Game Time - A Look Back at Week 10 and a Preview of Week 11 of the 2024 Season

Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is our D2 Lacrosse podcast coach, Danny Moran. Hey Danny.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Oh Kev, how's it going tonight in Northern Virginia? What's happening, my friend?

SPEAKER_00 0:31

You know, it's it's starting to turn spring. It's all good. Beautiful weather, like we talked about before we started recording. Uh, it's been great down here, just kind of in the thick of things. How about you?

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yeah, kind of same thing. You know, it was a nice day, but too bad we had a crappy weekend again for Lacrosse. There was a lot of games and rain and cold weather and stuff like that again.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

That we're in a I'm sure we'll talk about the game with uh Pace and Bentley.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

That was in a monsoon, yeah, yeah. With like 40 mile an hour winds, I know. So it's been one of those weeks, but today was beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

It kind of had that like spring feel to it. Yeah, and yeah, the big apple just teasing us for a week, and then maybe it's gonna come back. It is April, I mean it's time to turn. But I uh well, I used you as the coach this week as the intro for you because we're having our third guest analyst this week. Yeah. Now he was actually on our show two years ago for a player spotlight. And since then, he's actually moved on into coaching and as an assistant coach at his alma mater. But even though he's a lacrosse coach now and he fared really well, he did great on our on our podcast when he was a player, uh maybe a little bit different as a guest analyst. So he may need some of your coaching, Danny. That's you know, he's not gonna take it to me, you know. I don't I don't think he I don't think he needs a lot of me to win.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

He's got a lot of coaches under him over the years. I'm sure. I'm sure my young fella, he's gonna do fine.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Well, why don't we just bring him in? Dominic Scortia, former attack man and now assistant coach for the Mercy Mavericks. Hey Dom, how are you? Hey Dom.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

How's it going, guys? Great to be back.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Yeah, good to have you back.

SPEAKER_04 2:24

Great to be here.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Totally, totally different kind of situation, though. Last year, you have to call him. Getting ready for national championship games. Yeah. Now he's coach. How's it going?

SPEAKER_04 2:36

Big time difference. Uh, it's it's well, you know, coaching is uh a lot different than playing. Um at least you get to be out there with the guys still and uh have that competitive edge every day.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

How was that transition from player to coach for you?

SPEAKER_04 2:50

Yeah, I mean, it was it was tough. You always want to play and help the team in different ways, but uh at least being on the sideline, we could we could still help out and and put our uh our two cents in there and give them what we got.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Is it almost more nerve-wracking when you're on the sideline standing there watch things play out, and you you know, I'm I'm sure there were times on the field too that happened, but it it's gotta be a different set of nerves.

SPEAKER_04 3:15

Yeah, I mean, definitely, you know, you it's just like, you know, there's especially a game I couldn't make, and watching a game on film, you really see every mistake like that they're making. You just want to rip your hair out and and and correct and correct them, you know.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

I was just gonna ask you like, do you see the game a little differently now? Oh, you know, definitely. You know, are you looking for different things? Because I know I never coached lacrosse, I coached football. And I remember when I first started coaching football, I didn't know what to look for. You know, I didn't know, I was just following the ball a lot, you know what I mean? And then I started to learn like little the little things, and I started to see what guys are doing off the ball and what the linemen were doing and how linebackers were reacting to certain plays. And I started to look at the game a different way. Now, when I watch a football game, I look at it like a coach. Oh, and they're three wide, they got single coverage on the backside, you know, like oh, they're in a big, you know, they got their bigs in, they're gonna run the ball. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I look at it differently. Do you look at it differently now?

SPEAKER_04 4:16

Exactly. Uh, the big thing for me with that is like, you know, as a player, it's not really much of a a thing that sit on me, like the next play mentality type of thing. Like, as a coach, like you really gotta like if someone throws the ball away, it's like, all right, set up the ride. Like, you can't you can't mess around with like forgetting about the turnover, you know, like forget about it next play, set up the ride, play defense.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Right. Yeah, actually, now we said you for a coach. I think I made a dom to coach me and give me what to look at better at games because I'm still learning that for this podcast, you know, how to look at the game and break it down better than just you know what the scores are, you know. So I don't know, Dom, I may be calling you up. You you may have a side gig with me. Sounds great. All right, well, let's get started. Before we get into Danny's top 10 roundup, we have a little D2 news to go over that actually broke the day last last Thursday when our podcast, our last episode dropped. And that's Mercyhurst, the latest D2 team going D1. Danny and I have talked about this a lot, Dom, on this podcast, you know, with Queens, Linenwood, Lemoyne over the last couple of years. This is the fourth team in three years to make that jump. But we've talked about a lot. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are on the move.

SPEAKER_04 5:38

Uh, I mean, I I don't, I don't, I don't know. Part of the reason for me going to Mercy as a junior in high school was to the fact that I know that I'd be competing at a high level and competing for a national championship. Um, you know, it's gonna be tough for for any Division II team that that makes that jump to compete for a national championship within the first couple years, obviously. Um, you know, I'm not I'm not too sure how they're gonna do talent-wise, because you've seen some teams that have actually held their own their first year, like Merrimack. They went, um, I don't think they did too bad their first year a couple years ago. But uh, and then like you know, LIU Post when they first made the jump, they had some struggles, but now this year they're actually doing pretty well under Coach Levine.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

So um right, yeah, he's doing good there.

SPEAKER_04 6:23

I'm not too sure how that yeah, I'm I'm not too sure what what uh what's really gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Yeah, what do you think about the move, Kev?

SPEAKER_00 6:31

So after this one happened, Danny, you and I have talked about this, and I try to you've always said you hate it, right? And and at this point, I hate it too. Like I hate to see that when you look at that and I look back, four really good teams, and that's one of the reasons why they make the jump. Elite programs. Um you hate to see that for the competition in D2 in our um in our division, yeah. Yeah, I I really think that uh, you know, it's a it's a moment where other teams get the chance in a few years to step up. There are teams that are new that are working their way up and getting better and better, and that will continue to happen. But when you see some of those storied programs, and all of them that left were storied, at least in their conference and what they were able to do. And then you see something like what happened to Linenwood, which they've got a chance for a year and then they're gone. And you hope you don't see that for something like Marciers. I'm sure for Linenwood, a lot of it had to do with travel, was the culprit for them on cost. But you're like, you know, there's so much more money you have to put into this to be at the D1 level. That is one of the requirements from scholarships and everything else. That it's a it's a tough jump. And you look at what a team like Mercyhurst and Lemoyne and the other ones brought to the D2 competition. I hate to see it go.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Yeah, well, Mercyhurst was one of those teams that you know a lot of programs aspire to be like perennial powerhouse, year in, year out, great recruitment, great players, all Americans on both sides of the ball, you know, and and Coach Ryan, what he did there was just nothing short of remarkable. I mean, he really put that program on the map. So to see a pro, you know, Mercy Hearts is special to me, too, because I told you the story with Chris Ryan. First time I saw Mercy Hearts get off the bus, I thought it was the football team. Dom, I swear to God. I swear to God, they were huge. And and and that game, my middle son was at Wingate, and that game went into four overtimes. And then the third, like third overtime, uh the skies opened. It was a like a monsoon. It was one of the most memorable, exciting lacrosse games I've ever been a part of. And it was my son against Mercy Hearst. And we got to know Coach Ryan, you know, like more like on a sort of personal level. We got to see what kind of person he's like when he we've had him on the podcast. He's funny and personable. And really, what he's done at Mercy Hearst is like I just said, he's nothing short of remarkable. So now Trey Keeley comes in, he's got a lot of Division I under him being at Cleveland State for all those years. You know, Chris Ryan goes to the mount, and like a lot of changes happened in Mercy in the last year and a half or so. And now to see it go to Division I, Kev, I hate it. I just think it stinks for our division, you know, and you know, especially up in the north now, you know, it's just another one of those powerhouses in the north, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:38

That's yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Two elite squads from the north are gone in the in two years. So I don't like it.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

It's going to be a vacuum in the GMAC when at least for a while you had Seton Hill and and Mercyhurst always going at it. Now, I'm I'm hoping that some others will step up into that void, but I don't think it's gonna be a a jump next year in 25 where you're really gonna see that. I think that, to be honest, is is Seton Hill's conference to lose.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

That's right. You know, you're right. You're right. Yeah, so it's a simple thing.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

But we do we do wish I we sent I sent uh Coach Keeley a message from us, Danny, uh, via email. I think I see C Duana just saying, hey, we we wish you the best, and we do. We hope they do well. You know, they're their school has a reason for doing it, and it's try to get more exposure to the school, get more students looking at it. That's a big reason to do it. Uh, I just hope that they keep the lacrosse program at the varsity level in D1, and Coach Keely brings them and is able to really compete at that level. They're in a good conference for them, which I think will help. And I think you know, it'll be it'll be fun to see them where they go, but we're they're really gonna be missed, like we said about the other schools.

SPEAKER_02 10:57

I agree, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

All right, now let's move on to the real reason we're here,

Top 10 Roundup

SPEAKER_00 11:06

and that's to start off with the top 10 roundup. Danny.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

All right, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, senhoras y senhoras. It's that time, it's the time. Number one, limestone beat Catalba 22 to 7. Number two, Lenore Ryan keeps rolling on, beat Tusculum 19-3. Number three, Tampa beat Lynn in SSC action 20 to 4, Kev. Number four, Adelphi beat Assumption 17 to 8. Number five, beat uh Mercy, beat Malloy. That pesky Malloy Lions team, uh 12-7. A couple of their defenders came back this week. I just found out that Malloy was missing a couple of defenders for like the couple of games. So we'll talk about that later. Number six, Rollins beat number 18 Florida Southern in one of our games to watch. Yeah. Uh 10-6. It was a really good game. Number seven, Wingate beat a good Pesky Anderson team, 11 to 5. Um, number eight, St. Ace. They beat who they beat. They're played tonight. Do they play tonight? They do. Let me go. Number let me continue. Number nine, Newberry beat Mars Hill. And number 10, U Indy beat William Jewell 14 to 1. And that's your favorite.

Week in Review

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Just another couple of scores of note. Florida Tech over Emory Riddle. 16-14. Really good game, Kevin. So Sunside State Conference action. Uh Davenport beat Quincy 8-6. Davenport moves to 9-2 in the GLVC, Kev. They're quite the surprise this year. Yeah. Wheeling, wheeling over Tiffin, 18-7. How's that grab you? Lander beat that Pesky Flagler Saints 13-12 in overtime in Beach Belt action, Kev. CSU Pueblo got on the board 14-12 over Adam State and Armac action. Mount Olive, they are starting to put it together, Kev. Yeah, I've got that game on my list with Belmont Abbey. Yeah, they beat Belmont Abbey 12-11 in overtime in Conference Carolina's action and BBA with a big win over St. Leo 15-12 in Sunshine State Conference action, Kev. So just another couple of scores a note. So, Don, let's talk about that Mercy Malloy game.

SPEAKER_04 14:04

Oof. Uh yeah, they they are a pesky group for sure. That's probably the best way to describe them. They they don't go away no matter what the score is, no matter what the situation is. They're always fighting, they're always playing. Uh could be down 10, could be down one. They're they're coming at you no matter what the situation is. Um they they they have a good goaltender, they're coached well. Um you know, going into them, we always knew it's a hard conference battle. They always play us tough no matter what rank we are, no matter what rank they are. It's always got to be a 60-minute lacrosse game. And you know, we we jumped out on them early. Um 8-2 at halftime, and then it was, I believe, 10-3 going into the fourth quarter. I'm sorry, 12-3 going into the fourth quarter or 12-4. And uh, we didn't score in the fourth quarter, came back, finished 12-7. Offense really died down in the fourth. Wasn't wasn't a uh a full 60-minute performance, especially from a coaching standpoint.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

I I think it's you didn't want to score in the fourth because you wanted to put the the heart attack of the cardiac kids back in your fans and probably the coaches too.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Yeah, we we call mercy the cardiac kids because you always let teams in it. You always always you always let them in, but you find a way to finish, man. And your boy, your boy Jason Cooner has just been outrageous at the dot, man. He's just, I think he's a real big reason why you guys are where you are. I mean, you guys' offense is are great anyway, but I mean, what Jason has been able to do at faceoff is just, you know, you guys got the ball all the time, man.

SPEAKER_04 15:40

You could play make it take it with a guy like that. You know, you don't got to rush anything on offense. You could really make sure you get the best shot with 10-15 left on the shot clock, and then, you know, sending him back out there at the X. It's almost like you know you're gonna get the ball back.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Yeah, so I got a couple other notables, Danny. This comes back, notable games. This goes back to last Wednesday. Remember, we talked about a lot of games on our last podcast for that last Wednesday that were already gonna be played by the time the episode drops. Interestingly, they were almost all really good games. Wilmington Chestnut Hill. Wilmington pulls it out 10-8. Malone Walsh, the Battle of Canton. You called this one, Danny. Malone wins for the first time ever against Walsh, 16-12. Yeah. Assumption and St. Mike's. Remember, this is the battle to try to stay in the hunt for the Lemoyne spot, like we like to call. St. Mike's wins 15-13 to take that conference lead. And then Belmont Abbey Barton, before they played non-alab, they they took Barton 13-7, which is a really good game. But the real big game that night was Bentley against Pace. Yeah. Three overtimes, and Pace pulls it out. Did you watch that game, either of you? I did.

SPEAKER_04 17:06

Yeah, so I didn't get to watching it, but I was I was watching the stats the whole time, honestly, and and just seeing like overtimes end on the computer, just watching the stats go, which is like, oh gosh, what's gonna happen next? Like, yeah, you never know who's gonna score.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Dom, the Danny and I pointed out as we started this, it well, the weather was horrendous. Pouring rain, that's bad enough in the northeast. But winds, like Danny said, 30 to 40 miles per hour, it was just blowing. I don't I just would not want to be out there whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Pacing you could see you could see the sheets of wind, uh the rain, just the sheets of rain, and just it was nasty out there. Even even the refs had like gloves and and full stuff.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

You can see the you know, Dom, you could see the uniforms flap, you know, like the the arm, you know, just flapping, like they're any loose material, it was it was bad. But and what was funny about this game was it was really close through really the first half, and then it was like six six at one point in the second quarter, and then pace went on a four-goal tear or three-goal tear to get up nine six after three. And at that point, because it had been so close, I'm thinking, looks like Pace has this game under control. But Bentley turned it on the offense in the fourth and outscored pace four to one to go into overtime. And then both sides in those first two overtimes had looks, but just couldn't put it away. And then finally, Daniel Zabia created some really good space for him, got got hands-free, and bounced a shot into the goal in the third overtime to seal the win in favor of the setters, and that was his fourth goal of the game.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

You know, it was your typical high-end NE10 type of game. It was a, you know, real fast-paced game, even though the weather was definitely a factor, it didn't stop these boys from getting up and down the field. They were they were it was a fast-paced, really high-end game. It was one of the better lacrosse games I've watched this year, but it's too bad it had to be in the rain.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

I agree with you, Dan. I mean, you had to actually look and see the rain. Sometimes you're just watching the game. You didn't even know that it was raining because they were playing so so quick.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Yep. It was like one of those games, you know, like just you know, guys just taking it down to the last second, a big face-off. Hey, a win. Oh my god, timeout, you know, set up a play, bury one, tie it up, let's go to OT. It was a really, really good game. And like you said, Pace pulled it out in triple overtime. I give Bentley a lot of credit. Their defense, like Danny Zabia is a good scorer, you know. And yeah, he had four, but if he had to fight for every single one of those goals, you know, none none of the goals that Pace was able to get were easy goals. They were fighting for those goals, you know what I mean? It was one of those games. Well, it meant a lot to these teams.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

You know, these two teams are vying for any 10 spots, you know. And you look at it from Bentley's perspective. So Bentley and the team stats won face-offs and ground balls. And in ground balls in the fourth quarter, they outpaced Pace 12 to 6. That'll tell you what they want. I mean, when you're fighting to get back, they were down by three going into the fourth, and so they needed those ground balls. The other side of it though, pace won the goalie saves 15 to 4, which is a huge, huge difference. But still the game was close, and we we talked about some of the scores. Raphael Rodriguez had two goals for pace along with Daniel Xavier has four. Ryan Kemp had one goal, one assist, and Jack turned the goalie, like I said, 15 saves, 10 goals against, four ground balls, one caused turnover.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Jason Tindley's pretty good, you know. But yeah, Bentley's got Cam. You know what I mean? They yeah, yeah. You know, without a doubt. And they were they were able to like do things in the fourth quarter, but you know, like I said, their defense played well in the second half, I thought, I, you know, in my opinion, they were like they they held pace. Like I said, they made pace work for goals, you know. Yeah, there was no easy step downs, it was all dodging, you know, guys, you know what I mean? Good passing, and and in weather that were just like it was good for a duck. If you were a duck, it was a good day. You know, yeah. So pace pulls that out. That's a big, that's a big N 10 win for Pace, man. It sure is, it sure is.

SPEAKER_04 21:43

I got a quick one to go with the North Region too for them for uh like a regional win, like for the end of the season.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

Absolutely, a hundred percent. That's a that's definitely something that you know is in the mix now as well, regional seedings and stuff for some of these teams and pay.

SPEAKER_04 22:01

Belly came in the the favorite, I think, like like the to win the NE ten conference. I mean, maybe not in uh other people's eyes of uh, you know, with knowing what a Delphi was bringing back and stuff like that. Uh, but you know, Belly was on the rankings. They were, I think, number number three in the country or four in the country preseason. And, you know, they've they've dealt with some injuries, but for Pace to pull that one out, that's that's huge for them.

unknown 22:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Yeah. It also it really shows how evenly matched those two teams are as well. Um, I got a quick one. This is interesting. There was a Friday one. It was it was the what we called last week, the battle of the acronyms or the uh the alphabet in the RMAC, CMU against CUI, Colorado Mesa against Concordia. Colorado Mesa pulls it out 17-4, and you say, okay, that's what we kind of expected, but it was 5-4 at half. And as I watched that game, I thought, after that half, I thought, wow, looks like Concordia has really figured things out. And they came with a great game plan, and they were able to shut down and shut down uh Colorado Mesa. And and Concordia actually had more shots and shots on goal in the first half than than CMU. But then CMU blew it open in the third and scored eight. And they actually held Concordia to zero goals in the second half. So I don't know if it was a combination, but uh it was a weird game because the first half you thought, oh, this is gonna be close. And then then Colorado Mason just poured it on. So interesting game. Um Dom, did you have any games that you had on the on the um roster to to talk about?

SPEAKER_04 23:40

Mine was gonna be that that Bentley Pace game. I mean, how's how's that not the the the topic, you know, triple overtime, one goal? I mean, you know, like I said, I didn't really watch it, but um once I I I saw well someone texted me and said, uh, pace is up nine-six after three, you should try and watch what you can. And that's when I I turned on the stat cast and I was really watching everything in the fourth quarter. Yeah, it was a it was a really tight battle. I mean, like uh like Danny said, Bentley really, their their defense really held their own in the fourth quarter to try to to to keep pace from really ending that game earlier than it should than it really ended.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Yeah, and then when it comes when it goes to three overtimes, which is just crazy.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

Yeah, yeah. It's unbelievable. You know, one thing else I do have to add about uh uh playing at Bentley was playing there is the the weather is always crazy there. It's it's rain and freeze and snow. You always get something whenever you go there. So I'm not I'm not too surprised that when uh Westchester team goes there, they got uh they got some rain and some cold weather.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Do you think the Falcons just kind of uh uh manufacture that every time for a home game?

SPEAKER_04 24:50

Maybe they might be used to it, they might be uh putting it out there so everyone else isn't isn't comfortable.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

I love it. I love it. Let's talk about the Malone Walsh game, the Battle of Canton. Yeah, did you watch that game? I did. It was a pretty decent game, man. These guys, you know, Malone is what, second year program? Yep. And and and the Walsh Cavaliers, they've kind of, you know, they're doing okay. But uh the Battle of Canton, you know, and Malone pulled this one out and GMAC uh action 16-12. Uh John Nowdy, not John Malts got things going in a hurry for Malone, uh burying the 17th goal of the season. Luke Gorey scored 20 seconds later, and Talon Heath uh buried a pair of goals. Cody Bauman had two goals in the first, and Ty Pilkington added one for Walsh. Malone 5'3 after one. Not too bad of a game, right? We're like cooking. Both teams are getting good looks, they're getting shots off. Um where are we? Uh Walsh opened up the second quarter with Hudson Donnell goal, bringing it to 5'4 when Smariazzo buried a pair of goals. Sternberg answered for the Cavaliers. Nolan Winter got on the board and gave Malone an 8-5 lead. Walsh scored three unanswered, Kev. Two by Walters.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

I was actually, I think when this game was on, I was editing the podcast at the same time. So I'm kind of only looking through one eye, and it all of a sudden I see Walsh come back and I'm like, hmm, here they come.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

Yeah, they scored three man, uh, three unanswered, two by man up, and we were tied up at eight with eight forty left in the third. So now it's like a ball game. You know what I mean? It's a ball game.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

Um uh each team traded goals when Cody Bauman scored on a man up, giving Walsh its first lead of the game. So midway through the third, Walsh came all the way back and took the lead. And again, each team traded goals again when Luke Ory went to work, man, scoring a pair in the fourth, lighting the fuse to a furious five-goal flurry. Say that fast with a couple of with a couple of bug rises in you. Yeah, uh five-goal flurry in the final six minutes of the game. And that that was it. So uh the vi the pioneers of Malone did really well. 16-12 over the Walsh. Um, sophomore, uh, what's his name? Uh Zach Sarjamir uh Smargiasso, sophomore from Copley, Ohio, four goals and an assist. Talon Heath, four goals and an assist. Luke Ory, three goals, John Mouts, two goals. Andy Kaiser, Eli Ciadi, and Nolan Winter all at one. Talon Heath, Kev, is eighth in the country for goals. He's got 38 goals, averaging 3.5 a game. He's good. And yeah, you know where he's from. We we mentioned it before. Yeah. Elk River, Minnesota. Minnesota. You gotta see another one. Minnesota.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Yeah. He probably listens to down the alley as well.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

He probably does. Uh, for the Walsh Cavaliers, Cody Bauman had four ground, uh, four goals. Uh, the senior attack, he's out of Nenamo, British Columbia. We did we talk about them before, right? But there's a couple of guys. Yeah, there's a couple of couple. A couple of guys from up there. Yeah. Uh Toby Olen Olenek had two goals, uh, Adam Tinline, Denahill, Cartwich, Pilkington, uh, Tosh Paziek, and James Sternberg all added one. So that was a really good uh battle of uh Canton because Walsh beat him last year, right? If I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Yeah, yeah. And so it is it's game on. I mean, I think part of that is Coach Salter's trying to rebuild at Walsh, starting at his own culture. Coach Campbell, he's he's starting this from the ground up, and he's got those guys cooking. They had a good, good season last year. They're following up with a good second season. Those are the kind of teams are gonna have to really step up and fill that void for the for Mercy Hurst as they go. And I think those are two teams to keep their your eye on.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Yeah, Walsh, they uh dropped to two and eight, they're two and two in confidence, and Malone, eight and five, Kev second year program four and one in the GMAC right now. Yeah, so they're playing well. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

Okay, I got when I looked at the teams or the games this past week, I saw some. Well, they had some really good overtime ones. We already talked about one of them. We're gonna get to another one at least coming up right now. But there were also some surprise wins, especially even by score. And here's one really quickly. Uh I didn't even get to watch it, I just looked at the the stats and everyone afterwards. But it's Thomas Moore against Davison Elkins. Thomas Moore wins 11-3. It's their first D2 and G-Mac win ever. Yeah, Thomas Moore's new program. You know, Davison Elkins scored the first goal, and then the Saints just turned it on, scored the next seven, and that really is all she wrote. Uh, but it's not so much that Thomas Moore won, it's almost by the score, too, 11-3. I mean, you look at the scores and what they did. Bryce Collins, four goals, one assist. Spencer Leftbridge, two goals, three assists. Donahue Simpson, two goals. Jackson Getz, two goals, one assist. And then on defense, Zach Colbert, five ground balls, three costs, two numbers, and their goalie, Trevor Almanza, 14 saves, three goals against. I mean, that was a total team win. So wanted to point that out really good. But here's the next game that went to overtime that I got to watch on Saturday, and that's Lander against Flagler. Flagler, Pesky.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

The Pesky Saints.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Well, we had this one down there, right? I mean, these two teams you thought it was going to be close. This was the battle of from the championship last year. Yeah. And so you knew it would be a tough battle. It was six, three and a half, eight, six after three, both those with Lander leading. It looked to me like that Flagler was turning over the ball more than Lander at that time. But I have to, when I went back, looked the stats are pretty much close, so I'd have to look at like quarter by quarter. But Lander seemed to be able to beat their matchups to score more. And they they then ended up scoring first in the fourth to go up 9-6. And it seemed at that point, early on in the fourth, every time Flagler got the ball on offense in the beginning of that fourth, they were making some mistake and Landon would capitalize. They turn it over, they have a bad pass, they're being offsides. So Lander was able to get up to 11-6 with 9.28 left. Five goal difference. Flagler finally scores in the fourth at the eight-minute mark. Eight minutes left, they get five goals down. They score again 15 seconds later, it's 11-8. Lander answers, then Flagler scores off the face-off. So, like within a minute and a half, it's now 12-9. And then Flagler started being there one-on-ones. It's 12-10 at 5-30, and it's 12-11 at 3 15.

unknown 32:15

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Flagler at this point is winning all the face-offs. And Lanner is having trouble on the clear, just the opposite of what we saw at the beginning of the fourth. They just flipped.

unknown 32:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

Flagler gets the ball back with 106 left. Coach Duncan calls a timeout. Trace McDonald scores with 20 seconds left to tie it up. They outscored Lanner five to one in the last eight minutes to go to overtime.

SPEAKER_02 32:40

Amazing. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

Yeah. But Lanner's the one that pulls it out. Interestingly, there was uh Lannard wins a face off. Uh, and then but there's a save by the goalie Josh Stevens uh for uh Flagler. During the clear attempt, there's a huge hit by a Lannard defenseman against a Flagler guy trying to clear it across the the midline. But I thought so I thought the penalty would just be on Lander, but somehow it was called on both of them. I didn't go back and see what it was, but Lander and Flaggler had a player in the penalty box. So it was a five on five with Lander of the ball. In overtime? In overtime. That stinks. Carter Wilcox dodges across the middle, gets a pick, which gives him an opening on the top right for the game winner about 12 yards out.

SPEAKER_04 33:34

I saw that today. Did you? Yeah, he was uh he swept top side. It's a pretty nice shot, actually. Give it to him. He kind of ripped it.

unknown 33:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

Have you seen Flagler play at all, Dom?

SPEAKER_04 33:46

Uh so I I have not, honestly. I just I just saw that one clip, but uh I I didn't notice it was five on five either. I I I should probably go watch go watch at least that uh that overtime clip. But um, yeah, so I saw the clip.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

Mark my words are gonna be he's gonna they're gonna be a good team in another couple of years. Yeah, coach dunk coach Duncan's very good coach. He's got it's a beautiful school. It's not too hard to recruit there, you know what I mean? And yeah, yeah, just what that team has done in just a few what this is their third season, Kev. This is their third season, this is their third season, and they're already like they're playing big boys, they're playing Tampa, they're playing Rollins, they're you know, they're they're playing big boys, they're they're taking their lumps, but they are improving immensely, and they are giving good teams tough games. Lander was ranked a couple of weeks ago, and then they lost, and they've been out of the top 20. And, you know, so you know, this flagler team is something to keep an eye on. I'm just telling you, they're they're they're a good squad.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

But we we talked about this last week, and Don, we talked about the Peach Belt. There's five teams in it now, but the top four, Lander and Flagler being two of them, and then Alabama Huntsville and Montevallo playing this next Saturday. Every time these games they come down to it's a one or two goal game. It's almost like the Pace Bentley game where you can't count a team out just because they're down by five goals like in this game. It's close to overtime because and they were down by five goals with eight minutes left. So that's how hard these, yeah. That's how hard these these teams fight against each other in the peep peach belt because realistically, that's their championship, you know, is the tournament championship for them. They're they're not none of the teams are gonna go to the NCAAs yet. Give them a few years, maybe, but they're not they're not ready yet. But it's just great lacrosse to watch. And this game was another another example of it.

SPEAKER_02 35:43

Yeah, they get big crowds in the peach belt. They love their lacrosse there, and they're just getting it, they're just it's just growing down there big time. And and I I like that conference because of the parody. It just seems like anybody can beat anybody, so it's like more interesting, especially this time of year, because they play each other twice, and then they're gonna have to go each other against each other in the in the conference tournament. So they're all they're all very familiar with each other, and the games get chippy, man.

SPEAKER_04 36:13

They get like, you know, it's real, it's the real deal lacrosse, man. You know, yeah, yeah, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

Okay, Danny, what other games do you have there?

SPEAKER_02 36:22

Uh, I got the Rollins uh Florida Southern game. Yeah. You want to go over that? Yeah, let's do it. All right, Rollins, uh the pesky Florida Southern Mox, man. They're a good squad. They're a good squad. I I really do think they're a good squad, but they with that loss, they go to two and three in conference. So if they have a little uphill battle in conference, they do.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

They can still they can they've got to win out, I think.

SPEAKER_02 36:50

But yeah, you know, that they're they're just a good squad, they really are. Um uh Rollins jumped out to with a five-goal lead and led five-nothing after one. I was like, oh boy, Rollins came to play, you know? And uh the defense tightened up and held Rollins to only one goal in the second quarter for the Mox.

SPEAKER_00 37:12

You know what I thought about when that happened, Danny? Florida Southern playing wing gate. Yeah, that defense stepping up, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:22

Same thing. That kid Nick Shannon for Florida. So good. Dude, he's good, man. He's a defender for for the Mox, and he's just in every play. He's in uh a ground ball machine, he's a causing turnover guy. A lot like Gurdville, man. A lot like Gurdville. He really is. He's he's fast, he's athletic, he's not as big as uh Jason, but you know, he he's really good, man. I just thought he had like four cause turnovers. I mean, he's got 121 for his career. He's a really good player, but uh it was one of those really defensive battles, you know, because both teams have very good offenses. And, you know, for for Florida Southern to hold a really good offense like Rollins to only 10 goals, and and and then Rollins to hold Florida Southern to only six goals, it just tells you it's it was a defensive battle. Um they they they they're rivals, you know, they they don't like each other, it's uh it's a SSC rivalry, man. They really don't.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

And it was a very, very physical game.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

Yeah. Yeah, there was a lot, it was another high energy, a lot of you know, a lot of chippiness, a lot of hits, a lot of physicality. But you know, the mocks make it tough because they got Jacob Chiz at the dot. It's like having it's like having Jason Kuner at the dot. The kid just gets possessions, man, you know, in in key times, you know, in key times too, you know. He just he just gets possessions. He's a little fire plug out there. He's low, low center of gravity, big legs, and he's quick and he's wide up top. He's perfect face-off body, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 39:08

And he's not just he was this game a little bit more, but he's not just a Fogo. He's not, he doesn't get off. He heard in the offense.

SPEAKER_02 39:20

Yeah, and and you know, like I said, Rollins blew it up after that 5-0 lead. It made it tough for Florida Southern. They were playing tight a little bit. Rollins defense, you know, they were stepping up. Shah, the big diesel in in in in goal. He he makes big, he makes big saves, you know. And you know what? Towards the end, Florida, Florida Southern did they were able to get shots off. I mean, they sh outshot Rollins 41 to 32. Yeah. So in that fourth quarter, they were able to get possessions and get shots off. They just couldn't bury a biscuit. And um again, Rollins, I think if they're gonna go far, they need to tighten up that face-off because they're struggling that face-off. They sent four different players out there. So the Tars are rolling nine and two overall, three and one a conference in the game. Jack Johnstone, three goals, Logan Myers, two goals, Grant Hansen, Polera, Wexon Blatt, Madsen, Copen, and uh each added one. And uh for the Mox, Nolan Ty, he's a good player, man. He's a good player, too. Big boy. He's three goals. You know where he's from? He's from North North Richland Hills, Texas. So Nolan, good job that night, kid. Uh Matt Flamenspeck, two goals. Jonas Aquilla, one, and Caleb Cook dished out three dimes. Mikey Simone, pretty damn good. He's a pretty damn good goalie man. Uh, he had nine saves, and Jacob Chisel, again, 16 for 20 at the face-off. So even though they the numbers look better for Florida Southern, they just couldn't bury biscuits against Shahe, the big diesel with 10 saves. So Rollins uh still uh cooking up there, but again, if they're gonna go far, they're gonna have to tighten up the face-off.

SPEAKER_04 41:15

Being able to win face-offs is just it's it's massive, especially like, you know, in a in a slower paced game. You know, you can really drain that shot clock, drain a defense, tire them out, and then just do it all over again. You know, next possession, same thing. It's just it's a massive advantage to be winning face-offs on a specific day.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Yeah, especially in big games, too, you know. Like in big games, you want the ball. You want the ball, you want control, you want can you want time of possession on your side. So having that face-off guide if you get it look at your possessions is just huge, especially this time of year when teams are vying for seedings and better seeds and maybe a home game and you know, all of that stuff starting to count now. You know, the season's winding down.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Oh, yeah. Yeah, and that's exactly in this game why Chiz was so important in the sense of they're down by so many goals, but they're never out because they got a guy like that at face off. Um, let's move on. Another game, and this was surprising to me. Although, if you look at it, it's almost like a mirror of the first game when they played, Danny, and that's Lewis against Maryville.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

Surprised by this game. I was surprised.

SPEAKER_00 42:24

I wasn't surprised by the who won. Lewis pulled it out, but it's the score 20 to 12. Just almost a flip of what Maryville did to Lewis. Maryville controlled that whole game. In this game, it was 4-4 after one. You're like, okay, here's the battle. But Lewis controlled the second and the third quarter. They were up 8-4 with an 8-4 lead with 345 left to play in the half. They continued to control it, control the game, both sides, defense and offense, and they were up at 15-7 to Meryville after three. And what I saw, Danny, is Lewis's defense did not allow much ball movement Maryville to get the ball inside. I mean, Maryville looked like they were shooting from outside 12-15 yards every time. There was very few goals on the inside, and they seemed to be shooting from the outside. And and they and by the third, the Saints had their work cut out for them. Now they actually scored two in a row going into the fourth to make it 15 9. You're like, okay, can they come back? It's a huge but then it was basically back and forth. They were trading goals after that for the rest of the quarter, and and and Lewis just had the upper hand the whole time. They did not allow them to close that gap, and they won twenty to twelve. And here's the interesting. Thing. Lewis scored only five goals in their first matchup at the beginning of the season. And then they flip it to 20 goals against Maryville. I think the GLBC is wide open for the top four teams going into the end of conference play.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

I totally agree with that. It is wide open. We can discuss that later, but yeah, it's anybody's, it's anybody's in that conference right now.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

If you look at stats, so Maryville outshot Lewis 43 to 34. That's a pretty good margin. Not dramatic, but it's pretty much. But here's the shots on goal. 28 by Maryville, 27 by Lewis. And I think that kind of confirms what I was saying about outside shots. They could not put the ball in the net. Lewis was shutting them down and not allow them to do that. Or else the other thing I saw is not a lot of off-ball movement by Meryville earlier on the game. I just did not seem like they were in sync this time.

SPEAKER_02 45:08

Very possible. I didn't watch the game. I didn't watch the game, but you like you said, that GLVC is wide open. Rockhurst is undefeated in conference 5-0 after beating Undy last week, which was a big win for Rockhurst and a bad loss for Undy. Yeah. That's a bad loss for them. Um Undy's 2-1 in conference. Maryville's 8-3 overall, and they're 3-1 in conference. And Lewis beating Maryville now gives them the edge a little bit in conference because uh Lewis is 2-1 in conference. So that that pick 'em. I don't know, man. It looks like either one gonna beat anybody. And it was it looked like it's Rockhurst to lose right now. They're they sit in the driver's seat.

SPEAKER_00 45:56

Yeah, I think the interesting thing about that is they still have to play Maryville and Lewis in conference games. So those two teams you know is gonna are gonna be gunning.

SPEAKER_02 46:10

Yeah, but if they if they played like they played against you, Wendy, they'll be just fine.

unknown 46:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

Because Rock Rose played really well against you Wendy.

SPEAKER_00 46:20

I but then you look at the Maryville-Lewis matchup two times in a row, like two totally different games. One's on, one's off.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

Yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Maryville's been playing great this year. Lewis has been quiet, and we never gave him enough credit because after that game, you're like, okay, where are they going? And they have a really good record. I think I think of course I thought the Lewis-Meryville game would be close. I think those games would be close when they play Rockers, but what do I know? You know, you know, it's not gonna be a 2012 game.

SPEAKER_02 46:49

You know, you know, we got we got our heads pretty much to the rail here, you know. We kind of know these teams now and what their their tendencies are and where they're going. And and to see a game like that, I expected Maryville to play a lot better against Lewis. Lewis has been kind of like up and down, you know. They they win a few, they lost the win. They lost a lot of wins.

SPEAKER_00 47:10

I think that's the I I personally think I don't know, maybe it was them catching Maryville early. I I think Maryville's a really good team. I just think you look at those four teams and and Dom, I'd love you to chime in. I don't know if you've played any of these teams, Undy, Rockers, Maryville, and Lewis. I I think if you look at those four teams, it's like the Peach Belt, the top four teams. I think this year, you cannot tell who's gonna win. It's anyone's game, game day.

SPEAKER_04 47:38

Yeah, I don't, I think they're all very, very evenly matched. I I'd probably give it to Undy right now, just because of what I've seen recently. But you know, us being from the north, we don't get to to watch too much of them. But uh yeah, I'd probably I'd probably say Undy's gonna get it right now.

SPEAKER_02 47:54

Well, you know, UND UND's got a great great goalie in Casey Carlson. He's really been he's played so so well this year for them. You know, UND, they're surprisingly as uh pretty good because they didn't I didn't think they were gonna be the team that they were last year because they were pretty good. They had short sticky mids, all Americans. They had some they had some you know some pretty good guys on that squad.

SPEAKER_04 48:21

Like you guys said before, too, they they could also put the ball in the net. I mean, that uh that uh that 10-6 wasn't uh a great showing of it, but you know, they their offense, I believe, is is pretty good. I think they can are definitely more than capable of putting up 16, 17 a game to uh to get there and and win the conference for sure.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

I agree. I agree. Then no, they're they're they're very good. I mean like Undy's a team to to reckon with for sure. I mean, what they're ranked number eight in the country right now, number eight, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 48:55

Oh, I think they're higher now. Uh I think they're 11. I think they're like 11, Undy.

SPEAKER_02 49:02

Oh, they dropped to 11, huh? Well, they were 10 last week and they lost. So who knows?

SPEAKER_00 49:07

All right, so that's you you see, you ask these damn questions. You know, if you're a good lawyer, you're supposed to know the answer before you ask the question. They are 11, like I thought. I just want to point them out that I was actually right once.

SPEAKER_02 49:22

Hey, you know what? We had a good any we had a good any 10, you know, talking about vying for positions, the St. Mike's Assumption game. Did you watch that?

SPEAKER_00 49:30

I like I said, it was I'm I'm watching games as I'm working, or as I'm I I didn't get to watch, I saw it kind of out of the corner of my eye.

SPEAKER_02 49:38

You know, with Lemoyne being gone now out of the NE10, it definitely opens up a spot for a team, you know. And right now, who is it gonna be? Was it gonna be St. Mike's? Is it gonna be Assumption? Which one of those squads is gonna step in to get a possible conference berth, you know? And St. Mike's with with a really good win, uh, they go to six and two and three and one in conference right now, St. Mike's. So um it was a good game, two and two, two, two after one, and then St. Mike's erupted for seven goals in the second period and led nine five at half.

unknown 50:16

St.

SPEAKER_02 50:16

Mike's added to their lead when Ethan Hughes scored his eighth goal of the season. Then Assumption scored three unanswered to bring it to 10-8. And it started to get to be a really good game, man. And uh St. Mike's answered with three unanswered of their own and uh and made it 13-8. And then Assumption answered back with four more. It was like, all right, which one of these teams wants to take that title, you know, because it's a big it's a big spot in the NE10 for you know conference in that seating area, you know? And uh so they bring it bringing Assumption to within one goal. It was 13-12, then St. Mike's with 341 left regul in mega in regulation. Uh Simonson scored for St. Mike's in the final two minutes and then put it out of reach for Assumption. And uh St. Mike's won it 15-13. For St. Mike's, Sean Murphy, the good fella, the fine young man, Sean Murphy, three goals. Alex Sherguin, three goals, Christian Reyes, three goals, Ethan Hughes, two goals, Sebastian Simonson, two goals, and Woods and Morgan had one apiece. And for Assumption, uh Sam Mayfield, three goals, Ryan Healy, Pat McGrath. Oh, they got the Irish guys on their side, too, over there. Uh Nolan Johnson, the Swede, had two, and Brady McNulty had two. So it was a good game. Uh St. Mike's goes to three and one in conference. Assumption goes to two and two in any ten. So good job, St. Mike's. Big win. Big win.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

I've got one other game, another overtime game on Saturday, and that's Mount Olive against Belmont Abbey. Did you see any of that game? I did not. All right, let me run through it quickly. Really evenly matched and low scoring in the first quarter, ended up 2-2. The Trojans then score six on answered to take a commanding lead until the Abbey scored two to close out the half, make it 8-4. Belmont Abbey then returned serve by shutting out Mount Olive in the third and getting within one. So it's 8-7 after three. The Crusaders tied up early in the fourth, but Mount Olive counters to reclaim the lead. But then Belmont Abbey goes on another three-goal run to go up 11-9 with 6-15 to go. And once again, you look at this, you look at Pace taking the commanding lead and not commanding, but a few goal lead, and you look at this, they're a few goal lead, you think, uh, maybe they've just turned the tide and they've got the momentum. But 615 was too much time for Mount Olive. And they came back, they rallied back, they tied it 11-11 regulation, and then Aiden Lan of Mount Olive scores the game winner with 104 left in overtime. The stats were pretty even, except Belmont Abbey only went one for six in EMO. Which, you know, if you just think about that, it's a good game. If you can get a little bit more, that's the game. And then Belmont Abbey won the face-off battle uh as well. So they they had some things that they won, but uh, you know, that the bottom line was they they didn't put in when they had man up, get enough scores, I think, to really even it out. Mount Olive, Aiden Lalon had three goals, one assist. Sam Skussen had two goals, three assists, and Parker Chapman had two goals. And on Belmont Abbey, Trey Childers, he's good, man. Five goals. Davis McCulley, two goals, and Rich Timothy on the defensive side, four ground balls and one cost turnover. Really, really close game. Back and forth. In fact, I thought Belmont Abbey had it for a while. Mon Olive came back, and then the momentum just swung that way, and they they took it in overtime.

unknown 54:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 54:11

Any other games?

SPEAKER_02 54:12

No, that's all I got, Kev. That's a lot of games we covered. A lot of games, a lot of games. My voice is hurting. The following segment of Increase is sponsored by LaxJobs.us. Fine Lacrosse Jobs, fine lacrosse people. LaxJobs.us is the number one source to browse and post lacrosse job opportunities on the web. If you're looking to work in lacrosse, at laxjobs.us, you can browse lacrosse job opportunities, upload a resume, create a speaker profile, and be sick by potential employers, you can sign up for email job alerts as well. Are you looking to hire lacrosse people? At laxjobs.us, you can post a job to release to a network of qualified job seekers. And the best part is that laxjobs.us is completely free to use. Our goal is simple. Fill lacrosse roles with lacrosse people. Visit us today at laxjobs.us and follow us at laxjobs underscore and join our community of professionals. Laxjobs.us. Find lacrosse jobs. Find lacrosse people. laxjobs.us.

Games to Watch

SPEAKER_00 55:29

All right, so Danny, we'll just give our voices a rest as we go into games to watch this week. And we'll turn it over to Dom. Dom, we usually turn to the guest analysts and give them the first two games that they are looking forward to seeing this next week. So what have you got on the on the ledger there?

SPEAKER_04 55:48

All right. So uh the the one of them is gonna be ours.

SPEAKER_00 55:53

Uh let's talk about it. Let's talk about it right now. What's the matter?

SPEAKER_04 55:58

We're we're going to uh Frostburg. We're going to them in Maryland. Uh playing there is never easy. You know, they're uh they're a chippy group. Um they love to get after you. You know, they they never make you comfortable from day one. It's from from the first second you get on their campus, you know, they're you you you feel it for sure. You feel that you're you're at their stadium, you know, you know where you are. Um we're we're gonna go. We're gonna, you know, it's a a big conference matchup. We've always had the target on our back, you know, beating them, winning the conference the past few years, um, beating them in the regular season, beating them in the conference finals. You know, they're they're gonna want us this weekend for sure. They're gonna with we got bloods uh coming our way, no, no doubt about it.

SPEAKER_00 56:48

Man, it's gonna be a good game. Yeah, it's at their home feel like you said, which and their three and oh in conference, you're four and oh in conference.

SPEAKER_04 56:58

Yeah, so they uh they were losing actually. I don't know if you guys, I'm sure you did. They were losing 8-1 to Malloy um a couple weeks ago. I think it was last week or two weeks ago. And uh they they they won uh what was it 11-10, 10-9? They they came back in one by one and and really, really bared down. Um that game was also at home for them. So I was I'm not gonna lie, I was a little surprised seeing Malloy jump out on them like that in Maryland at uh I I think it was in Frostburg, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 57:29

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_04 57:30

Yeah, so it's that just that that caught me on surprise. But you know, seeing them come back, it was uh was like all right, yeah, they're they're back to where they're they're supposed to be, and uh we'll see them shortly. But yeah, no, that one's uh that one's gonna be a fun one for sure. They're well coached. Um Coach Garlman, he's uh you know, he's been Lake Erie before and now he's with Frostburg State. He's doing a great job over there.

SPEAKER_02 57:56

Seeford High School. Seaford High School.

SPEAKER_04 57:59

Yeah, so he actually uh he I I believe he played for the same travel organization that I did. My dad was his travel coach. Who'd you play for?

SPEAKER_02 58:08

Who'd you play for?

SPEAKER_04 58:09

The uh Long Island Pride.

SPEAKER_02 58:11

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 58:12

Yeah, yeah. So uh I believe that's who he played for. So we um he kind of knows me pretty well. We uh we we talked in the past for when he coached against me as a player and then last year as a coach as well.

SPEAKER_02 58:22

Awesome. Dom, I gotta agree with you. It's a great ECC matchup, always a good game between these two. I like the mavs in this one away. I think, you know, with Jason Kuner at the dot, just just getting you guys possessions. TJ Haider, the finisher, the guy just doesn't miss, man. He every time he touches the ball, it just goes in. It just he's really, really good. And you know what? I think the ball has to go through TJ. I do. That's just what I think. You know, you're you would know more about the offense than I would ever know because I never played the game. So, but I just think he's that good. You know, he's got that savvy, you know, fifth-year senior, been there, done that. He's been in championships, he's been in big, big games and always comes out on the winning end. So he's one of those guys I think that has to touch the ball. When when TJ touches the ball, good things happen, man.

SPEAKER_04 59:19

Yeah, I mean, he's a he's a great player, you know, like he's he's a he's a finisher, but that's not uh that's not what he's limited to. That's just his best feature for sure. He uh he sees the field very well when we give him the ball. Um he knows what to do, where to make the pass. He's always putting himself in the right position. And uh, you know, one thing that that will the thing that I love most about him as a player uh is that he rides hard. He uh he he keeps um the ball in our offensive end. When we do lose it, uh it goes down, he'll uh he'll do his best to get it back for you on the ride for sure.

SPEAKER_02 59:50

He's the savvy seasoned veteran, as I like to say.

SPEAKER_00 59:54

All right, it'll be you're right. It's gonna be a great matchup. What else you got there, Dom? What up what give us another game you're looking at? It's next Saturday.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:02

That's actually perfect to go to because um so so two years ago when I was still there, when Tampa beat us in the national championship, Seton Hill beat them in the regular season.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:17

And you almost lost to Seton Hill that year, too.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:20

Yeah, yeah. So that was a uh a really, really crazy year in terms of everyone beating everybody. So um we played Seton Hill at their place, and Tampa also went to Seton Hill that year, and Tampa, Tampa lost to them. I think it was by a goal or two. And you know, like well, we're we're not too familiar with this, the uh South teams, you know, we don't really uh, I guess, follow too much, but we'll well we do ever since we made the national championship. I guess we uh we didn't uh before that, but uh now we know a lot about them. But yeah, so seeing them beat them that year and then uh us going to have to play them afterwards definitely was like, whoa, you know, Tampa's usually uh a big powerhouse, and Seton Hill beat them by two goals now. Uh what do we got on our hands? So it was definitely interesting to see that uh two years ago. So um yeah, I don't know, I don't know if they played last year. I'm uh I'm not too sure about that.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:11

But uh I'm not sure either.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:14

But yeah, this will that's a a good rematch and some some revenge for Tampa, I'm sure going back uh up north and uh to play in some cold weather if they're playing there. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

They're at Tampa. Oh, is that neutral field?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:27

It says Maryland, yeah, yeah. It might be neutral.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:29

Yeah, they may be at Sparks.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:31

Yeah, that's what it's gonna be at Sparks, yep. Yeah, so that'll be a good one for Tampa.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:38

Tampa looks good, man.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:40

Yeah, and and you know, we we already played Cedon Hill this year as well, too. We we played them at uh, you know, for the first like six, eight minutes of the game, it was like snowing like crazy, and then the the rest of the game it was like 50 degrees out. It was sunny, it was beautiful out. And uh they're they're a tough team, you know. They they they play good defense, they're well coached, they play really, really, really well between the boxes. You know, they they make you uh they force a lot of errors on on uh clears and and they they ride well as a as a unit for sure.

unknown 1:02:12

All right.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:13

You got Kev. I got a couple games. This one may be off the radar for a lot of people, but I find it interesting. And that's this Saturday, AIC against St. Rose. This is a pride game. Both are at five wins for the season, both are playing as we record Tuesday night, so that's gonna change. St. Rose really wants these last four games to end on a high note, and AIC is trying to show that they now belong in the N and they're not a doormat. That's why I find this game really interesting. Next game I've got, and this is a big one, we kind of uh talked about a little bit when we talked on games uh the games from last week, and that is the matchup between Montevallo and Alabama Huntsville. Always a good matchup. Montevallo is two and oh in conference and eight and four overall, and one of their signature wins and got them in the top 20 was beating Florida Southern. UAH is one and oh in conference and five and six over in all. But they are really trying to solidify themselves for that first seed in the peach belt. If whoever wins this kind of puts themselves up there. Now, both played UIndy and Emmy Riddle and lost to them. So I'm gonna give the nod to Montevallo. Yeah, I like the fact that it's playing in a song, but I think it's gonna be a good game.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:40

Montevallo's a good, they're they're a good little squad, man. Very good. Very good.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:46

And and Alabama Hunter.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:47

Are they in the top 20? Are they in the top 20? Or they were, right? They were, they were they were in and out, just like Landers. So yeah, there's there's two teams in the Peach Belt that are ranked, just ranked, right there on the doorstep. And you know what? When you're getting ranked by the NCAA, you do not stink. You're a good you're a good team.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:07

Right. Okay, what what games are you looking at there, Danny?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:11

That's it, Kev. You know, I like you know, I've been like loving Malloy all year. I just love the way they're playing, they're coming up on the losing end. But uh, they play Roberts Wesleyan. Yeah, I've got that on my list too. That should be a pretty decent game.

unknown 1:04:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:26

What did Robert Wesleyan do again after you know going against Frostburg and losing and Malloy? Like you always say, they're always pesky. Yeah, they're tough, man.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:36

So that was actually the game I uh I couldn't get to this season was uh our our uh Roberts Wesleyan game. I uh I couldn't get there that weekend. Um had something to do back home in Long Island, and uh we only we got out of there with only a one goal win. We won uh at the buzzer our our goalie made a save with one second left at 13-12. And I was that was the game that was talking about, like you know, watching the game on film, and and you you really see every mistake and everything. It's it's it's it's highlighted like that. And you know, that's another, like you said, pesky team. They they always figure out how to give teams fights and and uh make it a full 60-minute battle for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:10

Yeah, they are. They're they're tough, they're a tough squad, too.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:15

Okay, I've got one more game to go before we go to the game of the week, and that's Wilmington against Georgian Court. This is a key CACC matchup. Wilmington just beat Cheston Hill, and they're currently 4-0 in conference play, and they play Caldwell first, I think, on Wednesday, so they could be 5-0. And their losses that three of their losses this year are to top 20 teams. So can they regain dominance and beat Georgian Court? Georgian Court is four and one in conference. They play Holy Family first, so they'll probably be five and one. They lost to Chestnut Hills, so if you look at comparatively, you know, which you can't always do, it's not always an Apple stack. Comparison. Wilmington could have the edge and they're at Wilmington Plain. If Wilmington wins this game, they win the regular season conference championship. Yep. If Georgian Court wins, it could be a three-way tie.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:19

Yeah. And what what happens then? What do they go into goal differential?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:23

I I don't know. I know uh GLVC last year, I think they just said co-champions. They may just say co-champions for regular season, but it really comes down to the the tournament championship, right? Oh, I don't like this. How would the seeding work for the the top? That probably comes down to goal differential.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:41

That's what I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:43

It definitely does.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:44

Yeah, because what didn't that happen in the sack a couple of years ago with Newberry getting a better seed because it was a goal differential thing or something?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:54

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:55

I think so.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:56

I I think there's been a few comments. Something like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:58

Something along something along that those lines. It might not have been Newberry, but I just for some reason it comes to my mind that it was Newberry. I don't know. It just it was a goal differential, it was like a three-way tie. Yeah. And then even though the team had lost a beat them, and had they had more goals against the other team and beat them, and it was like that type of thing. So I don't know. I don't know exactly how that works. I should find, we should find out. Should get Dan more.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:26

Let's get our crack research team on that right away. Both of them. Both guys. Now it's time for the game of the week. And our choice this week is Wingate against Limestone. Number one against number seven, a top 10 matchup. Dom, what do you think about this matchup right here?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:31

Uh I I, you know, after seeing uh Lenore Ryan handle Adelphi early in the season, 7-3, really, really keep their offense off the board. I I didn't think anyone was going to be able to top Lenore Ron. Um, and then you know, you see Limestone beat them 10-9. And uh what I I I didn't get to watch that game, honestly. I wish I did, but uh, you know, I didn't get to it. I I it's just it's it's making me do this. It's speechless, you know, like like uh holding a Delphi to three goals almost sounds impossible. And then, you know, you go and and let up pen to limestone. That that says something about limestone for sure. They're uh they're looking looking for some blood this year, looking to uh get back to the the national tournament and and see what they can do for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:15

I agree. I mean limestone looks very good, they can score, but I'm really liking their defense um this year, the what their defense has been able to do, like you just pointed out, holding good teams to like not a lot of goals. They do have a goal. They do have a goalie that will let up goals, though. He you know, he will let up goals, but that defense has been staunch, but the offense has been so lights out with Zach Terry and McGarry and those guys. Um Wingate has one of the best defenses in the country, top five defense, uh number eight goalie in the country. He's really good, Thomas Sullivan. Um defensively, Peyton Farley is an amazing, huge player, a lot like Justin Gerdville. Um uh just they have a great LSM and Joe Carnage, and then they have Danny Riley and they have Willie Greco on offense. They got that Fab Four sophomore squad, all in sophomore middies out there that have been playing great for Wingate. Where Wingate has struggled has been at the dot against the better teams. So against Tampa, they lost at the dot. Against LR, they lost at the dot. And Tim Ladner at the dot has been outstanding for limestone. So I think it's gonna be a great game. I think it's gonna be a fast game, I think it's gonna be a physical game, and I think it's gonna be a defensive game.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:50

That's what I was gonna say. I think it comes down to defense. I think both teams are stacked on both sides of the ball. Totally. I think it's what defense, though, shuts down the other offense better and which goalie plays better. Shane O'Leary or Thomas Sullivan. I think that's gonna be the edge.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:07

I have to give the edge to Tampa because of Tim Ladner at face-off. I mean, not Tampa, limestone. I'm sorry. I gotta give the edge to limestone right now because of Timmy Ladner at faceoff. He's been really, really good, man. Like really good. So if you're limestone and you're getting possessions, I mean, if that's the one.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:30

They're still they're number seven in the country. So I mean, if if you know the the they're still getting that that high ranking at number seven, top ten with those three losses, you know, the the the committee, whoever's making those rankings must think that they got those guys to to seriously compete in those big games, even though they have dropped some games, they still think they're a legitimate team to be in the top ten.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:51

Yeah, well, you know, they I think Wingate has faced seven ranked teams. So, you know, their strength of schedule is pretty tough. So to take a lot to take a two, you know, two, a one-goal, one possession loss to Tampa and double overtime, I don't know if it hurts you that much.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:09

You know, yeah, true, true, true.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:11

You know, and then they lost to number 14 Florida Southern the very first game of the season. They lost by one goal. It was a one-possession game. It was anybody's game. And I don't think it hurt them that much. And then they lost to LR by five. And LR was number two in the country. I don't think it hurt them that much because of just the strength of schedule and every team being ranked. So this is this is gonna be a really good game. Two of the better teams in the country for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:43

Yeah, can't wait to see it.

Shout Outs

SPEAKER_00 1:12:46

All right, well, we're just about done. We're at near the end. Our time for shout-outs for the week. And as always, we like to turn over the guest analysts because typically they've got they've got to shout out someone. So what do you got, Dom? Who's been bugging you?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:00

Dom's got a big smile on his face. You don't know who to who to embarrass first.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:05

Yeah, so I'm just I'm gonna go with Coach Levine. You gotta go with Coach Levine, even though he's uh he's with Division One now. He's uh he's with he's with uh LIU, you know. We we still keep in touch all the time. He uh he he was on the show, you know, multiple times, four or five times at least. I would always listen to his episodes, and uh you know that's that was probably that was probably the first thing I thought about when you guys asked me to to come on the show is you know uh coach Levine was on multiple multiple times, so uh, you know, we might as well just get on for him and uh have some fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:37

I love it. I love it. Now you gotta tell him he's you got the shot on it, so he's gotta listen at least one more time to a D2 podcast. Yeah, yeah, I'll tell him for sure.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:48

Any others? Uh my mom will probably listen. Uh I'm not sure about uh, you know, probably probably a lot of guys on the team. I'll make I'll make TJ Heyer listen. We're still close.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:59

And uh probably love it. I love it. That's good, that's great. All right, Danny. Um, I got a few. You want me to go through mine first, then I'll hand it over to you?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:10

Yeah, you can go through. I got a couple myself.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:13

Okay. I've got three. Shout out is a shout out to AIC. Last week they beat Franklin Pierce for their fifth win, as I said earlier in the podcast. Fifth win of the season. That's the most wins in a season in program history history. Awesome. That's awesome, man. Yeah, we talked about when I live when I live there, I AIC was commit really a commuter school. They are no more. Commuter school, no more. The way Jack Spallone has built that up to have a roster of 40. Look out for them.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:49

Good for AIC. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:51

Love to see it. Okay, my second shout-out goes out to Nolan Oki of Lander. He had three goals and one assist. I was meant supposed to mention this during that review of the game. It was his 18th career hat trick. And with those three goals, it put him over 100 career goals for himself.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:12

All right, congratulations. No.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:15

Okay, now here's my last shout out, and and hang with me on this one. It's gonna take a little bit. This is to the Deeks family. We talked, Danny, about the Peach Belt fans and how diehard they are. Well, this one tops the cake. They live in Alberta, Canada, and their son Noah is a senior defenseman for Monteval. Danny, you and I thought our trips were long. Yours is even longer than mine, having to go down to Wingate instead of what I had to do, Wingate from Florida. They are flying down for senior day against UAH. And you think, oh, so what? No big deal. You're flying, big deal. You know, that's that's a lot of miles. Now that's nothing. Once they get back home, they've rented a motor home and are driving from Alberta to the Peach Belt semis and finals. If you Google map that, that is somewhere between 2400 and 2900 miles, 37 to 44 hours in the motorhome one way. And when they get in their car that motor home to leave to come down, they don't know where they're going. That's why I said 24 to 2900, because the seatings will not have been made yet, so they don't know where the venue is. Uh, that's tell me that's not die hard.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:37

Noah's father in the middle for the night and figure it out in the morning, right? I get the news.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:43

Noah's father Darren says they have to take it all in because Noah graduates and becomes a grown-up in a month.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:52

That's so funny. Hey, you know what? That's a memorable thing. What a memory. Amazing. Yeah.

unknown 1:16:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:58

What a memory. They'll they'll take that to their graves. You remember the time we trolled in the motive home from Alberta all the way down to Georgia? You know, like crazy for doing that.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:10

When he DM'd, when he dm'd us with that story, and I know he didn't think I'd put it on here. I was like, I actually did the Google Maps. I'm like, oh my God, I gotta shout them out without a doubt.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:22

That's a good one. I like that one. That's excellent. All right, what do you have, Danny? All right, so my first shout out tonight goes out to uh Florida Southern Mock, Matt Flamensbach. His 100th career goal, Kev. That's quite the milestone. So love it. Good job, Matt. And how about the sophomore from Pace, Danny Xavier? The Dix Hills. He's a junior? I thought he was a sophomore. He's a junior. My bad. Dix Hills Long Island native. 100 career points. Good for you. That's awesome. He's playing really good. Yeah. Um, all right. Now, this one's a little different normally, okay? Okay. I went to my first women's game on Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:05

I saw a Facebook picture.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:07

Okay. Uh, a friend of mine that I grew up with in the neighborhood, her daughter, is at Malloy. So I was at Malloy in the morning before you guys got there in the afternoon, Dom. So I got to see her daughter Riley play, and she's a beast out there. She's a defensive machine, she's a clearing uh machine. She takes draws. She's really, really good. I had a great time at the Malloy women's game. I don't understand the women's game. I don't know it. A lot of stoppage of play, a lot of whistles, green. What's going on? I don't know what's going on. But Suzanne Brady, whom I've known since forever, our families literally go back two generations, like 80 years. Okay. That's how long the two families know each other. Um, her grandfather owned the uh the neighborhood bar, you know, the old man bar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The old guys would go and smoke their cigars and watch the Yankee game on a Sunday and sip, you know, Schaefer's out of a goblet. Like it was one of those bars. Her grandfather owned that bar, and my grandfather was always in that bar, always. And uh Suzanne, I've been telling her for years, I'm coming to a game. I'm coming to a game. So finally I went to a game and had a great time. I tailgated with them, they had libations and plenty of food. And while I was there, I saw Kofod, Mr. Kofod. Oh, yeah. So I introduced myself and I spoke to Mr. Kofod and told him what a great player his son was. We had him on the podcast. He was a great guy. He was offering me pretzels because they were bringing stuff in for the tailgate. And we talked about his son Thomas and being a great LSM, and he got hurt. He heard his hamstring. He's been out for eight games. Oh wow. I'm telling you, it's a big loss. And I think that's a huge loss. I never realized that Thomas wasn't out there the couple of times that I he's, you know, he was an all-American honorable mention. He was all conference as a freshman last year. He he was phenomenal. So he's been hurt, but I met Kofi's dad there. And Suzanne Brady, whom I went to go see at the Malloy game, her sister-in-law and husband were there, was introduced to them. Their son was a lacrosse player at Hofstra. So we were talking, but it's been like 11 years since he got out of Hofstra. So we were talking, and it turns out he and that the husband of the sister-in-law says to me, you know, you're you're you're in a podcast with D2. You know, uh a friend of mine's son was a uh D2 player at Tampa. And I was like, really? Who is that? Turns out this man worked with Danny Fitzpatrick, dad. So it was like a small world. I really, it was like, so here I it was a Saturday morning. I had to go out to Long Island for something on the way back. I stopped at Malloy, I had to not expect much, wound up having the greatest afternoon. It was such a good time. I really enjoyed myself. People were like so nice. Hey, you're in the podcast. Hey, you came to see the kid play. It was great, it was just a lot of fun. So, Suzanne, thanks for the invite. And I gotta come back because it seems that somebody else on the team went to school with Coach Boyle from Wingate and has some stories for me. There we go.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:40

There we go. More to follow, more to follow.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:44

And my last shout out tonight goes to Kev Kathleen Collins, the limestone mom. She DM'd me for my birthday. I got a lot, I got a lot of you know, DMs from some listeners and stuff like that for my birthday last week. So she was listening to the show. And it seems that we have a lot in common. And I won't mention age, but uh and she has also three boys that play lacrosse at you know at the Division II level. And she just, you know, wanted to wish me a happy birthday. And I just thought it was awesome that Kathleen kind of reached out to me. And that's the kind of thing that goes on with this podcast, Tom. Yeah, Kev. We're reaching people and they're cool with us, they don't mind DMing us. They don't, they know that we're all right with it, you know, and we just go and just and we'll give them shout-outs and stuff like that. And it's just it's been great run having this podcast and just what it's reached and what it's been able to reach. And I can't thank the listeners enough. I can't thank our our sponsor, laxjobs.us, and I mentioned that. Thank you for doing that. Yep. And you know, just and dom guys like you coming on and and and and sharing, you know, your inside of the game, and and it's it's just a lot of fun for a guy like me. I mean, I'm just not gonna ball doing this.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:09

And and I would say, as this was my last shout out, and that's to you, Dom, because we had a blast when you were on before. We were really excited when you said you're gonna come on again, and we really appreciate you taking the time with your busy schedule, coach. Shouldn't call you Dom. I should call you coach, give you the give you the the the respect you deserve to Kelly. Hell of a player, too. You were a hell, hell of a player.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:34

Just want to give you them them them props right there. You were phenomenal to watch out there. Really well.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:40

Thanks for coming on. Thank you guys. I really appreciate having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:55

And with that, boys, knuckleheads, that's a wrap. That's a wrap, Kev.