D2 Lacrosse Conference Previews for the 2026 Season - SSC

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Welcome, welcome, welcome to

Intro

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another episode of In the Creest with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Mentacross. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the John McClain of D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran. John McLean.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Well, I I was thinking off of buildings and hanging out.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Well, so I'm thinking, like this is our Christmas holiday episode. This is our Christmas gift to all our listeners. Comes out on the December 25th. I'm thinking, are you uh Buddy the Elf? No, you're not Buddy the Elf. Are you the Grinch? No, you're not the Grinch. Are you George Bailey? Well, you are a lot of times like George Bailey. You know, you you have a lot of friends.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

You give a lot of Christmas poll. Merry Christmas tree. Merry Christmas. Christmas Arbot. Maybe you're just my bad Jimmy Stewart invitation.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

Maybe you're just a hybrid between John McClain on some days and George Bailey on others.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

I'll go with that. I like it. That sounds great. How are you doing? Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. How's everything going tonight in Northern Virginia?

SPEAKER_02 1:40

It's going great. It is going great.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

We're actually obviously, folks, if you could see the smile on my man's face tonight. He's got a big smile. He's got a glass of scotch hidden there somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

I wish. I wish. No, I've got to stay professional here. You know, I uh had a few sips of that. I would be going off the rails immediately. But not only, Danny, is this the our holiday special on December 25th coming out? We're recording it beforehand, obviously. But I want to remind all our listeners that our website is up, www.inthecrease lacrossepod.com. You can get all the episodes. Yeah, I love it. The little bell there. Get all the episodes. You can contact us. There's a lot of great things on it. Like I said on previous episodes, buy us a cup of coffee. What I really want to say is we don't have our merch store up yet. And that's the only thing that I was hoping to be up by December 25th. But we you and I talked about this. We want to make sure that the stuff we put out there are quality products. So we have to get the right design, have the logo at a high resolution, and then we want to get a few samples sent to us so we know that it's good merch that we are selling. So that's gonna take a little time. Please be patient. By the beginning of the 2026 season, end of January, I'm hoping we'll be ready by then.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Yeah, hope so. Still working on it. It's in its infancy, Kev.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

That's right. That's right. You know, we do have day jobs, you and me.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

I know. And this, you know, this is a new part, you know. This podcast is one thing, but now it's a whole other.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

You know, like me putting the podcast, the website together to begin with, took me like two days, and it's an easy thing to do. Just trying to figure out all the different pages, and not even that many, but like how do I link things up? And then as I'm looking at the store, and then I'm coordinating with you, and we're trying to we couldn't even think I couldn't even I had to point you to where I had already put stuff in there. I know. Because we're doing things in two different states. I know. Not easy.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

It's working, no. So little by little, little by little, small steps, like building a new program, right, Jeff?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

That's right. And and let's be honest, Danny. We are not that digitally savvy as maybe some of our listeners.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

I'm definitely not. Definitely not. I can tell you that. And I get frustrated with it because I can't do it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 4:11

I try to I try to literally stay there until I figure it out, but sometimes it that doesn't even work. I have to back away. And then I have to Google answers or send email questions to the hosts of the of the platforms. But Danny, they're not here to talk about that anymore.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

We're here We're such in the Christmas spirit tonight. I know. We should do that. We got our Christmas lights up with that Christmas. It's my favorite Christmas song, I love this song.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

I was listening to today by doing it by another artist, which I really like too. But this is the classic.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Elvis, man. It's Elvis, Mom.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

So is that

SSC Preview

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the conference preview intro for the Sunshine State Conference?

SPEAKER_01 5:14

It is where better to be at Christmas time than in the Sunshine State, huh, Kev?

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Well, I'll tell you what, you can enjoy yourself on the beach just like I did a couple times when I lived down there in Jacksville. Or actually, I could say that I really enjoyed Christmas in Hawaii too.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Oh, I bet. I've never been to Hawaii, but I've been in South Florida at Christmas time, and it's a mighty nice place to be at Christmas.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

Yeah, yeah. So that's what we're doing today. We're gonna pretend, you and I, who are up north, you're farther north than I am, that we're actually down in the Sunshine State for Christmas as we go through this conference for this preview.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, man. The Sunshine State Conference. Great, great conference, Kev. It is great. It is a ton of great lacrosse players down there, and a lot of good coaches, too.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

A lot of good coaches. Really good stacked level of teams. As I went through the preview this year, there actually were some surprises of teams that jumped up and teams that usually are at the top had some difficult times last year. So we'll see how they can manage that this year as they go into 2026. But let's start off with obviously the conference champions and the team that went to the NCAA finals, the Tampa Spartans.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

The Spartans. JB Clark, the legend. What can you say, Kev? What can you say about the man? He just wins, man.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

He does. And he even meant it to us. Like he goes into programs. He did it when he went to Limestone, he did it when he went to others. He go goes in to establish programs, and he just knows how to add that little extra to get them over the hump to win win it all.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

He's a legend, man. There's nothing more else more you can say. I think he's the winningest head coach in Division II among all active coaches right now. I think he's got over 250 something wins, man. Like, he's a legend. Yeah. The man's amazing. And what he's done since he got to Tampa is just what he wants.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Dude, he's they were always good. They were always in the hunt, but he he knocked it up one level or two levels. And now they're always in the hunt to go to the finals. And last year, they were 21-1 and 7-0 in conference. Their only loss. Their only loss was the overtime loss to Delphi in the championship.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Which was a fantastic game. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic game. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Yeah, there was no better, probably no better in the whole college lacrosse season. Forget about in the finals in that weekend, but it was it was phenomenal. It was a phenomenal game.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Yeah, Coach Clark had a great team last year. Really, all Americans all over the place, man. I don't know how many, how many all-Americans? Five, six? Yeah. Probably. Yeah, I didn't go back and look. I they were so good. They were so well coached, so well done.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Yeah, they always seem, I had this in my notes, Danny. They always reconstitute every year and bring in new guys. A lot of they get a lot of D1 and other transfers that always seem to integrate seamlessly and be a part of that team. You look at guys like Conor Terrier last year at goalie, was just phenomenal. I mean, guys like that, now they're gonna have to do the same thing this year, I think.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Just it's just plug and play. Nothing's gonna change at Tampa. Yeah you know. I've watched players come and go at Tampa, you know, the McEnanies and the and you know, the Ulmers and the Kids. You know, I've watched them come and go, and and JB just gets guys to replace him. And I mean they lost a ton this year.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Yeah, so we did a bunch. They lose their top two scores in Davis Lindsey at 41 goals, 34 assists, and Ryan Kemp at 42 goals, 22 assists. That's a lot of production to make up.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Both all Americans.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Yeah, but they do return Jackson Beyshaw at 49 goals, eight assists. He's a senior attack, senior midi, Tommy Ortega, junior attack, Zach Friend, and junior MIDI, Rafe Bradshaw. Now, they're not all at that production level, but they still like Tommy Ortega, 26 goals, 12 assists. Rafe Bradshaw, 26 goals, six assists. So they do have good numbers. They're just gonna have to find one or two more guys to fill up what they lost with with Davis and Ryan.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Tommy was first team all conference and an all-American. And Rafe Bradshaw was second team all conference. I mean, these guys are great, you know, and they're coming back. They're coming back. You know, uh uh Gordy Gumball, the junior defender's coming back, yeah. Senior defender Conley Stone's coming back. Um they, you know, they lost Mikey Flores at the face-off. He was an all-American last year. He was phenomenal. But they do 68%. They do have Jordan Nassau, who's been there for a couple years and has gone back and forth. So does Coach bring in an uh another face-off guy, or does Jordan get that start?

SPEAKER_02 10:40

So I went and looked back at their roster. When I first was doing this preview, I don't think their 2026 roster was out. It's out now. They have a transfer from Sacred Heart, Michael Thomas coming in, and four others in the face-off room, freshmen and sophomores. So they've got a lot of competition. I think Jordan Naso will probably will probably He's got the fast track. Yeah, I would think so.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Yeah, you would think.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

He's he was at 60% last year. He understands what they what they're doing there. We'll see what the other guys bring, but you know having more than one definitely helps out.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely, 100%. I mean, even Mikey Flores, as good as he was, didn't take every face off last year, you know. But they added a couple of transfers. Uh a graduate short stick D Middy from St. Joe's, Sam Fort or Forte. Uh a junior short stick D. Middy from High Point, Josh Weitzman, uh, attack senior from Bellamine, uh, Anthony Ton Ethan Tenucci, sorry, Ethan. Um, and a graduate goalie from Syracuse, Cal Raleigh. And I was hoping my man Charlie Villa would get Villa would get a shot over there because he's been there for three years, the old Kellenberg High School.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Well, we'll see. You know, they've got another transfer from Maryland, West, another graduate, Weston Schmidt. So they've got some senior guys. Now, both of those guys, if you look back on their records at Maryland, Syracuse, did not get a lot of playing time. So does a guy like you said, uh be able to outshine them because they've been in the system? You never know.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

I'd love to see Charlie get a shot. I really would, because he's been there, you know. He's just you know. So anyway, they they do lose a lot, though. They love AJ Pasarella, Devin Rasmus, Braden Kroom, Comitario, like you said, Domratura, Flores, Ronan Sanchez, who was like a really good contributor to them. But they have Zach Friend, Grant Green, Rex Kesselring, all dude. They run out guys, they run out LSMs, they run out short stick deep mids. They're deep. Their defense is fantastic. You know what? Their defense was really good last year. Yeah. You know, last year I felt that the offense for Tampa wasn't the same as it was in years past. They weren't putting up 18, 19, 20 goals a game. Although they did at a couple of games for sure. But in the 2024 season, they averaged 16.5 goals per game. In 2025, last year, they averaged 13 goals per game. So their offensive production went down. But their defense was phenomenal. One of the best defenses, you know, number four scoring defense, you know, like they only let up like seven goals a game.

unknown 13:38

I mean.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Well, and and it's interesting because I had this in my notes last year. They lost their five top scores from 2024 going into 2025. So they had to reload. They had a lot of guys that we just went through that were good in their production, and they lost their top two scores again. So they I think they're gonna be at that at least at that 13 goals per game average this year because they don't they lost some, but they're bringing in others. They have so much depth. They're just one of these teams that have so much depth. They bring in new guys that are transfers that add to it. If they don't add in production, they add in experience at the even at the D1 level. I mean, Syracuse, Maryland, Sacred Heart. This is the same thing. He talked about high point.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

It's familiar territory to for Tampa and Coach and Coach Clark. It's familiar territory. Right. Reload, that's it. Yeah. Next guy in, man. And and usually he knows what he's doing. The man knows what he's doing.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

He can't bet against them whatsoever.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Are you kidding me? It's the two best games that I saw. I saw a couple of really good games last year in Division II. There was some outstanding lacrosse last year. But two of the best games, Tampa was in, one being the championship and one being the game against Limestone in the beginning of the season. I think it was like week three.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

Well, I'd I'd add another one that the Tampa Seton Hill game at the Crown Classic. You were probably uh tailgating by then.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

I was I was had high C's going at that time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Well, and and deserved. I was back here streaming it on my computer.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Yeah, so I don't know. Tampa, they're gonna be phenomenal, Kev. They are you know, it's just again, reload. That's what it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Okay, you know what? They play a really good brand of lacrosse. They're smart, high IQ.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Well, and let's look at their out of conference really quickly. We did not go over that, but here's their out of conference. They've got Florida Tech, which is in conference, but playing out of conference, then they go Newberry, Lenore Ryan, Flagler, Rockhurst, Concordia, Meryville, Anderson, Monteval, and Colorado Mesa.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

That's a hard schedule.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

That's a good schedule. They've there are a lot of teams that are on that schedule that will give them a good shot. And there are up-and-coming teams that want that shot. The teams like Montevallo, right? Anderson, Concordia, and then you've got some really good ones. Like I I love to see how they're gonna play against Lenore Ryan and Rockhurst.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Yeah. Great, great out, really tough schedule, probably one of the hardest schedules in the country. Yeah, 100%. So I expect Tampa to be among the country's best. See what they do. I love I'll watch them in the beginning of the season and let's see what happens. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Okay. Let's move on to Rollins.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

The Rollins Tours located Winter Park, Florida. Florida. It's nice there. 10-8 last year overall. Five and two. You know what happened to this team? The injury bug. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

They had a lot of injuries last year. Yeah, like for instance, Nate Paulo had a knee surgery last season. They got they had just had several guys that were just injured, and I think that's why they didn't. 10 and 8 is still a good record, but it's not the record that you're used to seeing from Rollins.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

No, they were they're a better team than that. And you know what? At the end of the season, when those guys came back, you could see the difference. Yeah. When those guys came back. Yeah. And you could see the difference. They started to turn it on at the end of the season. They were beating teams that beat them earlier in the season when those guys were injured. So, you know, again, I think Coach Chris Lewis does a really good job at Rollins. I think his, you know, his teams are, again, well coached. It's not hard to sell players to come to Rollins and play high-end lacrosse in a beautiful state at a beautiful stadium in a beautiful school. It's not a hard sell. No, it's not. And Chris Lewis does a great job. And he had some great players on his team. He's got 60 on his roster, dude. 60.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Yeah. Well, you look at who he's losing on offense, though. Number one score, Jack Johnstone. He was good. I think the all-time points getter for Rollins.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Yeah, he was good, man.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

Sam Mattson, number two score, 30 goals, 10 assists, another middle, and then Seth Eisenhower at attack, number four. So they lose some some good production. They do return Aaron Williams, Logan Myers, and not Nate Polo. What coach said is they are young this year. They are young. They've got a few of those. You look at uh Aaron Williams a senior midi, Logan Myers a senior midi, but they've got a lot of young guys that they're still trying to develop, and they've got some transfers that are coming in. And what he told us is also guys that were this past fall semester were over studying abroad. So he had he didn't even have them for a full fall ball. So I think his offense will be good. But I think when you got only three weeks to take to take those guys and mix and match and then put them out on the field on what is the best combo, I think that he's gonna be working with that the first few weeks, and we'll have to see how that goes. I still think they're gonna be really good, especially if they don't get injured, but they've got some uh they've got a lot of decisions still to make on what the makeup and what the lines are. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Kind of reminds me of when my son Sean was a freshman at Wingate that year, so many guys were injured that freshmen and sophomores were all over the field that year.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

And and played well, you know what I mean, and really started to play well, and at the end of the season they were doing good things. When those kids came back sophomore year, they were so much better. And because they did most of the year. Now, kind of that's what's gone on here at Rollins. You had some kids that were injured, and these younger guys got in and got some experience. Again, you're right, Logan Myers, senior, Aaron Williams, but Chad Bolera got run, attacked Seth Eisenhower got run, 15 goals, 32.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

Yeah, but Seth Eisenhower's gone.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Is he? Yeah. Oh wow. Sean Caracciolo, Logan McHugh?

SPEAKER_03 20:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Uh they ran out four FOGO last year. Four over the season. Thomas Garvin took most of the of the face-offs, and he was at 54%. Um and defenseman Dean Jacoby comes back. LSM Craig Wexelblatt comes back. Yeah. You know where he's from? Where is he from?

SPEAKER_02 20:45

He's from Mason, Ohio, Kev. Wow. Well, and coach pointed out that they've got three LSMs. They are strong at that level. And at short stick D Mini with Dom Cesserone and Dom DeVito returning, along with all SSC Charlie Metz. I mean, their defense is going to be, especially rope defense. That's where their strength is.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah, I think they're going to have a nice little mixture of older and younger players. But again, I think a lot of these younger players got some really good experience because of those injuries last year. Maybe kids that wouldn't have gotten the minutes that they got were able to get big minutes and be able to contribute. And you know what? That gets a kid's confidence up. Now you're deep, now your depth goes a little better. Now those kids are coming in. They've got game experience and a lot of minutes under their belt.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

Yeah, but Coach pointed out they're also trying to develop some freshmen. So we'll see if some freshmen get on. I think it's really going to be interesting on the offensive side of the ball. I think their offense, when you look at who's starting and who's getting minutes the beginning of the year, may change, and what those lineup lineups look like are going to change from the first game until the last game, right? Because it's It's going to be a work in progress for them. But you look at like goalkeepers, very interesting, I think, Danny, because they lose Max Boyk. Max Boyk, yeah. But they have their Den Denver transfer and redshirt sophomore Nick Catino. Sophomore Mason Masterson has been there, but they also have limestone transfer, Colin Selters.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Who's good?

SPEAKER_02 22:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

He's good.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

He was their starter beginning of the last time.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

He's good.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

So they're having quite the battle of who's going to be starting in the cage. So I I think that'll be interesting. Look, I think their D is very strong. I think there's some key turnovers in offense and especially goalie. But I think they are going to be better than what we saw last year.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

I think they're going to be a good, I think they're going to be a good team. I think they got the depth. Again, I like the mixture of the older and the younger players. I think, you know, that senior leadership is still there with Logan Myers and Aaron Williams on the offensive side. Yeah, you're right. They're going to add some new players. But I think they're going to be okay. Yeah, I think what it comes down to, Coach Schema pointed out to run with these teams.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Coach pointed out something very key. All four captains from last year are back. So if that senior leadership can really take the reins with these young guys, that will make the difference.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

And I think those guys know what happened to them last season. I think I think they're going to have a little chip on their shoulder. I think they're going to come out fired up, the Tars this year. I think they got a decent team. I really do. Yes, I agree. I mean, losing John Stone is huge because he was a really he was the kind of player that could put a team on his back. And just take it over and and he meet, man, the kid could shoot.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

But I think what happened was probably sometimes last year when they had some of those injuries. Everyone could defense is good key on Jack Johnstone.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Yeah. Right? No, definitely. It led to, you know, the the injuries led to six consecutive losses for them. Yeah. And that's not like a Rollins team that I've ever seen, ever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

All right. Let's go through their. Yeah, I agree. Let's go through their out-of-conference quickly. They play Florida Southern, an in-conference, out-of-conference game. Lenore Ryan, Flagler. They do Palm Beach Atlantic the same way. Then they have Meryville. They end up out of conference with Maryville and Lewis.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Yeah, but they're they host LR and they're at Flagler, at Meryville, at Lewis. Yeah. So they're taking a trip out to the Midwest. Yeah. So that's not going to be easy. No, it's going to it's great. That's a great out-of-conference schedule for them. It is. It is. I like what Coach Lewis does there in Metro Park. So I think I think the Tars are going to be just fine.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

I agree. I agree. Let's go to another team that did not have their usual season last year. And that's the Mox of Florida Southern.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Oh, you want to go to the Mox? I had them all the way last, dude. You got to go in order. Well, then you losses.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

I had this is how I had it in my list.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

Who do you want to go with? Your list is messed up. All right, we'll go with the Florida Southern. I got to go all the way to the end. Listen, this team was 3-11. All right. Let's start in the beginning. Marty Ward, the Southern, let's start again. The Mocks from Florida Southern. Coach Marty Ward.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

Discombobulated.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Yeah, it's that scotch you're drinking. Lakeland, Florida. Did you know? Kevin, a little bit of trivia for you for uh the Florida Southern Mox. Did you know that many of the buildings are Frank Lloyd Wright? You bastard. You you bastard.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

You know how I knew that? My son was recruited by them, and he went down and looked at it, and that's how I know that.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Yeah, a lot of the buildings were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and I thought that was pretty cool. It is really cool. So uh yeah, three and eleven last year, not the season that they were looking for. One and six in conference. In conference. They just couldn't put it together last year, Kev.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

They had four one goal losses, two of them in overtime. They took Tampa to overtime in the last game of the season.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Yes, that was a good game. Very good game.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

I was rooting for them, heart and soul, for them to win that game. Not because I'm against Tampa, but look at Tampa was running the table. They hadn't lost. It wasn't gonna, if they lost a game, it still wasn't gonna hurt Tampa. Florida Southern wasn't how the season you received from Florida Southern. So I really wanted to see the Mox win that game and Tampa, because Tampa's Tampa pulled it out.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Yeah, well, Florida Southern came back at the end. Yeah. Hit for like four or five goals, made it a one-goal game. There was like a minute left. Chiz wins the face-off but couldn't secure it. The ball went up and down the sideline. It was in this one's cross, that one's cross, and got finally got kicked out of bounds, and it went Tampa's way. Or else Chiz almost came up with the with the uh the face-off in the final minute. They had their chance. That was some game. But again, not the season. They just, whatever it was, Kev, I can't put my finger on it. I can't say it's one particular thing.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

I think I don't think they got their production out of some of the key guys that they had in years past. Guys like Roboshow and and Flam Matt Flamenspec. Not that they had bad seasons, but they just didn't get the same production they did the year before. Do you see what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 27:54

They only averaged about 10 goals a game. Which is not like a Rollins team either.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

Yeah, not their typical offense. They they didn't have I mean, look at their top scorer had 26 goals and seven assists, Maddox Walton. A total of 33 points. That's not typical for a Mox team on the offensive side.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

Again, I I I can't put my finger on it. This team just didn't produce well on the field. It just whatever it was. You know, they were they were good in some games, but they just couldn't get over the hump in some of them, and just whatever. They just couldn't. And this team went was great the year before. Yeah. And all of those guys came back. It was pretty much the same team.

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Right. And that was what I saw. Maybe you saw him a lot of times. They had some freshmen in there last year on offense. He was trying to mix it up. It was like he just couldn't get the right mix on offense that was going to score. I mean, they lose on offense, number two Bryden Robershow, and Matt Pan Lamon Speck, as long as as well as number four, Carton Valencourt. But they do return, like I said, Maddox Walton, their number one scorer. Number three, Nolan Ty. He's a really good player. And number five, Jack Epley. So they've got a core returning.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Oh, yeah. On offense. Yeah. Epley's a senior this year. Walton's a junior this year. Ty is a senior this year. You know, they put up like, you know, seven, sixty points between the three of them. Junior Midi Grant Onstead comes back. Uh Jacob Chiz comes back.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

So that's the key. They get Jacob Chiz back. I think what they're probably their biggest loss is their goalkeeper. Mikey Simone. Mikey Simone.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Mikey. Mikey Octopus arms. Yeah. He's got the longest arms I've ever seen, man. Yeah, he was, and he was really good in goal. You know, I think that's gonna be that's the question I have. That's the question. But you know what? They do return some good guys and some, you know, pretty, pretty experienced guys, man.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

Yeah, if you look at on the defensive side, Alex Hahn, junior defender.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Alex Hahn, 6'6, 220 pounds out of Powell, Ohio. 26 crab balls and 13 calls turnover. Yeah. That man is a diesel, 6'6, 220.

SPEAKER_02 30:34

And then they've got two junior LSMs, Will Rockwell and Charlie Fisher, that come back. Yeah. And graduate D Pole Mitchell Wallace, who started all 14 games last year. So look at, I think they've got all the pieces. Last year I said that D was questionable. I think their defense is solid, and even their offense brings a lot back. Yeah. They've got core on both sides, and they bring back Jacob Chiz. Yep. The question you just said it. You said it before. My question mark is the same thing: goalie.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Yep. They're going to have to fill that goalie spot. You know, they average 41 shots per game. Very admirable. Their man up was at 18%, not too bad.

SPEAKER_02 31:13

That's yeah, not where they've been in the past.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Chiz was 62% at the face-off with the face-off guys there. And they clear at 84%, 85%. They could probably clean that up a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 31:24

That was down from where they've been before. 85% is still really good. I wouldn't say it's bad, but not the level that they were at.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

You want to be at 88, 89, 90%. Yeah. You know what I mean? You want to be up there. So they got some things to work on. I think they got a good core coming back. I agree with you about the core coming back. I think they're going to win more than three games, Kev. I think.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

Yeah. I cannot see a Florida Southern team do this that this two years in a row. I just don't see it. They're going to be they're going to be contenders. I think they can they can really play.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

I want to see them play. I want to see what they can do. What they come out and start doing right away. Like they gotta make noise right away.

SPEAKER_02 32:13

Right. And you know. Look, but look they're out of conference. Did you see that?

SPEAKER_01 32:19

No, hit me. Hit me, baby.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

They start off with Rollins, then they play Wingate, St. Leo, Flagler, and Rockhurst. And then they go Adam State in Grand Junction, Colorado on March 3rd, and then they play Colorado Mesa in the same spot March 5th. Marty. Except for Adam State. That's a ball buster of an out-of-conference game.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Wow, Marty. That's a wow. Yeah. Go get them, kid. It's going to be something else. Get through that little gauntlet of out-of-conference, and then you gotta start start Florida, you know? Start playing the AI.

SPEAKER_02 33:05

The only saving grace in some of those, they play Rollins and they play St. Louis, so they get to play him twice. So they've already seen them. Maybe that will help them. If they lose the first time, now they know what they have to do the second time. If they lose.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Yeah. So I think they'll win more than three games for sure. That's some crazy out-of-conference schedule.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

I agree. All right. All right. Who do you want to go to next? Who's next on your list?

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Well, it would have been the Lynn Fighting Knights.

SPEAKER_02 33:29

All right, let's go there. I didn't change them around this time. I should have. I got lazy. This is the my my same same way I did it last year. I love Boca Raton, Florida.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Boca Raton. You know what that means, Kev, in Spanish?

SPEAKER_02 33:46

What is that?

SPEAKER_01 33:47

The mouth of the rat. The mouth of the rat. That's what it means. Coach Mark Miller, 10-5 last year. Not bad. Good season. 5-2 in conference. Great season in conference. Signature wins. A 13-4 win over Conference Carolina Champs North Greenville.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

And a 14-7 win over Rollins. But then they lost to Rollins in the tourning.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

By one in the semis. This was quite the turnaround for them from 2024. It was the mirror image. So they were 5-10 and 2-5, and now they're 10-5 and 5-2. Really, really good season for the Lynn Fighting Knights.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

And their defense was great last year. They only gave up nine goals a game. Their defense was very, very good last year.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

And you look at their team stats, really solid. Faceoff at 52%, man up at 26%, clear at 87%. Just like we said, you want to be at that 87% and above, and that's where they were.

SPEAKER_01 34:51

Solid team. Solid team last year. They lose a boatload of starters, Kev. Boatload. Who do they lose? Brian Hoskins, Connor Houston, Ethan McKinley, face off Cameron Santos, and three defenders, Matt Conito, Braden Dappern, and Jake uh Podmil Podmilsack? Podmilsack.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Pommelsack, yep.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:18

Dude, that's a lot. Yeah, they lose, especially on D, they lose three D poles. Like you said. But look at on offense. You mentioned they lose Brian Hoskins and Conor Houston, but they're returning number two Jackson Cutter, number three, Mitch Rini, number five, Mario Leone, and then Don Verati and Nick Callary. Now remember, Nick came from Barton, the brother of Matt Caleri. So he was a transfer. Didn't have a great season last year, 10 goals, nine assists, but he is a player too. So they've got a lot of coming back on offense. I think it's on the defensive side. Look at they are returning junior deep Zach Sagati, who started 12 games. And then sophomore LSM Noah Geese or Geis, 18 ground balls and 14 cost tournaments. So they've got a few on D. I think that's where their challenge is going to be on the defensive side. They are returning goalkeeper Hunter Klosterman at 59%.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

Very good goalie.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

Came from Anderson, now over at Lynn. And their backup used to be the former starter, Tristan Leonard. That's right. So until Hunter Klosterman came over. Really good. And you look, okay, look at you said Carmen Santos, our face-off guy, is no longer there. Jack McKay returns. He was at 52%, but he only had 82 takes. I was gonna say. So is that really enough to say, okay, you're really at 52%? He's gonna take the bulk of it.

SPEAKER_01 36:53

Yeah. I saw my question was like, does he get the start or does Coach bring some some face-off kids in? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Well, I hope he does. I hope he has more than one, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 37:04

You know what? Like, I like some of these kids like numbers. Like, you know, Jackson Cutter had 15 goals, 16 assists for 31 points. That's a solid season. You know where he's from?

SPEAKER_03 37:13

Where?

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Highland Ranch, Colorado, Kev. How did he escape? Yeah, I don't know. Smart man. He went to Florida. So he's a smart man. And you know, senior attack Mitcherini had 31 points as well. He was a third team, third team all conference last year. Like, pretty good player. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 37:33

If you look at their numbers, there's not a player that really jumps out. Even their number one and number two from goals and assists, but they're all contributing, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

That's what, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

You look at it, their number one scorer they lost, Brian Hoskins, 17 goals, 16 assists. Then Connery Houston, 19 goals, 11 assists that they also lost. They're all liking that, you know, the teens for goals and the teens for assists.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

Yeah, very, very balanced, you know, between you know, goals and assists. Even in the backups in the second group that came in. Yeah. Same thing. 19 goals, 13 assists, 15 goals, 17 assists. Pretty solid, you know. So I think the Knights will have some new faces on defense. There's 40 on the roster. I counted 20 freshmen, Kev. So we might see some, you know, new faces maybe on the short stick D midside. Let's see what happens, you know? But uh Lynn has always been one of those scrappy teams. You know what I mean? Just never think, don't think you're gonna walk in against a fighting night Lynn team and just walk all over them. They're gonna they're gonna jab and they're gonna throw upper hook uh uppercuts and right hooks. They're a scrappy little team.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

As you recall, when since we've been doing this, they kind of were trending upward.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

A little bit of a coach for them.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

They're a real head coach left. Mark Miller, who was the assistant, took over. They had a little bit of a dip for a few years and had some trouble. Even when they were under 500, they were still a good team, but they just couldn't, they just didn't seem like they're competing. And I think they're back over that hump.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

I think you know, Klosterman and goal is really good for them. Yeah, close to 60%, dude. Like, you know, it's pretty solid. So I think I think I think the Knights are gonna be a pretty solid team. I'm liking what I see in the Sunshine State conference so far, Kev.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

Yeah, I agree. There's gonna be they're gonna have several in the top 20. It's gonna be tough for me when I do the top 20 of like who is not in the top 20 when we we're looking at some of these teams. All right, who do you have next?

SPEAKER_01 39:41

Hey, let's go to the St. Leo Lions because they're next in wins and losses. The Lions. Coach Brad Jorgensen. They're located in St. Leo, Florida, which is like right next to Zephyr Hills, which is about maybe 30 minutes from Tampa area. Not too far.

SPEAKER_02 40:06

A little farther northeast, right?

SPEAKER_01 40:07

Yeah, no, it's it's southwest of them, I think. Southwest.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

Well, we our geography's off today. You say southwest, I say northeast. I haven't looked it up recently. I'm just making shit up.

SPEAKER_01 40:19

You can get I on i4 and be at Disney in about 50 minutes. It's not a bad place to go to school. I think Brad Jergensen is a great coach. I think what he does at St. Leo is really good. I mean, he gets really good players there. He puts out great teams year in and year out.

SPEAKER_02 40:37

And this is what's interesting about last year. They were 9-7 and then 3-4 in conference. But this is another team, Danny, that got riddled by injuries, starting off with Greg Palmer, who was lost for their season, their number one scorer from 2024, gone. Yeah. They had to face a lot of adversity throughout the season of players that got injured.

SPEAKER_01 41:03

Yeah, they did. They started out on fire.

SPEAKER_02 41:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

I mean, the first quarter of the season, they were just look at St. Leo. They are just plowing through and they looked good doing it. And then they got hit with that injury bug, and they wound up losing six out of their last seven, Kev.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

You know, I I think that you know that here was a team that was just playing so well, playing with confidence, had the depth, everything was going great. Boom. Two, three injuries to key players, and your leading scorer. That that that's a tough, tough obstacle to overcome.

SPEAKER_02 41:46

It really is. And so you look at them still being over 500, and now you turn to this year. They, Danny, are loaded for bear. They have so much seniors and experience coming back. I agree. They lose no one on offense, Danny. Senior attack Greg Palmer comes back from injury. Number their number one scorer was another senior attackman, Aiden Nachin, is back. He had 28 goals and 28 assists. First team all conference. He also, Danny, was sidelined from tournament play when they got to the tournament level because of concussion protocol. So you lose another guy. You lose John Rauchy, number three in their scorer. Rauchie, yep. Rauchy Tibby a fracture last year.

unknown 42:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:36

Senior minute. He's a senior minute. You got your man. Mr. Nealon.

SPEAKER_01 42:42

I love that kid.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

Number two score last year. He's a senior attack. So you've got senior attack, Greg Palmer, senior attack, Aiden Unchin. See, senior attack, Tom Nealon, all returning.

SPEAKER_01 42:55

That's right. And junior attack, Braden Steelwagon, comes back too. Listen, this is a lethal and seasoned veteran attack squad that can go four or five deep, Kev.

SPEAKER_00 43:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

They're good. They are going to be one ridiculously lethal attack unit.

SPEAKER_02 43:19

You would think you would also think made with that many have some of them coming out of the box.

SPEAKER_01 43:26

That's where they this is where they get good because now they can start playing, playing like that. You know what I mean? Yeah. So and and even the midfield is stacked and seasoned with Rauchy, Ben Baker, Jack Krug. I mean, Jesus, man.

SPEAKER_02 43:44

Then you look at their defense. They lose Short Stick Demony, Carson Bulger, and D Pole Shane Jones, but they're returning senior D defender Jimmy McConagall, senior defender J JD Henninger, and senior D Owen Wills, along with senior. Short stick D mini, James Davies, who had 54 ground balls and 18 cost turnovers last year.

SPEAKER_01 44:07

Yeah, he was all confidence. McGonagall was first team all Sunshine State. Hanninger had 24 ground balls and 19 cost turnovers. But let me tell you something. Owen Wills, I'm telling you, he's he's probably the best defender in the country, in my opinion. In my opinion. I think he's the best defender in the country. I don't think there's anybody, a defender as fast as him. I don't think there's any defender in the country that's as aggressive with the stick as he is.

SPEAKER_03 44:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:46

I don't know if there's another defender that can clear with the pole in his hand as good as the kid. That kid was sick last year. 60 ground balls, 34 cars turnovers. Dude, he's super fast, super athletic, super high IQ. He's just got the gift, man. He's got it.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

Yeah, yeah, he's really good. Now add into it.

SPEAKER_01 45:10

He's the kind of guy that offensive coaches have to game plan for. He's that good.

SPEAKER_02 45:18

How do you get to the ball on the other side away from Drew? Yeah, away from Owen Wills.

SPEAKER_01 45:22

Right. You're going to have to game plan. That's how good he is. He he might be, in my opinion, he might be the best. Yeah. I mean, he's up there with the Carter Link letters and the Reese Bowers and the Peyton Farley's of the world out there. Man, he's up there with them.

SPEAKER_02 45:42

And then you add in goalkeeper Drew Wheeler coming back. He was 51% last year, 10.7 goals against average, but he played the entire season on a torn ACL and meniscus, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

What a trooper. What a warrior.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

I mean, they are just stacked. I mean, the only thing I said, my last thing was watch out for the Lions this year.

SPEAKER_01 46:09

Yeah, Drew Wheeler at 50%. And the face-off kid. He's from Beauford, Georgia, Andrew Graham. Took 350 face-offs last year. That's so crazy. That's like holy crap. And he was at 56%, man. Kids are workhorse. Let me tell you something. This is a well-coached seasoned squad with some outstanding lacrosse players that have multi-years of playing together with chemistry. Yeah. That means a lot. It goes a long way. These guys have been playing together for a couple of years now. Solid on special teams. They have depth in and their schedule is gonna test them and get them ready for Chun Show State play, if you ask me to the Lions this year, man.

SPEAKER_02 46:57

If you look for the long game, he's got so many seniors starting, you almost think he's gotta get some underclassmen in there just to get some playtime for next year because he's got so many players that are seniors this year that are so damn good.

SPEAKER_01 47:15

It'd be great to have that problem.

SPEAKER_02 47:17

Yeah, no kidding.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

That's a problem every coach would love to have. No kidding. You know, he's got a good team this year. I I mean, even last year I thought they were really good. Yeah, and I even said 100%, you know, like about three-quarters of the way into the season before Rauchy got hurt. I said, this team has got the inside track for the championship of the Sunshine State Conference. I remember saying that on the podcast. I remember that too. You know, I said, this team's got the inside track. I don't see anybody playing at that level in there that they were. And then they got hurt, and those injuries, and then boom, like I said, they lost six out of their last seven. And it just kind of it hurt, it hurt the season, but I think they're gonna be I think they're loaded for bear, kid. What do you think? They are.

SPEAKER_02 48:06

They are. Let's go through their out of conference for 2026, just so everyone knows what that is. That's Lincoln Memorial in Georgia, Alabama, Huntsville, Montevallo, Florida Southern, Catawa, Flagler. Then they go to Meryville in St. Louis on the 14th of March, and then they play Lewis in St. Louis on the 16th of March. Yeah. Once again, another great out of conference. And I think this is one of the out-of-conferences that just continues to build and build.

SPEAKER_01 48:41

Yeah, Catawba's gonna be a better squad. You know that. Yeah, Monte Valo, they're gonna be really good. Yeah, we talked about them. We we talked about them already. They're gonna be a they're gonna be a squad to watch. I really do believe so. Florida Southern, I think they have a lot of guys coming back. That should be a good game. The Flagler game is gonna be a great game between these two teams rushed last year.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

And then you look at Maryville and Lewis.

SPEAKER_01 49:06

It's it's a good schedule for St. Leo. And then they come back and start Sunshine State play, uh, yeah, conference play. So I think Coach Jurgensen's got himself a stack squad. What do you think? I agree.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

I agree. When I look at when I did this, I put them underneath Tampa. And I only put them underneath Tampa because Tampa is Tampa.

SPEAKER_01 49:27

Well, on paper, Tampa's still a pretty much a better team. Right. On paper. Right. But that doesn't mean that St. Leo can't beat them. That's not what I'm saying. I agree. No, I agree. I agree. I just, you know, I just like what I see on paper with St. Leo. And like I said, these kids have been playing together for a while now. And they know each other. They know where they're going to be.

SPEAKER_02 49:53

And that's so important.

SPEAKER_01 49:54

It is. It really is. It really is. Especially in this conference. There's no really shitty teams. Exactly. The most, you know, more than half of the teams are above 500.

SPEAKER_03 50:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:07

In this conference. So it's a tough conference. So if you want I think St. Leo's going to be tough.

SPEAKER_02 50:14

All right. Well, where are we going next on your schedule there?

SPEAKER_01 50:18

Daytona, man. We're going to Daytona.

SPEAKER_02 50:21

That's what I figured. I wanted to make sure though, before I yelled it out.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

We're going to Emery Riddle, the Eagles. Another, another legend, Coach John Jez. Yeah. Eagles are in Daytona, Kev, 9-7 last year. Four and four in conference, but that nine-and-seven record was the first winning season in program history. How about that for Coach Jez to get them going, right?

SPEAKER_02 50:49

Here's what I would say about what Coach Jez is building there and what we've seen with this team. They don't jump like Lynn did from 5-10 to 10-5. But every year they incrementally improve. And they're building for the long haul. They improve their overall record and the conference record. Look at they beat North Greenville, Florida Southern, Newberry, Malloy, Florida Tech, and they beat St. Leo twice. Now we know St. Leo was injured, so they had a really, really good season.

SPEAKER_01 51:28

That's a tough schedule. Yeah. You know? They lost to Flagler, Anderson, and Tampa twice. Okay. All of those guys were ranked. Newberry was ranked, they beat him. Malloy was ranked. They beat him. Yeah. St. Leo was ranked. They beat him. Emory Riddle really started to put things together. What Coach Jez has done, like you said, incrementally, has built this team up. You know, and they've I thought they had a really pretty good season last year. They had their first All-American in program history in Christian Hoffer. So they had good things going on. I remember when Coach Jez took the job, and I said they instantly got better. He he just stepped on the campus. He didn't even have a practice yet. I said, that team just instantly got better. And I said, because of John Jezz, just from him being there, that team is going to improve because of the coach that he is.

SPEAKER_02 52:29

I agree. I think he talked about it last year with us. It's a different kind of school. It's an aeronautical engineering school. They've got a lot of other things on their plates, like flight schedules and just engineering itself. It's not easy. It's like Lewis. It's like UAH. But he is building this slowly and he's doing it the right way. You look at some of their stats, their team stats. Look at the man up was 40% last year. Faceoff was only 43%, but that was still better than the year before. And their clears were up at 86%. So they're doing well. They lost the ground ball war and they were creating more turnovers than their opponents, but they're closing the gap on that as well. Like I said, it's the incremental improvements as he's building what he thinks he needs. He told us last year that they weren't there yet, that they were not going to be there yet. But look at the season they still have with a nine and seven record.

SPEAKER_01 53:28

Oh, great, great season. I think they played really well. Again, they lose Christian Hoffer and Pete Abbas, but they bring back their leading score. Uh senior Tim Keefe, 21 goals, 20 assists. He was an all-American honorable mention there for them. They bring back Trey Green, 29 goals. Leo Milletto, 17 goals. Lucas Anthony, 13 goals. I expect this attack unit to be pretty lethal with the returners and some younger guys that saw action and contributed. Yeah. I think they're going to be pretty good. And their midfield's pretty solid. They could lose, use a little bit more scoring from the midfield.

SPEAKER_02 54:06

Yeah, they've most of their top scores were in the on the attack side, but if they can even that out on the midfield side, that would be great. Now they they lose a little bit on the defensive side with Nolan Carfania, Trevor Nidwicky, and LSM Hudson Kirk, but they uh they do return short stick D mini, Giacomo Kamuzi, short stick D mini, Luke Barber. And he is a transition guy. He had 35 ground balls, Danny, and eight caused turnovers, seven goals, and one assist. Coach says this is a guy to watch out for. And then they've got two LSM slash D polls, Vinny Spoladero and Bobby Sir returning. So they've got some good, good players coming back. Their roster now. It's the other thing that coach talked about. Their roster is up to 50 this year. So I just see more improvement. You know, can they go and will they knock it out of the park in the Sunshine State Conference? I don't know, but I think they're going to be in the hunt.

SPEAKER_01 55:17

Yeah, I think they're going to be a solid team. I think they're going to be not an easy out. Again, Coach Jez is a good coach and he knows how to coach lacrosse. He's been doing it a long time, and he's been really successful everywhere he's gone and everything he's done. You know, just what he's been able to do in the in the couple of years that he's been here is amazing. I mean, first winning program, first All-American, first honorable mention, All-American. You know, a decent, you know, I like the midfield unit with Christopher Harper, you know, Luke Barber, Shortstick D. Mid. You know, he Kelly Paget, Kellen Padgett, rather. I mean, they got players there that have a lot of experience. I like the 6'2 freshman, Alex Zuber from Collierville, Tennessee. He ran out face-off, and then senior Andrew E. Wall, 43%. Lose a little senior D to uh leadership on D, but I think they're gonna be good. Air conference schedule?

SPEAKER_02 56:21

Out of conference schedule, they go Flagler, Montevallo, UAH, Anderson. They're playing them in Jacksonville, Florida.

SPEAKER_01 56:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 56:33

Concordia, North Greenville, and Lander in Savannah, Georgia in a neutral site. Wow. That's a good, that's a good, that's a good schedule. It's a good schedule.

SPEAKER_01 56:43

That's a very good schedule.

SPEAKER_02 56:45

I mean, I put that I put Emory Riddle right in the mix of all those teams, very comparable to a lot of them.

SPEAKER_01 56:51

Nine and seven. I like the 51 on the roster. I love the 21 freshman number. That's a great number for Emory Riddle. You know, they're usually at like seven, eight, nine, freshman, ten. You know, he went out and got guys. He's a uh, I just I expect this team, you know, to even improve a little bit in numbers. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know about wins and losses, but I bet you their numbers get better. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 57:22

I think they will. I mean, I and I think what that finally starts to equate to, we've talked about this before, doesn't always equate to wins the first year, but you keep improving the numbers, it does equate to wins sooner or later.

SPEAKER_01 57:33

That's right. You're a hundred percent. Can they go five and three in conference? I think they can. Yeah. You know, can they win 10 games? I think they could. Yes. You know, I think they could, but I think again, the Eagles are going to be a tough squad in the Sunshine State. I think for whoever they play, out of conference. I like the out-of-conference. Montevallo, UAH Anderson. That's, you know, that's good.

SPEAKER_02 58:01

It's a good, good schedule.

SPEAKER_01 58:02

Yeah. I think John Jazz is a great coach. A lot of respect for him.

SPEAKER_02 58:07

Right. Now, now, where do you want to move to after we go? I'm going to guess you're going to Florida Tech Panthers.

SPEAKER_01 58:15

Panthers of Florida Tech. Brad MacArthur, our buddy. In Melbourne, Florida, Kev. Yeah. 6-10, 2-6 in conference. Signature wins, 14-9 win over North Greenville, and a really good 10-9 win over Colorado Mesa. Um, the team kind of, I think, didn't play to its potential.

SPEAKER_02 58:46

Here's what I would say is they had lost some really key offensive players the year before going into 2025. So they had some they had some room to make up. And they just could not get over that hump. Over that hump, excuse me. So we'll see what they can do this year. They return five of their six leading scores. They lose their number one scorer, Jacob Turpak. But this is another team, Danny, that's not like they don't have a guy that's really producing a lot. They're all fairly close. Like junior attack, Joe Kovaleski at 18 goals, 11 assists. Senior MIDI, Thomas Strong, 16 goals, 7 assists. And it goes on like that. Sophomore attack, Jack Cornwell returns. Senior attack, Gavin Stetcher returns. So they've got guys, and then junior midi, Brooks Van Esselston. They've got a bunch of guys. No one player dominates, but that could be a good thing again, just like we talked about with St. Leo, if they continue to distribute the ball.

SPEAKER_01 59:47

Yeah, I think where they had the biggest problem last year was that face-off. They struggled at face-offs. They struggled to get possessions. You know, they played a lot of defense last year. Them boys, them defense were on the field a lot. That's why we didn't get the offensive production that we usually get out of Florida Tech.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:05

Well, they also, and then you add in their man up only at 18%. That doesn't help you either.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:10

Like again, offensively, they struggled the last year. The midfield needs to score more. You need to have that balance between midfield and attack, you know? They need to score more than 16 goals. Right. You know, you need a midi that can throw 25-30, 30, you know, 25 to 30 goals up there. Somebody that, and and maybe a MIDI that can get more than like eight assists, draw the double, and find the open man. So they need a little help at midfield. I think they have some questions at short stick D mid. They could use some, they could use that breakout guy, like we were just saying, you know. They could use a breakout guy.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:50

Yeah. Now the good news in on the defensive side is they are returning goalkeeper Jax Francisco. He was at 50%. He's very, very solid between the pipes for them. But look at, like you said, Danny, they only had 34.1 shots per game and only 10.4 goals per game. So getting that production up is going to be important. And I'm what I'm looking at is I don't see they return a couple guys on D, senior defender Steve Ulrich, and senior defender Garrick Gminer. But there's still some question marks for me on the defensive side.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:26

Me too. Me too. I agree. I agree. And they don't take care of The Rock either. They average 18 turnovers a game. So they have they have a couple little holes to fill, I think, that the Panthers. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:41

I agree. I my note was in a question. Can they, like you talked about face-off for possessions? Can they increase their face-off wins? And can they find someone or get more production out of the offensive side? Can they find some young guys that can produce? Some guys that we're not seeing right now that come off the sheet. Even on the defensive side, I I did not write this, but my worry is I don't see a real strong defense. Now that's looking at the stats. There's more than just the stats, and maybe I'm not seeing the thing. So I think they always have a pretty good defense. But look at that's where they've got to really make their their move. They've got to change the goals per game and the goals against African. They need to flip that a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:26

Yeah, I agree. You know, they lost to Lynn by one, they lost to Rollins by one. They lost to Emory Riddle by two, and Mercy by three. So they were competitive, just couldn't, you know, had had struggled, struggled at face off. You know, played a lot of defense and struggled to score goals. I think they're, again, my question is that short stick D mid and offensive midfield. I think they could use that breakout guy, that one guy that can just light shit up 20, 25, 30 goals for them. Yeah. And take off, you know, the defensive pressure. You know what I mean? So I think the Panthers have a little bit of work to do. I agree.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:10

So now let's move on. Last team, I think, Dan, am I correct? You are correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:18

The Palm Beach Atlantic Sandle Fish. New coach, Ked. You had him on. Dan Carson. A lot of energy in this guy. Yeah. West Palm Beach. Who wouldn't have a lot of energy if you had a job in West Palm? Like that guy. I liked his energy. I did too.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:42

He took over for Brett Bernardo, who took over for Jesse Venata. They've had a little bit of a turnover in the coaching realm. I think Dan Carson, when we talked to him, he was a kind of guy like, I'm not moving. I'm staying. I brought my family down here. Extended family's down there. He's ready to go. Their record last year was four and seven and then one and six in conference. But that does not really indicate. And we talked about this with him when we had him on the coaching carousel. Doesn't really indicate what they could do on the field. They lost to number 19 Lynn by 1-8-9. They beat number 15 St. Leo. Their problem was they won first their first three games and then they lost six in a row. And they just couldn't get to that 500 level. No. But they were competitive. They were more competitive than they had been in years past, in my opinion. And their problem was on goal.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:42

In goal. They had players that could play. I mean, their attack unit was decent. Their midfield unit was decent. Problem was in goal. He couldn't stop much. He had problems seeing the ball. But he's gone. Brendan Pettish, he's left. So they're going to fill that hole. Like they got a lot of guys returning. Attack Patrick Law, 19 goals, 9 assists. Attack Cooper Porter, 14 goals and 3 assists. Attack Bryce Downs, 10 goals and 3 assists. Again, not crazy amount of goals, but guys contributing. Midfield, uh Keegan Southern, 17 goals, 9 assists. Now they lose him.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:24

They lose him and Curtis Goddard.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:27

Two midfields. Curtis Goddard, I know. I thought Lachland came back. Midfield, Dominic Burnshaw, nine goals last year. The defense, Tucker Reggins comes back, 13 ground balls, 15 cost turnovers. Not a bad season.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:43

I don't think they lose anyone on D, Danny, from what I can tell.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:46

Nick Johnson, the Kellenberg high school kid, Kev. There you go. Love those Firebirds from Kellenberg, the Firebird kid. He had 13 ground balls and eight cost turnovers. Defenting Ethan Story. 6'4, 205. 20 ground balls, 11 cause turnovers. Their face-offs guys come back, two of them. Dallas Paul Pullium from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Kevin's at 52%. And Colin D'Lo was at 55%. So nice, nice group of guys coming back for a new coach.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:30

Right. This is what I said. They have a very solid foundation returning on both the defense and the offensive side. Faceoff is solid. Goalkeeper is the question. They've got uh Vincent Probst who's returning, and they've got a Bellerman transfer, Jack Bryant. We'll see where that goes. Look at it. They can only go up, really. I think if you look at on paper all these different teams in the Sunshine State, I still think that Palm Beach Atlantic is going to be trailing this year in these things. But I think with Coach Carson's enthusiasm, what he brings, I think they may surprise some people.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:20

Well, look at their team numbers. They only they averaged 11 goals a game. They gave up 13. That's in the goalie. Alright? They averaged 39 shots a game. Not bad, not great, not bad. Yeah, that's that's pretty good. Man up was at almost 50%, Cap. Yeah. Their face-off was at 51%. Yeah. They won the ground ball war against their opponents, and they caused more turnovers than their opponents caused against them. That's solid. 100%. So let's get a couple of freshmen in there. Let's see what we can get depthwise. Come up with a new offensive scheme. Coach Carson. And his he's got a lot of pedigree. Yeah. You know, he's got that D1 been around.

unknown 1:08:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:14

He knows he knows.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:15

And look at their roster's at 40 players this year. So it's not like they're they're hurting. They've got some depth. They just have to put it together. I always think, you know, you got to give the new coach a little extra time, and I think this will still be work in progress.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:31

I always say four years.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:33

Yeah. This is going to be work in progress still, but I think like you you just said it, Danny. There's a lot of positive things about this team. They just didn't end up on the winning side of the ledger a lot. Now, the only thing I think they really need to work on is clears. They're only at 81%. They they've got to work on that some more. But there's some really positive things with this team.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:59

I I agree. I agree. Like I said, those numbers are kind of solid. Um they were kind of young. You know, they were rather young. They struggled to score goals. There was inconsistent play during the season, but with a new coach who's enthusiastic with a new culture and a new offense and new defense, and with the positives in all those categories that we just discussed, I think Coach Carson's got a chance to turn this program around a little bit. Their out of conference is pretty good. Very good. At Lees, and you know Lees is going to be a tough team this year. At Barton.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:33

What I have is they're playing both games at Barton. They're playing Lees McRae on the sixth. They turn around and play Barton on the seventh.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:40

Wow. Back to back.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:43

Then they go.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:44

Yeah, Flagler. Then they host Westminster.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:50

Then they're at UAH. Then they host Rollins in a non-conference game. And then they play Colorado Mesa in Tampa. And then they open up uh Sunshine State uh play when they host St. Leo. So they got Lees Barton, Flagler, Westminster, UAH, Rollins, and Colorado.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:11

They got Lander also in there on March 1st, yeah.

unknown 1:10:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:14

But it's also interesting.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:18

Well, here's what's also interesting, Danny. They play, just like they play Lees McRae and Barton in two days straight, they do the same thing at the end with Colorado, Mesa, and Montevallo in Tampa. They play Mesa on the 14th and they turn around on the 15th and they play Montevallo. That's not easy.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:38

No, that's a tough schedule. That's a tough schedule. Yeah. So I'm looking forward. I loved having Coach Carson on. I loved his enthusiasm. I think he brings a lot of pedigree. I I he said to him, he said to him, let's talk to you at the end of the season, see what you're like. Yeah. You know, after your gauntlet of Sunshine State, Tampa's and you know, St. Leo's come rolling through. But I expect good things from Coach Carson. I don't know why. Just get a good feeling from him. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:10

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:12

I think he's the type of coach that kids can relate to. I think he's the type of coach. And again, with this D1 pedigree, I bet you he knows how to get the best out of some of these kids. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:24

I think the critical thing to building this program is getting them back with a stability in the coaching. Now, Brett Bernardo, I think, did a good job. I thought Jesse Venata was doing okay, but they both left only after a year or two. Yeah. You've got to have some stability there, and I think Coach Carson's gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:48

Yeah, let's hope. Let's hope so. Again, I I liked his whole vibe. You know, I love, you know, I really dug his vibe. He was really just very good with us. I just like the way he spoke. I just think he was I just think he's a good guy and a good coach. I mean, he he comes off like that. So I mean, they got a little work to do. Again, a little young. They got to fill that goalie spot, maybe look to get some midfielders that can, you know, look to dodge and score and and and dish dimes. But I think they, like you said, there's only one way to go, and that's up for the sailfish. So in a big recap of the Sunshine State Conference, Kev, Tampa looks like it's gonna be Tampa again. You know, it's just what they do, they just reload. Love St. Leo this year. Yeah. Love this year. I think they're gonna be really good. Rollins, I think they're gonna be tough. Yeah, they're gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:51

And they've got the experience of being there before. St. Leo does too in years past. And I I would put it almost on paper right now, almost in that order.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:04

Yeah, they're they're they're next Tampa St.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:06

Leo Rollins.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:07

Yeah, they're neck and neck. I I I believe. And then, you know, not for nothing. I I like Emory Riddle. Yeah. I think they're going to improve. I think they are, you know. I just think he's got just, you know, a good, strong freshman class with 21 kids come in. Just building that program, man. Just like just reinforcing the steel. You know what I mean? Really like what he's doing. I expect him to be pretty lethal. They got some good attackmen there. Um, Florida Tech got a little work to do, I think. I think they're gonna be better than they were last year. Still think they got some work to do. And the Mox, I don't know, what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:51

I think they're gonna be better than last year. I think Florida Tech and Florida Southern are probably my question marks on like when you always talk about I just want to see them play, I want to see those two teams play. I think uh Lynn is a team that really doesn't they lost more on defense. So I think that's the key thing for them. I think will they be at that 10 and 5 level again when you got teams like St. Leo if they stay healthy and Rollins if they stay healthy? Those are probably the ones I'd say were they may take a game or two from from the Fighting Knights, and they may not be at that same level. They may be more at 9-7 versus 10-5.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:33

You could be very right. You know, again, history shows Lynn has kind of like been a little of a roller coaster, up, down, a little bit, up, not too high, not too low. Yep. You know, a couple of wins here, a couple of losses that maybe they shouldn't have, games that they were in that they shouldn't have been in, you know, that type of thing. But I I like Lynn. I like what they're gonna be doing they're gonna be a good team. The Sunshine State Conference is top to bottom. It just may be the best conference in Division II.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:06

Well, I I don't know if I would go that far, but if I look at things like more than we talked about GLVC and we talked about this from a parity standpoint. Now you're right. If you look at GLVC, there's four teams at the top, and then there's a couple teams below that. I think you're right in that case here with Sunshine State. This is gonna be one of those times because I think even Palm Beach Atlantic can put some scare in these teams. And so you don't know where it's gonna end up.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:40

Just the the conference alone in the last five years has just gotten so much better with lacrosse. Yeah. Like each team is just better at playing the game. They're getting better players there, they're getting better recruits there. They already have really good coaches in place in most of these schools that are doing well. So they got a lot going on, this conference. And what I like about the conference is it's in great weather. It's in Florida, man. How can you freaking go wrong? You know, you turn to the left and there's a whole bunch of palm trees, and you're less than a mile from the beach. It's it's pretty interesting to me. Like I I could and I could see why kids would want to go to school and play lacrosse down there.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:28

Not only that, you're playing high-end lacrosse in that conference.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:32

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:32

And then you we saw by their out-of-conference. It's not like they backed down on anything.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:39

St. Leo's ranked, Rollins is ranked, Florida Southern's been there, you know, that type of thing. Emory Riddle's making moves. You know, just like it's it's top to bottom. It's like how many teams are below 500? One, two, two.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:56

I think they had three last year. Palm Beach, Florida Southern, Florida Tech.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:02

Yeah, that's what I mean. Like two-thirds of the of the conferences above 500.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:07

Yeah.

unknown 1:17:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:08

I don't know if any other conference can really say that. Correct. You you are probably right. You're you're convincing me. So, like, if you look at RPI and numbers and all of the algal rhythm algorithms, I think Sunshine State might be.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:27

Who's having the scotch? Is it me or you?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:29

No, I didn't have anything today. It's been a good boy. But it's been a long week. Tomorrow, Friday. There we go. Might have to celebrate Fridayness. But yeah, so there we go. Great conference. Love the Sunshine State. And I hope to go down there again in an NCAA tournament game again. There we go. Without without the rain, though, this time. Great conference, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:56

All right. Let's move to shout-outs. Do you have any?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:01

Well,

Shout outs

SPEAKER_01 1:18:02

on this Christmas, I just want to give a shout out to all our listeners who each week give us the motivation to do this over and over again. I love you guys. I wish you all everything that you want. Hopefully, Santa brings you everything, and your tree is just filled with presents. And just Merry Christmas and thank you for listening. And that's my shout out.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:26

Well, I have two. I had two shout-outs, but I can't beat that one. So I'll have to save these for another my other ones for another preview.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:33

Oh, don't do that. You got a shout-out. Come on, give me one out of the two.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:37

Two shout-outs. First is to Brett Caps. He was promoted to the head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas. He was the assistant under Jack Spallone.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:48

There we go.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:50

Just a little bit about him. He's the head coach of Keystone College from 21 to 24. He played for Rocky Delfino at Roberts Wesleyan. So he's got a little tree going on there, Rocky Delfino does. So congrats, coach, for being named the head coach of Stack. I think that's really, really great. My other one, I don't know if you've been watching this and seeing this on Instagram, but the Lacrosse Network has booked putting out end of year award nominees for different different segments or different sections or different items. There's two that D2 are in. One is best goalie play. Oh no, Cam Dorfman.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:41

And the cameraman missed the shot.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:44

Yeah. Like we remember we talked about for like 15 minutes on the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:47

What happened? Why are they running onto the field? Did he win? Did he let them go in? You know, and then play skills.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:53

So congrats to him on being nominated. And the other one we talked about at the beginning of the show. Nominated for best game of the year. Tampa against Adelphi. Finals. I voted for both of them as the in the voting, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:12

I would have had I seen that. I didn't see that.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:15

But shout out to obviously, it's great that D2 was recognized. But it's not just because they were recognized because they were D2. They're recognized because they deserve it. That game and that play was well deserved. And I think that's going to take us right from Christmas into the new year. But that, Danny, is the end of this preview.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:39

Yeah, Kev. Merry Christmas to you and the kid. Merry Christmas to you. And the wife.

unknown 1:20:46

Start falling.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:48

Let Elvis take us home. Christmas is my favorite time of year, Kev. And New York City just they do New York, they do Christmas right.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:03

They do Christmas right.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:05

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:06

So Kev, it's been another great year. The 2025 year with you. We got another one before.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:13

One more go before we end the year.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:16

Before we end of the year.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:18

Happy holidays to you, Danny, and Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. And that, Danny, is a wrap. That's a wrap.