Game Time - A look back at week 10 and a preview of Week 11 of the 2022 season

Intro

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's La Cross. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and joining me as always are the Dulcet Tones of my co-host Danny Moran. Hey Danny, how are you doing? I'm doing well. Dulcet tones, huh?

SPEAKER_04 0:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Just listen to you.

SPEAKER_04 0:30

Silky smooth. Well, thank you. Thank you so much. Your voice sounds pretty nice too, actually. How are you doing, Kevin, in Northern Virginia this evening?

SPEAKER_02 0:40

It's a beautiful day here, close to 80 degrees, so it's warming up, just like it's warming up in conference play. Yeah. And you know, before we get into most of the games, we talked last week about the Ohio matchup between Lake Erie and Walsh happening

Week in Review

SPEAKER_02 0:57

this week. But our crack research team missed the New Hampshire state matchup of Franklin Pierce and St. A's, which went into overtime. So I thought we'd start off with that one a little bit. Franklin Pierce against St. Anselm ended up in a 10-9 overtime final with Franklin Pierce pulling it out. This was an intense physical in-state rivalry game and a huge win for the Ravens. You know, this is only the fourth time in history that they beat him. They've lost the last 14 times to him. So to pull this off was a big deal. And so, and it actually set them up. Now they're in fifth place in the conference with Adelphi, Lemoyne, Bentley, and Pace ahead of them. And then St. A's rounds out number six behind them. So this was a huge game. And the way it just was a back and forth battle. The Hawks led 5'3 at half. Then Franklin Pierce uh was still down two going into the fourth, but then they went on a tear scoring three in a row. So now they go up 9-8. And then St. Ace comes back and ties it. Now there was still a lot of time left. There's like five minutes left, and they just battled it out. And then the overtime goal by the Ravens was kind of interesting because it was a pass from Door dodging down the right alley. But he passed it to Nathaniel Giordan, who came on the back side, and no one on defense picked him up on backside. So he was just right on the crease. Wide open. Wide open. CJ Hart couldn't do anything. Yeah. Sounds like a great game. It was it was really good. Um, and you know, Franklin Pierce is quietly at 6 and 2 right now, I think. And you know, so and they've got the interim coach Devin Callahan has them playing really well. Right. You know, they lost a pace over the weekend, but they're still really in the hunt.

SPEAKER_04 3:01

Yeah, they're flying under the radar. They're flying under the radar a little bit there. So good for Franklin Pierce. That was a big win for them, absolutely, over St. A's. You know, St. A's they've lost like four in a row now, or they're there or four out of the last five or so.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

Right, right. So now they came back over the weekend themselves as well, but um, there was another in really intense game, and probably what one of the best games, I think, uh definitely of the season, if not what I've seen in in D2 lacrosse, and that's Seton Hill Mercyhurst.

SPEAKER_04 3:34

That was a great game, and it was cold there, Kev. Those people were bundled up, those people were bundled up. It was cold, but that was a great game. I mean, number six, mercy hearst, and number 19, Seton Hill. You know, it was an 1816 ball game. Um, this was this was a barn burner in the cold, is what I'm um dubbing this one. Yeah, a barn burner in the cold. You know what? The grips jumped out to a really quick lead. They looked very fast and um uh aggressive in the yeah, they were very fast and aggressive in that first quarter, and they jumped out to a 4-1 lead after one, and it looked like Mercyhurst was kind of like in shock a little bit. I don't think they expected such a quick spurt so fast. And then what did the Lakers do? They go on a nice run and scored seven goals in the second quarter, and then so at the halftime, it was 9-8. Yeah, just the the griffs.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

That was a good game, it was a great first half. I kind of looked at you said it exactly right the way Seton Hill came out. I saw this game as a game which really showed how you need to be patient with your game plan because a lot of time left in the game, and the way I saw it, Seton Hill's defense was really winning the matchups again at first. Every time Mercy Hirst was trying to dodge and it was one-on-one, Seton Hill would match them, and they they just it wasn't even they needed to slide that much, they were just doing so well in that first quarter, yeah. They got into the game plan and they didn't make them up right away, but nope, they did it slowly and methodically until, like you said, they broke open a little bit in the second, but it was still a nine-eight game at half, and it was always close.

SPEAKER_04 5:29

Yeah, and but in the third quarter was just them trading goals back and forth, back and forth. A goal, goal mercy, hearse, go seat and hole, go mercy, hearse, go seat and hole. And you know, Lakers went up two to make it 15-13. You know, they went on a little run again, and then the griffs answered right back, and again, at the end of the third, it was a 15-14 game. So now they're going into the fourth at a one-goal game. And what happened? The fourth, the fourth quarter was the same thing. They traded goals back and forth one and one and one and one. And then Jack, uh, Zach Easterbrooks brought the griffs within one to 17-16 with two minutes and 58 seconds left. Yeah, and I'm like, okay, we got this is getting great. Like it just the the excitement of the game just kept building and building. It was almost like a symphony, it just kept building and building and building, like what was gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

The crowd was so great, too. The crowd was awesome. It was senior day for for Mercyhurst, right? But Seton Hill traveled well in this game, too.

SPEAKER_04 6:33

You could hear them. There was over 500 people at that game, according to the attendance records. It was just awesome. It probably you could hear the crowd, probably more than the crowd was amazing. Yeah, and then you know, the Lakers, Jack, you know, Jake Emerson buried his second goal with like little over two minutes left in the game, and that was kind of it. It put it put the Lakers up 18-16, and and and that was a game. And it just, I mean, that was a pick'em game. Kevin, we talked about Seton Hill in the beginning of the season. They were kind of struggling, but you know what? They've been playing really, really good ball. They lost to Mercy by two. I mean, they're playing good ball, even though they're coming up a little short in some of these bigger games. They're they're a team to still be wrecking with Seton Hill, no doubt. Without a doubt.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

I mean, even Coach Ryan admitted that I I emailed him, congratulations, and I said, Hey, that was an awesome game, coach. And he emailed me back and he said, that was a great game for D2. Dot, dot, dot. Glad we won. So he knows how tight it was.

SPEAKER_04 7:43

It was that good. One of the better games I watched all season, Kevin. One of the better ones. It was fun, it was a fun game to watch, very exciting, very fast-paced, up in trading goals. I love those games, those are the best.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

And you know, there was another one like that, and this was in the peach belt with Montevallo against uh Alabama Huntsville. Uah pulls it out 14-13 finally.

SPEAKER_04 8:08

Amazing, amazing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

So that allowed them, it keeps uh Alabama Huntsville at the top of the standings with Lander and Flagler all at 2-0 right now in the peach belt. But it was another interesting game because Montevala went up by four early in the third, and then Alabama Huntsville scored four straight. And then they they kind of at the end of three, they were tied 11-11. Alabama Huntsville scores two to go up 13-11, and then they never relinquish relinquished the lead. Um but it was a it was a great game for Alabama Huntsville, Reed Bender with three goals, one assist, and Brody Phillips with three goals. Just a really good game to watch. Interestingly, Montevallo led most statistics except for the final score. And that was the same thing with Seton Hill against Mercyhurst. Right. You go back to team stats, they led in most of them. Right. And but the team that didn't lean with ended up with the win. That's how close these games were.

SPEAKER_04 9:12

Yeah. And you know, that peach belt, that's it's it's open arms in that peach belt. I mean, any any any team can step in there right now. I like what's going on in that peach belt. I mean, Lander sits on top, but those other teams are beating each other up, looking for that second and and third seed for maybe the tournament there and in their conference. And you know what? I think it's anybody's ball game down there in the peach belt right now.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Yeah, and you look at it, Montevallo, who doesn't have a win yet. Now they're they're they're regular, the rest of their schedule is favorable to them based on overall records of the teams. And so they're gonna have to make a run and then make a run in the tournament to get back at the top like they did last year.

SPEAKER_04 9:55

And and they got what it takes. And that, and then again, that conference is kind of up in the uh up in the air. Any team can kind of beat each other on in the world.

SPEAKER_02 10:06

I think that, yeah, I think that conference tournament is gonna be really fun to watch. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 10:12

You don't know how it's gonna end up. Exactly. We don't know where that could end, and that's what makes it cool. That's what I like about that beach belt conference.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

So, one other game that we could talked about and how big it was gonna be, and it didn't turn out to be close, was Tampa, Florida Southern.

SPEAKER_04 10:28

Yeah, I watched that game.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

Yeah, to me, Tampa had a total team game. I mean, they did not look like and that you just said it, Danny. You just said it with that score. You think it was offense? I think their defense set up their offense.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

Their defense was very good, they were really getting after it. I felt that, you know, the 17-8 score kind of doesn't tell you the whole picture of the game. I felt it was a physical and a fast-paced game. Yeah, these guys, these kids were getting after it, they were knocking each other around. Um, Kevin Horowitz at face off was getting banged around. There, you know, those 50-50 ground balls, it was a very physical evening down there in Tampa. But you know what? Tampa's very good, man. They they just got players for days, and they're all very disciplined, they're good at what they do, they're athletic, they they're in the right spots. Their defense, of course, you know, Blake Ulmer, of course, is a great goalie. He's having a phenomenal year, you know, and he had another 12 saves. I mean, he gets his elbows on balls, he gets his chips, he's just yeah, he's a really good, but that defense.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

Yeah, the the stats played out uh for shows you the defense. So ground balls, Tampa with 34, Florida Southern with 20. Huge turnovers 28 to 12. Tremendous. Cause turnovers was something like 15 to 2.

SPEAKER_04 12:00

Yeah, that's they were they were getting their sticks into people's sticks, they were trail checking, they were doing a lot of good things on the city.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

And here's the last, here's the last stat. If those don't convince you enough uh on how dominated and what their defense did, clears Tampa was 24 for 24, and Florida Southern was 15 out of 20. And that's because of the defense. No doubt.

SPEAKER_04 12:25

And 100. 100%. And you know what, Tampa can score and they can score in punches, but they've been holding teams to like five, six, seven goals. Florida Southern was still able to put eight goals up on them, and that's not a defense that's easy to score goals against. You know, Jane Minor for Florida Southern had three, Flamin Speck had three, and you know what? They're goalie, Max Freestone. I like that goal. No, he's good. He had 17 saves. Yeah, you know, like he had 17 saves again. With all those calls, turnovers, and turnovers, Tampa was getting possession after possession, and Freestone was a rock in the in between pipes. And but even though, like again, that game, that score, that Tampa team is good. They're number one for a reason, Kev. They are really, really good. Fitzpatrick had three, Colin White had three. How about the kid McAnaney, huh? That kid is a player, man. He's a player. Gotta double him team. Whoever's playing Tampa, you gotta double McInney. He's a facilitator.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

You've got to, he, he is, but you've got to pick your poison. They had nine different scores again for Tampa.

SPEAKER_04 13:35

Yeah, I'm gonna try to take McInany out. If I'm a defender, I gotta take him out of the game somehow. I gotta double, I gotta slide to him quickly, maybe even play the five-on-five game. Yeah, and let the and let the other guys play because he's such a good, he's so fast and he's so quick, and he makes such great decisions with the ball. I mean, his passing is ridiculous, but he can shoot the rock too. And you know what? He's not that big. He's not that big. You think a guy that small could get his butt beat out there? Uh-uh. Nobody can catch him. Yeah, he's good. I like that kid. And then Kid Cicini had a good game too. He had two goals. So Tampa, whoever plays Tampa is in for a ball game. It's not gonna be easy. Um, I see them being as a number one seed going into the NCAA tournament, as I see right now.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

I don't see how it's gonna be anything different. I just I just see him winning out. I I I don't see it can happen, but I just don't see it. I just don't, not the way they're playing. I don't know how we saw that last game. I just don't see it.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

And you know what? That's what I'm trying to say. Conference is a good conference. Florida Tech and Rollins is sitting at eight and one, and you have nine and one.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Well, that's where they are right now. I mean, the the it's Tampa, and then the next three teams are all three and one, and their lock is with Tampa.

SPEAKER_04 14:53

Yeah, yeah, but you know what? Rollins is a nationally ranked team. Like, what are they tenth, 11th in the country right now?

SPEAKER_02 14:59

And Florida Southern, Florida Tech are right behind him. I mean, the the point being is that the the problem's going to be that Florida Southern playing Florida Tech, Florida Southern playing Rollins, and we'll get into those games coming up. Right, they're gonna beat each other up, and someone's gonna fall off the table, which is it's which is a damn shame.

SPEAKER_04 15:19

Yeah, yeah. Because all of those teams are really playing good ball. And and we talked about the Sunshine State Conference last year, and we got it. We ate crow, and uh they're just really they're they are proving it to us this year.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Yeah, it's a good conference. This year, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_04 15:35

One of the one of the better ones in B D2, and I look forward to that Sunshine State conference tournament. Yeah, yeah, couple weeks, man. Couple weeks it starts.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Two games that I just have to point out, only because over the weekend they looked like they were gonna be upset for a while. Put some scares in top teams. The first was Assumption against Lemoyne. Lemoyne pulls it out 11-7, but Assumption was in that game until the fourth quarter.

SPEAKER_04 16:06

It was close. What was it? Tied at half?

SPEAKER_02 16:09

I think so. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, and Assumption had the lead for a while in the first half. Wow, wow, and then Lewis Linenwood. 14 to 10 final, but Lewis basically had the lead for most of the game. I think even going maybe into the fourth quarter, they were like up like 9-7 until Linenwood went on a seven-goal tear. So it was 10-7, actually. It was even 10-7, and they went on a seven-goal tear. So it's like we said, any given day. Now it turned out the two top seeds won, but here's Assumption, who has not had a great season so far, and Lewis, who's played pretty well, played very well this year, but have has not put it together in conference play. I think they sit one and three, right?

SPEAKER_04 17:01

But they are dangerous. Yeah, they're a good team, Lewis. They're not a bad team. They sit at seven and six overall. You know, they have a pretty tough schedule. You know, they're not playing patty cake teams. You know, Coach Peruzzi put some good teams on his schedule. They're a young team, and they're gonna take their lumps. But you know what? Like you said, the Lewis was it looked like they were in charge of that game for a for a good portion of that game. Yeah, but you know what? You know, Kev, Lindenwood is a good team, man. You know, and we we haven't really talked about them. I think the last time I can remember speaking about Lou Lou, uh Lindenwood is when we were doing our top 20. Well, you know, the preseason top 20s. We talked about Lindenwood a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

And maybe in a couple games we talked about, but they've been they've been they're probably because they've been hovering right at that nine-10 spot. Yeah. And and they've been quiet. Now we we talked about them when they beat you indie.

SPEAKER_04 18:05

Right, right. But that was it. You know, now Lindenwood sits at nine and two, okay? And there are only two losses number one Tampa, number three Limestone. Right. And if and if you ask Coach Lang, he'll tell you they had a chance to beat Limestone, and they did some bad things at the end of the game, made some critical mistakes at the end of the game, but they were in that game against Limestone. So now here's Lyndonwood sitting at the top of the GLVC now, because they beat Undy. U Indy's got a loss in conference. Nine and two, the only two losses come to top three ranked teams, top three. This team, right now, as it sits right now, and they have a pretty favorable schedule as well. But this team, Lyndon Wood, if they win out, they're going to the NCAA tournament.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

I agree, but you know, and we we're gonna have them on, we can ask them about it. But the just like last year, they were sitting in the catbird seat and they got to the conference tournament. Now a little bit different because they had to play in conference the whole time. So it's gonna be a little bit different, and there's some different dynamics going on.

unknown 19:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

They end up playing U Indy and they lose and they lose their spot in the tournament. So it'll be great to get his perspective on it coming up.

SPEAKER_04 19:33

Yeah, because I think I think right now, if they if they're if they win out, I think Lyndon Wood goes to the NCAA tournament. I agree with you.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

I if they win out, they're they're going.

SPEAKER_04 19:43

And they should. Yeah, absolutely. And hey, is it possible that Lyndon Wood and you, Indy, both get into the NCAA tournament, being like that fifth and sixth team out of the room?

SPEAKER_02 19:56

They're right next to each other in the rankings right now. It's not out of the possibility either.

SPEAKER_04 20:00

So you know, they're in the south region, that team, the GLBC, even though they're out west, they're they're part of the southern region. So who do you got? You got Tampa, you got Limestone, you got Wingate, and who else?

SPEAKER_02 20:14

You got Lindenwood? You Wendy? Wendy. Then you've got the Rollins, all of them. Boom, boom, boom. So it'll be interesting to see how these next few weeks play out and then the conference tournament.

SPEAKER_04 20:27

Yeah, it's starting to get pretty, it's starting to get pretty good right now. Yeah.

Coach's Spotlight

SPEAKER_02 20:32

Okay, Danny, let's move on to the coach's spotlight. Tonight, we have a coach on who always has his team in the top 20 rankings. And like Coach Robbins of AIC, he grew up in the area, and then like Coach Purdy, he actually played at the schoolie coaches right now. So let's just welcome in Coach Jimmy Lang of Linenwood. Hey coach.

SPEAKER_04 20:55

Hey guys. Hey, I appreciate having me.

SPEAKER_02 20:58

Oh, it's great to be here.

SPEAKER_04 20:58

Hey Coach Lang, Linda Wood. Yeah, thanks so much for taking the time to be with us on Greece tonight. We really appreciate it. How are you doing, Jimmy? Hey, we gotta we gotta stay strong and represent the Midwest out here.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

I love the new hop out of lacrosse.

SPEAKER_04 21:11

Yeah, you're doing, you're doing just fine uh representing the Midwest. The GLBC is a really good, really good conference. And guess who's sitting on top? That would be you, coach.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

We got a few games left. We got a few games left, some tough ones. So we're uh you know, we're doing what we can. We we've we've been in every type of game this year. We've been up, we've been down, we've had to come back, we've had to hold off a comeback, we've had an overtime. So I feel like we're we're seasoned at this point with a with a pretty tough strength to schedule.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Yeah, I was just gonna say, let's let's put that in review a little bit. You're at nine and two, you sit atop the conference, like Danny said, at four and oh, you've beat a couple of top 20 teams, and you have a win against, at the time, a top five team who is in your conference. Yeah. And now you're sitting. And you look at where you started at the USILA poll and where you are now at nine, you've been steadily climbing. I think exactly for what you said of the way you've just you've put in the wins that you've needed. You look at the look at the Undie game that when they were in the top five. That was a crazy game. It was all about runs. And I swear to God, I thought you guys were gonna pull it out when you scored with like two minutes left. And then you indie puts in that goal with like less than 30 seconds. Yeah, that was a crazy game.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

Yeah, it was. That one, uh, that's one of those ones that ages you a little bit during, and then uh, you know, you enjoy you enjoy it later, about an hour later, you sit down and take a deep breath. But uh, it's always a battle with them. You know, it's a it's a close rivalry. And Coach Stocks and I have coached against each other well before the GLVC, you know, even when I wasn't a head coach, I was the assistant at Lyndon Wood, and he was the head coach at Lake Erie. So we go back, you know, with some battles along the way.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

It's funny, that game, I think we talked about on the podcast. That's a game you didn't want to see anyone lose. There's been a couple like that this year, and that was one of them because both teams were fighting so much, and I think that's somewhat indicative of the GLBC. If you look at your game this past week against Lewis, which is an up-and-coming team, and before I looked at that game, I thought, okay, Lennon will take care of it, but they put a pretty good scare in you, they played a good game, and you had to pull it out.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Yeah, they did. You know, Coach Peruzzi does a great job there, and we talked about it before the game because we played him twice last year because it was conference-only schedule. And I told we talked about it, they do not stop. I don't care what the score is, this team does not stop. And you know, uh, Coach Peruzzi does a great job, and we weren't fortunately, we weren't ever too worried. I mean, even when it got to nine to five, you know, we had to take a timeout and kind of cool the guys down a little bit because as you know, they start, you know, jumping down each other's throats when things aren't going right. And we had to remind our guys that we were getting the looks offensively. When you look at the stats, we were in control. We just they just weren't falling for us. And they never they only had one goal, I think, in settled six on six. Most of it was transition mistakes or man up. So they they weren't scoring in settled sixes, and we just weren't scoring, but we were getting you know shots from 10 and 10 and you know, 11 yards, hand-free, and we were missing, which is better than us making a goalie look like an all-American, which we've done in the past. Um we were missing wide, but we you know, that's why we kind of settled and down. We're like, guys, we're getting our shots, we're getting to where we want to on the field. They're gonna start falling. Everyone take a deep breath. And and you know what did we we came back a little bit there at the end of the third, and then again, they got one. We just had a bad breakdown by you know one of our top defensemen, just you know, bad breakdown on a on a backside feed. And uh they got one more to go up 10-7, but then we went on that 7-0 run to finish the game. And they once they started falling, you could just feel the guys finally kind of take a deep breath and realize we were gonna be okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

And does that sort of win? I would assume that helps your team as they realize how they can fight through that adversity, and maybe next time they won't be going down each other's throats as much as saying, hey, we've been here before.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Yeah, that's the biggest thing with these college-age kids. You know, you've got to remind them of how good they are sometimes because they can even start doubting themselves. And I think that's the biggest thing I've learned is you know, doubt, doubt can set in and that can send the team spiraling. So if you just remind them of the work that they've done and how good they are, you know, build their confidence a little bit, it helps. And and the Florida Southern game helped us with that too, because we were down early in that one. It wasn't a second half down, but we battled back against Florida Southern, who's a very good team.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

Yeah, they're really good.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Yeah, Coach Marty Ward and I are very close, actually. And so it was you know, it was a fun one and a battle, but uh, you know, it was we battled back in that one. So, like I said, we've been in in almost every type of game this year. And I think hopefully, if if we can continue this momentum and just you know stay the course, that will help us out come postseason.

SPEAKER_04 25:56

Well, coach, your only two losses, okay, you come to like phenomenal teams. Number three, limestone and and number one, Tampa. I mean, yeah, both of these teams are very, very good. And you know, you're you were in the Tampa game for a while. Yeah, and yeah, and you're in the limestone game. You're in it, you know, you're competitive and and uh yeah, you want those W's, but to have a loss against a number one or number two, nothing to hang your head at, you know, you guys, I think you guys are on your way to the NCAAs if you can keep it up and and do well in the tournament. I think you've got a really good chance of making the big tournament. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Yeah, yeah, I think so too. Again, we we've the guys have asked, I just said, guys, we it's win and get in, you know. Yeah, we've been here. We've been the first one out multiple times, you know, or the second one out. We've been so close. Just win, you know, just win. We control our own destiny at this point. Let's not get to a point where we have to hope other teams lose. Let's just control our own destiny and uh get to where we want to go, you know. And like you said, Tampa and Limestone, we learned a lot from those games. And, you know, not making excuses. Some of it's my scheduling error of playing three games in five days in Florida when it's you know 90 plus degrees that we're used to, we're used to 40 degrees here. So we had a battle on Monday night with Florida Southern, and then we go turn around less than 48 hours, play Tampa at noon on a Wednesday, and it's hot on that turf. We're wearing all black. Um it was tough, you know. And we were up, and I mean, we had guys playing that game that hadn't played one game yet because we were our D middies were gassed. I mean, they were just gassed, and you know, we just started running out of juice, and it was their first home game, so there was a lot of momentum. Um, and the limestone game was you know, four days after the division one announcement. So there was a there was a lot going on in our guys' face, you know, going into that game. Um, so it was it was an interesting time for the guys. Um, you know, not to make excuses, but I think we didn't prepare them for it properly. Didn't prepare them to hear, oh, you think you're D one? Yeah, we'll show you D one. You know, I don't think he prepares the guys enough for for that. And when you go down to Gaffney and there's 90 guys on the bench hooping and hollering, barking, you know, you're not mentally prepared for that. And I'll tell you what, they play hard and they play fast. Yes, and we just didn't get off, we didn't get off the bus that game. We just weren't ready for it. It was a tough week with all the division one announcements. So those games have prepared us. If we're fortunate enough to make it, you know, to where we want to go, those games have prepared us for the for the big show.

SPEAKER_04 28:27

100%.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

So I want to get to the D1 announcement in a second, but I just want to go back to last year because last year you were basically, as I recall, the top of your conference again. It was Lyndon, Lyndonwood, Undy, and you go to the conference championship, and I thought you guys were going to take it, and Undy pulls it out, and then Undy goes to the tournament and you don't. Is that something you're that you're thinking about this year, or you're just like like you just said, let's win and we're in type?

SPEAKER_01 28:54

Yeah, I think I think you'll think about all the scenarios just because Division 2 is such is such a unique situation with no AQs and the strength of schedule. You know, I think at one point we had the number one strength of schedule in the South region this year. Uh, and that's changed since we've got into conference play a little bit, obviously, you know, when you play some of those lower ed teams in your conference, but you know, we're gonna be prepared, and I've and there's a chance we both go. You don't know what happens. We've exactly exactly there's a especially with what's going on in the conference of the Carolinas this year. You know, I don't know if they're gonna get a bid just because we're the you know, it's it's it's hard to say now because a lot can happen in the next few weeks, but just from where they normally are, who knows if they're gonna get any one. You know, right now, you know, with some of the losses in the in the sunshine, you know, I think you might only get one or two in that conference. The sack is obviously the sack, you know. Uh they're strong. So there's potential we both go no matter what happens, you know, the rest of the way out. So right now we're not focusing on what could happen. We're just trying again. It's in our hands if we just win and get in, is what we've been saying. Don't don't leave it up to anybody else, you know, let them win and get in. But we're trying not to let them feel the pressure either, you know. We've got some we've got some veterans that joined us, some division one transfers that have really brought a uh just a gritty, tough, competitive mentality to the team, and it's really helped us this year.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

It's funny you say that. I think I've noticed that in some of your games, especially when you're down and then you turn it around. You can definitely see it in the in the players. Well, let's talk about the move to D1. Yeah. Danny and I talked about this on the podcast uh when it came out, and it's a bittersweet for us on this podcast. I don't know if anyone else cares what we think, but we think it's bittersweet because we love we talked about it last year, we love, and this year, we love watching the GLBC, we love watching Linenwood play games, we loved watching you in the games of Limestone and Tampa. So it's gonna be sad to see Linenwood leave D2, but at the same time, we saw what LIU Post and Merrimack now former D2 teams are doing in D1 after a few years, and we're kind of excited to see what you guys can do. Walk us through a little bit of finding out and that journey and and if that, like you said about how that goes into their mindset. Gosh, when you guys were down in the south, but and how you probably have to, I don't know, if the kids are level set now, but just interested in your thoughts on that.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Yeah, you know, it was uh I had heard some rumblings. I've been at Lindenwood for 19 years, so I can I can get the rumor meal pretty quickly. I know enough people there now that uh, you know, I start hearing some rumblings, and you know, they called a mandatory meeting and and RAD. I said, Hey, I've got practice, I won't be there. He said, I need you here today. And I was like, Okay, you know, this is not normal. Normally, it's like, yeah, we'll catch up after your after your practice. And so that's when I started realizing maybe these rumors were gonna come true. And sure enough, you know, basically what they told us was keep it quiet for now. You know, don't even tell your assistants, don't tell anybody. We need to talk to the board. We have a whole presentation we're gonna give, and we're gonna show you guys some of it today so it's not set in stone. Um, and then it was exactly a month later the announcement came out. And we only found out the Friday before the announcement came out. So it was uh wow, it was a shock, you know, it was a shock, and and we knew it was gonna be tough. And they even brought it up in the head coaches meeting. They said if this really is gonna affect our men's and women's lacrosse program because the Ohio Valley Conference doesn't have lacrosse, and that's the conference the university is going into. And it all started with the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner reaching out about our football program. They're trying to build football, and our football's got a very strong, you know, into the national tournament the past two years, you know, Midwest football, right? And uh so that's where it all started, and that's where you know he went to the president and he said, Listen, if you bring me some numbers, some concrete evidence that this can be good for the university overall, and it has to make financial sense, then we'll look into it. So, you know, they had a you know, there's always a firm or a uh someone that can help you make these decisions and do some some research for you. So they hired a uh a consulting firm to kind of look at it all, and um, they did a lot of research, our AD did himself, and it they decided it was gonna be a good fit. So the board voted unanimously to do it, and that Wednesday it was announced, and it was uh, you know, it was a whirlwind. And then it was like, okay, we got to find a home, you know, because we were an independent in division two and it was a nightmare. And I don't want to do that again at the division one level. So uh we were fortunate to find a home. Um, you know, that that was really the only option for us that made sense. You know, the next, yeah, the next closest conferences are the Big Ten and the ACC, and they weren't gonna have anything to do with us, nor did we want to be in those conferences as a new division one. So uh so the A Sun really did make sense for us. And uh yeah, I mean it was a whirlwind. It's exciting, you know, alumni are excited, St. Louis community is excited. Um, you know, it's gonna be it's gonna be an experience, that's for sure. And you know, it's gonna be a learning curve. I mean, that day the announcement came out. I we get a good amount of recruiting emails. We probably get 15, 20 or more recruiting emails a day. Um I got 78 that day. 78 recruiting emails, and and that went on for about two weeks. It was non-stop. Wow. So it was incredible. And you know, we have beautiful facilities, we have division one facilities.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

Yeah, you do. You do have beautiful facilities.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Yeah, I mean, we're we're there, we're we're not gonna have an issue with that. It's just gonna be kind of the thing we fought with division two is getting some of these kids from hotbed areas to consider Missouri as a place to go play collegiate lacrosse. You know, that's gonna be the biggest battle.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

Well, coach, I mean, I don't know. Your your pedigree, what Lindenwood has built there, I I think will continue into D1. I obviously there's that that step you got to take, and there's it's like you said, it's gonna be a journey. But I I look forward to watching it. I wish you were staying in. I wish Lyndon would stay in D2. I understand that I I appreciate the words that you gave us of how it went about because you know, you see the announcement and you're like, wow, how does this happen? It's kind of interesting to see how the business side and what where it went from.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

But um it was not made with the men's lacrosse team in mind, I'll tell you that much. But we're a part of it, thank God. So, you know, they could have just have easily made us a club program again, but they believe in us, you know, and uh program.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

Yeah, I think you guys, both the women's and men's, give you guys a few universe. You will you'll do be doing well.

SPEAKER_04 35:16

I'm I the university supports uh big time Lindenwood sports. I mean, the women's sports, all the different uh athletics and sports you got going on.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

I mean yeah, we've got a we've got a little bit of everything at Lindenwood.

SPEAKER_04 35:29

Yeah, you really do. I mean, like all the teams do well, you know. Yeah and yeah, and and that means you're getting the support from the university, you're getting the finances and you're getting that support and the resources. And to go D1, you're gonna probably need a little bit more resources, but I guess to come in with the program and coming in with the different conference now. And coach, what an amazing run, huh?

SPEAKER_01 35:54

Yeah, yeah. It's been uh, you know, I've been a part of the program since its second ever season. You know, my freshman year at Lyndon Wood was the second season in program history. And I, so I know all the alumni personally, and uh it's it's exciting, you know, it's exciting. And I, you know, we from club and being a powerhouse club program, going to the national tournament every year, the MCLA tournament, and um, you know, making some noise pretty quickly in Division II. You know, 2012 is our first year, and then 2015 we're able to make the national tournament. Um, so it's been it's been good. We had some help from a defensive named Graham Hossick. I don't know if you guys have heard from him back then, but uh yeah, I've heard of him. Yeah, yeah. He's uh, you know, only making waves in the NOL and the PLL. Yeah, yeah. You know, we're we've been fortunate to have some good players um that have helped us grow and and become a power as quickly as we can. And you know, for me, obviously, it's important because this is my home. I I've spent literally over half of my life on that campus. So it's uh it's been it's been pretty crazy and awesome to me grow.

SPEAKER_02 36:53

That's amazing and and really cool to hear, coach. And we really thank you for coming on tonight with us, giving us some insight into your team and where you are this year and where you're going in the future. And we couldn't be more excited for you. And I think you're the right guy at the helm. You've been the right guy at the helm for the last few years, and I think bringing them into D1, you're the right man too. So we wish you all the best luck, and we hope to talk to you again and maybe uh see you uh in the the the national championship.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

Yeah, let's let's hope so. We'd love to uh make as much of a an impact and a run as we can in our final season. You know, the head women's coaches played with me at Lindenwood also, they were former teammates of mine, so I got to hear from them all the time. So uh yeah, you know, I need to I need to get mine so they can stop rubbing it in my face all the time.

SPEAKER_04 37:41

So yeah. Uh Coach Lang, you've been a great guest tonight. Thank you so much for coming on and taking the time. And like Kevin said, we we're gonna miss Lyndon Wood, we're gonna miss you in the GLVC. We really like the GLBC. I mean, I'm a Long Island guy, he's a Virginia guy, we're East Coast guys, and to see lacrosse just grow out west is amazing to us. It just is. And um, again, all the best of luck to you and uh good luck the rest of the season. I have a feeling we're gonna see you in the tournament.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

Yeah, I appreciate it, guys. Thanks for having me. And uh, you know, you guys do a great job, do a good thing for division two. So I'm gonna miss it as well. Too bad we can won't have any more of these in the future. But maybe if you have a special guest one night, we can still talk about what's going on in division two because I'm sure I'll be paying attention. Oh, 100%, Coach. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Games to watch

SPEAKER_02 38:29

So, like we expected, Danny. That was great with Coach Lang and getting his perspective on his team. And and some of the things we talked about kind of came, he kind of agreed with, right? And on placement of where he they could be in the tournament and whatnot, and and who may get in and what they need to do. I love their phrase. Uh, how do you say it? It's uh win and get in. Yeah, win and in.

SPEAKER_04 38:53

I think Coach Lang was a great guest tonight. I really enjoyed him a lot. Um, you know, Lyndon Wood's gonna be moving up to D one. It's an exciting time for the university, a big thing for them. And he talked about how their facilities are just D one facilities and and everything that goes along with going into D one. But right now, Lyndon Wood sits in a really, really good place right now. Uh top of their conference. Um, they're gonna get a top seed probably for their their conference tournament. And if they can win out, I see them going into the uh NCAA tournament. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

Okay, well, let's move on to games to watch this week. Let me start off with one that isn't one you'd put as far as based on their rankings in USILA, but it is one that makes a big difference in their conference uh standings, and that's North Greenville against Mount Olive. So right now, interestingly, North Greenville sits on top of the conference at 4-0 with Balmanabe also undefeated, but they're playing one less game. Mount Olive sits at 3-1. So both teams want this because if Mount Olive can win, they then uh you know tied for second with North Greenville. But if North Greenville can win, they stay on top of the conference for second. Right.

SPEAKER_04 40:24

Yeah, so that's that's just a huge game for both teams. For both teams. Yeah. Huge game. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't get any bigger than that. You know, it's it's for a top seed in the tournament. That's what you want. You want that first round by. You know, you you don't, you know, you want to give your team a chance to rest. You want to see who you're gonna play, maybe watch some film, get an extra day of film watching or whatever. So that's a big, big game. That's a big game.

SPEAKER_02 40:52

Now, the next one I had happens on Saturday, the 16th. And we talked about this. This is where the Sunshine State starts beating each other up, and it's Florida Tech against Florida Southern. Now, Florida Southern, who just lost to Tampa has to play Rollins first. They're playing this week on Wednesday, which this podcast probably won't be out yet. So the results will be out, and that will be interesting to see. But like we talked about, Florida Southern, Florida Tech, and Rollins, as we speak today on Tuesday, are all sitting at three and one with their only losses to Tampa and vying for that second seat in their conference. So, first of all, whoever w loses uh the Florida Southern Rollins one is the one that takes a back seat for a little bit. Even if say Rollins beats Florida Southern, it's still a big game when they go Florida Tech because they've got to beat Florida Tech to get back where they may want to be in the season.

SPEAKER_04 41:52

Yeah, you know what? I like the Rollins Florida Southern game a little better. I just think that has a little bit more implication on that.

SPEAKER_02 42:00

Oh, it does. It does. It's just that it's already gonna be done when we know, I know. I know, I know. So I know. We talked about it last week, but it's gonna be, you're right. That this the next few weeks, it's it's these three beating each other up, which is gonna be crazy. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 42:16

It's awesome. You know, you got four teams and three teams are bot buying for that second square that second and they play each other coming up. So that's that's what it's all about. That's that's what that's what's great about Division II lacrosse. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:32

So the next I have is an any 10 game and it's uh Bentley against Pace. Now Bentley just played Lemoy today and lost. So they have to play Pace and then Adelphi. So you know Bentley does not that's a gauntlet for them. So basically, Bentley's at five and two in the conference. Pace just beat assumption, so they're five and two in the conference, and they're playing each other. Yep. So whoever wins this game gets a leg up.

SPEAKER_04 43:04

Yeah, they're those guys are fighting for three seed though.

SPEAKER_02 43:08

Yeah, they are. It's a Delphi, Lemoyne, obviously in the top, and then Bentley and Pace.

SPEAKER_04 43:16

That's gonna be a game. Yeah, that's gonna be a game. Hey, you know what? I can see a Delphi. I can see a Delphi beating Lemoyne. They'd have to play a really good game, they'd have to play a perfect game, but uh even the NE 10 is starting to like heat up a little bit because Lemoyne's got that one loss, you know.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

But but but before before they a Delphi plays Lemoyne, who do they play in a week? Mercy next Tuesday. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 43:46

Tell me that game isn't gonna be you know, Mercy's got a couple of games on their schedule now. They gotta play Robert Wesleyan, too. Yes, you know, and that's another game. So there that Mercy's got a Couple of tough games. They're gonna they're gonna be really tested. I think they're the only test they really had this year so far was maybe that Seaton Hill game. It went back and forth, and you know, Mercy came out 10 and 8. But I think the next couple of weeks, Mercy's gonna be tested.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

Well, they even got tested a little bit by Wilmington. Now they were up by a while, and Wilmington came back. It was an 8-7 game. They put a scare into them. Mercy had seemed like they had that game in hand and let them back in. But I think this is a Delphi Mercy game. Yeah, I'd probably give the nod to Delphi right now, but I don't know. Mercy they're both such good teams. It just would be a great game to watch.

SPEAKER_04 44:44

That's a pick'em game, but I've watched a bunch of mercy games and I've watched a bunch of the Delphi games. I mean, on paper, you'd probably say a pick'em. But then I look at a Delphi's midfield and how deep they are at midfield. And like I said, it's like it's like the Chinese army, Kev, they just keep coming and coming and coming and coming, and those fresh legs, and they start to wear defenses down a little bit. You know, that Delphi team is good. They don't have to beat you by five or six, they kind of play like Lemoyne does, they don't have to put up 18 points. If they can hold you to six and they score eight, that's a dub for them.

SPEAKER_02 45:22

Right.

SPEAKER_04 45:22

And and they don't they're not looking for style points, they're looking for W's.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

Well, it's interesting. We when we talked to Sean McGovern and even Coach Purdy, they both admitted that they haven't played their best at times against teams. And I think what's interesting is that Mercy's, from what I've seen from them, I'm not sure they've played a complete game yet.

SPEAKER_04 45:46

No, I agree with you. It seems like they come out blazing in a lot of games and then kind of take their gas off, you know, their foot off the gas a little bit in the second half and let teams let teams back into it. But they're closing them out at the end. And you know, that's the bottom line.

SPEAKER_02 46:03

So that's what's interesting because it seems like both teams are this way.

SPEAKER_04 46:06

So they play very similar. That's why I say on paper, yeah, it's kind of like a pick'em game. But if just going by the eye candy right now, because I've watched Mercy play four times, or about at least four or five times this year. Yeah. And I've watched about four, three or four Delphi games and and saw them in person. And like they're big, they're strong, they're fast, they're athletic. Um, Coach Purdy said they're just playing loose and free, like they don't know anything about last year because none of them played on this team outside of Sean McGovern. Yeah. So these kids are just playing, they're just playing loose and free. You know what I mean? And and and that's a that's a sign of a good lacrosse team. I always liked teams that played loose and free and and just move the ball and just nowhere to be, and let their IQ and let their sticks and let their athleticism, and and they let the game come to them. And and that should be a really good game. The Mercy at Delphine. The Mercy's got they got a couple of games that they have to really play well in.

SPEAKER_02 47:10

Yeah. One last game I had on my list, and it's an out-of-conference game, as a matter of fact, it's Rockhurst against Colorado Mesa, and this is why it's on my list. Colorado Mesa is now back ranked 18th in the USILA poll. They're sitting at 8-3, and they're 3-0 in conference, and they're the top dog in the conference, but that's not what matters. If they want to stay in the conversation, and I think they still have a pretty big hill to climb, they have to beat Rockhurst. And Rockhurst is not an easy win.

SPEAKER_04 47:50

No, no, not at all. Um Colorado Mesa has been playing well, and they're always a good team. Um I'm not so sure their resume right now, like you said, they're gonna have to win games, they're gonna have to win out to stay in the conversation. I'm just not a hundred percent that Mesa's resume says NCAA tournament at this time. It's just how I feel.

SPEAKER_02 48:16

No, I I I think I agree with you, but that's what I'm saying is even to stay in the conversation, yeah. They've they basically have to win out and win convincingly. And I think some of those losses when they came east hurt them.

SPEAKER_04 48:32

Yeah, well, you know, that's we said in the beginning when they come out east, they're gonna have to win those ball games. I think they went two out of three the first time. Yeah, you're right. Two out of three. You know, for for the for the for that conference. So they're those guys, when they when they schedule out of conference games, they got to schedule some big games because that conference is small.

SPEAKER_02 48:53

Right. And that's the that becomes to their detriment, unfortunately, when they get into conference play. Right, and they have to come out east.

SPEAKER_04 49:01

A lot of not a lot of teams are going out there to play. You know, they'll get a GLVC team to play out there, maybe, um, but they're not getting a whole lot of teams, you know. Nobody from the sack is going out to Colorado Mesa, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 49:14

Let's give them credit for doing that. Just like when we talked with Coach Lang, and it was more off the recording when he said when they first got in the GLVC, their closest competitor when they got in D2 was a nine-hour bus ride. Now we know Colorado Mesa and Westminster, when they came east, they flew, but then they're down here for a couple games, and you know, they can't bring their full roster, so they got to pick who they're gonna do.

SPEAKER_04 49:45

It it's not easy, and so and they don't pick easy games, no, they pick tough competitions, so they have to, they have to, they have to have to they have to put those teams on those schedules, they have to play those those games. Hey, D2 doesn't have automatic qualifiers, so those out-of-conference schedules are big for these teams. If teams want to make a chance at being a national champion and getting into the NCAA tournament, they have to schedule a difficult out-of-conference schedule. And Colorado Mesa does year in and year out. I just I'm not sure that right now, as we speak, their resume stacks up towards other with other teams.

SPEAKER_02 50:27

Agreed. Any other games that you had?

SPEAKER_04 50:32

No, that's it, Kev. I mean, it's it's all heating up. You know, these conferences is beating up on each other, got the Zach beating up each other. You know, the LR Wingate game is gonna be this week. It'll our podcast will come out after. That's that's a big game. Yeah, that's a big game. That that game has national stuff written all over it. Yeah, you know what? We haven't really talked about Wingate a whole lot. We kind of mentioned them last week a little bit. Um, like kind of mercy hearst, they're underneath the radar, they're kind of circling the fish, not like the shark circling fish. But you know what? Wingate's a top five offense and a top five defense. When you look at the you know, national stats, yeah, they're top five in both categories, offense and defense. So we know they can ball. Hey, uh Coach Purdy said they weren't, they haven't played their best ball yet. I wonder if Wingate has played their best ball yet.

SPEAKER_02 51:32

I think the one game where they came pretty damn close was the limestone game. Because both teams played so well. But other than that, I you know, I the the game against Newberry this this past weekend, that was not their best game.

SPEAKER_04 51:51

No, definitely not their best game. Kind of looked like they were going through the motions a little bit, but they're such a strong team that they were never out of it. You know, they were never in any doubt that they were gonna lose to that game.

SPEAKER_02 52:04

But against Lenore Ryan, they're going to have to play their A game.

SPEAKER_04 52:10

Yeah, they kind of played down against, yeah, I guess you could say against Newberry. And you know what? If you're a team that's got national aspirations, you can't be playing down at this time of year.

SPEAKER_02 52:21

Exactly, exactly.

Player's Spotlight

SPEAKER_02 52:24

Now it's time for the player spotlight. My favorite part, Kev. I was waiting for you to say that. So the player that we have on tonight, we saw his stats after the Saint A's game, and to be honest, I was stunned. Program record nine goals that day. Wow. That's crazy. I went back and looked at his stats. He's almost done that in other games. He had seven goals against Chuan, and then he had seven goals again against Dominican this past weekend. I mean, this is falling out.

SPEAKER_04 53:03

He needs to work on his game a little bit, I think. Yeah, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 53:08

Let's get him on. Let's get him on.

SPEAKER_02 53:10

Yeah, so let's get him on. Let's welcome in Giovanni Marino, sophomore attack for the Wilmington Wildcats.

SPEAKER_00 53:16

What's going on, guys? Thank you so much for having me on. This is great to have you. Great honor, great honor. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 53:21

Gio, thank you so much for coming on. So I was looking at some of your stuff today, and you're from Woolwich, New Jersey. Yes, very small town. I was like, okay, I'm from Long Island, I know Jersey. I didn't know where Woolwich was, so I checked it out tonight. You're down south a little bit, kind of near Philly, not too far. Yeah. So did you play a lot of lacrosse as a young kid?

SPEAKER_00 53:44

Yeah, I mean, I started I started in like uh probably the fourth grade, and uh I've been playing basically in South Jersey the entire time. I played for the uh South Jersey Shamrocks for a club team, and I played for uh Kingsway for my high school team.

SPEAKER_02 54:01

Excellent, excellent. So then what brought you to Wilmington?

SPEAKER_00 54:05

Uh the coaching staff being very close to home. I mean, it's only like a 25-minute drive from my house. Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_04 54:12

But after speaking, right over the bridge is right over the bridge.

SPEAKER_03 54:15

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 54:15

Yeah, after speaking with the coaches and seeing that it was a brand new program, and uh I was able to like put my name out there and you know promote the uh the new program, I think. That's what's drawing me toward towards it.

SPEAKER_02 54:31

Awesome, awesome. And so this year, I mean I looked at your stats last year, which were really good, but this year you've just have been on fire. What has been the difference from last year to this year? Is it more just now knowing more the speed of the game? What would you say it is?

SPEAKER_00 54:46

I think uh the game's basically slowing down the more I'm playing. It's uh becoming a lot easier to break down. Uh, I work with uh my assistant coach, uh Santa pretty often. I ask him how to improve my game. We work one-on-one a lot. Uh, and I stay after with a bunch of the guys and just continue to put my head down and grind. And I I think it's it's showing this year. Yeah, I would say it's showing, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_04 55:13

Your stats. You know, we had coach on earlier in the season, and he was just really excited about this team, really excited about this squad. And um, you kind of didn't start out the way you kind of maybe wanted to. You started out with one and four, losing to a really good Mercy team who's ranked fourth or fifth in the country now. Lost them by one. That must have been a hell of a game. What'd you get out of that game?

SPEAKER_00 55:40

That was uh, it came down to the wire. It could have honestly, it could have been our game. It it was very close the entire game. Uh yeah, I mean, losing to three of the top 15 teams in the country. Uh, it was a little heartbreaking there. But uh, you know, we know we can play with those teams, and you know, if we can make it towards the tournament, we know that we'll be ready for anyone that we face.

SPEAKER_04 56:03

Right. But you guys went on a seven-game run after that. You guys have been balling out ever since that last loss against base, which was a month and a half ago. So that's all behind you now. You still have the future in front of you. You still got a couple of good games ahead. You got post-Testnut Hill and St. Thomas Aquinas coming up, but you sit at the top of the conference now at 4-0. Yeah. How's that make you feel? How's that make you feel?

SPEAKER_00 56:29

Uh yeah, it feels great, but you know, we really don't try to stay too high, too low. We we try to stay in the middle, just you know, keep working towards goal. We don't look past any opponent, we just keep working towards what uh what we need to do.

SPEAKER_02 56:42

Yeah, and and Danny was just talking about it. You have a big game against Chestnut Hill coming up this Wednesday, right?

SPEAKER_00 56:49

That's yes, yes, we do.

SPEAKER_02 56:51

That's the they were the top of the conference last year. And I'm talking to your coach, you know, you guys have your team has progressed each year, just getting that one step further, one step further. And the step this year for you guys is to supplant Chestnut Hill, in my estimation. So, are you how are you guys feeling about uh about Wednesday?

SPEAKER_00 57:11

Yeah, we are very excited. Um, you know, all the the alumni, they never got to to beat Chestnut Hill. Obviously, they're undefeated against us in program history. And uh we came we came very we yeah, we came very close in the uh regular season last year. A couple of things didn't go our way, and then the championship spoke for itself. They they played their game a lot better than we played ours.

SPEAKER_03 57:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:34

And this is the game that we've been really focused on the entire year. So you know, we're ready to come out, show exactly what we are, how we've improved, and you know, hopefully get a W.

SPEAKER_02 57:46

Yeah, it's gonna be a great game without a doubt. I'm looking forward to it. But let's walk back one second. You talked about losing to those, you know, those teams that were in the top 20 and and learning something. The Mercy game, it was close to the end, but you guys had to fight back, and you did. You fought back and made it really close. And then you go up against another top 20 team in St. A's, who has is a great, great team, and you took it to them that that day. So is that a culmination of those other games helping you realize what you can do and give you that confidence? Walk us through the St. A's game a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 58:24

Well, the Saint A's game, you know, we knew it was a must-win. Uh, I mean, all these these top 20 opponents, at least for us this year, it was we really have nothing to lose. You know, before those games, no one was talking about Wilmington, lacrosse. You know, we we had our name out there here and there, but you know, if we won, it was gonna be very great. If we lost, well, no one really knows about us. So that's how we went into each game. And uh with the St. A's, we just continue to fight. They you know, they came back after each quarter. They they never let off the gas. So we just continued to you know keep playing our game, getting all the guys involved. And you know, we were we were just hungry for a W right there.

SPEAKER_02 59:06

Yeah, it was a great game to watch. Your team, like Danny said, it's it's been a lot of fun to watch the progression throughout the season and watch your team play really better and better ball. And that I think you guys are poised for that next step in the CACC, and then hopefully we'll see what happens in the in the tournament.

SPEAKER_00 59:30

Yeah, I mean, obviously that that's our our goal is to get to the tournament, but you know, we can't look past the conference first. We have to do everything that we set out to do in the beginning of the year. So we're I'm I'm really looking forward to the next few games.

SPEAKER_04 59:45

Yeah, Wilmington's been balling out. Um, you know what, you're right. A lot of guys don't know about Wilmington. They don't really know about Wilmington lacrosse. You're absolutely 100%. But Kevin and I do. And that's why we had Coach on, because we knew that he's got something special going on and they're ready to take that next step. And you've been part of that since you got there, Gio. You've you're you've started practically every game that you've been there since there. And now, right now, you sit at 28th in the country in points, which is not too shabby, my friend. Coach got to be happy with the way you're playing. Um, going into this game, what's the mindset of the defense? I know you're on the offensive side of the ball, but what's the defense thinking? Like, what are they because they've been playing pretty well?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:39

They are, they are incredible. I mean, they give us uh an amazing run for our money of practice every single day. So, I mean, they're always preparing us. Uh, their mindset is just going and playing their game. If we can stay out of the penalty box, you know, I I really don't see too many teams that can consistently, you know, score a lot of goals. We I mean we have a great goalkeeper and Jason Rowland. Um, and we have a lot of key guys on defense that really step up in big time moments. And I think you know, this game is going to be one of those where the Chestnut Hills offense really isn't gonna be able to get going. So I'm really excited to see.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:17

I'm looking forward to this game myself. I'm yeah, I'm looking forward to this. It's a big game for Wilmington. This is actually a really big game for the program.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:26

Yeah, I don't believe Chestnut Hill's ever been to our field as well. So it's really so yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:32

So it's a first, so now you got them on home, home, home court, man. That's what you want. Gotta get those up.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:38

It's gonna be a big crowd, a lot of it's gonna be very rowdy. I think it's gonna be a great game to watch for for everyone.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:45

Sounds good to me, man. I I know I'll be tuning in.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:48

Well, I'm fired up. I'm so fired up, Danny. I'm ready to hear Gio in the firing round.

unknown 1:01:56

All right.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:56

Here we go.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:00

All right, Gio. 10 questions, real quick off the top of your head. Just give us the quickest answer, and uh, we're gonna have some fun. You ready? Yeah, sounds great. What was the first sport you ever picked up? Soccer. Soccer. Okay, yeah, like three, four years old. Mom puts you on the soccer, you get the cleats on, you get all right, cool. How old were you when you picked up lacrosse?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:25

Uh nine or ten. Fourth grade. I'm not sure how old you were in fourth grade, but that's close, close enough.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:32

Nine or ten is a good, good, good shot at it.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:35

Favorite professional sport. Basketball. Yeah, me too, kid. I love basketball. Who's your favorite team? Who's your favorite team? Miami Heat. The Heat. Oh, there you go. Spolstra and the boys. Okay. PlayStation or Xbox?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:54

I don't play a lot of video games, but uh if I were, I'd probably pick uh PlayStation.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:00

Okay. Favorite TV show. Big brother. Big brother, okay. Runs or lifts?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:09

Lifts. I'm a I'm a big weight room guy. Oh, that's that's that's what I'm known for.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:14

This is that's one of my favorite questions to hear where they're gonna go with it, you know. So this is a good one.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:18

Yeah, classically, I'm one of the smallest guys on the team, but I'm I'm by far the strongest. So there you go. Really?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:25

Yeah, at 5'9, 195, the strongest on the team. That's cool, man. I dig that. Okay, who's the funniest guy on the team, Gio? He's smiling, folks. He's smiling.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:38

We have a lot of guys. I would say Noah Tooie.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:45

Noah Tooie. Why is Noah so funny? What does he do?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:48

He has warm-up lines, he never stops running his mouth, and he always has a would you rather question?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:55

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:56

Every single day. He never repeats.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:58

Give us an example.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

Uh probably none appropriate for the podcast. Okay. Well, keep it there. That's good, though. I love it, Gio.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:08

I'd like to meet Nova. He sounds like my kind of guy.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:10

He is a he's a funny guy.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:12

Cool, cool. Who's the best all-around athlete on the team? All around. You know, a guy that can play hoops, you know, a guy that can play just about anything he touches, he's just like really good at.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:26

Probably Jacob Herman.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:28

Jacob Herman. All right, Jake gets a big shout out.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:32

He's pretty good at everything he does.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:34

That's cool. Cool. I love those guys. What kind of music do you listen to, Gio?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:40

I listen to basically anything country, uh, rap, RB, anything like that.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:45

Okay, what was the last song you listened to?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:49

Oh, I don't, I don't even know. I don't listen to that much music.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:53

Okay. Here's a guy that's in the study hall, Kev.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:56

He's not really he said he said he was doing an essay before he came on with us. I gotta believe him now.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:00

He can't he's not on PlayStation and he doesn't listen to a whole lot of music, so he's gotta be studying. He's either he's either.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:10

They're definitely gonna be listening to the podcast.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:13

So, so mom and dad, okay. He doesn't play PlayStation, not playing games, and he's not listening to music, he's studying and lifting a lot. That's good. That's exactly good. Gio, this is the big one. Give us your best impression of coach.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:28

Best impression of coach.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:31

Oh, I don't think he can be pretty intense, I bet.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:36

He's he's pretty intense. I just one thing that it brings up like last year we were having a pretty bad practice, and uh he put us all on the line and he screamed at us that uh we're not good enough to suck that bed. So whatever that means, he made us run for a long time after that. And I think we learned our lesson pretty quick. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:00

Good. I like it. Hey Gio, you did great in the firing line tonight. I really appreciate you coming on and taking the time to come on the uh the podcast with us. Um, you're having a phenomenal season. You are balling out. The team is doing great, sitting at what, eight and three right now?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:17

Yeah, eight and three or nine and three. Something something.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:19

Yeah, so you guys are really doing good. Sitting at the top of the of the conference. Um, all signs pointing in the right direction. Um, wish you all the best of luck for the rest of the season. Really do.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:31

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on this podcast. This is very unexpected, but I I really do appreciate

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 1:06:38

it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:38

Danny, that was a lot of fun with Gio Marino of Wilmington. What a good kid.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:45

Yeah, a very humble young man, you know. And he didn't he didn't realize that he people watching him. He's like, What? They want me on a podcast? Well, who? What? Why?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:58

Yeah, it was it was great to hear. You know, he he gave deference to a lot of guys on his team he thought are better players, and it probably comes from he's he's still a sophomore, and he probably looks up to some upperclassmen that he sees as great players, and so I think it was kind of neat that we had him on as a sophomore doing great things for his program. And obviously, the kid, you know, he's studying.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:23

Yeah, yeah, he was studying, he ain't listening to music, he's not on PlayStation or Xbox. Mom, you got to be really proud of Gio, no doubt. Hey, you know, a Jersey kid, tough kid, and you know, yes, uh, only a sophomore, 28th in the country in points. Okay, this kid's only gonna get better, and Williamson's always.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:44

Yeah, it's like what Coach Zwicker told us when we had him on. You know, he's happy about his roster, it keeps on building. He's got guys like Gio, and and they get incrementally better each year. It's not like they just came up on the scene and was like lights out, but they're building something there, and guys like Gio Marino are the ones are the reason why.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:06

Yeah, you know, these coaches they get the ingredients to build that cake, they want to build that cake, yeah. And that cake has ingredients, and they got to get the ingredients, all the right ingredients, and then they got to mix it together, and it's kind of kind of has to rise a little bit, and that's what Coach Swickert's got going on in Wilmington with players like Gio.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:26

Exactly. And I I think that's what makes it so much fun because we get to see the finished product that cake out there, especially in the middle of all this conference play. And we're getting very near the end of all the, especially in the south right now, what's going on. It's it's very dynamic and just so much fun.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:47

Oh, it's been a really good season. God, it's flown by, huh? I know, I can't believe it. You know, some of the teams in the south have only have two or three games left. Exactly. And then their conferences are gonna, you know, start firing up for those tournaments. So it's been a great season. It's still some up in the air, you know. We got Tampa and Lemoyne sitting at one and two. You got Mercy, Mercyhurst, Wingate, and then silently Lyndon Woods in there, you know, and you still got you still got you Indy making noise. And so we're you got it's starting to start.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:27

And then you got then you got other conferences like we talked with Wilmington, CACC, and and Chestnut Hill, both at you know, undefeated, and you've got the ECC, Robert Wesleyan on top because they just played more games than Mercy in in conference, and Frostburg, who we thought would be in there, hasn't won a game. Now they've had a couple of them postponed, right? But it's gonna be very interesting to see how it ends up in the end. There's gonna be some changes still, but it's cool to see. It's cool to see teams like Roberts Wesleyan at the top in the rankings. It's cool to see what Wilmington's doing, and then you've got some of those stalwarts like you just talked about the Wingates, Limestone, even Mercy. We've talked about them before. Right. Very, very interesting to see how the next few weeks play out. You know what?

SPEAKER_04 1:10:16

And all those teams are pretty good sitting at that top, those top 10 teams are all pretty good, Cav. Yeah, you know, and you know, right now, at the way I see it, I see just Tampa's playing really, really well. Lemoyne is right behind them, right behind that. You know, that one loss was a stinging loss, but they're that good. I mean, that would be a great game to watch, those two. Le Moine and Limestone, uh, and uh Tampa would just, yeah, Tampa would be a phenomenal game to watch. And you know what? It's not far-fetched. It's not a far-fetched thing, it could very well happen.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:56

But the way the season's going, you know, it would be in it, it'll be interesting to see come tournament time, NCA tournament time. I think Limestone's playing great. We've we've talked about Adelphi, we've talked about Mercy, Mercy Hearst. Who knows what happens in there? It's just gonna be fun. And we'll get we'll get to talk about it in a few weeks. I think, though, for this week, Danny, it's a wrap. That's a wrap, yeah.