Game Time - A look back at week 2 and a preview of Week 3 of the 2022 season

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 men's lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stentram, and with me as always is that D2 lacrosse Somalier, Danny Moran. How's it going, Danny?

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Where do you find these words, Kevin? Well, I where do you find these words?

SPEAKER_02 0:31

I'm just Somalier, he's he's an expert with wine, picking out, or he or she picking out fine wine. And I just equate you to that on picking out quality lacrosse programs.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

It's more like it's more like beer, not wine, but I'm doing really good, Kevin, tonight. How are you doing in Northern Virginia this evening?

SPEAKER_02 0:54

I'm I'm good. I'm good. We're moving into week three, and it's starting to heat up uh with uh the North Region teams coming into play. We'll talk about that a little bit later in the games to watch this week, but there are a lot of great games this past week. So where do you want to start?

Recap of the week

SPEAKER_03 1:10

There's a you know what? It was another really good week. I think you know, some things are starting to uh, like you said, heat up a little bit. Maybe some teams are looking in the right direction, and some teams are looking for direction, maybe a little bit at this point. Yeah. Um, but let's start with, you know, who do you want to start with? You want to start with uh, well, we were looking at the Tampa, Florida Southern game last week. We said that was a game to watch.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Sure, let's talk about that one.

SPEAKER_03 1:37

Did you watch it?

SPEAKER_02 1:38

I did, I got to watch it, and I will tell you that I think you know, we talked about Tampa and what they were gonna do in offense, but this is the second game in the row where they've kept the team to under not even under 10 goals, it's under five, well, five goals this time. Their D in Blake Umer was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

Their goalie in Blake Umer is lights out right now, Kevin. He is on everything's in slow motion for this kid right now. Um Florida Southern, let me tell you something, they played pretty well the other day. You know, that score doesn't that score doesn't represent that team, okay? Because Blake Ulmer had a really phenomenal game. He faced uh a Florida Southern team that was winning a lot of face-offs, getting a lot of possessions, and Florida Southern were getting what they were getting their shots off, but Ulmer was stopping them. Florida Southern had 59 shots against Tampa with 36 on goal, and Blake had 29 saves. That's insanity.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

And he had a 0.906 save percentage.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

I mean, like I I I can't fathom that.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

He had like nine saves in the first quarter. He was just on fire. Everything's in slow motion, you know. Tampa's legitimate, they're real deal. They wound up winning the game 16 to 5. But you know who you know what again, Florida Southern is impressing me. They scored 43 goals in their first two games.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Actually, 44. They've they scored 44. But you're right. I mean, look what the look at the difference. And I don't think it's them. I think it's what Blake Ulmer uh really did. I'm not sure they uh I don't know if they would have won the game, uh, but they would have made it damn close if Blake Ulmer wasn't between the pipes.

SPEAKER_03 3:37

Yeah, I I agree with you. I think if somebody else was in the pipes, it might have been a different it might have been a different game. Again, I agree with you. They might not have won the game, but it might have been a closer score. I think Florida Southern was able to get their shots off, Kev. They were if they were getting possessions, they were winning face-offs, they were able to get their shots off. Some of their shots were ill-advised, maybe a kid, you know, yeah, rushing a little bit, maybe could have had another step or two close to the goal, but you know, get excited, you get wide-eyed, you know, young player, and maybe take a shot. I mean, you like to have that one back. But, you know, Florida Southern's a good team, but Tampa's legit. And uh that was a good game to watch, actually.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

It was a great game. And just to point out, we talked about their defense, but Tampa, in my opinion, they move the ball and what they do really they cut really well. They cut really well. They had two players, Sanchez and White, with hat tracks, but they had nine players scoring again.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

Ronan Sanchez.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Ronan Sanchez, yes.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Okay, and Colin White. Yeah, those those two boys. They those two boys balled out. They they're they're good, they're good players. And uh Tampa's heading in the right direction. They got some they got some ballers there. So they're gonna be able to.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

They're playing little Ryan next, so that'll be a great game to watch. That's gonna be a great game to watch.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

Okay, let's talk about it. Moving on number two and number four, wingate against Mercyhurst. That was a 16-12 final, but to me, the game was closer than that, than what the score showed, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_03 5:11

Well, yeah, it was a good game. Um, if you look at the stats, the categories uh it's pretty much even throughout, like in every category except one. Cost over turnovers. Mercyhurst turned the ball over 16 times. You know what? Wingate's very young defense. They they threw out their starting two sophomores and a freshman.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Actually, it was two freshmen and sophomores this time.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Oh, really? Okay. Okay, so they're starting, you know, their defense is young, but you know what? They played well. They were getting their sticks in lanes, they were they were sliding, they were playing physical, they were causing, you know, turnovers, they were getting balls on the ground. They're a feisty bunch, that young defense for Wingate. They were feisty.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

They've got they've got two season short stick D-mittis, and and the close defense did a good job. Like you said, turnovers, but uh, it's like I said I th last week, I said I thought it would come down uh to whoever played the better defense. And I think with that stat, I saw the stat that Wingate caused nine turnover to Mercy Hearst zero. So that I think that's the that's really the game there because every other statistical uh um well here's another stat though, Kev.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

Mercy Hearst was 0 for 4 on man off opportunities. So that was huge. You know, they had opportunities and the Wingate defense was just styming. I I was pretty impressed with that young defense. I watched the game. You know, Coach Ryan does an amazing job at Mercy Hurst, you know. And and they were good teams. That was a good game. Those were two really, really good.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

We watched both teams. Very, very few mistakes, in my opinion. If you um take the turnovers away, but I think the defense helped with that. Very few mistakes, no penalties on Mercy Hurst's side. They they were tough throughout the game. Miles Ham, who we talked about last week, he's the Canadian that was the Harvard transfer. He netted four goals. So he got in there. Yeah. I mean, Mercy Hearst had had they moved the ball well.

unknown 7:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

They shot well. I mean, you saw each team could beat players off the dodge. Once again, Wingate's attack line combined for 18 points.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

Those guys are lethal, man. It the wingate looks tough right now, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:36

Yeah, I mean, even the go uh, so Wingate, you know, they shared the goalie time between Casey Carlson and John Capone. They split time. Casey in the first half had 10 saves and two critical ones right at the end of the half.

SPEAKER_03 7:49

Yes, yes, yeah. That could have turned the game around. Yes, back to back. Because Mercy Hurst was going on the run, and you know Coach Ryan's gonna have the Lakers go on runs. They're a good team, you know. Yeah, and they were on their run. They had brought it back to within like three goals again, and they had a they had a breakout, and Casey stopped it, and then he stopped the the rebound, and and it was just before the end of the half. And you know, you always want to score before the end of the half. You know, that's like give you the momentum going into the third quarter. But that those those two stops by uh the case, Casey Carlson from Wingate. I mean, that was really critical and and and two great saves. So, you know, I mean so I'm gonna say, you know, the wingate's defense really, really played well. And those two, those young guys at close, they they caused a lot. What's the one kid's Peyton Farley? He had a good game, man. Scored a goal scored a goal on defense. I mean, they're you know what? Wingate's got a good squad. Yeah, they're gonna be good, they're gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Let's talk Belmont Abbey, Florida Tech. And that goes into overtime. Great game. That was gritty, tough physical play. And it was also a game of runs. You know, they kept on trading goals like with three on one side, three on the other, then it was two, two, two. It was really a game of runs.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Yeah. Um, you know what? I didn't get a chance to watch that game because it was a Super Bowl, you know. So, hey, which game do I want to watch? The Rams and the Bengals or or Belmont Abbey, but uh I want to watch that game. You know what? Uh, I want to see what's up with Belmont Abbey. They're they fall to 0-2 now. Yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

I think this was a really, really close game, and I think Florida Tech is stronger than most people think. There, one of their players, Zach Rosogni Rosagni. He had four goals and one assist, and Colin Stewart had three goals and one assist. So they had some players that were balling out. And it was funny because it always seemed like Florida Tech was up and then Belmont Abbey came back. It's six five at half, and then the Crusaders go uh score two to go uh one up, and then Panthers score two to go one up. And it was just like that all game until it just got to to overtime. Florida Tech wins the face-off, they bring it down the offensive end. They they they set up uh for the goal and they score and they they win the game.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

Wow, so Florida Tech. All right, good for them, you know. Those OT games, you know, when games go into OT, those are good games. You know, those yeah, those two teams, those two teams are fighting it out. Yeah. But you know what? Um, I'm sure Coach Barrett is not too nunja too happy, as they say in Little Italy up here in New York. They're nunja too happy. So uh with his 0-2 record now, and um they're gonna have to turn it around quick because you know who they got next. Florida Southern. We'll talk about that too. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Okay, so quickly, did get did you get to see the Lenore Rhine North Greenville game?

SPEAKER_03 11:05

No, I did not.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

So I watched a little bit of it. I I caught as much as I can. I think as you remember last week, this was just uh the Moffitt brother matchup with Miles from Lenore Ryan and this younger brother Hayden from North Greenville. Right, right. And it was close in the stats. Miles eeks it out, ended up with three goals, Hayden with two. Okay. The real difference was North Greenfield made a valiant effort, but Lenore Ryan went on some fairly big runs. Um won a four-goal run to make a 10-5 and a half. North Greenville comes back, makes a close 10-8. Then they go on a six-goal run, and that's about all she wrote. Yeah. It was a good game.

SPEAKER_03 11:51

But that's off to North Greenville, you know, keeping it close for a while. You know, we talked about North Greenville and how they're trending upwards. You know, they're playing Lenore Ryan. That's last year's, you know, runner-up, you know, national runner-up. So, you know, and we know how stacked they are on offense and and how good they are on defense. But hey, kudos to North Greenville for keeping it close for a while.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Yeah, it ended up 16-11. They got some goals at the end. That's not such a bad score. That's not a bad score. They're they're still a really good team, and they're gonna have you have to be reckoned with in during this season. I do want to mention uh what we talked about last week in Colorado Mesa, having three games in quite quick proximity as they do their their road trip south. So they end up with uh a two-on-one record. They beat uh Alabama Huntsville and they beat Coker. They beat Coker today, as a matter of fact, as we're recording. Right, right, exactly. They lost to Rollins on Saturday, 16-9. Now Rollins is 2-0, and we really need to watch them. They they are now in the US ILA ranking in number 19 this week. Rollins because of what they've done, Rollins. So they've cracked the poll. I couldn't watch the game. It didn't look like it was played in Jacksonville at the Bowl School, and it didn't look like it was it was streaming at all. So I couldn't really watch it. All I could do is get a recap. Seems like Rollins played, obviously played really well. So Colorado Mesa on their first their first trip to the east and south, uh, come goes home with a two-and-one record.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

That's success. That's success. It's like a baseball baseball team, a baseball team on the road. If you can grab two out of three, right, you're doing pretty good. Yep. So, you know, that's a that's a long trip. You know, these guys are coming out east, Colorado Mesa, they do it every year. And to go home two-on-one, hey, but they lost to Rollins, but Rollins is ranked. So see how it works. So there you go.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

You know, yeah. Okay, so and we have to give a shout out to uh Quincy Hawks, who won their first game as a program against Wheeling in pretty convincing fashion, 13-3. That was played on Sunday. So we have to congratulate Coach Ruppel and the Quincy Hawks for their first win as a program.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

All right, all right, Quincy. Congratulations. Go get that dub, kid.

Coach's spotlight

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Well, that was a good recap of games, but now it's time to move on to our coach's spotlight. Tonight we get to talk to another coach that is a part of that Barrett coaching tree. But he also another one.

SPEAKER_03 14:29

How many coaches has Barrett like three? Guess what?

SPEAKER_02 14:34

This is our last one that we get. We unfortunately we have to apologize that he's the last one on, but it's gonna be it's gonna be worth it. Because the other thing is, you know, he was the U Indy program's first assistant coach back in 2015. So he started that program as an assistant, that's right, but then turned right around to take over uh the program and start the program of Embry Riddle. So we might as well just welcome him on, Coach Spencer Wims, head coach of Embry Riddle Eagles. Hey coach, how you doing?

SPEAKER_05 15:02

How's it going, guys? Thanks for having me. Uh, excited to be here and uh yeah, happy to be the uh the last of the the Barrett Disciples to to Grace the Airways.

SPEAKER_03 15:11

Barrett Disciples, I like that. The Barrett Disciples. Great good great to have you with us, coach. We really appreciate you uh taking the time with us, uh, two knuckleheads from in the creeps, so we really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

No problem. Hey, so first coach, congrats on your first win of the season against Flago. That was a great game. Tell us what that was like. Not only winning the game, but getting to play a game for the first time in over a year. Uh it it was amazing.

SPEAKER_05 15:39

I mean, for our guys, um, 700 some odd days between games um for those upperclassmen was tough. I mean, it's last the last year watching guys play and us having to sit there and and not even having contact practice until the last week of spring um in 2021. So we we were really, really kind of downheartened um throughout that entire process, just trying to figure things out and trying to figure out what we're gonna do practice-wise. Going to my my assistant coach, Coach Frank, I give him all the credit in the world, coming up with different stick-work drills when you can't touch each other and you're trying to come up with things that practice to do. Um through halfway through the season was like, Coach, I'm running out of drills. I don't know what else we can do. So just trying to keep it light and and trying to concentrate on the other things, trying to concentrate on the camaraderie and the team building, and and to the credit, um, bringing back all the guys, having them come back with the hunger and and almost not using it as an excuse, but using it as something to strengthen us, and we can understand how tough it is to have something you love taken away from you and cherish that every opportunity. Um, and then to go into that first game to have 700 some odd people in the stands, and then it's amazing. Couldn't believe it. It was absolutely amazing just to see both fans Flagler and Emory Riddle, and then we had another two of 200 some odd guys on the hill behind the camera, um, doing some chirping to Flagler in their side, which is really nice to hear. And um just having that that kind of relief of finally having it game day. And I mean, I remember one time um going over to our defensemen and sneaking a little time out and talking to them, giving some water, and they're talking about our defensive struggles and what we want to do here. And then I kind of stopped them for a second and said, Hey guys, turn around. They looked at the crowds like this is pretty cool, isn't it? And and that part was just amazing, just to see, just to have that moment for the guys to to really be lacrosse players again and and to get that monkey off the back, and then obviously to win to feel that to feel that joy of just getting out there with the guys that you put in so much hard work and over almost two years of hard work just for that one moment and to feel it and do some good things was awesome. And and one thing our coaching staff, our coaching staff of two, myself and uh coach uh Brian Frank were really told ourselves was hey, once we after this game, once we won it and we kind of came together and we're saying, hey, let the let the guys enjoy this. Yeah, there's things we need to do to improve, and and they heard it on Monday that next day in the film. Um, but that weekend, giving the guys just the opportunity to to enjoy that lacrosse win, that lacrosse game, and and have a weekend where they can feel like, hey, we're back, and and hopefully we can make some more noise moving forward was was an amazing, amazing feeling. And and I mean, I couldn't sleep that night. I I broke broke down the film, I'm up till two o'clock in the morning watching it again. All lamped up, right? Yeah, I could I couldn't fall asleep, couldn't do it, and was just so excited to get back to work. And I told the guys while we were during our kind of off-season break before that I missed losing. That's how bad I missed games. I missed measuring ourselves against somebody else, and then coming out on the other end and and knowing what you got to get better at. It was like uh it's like getting all these, yeah. It's like getting all these ingredients to like cook up a great dinner and then not being able to eat it, and then you just gotta keep cooking it up, keep cooking it up, and you're watching all these other guys making these great meals and eating some really good stuff, and you're like, I think my stuff might taste good, but I can't. We we can never touch it. And that was yeah, we couldn't judge ourselves.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

So it's an interesting take, actually.

SPEAKER_05 19:16

Yeah, we had some great freshmen who redshirted last year, and I'm like, I think they're good. I I'm not sure. And then one of our Christian Christian Hofer comes up and and has a big day in his big game, and you're like, okay, and lucky for him, he had a few uh Florida play Florida statisticians, maybe gave him a couple extra points in the write-up here and there, but that's what my three goals and two assists may not be correct.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

Is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_05 19:41

I think only just I think he got an extra assist there. I think there's one little assist he got for the little hometown guy. So that was that was nice to see.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Well, you know, that so before we get to some of your players, I mean, what a way to be able to come back. Like you said, the crowd do not know how much better it could be when you've got a crowd like that, haven't played in over a year, and get the win. I think I think letting your players just go for a day or two, you know, is the right way to go. I mean, you you just gotta let them in uh embrace.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

You gotta let yeah, you gotta almost let them do that. I can only imagine what that night was like after.

SPEAKER_05 20:14

Yeah, I I I can only imagine and probably probably don't want to know exactly what that night was about.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

You know what? But that's what lacrosse is about. Games like that. You know, that's what makes a team a team. The camaraderie, you know, you fought that battle, you went through that, you know, two years without a game, and just all the stuff that you had to deal with in COVID. And it was a lot, Coach. And uh, I give you kudos for having those guys ready. And I'm sure it was an amped-up game for sure.

SPEAKER_05 20:44

It was. And I really appreciate the guys sticking with the plan and understanding that hey, we might be hard on them in certain days, but we're trying to get the most out of them. And and I give a lot of credit to my assistant coach, Coach Frank. I mean, getting the guys going on offense, buzzing around and flying and having those battles of offense and defense working every single day is is what made our team ready for that moment. And on top of that, having some scrimmages in the fall. And we actually played uh Coach Connor at Newberry the week before, and and really happy with that scrimmage to play a team that that really got after us and really kind of let us know hey, we're if you're gonna come ready to play, let's come ready to play. And we played in Savannah a nice little neutral site scrimmage, and and it really set us up, got out of there healthy and set us up for a really good first week.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

Yeah, you can't beat uh scrimmaging against a team like Newberry to set yourself off. And you know, I thought your team was really well balanced. You moved the ball well. You know, you had Lucas Frazier and goal played a great game, I thought he played a great game. You have i was amazed. I had to look it up. I was telling Danny this. I I saw Lars Hogan on the field. I'm like, how big is that guy? He's a big boy, six six, and he can move.

SPEAKER_05 21:58

Oh, he he can. Absolutely move. Um, Lars Hoag, I can kind of uh credit my end to practicing with the players. Um, we a couple years ago, his freshman year, we got out there um with Coach Frank and I, and then we brought up back a grad assistant and played a little three-on-three tournament. And we had coaches ended up winning, but Lars got me with a couple that I was like, okay, we can I might I may need to step back and put the stick away for a little bit and let him uh let him play against some of the other defenders. I don't I don't need to go out there and battle him every single day and uh might lose a little respect as a coach with him. So um Lars is amazing and he's one of our flight students too. So seeing him climb into one of those little Cethna's might is pretty pretty cool to see as well. So um it's it's great. Um Lars has been tremendous for us, um, especially at that midfield, and and it's fun watching some of those guys like himself who hey had eight games his freshman year and then nothing the next year. And he's a redshirt freshman as a junior. So if we can keep him around for a little bit more, add some more pounds to him, he's gonna be a problem for sure.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Well, you know what? You just make sure he's gotta do, you know, a a few different uh airframes and not just the Cessna. You know, he's got a solo and a few different different uh aircraft, so he's got to hang around for that. That's how you keep him.

SPEAKER_05 23:15

Yeah, we got a plan for few for our for a good amount of our guys to keep him around for a couple extra years. It's been, I think that's honestly with playing flags, I think that might have been the biggest advantage that we have was just our age. And and especially coming from a team when I started the program being predominantly freshmen and seeing how that affects you. When you have a group of guys who are 22, 23, and a 24-year-old on the field and they're going against against 18, 19-year-olds, just that that calmness that you get of you've been there before, and that age and and just that being comfortable with pressure on your hands and seeing different looks, I really attribute that and and to to one of the reasons why we got that win is just having that age. And back to to Lucas Frazier and in goal, I mean, that that young man has put in a lot of work and has almost transformed his body completely different from his freshman year to where he is now. And that's that's a testament to him. I mean, we've this is the first year we have um our volunteer coach, Coach Trevor, helping out with the goalies, the first year we've had a goalie coach. And Lucas has put in a lot of the work on his own, whether if you're getting extra shots with the guys, putting him work in the weight room with our schedules in terms of what our guys are majoring in. Sometimes guys can't make team lifts and they gotta make up those team lifts with our strength and conditioning coaches. And Lucas has been a guy that I haven't had to worry about from day one. He's he's come in and put in that extra work, and and it's showing now he's really stepped up this year, and we're excited to see how he continues.

SPEAKER_03 24:45

Um it's awesome to have a player, it's awesome to have a player like that. You know, coach, I watched the game the other night and the eye candy. I, you know, you said you mentioned the age difference a little bit, and you know, you definitely were a little bigger, maybe a little bit more athletic, a little bit stronger. But um, I think that you were a good team. I like what I saw. You guys moved the ball well, you slid well. Uh, you did all the things that a good lacrosse team does. You did well that night.

SPEAKER_05 25:14

Thank you for that. Yeah, and and on offense, again, Coach Frank, it's been a great done a great job. I think so. 14 goals, eight of them assisted, over half goals assisted is huge for us.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

Yeah, and it's something that moving the ball, moving the ball, man.

SPEAKER_05 25:26

Yeah, and as you're watching some of the PLL games and hearing some of those teams, I think uh Atlas tends to be a team that a lot of guys like, and that kind of family style everybody eats, kind of being excited for one another, whether you're the guy who makes the hockey assist or your guy that's on the bench cheering for him. I think that's huge for our group. And only having 38 guys on the roster helps that. I think that's something that's really big with our program, is we're gonna always have a little bit of a smaller roster. We only have 47 available lockers in our locker room. Um, only having two full-time coaches right now, I don't want to get to a point where we have 50 guys and I don't know who my freshmen are. I don't know their personalities. And I think having guys be that close and something we lost out on last year, not doing those bus trips, not doing those overnights where the guys can get to know each other. They did a great job on their own, getting to know each other and trying to find different ways. And we had a little bit of a talent show this past Saturday on our on our bye week, and I hear it went really well with the guys, and just that's the stuff you want to hear is the guys getting together on their own, whether it be a silly talent show, going bowling or something like that. And and that's the stuff you miss as as a player and as a coach that you miss with the group of when you're a part of those moments off the field, those travel days, all that kind of stuff, because everybody has the guy that they want to throw the ball to with the game on the line, but all everybody also has that guy that they want to sit next to on an eight-hour bus ride because he's gonna crack you up and you're gonna have those guys are just as important.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

Well, I think it's important what you said, coach, about guys on the bench contributing. Because when you've got like 37, when you're in practice, everyone better be contributing, and everyone does, and they contribute, the guys on the bench contribute to the win and they contribute to the the the goal, the the defensive stop because of what they're doing on the field during the week. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 27:16

I think and that's huge, having having guys being willing to come up and be in those spots and also be ready for that opportunity. It's not it's not easy to be a guy who I mean, I think of of Jared Kane, um, who's a a Florida native, he's one of our upperclassmen, came off the bench and scored two goals for us late in that game and kind of extended that lead for us. And that's that's not easy to do to into a game and and be cold, as cold as you can be in Florida, um and and ready to ready to go and and be up to that game speed. But I think that attributes to our guys just buying in and then also our guys who come off who were the starters or were that first line midfield, still standing at the edge of the sideline, cheering those guys on and making sure they're in their correct sets and moving in the right direction. I think those those things you can't, you really can't coach that. You you either have the guys who who want everything for their teammates or you or you don't. And luckily, we have a great group of guys who honestly, I think the thing I'm most proud about is is the group of guys. Uh I've had I have a two-year-old daughter right now and and been pressing my wife on bringing her on the road with me. And and I wouldn't have done even thought of that maybe 10 years ago as a player. But now looking at it as a coach and having this group of guys, being able to have guys that you can trust to say, hey, maybe you can you can get being a babysitter for a little bit, or I can have my daughter at practice and things like that, um, is huge. It just speaks to the character and speaks to the character of what we kind of hope to bring into this program as we continue to go. That's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 28:47

That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

I loved it. So now, Coach, you let's switch a little bit with your players. You now are gonna play a couple peach belt teams coming up this weekend with Alabama, Huntsville on Friday and Monte Valo on Sunday. And Danny and I have talked about the Peach Belt conference on these teams. They're no joke. So, how do you feel about these matchups?

SPEAKER_05 29:08

Oh, um, I'm I'm excited. Uh, really excited. I think it's they're playing us in St. Leo and and Coach uh Jorgensen, if you're doing anything similar to him, I think you're doing something right. So um having two teams that played in a conference championship coming to your coming to your place is huge. And and trying to play them on a Friday and a Sunday is is a big test for um for both of us. And I think that's something that I'm super excited about. Um know Coach Doyle and Coach Lang very well. They're both guys that I actually got to share the field against. Um, Coach Lang at when he was in his Mars Hill days, I got to play against him, and those Mars Hill teams were tough. I mean, we had a couple one goal games when I was playing at Limestone, and then um unfortunately I did not play against actually I did play against Coach Doyle, but I also was able to um coach him as well for a number a couple of years, which was an interesting dynamic coming from uh maybe maybe talking a little smack on the field to coaching him that next year was was interesting. I'll beat him to the punch. He says he scored a goal on me. He did not, it did not happen. He may have scored, but they but you can ask him what the score of the game was at the end, and we can go from there. Having two guys like that who I've coached against for years and and been able to kind of lean on and talk with. I mean, this is a little bit of a uh a flashback to our first season. Uh, we had a game and then we actually played Alabama, Huntsville, and Montevallo in um our first season in Pensacola, Florida. So it's nice to kind of see two programs where, hey, we're where are we, where do we stack up? We got a nice little rivalry going with Montebalo right now, and it's it's gonna be a tough, tough game. That's the Peach Belt teams, they play fast, man. There's they're scoring goals and bunches and they're getting up and down the field, and we got to make sure that we're ready for that test um coming to us because if we're not, I mean, hey, I mean, it's perfect timing for them. We have uh the Daytona 500 going on the same day that we're playing, uh, Montevallo. So I think they're gonna try to channel some of that energy um to get after us, and it's just gonna be a great weekend. And and it's two teams that I really, really respect, and two coaches that I absolutely respect as well, of guys who do it the right way, um, really care about their programs, really want to build them up and and continuing to make really good strides. I mean, Peach Belt's gonna make some noise. I know they got a couple of guys who are scoring some a ton of goals, and we we got to be up for the task. Yeah, Montevallo's playing well right now.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

So, Coach, one other thing that we move on. I noticed on your schedule that you're playing the other two Barrett Disciples this year. How how special is that? Did you did you coach with them at all times, or did you guys kind of just rotate at different times and into that slot?

SPEAKER_05 31:49

So I was able to coach with Coach Laporte at Lander for the spring semester when he got hired. Um, and honestly, I've been able to I really struck up a great friendship with him. I was actually on the phone with him this morning. Um, he he's got Emmanuel on Wednesday, I believe, or this week sometime.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

Yeah, it's it's I think it is Wednesday, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:09

And he just played Anderson, and I got Anderson coming up next week. So we're just chopping it up about what they were doing and different things like that. So um Coach Laploor is one of my one of my closer friends now in coaching. So it's really cool to kind of see him. And then um Coach Peruzzi is one of the few guys who handed me a loss while I was at limestone while he was at his Belmont Abbey days um playing across from me. And then he was actually took the job when I took the U Indie job, he took the job at Belmont Abbey right after me. But we've we've crossed paths, we've talked, we've been we've been friends um ever since. And and I got absolutely excited to kind of have a little um aviation bowl versus the flyers up in a really nice game. And and hey, that's those those are some tough teams too. Um Land is doing some good things in Peach Bells, and obviously what Lewis has just done, not season is gonna be a fun, fun game. We're excited to to take on that neutral state game at Maryville. And then also obviously we'll be playing um Coach Stark there at Maryville as well. And it's been nice to kind of see I actually got to meet Coach Stark about five years ago when I took the U Indie job and and talking with him and then talking with Coach Peruzzi. We actually ended up getting in a pretty good friendship and um bringing in Coach Turner, who who knew Coach Barrett, obviously from being on Long Island all those dowling years. Um and then Coach Doyle. And I gotta give a shout out a little bit to to our group, our alliance group. We're in a group chat with those head coaches, just chatting it up a little bit. And it's really cool to see we met all as assistant coaches, and then fast forward five years, and we're all head coaches and getting some games against each other. It's a lot of fun to kind of see um just the just the growth of lacrosse and and kind of the connections you make as you guys know this. It's it's really amazing how small the lacrosse world gets and how all of a sudden you meet one person who knows another guy, and then all of a sudden you might be best friends with that guy's best friend, and now you guys hit it off. And that's that's what was really cool to see um as we've gone through these last few years.

SPEAKER_03 34:07

And and there you have D2 lacrosse in a nutshell. You got it, you got it. In a nutshell, Coach, you pretty much summed it all up the way D D Division II is, with it's almost like a family, you know, it's a more of a family type thing. You know, these kids come here and they're not just going to school, they're they're getting so much more than that, you know. They're getting God, god, so many things. You're learning winning and losing as a team and the camaraderie and just all the things that you spoke about tonight. I I wish you the best of luck, coach.

SPEAKER_02 34:43

And I would agree, Danny, and I I'd add in there other priorities just than wins and losses, which I think uh we've talked a lot of coaches, and you you get that, and I get that from you, Coach Wims, and the way you're talking. It's not just about uh the W and what you're doing, it's uh it's what you're building and what you're trying to uh foster these young boys into men. And so uh, I mean, I I I I I don't know if you've been noticing, Coach, but I've been smiling ear to ear as you've been on because of the way you uh uh present your team and uh the excitement that you have just uh makes me excited for what you're doing and for your kids and for the players and and for the fans. I mean, because that game was phenomenal play, and your fans are gonna have a great season watching, and your players are gonna have a great time playing. I know this year, they're gonna bring it, and we wish you the best.

SPEAKER_05 35:32

I appreciate that. And I I think you guys exactly that. I think we get caught up in the wins and losses, and obviously rightfully so. If if it wasn't for games, I don't think many of us coaches would be doing this, but it's also the connections you make. I mean, I was going through just notes and looking through it. I mean, I got to share the field with in my playing career in a little bit post with eight head coaches in division two right now. And to be able to go against those guys and kind of see that kind of a little bit of a I can't call it a youth movement now that we're in our mid-30s and getting a little bit older, but a little bit of some of the younger coaches getting some shots and getting some head coaching spots and being able to make those connections, you never know. And it's all about the experience that you have as you go and having those memories of those bus rides, those those things, those team events that you do. It's really about the experience. And I think that's the big thing that Division II has a great handle on is hey, yeah, you're gonna play a high level lacrosse, you're gonna work your butts off, you're gonna get a great education, but you're gonna experience something that not a lot of people have a chance to do. And you get an experience with 35, 45, 55 other guys, and they're gonna be your brothers for life, and you're gonna be able to pick up the phone, make some phone calls, and and be connected with those guys for the rest of your life. And and some of those guys are gonna be your best men. Some of them, some of them maybe you lose a little contact, but as soon as you see them at an alumni game or something, you'll pick up right where you left off. And that's been that's been really cool to see as as I start to get up there a little bit more in the age and start seeing some of these guys running around. It's really cool to see.

SPEAKER_02 37:04

That's awesome. I I can't even handle him saying getting up there in age in front of me. But uh so I think we have to end it right there. Coach, but it's been great, coach, and we'll be watching your team the rest of the season. And uh absolutely we wish you the best. Thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_05 37:24

Appreciate it. Gotta get you guys coming down to Daytona one of these times, though, for sure. You can check out a race or uh or or come down for a little spring break. We have we have a ton of events happening around, so come on down. You guys got an open invitation. I'll make sure uh we'll stock the fridge for you guys and we'll make it, we'll make things happen.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

Sounds good. Coach Spencer wins, Emory Riddle. Thanks so much for coming on the show tonight. We appreciate it. Thanks,

Games to Watch this week

SPEAKER_03 37:46

guys.

SPEAKER_02 37:47

Okay, Danny, moving from our coach's spotlight, let's talk about games to watch this week. Like I said in the intro, the North Region Conference starts playing in earnest this week. So it's overall my games that I'm looking at are the first games on these squads scheduled. The first one I think I'd like to talk about is actually happening at and we may not have the podcast out in time, but it's this Wednesday. It's St. Rose against Malloy.

SPEAKER_03 38:15

Yeah, St. Rose gets their first game of the season. They're coming on to Long Island. They're gonna play uh Malloy at Malloy. And I'm thinking about going to the game, Kev. If I can get home from work in time, I'm thinking about shooting out there and uh giving it away.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

It's the second game for uh Coach Dunn's lines. Now they lost to Seton Hill on Saturday, which is Seton Hill, and he's still trying to build first game for Alex Williams as a head coach under the you know, coming from uh uh the Gardelman tree there. Right. Says he has some talent on the team and he needs to play gritty, so we'll see who balls out for his team. I think it's gonna be a close game based on last year's record.

SPEAKER_03 38:56

Yeah, yeah, I think it's gonna be a good game. Say rose is pretty good, you know. They're gonna be good. Malloy, like we talked about Malloy, they're uh they're they're on their way. They're I think they have work to do.

SPEAKER_02 39:09

They do, but they look what these are two teams trying to build prominence in in two different ways. One with a young coach and one with a lot of pedigree.

SPEAKER_03 39:18

Yeah, under the Jared Cayley tree. That's right. That's right. So it should be interesting. That should be a fun one to watch, actually.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Yeah, it should be a lot of fun. You'll have to report to me uh as as you watch it and see how it goes. I may try to catch it um as it's streaming. But there is a game on Friday uh that I have in the books because I told Coach Escovarch I would when we had him on the uh podcast. And that is Walsh against Maryville. First game squads, you know, Kurt Escovarch said he's scheduled this game to prepare his team to come out of the gates faster this year. Right. And I think this will test him because Coach Stark wants to continue what he's been building at Merryville and what he did last season and show what his team is made of and what the GLBC is made of.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

You know what? I have that on my list because Walter Wal Walter Maryville to go at it. You know, uh these boys they're gonna get after it, isn't it? That's gonna be a fun game to watch.

SPEAKER_02 40:24

It will be, it will be.

SPEAKER_03 40:28

A couple other ones bently and Georgian Court start this week. Yeah, I have that on my list. Wilmington starts this week. Mercy starts this week. You know, and they play St. Rose. So I think the honest and AIC, there's a lot of Northern teams getting on the getting on the train this week, their first game. So all those all those teams, you know, they bring in their own.

SPEAKER_02 40:56

It's a first game for Lindenwood. Now Rockhurst has a couple under their belts, two convincing wins against Quincy and Davenport. So they're kind of like warmed up.

SPEAKER_03 41:05

I have that as like my top five games to watch this week is Rockhurst and Lindenwood. Um you know, I I feel that both of them are really, really good teams. They have what it takes to, you know, to start making those steps to the next level. And they got to beat each other up to to make that the first step. So it was the first step for these two guys right out of the gate. And like I said, Rock Rose got a few under their belt already.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

That's right. And that game will be on Saturday as well as the Georgian Court defently game and and most of we've just been talking about. But then we move as we move on to Sunday. We've got some big games that day, too. Number one against number two, Lemoyne against Wingate.

SPEAKER_03 41:53

You know, because today I was looking at trying to find out the last time number one played number two in the regular season. And I couldn't find it. So that's something I have to go research over. But this is this is pretty interesting. You know, uh Des Moines Dolphins and Coachine and you know, national channels you know, they're really, really good teams. All Americans all over the field. And here you have a wing gate team that's pretty damn good. Um lethal on offense, very fast, very athletic. That's you know, and another thing, that's what I thought they had the little edge on Mercy Ghost. I thought they were a little bit more athletic than Mercy Ghost. A as even it was, it seems like I don't know, it's just Wingate's defense is pretty good now. They get to play. It's aware they play.

SPEAKER_02 42:48

Yeah, homewood field, baby.

SPEAKER_03 42:51

Is that not an amazing you know, you got number one versus number two in Division Two playing each other in the regular season at homewood field at Johns Hopkins University. That's a pretty damn cool thing. If you're a kid on the other team, if you're a kid on either one of these, remember this soak it in because this is gonna be something special. And you know what? And I'm really I'm going, I'm going to the game. I'm gonna take a ride down. Me and my son, we're gonna go and we're gonna go to we're gonna watch number one play number two this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 43:30

Well, you know what? I live close by. I think I'll join you.

SPEAKER_03 43:35

All right, let's dinner. Dinner's at all. All right, let's see it down there. Okay, that should be great. That's that should be great. I I can't wait to see that one.

SPEAKER_02 43:45

Okay, now we touched on this one, and this is on Sunday also. Tampa against Lenore Ryan.

SPEAKER_03 43:50

Yeah, man. You know what? That's a that's a pick'em.

SPEAKER_02 43:55

That's a pick them. I agree. I agree. You look at what happened last year in the NC. C2A uh tournament. Yeah. Yeah. It went to overtime. Tampa almost beat him.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

Yeah. Yeah. And Tampa's a little different offensively. And so is, you know, Dickerson's gone. So LR's, you know, stacked on offensive. They're really good. That's gonna be a really yeah, that's gonna be a barn burner. It is. So what Keith Jackson used to say, it's gonna be a barn burner.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

Okay, I've got one more next Tuesday because we won't have a new podcast out yet, and that's post against Roberts Wesleyan. Once again, first game for both. And I post put this on because post starting with uh new coach John Jez at the helm. Roberts Wesleyan, you know, a strong team in the ECC with a seven to five record last year and wanting to move up. Yeah, so it'll be interesting to see. You know, they've lost a lot of players, starters from last year, and it'll be interesting to see what Coach Jez has up his sleeve in his first year in his first game.

SPEAKER_03 45:05

Yeah, I'm interested. Coach Jez was on our show twice, Kev, and he's was a great guest and a really great guy. And I'm really interested to see how they do. I really am. It should be good.

SPEAKER_02 45:17

Any others on your list there?

SPEAKER_03 45:19

Yes, yes. Um, I want to talk about that Florida, uh Florida Southern team again and Belmont Abbey. You know, that's gonna be a you're right.

SPEAKER_02 45:30

You're right.

SPEAKER_03 45:31

That's gonna be a good game. That's gonna be a game, you know what? If Florida Southern wins this game against Belmont Abbey, people better start taking Florida Southern seriously. You know, because I just think that if, you know, and Belmont Abbey's 0-2 right now, are they on their heels a little bit? Do they, you know, is the confidence gone out of the Crusaders right now? I don't know. I mean, Coach Barrett's a great coach, and I'm sure he'll get the team back on track, but he better do it in a hurry because uh this Florida Southern team is a pretty good team, and they got the second best face-off kid in the country right now. So, you know, Florida Southern is gonna get their possessions and yeah, Belmont. So that's that's a big game, I believe it or not. It's a big game.

SPEAKER_02 46:19

It is. I agree with you. Belmont Abbey, uh, they didn't they played two tough teams, limestone and Florida Tech. Uh I take nothing away from Florida Tech, and we know what limestone's been doing already this year, right? Florida Southern's the same. Belmont Abbey has started off with three tough teams. I think that one's gonna be another Bard burger.

SPEAKER_03 46:41

Yeah, I agree with you. I agree with you, and one last one that I think it should be a good one to watch is Queens and Mount Olive.

SPEAKER_02 46:49

Yeah, I had that. I had that on my list too. I didn't mean forgot to mention.

SPEAKER_03 46:52

I think you're both ranked teams, 14 and 15 right now. Right. They're both ranked teams. So, you know, that's when ranked teams go at it, you gotta watch. You gotta watch. So we'll see where you know Queens is, if Mount Olive is poised to really, you know, go on. And because some of these teams are starting to, you know, they're starting to take direction a little bit. Yeah, Florida's Florida Southern being one of them and Belmont Abbey, Belmont Abbey being one that's trending the other way. So it's interesting, it's starting to heat up a little bit. We're only into week three, and the northern teams are just getting going.

SPEAKER_02 47:29

Yeah, wait till it really get wait till we're like week six or seven.

SPEAKER_03 47:33

And Delphi or Pace or you know, St. A's, none of those guys have played yet. Yeah, you know, none of those guys have played yet. So but it's it's it's it's already been, you know, a good three weeks, you know. A couple of games have been great, a couple of upsets, a couple of overtime upsets. Uh you know, and uh it's it's been good so far.

SPEAKER_02 47:58

Sure has. So before we move on, though, and before we move on to the player spotlight, we do have a little D2 news to share, and that is Florida Tech announced their new head coach last week. Actually, it was it uh was announced right when we were finishing up recording our podcast last week. He is Brad MacArthur, he's a Canadian and obviously strong box influence. 30 years of coaching and playing experience. General manager and head coach of the Israeli indoor team. They won the gold medal in Europe box championships in 2017. General manager and head coach for the Brooklyn Lacrosse Club and Major Series Lacrosse, and general manager and co-coach for the Whitby Steelhawks of the Arena Lacrosse League since 2017. So he's uh you know what kind of influence he's gonna bring down to to Florida today.

SPEAKER_03 48:50

Yeah, he's gonna bring the box game down, you know.

SPEAKER_02 48:53

He begins while we're recording this this week, 15th February. That sounds good.

SPEAKER_03 48:59

Well, I wish him all the best of luck. You know, welcome to D2, kid.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

Here we go.

SPEAKER_03 49:05

Maybe we get him on.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

Maybe, yeah, that'd be great. You talk French. I actually I took French for six years, my friend.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Oh god, I asked the wrong question. Can I do it

Player spotlight

SPEAKER_03 49:22

anymore?

SPEAKER_02 49:22

No, but enough about us, Danny. Let's get to the player spotlight. Uh as you know, we like to kind of spread the D2 love across the different conferences, the different schools, as well as the positions. However, we've gone a bit heavy on the goalie position and our first few player spotlights. But can it really be helped when you have a goalie that during his last game had 29 saves and a save percentage of 0.906?

SPEAKER_03 49:48

You want to talk about quality lacrosse?

SPEAKER_02 49:55

Yeah, we have we have to bring him on. Yeah, yeah, let's get him on. Yeah, let's get him on. So here he is, Blake Ulmer goalie for the Tampa Spartans. Hey Blake, how you doing?

SPEAKER_00 50:06

I'm good. I'm good. How are you guys? I'm I'm pumped to be here. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_03 50:10

Blake Ulmer, you are on fire right now, my man. Is everything in like slow motion for you right now? Is the ball like a volleyball to you as it's coming to you?

SPEAKER_02 50:21

I just we need to know. Like a like a volley.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

You know, I'm I've been feeling good, but I I of course I gotta give credit to my defense. You know, I got to. They're um I got I got three great uh close defenders in front of me. Um, an amazing LSM and Matthew Bidow. Um, you know, two all American short sticky middle. So I gotta give credit to them. But yeah, I'm definitely I'm seeing the ball well, but you know.

SPEAKER_02 50:46

Do you think it's a combination like that? You're you're seeing the ball and your defenders moving people to the right spot so it makes it even easier for you to see the ball or it goes to the spot where you it's easier you for you to track?

SPEAKER_00 51:00

Yeah, I think um over the last two years, uh I've gotten very comfortable with the defenders in front of me. Um, last year was my first year starting, so it kind of took a little bit of time, but um, they're gonna do the best that they can do, and they're gonna let up shots that they're comfortable with me saving. And I think it's just a really good chemistry that we got going on. Um, so yeah, I think it's a little bit of buzz for sure.

SPEAKER_03 51:23

Before we go any further, let's, you know, you started last year. You talked about last year. You were a sophomore last year, you were an all-American honorable mention. So don't tell me it took a little time. You did just fine, okay? So he's he's being humble, Kev. He's being humble. Yeah, he was a first team all Sunshine State Conference last year. Uh he's on the SAC all-freshman team, helped the Spartans to a 10-1 record and get to the NCAA tournament. He had a 599 save percentage. He was fourth in the nation, fourth in the nation, Blake, last year as a sophomore. Pretty solid, my man. And this year, so far, so far, Tampa's 2-0, but Blake leads the nation right now in saves per game. So he's doing really, really well.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

Yeah, yeah, it's something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is that.

SPEAKER_02 52:21

It is that. It's amazing. Because we we talked about this on the podcast earlier when we were going through the game recap. You had we we saw it last year with a couple goalies where they had bang bang plays where they stopped two two goals in a row, uh, one and then a rebound. I think you against Florida Southern did it three times in a row. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

SPEAKER_00 52:48

Yeah, I mean, there's there's a couple uh double saves and a couple possessions. Um, you know, I was just getting fired up, right? Yeah, like Kendo.

SPEAKER_03 52:57

So yeah, it was awesome. It's awesome to watch though, that kind of play, you know. Um, I want to talk about Florida Southern, though. That team was pretty good, man. I was yeah, I was pretty surprised um at how well they were able to, they were getting shots off. They were getting shots off, yeah. But you you were stopping them.

SPEAKER_00 53:18

I I give them a lot of credit. Um, I knew they were gonna be good because they had that young attack line and they returned basically everyone. Um, having some really good Fogos leaving the country, and then Kevin Horowitz be such a dominant face-off guy.

SPEAKER_03 53:33

Um he's number two right now in the country. He's doing well too.

SPEAKER_00 53:37

He's he's a beast. Um, I gotta give a lot of credit to them. I mean, there's not many teams that outshoot us. I think it was 59 to 39, something like that. Um, they're a good team, they got a lot of potential. They got a young goalie who I I really do like a lot. Um, again, they got a quick offense, uh, they moved the ball well, um, they got good shooters and everything. So I give them a lot of credit. Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 53:59

Now you I'm sorry, Kevin. Um you were recruited by uh Coach Whipple, right? Uh yes, I was. Now, JB comes in. When you heard that Coach Whipple was retiring, what what was the first thought that went through your mind?

SPEAKER_00 54:16

I mean, he he uh he did an amazing job. I mean, he I want to say this program got started in what 2012, something like that. Um and he really built it up to a national level where um the platform is so high. And then we got Coach Clark, and and I mean, he's just done a phenomenal job. Um, he he's really just helped change the culture. Um, everyone's just totally locked in and focused on lacrosse, and it's it's it's perfect. But um, I was definitely sad. I mean, you I I I loved Coach Whipple. He was he was a great guy, um, good coach. So um, you know, hard to see him go, but uh the next chapter and and coach Clark's done an amazing job so far.

SPEAKER_02 54:57

So, and how was that transition to Coach Clark? We had him on, and and he said, he said the players have been great, they they bought in right away, but it's gotta be a little tough, especially some that were uh recruited by someone else. It seems like you guys were pretty accepting, were we willing and open-minded to listen to Coach Clark and and maybe make a switch like that.

SPEAKER_00 55:18

Um, yeah, I mean, I just think uh Coach Clark, I know you guys have spoken with him before, very nice, open guy. Um, he made it easy for us, right? Um, very just passionate and and a vulnerable guy, like you can be very close with him, which is nice. Um, so it opened doors for people who um, you know, they could just get comfortable with them right away, you know, very personable. So I think that helped. Um, and yeah, I mean, when I heard we were getting a new coach, it definitely was um it was it felt weird, but then when I met when I met Coach Clark, it was um he's you know, I liked him a lot, right?

SPEAKER_02 55:57

So that's awesome. That's awesome. So I need to ask you uh this uh next thing, you know, I I think your schedule's been pretty damn tough going from Lynn to Florida Southern. Now you go right to Lenore Ryan, which is a real test. And oh, by the way, you played really against last year and almost beat them in the NCAAs. So what is that gonna be like? Are you guys fired up for that?

SPEAKER_00 56:23

Yeah, I mean, we're there's there's a lot of emotion, right? That ended a lot of legendary careers on our team. Um, a lot of people you hate to see go. Um, and you know, just there's so much emotion behind that game. Um, I've actually I was talking to Eric Dickinson the other day, and I didn't realize he was an assistant coach there. So hopefully I get to get some revenge on him because you know how good of a player he was. But uh they're a great team and um we're fired up. Um, I just can't wait to get down to Savannah, Georgia, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 56:56

So yeah, the game's in Georgia, that's kind of cool.

SPEAKER_00 56:59

Yeah, it's pretty cool. Neutral site, I like that. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 57:03

All right, Danny, you think he's ready for the the lightning round?

SPEAKER_03 57:08

I think so. I think he's gonna do fine. Okay, you you you know about the lightning round, right?

SPEAKER_00 57:13

Yeah, I know, I know. I got my 10 questions.

SPEAKER_02 57:17

All right, we may have to switch it up then. We may Danny may have to throw in a different one if he's if he's ready to go, but nah, nah, we'll just go down the line.

SPEAKER_03 57:25

All right, this is the 10 question shootout for all our player spotlight guys tonight. Blake Omer, he's in the firing range right now. Hold on. No, we're not gonna shoot at you. Okay, what was the first sport you picked up?

SPEAKER_00 57:45

Um, lacrosse, right off the bat. Um, my dad actually um went to Syracuse. He was a goalie there for two years. Um ended up leaving going to Westchester, but uh I picked up goalie in uh I want to say first grade, and I started I started off playing attack, and I knew it wasn't for me the first game, right? So I'm standing there, I get the ball on the crease, I just turn wide open net, and I hit the pipe, and I was like, okay, like I'm I'm done. I'm I'm playing goalie. Put me in the goal. I mean put me in that, right? Um ever since then of just playing goalie.

SPEAKER_03 58:18

Who was your biggest influence in lacrosse? Whether it be a coach or your dad or or you know, a player, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 58:27

One thing that's always been very very motivating for me is uh always been my family. Um, just I just I love working for them, I love making them proud and everything. So um that, but player-wise, um, it's gotta be John Galloway. I mean, I grew up watching Syracuse, he's a phenomenal goalkeeper, all the energy that he brings, and um just very aggressive to the ball and stuff like that. And I just loved uh the swagger he brought to goalie for sure.

SPEAKER_03 58:54

Awesome, great answer. All right, something totally different. What kind of music you listen to?

SPEAKER_00 58:59

Um, you know, I mix it up. I like everything, you know. Um depends on depends on the mood. But um lately I've been really into Greta Van Vliet. I'm a big rock and roll guy, but really okay. Um, I mean, I like rap too. It's kind of it's kind of pick or choose, but um, yeah, I like classic rock, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 59:19

Okay, cool, cool. So, what was the last song you listened to?

SPEAKER_00 59:22

Um, I actually listened to Bob Dylan on my way here, though.

SPEAKER_03 59:25

Oh, yeah, he's got an old soul, yeah. His dad would really be proud of him. I'm sure. He's a Philly guy, so okay. Bob Dylan. I'm I'm impressed by that. Actually, I can't stand Bob Dylan. And and I'm a musician, but but that's a really good answer. I that was surprising coming from a young man like yourself. So now that now that you've been with Coach Clark a couple of months, let's let's hear your best impression of Coach.

SPEAKER_00 59:56

You know, this is the one I was worried about. Um I'm not I'm not much of an impersonator, but I will say this every time we're in the huddle or whatever, I just I always get a kick out of it because you know he's very he's very serious and methodical, and he'll just always go, men, and it's something like that. And I don't know why. I always just it's just very like it's very informative and I get I get a chuckle out of it, but men. I don't know, I'm not much of an impersonator.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:25

Single word. Last last week it was uh figure it out, right? Briar said his personality.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:31

I heard that one. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:32

It said figure it out. So JB Clark, men, but no, so that means like that's like the beginning of a sentence, like you better listen to me, right? Right, exactly. Yeah, exactly. So, all right, who's the funniest guy on the team?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

No question, not even a second thought. Number 45, um, midi from Syracuse, Luke McAnetti.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:52

And why what makes him the funniest guy?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:55

He's just he's just quick, like you know what I mean? Like he's always got he's always got a comment or a joke, and it just he always he's always raising the spirits in the locker room, or um, he's just just a funny guy. He's just quick, quick witted.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:08

Yeah, quick witted. All right, cool, cool. You gotta you just gotta shout out. And who's the most athletic guy on the team? Uh all around, you know, a guy can play basketball no matter what you put in his hand. Yeah, he's weak.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

Our team will play a lot of pickup basketball, so I'm going based off that. Um, I'd go our D middies are super athletic, but um, I gotta give it to Charlie Bullish, number 23. Um, another Medig Syracuse. Uh he's he's a great athlete. Fast.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:41

All the hometown boys, you're going with the hometown boys. Yeah. All right. Some of the other guys are gonna get on you for this.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:48

You know, I get I give my D minis a shout-out. That's all they get to there we go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:54

What what kind of stuff do you like to do off the field?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:58

Like um, I uh I don't know. I'm very I'm very I I guess I'd say uh I like playing basketball a lot. I mean, playing a college sport, it's um it's tough to uh you know it's demanding sport, but um yeah, that um I love listening to music, just stuff like that. I'm not a big hobby guy. Um I probably should pick something up, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:25

When you find some spare time, Blake. When you find some spare time, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's about it, Blake.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:31

That's about all I got, man. You did a really great job tonight. Uh well, appreciate you coming on the show this evening.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:38

Absolutely. I had a great time.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:40

This was we we appreciate you coming on, like Danny said, and we wish you luck the rest of the season. We'll we'll be watching the Nora Ryan game. We've already we've already chalked that up as one of the top five we got to watch this week. So it'll be really fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:55

It'll be a dog fight. Everybody in the country right now, Blake Homer's on fire, ladies and gentlemen. He's just leading the country, every stopping everything. It's like a big yellow balloon, the ball for him right now. It's like floating in the air at like two miles an hour towards him. He's like he's reading the paper, he's going through Instagram and then he makes coffee. Yeah, he's doing a really good job. Well, thanks again, Mike. Thanks again for coming on tonight, Blake. Uh, we wish you the really the best of luck for the rest of the season and uh go get him this Sunday, kid.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:31

Absolutely. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. I had a great time. Thanks. All right, we'll see you,

final thoughts

SPEAKER_00 1:03:37

Danny.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:38

That was phenomenal with Blake Ulmer and Coach Wims. Just two great individuals to have on the show tonight.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:46

Oh man, I I'm impressed by both of them. I really coach Wims was surprisingly phenomenal. I just loved him. I I I could see myself suiting up for a guy like that. He's just a really guy. That Barrett tree, talking about that Coach Barrett from Belmont Abbey, his coaching tree. It's an it's an impressive tree. And Blake Omer, what can you say about that young man? What an impressive young man. Good, good looking kid, too. You know, it's a podcast, so you can't see him. Thank God you can't see us. Exactly. But but he's a good looking kid, well spoken, and like I said, his team first. Yeah, put team first. And you know, talked about how you know he loves making his family proud. And yeah, that's that's that's very admirable in a young man. And uh special, like it, you know, he's leading the leading the country right now and and saved. So we wish him the best of luck. It was good to have him on. Really was.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:40

So now, as we uh end the show, there's a couple things I want to talk about. First, because I know you have a shout-out. I want to give a shout out to all those that are starting to really interact with us on Twitter and Instagram. We talked about last week. We now have the crack research team up north with Warren Saunders. Well, this week we have someone in the Carolinas who DM'd me or us really on our Instagram uh account in the crease. He was going to the Belmont Abbey game. He's like, Do you want me to give you a write-up or a report? I said, sure. So he wrote it up, and some of the things I talked about tonight were because of him. And that's Kevin Merritt. And he's willing to do more games for us. We know our budget is zero, but all the stuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:31

It's actually minus it's up to mine, it's up to minus 50 right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:38

But I I love the interaction, I love people reaching out to us, uh, giving us suggestions, or helping us out with players or games that they watched. It's it's just great because it's tough for us to watch all the games. If we can get someone to say, hey, I watched this game, it was you know, Felician and Deuville, and it was awesome. That's that's what we need. That helps us out, and it really it really keeps me going too through the week as I get those sort as we get those sort of things.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:10

Well, you know what, Kev, ever since our first podcast, we've been asking our listeners, hey, give us your comments, give us your feedback. And and nine months later now, we're getting really a ton of feedback. I mean, assistant coaches are DMing us. Um, we have parents of players DMing us. Um, we have Ms. Down in uh in the Carolinas, and who do we have up in Canada?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:37

Warren Saunders, yeah. Warren Saunders.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:40

I mean, you know, and and just people just you know reaching out to us. And again, keep the comments and and keep the help coming. We really appreciate it. Um, if you have an idea, we'll use it. It's been really good, you know. It's been a lot of fun doing this, and um having people interact with us is even better, Kevin. It is. It's more it's more than just me and you shooting the shooting the stuff about lacrosse or getting a coach or a player on. Now we're getting our listeners involved, and and it's been great and and keep it coming. Without a doubt. Now I know you have a shout-out you'd like to give. Well, yeah, I do have a shout-out before we leave tonight. Um come uh coach Turner's boy, all right, down in Mars Hill. I'm gonna do a shout-out to Zach Carrigan from Mars Hill, he's a senior attack. He's got 20 goals in three games. Wow. So uh he's leading the nation right now. So that's just a quick shout-out. Zach Carrigan, Mars Hill.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:39

That's awesome. That's awesome. So as we end the show, I have one more shout out, and it's to my oldest son, Jacob Stenstrom, because he turns 25 today, as we record this on the 15th of February.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:51

Happy birthday to Jacob.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:53

Yep, he's up at Boston University getting his master's in economic policy. You can imagine that. I'm so proud of you, Jake. And and I love you. I just want to tell you that on this podcast. Well, that's about it for tonight. I think that's a wrap, Danny.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:07

That's a wrap, Jeff.