Game Time - A look back at week 11 and a preview of Week 12 of the 2023 season

SPEAKER_03 0:00

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Intro

SPEAKER_04 1:28

I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is our senior statesman for D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

Hey, Kev, how's it going tonight in Northern Virginia? What's shaking, bacon?

SPEAKER_04 1:42

I'll tell you, I went with senior statesman because of all the senior days that were happening across the division this past week. It seemed like there are a lot, a lot happening. So I figured, well, you know, kind of our senior statesman.

SPEAKER_03 1:55

I thought you because I had a birthday, you were calling me like a senior, like a senior citizen or something.

SPEAKER_04 2:00

No, believe me, you and I are so close to our age. You'd be right, though. Those two old guys, those two old guys that have a podcast.

SPEAKER_03 2:09

That was great.

SPEAKER_04 2:09

That was great. Yeah, let's not worry about our age. Let's just go right into the top 10 roundup,

Top 10 Roundup

SPEAKER_04 2:14

Danny.

SPEAKER_03 2:15

The top 10 roundup. All right, Kev. This week's top 10 roundup, we got a couple of big wins and some little changes here or there in the top 10. Number one, Lemoyne beat AIC 13-4, and the Dolphins sit at 10-0, Kev. Number two, Adelphi beat Franklin Pierce 14-8, and the Panthers sit at 13-0. Number three, U Indy beat Rockhurst 15 to 6, and the Greyhounds sit at 10-1, Kev. Number four, Wingate beat Coke rather handily, Kev 24-7, and the Bulldogs sit at 11-1. Number five, Rollins beat St. Leo pretty bad, 24-14, and Rollins sits at 11-1, Kev. Number six, Lenore Ryan beat Limestone 18-17 in an overtime thriller the other night. And the Bears sit at 12-2. Number seven, Tampa beat Lynn by the score of 21-10. Number eight, Mercyhurst lost to Seton Hill, Kev. And the Lakers sit at now eight and two. Number nine, Mercy beat UDC like a spanking 24-3. And the Mavs sit at uh 10-2. And number 10, St. Anslim's beat St. Michael's 17 to 11, and the Hawks sit at 7-2. So that's your top 10 roundup.

Week in Review

SPEAKER_04 3:55

You know what, Danny, we can't move forward until we hear that majestic music. So I appreciate you ending the top 10 roundup with the music. So let's move in to the week in review. Here's how I would coin this past week. I think there were two games that had season-defining victories for these two teams. So let's get into them and you tell me if you agree. The first one is Frostburg against Malloy. Malloy wins an overtime 15-14. I think this is a season-defining win for them because they've never beaten Frostburg and they just keep climbing the charts.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Well, you know, Malloy, that was a good game. It was, you know, it was 3-3 after one Kev. And then Malloy just went off and outscored him 4-0 in the second in the second quarter. And then outscored him in the third by one, and then Frostburg in the fourth. Yeah. They came back. It's crazy. Oh, here we go. Is Malloy gonna blow this lead?

SPEAKER_04 5:08

Yeah, it was crazy. And even in that, even in that second half, especially the fourth quarter, there were some crazy, crazy incidences. Like Austin Sipes gets caught, you know, he had an illegal stick penalty. So he goes in the box with a 443 left. Then there's a slash penalty, two people against against Malloy. So they so then it started off Frostburg 5 against Malloy 4. That that uh illegal stick penalty goes off gets done, and it's 6v4, and then they score. Frostburg scores to make it 14 to 12. But Malloy wins the face-off, and they they have a chance to run down the clock because uh Kearney has a penalty on the Bobcats for unsportsmanlike conduct, two-minute penalty, and there was like 220 or something like 230 left in the game. Right, right. They get through that, and Owen McCallan scores on the crease to make it 13-14 with 22 seconds left, and then he scores again with six seconds left to tie the game in the fourth. The Frostburg outscored him seven to one in the fourth.

SPEAKER_03 6:19

Yeah, Frostburg, just a little too late, too little, too much, too little, too late at the end. They just what was that team in the first half?

SPEAKER_04 6:28

Yeah, well, and yeah, exactly. And I didn't get to see any of the first half because of what I was doing, so I caught it at the end, but it was it was a crazy game. But you know, they bring it to overtime, and you're like, all right, do they have all the momentum now? Molloy's Jack Hurzlinger gets the OT game winner. Last year, Malloy lost to Frostburg State 21 to six.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:55

And so Molloy's Malloy's Chris Dame Delaney had four, I mean, six goals and four assists. That's a good high for him.

SPEAKER_03 7:01

10 games he had a game, man. Delaney was unstoppable.

SPEAKER_04 7:05

Yeah, yeah. And then the other thing was Malloy had nine man up chances. They went four for nine, which is not bad. You know, so Frosburg went two for six. They so Malloy did a little bit better in that that category. So they I think Malloy just they like you said, they got enough up and they played well enough in the in the third quarter, too. Yeah, just hold them at bay, and then you know, you you sp expend all that energy to get to an overtime. Maybe Malloy just had a little more in their tank at the very end.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

I tell you, I felt Malloy's defense played pretty well in this game. They they really did. And you know, we just had Thomas Kofod, LSM for Malloy, the freshman in last week's podcast. So I kind of had my eye on him during the game. Man, that kid is good, very athletic, very fast, very fast, very, very fast, and you know, just got a real good nose for the ball. And he was wreaking havoc all day. You know, Frostburg's a good team, though, Kev. They're a ranked squad. That was a big, big, big win from Alloy. Big win.

SPEAKER_04 8:10

That's right. That's right. So now let's go to the next one that even the announcer count. This is where I got, I have to admit, the announcer for Seton Hill called the Seton Hill win a season defining victory. And that's where I got the phrase. So I have to give him kudos. I I steal things all the time. But Seton Hill, ranked number 15, beats number three Mercyhurst 11 to 8. Another game of tail of two halves, kind of in a way. You're exactly right. You're exactly right. Well, first thing I got to point out, Danny, and I saw this when I started, once again, I did not watch the first half. Seton Hill goes up 6-1 in the first, right? In the first half. That's what it was at halftime. But I got on there, and the first thing I noticed was the crowd. It was standing room only. I don't know if you heard this in the fourth quarter, but Peyton Gensler scores for Seton Hill, and the announcer has to come on the PA and say, fans, after a goal is scored, do not come on the field. Did you hear that? No, I don't remember. It was hilarious. It was hilarious because all the alums from the team are in the corner and they're going nuts. And so they're like coming, they're they're not like on the middle of the field, but they're encroaching. And you see the refs starting to push them away. I mean, it was a great crowd game, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:32

And you know what? It was just Seton Hill has Mercyhurst number, man. That's their third win against the Lakers in a row, in a row, and uh I don't know if it's in the Lakers' head or Seaton Hill just gets up to play Mercyhurst, but man, did they just it was like you said, it was 6'1 at halftime. I was like, what the heck is going on with Mercyhurst?

SPEAKER_04 9:57

And Mercyhurst had to play catch up the whole rest of the game, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:01

And they just couldn't catch up, they just couldn't catch up, just too much, you know. Seton Hill, they play well. You know, the shots, shots, you know, most of the yeah, if you look at the stats, they're pretty even on everything, right? Except, you know, Mercy Hurst had 19 turnovers to Seton Hill's 13. And and and you know, ground balls is kind of close, but Mercy Hurst completely spanked him on face-offs.

SPEAKER_04 10:31

Yeah, Sean Durant had a great game, and that's really that's really I think what kept him in the battle in the second half, especially because I didn't, like I said, I didn't see the second half, second, I didn't watch the first half. But then you look at what probably helped Seton Hill, their goalie, Josh Miller. 16 saves. Yeah, he had a good game. He made some critical, critical saves. One was right at the end. So Sean Duran, he he wins the face-off. Merzi Hurst is down by two, it's like 230 left. He runs down, he dodges through crease. So he's basically now on the left side of the goal and he shoots. It's it's a doorstep shot. Right. And Josh Miller saves it. Yeah, yeah. And that would have brought it within one, and instead he gives it back to Seaton Hill, and they go ahead and score with 134 left to go up by three. And you just can't, you you couldn't come back from that.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

Yeah, no, I mean, for for Mercy Hurst, like you know, Ethan Landonore had two, Miles Ham had one, and a bunch of guys, you know, can contributed with one. And and for Seton Hill, Calandrio had three, yeah, green had one. I mean, and another, a lot of them were assisted, so they were moving the ball. Everybody was getting a chance to get a shot or get an assist. And you know what? Seton Hill just played an all-around better game than Mercy Hurst. Mercy Hurst did not look that good.

SPEAKER_04 12:09

Well, I'll tell you what, you have to give some credit to Seton Hill defense. When you can hold someone like Miles Ham to one goal, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 12:18

Even Landamore to two, right? Those guys are those guys are are usually hat-trick guys, right? Right, right. Yeah, so you know, cats off to Seton Hill.

SPEAKER_04 12:28

I mean, they always they they're coming two years in a row where they just keep climbing and they they seem to get better and better. There, most teams do, but this team seems to peak at the end of the season, and at the right times, exactly, exactly. Okay, you want to talk Flagler Lander? Sure, wins 13-8. This puts Lander now on top of the peach belt, I think at 4-0. This is what I'd say about the game, Danny. There was some manic play by both teams early. It seemed a little bit sloppy. A lot of long passes that I didn't understand why they were doing it. But also at the same time, when I say manic, you see that? Then all of a sudden you see some great D, and then some good passing by Lander. If they kept it crisp and tight, they played really well. Flagler, I thought, was making too many failed clears, especially in the first half. I think they ended up being 21 of 26. Lander was a little bit better, but it was still a fairly close game.

SPEAKER_03 13:31

You know, you know, I kind of said last week, I think that Lander had the edge. They were a little more veteran-laden team, and it proved it because you know, Flagler's still young, Kev, and as as good as they are and trending upwards as they are, they still make some young mistakes and and you know, had trouble clearing the ball, and they've just met up with a little bit of a better team that night.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

I I think they started to play a little chaotic. Flagler did, but I'll tell you what, it was 11-8 at at the end of three. And I thought, that's only three goals. Flagler can come back, but that margin was enough because Lander shut them out in the fourth. And so you have to give some credit to the once again to the goalie, Nicholas Page. He made six saves in the fourth quarter and had 18 saves out of 26, Danny. He had a 70% save percentage at that game.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

Yeah, Lander's a pretty good team, Kev. You know, they're pretty good. They're a very good team, yeah. Yeah. You know, they're they're four and oh in conference with Flagler being at three and one. And then you got Montevallo and U Uah in that in that conference as well. But Flagler is trending up, big a good team, and these two teams may just yeah, we'll talk about that in a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 14:52

Yeah, once we're after the coach of the spotlight, but yeah, uh uh for lander, Carter Wilcox had four goals and two assists, and Nolan Oaky had four goals and one assist. So they had some guys balling out to get them the score they did. Good job. All right, let's move on to the game that went another game that went into overtime, and that's Lenore Ryan against Limestone between the bricks. Lenore Ryan wins a good game to 17. Yeah, I wrote down instant classic, Danny. Oh, yeah, it was a good one. It was a good one.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

I knew it was gonna be a good game. I knew it. Yeah, Lenore Rhine is a tough, they're tough at home, Kev. We talk about that all the time. Yeah, but limestone came to play, went out on a furious, you know, start, got out to three goals right away, made limestone say, Oh, we're in a game here. And then both teams kind of buckled down, and it was a dog fight. It was a dog fight. Both teams played played very well. Um but I'm gonna be honest with you, I feel that Lenore Ryan was very fortunate to get away with that win because Penn Sabi? Penn Sabi Pensa Benny. Pensa Benny. I'm sorry about that young man. He had a great game in goal with 22 saves. So I mean, there was some ticky-tack calls, I felt, uh, that in that game that went against limestone. I I couldn't understand in a game so big why they just wouldn't let them play a little bit. But I really, really enjoyed this game because it was fast, it was furious, um, it was chippy, it was aggressive, it was physical, it had all the things uh had had a playoff atmosphere, Cal.

SPEAKER_04 16:49

Oh, without a doubt. That's the one thing I had give credit. You and I talked about this uh last night. Give a lot of credit to the Lenorine fans. You know, usually if you're not a Lenore fan and you're there watching the game, you hate their fans, but they come out, they come out in droves and they come out and they make it very tough for an opposing team. Oh, I agree. And I will tell you, limestone came out, like I said, with a lot of intensity in this game. And then they kind of evened it out. I thought, Danny, that Lenore Ryan's defense was playing really well. They were really swarming to the ball around the ball every time. There was if the ball was on the ground, there were three Lenore Ryan defenders right there to pick it up. And I thought their offense spread it around pretty well for their for their offense. It wasn't just one guy. I thought it was all Mike McGarry for Limestone, but if you look at the stats, there were a lot of other players. Mike McGarry started off, like you said, with a hat trick in the first quarter. Yeah. So he was he was an upparked man for a while, but he came back, he scored two more, he had five goals total. What I was really impressed with with Limestone was they got down by three. They were down by three with less than two minutes left, and they did not quit. They did not quit, they kept coming, they started winning all the face-offs to score the goals with and tie it up with 34 seconds left, and then they bring it into overtime. And that overtime was interesting too because I think I think Corey Lyons, their goalie had a great night in cage. He made two critical clearing mistakes. One was, I think, in the first half when he gave it back to basically gave it back to Lenore Ryan. Yeah, big mistake. And and he scored. And then in overtime, he's limestone goes first. They get a chance to score. Pensa Benny makes a good save. Now, now it's Lenore Ryan's turn. They bring it down. Corey Lyons makes a save. But on this his clearing pass, it goes out of bounds. Yeah, he threw it away. And now Lenore Ryan has a second chance, and Riley Say buried it.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Yeah. It was like uh it was a really good game. It was anybody's game, but you know, there's a couple of statistics that stand out. I mean, Limestone took damn near 60 shots, 59 shots they took, and 39 of them were on goal. Yeah. That that's a but Pensa Benny, Pensa Benny. Yeah, they're telling you, man, if it wasn't for that kid, Lenorein was fortunate. They had a couple of unsettled goals, two or three unsettled goals. They had the goal that basically goalie threw it right into the attackman stick, bang, two feet away when he was trying to clear. And then it was a goal if in the first half, if you remember, it rolled, yeah, tickled, trickled in slowly off the goalie's ankle and went in. Kind of like a cheapy goal, if you ask me. That's a cheapy goal. You know, he didn't the kid didn't sting one and bury one. So, in my eyes, Lenore Ryan was very fortunate to get away with a win. And I think Coach Paradine would agree with me.

SPEAKER_04 20:07

Yeah, I mean, it was it was an evenly matched game. It's a great game against two top-notch teams. Miles Moffitt with four goals, two assists, Torrin Eccleston, four goals. Riley say, three goals. And then on Limestone, Michael McGarry, five goals, one assist, and and Jason Tom Ford, four goals. It was it was just a great game.

SPEAKER_03 20:31

Zach Terry, Carter Brand, they all chipped in. Everybody, you know, Limestone's a good team, Kev. They struggled a little bit. They played a really good wing gate team and and got beat up. But for the most part, they've been hanging around and playing really good lacrosse. That was a good lacrosse game. Yeah, they had everything high speed, fast, furious, good saves, just a good lacrosse game.

SPEAKER_04 20:53

Yeah, I was the whole fourth quarter. I was on the edge of my seat. It was great, great to watch. Okay, I've got a few just notables to go through quickly. The first, Danny, we talked about it last week. It happened, I think, last Wednesday. Walsh against Malone. Walsh is now the king of Canton. They won 22 to 6. And I'm gonna harp this game every year just to build that rivalry. Right. It was great to see. The next one you talked about it, Rockhurst against Undy. UIndy wins 15 to 6. They outscored Rockhurst 10 to 3 in the second half, and they had some players that balled out Wyatt Ayer, four goals. Evan Susie, six ground balls, four caused turnovers. Josh Jackson, five ground balls, three cause turnovers, and Kyle Bosch, six ground balls. That's how you keep Rockhurst at under double digit goals.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

Yeah, yeah. You win these good, man.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

Now, two more. We talked about it before. Chestnut Hill and Wilmington. Chestnut Hill takes Takes care of Wilmington 15 to 10 last week. Okay. Just tonight. Georgian Court takes care of Chestnut Hill 9 to 5. They shut Chestnut Hill out two of the four quarters, Danny. The team went nuts when they won. It was so cool to see the Lions sprinting to their goalie. They're 5-0. They are 5-0 in the conference. They've got a team, Danny. We haven't talked about much, but let's talk about that. In the goal, and we talked about a conference preview who's coming in. Freshman Vincent Burkhart, 6'5 goalie. He had some key saves. You've got the the the twins, Tyler and Vincent Burns. One's an attackman, one's a middle. They had the uh I forget who is who, but they had an assist and a goal together that I saw in the second half. There you go. And then you've got the the more senior players. Vincent, I'm gonna get his name wrong. Ginta, Dan Burnham, and Michael Ventresca. So they've got balance with young guys and older guys. Chestnut Hill gets within two, but Vincent Ginta, he closed it out with two goals. The other thing about this player, he has not played for like the last couple of seasons because of being injured. And he comes in in this game and and basically seals the win for his team. Yeah. And and to hold there that and for the Georgian Court defense to hold Chestnut Hill to zero coals in the first and the third. Huge. That's that's a team effort.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Because Chestnut Hill's a good team, too. You know what? Georgian Court is a team that always has a really hard schedule, Kev. They always put tough teams on their schedule. Last year, they had one of the strongest strength of schedules out of all of D2. And nobody talks about Georgian Court that much. But here they are sitting at the top of their.

SPEAKER_04 24:03

Yep. Well good they're out of conference this year. Bentley, Mercy, St. Rose, Adelphi, Malloy, Pace. Yep. I mean ranked teams, ranked teams. And guess what you what they they did then? They go into their conference play and they're they're undefeated. So congrats to them. Good for them. Mickey Hover and the boys.

Coach's Spotlight

SPEAKER_04 24:26

Okay, Danny, let's move on to the coach's spotlight. We are bringing back a coach who started his program last year. They went 3-14 in their first season, but now this season they sit in five at 5-9, which is a step up. But I'll tell you the even more impressive thing is their conference record. They sit at 3-1. So as you would like to say, they're progressing upwards very nicely. I love this team, Kev.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

I've been watching them since the first game. And I just, there's something about this team that I like. They're well coached, they're they're athletic. They've taken some bumps and bruises along the way, but they've really come a long way. And uh yeah, I'm I'm excited to have Coach on tonight.

SPEAKER_04 25:11

Yeah, so that's what I want to hear it from him. You know, we talk about them a lot on the podcast, but who knows if we're right. Let's hope and see if the coach agrees with us or not. So let's bring him in. Coach Brian Duncan, head coach of Flagler. Hey coach.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

Hey Kevin, hey Danny, appreciate you having me on. Great having you back, coach.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

Yeah, nice to have you back. It looks so nice down in St. Augustine, man. I envy you, my brother. I envy you.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

I'm having a great time building this program. I tell you, I got stuck down here in 2010 and uh helped start the Jacksonville University program with Coach Kerwick. And man, two years into being down here, I just fell in love with the area. I fell in love with the lifestyle, and I just decided to stick it out down here and see if I couldn't figure it out. And finally, Flagler College decided to maybe put the NCAA uh banner on their club program, and I was lucky enough to be kind of standing here waiting to bring it, bring it to fruition.

SPEAKER_04 26:08

Excellent. I'll tell you what, coach, I lived in Jacksonville for five years uh while I was still uh active duty in the Navy. And I'll tell you, if I could get down every time I could get down to St. Augustine and get away from Jacksonville, of course, we didn't live on the beach side, we lived kind of in inland, but uh I loved it. I love St. Augustine, it's a great, great spot. But let me start off. Danny and I have been talking about this, and although there's a couple teams that we've been talking about that don't have 500 records that we think are very, very dangerous, and that record doesn't show the kind of team they are. Westminster is one of them out in the armac, and Flagler is the other. You don't have a winning record, but you're out of conference, I think, set you up for peach belt play. What are your thoughts about that?

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Well, that was our intention the whole time. You know, we we had to think about budget in some games just because we're in Florida and you know, North Carolina games or overnight games. And so we had to kind of think about it that way. And I just decided, you know what, let's just do it. Let's go ahead and play the Sunshine State. It's a quality conference, it has a lot of good competition. And I thought it would stretch our brains a little bit as far as being freshmen last year and kind of a whole big group of freshmen and sophomores this year. And I think it's working, you know, we're learning a lot of lessons from the competition. And and for me, that was kind of what it was all about is let's figure out how how can we get to being a quality team the fastest way. And I just thought throwing them to the wolves and then trying to teach them how to take care of themselves. I figured that was a good way to raise boys and a good way to raise a young team to a quality team.

SPEAKER_03 27:44

Yeah, if you want to swim, you got to throw them in the deep end of the pool, right, coach.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

That's right, that's right. They got to swim.

SPEAKER_04 27:49

Yeah, and it's interesting. I actually picked you guys to beat Lander on our last podcast, and that was a tough game, I know. So to walk us through that, but how you think that's gonna help you as you prepare for Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville this week?

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Well, you know, Lander's a very mature quality opponent, you know, they got guys that are seniors and you know, juniors, and and so their program is kind of like a year or two ahead of our progression. And and so when we were going into this game, we felt like we match up with them athletically, we match up with them a little bit in some different uh positions. Um, but at the end of the day, we we realized we were playing a team that was just a little bit more mature, and it kind of played out in the second or the third quarter when they went to a zone, and we just didn't handle the zone well for the first two or three possessions, and it kind of allowed them to add a couple more goals to their to the game. And so when that happened, I felt like the pressure started to get felt, and it was, you know, we just had a hard time overcoming that. And I felt like it was Lander's way of playing that created that pressure for us. So we we're just taking this as another week of hey, now we now we've seen a zone for two and a half quarters in a game. How do we handle that? And and what are we gonna do differently after we get to kind of go to go to film and and and take a look at how we can improve? So it's kind of the same process we've been using with the Sunshine State. We knew Lander was a quality opponent. So we weren't surprised, but you know, we were there to try to win the game. So they they beat us that day.

SPEAKER_04 29:27

Yeah, well, speaking about that and and tools and looking at film, what do you guys excuse me, what do you guys use to prepare your team?

SPEAKER_01 29:37

We use scorebreak and uh we've been a really big fan of it. It it allows us to have our team go inside and actually dissect themselves and send questions to the coaches instead of us trying to find every little thing for every little player to try to improve them. We we kind of uh challenge them to go in and find different clips and then send it in and ask, you know, what do you do in this situation and what do you do in that situation? And that's been a really big tool for us. And the guys really like the score break, being able to go back and forth on it and find different clips and you can tag them. It's it's a it's a great system.

SPEAKER_04 30:12

Is it easy for them to find what they're looking for? You know, is it already cut up for them so that they can just go to a spot and say then ask a question?

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Well, if there's different packages, and if you have certain packages, they can tag every one of your numbers and basically you can go in and find in five minutes. Um, you know, if you don't have that different package, then it's you know, the guys have to go in and actually watch film like coaches and you know, kind of find themselves in different scenarios and you know, really kind of go through it to try to learn from it. And and you know, when they're having to watch it all, they're getting a bunch of other things, you know, that they have to kind of dissect that other people are doing as well.

SPEAKER_04 30:49

Interesting. Yeah, so now, coach, let's talk about the peach belt. Danny and I have talked about this a lot. I and I if I look at what coming up for the what I think, you know, when you look at the tournament championship coming up, I think it's like wide open in a lot of ways, at least with the the four top teams. It's it's gonna be such a great tournament to watch with with with you and Lander and Montevallo and Alabama Huntsville. How are you not not feeling how are you feeling about the tournament, but talk to us about the Peach Belt competition and what that what that's been like this year for you?

SPEAKER_01 31:24

Well, we we've kind of felt like a lot of the teams that we play, you know, the the top peach belt teams are very similar in nature. And so we, you know, the competition is tough week in and week out. When you play Montevello, I mean, those guys, those guys play hard, they're smart, they're well coached. You know, landers is a very similar approach. They're they're very organized and and and the coaching is good and their player talent is good. Um Uah plays a really aggressive dodging style. And and last year I remember watching them on film going, my goodness, they every guy dodges from every place, and and it was it was a different style. And and you know, I just feel like it's it's a fun brand of lacrosse. I think the teams in the peach belt conference are catching up, and and I think that the the lacrosse has played fast, and and I don't know. I I feel like the Peach Belt is a is a little sleeper conference right now that's continuing to improve. And I think more and more of the good teams are starting to schedule those top four teams in order to get another quality, you know, opponent on their on their schedule.

SPEAKER_03 32:30

Well, I've been talking about the Peach Belt for two years now. I just love everything about the conference and the way it's set up and the teams that are in there and the type, and like you said, the quality of lacrosse that's being played in the Peach Belt. Coach, you've had a hell of a year. I mean, you lost to Emery Riddle by one. You were in the game. You played number one Tampa, you played number 14 uh Florida Tech, you played number eight Rollins, you played a good Mount Olive team and beat them. You played a tough St. Leo team and lost by one. You took a loss by one in overtime to Quincy. I mean, that your schedule is really difficult, yet you guys are right there. You're competitive.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

Yeah, we've really enjoyed our second year, to be honest. I mean, there's been a you know, obviously, when you're you know, I I come from being in the junior college ranks where we were in the final four and playing for championships and winning regions, and so you know, when you're used to that way of being, and then you you know, you get put in a situation where you're you're having to learn yourself how to deal with setback, and you're and and you know, I always tell the guys, you know, I'm an older guy and I'm still dealing with how to deal with adversity. And so we kind of built our whole program around adversity breeds champions, and that's kind of what we're going through. You know, it's just a matter of taking one step at a time and trying to continue to figure out if we can get, you know, more talent here and and you know, continue to increase the development of the talent that's here. I think that's our biggest focus right now is just trying to figure out how do we get where we want to go.

SPEAKER_03 34:07

Some of the guys that you you've got to have been balling out too. Trace McDonald, what a year he's having, huh?

SPEAKER_01 34:13

I mean, that's a freshman that I think should be talked about at the national level. I mean, he's played an incredibly hard schedule. He's had the number one defenseman almost every game, and the kid just keeps showing up, and he's got this incredible smile and and this infectious attitude of of positivity, and just doesn't think he can be, you know, stopped. And I mean, I that's a great trait to be humble and also have that ability to go out and have that dog in you, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

And what about Antonis Macuzis?

SPEAKER_01 34:44

Antonis is a big pickup from us. You know, we we picked him up from Kenetius, and you know, he's he's really solidified our attack down there, and and we just think he's gonna continue to get better. He's he's got an upside that will continue to grow with more and more playtime.

SPEAKER_03 34:58

And on the defense side, you got Thomas Pritchard and Blake Gonzalez. The boys have been balling out too, man.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

Pritchard is is a special being. I mean, he's a senior for us, he's you know, he's been a two-year captain. He was first team all PBC last year as an offensive MIDI, and now he's playing as the top defensive midi. And he's got a really great kid underneath him, a freshman from Spaulding named uh Brendan Watson, who is just a call's turnover machine. And he's the kid is gonna be very, very special. He's gonna be our you know, the next preach to bring on the next guys and help increase you know our D mid our D mid depth.

SPEAKER_03 35:34

How did recruiting go for you last with this next class coming in, coach?

SPEAKER_01 35:39

You know, we're really excited. We we just we actually just signed a defenseman from Anorundal Community College, who we think is big time. He's a spalting high school kid out of Maryland, and he's we think he's a big pickup. And then, you know, we got a goalie from from the MIA conference that just signed. And um, we took a uh kid from Damatha, um, one of their top players is just signed. And so, you know, and then you go down the list of all the Florida kids that I've already connected for this year, which we brought four local boys that I brought up in the seventh grade, eighth grade in the police athletic league. And now they're you know, six foot three and six foot one, and six foot. So we got about four of those local guys coming in here, and and you know, we got a kid out of Delaware that we're very high on. And and so, you know, I we're just out working, you know, we're we're just trying to work and trying to keep bringing in the right types of personalities and the right types of people. And we think if we continue to do that well, then this team's gonna continue to have the ability to grow.

SPEAKER_03 36:39

I I would have to, I'd put money on that. I'm not a gambling guy, but I think I'd put some money on that, coach. I really like what you've been doing there. The scenes, every time I see, every time I watch a game, I just see improvement in the team. I just see a little bit more, hey, confidence in the way they're playing and the confidence in the way they're handling themselves on the field. I just see it growing from week to week.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Well, I mean, I tell you, that's much appreciated to hear, just because when you're here and you're doing it every day and you're having to take on those big challenges every week. Some days you just don't know exactly what you're seeing. So, you know, it's nice to hear that from the outside that that you know we're we're we're continuing to look like we're improving. And that's I guess that's the goal of every coach, right? Is let's keep getting better every day.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

Well, you got players there, man. You've dumb players there for sure.

SPEAKER_04 37:29

And and like we say, you know, and and you know, coach, right? In in this world, you Rome was not built in a day, and you're competing with other teams to get the quality players. It's funny that you said Anna Randall Community College. I guarantee Coach Stanelis of UDC is looking right there at his old school trying to pull folks too. So it's that's almost a coup I see from you getting that. So, I mean, I think that's the key. I just in closing, is there something? Let's look big picture, because I know when you're in the thick of it right now and it's it's the grind of game to game, but what's your perspective from year one to year two and what you've seen in the team? And then how do you project that to year three?

SPEAKER_01 38:13

So I think the biggest thing we noticed from year one to year two was the fact that our guys that were here year one came back with you know 15 to 20 pounds of muscle that they were able to kind of put on over that first year between year and between summer and then the fall. So I think that was the biggest difference was just seeing the size of our guys kind of improve and look more like a college team and not a high school, you know, senior team. And that's the biggest thing I've noticed. And then I think IQ from this year's team compared to what we were last year with some of the pickups that we're able to add, and then some of the growth we've had with the guys that are returning. Those are the two biggest things is size and then the IQ of the game and just probably the confidence, right?

SPEAKER_04 39:01

Just yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

It just builds.

SPEAKER_04 39:04

Yeah, it just builds. Well, that's that's phenomenal, coach. I really appreciate it. We really appreciate you coming back on and spending some time with us. I know you're getting ready for practice there. It looks beautiful there, prettier than it does up in northern Virginia. But um, yeah, look, he's he's now he's showing off and showing us the field today. Look at that. I'm telling you, I'm obvious.

SPEAKER_03 39:25

I'm obvious. Coach, it was it go ahead. I went to the University of Florida and we used to, well, I was enrolled, let's put it that way. And uh and uh we'd go to St. Augustine Beach all the time, man. So I used to spend a lot of time in St. Augustine, it's one of my favorite parts of Florida. Uh and but coach, thank you so much for taking the time. Um, really appreciate what you you've done with your team and what's going on in the Peach Belt Conference. It's amazing. Uh, wish you uh good luck this uh this weekend coming up.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Yeah, I appreciate that. And UAH is gonna be a good opponent. And you know, I I couldn't have done this without you know my my assistant coach uh Tim King, who, you know, we were teammates at UMBC back in the day. And you know, I I picked up a couple of coaches a couple years ago, Efrain Guterres, who was a head coach down here in the high school, and I met him and and then a guy named James Foot, who used to coach in the MCLA and lives right here in the area. So without those guys, man, it wouldn't it wouldn't be the same. So I just appreciate you having me on and sharing more about our program, and we're gonna keep working.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

I think I'm gonna see you in the Peach Belt Championship, too. I have a good feeling.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

Well, we're gonna work and try to make that happen. That's a tough, tough road to get there, but we're gonna we're gonna go to work and see what happens.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

Uh good luck, coach. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

Hey, thank you very much.

Conference Tourney talk

SPEAKER_04 40:47

Hey Danny, that was so cool to hear Coach Duncan say they use scorebreak. It seems to really help their team, doesn't it? That's really cool.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

Yeah, and the players get to use it and they're at home and they're doing their own homework, which is kind of cool.

SPEAKER_04 41:02

And they're doing chatting back and forth. I think that's really cool. I think the other interesting thing that he said is how he described Lander as a mature team. You talked about this in kind of the week in review before we got the coach's spotlight. I forget sometimes how important that is, right? You look at how the teams are trending and how they're playing, but sometimes, like Coach said, when you're mature, like Lander is, and have a more veteran-laden team, it's like building calluses from doing work. You know what to do. Your body now is ready to go and almost can you're not you don't get flustered in some situations, like coach was talking about his team when they went to zone defense, right? And I it wasn't he said it did in the third quarter, but it really showed up in the fourth when they couldn't score.

SPEAKER_03 41:50

Yeah. You know, experience can go a long way. With age comes wisdom, you know, they always say. So, you know, you got a bunch of juniors and seniors upperclassmen out there, and you know, flagler's a very, very young team made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores. You know, a couple of upperclassmen in there, but again, flaggler's been trending upwards. I like that team a lot. I like what Coach does there. He's a good coach, and he's gonna get that team into a pretty good position. And I don't think it's gonna take that long. I think he's got he's got all the ingredients there.

SPEAKER_04 42:25

Yeah, Coach Duncan definitely does. So let's move on, though. Let's talk. We usually in this segment now go right into games to watch this week, but we thought we'd do the thing a little bit differently, and I'll probably kind of go into games to watch.

SPEAKER_03 42:39

We need to spice it up, guys. There we go. Let's we can't be so drone-ish every week.

SPEAKER_04 42:44

Guess what? Guess what? You came up with a great idea because it I can't believe it's already here, Danny. We're like a week away from conference tournament time.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

So some teams are done, some teams are done with their seasons already.

SPEAKER_04 42:56

Yeah, I I can't believe it has flown by. So you you want to talk little conference tournaments here?

SPEAKER_03 43:01

Yeah, let's talk about these conferences and where these teams are and start it off where they started off. Which conference would you like to talk? Let's do let's talk about the CACC since we were just talking about Chestnut Hill and Georgian Court. Love it. Okay, so Chestnut Hill was 4-0, Georgian Court was 4-0. No more, not anymore. So, with that win tonight, Georgian Court sits at the top of the CACC. Okay. Who do they have left?

SPEAKER_04 43:34

They still have to play they have to play Bridgeport and Dominican.

SPEAKER_03 43:39

Right, right. So looks like they're gonna have that locked up. They they should go undefeated. Now, Chestnut Hill, man, their only two losses came to Seton Hill and Mercyhurst. So they're pretty good squad. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, like they're a pretty good squad. And who do they have? They have post and Caldwell left. So now Post sits at three and one in conference, which is amazing because Jez has just got that team above 500 and they lost to Georgian court. And they still have Wilmington and Chestnut Hill on their schedule. Post could go down a little bit. And Wilmington, what happened to Wilmington, man? Just not the same team this year, huh?

SPEAKER_04 44:29

No, they're one and two. Now they the Wilmington they were supposed to play post, but their game got postponed because of weather this past weekend. So I kind of see the the seeds kind of like um Georgian Court, then Chestnut Hill, probably post and then Wilmington.

SPEAKER_03 44:47

You got Felician, though, too. Now, don't forget Felician at 2-2 in conference. They've they lost to Chestnut Hill and they lost to Georgian Court. And they still have to play Wilmington. Right. So that that Wilmington Felician game could be a game. Yeah. Could be a game that changes the seat a little bit around.

SPEAKER_04 45:09

Could you're right.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

You're right. So I like Chestnut Hill and the CACC. I and I like George and Court. I'm gonna give I'm gonna say George and Court, Mickey Hover come away with the championship. So I'm gonna put it out there.

SPEAKER_04 45:25

I agree with you. I think they showed it in tonight's game. Blue collar end of the story. Hardworking blue-collar team, man. Now I'm sure Coach DiCarlo of Chestnut Hill is going to be looking at that film like when he talked to us, he's gonna look for things that that that Georgian Court did to surprise him and not want it to happen again. But Georgian Court played a full game against him, and I I I give the nod to them.

SPEAKER_03 45:51

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 45:52

Okay, I'm with you on that. Let's let's talk the sack. Their term is the 25th, 28th, and the 30th of April. Six teams get in. I've got Wingate and Lenore Ryan with buys. And then I think it's gonna be Anderson three-seed, limestone four seed, and Newberry five seed. And the sixth seed is could be it, it all depends on what happens. Catawba could get in. They beat LM Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln Memorial will need to beat Anderson or Coker, or Coker will need to beat LR to change that around. Don't forget LMU sitting in there, too. Well, that's what I'm saying, but they but they lost to Kataba. So they have to beat Anderson to get in.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

So Wingate sits at the top 9-0. They pretty much dominated the conference this year, and they have a big game next week out of conference against number three U Indy. So that's that that that's got other implications in it in a NCAA tournament. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. LR sits at 7-1. Their quality wins in conference were over Anderson and that 15 uh that uh one goal overtime thriller the other night. They only have Coker left on their schedule. So it looks like LR is going to and Wingate will be one and two and get those buys. So now here's where it gets interesting. Anderson sits at 5-3, lost to Newberry, lost to Wingate, lost to Lenore Ryan, but beat limestone. Yeah. Okay. They have LMU left. Okay. I think Anderson will probably win that LMU game, but I'm not going to count LMU out because Anderson has not been playing well the last couple of weeks. Now, limestone, six and three, lost to LR, Wingate, and Anderson, but beat Newberry. You know? Yeah. So they have two games left. They play Lander and Belmont Abbey, which are basically out-of-conference games for them. So Newberry sits at six and three. It would be that would be like the fifth spot in the conference. Their season is done. Their quality win is they beat Anderson, but they lost to Wingate. They lost to Lenora. Okay, so now you got Coker. Coker lost to LMU and they play LR.

SPEAKER_04 48:24

So they could have a sixth loss. Yeah, so I mean, I think that's a total uphill climb for them. And we talked to Coach about that, the gauntlet that they had at the end of the season. That's why I think Catawba could be sitting pretty because Lincoln Memorial will have to beat Anderson to get in as the sixth seed. Yes. So it's possible. It's possible. It is possible. It's possible. Lincoln Memorial is a good team this year. They could surprise Anderson.

SPEAKER_03 48:54

Everybody in the sack is pretty good, Kev. They're all they're all really, really good teams. And they have to beat up on each other. Yep. You know? Yep. So I like Wingate, though, man. They look good to me. They I I just don't see I just don't see a team beating them out of the sack. You know, come quick. I just don't.

SPEAKER_04 49:16

I think they have to come with the same intensity that they did when they because they're going to play either Lenore Ryan or Limestone again, or both. Yeah, it's probably going to be So what what I would say is they have to come with that same intensity when they played both those teams or either of those teams during the regular season and they will win.

SPEAKER_03 49:42

I just think if they play the way they they can play, it's going to be tough to beat them. I just think that I think Wingate's got the chance to go very far. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 49:50

I'd agree. I'd agree. Okay, what where do you want to go next?

SPEAKER_03 49:54

Let's go to the Sunshine State. Let's stay in the south.

SPEAKER_04 49:57

Okay, let's do it. It's nice down there this time of year. Starting to get really balmy. Their tournament is April 27th and the 30th.

SPEAKER_03 50:07

It's Rollins to lose, right? It's Rollins all the way. They're undefeated in confidence. They beat everybody pretty much, and they only have PBA, who's only won two games, and Florida Tech, which could be a tough game for Rollins. Could be. Could be. Tampa's is second seed, I think. It should be. They said it's 7-1. You know, they lost to Frostburg and they lost to Rollins. And they have Seton Hill on their schedule coming up. It's an out-of-conference game.

SPEAKER_04 50:36

That's a game to watch this next week.

SPEAKER_03 50:37

Yeah. It's gonna be a good one. So now in that third spot, you have Florida Southern. Who's left? Florida Southern, St. Leo, Florida Tech, and Lynn, right? Right. Because the other teams are pretty much out of it. Right. So I have Florida Southern as the three-seed, definitely. I I have them at the three-seed as right now myself.

SPEAKER_04 50:57

And I think and talk about a game coming up. I think St. Leo becomes the four-seed if they beat Lynn. They have to beat Lynn. They have to beat Lynn, and Florida Tech loses to Rollins. Those two to beat Lynn. They have they have to take care of their own destiny first.

SPEAKER_03 51:14

They have to beat Lynn. If they want to get in the tournament, they have to beat Lynn. So I think that St. Leo is going to beat Lynn. And I think that Rollins is going to beat Florida Tech. Because I think Rollins is on a roll right now. I think Rollins is on a roll. They're a tough team. They're going to make noise in the NCAAs too, Kev. So um it'll be interesting. You know, again, I I like to I think St. Leo's gonna get, I think they're gonna squeak in there. So it'll be Rollins, Tampa, Florida Southern, and St. Leo. That's my prediction in the Sunshine State.

SPEAKER_01 51:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 51:50

All right. Well, let's stay now. Hold on now. Before we go on, now you're gonna have a Rollins Tampa championship in the Sunshine State. Who do you like? Where's the tournament being played? Do we know?

SPEAKER_04 52:04

Putting you on the spot. I do not know. I do not know. I'm gonna say Rollins. I'm gonna stick with Rollins.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

I'm gonna say that Tampa upsets Rollins and takes the Sunshine State conference again.

SPEAKER_04 52:17

I think it's a pick'em game. I'm going with Rollins, but I can definitely see that beating Tampa twice. Very yeah, exactly. In the same season, very hard. Very hard to do. Very hard to do. I think Rollins has the has the players to do it. And uh maybe I just like to see it change, you know. But uh yeah, that will be a great battle. Okay, let's stick in the south. Let's go south to north. So let's go Conference Carolinas, their tournaments April 24th, 27th, and 29th. Belmont Abbey, number one seed.

SPEAKER_03 52:52

Yeah, the Crusaders. Yeah, they're five and oh. Yeah, they'll get the bye. They uh they they dominated the conference, Kev. I don't know if we expected it like that, kind of.

SPEAKER_04 53:03

I don't know if I did. I I did not, to be honest, I did not know this year either. I thought I thought of the other teams, North Greenville, who I think is the two-seed, would be the team that could beat them. And Belmont Abbey took care of them.

SPEAKER_03 53:19

Yeah, they certainly did. And North Greenville sits at four and one, you know, and uh they had a tough schedule in North Greenville, man. They really did. They had they had Lenore Ryan, Limestone, Seaton Hill, and Lewis on their squad. I mean, that's a damn formidable out of conference schedule. And um, they lost to Belmont Abbey 14-6, and they have Emmanuel left on their schedule. So I think North Greenville will have that second spot locked up. Barton is three and three. Their season is done. You know, their big loss, they lost to Mount Olive, and Mount Olive is three and two. Their quality win, they beat Seton Hill, you know, which is I still can't believe that game. I I gotta go back and watch that game. I really do. I just now Mount Olive has Chowan left on their schedule, and then you have Chowan at two and three. So I like Belmont Abbey at the one spot. North Greenville will get that second spot, Barton and Mount Olive. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna go out on the limb and say it's gonna be a North Greenville-Belmont Abbey championship. I think you're right. And I'm gonna say that Belmont Abbey will come out with the championship win in a close and competitive game.

SPEAKER_04 54:43

I'd agree with you. I think it's gonna be closer than when they played in the regular season, but I would I would take Belmont Abbey. Can't disagree with you there. That's a big conference, a lot of good stuff going on there. It is. Well, talk about the other one in the South, Peach Belt. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:00

April 28th, the 30th, and the May 6th. Everybody gets in, Kev. That's a great conference to be in because you're gonna get your chance. It's like you you could go undefeated, uh uh winless in the season and still have a chance to get to the championship, which is, I think, pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 55:18

Yeah, exactly. So we'll start with that. I mean, obviously, young Harris will be the I've got them as the five seed and shorter as the sixth seed based on their conference record, right? Lander at the top, which we talked about in the the week in review, they've got shorter left. They're gonna get a bye, they're four and oh. It's the two seed to four seed, is crazy.

SPEAKER_03 55:42

Yep. So Lander beat Uah, they beat Flagler, and they beat Montevala. They also have limestone on their schedule, which is gonna help them to sharpen their irons a little bit before tournament time. So Flagler sits at three and one. And their losses came five, five of their losses, Kevin. That's what I like about Flagler. Five of their losses came against ranked teams, which is you know, a young team facing veteran elite squads is only going to make a team better. Yeah. Um, they have Alabama Huntsville left on their schedule. They still have to play out. So Montebalo sits at two and two. They're in the third spot. They lost to Flagler and Lander, and they also beat UAH. Right. And then you have UAH. They lost to Lander and Montebalo by one, and they play Flagler on the 22nd.

unknown 56:40

Right.

SPEAKER_03 56:42

Like you said.

SPEAKER_04 56:43

That's what I'm saying. So Flagler gets the two seed in the bye if they beat Alabama Huntsville.

unknown 56:52

Right.

SPEAKER_04 56:53

Alabama Huntsville gets the bye if they win and Montevallo loses. But Montevallo plays young Harris, so it's a good chance that they're going to win. So if Uah wins and Montevallo wins, I don't know how they do it. If they do it based on, you know, score differential or whatever. Yeah. It'll be scored, it'll be goals against, I think.

SPEAKER_03 57:18

So, you know, I think that's the next spot that they go to.

SPEAKER_04 57:21

So the the bottom team gave up the most goals. The bottom line is Flagler sits in the driver's seat. If they win, they're got they've got the second seed. But really, everyone controls their own somewhat of their own destiny. They all want to win to get to that next higher seed.

SPEAKER_03 57:38

Just it's just amazing to me that Flagler's a second-year program and has a really good chance of getting to that. I'm going to say they make it to the championship. I'm going to say Flagler and Lander will play each other in the Peach Bell Championship. That's my prediction.

SPEAKER_04 57:55

I don't know how it's going to shake out and how it would go because I don't know how the seeds would actually go, but I'm going to say that it's probably going to be Lander and Alabama Huntsville in the championship. Wow. And Lander wins. But but I could it could go totally wrong based on how the seeding goes.

SPEAKER_03 58:14

I think Lander went to the water. Do you know what that's so possible? Yeah. That's so possible. Very possible. Yeah. That's cool. That's cool too. I like the peach belt, man. I that's that that that whole conference has their own little vibe to it. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 58:30

Okay, let's keep going. We got other we got some other ones to go over. What do you want to hit next? I think we've hit everyone in the south. Where do you want to go start hitting north? You want to go to GLVC? Sounds good. I personally think, yeah. So, well, first of all, this tournament's on May 4th and 6th. I think it's a pretty much a lock where the four teams are going to be in the tournament. U Indy as the one seed, Rockhurst as the two seed, if they beat Quincy and Davenport, which is a pretty good bet. Yeah. Yeah. And then Meryville and Lewis. Now, how they shake out, it all depends on the 22nd of April because they play each other.

SPEAKER_03 59:08

Yes. So that's it. That's another game to look at to watch. Yeah. That's going to be a game to watch because that's going to have seeding implications within conference and a chance to get to the GOBC championship. So that's a huge game. Yeah. I like, you know, Undy is a very good team, Cav. They're they're deep, they're big, they're fast, they get out in transition. You know, they have great. They're going to be tough.

SPEAKER_04 59:30

It's U Indy all the way.

SPEAKER_03 59:32

Yeah, I don't I don't see anybody taking them down. You know, I just they they beat Rockhurst and it looked like it was no problem. So I don't know. I I agree with you. It's going to be you Indy. They're going to come out of the GLBC. It doesn't matter who they play.

SPEAKER_04 59:49

Okay, so we started heading west. Let's head all the way west and then we'll circle back up north. So let's go Armak, Armac the tournaments May 5th and 6th. They do that obviously because of travel, right? They're all going to be in one spot and they're going to play two days in a row because it's it's all four teams. Colorado Mesa, probably the one seed, but they have to beat Westminster on 23 April. And get this, they're playing at Westminster. Westminster can beat them. They've done it before. But in the end, if they're one or two seed, I don't think it really matters. Those two, they're each one of them is going to play either CSU Pueblo or Adam State. They both took care of those teams fairly easily. Right. It's so the the one and two seed, I don't think matters that much because they're going to end up playing in the final. It's going to be Colorado Mesa against Westminster.

unknown 1:00:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:38

I think is the critical thing. I think Colorado Mesa needs to win and needs to win out to have a shot at the NCAA. They do. So I think they may have a little bit more behind it, but Westminster's going to want to win this and win the conference tournament championship. 100%.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:57

Westminster, they're not going to lay down for Colorado Mesa. They want this game big time. So it's it's it's between those two teams. There's only four teams in the in the conference. The other two are not doing well. So it comes down to those two. You know they want to kick each other's ass. And Westminster's got what it takes to beat Colorado Mesa.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:19

I I agree. I'm going to give the nod to Colorado Mesa, though, just because I have the think they have a more veteran-laden team.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:25

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:26

Westminster's playing a lot of youngsters, they're going to be dangerous. Give them they're good now, but yeah, give them a couple years. Give them next year and the year after, and they're it's going to be tough. Okay, as we swing swing back, do you want to hit the G Mac?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:41

The GMAC, yeah, man. All right. Another good, another good conference.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:47

That tournament's May 3rd and 6th. How many teams make this seed? It's four. Four teams make the tournament. It's and I think it's pretty well seeded. What I could tell, Seton Hill one seed, Mercyhurst, two seed, Lake Erie three seed, and Walsh as the four seed. I think that's how they were last year as well. Once again, I think it's going to come down to Seton Hill and Mercyhurst playing again in the final.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:14

Yep. And Mercyhurst better watch out because it looks like Seton Hill's got your number.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:20

I'm going to tell you, I here's what I'm going to say. I think Mercyhurst wins.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:24

Okay. And I wouldn't be surprised. Seton Hill sits at 5-0. And uh their only bad loss all year was to Mount Olive. But they got quality wins against Mercyhurst and Frostburg. Yeah. And they still have to play Tampa, you know, and that's going to help them. You're right. It's going to help them. You know, let's see what happens. If they can play well, and they might we'll see what happens. But they're a really good team. Mercyhurst. Uh their quality win was a three-goal win over Wingate. They have Lake Erie, they have Frostburg on their schedule coming up. And then Malone and Wheeling. So then Lake Erie. They have to play Mercyhurst still. So they're going to get another loss there, Kev. But they play DE and Malone. So Davidson and those are two winnable games for Lake Erie. Yeah. And then Walsh at 3-2. They play Thomas More. I have to play Seton Hill. They're going to get another loss. So Walsh and Lake Erie could be tied.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:36

Yeah, and I see them as a three and four seed. Lake Erie beat Walsh, so they're going to be the three-seed.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:42

Okay. So I was just going to say who won the head-to-head competition on that. So Lake Erie won the head-to-head. So Lake Erie would get the three-seed and Walsh would be the four. So hey, Lake Erie, you know, we said they were going to be improved and they didn't start out too good, but they did pretty damn good in conference. And um maybe they can scare somebody. We'll see what happens. But yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:08

I think I just I can't see a team like Mercy Hurst going for 0-4 games in a row. But it can happen. It can happen.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:19

Maybe, maybe it's something in their head because they just don't play well against Seton Hill. And Seton Hill seems to play lights out against them. They get pumped. They get pumped to play them.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:31

Yeah. All right. Two conferences last. Let's head to the ECC. Tournaments May 3rd and May 6th. Really good conference this year. This is going to be interesting, Danny.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:44

What a really good conference this year with the uh with Coach Jazz and Coach Dunn. Coach Jez is the C ACC. I'm sorry, not Coach Jez. Um Coach Dunn and Malloy. Coach, yeah, Coach Dunn and Malloy coming in and then just just it's a really good conference this year.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:02

Yeah, so Mercy, they're the one seed, but then it gets really interesting. Roberts Wesley and Malloy are now at three and one. Roberts Wesleyan has de Uville and Frostburg left. Malloy has UDC and Mercy.

unknown 1:05:21

Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:22

So if Roberts Wesleyan wins out, they're the two seed. I see Malloy obviously beating UDC, and I don't see them beating Mercy. They could, but I don't see it happening. So therefore, if Frostburg wins against Roberts Wesleyan, who is the two seed? Roberts Wesleyan beat Malloy? Oh, if Frostburg beats Robert Wesley, and then Malloy beat Frostburg. That's what makes it so interesting.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:56

So you know Malloy's Have to play mercy. I don't see them beating mercy. I see them playing competitively and giving them a game, but I don't see them beating Mercy. So Malloy would have that second loss. Robert Swesling, like you said, has to play Frostburg. So it shouldn't. I don't know what to say about that. I think I like Mercy out of there. I think they're going to be in the championship. I don't know which team's going to wind up playing them. I really don't know. I this one's a time. If I was a betting guy, I'd probably say Frostburg State. That's what I would say. But there's too many variables.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:40

But I'll tell you what, the Frostburg State Roberts Westing game will be a fun one to watch because it will see if ro Frostburg can come back from where they were after losing to Malloy and get back on the saddle there, as we say. And then I think if they do that, they got a good chance of going. But you know what? They could win against Roberts Wesley and turn around the tournament and lose to him.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:07

Yeah. That's like I like the variables here.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:11

I like that kind of stuff. So yeah, it's gonna be a crazy one to watch. It'll be a lot of fun. Okay, last one. Oh, go ahead. Again, I just think it's Mercy's, you know. Yeah, it's Mercy's to lose. Yeah, exactly. All right, any 10, April 29th, May 3rd, and May 6th.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:28

The granddaddy of them all, as you like to go. Well Lemoyne and Adelphi. And they play each other this week.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:39

Whoever wins on April 25th, it's next Tuesday. It's a week from today when we're recording. Whoever wins that game, it's that's the one and two seed, regardless.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:52

I say we don't record on next Tuesday, so we can watch that game.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:57

Well, I may be traveling, we may have to do everything on Monday. That's what we're gonna have to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:00

All right, sounds good because I'd like to watch that game. So yeah, Biggie, those two play, they're both undefeated in conference. Um Lemoyne has to play St. Rose, Franklin Pierce, and then Adelphi on the 25th. A Delphi has to play Bentley, which could be a tough game for them. But I don't see them losing to Bentley and Lemoyne. So then you got St. A's sitting at 7-2. Yep. Bentley, Bentley sitting at 5-3, Pace sitting at 5-3. And St. Rose is three and four. What do you got?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:38

Bentley Southern New Hampshire, I have as the sixth seed. That's very possible, man. That's for sure. Well, they beat St. Rose, right? Yep, yes. What's the record in the conference? St. Rose? Saint no, Southern New Hampshire. So Southern New Hampshire sits at three and four, just like St. Rose right now. Right. But who do they have left?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:06

All right, so St. Rose has Lemoyne and Pace. Could St. Michael's slip in?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:13

Couldn't so Southern New Hampshire has Franklin's ears and St. Michael's and Bentley. Bentley's gonna Bentley will win, but uh they could win those two other games, which would put them at five and five. St. Michael's sits at three and five, and they've got Southern. So they could be if they beat Southern New Hampshire, they got Bentley, Southern New Hampshire, and AIC. So they they'd have to win out, I think, or at least beat St. Southern New Hampshire and I AIC, and then that they could be in.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:56

So you got the CNA's sitting at seven and two, and they beat Bentley, and they have to play Pace still. Bentley beat Pace and they have to play Adelphi and Southern New Hampshire. Pace has no really big quality wins, and they lost to Adelphi and Lemoine, and they still have to play St. A's and St. Rose. So that that 4-5-6 spot is up in the air right now, I think. Any one of those three teams, it could be either one, but I like Lemoyne and Delphi. St. A's gonna be a top three, I think, out of that conference.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:32

And then I've got probably this is my lineup, Bentley Pace and Southern New Hampshire, based on what I how I think they're gonna win. I think Southern New Hampshire will beat St. Michael's. But St. Michaels has been playing pretty well this year. So I that's a top, that's a pick'em game, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:47

Like that that conference is good too, man. Kevin, the NE10 is another really, really good conference with a lot of really good teams. So now I'm looking at it the way I'm seeing it, I'm seeing it as a Lemoyne Adelphi, N-10 championship again. And the way Adelphi's been playing, I have to give the notch to uh the edge to Adelphi right now.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:12

I would too, but it's so tough to tell when they haven't gone head to head yet. You know, I think the 25th of April, that game, which we'll have to do all my recording on Monday, the 24th.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:24

Uh I've watched the number of Le Moine games and I've watched the number of Adelphi games. Lemoyne, you know, is well coached, and you know, she calls those timeouts at the right time, and he seems to call the right place at the right time. But I I just I just I don't know, man. Adelphi just looks scary, scary good to me. They're just look they look like they're on a mission to me.

Games to Watch

SPEAKER_04 1:11:51

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's kind of the roundup. Do you want to go into any games to watch this week?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:56

Well, let's do a couple of quick games to watch this week.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:59

Who do you got on your there's some really good ones? We mentioned a few of them. Like if you look at just from the matchups to see who gets in, we just talked about St. Michael to Southern New Hampshire and a few others. But Saturday on the 22nd, Seton Hill against Tampa. It's gonna be a game, and then also Wingate against UI, both out of conference games, but those are our top 20 matchups. Almost top 10 matchups. They're basically top 10 matchups. Seton Hill's right in there right now, so Seton Hill against Tampa, Wingate U Indy, two great games. And interesting thing about the Wingate U Indie game, Casey Carlson, who's now the goalie for UIndy, played for Wingate last year. He's home and shared time. So they split time, that's right. So that'll be it'll be a fun game to watch. Who else do you have?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:53

Wingate gets him at home. Yep. Yep. Big big advantage. You Indy's gotta travel. Yeah. Uh I like Marcia Delphi coming up tomorrow night. Yep. I think that's gonna be a great game to watch. We talked about that last week. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:09

Who else, Kev? Who else? All right, so I've got Lewis in Maryville. We talked about that, it has seating implications along with Alabama Huntsville, Flaggler in the peach belt, those both on Saturday, and St. Leo Lynn. All three of those on Saturday, all three have seating implications. St. Leo can clinch if they win the game and go then get into the tournament.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:32

Yeah, St. Leo's got to win. I like that. I think St. Leo's gonna do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:36

I think so too. The other one, this is a totally different one on Saturday. Alderson brought us against Wheeling because it's for the West Virginia Championship. I gave the nod to Wheeling on that one. All right, all right. And then we talked about Westminster, Colorado Mesa on Sunday, the 23rd. And then, of course, the granddaddy game of the granddaddy conference is Tuesday, April 25th, a Delphi against Lemoyne.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:03

Yeah, that's gonna be a game. Uh the I think the the UN D Wingate game is gonna be a good game to watch. Uh NCAA implications in that. Yep. Uh, and the Lemoyne, the Delphi game not only has conference, but definitely has national NCAA implications. So that's a big game. Yep. So got some good games. It's coming up, it's everything's starting to wind up, Kev. It's all coming down to a point. I can't believe how fast it's gone. It's a this one, this season went really fast.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:37

Yeah, yeah.

Player's Spotlight

SPEAKER_04 1:14:39

All right, it's time for the player spotlight. My favorite part, Kev. My favorite part. I can't move forward until you say that. So I'm glad you chimed in there, Danny. We are moving back to the offensive side of the ball this evening. This player is near the top in goals per game in D2, which is tough to do when you look at the offensive talent and lineup on his team. Yes. But every year he improves his stats, and he really has become a key offensive contributor for his team.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:16

Kev, let's talk about it real quick. Yeah, he's first, he's first in the country in shot percentage. He's got 39 goals on only 58 shots at damn near 70 percent. I have nicknamed him the finisher. This young man just finishes 100% maybe the best in the country. He's 12th in the country in goals, averaging 3.2 goals per game. He's sixth in the ECC in points, third in the ECC in goals, and second on the team in goals. And like you said, he plays on a team that's got a high powered offense. Pretty impressive stuff.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:58

It's very impressive, but we don't want too much to go to his head. He's got a few games left, so let's just welcome him in and we can we can we can talk to him. So TJ Hyder, a Tacman for the Mercy Mavericks. Hey TJ, how are you guys?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:12

Good hey TJ Heider, Tacman from Mercy, man. Thanks for coming on the show tonight. We really appreciate it. The Mavs are one hell of a team. Tell us what it's like to play on this squad.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:25

You know, it's a uh it's a fun, it's a really fun group. Um, you know, we're an experienced group. Um, I think if you were to watch games of ours from probably two or three years ago, I think you'd see a lot of the same core players that are out there now, maybe a few different pieces, you know, in between. But for the most part, it's really the same core, and we like it that way. You know, we're we're really we're a tight-knit group, play for each other, we love each other, and um, I think that's led to a lot of success that we've had um over the course that you know we've all been here.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:59

Yeah, so let's talk more about your team. Obviously, you guys made it all the way to championship weekend last year, and you want to be back. So, what has it been like this year with that kind of mindset and especially with a new coach?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:14

Um, you know what? Um, I think as much as we go out there and we play for each other, I think um, you know, knowing that we have a uh a new young coach kind of at the helm, I think we've all kind of taken initiative to kind of play for him, you know, like we want to take care of him, play for him, win games for him. He's been he's been really fantastic in, you know, his um, you know, his his short time with us, you know, he's he's a young mind. He's he brings a lot of uh really great IQ to the game, box, box player. Um, and he's uh he's really he's rubbed off a lot on um, especially our younger guys that have, you know, coming from the high school level, and um there there isn't enough good things to say about Coach Rye.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:00

That's awesome. Awesome. So let's turn to you. Let's turn to you and talk about you a little bit. Like Danny said, you've racked up 39 goals already this season, which well surpasses where you were last year at the end of the season. Then if you look at what your shooting percentage is, how do you do it? How did you get here? And is there anything that you can see, say for yourself or see in yourself over the progression in your college career to get you where you're so prolific in your senior season?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:27

Um, I think experience is um a big thing. Um, I think not even just for myself, but again, like kind of like how I said before, we've all played a lot of meaningful minutes together that you know it it pays off, you know, kind of when by the time that you know year two, year three rolls around, which is kind of where we are at, you know, right now. But especially going by the offense, I've been really fortunate to play with some of the best offensive players, probably in the country. I played two, I play along two first team All-Americans from last year, Brady Kiernan and Jack Gibbons. Yeah, I play along Andrew Calabrie in the midfielder, who's another first team, first team all conference member last year. And you have a guy, Tom Connors, who is a fifth-year transfer from DeSales. And, you know, in his three short years over there, he put up over 100 points. So, you know, you kind of add uh an experienced player to an offense that is really clicking and really just kind of knows how they like to play. And I think it's really paid dividends down the stretch uh this year.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:31

That's really interesting you say that because I'm gonna relate it to a game I watched last year when I saw Lemoyne play live against Wingate. And then you could really notice they had a lot of players at that time on their offense that had played together for several years, and you could see them passing the ball. They all anticipated where they were gonna be five steps ahead of things. And now, if I look back, I have not been able to watch you guys live and uh except for the championship weekend last year against Tampa. But there are times where TJ, you have a goal, and I'm like, where the hell did that come from? Because it's the passing, and you guys, you're in the right spot where you need to be, and they know you're gonna be there. Is that is am I capturing that correctly, you think?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:14

Oh, 1000%. And um, again, it's it's reps, it's practice reps, it's game reps. I I play with such great players around me that do such a great job of you know breaking down defensemen and drawing two. And really, by the time that the ball swings to me, it's um, you know, I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't finishing the ball. You know, they they put me in such a fantastic spot to kind of create opportunity around the net that I'm I'm really grateful to kind of play along that kind of cast. I don't I don't know if I would produce that much without them.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:51

Yeah, that's that's nice of you to say, but I'm gonna give you a little kudos here because Danny called you the finisher. I think you're also a silent assassin because there's plenty of games where at the end, at the stat sheet, I look at how many goals you've had, I'm like, where the hell did that come from? Like once again, because you know where you need to be. And and because you know that, that's how you finish. It's not just it is it's everyone together playing well, and that's what's fun about watching your team and watching how you pass, but you've got to be in the right spot too, and you've got to have the IQ to know where to be to make that shot.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:28

For sure. I don't think I don't think the player I was in high school is um reflective of the player I am now. I think over time, over you know, being here and playing with you know, this group of guys, I've kind of had to teach myself kind of like a new role. Um, and a lot of that is kind of you know moving in and out of the crease and kind of being a crease guy, crease finisher. And you know, the guys, the guys feeding me the ball, it's uh they make it really, really, really easy. So a lot of that's just experience and reps, and you know, we've played a lot of meaningful games together, and um, you know, it's by the by this time it's just kind of finally clicking.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:06

Yeah, so go ahead. Let me ask you um, TJ, you you know, you come from Long Island out in Port Jeff, and you know, we play a lot all across to Long Island, you know, and how did you wind up at Mercy? How did you end up at Mercy?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:22

Yeah, so um, I mean, recruiting the recruiting trail really is so it's so different for everybody. I don't think everyone is as highly touted as others um in terms of kind of offers and schools and interests and kind of things along that line. So, you know, my my lip really was was really all division two schools. Um, I wasn't really looking at the division the division one level, but um I went on a few visits, I went to uh I visited Malloy, I visited um Assumption, and uh I I caught a visit with uh Coach Levine at Mercy, and it was uh it just all right that day. And uh I remember getting back in the car uh with my parents, you know, after the visit, and you know, before we probably even uh left the uh the school parking lot, you know, we all kind of looked at each other like, you know, this place feels right. And um, you know, four years later, it it feels real, you know, how right that was.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:19

I think I think you made the right choice, man. You definitely made the right choice. Now, what was it like the day you found out Coach Levine was going to be leaving the program? What what kind of mood was the locker room when that day came?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:37

Uh, it was um, you know what, uh that month, that end of May, you know, month of June, that month, um, between between losing uh you know losing in the national championship and then you know losing your head coach, um, it was kind of like one gut punch after another. It was it was really uh it was hard to take. And um I'm not sure if our closeness of our luck room was wasn't as tight as it is. I don't know if we would have you know stayed as compact as we did. We didn't have anyone transfer out. Um, you know, no one no one hit the portal, you know. Uh we all we all kind of knew what we had here, you know, the love that we had for each other. And um it kind of made us a little hungrier to kind of make a run this year and all that. But in terms of Coach Levine, one of the best coaches I've ever played for, he's uh really one hell of a coach. He's he's one hell of a friend. And uh he uh it's you know, being a coach, it's it's really hard to be both. And he was really, really, really good at being both. And uh he was, you know, he's someone that's really irreplaceable around here, uh, the things that he did. And we all, you know, the guy here, uh, we know that. And but at the same time, like, you know, you you welcome uh a new young coach like like Coach Rye, and uh you welcome him with open arms. He's one of our own. He's he's an alumni from here. Right. Former all American former all American here. Yep, yep. Um that that's uh that was really important to us when you know looking for our next head coach. You know, we wanted someone that was kind of cut from the same cloth that we are, that's someone that kind of really gets the program that you know, like we do. We kind of feel like our program and how we go about things is maybe a little different than than most places, and we like that way. But you know, we wanted the the the helm to to kind of you know feel that the way we feel that and you know he's been through it, and he's really um he's done a really nice job of um taking team on from what how you know how coach Levine used to be while also uh putting his new spin on you know his head coaching role.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:53

Very good, very well said. Yeah, I think that is great. I think you know the transition, as you said, it's a gut punch. I think the maturity of your team helped you obviously through that, probably helped Coach McSpadden, and it it's helped you guys stay right on track where you are, and you guys are really close team. So I just have one question for you. I don't know how close you are to the defensive side of the ball, but did Justin Gurdville give you any tips on the firing round with Danny Moran?

SPEAKER_00 1:26:25

No, he didn't actually. I remember uh Justin coming on the show last year, uh, but no, he uh he didn't fill me in. Justin's a really common mind, so I'm uh I'm actually gonna bust his shops for for not getting any ready for it.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:38

You're gonna have to because now you're you're into it. You're into it. I'm we you you better be ready right now. I'm ready.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:46

All right, ladies and gentlemen, we have a really good kid tonight with us, TJ Heider, attackman from the Mercy Mavs. The kid has just been an amazing player on an amazing team that's just done amazing things for the past two years. And we he's been a great guest tonight. Now he gets to go through a couple of questions in the firing round with the two knuckleheads from In the Crease. You ready, kid? I'm ready. All right, question number one mom's best meal.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:17

Oh, wow, that's she makes really great chicklets, fantastic shaken gullets. Probably my favorite meal. Okay, absolutely. All right, favorite dessert. I'm a brownie guy, and I'll even I'll double dip to say my mom makes fantastic brownies.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:40

All right, there we go. I love I love brownies too, man. Me too. Okay, early bird or early bird or night owl.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:49

Oh, early bird, absolutely. I'm just uh it's even not like up out of bed, uh, you know, moving. I'm just it's I don't even need an alarm in the morning. I'm just up. I don't know. I'm gonna guess when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:00

That's two weeks in a row, Danny. That's right. So since you're up so early, what's your favorite breakfast?

SPEAKER_00 1:28:08

Um, that's a good question. I'd probably eggs. Um, never really go wrong. Okay. PlayStation or Xbox? Yeah, Xbox now. I was uh I was a PlayStation, you know, when I was younger, but I converted when all my buddies had Xbox, so I've probably had it for the last seven, eight years.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:29

Okay, what game do you play a lot?

SPEAKER_00 1:28:32

Oh, NHL. NHL is really the only game I'll be at. The rest of them, I'm I'm horrible. I'll I'll be transparent.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:39

Okay. Favorite, favorite TV show?

SPEAKER_00 1:28:44

Uh probably um I'm I'm huge in college football. Um, I don't really watch a lot of TV, but I I'll watch podcasts. And uh, you know, uh Late Kick Live with uh Josh Pate is just you know, he talks college football four-seven around the clock, and I'm just totally into it.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:59

So wow, cool, man. I'm a big college football fan. Okay, favorite cartoon as a kid.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:08

Price SpongeBob. I feel like that's a that's a cool one, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:29:11

You know, that's the go-to. That's the go-to one. We may have to retire that question after the season, Danny, because it's uh it's trending way too much for SpongeBob.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:21

All right, since you're a big college, since you're a big college football fan, which is your favorite team? Oh, diehard Ohio State fan. Ohio State.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:32

My dad went to Michigan.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:33

I thought he was gonna say Irish. Go, Irish. All right, pretty cool. So favorite professional sport.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:45

Oh, easily the NFL football.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:48

Favorite football team.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:50

Uh, I'm uh I'm a commander fan. So uh yeah, I've been through I've been through name changes.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:57

God Snyder is selling that.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:58

Playoff droughts. Oh, he's I think he's uh it's almost there. So how does a Long Island kid become a commander fan?

SPEAKER_03 1:30:08

You gotta tell me that one.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:10

Uh, you know what? Because my father raised me in um you know, misery loves company.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:19

That's funny. It's hysterical.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:21

Okay, I'm a Patriots fan, and I couldn't get any of my kids to bite. None of them, they all do it to spite me, another team.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:28

Even with all the championships, too.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:30

God bless them. Yeah, I'm a cowboy fan. I get it from everywhere, from every angle. So here we go. So who's your favorite player?

SPEAKER_00 1:30:42

Favorite football player, yeah. Um, probably Justin Fields, uh, huge Ohio State guy. Uh okay. Just loved him.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:51

All right, sounds good. What's your favorite kind of music to listen to, TJ?

SPEAKER_00 1:30:58

Ooh, I like I feel like I range. Um, you know, it's all really depends like what type of mood I'm in, you know. You know, maybe rap, or if I was back in the car, I'd listen to some old like RB. Really depends on like the mood and what I'm doing, but I try them too often because you know I don't like that too much. Okay. What was the last song you listened to? I think it was Lowdown by Lil Baby. Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:22

I don't think I know that one. I don't think I know that one. Okay. Here's a good one. If you could play an instrument, what would it be? A musical instrument, what would it be and why?

SPEAKER_00 1:31:38

Probably your drums, or I'd be like, I'd be a solid guitarist. I'd be a probably bass though.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:46

Drums, guitar or bass? All right, you want to be the whole band. You're gonna be like the one guy by yourself. Yeah, no, well, I mean they're either guitar.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:55

I'll give you a hint, TJ. Danny plays drums. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:58

Um yeah, I'm I was just breaking the jobs. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Since you've been at Mercy, what's been your favorite class so far?

SPEAKER_00 1:32:08

Uh, probably this semester. Um, I uh I just started writing a newspaper uh through a communication class, and um I've just I've really, really loved it. You know, I I hope to go into journalism, and um, you know, I've been able to write about you know other sport teams, uh, you know, in the school paper and everything along those lines, and it's uh been really a lot of fun this year.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:28

Oh wow, cool, excellent. I love that kind of stuff. All right, we're gonna change uh we're gonna take a turn. Who's the funniest kid on the Mavs team?

SPEAKER_00 1:32:41

We have a bunch of clowns. It's uh great question. Brady, Brady's just um Brady's just always full of life, and you know, he's our guy, uh, always making people laugh, whether it's at practice or the back of the bus, you know, way you know, way home from a game or he just he just doesn't even he won't shut up. But that that's him.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:02

Who's the most athletic on the team, in your opinion?

SPEAKER_00 1:33:06

I'll tell I'll tell you, our uh our defensives especially are all really, really athletic. Uh Tyler Paytek, uh Damiano Ferrara, uh Christian Castles, uh those guys especially are just uh they're I feel like they're superhuman, they they display it well like on the defensive end of the field.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:25

Excellent. All right. What does TJ stand for? Thomas John. Thomas John. Okay, I have a TJ. My oldest is a TJ. He's Thomas James. Okay, TJ, you did you did great tonight. Last question, and I do this for every everyone that comes on. Give us your best impression of Coach Rye. Come on. He's got a smile on his face, folks. He's got a smile on his face. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:58

I don't I'm trying to think how I would uh how to imitate him. You know, he he carries a heavy Canadian accent. We dropping the A's. Um, you know, we acquire our team, so you know, we always feel like we're we're really close to the the border. You're all they're all funny.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:15

Uh that's pretty funny. Well, TJ, you did great on the firing round. We really appreciate you coming on the show tonight. Dude, you've just been bawling out. I love watching you play. You're the silent assassin, like like and and and a finisher. I mean, we we've got nicknames for you. And um, when you get nicknames like that, that's a good thing. So got a big game tomorrow night. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 1:34:40

Um we're uh we're really excited about it. Uh, you know, get to play this one at home, and um, you know, it's gonna be a big one, especially uh, you know, not many regular season games left. So uh, especially heading into conference tournament uh play, this is gonna be uh, you know, we expect this one, and we're excited.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:56

Well, uh I was at the game last year at Adelphi when you guys played. So I am sure that this is gonna be uh a dog fight, and um I think you guys can pull it off, man. I think you can. So I wish you the best of luck the rest of the season tomorrow night, and thank you so much for coming on the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:17

I appreciate you guys for having me on, really. Thank you so much,

Shout outs

SPEAKER_00 1:35:21

Danny.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:23

TJ Haider was way, way too smart for us.

SPEAKER_05 1:35:31

He's smart. Well, they do that, but he's way too modest, too.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:34

He's pretty smart, way too modest.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:36

He's a smart kid. He's a great kid. Speaker speaks so well, huh? And he's got a great insight to his team and why they are where they're at, and how they were able to weather the storm after getting the gut punch of losing in the national championship and then losing their coach.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:55

He talks like a coach, he doesn't he didn't speak like a player, yeah, he spoke like a coach. Yeah, I agree. I think coaching might be in his his future because just the way he came across and the words that he used and how he used them, and just very influential wants to go into journalism. Pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:16

Yeah, it's great.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:18

I liked him a lot. He's a good kid, he's a great player, he's the finisher. I call him hashtag the finisher. So whenever I talk about Hyder, that hashtag finisher is there. The kid's really good. I mean, he's just falling out, and you know what? The crazy thing about it is he's on this team with all this crazy firepower. Yeah, and he and he's the silent one, he's the one just stealing the back.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:44

He doesn't make he doesn't do big celebrations. No, he's been there done that. That's how I don't know. Like, I look at the I look, oh geez, he had another hat trick today.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:53

Oh, he had five six goals, yeah. Yeah, six goals, five goals, four goals, and quietly, quietly. I always liked kids like that. A couple of years ago, uh the Wingate Bulldogs had a kid, uh uh Omerod. Ryan Omerod. He was an attack man. Again, the the team was filled with all Americans at the midfield level, but there he was at the two and three, three and one, one and two, yeah, two and two, quietly. Kind of reminds me of him. So it was great to have TJ on. He's a really good kid, and I wish him nothing but the best. I think Mercy's gonna be in the NCAA, so I think they're gonna do damage. Gotta watch out for that team. I agree.

SPEAKER_04 1:37:36

I agree. Okay. So do you have any shout-outs this week, Danny?

SPEAKER_03 1:37:41

Yeah, I got a couple of shout-outs. My first shout-out is to Jake Bauman from Frostburg State, the senior midfielder from Clarence Center, New York, Kev. Jake set a single season scoring record with 52 goals for Frostburg. So, congratulations, Jake. That's quite the honor. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:02

I got a shout-out. It's several more career milestones this past week. It's a shout out to all the players who reached 100 goals in their college career. And here they are. These are the ones I saw: Robert Grasso of Felician, Tyler Kalodka, and Nolan Morrison of Davis and Elkins, two players. Brody Phillips of Alabama Huntsville, Michael Ventreska, Georgian Court, and Baker Westmoreland of Newberry.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:33

All right. Congratulations, guys. Way to ball out. My next shout-out goes out to Nolan Oakyf. He's a junior attackman at Lander, and he's from Calgary, Alberta. Oh, Canada. Guess what? Not only did he have a hundred career goals set this year, he also has a hundred career ground balls. So, how cool is that? So, shout out to Nolanoky. 100 career goals and 100 ground balls.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:07

Good job, kid. Okay, my last shout-out goes out to Willie Greco of Wingate. He surpassed 300 points for his career at Wingate. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:22

Kid's amazing. He's just, I think he's the best attackman in the country, hands down. Hands down. 100%. There's nobody better than him. I just think what he can do, his mind, his IQ is passing. He's just really, really good. So congratulations, Willie. That's quite the mark. Uh, my last shout out tonight is a defensive guy, Kev, Justin Eisenhower. He's a senior long pole from Rollins. He's out of Orlando, Florida. Recorded his 100th career cause turnover. Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_02 1:40:00

I'm not. I don't want to go against this kid.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:03

I'm just gonna have my pops going up in the stands and watch him. Statistics say he's gonna kick my ass. So shout out to Justin, your balling out kid on a really good team. And um probably gonna see you in the NCAAs too. So those are my shout outs for tonight, Gev.

SPEAKER_04 1:40:19

I love it. I love it. And just to close, just a reminder to everyone out there listening to this podcast: if you like what we're doing, pass it along. Let's keep building this, let's keep getting the word out, especially down to those high school coaches, players, so that they know how great D2 is.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:38

Yes, please subscribe, share, get them to them high school coaches. More and more people are starting to listen. It's been great so far. And um, it's all for the about the listeners. And you guys have been just phenomenal, and we couldn't thank you enough.

SPEAKER_04 1:40:54

And with that, Danny, that's a wrap.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:56

Let me get a horn. That's a wrap. Good.