record and they're a good team. They've stemmed the tide, I think. They lose still a few players. I think the difference for me between them and Malloy is that Malloy just looks on paper a little more stacked right now.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Yeah, they do. They're out of conference. They're playing a couple of different teams this year, finally. They're putting a little bit more bigger guys on there out of conference. Uh, I see they got um they're hosting St. A's. They're at Wilmington. I don't think they played those guys last year, did they? I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

I think they played St. A's before. I don't know about Wilmington. They've also got Assumption on their and the Georgian Court, Bentley. And they've got Caldwell, which is a nod to Coach Scorcha. Yeah, they're gonna be going against each other for the Delhi and then a Delphi. So that's a good you take, look at you take Caldwell out of there, and that is a really hard schedule. Assumption, Georgian Court, Wilmington, Bentley, St. A's, Adelphi.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

That's a really hard out-of-conference schedule. I think it's gonna test them. I I because I I just honestly I felt like they had a kind of favorable schedule last year, and it worked out for them. This year, like I said, they had Wilmington and they're gonna play at Delphi at a Delphi. That might be a game to hit up and go to. So I think those opponents, that those opponents are really gonna test the maps and get them ready for ECC play.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

I agree. I agree. And they're gonna need that against a Malloy, and actually some of these other teams. Let's get to another one that a team that also lost a lot of players in twenty twenty four going into the twenty twenty after the twenty twenty four season, and that's Frost. Frostburg State.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:01

The Bobcat.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

Coach Steve Gardelman. Frostburg, Maryland. Bobcats were seven and nine last year, Kev. Four and two in conference, not bad. Signature win was the 13-7 win over RW. Yep. They lose their top point guy, Tac Wesley Phillips. Yeah. They lose defenseman Seamus Carney, who was really, really great player. Really good. They lose both face-off guys.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

That is what I was saying is the probably the biggest gap to me is losing both Greg Dort and Alex Wallstrom.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Yeah. And defenseman Landon Bruce is gone. But they return a bunch of good players, actually. Junior midfield Luke Roach returns. 31 goals, seven assists for 38 points last year. Nice solid season. Junior great midfield season last year for the Bobcats. Junior midfield Henry Sykes, 9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points. Junior MIDI, JT Calhoun returns, 11 goals, 5 assists, 16 of points. 16 points. Senior attack, Sean Mullino. 15 goals, 6 assists, 21 points. Also returning is junior attack, Luce Aspenis, and senior attack John Serena. So they got a bunch of good guys coming back. You know, that midfield looks very formidable. The attack unit looks kind of formidable there. You know, they got seasoned guys coming back at those positions.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Yeah, and I think they need that. They have several options. You went through most of them, but they were still trying to they're still trying to make up production from the 2024 season. They had 16.1 goals per game in 2024, and that dropped to 11.3 in 2025. I think they just like we talked about stemming the tide for Mercy, Frostburg lost a lot of offensive production going into their 2025 season. Now they've stemmed that tie a little bit. Yes, they lose Wes Phillips. They're bringing almost everyone else back on offense that can contribute. So I think they will be, they are going to get that production up a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Yeah, senior defenseman Matt Williams returns. He had a good season, 35 ground balls and 17 calls turnovers. Um uh goalie.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

What who's in goal? Well, yeah, that's my question. Logan Covey graduates. They do have a Tusculum transfer and Riley Semms and a Goucher transfer D3 program, Jack Smith. But once again, untested, really, they could be great. I think that's when you've got a guy that's at 61% save percentage as Logan Covey was, that also is the gap. Their gaps are really in the special teams.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Yeah, and uh they had a third face-off kid, a freshman last year, Zage Miraflor, XAGE. Zage?

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Yeah, but he's not back. The only one I had they have on the roster, the only one they have on their roster is a freshman, Aiden Viscount. He's the only guy on the roster with face-off specialists listed.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

That is a face-off. So we don't know what Coach Garleman's got going on at face-off or in goal right now, do we? No. Wow. That says a lot.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

That is where they have got to hit the ground running. One of these guys have got to step up. Now, I would assume they're gonna have more than one person at face-off besides just Aiden, right? And maybe a MIDI.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

See, they got about six transfers coming in. They got a limestone, Graham Allison from Limestone. Attack Wyatt Dooley from Towson. So you know, they were they were 43 shots per game down from 50 in 2024. They only scored 150 goals, down from 273.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

That's what I'm saying. That's where they got from 16.1 uh per game down to 11.3.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Um, their man up was at 30%. Their face-off was pretty good at 63%, but they're gone. Right. And they clear at a very, very solid 80, 86%. So I don't think that was the season that Coach Gardelman was used to seeing, and I don't think it's the season that we're used to seeing from the Bobcats. They're usually a much more formidable team than that. But this year, kind of honest to God, they struggled against teams above 500.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Last year they did. I think the real question, like, I think they got a lot of good pieces coming back, but when you've got a you've got to regroup right all the way through on special teams, face-off and goalie. It's one of those we've said this for several teams. This is another team I gotta see play, see how those positions match up and how that how they do.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Now, I counted 53 on the roster with 13 freshmen and like six front transfers. So did their out of conference come out? Because I don't I don't have it.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Their out of conference is yes, I've got it. It's St. Mike's, Adelphi, Walsh, Davison Elkins, St. Anselm, Malone, Bentley, Wilmington, Wheeling, and Seaton Hill. Wow. That's a mix. That's a good mix. They've got some really tough ones. They've got some ones they'll be able to compete in.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

That's a really good mix for them. I'm kind of interested to see what Coach Gardelman's gonna do with that face-off position and that goalie position. I think, you know, that's huge, Kev. Yeah. 100%. Are freshmen gonna just take those spots? You know, you're just throwing, throwing your kids into the deep end of the pool.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

They can. I mean, we've seen it done before and do okay. It's not an easy thing. It's not an easy thing going from high school to college level.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Adelphi's here. Go out there and get them, kid.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

So he'll have a few games. If it is a freshman, he'll have a few games. Look at they've got two transfers who've played at the at the NCAA level.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

So we'll see. Again, four and two in conference, seven and nine last year. I don't know, man. I don't know what to think, really, right now. I'd really have to see them play.

SPEAKER_01 28:54

I think if you asked me and they had a returning goalie, it's it's tough. Even with a face-offs, because the face-offs is what probably kept him in there last year live. Yeah. So it's just gonna be tough. I have to see him play. I have to see how those special teams players come out and what they do.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

All right. Let's move on to Roberts Wesleyan.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

I'm not going to do a Red Hawk imitation. The Red Hawks! Our man, Coach Rocky Delfino, located Rochester, New York, Kev. That's right. New York team. There was six and eight last year, three and three, five hundred. First losing season for the Redhawks in five years, Kev.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Yeah, it was a bit of a down year for the Red Hawks. I think that has a lot to do with losing Jordan Deets and Dan Dowiak a year before. That's a lot of production to make up. We talked about it just a second ago with Frostburg, but those two guys, Jordan Deets and Dan Dowiak, they were like machines. They were scoring machines. Yeah, they were good. For the Red Hawks. And you lose that kind of production, it's tough to make up.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Yeah, they return their top scorer. They lose a couple of guys. They lose midfielder Jacob Zimmerman. Yeah. Right. Another MIDI, Ryan Prime, and another attack, Tyler Clark. They're all gone. But they returned a bunch of guys, the top score. Chase Wilson, who had 29 goals and 11 assists for 40 points. He's an attackman. Junior attack Ryan Brown comes back. He had 34 points, 21 goals, 13 assists. Sophomore MIDI, Cody Coleman. He returns. He had 33 points. Then you got senior attack Curtis Dennison comes back. He contributed last year. Senior MIDI, Justin Skelly, comes back. A couple of good defenders come back. Brady Kostra comes back and Liam Linden. Liam Linden, 57 ground balls, 37 calls turnovers. He's a menace out there. He's a pretty good player. How about senior faceoff Isaac Morrero? 67%, Cap. Yeah. One of the better ones. That's what you need. One of the better face-offs in the country. And their goalie is a senior this year, Garrett Kaiser. He returns a little bit, you know, 49%. I think he'd like to get that percentage up a little bit. And uh I don't know, they scored 185 goals, assisted on 120 of them. So they share the rock. Yeah. They averaged 13 goals a game, man up and 29%, face off at 65, clear at 86. Solid numbers.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

They won the ground ball and caused turnover battles. Their let's just say this now, their roster for 2026 is not out yet. So we're making some guesses, right, that the players are coming back, which I think they will be. I haven't seen many guys leave that program and transfer. And I think that's going to be the key. When they've got guys like Isaac Morero at face-off, they've got all those good defenders returning, and a bevy of the offensive production coming back. They are looking very, very solid this year coming into the 2026 season.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Their offenses on the young side last year, Kev. I think that was a part of it.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

Um Well, look at their number one scorer was a freshman last year, Chase Wilson, right?

SPEAKER_00 32:39

Yeah, yeah. You know, Coach Delfino does a good, really good job up there, and he gets players to come up to well, he doesn't have to go far because Rochester's loaded with amazing lacrosse players. Like every it's almost like Long Island.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Well, Syracuse is only an hour away, hour east.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

It's a it's a very hockey and lacrosse and skiing. You know, a lot of snow sports up there. So um again, you they took a little step back last year, struggled against some of those teams that were 500 or better. Again, there I felt their offense was a little young last year. I think that this year, with that attack unit coming back in the middies, and especially at special teams face-off and goalie, I expect them to improve this year.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

I do, and I I would not doubt that they're over 500 this year. Let's look at their out-of-conference schedule. It's Malone followed by Walsh, St. Mike's, Assumption, Southern New Hampshire, and Lake Erie.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Yeah, they play Southern New Hampshire at the USA Lacks thing in in Maryland. That's right. That's pretty cool. That is. That's a great venue. That's a great venue to have. Then they host Lake Erie, so they they have a very they they could be undefeated.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

Yeah, I think the tough games, really tough games for them. Well, look at Walsh looks pretty good this year. Assumption looks good. I told you look out for Southern New Hampshire this year. I think they definitely I think will be over 500. I'll get you that they're gonna get more of them. They have a chance to win all of those, though. You're right.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Yeah, they got a good chance, like they got a good chance to be undefeated when they start ECC play. Yeah. So I like uh what Coach Delfino's got up there. Um again, a little bit young, got their minutes last year coming back. Some of these guys have been playing together a couple of years now, getting that NCAA feet under them, and you know, just another year better and stronger and bigger. I think Delfino is gonna write the ship this year. I think so too.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

Let's talk about the other team in the ECC that was 6-8 overall in 2025, but they were only 2-4 in conference, and that was the Deuville Saints.

SPEAKER_04 35:04

The Saints of De Uville.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

Up in Buffalo, kid. All the way up in Buffalo. Shuffle off to Buffalo. Coach. We're talking Western New York now. That's uh that's really cold weather up there, kid. That's like penguin weather. It's lake effect. Yeah. Six and eight last year, like you said, two and four in conference. Big signature win, nine-six over Lake Erie last year, and 11-10 win over Holy Family. They also beat Walsh by one, which is a good win for them. They only lose two guys, really, that made any difference on this team.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

And here's what's interesting, and some notes the coach sent us. They really had a big improvement from the year before. They start they are starting to turn the corner. He said that their assistant AD put it best to them layer when he hit some of the tougher tests. He said they viewed last year as one of our last building years coming out of our infancy stage. He could see that we had the piece on the roster, but they were just still gaining experience in chemistry. And Coach says he totally agrees with them because that was his vision for the program all along. He's been building slowly in this program and it's starting to show. And if you look, like you said, they now have 33 on the roster still on the small side, but they have a good mix: eight seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores. You look at those eight seniors, a lot of them are players. Uh those juniors and seniors were players with him back in 2024 when he really got the reins. Yep. And you look, they are returning almost everyone, Danny.

unknown 36:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

They return all three of their starting attackmen from 2025.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

Old Bri Tall Chief. What a great name. Yeah. The junior attack, 31 goals, 19 assists, 50 points. And Evan Stefano, who was just he's been great for them for the last couple of years. 30 goals, 20 assists, 50 points. Brady Ruffalo, another Diouville Saint that's just been a staple for those guys. I really, I mean, Brady's been great. 30 goals, seven assists, 37 of points. Uh midfield Carson Kent comes back. Luciano Gonzalez comes back. And senior defenseman Logan Schwartz, Kev. Yeah. He's good, man. Very good. He's a player. Like he's a player. You know, some people like they talk about D2 and like maybe some of these teams that maybe aren't the elite teams. These teams have players on them. Like Logan Schwartz could probably start on most teams in Division II. That's how good he is.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

I agree. And look at the other two starters from last year coming back with Hayden Goldthorpe and Christian Cliff. You know where Christian Cliff's from? Where is he from?

SPEAKER_00 38:10

Toronto. 41 ground balls, 32 cause turnovers for Christian, and Hayden Goldthorpe had 22 ground balls and 14 cause turnovers. Goalie Casey Burns was a freshman last year, came in, took the starting spot. He's at 52%. And uh junior face-off Jake Bush, that's where they struggled.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

And Coach even admitted that. He says that's where they need to get better this year. They've got Jake Bush coming back. They also brought in freshman Daryl Cooper, who says he's has grown and did a good job in the fall. So that's where they need to get some back. But they've got a good goalie coming back. They've got the short stick D minis. They've got their senior Sam Radke coming back. They've got two freshmen. And that's probably a little bit of a gap, too, in the sense they don't have a lot of experience. They've got one senior who's trying to bring these other guys along. We'll see how that goes. But three of their LSMs returned with Brody Strong, Johnny LaFleur, and Cam Weber. And if we look at their close D, Danny, guys that played together last year, their chemistry is only going to be better this year.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

100%, Kev. 100%. They had 32 on their roster this year, 11 freshmen. And Kev, I'm going to be honest with you. I think this team has made great strides in the four years they've been around. I mean, most of this squad returns, and I expect them to continue to improve with this roster. I really do. They were really competitive last year. Even in the games that they lost, they lost to Malone by one. They lost to Felician by one. You know, they could have easily been eight and six instead of six and eight. Yeah. You know, so they're on the cusp of really being a good middle of conference type team now. I agree. And two years, three years ago, they were at the bottom. I don't know if that's going to be the case anymore for Deuville.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

In those early years, people could just scratch in a W with this team. They can't anymore. And if you look at they're out of conference, you tell me how they match up. Okay, here it goes. Davison Elkins, win. Assumption. Point Park should be a win. Lake Erie, Malone, Holy Family, St. Mike's, AIC, and Post.

SPEAKER_00 40:45

Let me tell you something. That's a if these guys can go win six out of those seven, five out of those seven games, it's going to be a different Deuville team. You know, they have a good shot at that many, I think. They're trending upwards. I think the only problem really is arrows in the quiver. Just depth. You know, that I think that's the only problem. I think what Coach Wilson has done has been great. I mean, he's got to be happy with what he's got, I think, and what he's got going on there.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Oh, he's fired up. If you read his email to us, fans better get really excited because this guy, he's only looking forward. And he's got his team positioned that way.

SPEAKER_00 41:29

I like the 11 freshmen coming in. I like that number for this team. You know, again, this is a new program, Kev. We're only in our fourth year with the UV, right? Fourth? Fourth.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Yeah. Fourth or fifth, somewhere around there.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

They're a young program. They've just started. They're way the hell up in Buffalo, you know, and uh where the weather is tough. And, you know, they started from nothing a couple of years ago.

SPEAKER_01 41:54

This is their fifth season in 2026. They start their first season with 22.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

Yep. They've had four full seasons. Yeah. Okay. So just look at where they came in four seasons. And like I said, they lost to Felician by one, lost to um uh Malone by one. They could have easily been eight and six, would have had their first winning record in the program. That's how close they are. They're close. I'm gonna watch, keep a good eye on the Saints this year. And I love the kid Schwartz on defense. He's a player, he's a beast. Totally agree.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Okay, let's move on now to St. Thomas Aquinas in Spark Hill, New York. Up in Spark Hill, New York.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

Jack Spallone, four and ten overall.

SPEAKER_01 42:45

Jack Spallone is no longer the coach. That's right. Brett Caps, who was the assistant, is the new head coach.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

My apologies, Coach Caps. I apologize to you. Um 4-10 last year, one and five, not the season that they wanted. Their signature win was they beat Post by one in overtime. Yeah. Um they were very, very, very, very young last year. Extremely young.

SPEAKER_01 43:13

Here's the deal, Danny. Their 2026 schedule's not out yet. Their roster's not out yet for 2026. So it really depends on who stays and does not move on, does not transfer or leave because of the switch from Caps to from Spallone. Now, Caps was the interim for some time last year. So you got to expect that most of them would come back. But four of their five top scores were freshmen last year.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

Yeah. Lucas Mullen, twenty seven goals. Uh Cam Wallace, thirty three goals. And uh attack Max Benoit, six goals. So forty six points, thirty eight points, ninety.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Christian Rodriguez with nine goals, 22 assists, Nicholas Greer, another freshman last year, 13 goals, nine assists. Really look at, and Lucas Mellon, Mullen, excuse me, he was their primary creator. He was in the 88th percentile for shooting efficiency. Wow. If he comes back and can produce like that, and these other guys are at step up, they're gonna look good on offense.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

Well, they got their first year under that. That whole starting offense were freshmen last year, basically. Yeah. So they're all sophomores now. You know what I say? Bigger, better, stronger, smarter.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

All got to work together. You know, all went through the lumps together.

SPEAKER_00 44:42

And another fall together, and uh uh senior goalie uh Hayden Gardett comes back. He was at 52%, not too bad. Yep. Uh face off sophomore Vinny Rosario. 60%, 60% at the dot. Pretty good. Uh short stick Williams, uh short stick D. Mids come back. Wilson Engels and James Guild come back. LSM Stone McGregor, 29 ground balls and 10 course turnovers. So this was a team that was extremely young last year. Um they averaged 11 goals per game. They only took 34 shots per game. Uh, but their shot on goal percentage is pretty good. It's 70%, believe it or not. Their man up, oof, 19%.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Yeah, and their clear percentage was only at 69%. Yeah. So there's some things they there look at, there's things they have to still work on. Yeah, they're they showed some improvements in their stats, but they still have a way to go.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

They didn't post their schedule yet either, did they?

SPEAKER_01 45:49

No.

unknown 45:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

No, they did not. I looked again this morning.

SPEAKER_00 45:52

So we're so you know, we don't really know who's coming back or what, or even if they have any, you know, transfers in. We really don't know. Right.

SPEAKER_01 46:04

If they don't lose the players, if they keep them, they could see I think we could see some incremental improvement with this team.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

Yeah, I'd like to see some I think I think you will. You know, again, they were all these attackmen that we mull in, Wallace, Benoit, all freshmen last year. The middies, maybe Rodriguez, Greer, all freshmen last year.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

You know what I mean? So sophomores coming in a little bit better, bigger, stronger, faster, got a year of the NCAA game under their belt. You know, um, I expect them to improve. I don't know how much, though. I gotta see how much on their roster.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

What they're playing.

SPEAKER_00 46:43

Who they're playing right. So it's a it's a little bit of a question mark to stack for me. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 46:49

I agree. I'd like to see their schedule, I like to see what their roster looks like. Like I said, if they have the players that they stay, I think we'll see a better team, a more competitive team, which would be awesome to see. And look at Brett Caps is coming in. He actually is keeping some stability going there because he was the assistant. It's not a big change for the players.

SPEAKER_00 47:13

No, I agree. I agree with you 100%.

SPEAKER_01 47:17

All right, last team to get to, UDC Firebirds.

SPEAKER_04 47:23

Firebirds.

SPEAKER_00 47:26

Located Washington, D.C., yeah. Not New York. It's not New York. It's the only team in this conference not in New York. Well, Frostbird's in Maryland. Frostburg State, yeah, they're in Maryland. So uh big goose for Coach Merritt. I feel bad for this young man.

SPEAKER_01 47:46

Yeah, they were 0-12 in 2025. Oh, it's so tough. I I still believe Coach Merritt is the right guy. I mean, I see I talk to this guy at the time, I go to watch them with against Virginia State every year. I watch both teams. He's a true gentleman. I see how he handles his players. He's just not getting the roster depth he needs. This year they're still at about a 20, Danny. So it's not a large team. We talked about this was shorter last week in Conference Carolinas. When you've got 20, you're hoping that you stay healthy.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:24

Now he had about the same last year, and they didn't win any, but I'll tell you, even though they didn't win any, I think they looked better last year than they did the year before.

unknown 48:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:35

I think they're improving, and I think it's going to be what type of players he gets in. Their challenge is they lose their top four scores, Julius Shem, Dylan Donaldson, Max Hansbury, and Jordan, Jordan Shem. They do bring back junior attack, Alan Fuentes, and coach says, look out for two freshman offensive players, Miles Henry, and Amerius Sekajipo. So, now that name I hope I got right. I told you at the beginning, there's some names here I'm going to butcher. That could be one of them. And on defense, they lose two really good players I remember watching, Schortstick D. Mini, Juan Phil Phil Potts, and defender Ingasio Paraset. They are returning two junior defenders, Patrick Niarko and Aiden O'Brien, who had good numbers. 46 round balls for Patrick Niarko and 26 caused turnovers. And Aiden O'Brien had 36-round balls and 26-cost turnovers. So they've got some solid defenders coming back there. Goalie comes back, Israel Amajoy, who was only at 43%, but he was a freshman last year. So can he grow into that spot? They're gonna need to see that.

SPEAKER_00 49:47

One can only hope, Kev. One can only hope.

SPEAKER_01 49:50

So I still see this. This is still a rebuild for him. Their D is looking pretty solid. They need that offensive power. They need it coming from those freshmen. Yeah. And they need to build depth. I just think.

SPEAKER_00 50:02

Yeah. That's what it is. At the end of the day, they just don't have enough arrows in the quiver, dude. Yep. You know? And you know, you're in the ECC now, coach. You're against the Merseys and the Malloys and the Frostburgs, these guys running out 50, 50, 60 guys, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:21

It's I will tell you though, I like their out-of-conference that they're playing. It's Davison Elkins, Felician, Dominican of New York, Emory and Henry, Tiffin, Duville, Caldwell, and Virginia State.

SPEAKER_00 50:39

Perfect for them.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

And the reason I say that is you look at some of these other teams, Caldwell's one of them. They only have like 20. Right? Felicians in the 20s, maybe 30. There is going to be teams, and some new teams, Emory and Henry, Tiffin. Teams that maybe they match up a little bit better. They can be competitive. And that's what they they are not going to survive. They would not survive an out-of-conference schedule like Malloy and Mercy put out.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

No, no, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 51:13

They would be just beat down. So I think this is a really good schedule for him.

SPEAKER_00 51:17

Yeah, he knows what he's doing. I think it's a perfect schedule for them. Go get them, Firebirds. Go out there, fight like hell, get those ground balls. Hopefully those biscuits get buried into the back of the net somewhere. I'm really, I'm I want them to do well.

SPEAKER_01 51:31

I do too. You know, we talk about this before, and we we say this with other teams as well. It's not all about the wins and losses, what he's doing and what these players are gaining from being a team, doing that at college at an HBCU, and it's not just HBCUs. We can do this for a lot of the schools. We can say this even for shorter last year or last week when we talked about them. It's it's building that discipline and that teamwork gets you something more that you're going to deal with off the field. I would still love to see UDC Firebirds, also because they're in my backyard right now. I'd love to see them and start winning.

SPEAKER_00 52:09

Well, at the end of the day, Kev, it's about that, it's about that, you know, little certificate at the end of the day. That's right, that degree, that little parchment. It really is. You know, at the end of the day, it's about education. I saw a funny meme today. Yeah, I was gonna play, I'm I'm playing D3 school because because of the academics, not because of the the athletics. And the hit guy on the other side goes, well, good, come on, let's go study. He goes, No, I can't. I got practice. That was pretty funny. So, you know what? I like the ECC, tough conference. They play in the weather, Kev. Um, I really like Malloy again this year. I just really think it's theirs for the taking. Mercy's right there, right behind them. You know, they lose Asorio, they lose Owen Stevenson. But you know what? Again, they were a solid squad last year, the Mavericks, solid numbers. I expect them to be right there. Um, I think Roberts Wesleyan is the team that makes the move this year a little bit. I think that I expect them to be better. Really looking forward to watching Deuville. Yeah. I think they're gonna be an improved team. What do you think about Frostburg, man? Well, I think we talked about it. The big question is special teams. Yeah, the face-off, yeah, man, and goalie. So I don't know what to think about Frostburg right now. I mean, they do have a bunch of players that come back. They were all sophomores last year.

SPEAKER_01 53:38

Yeah, they were young.

SPEAKER_00 53:39

They were really young.

SPEAKER_01 53:40

So they I expect them to be better this year. I just with Coach Gardelman and but big question marks, more question marks on the other teams, I think, coming into this.

SPEAKER_00 53:53

Yeah, so what do you think about stack?

SPEAKER_01 53:57

I think they bring back their players, they would be an improvement, without a doubt, because they've been playing together for one more year.

SPEAKER_00 54:05

Yeah, I agree with that. So ECC solid conference. Um I think Malloy could be a national team this year. I think you might be able to get maybe two teams ranked out of this conference this year with Mercy and Malloy. Out of the game. Could be. Could be and maybe a third gets ranked in the season as RW, see how they do. Yeah. I like Malloy. I just think what Coach Dunn is he's just he's a legend, man. Yeah, totally

Shout outs

SPEAKER_00 54:42

agree. Alright. Shout outs. No shout-outs, Kev. I'm uh shout it out.

SPEAKER_01 54:49

All right, I've got one. And that's because when this comes out, all the players and coaches are going to be returning. And they are now starting to prepare for the season. And we, Danny, cannot wait to watch. So to all the players and coaches and the programs, cannot wait. Big shout out to everyone. We still got a few more conferences to go. You can track everything we are doing and all our shows on our website, www.in the crease lacrosse pod.com. And hopefully we'll have merch coming soon.

SPEAKER_00 55:26

Yeah, it's coming. It's coming. It's just gotta wait for the after the new year. Slowly, slowly but surely on the merch, but we'll get there. So Kev. Just dump that on the top.

SPEAKER_01 56:02

That means it's a wrap. That's a wrap.