Game Time - A look back at week 2 and a preview of Week 3 of the 2023 season

Intro

SPEAKER_06 0:10

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creest with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 men's lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stentrom, and with me as always is our D2 lacrosse magistrate, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

All hell, all hell, the magistrates. Hey, Kevin.

SPEAKER_06 0:32

I'm standing at attention. I'm standing at attention at my table here. How's it going tonight in Northern Virginia? It's going well. It's going well, you know, starting to heat up, as we'll see when we do the games to watch this next week. You know, the North region is starting to heat up. And but last

Week in Review

SPEAKER_06 0:50

week, there were a lot of good games. We touched on several of them, but there were several more that came out. And the way I would phrase that, Danny, is they weren't really upset games. It more showed the parity in the division. We talked throughout the conference previews that a lot of teams were going to look better this year. They're getting better, they're getting stronger, but a lot of the teams that were at the top were going to remain really good. So somewhere something has to give, right? And I think we started to see that a little bit in this past week. You look at games like Florida Southern and Anderson, Lander and Coker, St. Leo and Limestone, even U Indy and Westminster. Not that the higher ranked team didn't win, but they were some close, close games, closer than what I thought before the game started.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

Well, Kevin, you hit the nail on the head. These teams are improving, and then they're they're playing really good competitive lacrosse. They might have lost by a goal or two here or there, but you know what? A year ago, they probably wouldn't have been in that game.

SPEAKER_06 1:57

Yeah. Yeah. So let's get started with it. Let's start with the must-watch game of Friday night, Florida Southern and Anderson.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Yeah, you know what? That was a that was quite the game, Kev. It was really what'd you think of the game?

SPEAKER_06 2:15

I I wrote once again, you said gotta watch. And I wrote down my notes after the game was finished that you hit the nail on the head. The first half to me was like a track meet. Totally defined fastest game on two feet. Lots of speed, lots of great ball movement, while both goalies had made some key saves. And then they kind of settled in a little bit. But the the whole game, it was it was tight. It was tight. The only thing I would say is the reason why Anderson pulled it out. There was a penalty, two-minute full-time, not releasable penalty on Florida Southern. Yeah. In the second half. Yeah, that came in the at the end of the third quarter. Yeah, and so what happened? Anderson scored four goals in that time period.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

It was quick and fast and just devastating to Florida Southern. That that that that penalty, that two-minute unreleasable, just that was a big one. But I'm not gonna say that that was totally what made the difference in the game. Because there were other things that happened in that game as well. You know, I thought both teams played pretty good defense. Oh, yeah. You know, I thought I totally agree. You know, I thought both teams played good defense. And you know what? In the beginning of the seasons, Kev, we're gonna see a lot of unforced errors, uh, bad passes. You know, you're gonna see that what they call beginning lacrosse, that early season lacrosse, those little mistakes. You saw that, you saw that. I I saw Anderson's defense out of position a few times, got stuck with goals. Saw the same thing with Florida's deep Florida Southern's defense. I caught they got caught out of position a couple of times, early season mistakes that they're not gonna make probably next week. You know what I'm saying? Right. And right there was like some of those games, but there's Florida Southern was only two for nine on the extra man opportunity. That's big, Kev. That's big. Yeah. Because you know, Anderson was six out of eight uh at the at the uh EMOs for extra man. So that's a big that's a biggie right there. And yeah, and that that two-minute unreleasable was like the nail in the cough.

SPEAKER_06 4:34

Yeah, I I I think you're right. It points to that with the two-minute unreleasable. But to be honest, I think it was a total team effort by Anderson. Uh, you talk about some of the mistakes on their defense. I actually wrote a note that I thought their defense did pretty well against Florida Southern, pushing them out. They're very aggressive. They didn't allow them the the guys to really dodge and move in. They kept them outside and they had to move the ball by passing it. So I thought that was really good. And of course, you've got Cam Weeks, and then you've got guys like Logan Gaddis, um, you know, Bo Henson, all of them played really well. I mean, like Matt Rogers again, freshman, eight goals against Florida Southern. Logan Gaddis, three goals and four assists, and then Cam Weeks won 75% of the face-offs and had two goals. I mean, yeah, they spread it around. Now, I will the other thing I'll say though, we talked about this. How would Jacob Ciz, their Florida Southern's face-off specialist freshman, do against Cam Weeks? And yeah, he didn't win a lot. He did he did pretty well.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

I he really kept fighting for it. It's a freshman, it's only his second game, you know what I mean? Third game, whatever. And he's going against the best of the best. Without a doubt. You know, I'm not a hundred percent sure of this, but somebody DM'd us that they think Cam Weeks' numbers is are the best out of all three divisions at the face offense.

SPEAKER_06 6:01

I wouldn't doubt it. I would not doubt that whatsoever.

SPEAKER_03 6:06

So you know, you're you're you know, you're facing off the g against the best of the best. So Jacob Chiz, you know what? He's learning and he's learning quick, man. And they had chances to win that game, Florida Southern. You know, a couple of things here or there.

SPEAKER_06 6:21

It was a it does the score of 1915 does not reflect how close that game really was. I mean, obviously those four goals is what broke it open, but until then, it was any any team's game. It was a really good game.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

You know what? And Anderson now is three and oh, and they broke into the top 20 in the US ILA today. So we told you they were trending upwards. I had them, I had them right outside of 20, you know. Like I it was a toss up between Bentley or Anderson.

SPEAKER_06 6:53

Yeah, and I had him, I had him in my top 20. Now the other team we'll talk about is Newberry, who's who's up there now in the USILA poll. We'll talk about that a little bit later, but let's move on to another game. Do you want to talk uh the the top seven matchup between Wingate and Mercyhurst?

SPEAKER_03 7:11

Yeah, that was a good game, Kevin. The two powerhouses going at it, man. They were just, you know, two really, really good teams stacked on both sides, just going at it, man.

SPEAKER_06 7:23

That was a good game. We talked about it last week that this game every year does not disappoint, and it happened again this year. I wrote down Barn Burner. It was a Barn Burner, it was a 16-13 final. Mercy Hurst pulls it out. I think, you know, obviously, Sean Duran really played well. They're face-off specialists. He was dominating early in all that first half, and I think that that really got them up by a few goals. They went on a seven-goal tear, which split it open. And then, in my opinion, Wingate fought back. They kept on fighting back. That's what I'm saying. It was a barn burner. It was never like they were not out of it, but every time they get close, they get within that two-goal margin, and they were at like four or five before that, Mercyhurst would score and take a little of the wind out of the sail. So last year, Wingate did this to Mercyhurst, where they got up by a few goals and Mercyhurst couldn't get back. I think when you you do that split, you get a five or six goal lead on those teams, top 10 teams. Like it's tough to come back and really close the gap.

SPEAKER_03 8:34

Oh, 100%. You know, uh Coach Ryan does an amazing job with the Lakers there at Mercyhurst. They're a really, really good team. There's all Americans on both sides of the ball. And Sean Duran at faceoff had himself a day. And you know what? Jimmy Cotkamp at in for Wingate, he held his own. In second half, he really started to play well and started to win some key possessions back for Wingate. You know, I'm gonna tell you right now, if you looked at this, if you watch the game, it looked like Mercy Hurst was in control. But then you look at the stats and you're like, oh, mackerel, man, it was they were almost dead even on all of them.

SPEAKER_06 9:11

Same amount of shots, same amount of shots on goal. You look at I thought, talk about that. I thought Wingate was going to have a lot more, a lot less clears than Mercyhurst, but it was only a one-clear difference.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Yeah, but you know what? The clears in the early part of the half, because when when Mercyhurst jumped out to that quick lead. It was because of missing some of those clears. They couldn't clear the ball. They were they were turning the ball over on clears. Yeah, that's what they did. You know, about four or five turnovers that they that Wingate had were on clearing the ball and and and just gave extra possessions right back to Mercyhurst quickly in the first half. They they fixed that in the second half, and they almost pulled it out. Wingate had their opportunities. Now, Mr. Olney in goal from Mercyhurst stood on his head. He did. Because there was a couple of at least three doorstop saves that that guy had.

SPEAKER_06 10:10

Totally agree. I had that in my notes as well. I think I think Duran and Olney really made the difference for him this year. I think everything else becomes fairly even. If you look at the stats, I I totally agree with everything you said. I think the missed clears by Wingate in the first half really hurt them. But if you're just going by stats, you can see how close those teams are in how they play. I think Olney and Duran made a difference for them yesterday or yesterday.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

It's almost remarkable, almost remarkable at how even the stats are. If you're gonna get stung, get stung early by a top 10 team. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_06 11:05

Well, and they're ranked right next to each other in the polls, so that's how close they are, and they're that close every year. That's why it's always a great game. Yeah, I'm gonna talk about one. Yeah, really good one. Talk quickly about Undie Westminster. It was a 15-11 final, but once again, the score does not portray how the game really went down. It was tied 11-11 going into the fourth. Westminster was even up 7-6 at halftime. So Undy comes back and they outscore him in the fourth, 6-2, and that makes a difference. And the other big difference was Undy had 53 shots to Westminster's 29, but it'll tell you how good Westminster was in their shot percentage to make it that close.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

Yeah, Westminster played well, man.

SPEAKER_06 11:53

Yeah, we talked about them before. Look out for Westminster. You play a top 10 team like Undy, and you almost beat them, they just got you in the fourth quarter, just the way Tampa does almost every game.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 12:06

Watch out. Yeah, man. 100%. Okay, who else do you have on your list?

SPEAKER_03 12:13

Well, I have uh the Maryville LMU game because I was really interested to see how LMU is gonna play against a pretty good GLBC team. And um Maryville came out on top 15 to 8, and but LMU was on the road, man. They had to travel up to St. Louis. It's a long hike for those boys, you know. But um, it was, you know, a close game until the fourth quarter, really. It went back and forth, it was really close. The shot margin, though, Maryville kind of outshot him 49 to 30, but turnovers were even. Meryville was 19 to 26 on the faceoff. LMU only had one extra man opportunity out of seven where they put the biscuit in the basket. Wow, but it was four-nothing LMU after one. Okay, and it was they led six nothing in the second half when Ben and Foster finally put one in for them, but it was six six at half. Here comes Maryville, you know.

SPEAKER_06 13:18

Really funny, Danny. I I was watching the scores while I was watching other games, and I saw it was six-nothing LMU, and I was like, whoa. Yeah, I tried to turn on the game. I for some reason that the link wasn't working for me. I couldn't get the game on, and next thing, just like you said, I saw it was six six at half. It's amazing. That's why I love this sport. A six-go lead does not mean that you're out of the woods, no man, or that you can't fight back on the other side.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

I mean, it took all that time for to get Maryville on the board, and then Reed Ersey a minute later had them on for their second score. So they got they got their their act together pretty quick. And the excitement, the the third quarter was exciting and went back and forth, you know, 6'6, 7-6, 7-7, 8-7. Yeah, then Maryville went on like a what, like a six unanswered goals in the fourth and pretty much put it out of position. But you know what? LMU went on the road and held their own against a pretty good Maryville team.

SPEAKER_06 14:21

Yeah, that's like we said, uh, LMU was going to improve this year. We had the coach on. He talked about his team and what they're doing. They're at the level of players that they want. He's been there for a few years now, so now they're turning that corner and it's showing up in how they play. And Maryville did a really good job of after losing to Lenore Ryan and going down against LMU, not panicking. No, stayed the course, stayed the course and ended up pulling it out.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

Yeah, Clayton Sarrett had four goals. Ethan Olson had three, and Reed Arcy. We've we spoke about him many times. Um, he had two goals. Hey, Rhodes Conroy played real well for LMU. He had four goals, but that was an exciting game. I think Maryville just kind of wore LMU out a little bit at the end, and those six unanswered. But you know what? Hats off to LMU going on the road and and playing some pretty competitive ball there.

SPEAKER_06 15:22

Without a doubt. Another close game and a fun game to watch. Coker against Lander. Coker pulls it out 12-11. And if you would ask me before the game started, I would have put my money in Lander. Coker beat Emmanuel pretty easily in their first game and then showed, you know, why? Why they are they're at a different level than they were last year because of the way they played against Lander. It was a game of runs. Coker led four to two after one, but then Lander goes on a six-one run to take the lead into halftime. Coker that was then down 10-8 in the third, they went on a four-goal tear to make it 12-10 and then seal the win. So Cal Gibson for Coker had four goals, two assists, and Blake Schuknik had three goals and one assist. And Coker went three for four and man up. And what's even funnier, Danny, is they only won 23% of their face-offs, and they still pulled off the victory.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

You know what, Kev? You know, when we we don't talk so much about the mid-level guys, but Coker and Landor are two squads again that are improved. And that was a quality lacrosse game, Kev. That was quality lacrosse there.

SPEAKER_06 16:40

It was, it was, and I'll tell you, that's why I said at the beginning when we started this thing. I don't consider it an upset because I think you got a bunch of these teams that are just it, it's really like Wingate and Mercyhurst. They're close in talent and ability, and and uh just who comes out on top. The other one thing I have to point out for Coker is their goalie, Ethan Hofort, he had 15 saves, and he had an ESPN top 10 save that's gone a little viral, and I wish it would go viral throughout the lacrosse world. It was amazing. I didn't see it, Kevin should have told me about it.

SPEAKER_03 17:17

I didn't see it.

SPEAKER_06 17:18

I'm gonna have to send it to you. I I I'm having trouble figuring out I I've got someone send it to me, and if I can figure out how to send that clip to you, you'll love it. He basically had to throw himself totally out and catch the ball on the other side of the net, on the other side of the post to stop.

SPEAKER_03 17:34

Oh, wow, he threw himself in the air then to get the ball.

SPEAKER_06 17:37

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:38

Right. I gotta see this one. I didn't even hear about it.

SPEAKER_06 17:41

Yeah, well, keep looking on uh on Instagram, it'll pop up. It should. Okay, what other games do you have on your list?

SPEAKER_03 17:49

Well, you know, Kev, I was brought up the Tampa Wilmington game. I said last week, I said, you know what, this will be it's to see where Wilmington's at. And I'll tell you right now, oof Tampa. Oh scary. Oh man, they look good, bro. Yeah, they look good. Wilmington does not suck, okay. Wilmington only was able to get five goals. Yeah. Blake Umer. I don't know how many say 18 saves in three quarters.

SPEAKER_06 18:24

He's the defensive player of the week again for the SSC.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

The kid is impenetrable. It's unbelievable what this kid can do in goal. Not to mention what everybody else. They had how many scorers? Hold on. Owen Miller had three, Klakowski had three, Bashaw had three, Maniello had two, Danny Fitz had four dimes, right? Didn't even get a goal. He was just dishing out passes all day. And they had a slew, uh hold on, a plethora of one goal scorers. I can't even count them. Final score was 25-5. Tampa was dominant or not ever in every facet of the game. So I don't know if Tampa's that good or Wilmington struggled, but you know, Gio Marino, our boy Gio, had a goal and Jacob Herman had two and two. So wow. All I can say is wow, who who who's who's who's gonna give this team a run for their money?

SPEAKER_06 19:36

Maybe this next week when we get to those games, we can talk about it. But um so another game that I didn't get to watch because it wasn't there was no stream of it, it was Lee's McCrae Malone. Now we were remiss last week of not mentioning Malone. This is their first game ever. Ever. Program, first game for the program, they end up winning 15-14 in overtime.

SPEAKER_03 20:11

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_06 20:13

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

How exciting is that from a lot of people. That is amazing. How exciting is that?

SPEAKER_06 20:19

So, yeah, it's amazing. And the the first goal ever was from Talon Heath. He he got a pass from Zach Smart Smargiasso, butchering his name. Got me on that one. You got me on that one. But they uh, and that was to go one up. They started off, they got the first goal, they led Malone led 9-5 at half, but Lees McRae outscored them in the second by the same margin. So they got nine, and and Malone only had five. So it's tied up in regulation 14-14. And then the man who started it with the assist, Smargius. So I don't have to ask the coach what how to say his name properly. He scores the game winner in overtime. So Talon Heath had six goals, two assists. Ramsey Bernard had four goals and one assist, and Zach had three goals and two assists for Malone.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Wow. Well, how I wonder how many schools won their very first game as a program, because that's that's just amazing to me. I did not expect Malone to do that.

SPEAKER_06 21:22

I did not either. I did not either. Lise McCray actually led in most of the stats, except probably in obviously saves, but Philip Bell of Malone, their goalie, saved 18 out of 27. That's a good day. Good day. 66%. That's a great day. That's a great day. So what a way to start off your program with a congratulations to Malone.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

That's a great job, man. That's uh that's awesome, man. I hats off to them. Just wait till they get into conference play. Wait till we get into conference play. Yeah, we'll see.

SPEAKER_06 22:05

It'll be fun to watch. Okay, the other one really got another game I didn't want to touch on really quickly is another game I was I'd say pleasantly surprised of the final score. And that's St. Leo Limestone. Limestone pulled it out 17-15. But St. Leo and they're a fairly young team, they gave the Saints a fight. And it was basically tied once again, 14-14 until uh until Limestone kind of pulled out pulled it out. And just an amazing, amazing game to watch. I watched the the second half because I kept on looking at the score. I'm like, this is good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

St. Leo's a good team, you know, they're young, like you said, but um uh coach Jorgensen said that this year, you know, he had some good players and he really liked what he's gonna, you know, what he's gonna put on the field this year, and to give a team like Limestone everything that they can handle, says all about the program at St. Leo, you know, that's a it was a good game, and that's what you want to see in Division II. You want to see good games, you don't want to see these blowouts, Kev. You want to see these teams play competitive ball against each other.

SPEAKER_06 23:18

Yeah, and you and even Coach Wims, when we had him on with the SSC preview, he's like, you can't count out St. Lou and Jorgensen. If you do, it's at your peril. Yeah, well, and I'm sure Limestone, you know, they it's not like they thought it was going to be a cakewalk. They had to put up a they had to play tough. It was a tough game, you know, and they got some good scores out of it. Zach Terry had five goals for limestone, Chris Erneston had three goals and an assist, and Mike McGarry had two goals and three assists. On St. Leo's side, a big shout out because he became SSC offensive player of the week, Justin Williams with five goals and two assists. It was a nice day. Yeah, very nice day.

SPEAKER_03 24:00

Yeah, you know, limestone, they're a jargon team, too. They're always up in up the top 10 of the, you know, they're always one of the best in the country, Kev. So other teams look to limestone as something that they aspire to, and they bring their A games a lot against teams like Limestone. Yeah, so you know, limestone better expect to have other teams come at them hard as well. And and good job, good job, St. Leo. Don't hold your heads high. Limestone's a good team. So yeah, you you gave him everything he could. Keep your heads up high and get get the next one this week.

SPEAKER_06 24:35

Okay. Any other games? What other games do you have on your list?

SPEAKER_03 24:38

Just you know what? Again, the Catawba Mount Olive game, just the you know, Coach Murph and and the apprentice and the mentor. And I just found that to be an interesting game. It's kind of in region, out of conference, but in region. Um Mount Olive pulled it out, Kev 9-6. It was a really close game. It was kind of fun to watch, but again, a lot of that early lacrosse, a lot of turnovers up and down the field in the beginning of the game, back and forth, until they kind of both settled in in the second half, but both teams started to settle, started to play a little bit better lacrosse. But you know what? It was a fun game to watch, just with the backstory of Coach Murphan and the new coach, his old, his old player at Mount Olive. So, but it was a good game. Jackson Brasswell had two for Kotava, Jordan Dash, who's a really good athlete, Kev. I like this kid. We're gonna be talking about him, I think, a lot this season. Yeah, he he had two goals. And for Mount Olive, Chapman Parker had two, but they had seven other players, man. They were dishing the rock around big time. They had seven other players scored goals. Um, Kotaba outshot Mount Olive, believe it or not, 44 to 24. And Kotaba had the edge on ground balls 29 to 26. But Kotaba only had five face-off wins on the day. Wow. Yeah, that hurt them big time. Mount Olive went three for four on the extra man opportunities, and Kataba went two for five. And um, that's the way the one went. You know, Mount Olive goalie had 14 saves, and uh it was kind of a close game, but a fun one to watch, and that was it. So could uh uh Mount Olive gets their first win of the season, and nine-six was your final.

SPEAKER_06 26:31

Yeah, that was that was a good game to watch. But let's move on. Another game that you pointed to and I pointed to that we thought was going to be really close, and we thought Newberry would come up on top, and that's Belmont Abbey against Newberry, and that's exactly what happened. It was a one-goal win for them, 16-15 against Belmont Abbey, in for most of the game, pouring rain. Well, I didn't know that. Yeah. Oh, really? Wow, I didn't know that. So the rain wolves were down two beginning of the third, and then Baker Westmoreland scores it to bring them within one. The Crusaders, though, score the next three to go up four. So you're thinking, all right, this must be a Belmont Abbey's game. No, Wolves fought back and score scored the next five of the last six goals to tie the game in the fourth quarter, 11-11. Then it was back and forth after that. Newberry up by two, then uh Belmont Abbey ties it at 13, then Newberry scores quickly to go up two again, and and finally that's what shut the door. They go up by two, they're they're up 15-13. Uh Belmont Abbey scores to make it 15-14. Wolves retaliate with a killer main up goal with 151 to play, and that's what did it. You know, 16-15. Belmont Abbey scored again, but it was just one of those really, it was almost it was like Mercyhurst Wingate in the sense that once at that last in the fourth quarter when Newberry got up, they just they shut the door on them enough that they that Belmont Abbey couldn't couldn't close. But it was a really good game.

SPEAKER_03 28:06

Really good game. Yep. Keep watching that Newberry team. I'm telling you, that the Wolves are gonna be good this year. That's a good win for them, you know. That's a good win.

SPEAKER_06 28:15

Scott Reed for Newberry had six goals and one assist. Curtis Bucke had three goals and one assist. On Belmont Abbey's side, I think they're starting to find some of their replacements for Haas and Hayson because they got Mikey Swagert with four goals and two assists, and Matthew Wyatt with four goals and an assist. And they played good uh the week before, too. So it was a good game. A lot of fun to watch. Yep. I've got one more, Danny, just to touch upon another thing that when you look at the final score of 15-10, it didn't really show how the game played. That was Emory Riddle against Anderson on Sunday. So Anderson played Friday, they then go across to Daytona to play um against Emory Riddle, and this game started in rain and wind, and uh it was a really windy game. But I'll tell you, Emory Riddle played them close. Trojans were up for one after one. Emory Riddle comes back 5-5, and that's kind of how it went throughout the game until finally um really Anderson kind of just got up on top of him in the fourth quarter and and never let go. But it was once again, the final score does not show how close those two teams played. It was a gritty win by Anderson, but I'm telling you, Emmy Riddle's looking pretty good. Looking very good this year.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

Yeah, definitely much improved over last year, much improved. I'm gonna keep eye on it. I like I like Coach Wims and what he's doing over there at Emory Riddle.

SPEAKER_06 29:49

Okay, you got any other games on your list? Nope,

Coach's Spotlight

SPEAKER_06 29:52

that's it. Okay, let's move on to our coach's spotlight. Tonight we get to talk to a coach who is in his first year as head coach, but he's not new to this program. He played there, then became an assistant in 2017 after his playing days were over, and then just became the head coach. So that is pretty cool. I can't wait to kind of hear that progression for him going from player to assistant to head coach. So why don't we welcome him in, Jim DeCarlo, Chestnut Hill?

SPEAKER_03 30:22

I have done it for that one. That splattering of applause. How's it going tonight, Coach DeCarlo?

SPEAKER_00 30:34

It's going well, it's going well. You know, came back from a good practice.

SPEAKER_06 30:38

So awesome, awesome. I love that. So let's start off, Coach. First, congrats on taking over as head coach. So, like as I said in the intro, what's that like as you played there and then moved up to an assistant and now taken over the reins?

SPEAKER_00 30:52

Uh, it's a lot, a lot of work and a lot of dedication. I would say it's a lot, a lot of heart, too. Uh, like I originally didn't go here, I transferred in uh to start. Uh I actually played at a D3 school, and I decided that I didn't love it there. I was just gonna just go to school at Chestnut Hill. And the coach at the time asked me to walk on because he knew at the high school I came from, a very predominant nationally ranked high school in the in the area, and uh asked me to walk on, and he helped me fall back in love with the game, and uh it actually uh lacrosse kind of got me out of a dark place in my life, uh especially the college years, and uh it made me fall back in love with the game, fall just become a happy person, and from that I kind of devoted like, hey, this program did so much for me. Uh, I need to do something about it, and I just kind of fell in my lap. Uh, my last two years playing, I was kind of like a player coach on the defensive end, helping out with schemes and all that, and kind of got the gist. And uh, when my head coach decided to leave, the assistant who had left for a time came back, who convinced me to walk on, asked me to stay as the D coordinator. And I said, Yeah, and I'm like, without question, and uh now we did butt heads to begin with because defense is my baby, and I'm like, you're not you're not touching this defense, like it's all me, but uh we learned to work together, and uh I kind of went my up the ranks becoming just defensive coordinator to head of recruiting to associate head coach and now the head coach. So um a lot more work I gotta do, gotta manage both sides and be a little unbiased, but you know, defense is my baby and my home. So uh we were getting a little chippy today, both and the defense was talking some smack, but the offense took it to us at the end. I wasn't happy about that, but also happy because we were able to score a couple goals.

SPEAKER_06 32:56

There you go. So now you see you can have good times and bad times in the exact same moment as well.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

I feel torn, trust me. I feel torn when I like I gotta flip a corner. What side of the ball am I rooting for today? You know, but uh that's funny.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

So if you got you got you haven't played a game yet, but you got one coming up. Um start starting up with Seton Hill, huh?

SPEAKER_00 33:19

You're gonna yeah, that's a great decision by me. Uh no, so we were supposed to play Saint Rose, but the coach contacted me that they couldn't play on that certain date anymore, so we had to push that game back, and now we're opening up with Steaton Hill, which if you've looked in our past history, it doesn't really fare well with us whenever we play C and Hill. Uh, their coach likes to say it's a great rivalry. I'm like, it's a rivalry when we win a game, but uh give us one. Coach Navotany's a great coach, even playing against them. We had some hard fault batter battles.

SPEAKER_03 33:53

Yeah, I remember I remember watching watching the Chestnut Hill Seton Hill game in the beginning of the season in the fog. It was like a fog game, yeah. Do you remember that game? Uh it depends on the it was in the beginning of the season, it was only about maybe two seasons ago.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Let me all right. So, was it a midweek game? Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_03 34:13

It may have been, and it was like fog, like a thick fog. I was like, Kevin, how do they see the ball?

SPEAKER_00 34:18

Like it it's funny you mentioned the fog because it wasn't really the fog. We had some technical issues at home with our lights, and they wouldn't go on. So we were it's an afternoon game, and we're playing pretty late. It's in February, the sun went down around 5:30. We're still playing. I go to our head coach, hey, are they gonna turn the lights on? They can't get them on, and so we played we played pretty much the end of the third and whole the whole fourth, just in darkness. The only lights were the shot clocks, and so we're we're just throwing the ball in the net, and both teams take the our our starting goalies out and put our biggest guys in the net just so they can take the net. Now, their goalie was pretty good. Kevin Mell, who was a yeah, he's pretty big anyway. Yeah, he was pretty big anyway, and we we had a pretty size, good size backup too. But unfortunately, we fell short that day. Um, but that was that was it. But uh yeah, I remember that because I I bring it up every I bring it up almost every year. I'm like, oh hey Jack, remember when we uh it's like you're the last person I could talk to. Remember when we played the game in the in the dark?

SPEAKER_03 35:31

Crazy, man. I've never heard that before. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

It was something, and uh, I mean, I'm just glad I got to be a part of it. I'm like, I I can be that's great. Only lacrosse game we played in the dark, you know.

SPEAKER_06 35:41

So do you do you ask your facilities, folks? Hey, are you gonna have the lights on for us this year?

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Oh, they're on the ball, they've been on the ball ever since. Like they're they're great guys, so uh every now and then I'm rebusting chops about that, but they'll they'll dish it back out, you know.

SPEAKER_06 35:57

So hey, so yeah, Seton Hill, but then it really doesn't really let up. I mean, Saint Rose is a team that's on the rise, and then you've got Mercyhurst. I mean, my god, coach. Yeah, is this all just prepare you guys? Is your team excited about this? Uh, this Ross, this uh schedule.

SPEAKER_00 36:13

Oh, yeah, like they understand. Like, my our motto is to be the best, you gotta beat the best teams, especially in the North region. Yeah, you know, so we're trying to scrape if we can't win all three, we're trying to get two. And if we can't win two, we got to get one because our goal, our standard right now is to win the CACC. We're back-to-back conference champions, yeah. There's nothing that's acceptable other than that, and then the next step to NCA playoffs, and that was that's always a a nail biter for us because we may be able to run the conference, but you got to play a very high leave rank, high out of conference schedule for the North, you know, to to even get just a taste or a sniff of being that 16 for us, right? Maybe one day they expand it to you know, 16 and do AQs, and then I won't be scheduling Mercy Hurst and Ceton Hill every year, maybe every other year.

SPEAKER_03 37:09

I think it's good though to have the teams face those kind of teams. I think, you know, I think it's good for the program. I think it's good for the kids to learn, hey, that's something maybe you want to aspire to to play like that, or have a you know, this is what it takes to do that. And sometimes you play a team like that. I tell Kevin, uh, you know, and I tell some coaches a lot, I I coach football, and when I scrimmage, I always wanted to scrimmage the big boys. I always wanted to really, but I didn't care if I put one goal up or 20, it didn't matter. I was there to hone my kids, get them ready for this is the type of game that you can need to play to get to that level. And you know what? When you put Seton Hill and St. Rose and Mercy Hurst and Malloy, Malloy's no slouch anymore. That coach, you know, Coach Dunn is there. I mean, that's it. That's a nice out-of-conference schedule, Coach.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

Yeah, well, thank you. Like, yeah, we're we we don't we don't shy away from tough teams, you know, because that's just it helps even if things don't go well, like the adversity there, you know. Well who see, like, let's see what happens when we get knocked down. Like, do we get up, dust ourselves off, or do we call for our dad, like, hey, he hit me, type of thing. But yeah, like that's that's kind of how it is with us. Like, we want to play the best teams because we believe we deserve to be one of the best teams, and that's kind of how our motto has always been, even when I was playing here.

SPEAKER_06 38:40

Yeah, so coach, but then you go into the CACC play, and we talked about this in the conference preview. Wilmington is a great team, yeah. Uh, Felician hit that 500 mark last year. I think they could be unbecoming. So, what do you talked about the competition you've got in the CACC?

SPEAKER_00 38:59

Um, it is exponentially getting better and better every year. Uh teams, you know, like we have a new team this year, Bridgeport, which and that coach was formerly at Palm Beach Atlantic, and then before that, New York assistant at New York Tech. So he knows what to do. Um so like it's gonna get it. The talent's gonna be there, and I think we're gonna be a uh a conference where no one's gonna be well. CACC's got a lot of talent in the next couple of years per se. Like Wilmington's coming fast, you know, where as they should be. They like um Georgian court, Georgian court's always tough. It's always tough to play there, especially the last couple years when we've had to play them in the playoffs, even though we're the higher ranked team at their facility, right? Always a tough one.

SPEAKER_03 39:51

Um he's got those boys playing pretty hard, they're blue-collared for sure.

SPEAKER_00 39:56

Oh, yeah, yeah. So it's it's kind of like uh conference where everyone's kind of got hard hats on and they're going to work, bringing their lunch pail, and we're not we're up and coming, I would say. And we're adding another team in conference next year, too. So yeah, while like your speculations of other conferences losing teams, we're the only conference gaining teams, so like that's pretty special in my eyes, too.

SPEAKER_06 40:20

Yeah, without a doubt. So let why don't we talk about some of your team and your players? It looks like if I looked at your roster, you've got some strong guys talking about D.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 40:30

Some good defensive players coming back with Kyle Gartenmeyer and and Dan Grubb returning. But anyone else on the offense and the defense that you you think are are gonna really help out this year?

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Um, offense and defense. Well, I mean, we have uh a graduate student, uh Jack Klein, who stayed in extra year because of the COVID year. Uh he's kind of our big guy on the offense of like we're not gonna ride on him and everything, but he's our leader. You know, he's our one of our captains. Uh, he's the most experienced we've had on the offense. We we kind of lost everybody besides him. Um we have a couple guys that have gotten some experience. Uh Nate Matthews down at attack. He's someone that was an all-conference playoff uh team member two years ago when our starter uh had a serious injury and had to miss all the conference playoffs. Um, but he's up and he's ready to go and excited for it. And then we got a couple guys that um their first year that they're allowed to play, they're finally eligible that have been kind of sitting by the wayside, just been able to practice, and they're licking their chops too, right? And all that. I'm a little nervous to say everybody I got, you know, because yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:44

Yeah, oh, you don't have to coach it. You're all good, you're all good. You don't want to give Navotney too much information.

SPEAKER_00 41:49

Oh, yeah, but defensively, I mean, we return everybody except one person, so wow, that's strong. Yeah, and the person that kind of filled in. Uh, he's that hard-nosed working guy. He was a walk-on, and he came in and he beat everybody else out. He's like, This is my job, and he hasn't really he's kind of been been out playing grub and uh Kyle Gartenmeyer, honestly, in practice, and I've been kind of putting on like hey, you better watch out. I know you got preseason honors, but he's got all the all like he's got nothing to lose here, yeah. And luckily, we got Austin Jones in that, you know. He was a conf tournament MVP. Um fortunately, like he can't he was our backup last year. We lost, like, unfortunately, we lost Jake Miller permanently of just losing concussions. Wow, right, like so. He's actually taken a role of a player coach and he's keeping those goalies sharp. So um, he fit decided like we convinced him to stay and graduate, you know, because that's the most important thing, right? Right free, and he's been loving it every like just being a coach and holding those guys accountable, and he puts that energy in it, like he's still got that helmet on, too.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

So that's good, that's awesome. Tell us about your assistance, all right.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

So, um, I got my head assistant, is Brian Grady. Okay, he's been all around pretty much. He coached in VMI, coached at Rutgers. He's actually an assistant for the PLL whip snakes.

SPEAKER_03 43:20

Wow, right? Okay, so bringing some pedigree on all right, awesome.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

Oh, yeah. Well, he was he was on staff when I was an assistant here too. So I pretty much begged him to stay on. Uh but uh, but no, he loves it. Uh he's he's kind of the head of the offense. Uh he's been around. He was uh he was the head coach of Germantown Academy for years, too. And uh to like and I respect him enough because he beat me my freshman year when I was at LaSalle College High School. He was one of our two losses, and we played 33 games, you know. And I because it was a three to two game, and he played a weird zone. So yeah, I don't let it go. I can't let

SPEAKER_05 44:00

It goes, but uh he's got some tricks up his sleeve.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

Like he's the we call him the wise old Al because he's much older than me and he's been around the game longer. Uh, but I mentioned also Jake Miller as the player coach. We also have a volunteer as uh Peter Burns, he was uh on staff as well, uh, kind of helping me out with the defense, but floating around when he can. Uh, he has a a full-time job which doesn't allow him to come as much as he wants to anymore. But he when he comes, he brings the energy and he brings the pretty much the the laughter too. He always has something funny to say to kind of break the tension or the pressure of practice. And then we have my brother as well, who's a volunteer assistant who just graduated, and uh he he um he's helping out with the face-off guys and running the box. He's actually running the box much better than some of the past assistants that have been so far. So far, he hasn't had his first game yet.

SPEAKER_02 44:57

There we go. Uh, I only haven't felt that pressure yet, coach.

SPEAKER_00 45:01

Oh, yeah, but I only had a yellow one time, but yet he told my mom, and then my mom kind of laid it in. I'm like, hey, I'm the boss here, I gotta do my job.

SPEAKER_03 45:09

Yeah, mom. I'm getting paid to win here, mom. He's gotta bring his A game. Yeah, that's full. That's great that you got your brother in there. Sounds like a great staff, man. Um, I love to see ACC. I call it like a real blue-collar type of uh conference. A lot of blue-collar Northeast teams um just getting after it, you know. The the the the games against Wilmington, you guys go back and forth. It's insane, it's really cool, man.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

And you know, Jordan one last year was tough. Like the regular season one, it's the only time I they outsmarted me at the OT. I I I didn't think of what they were doing in OT. And I'm I'm like, that's never gonna happen again.

SPEAKER_06 45:52

And then I that was the great game, coach. That was a great game.

SPEAKER_00 45:55

Yeah, I made an adjustment in the championship game, and they didn't really weren't ready for it. So, and then we got I got them back. So against all our games, like the even against like post and Caldwell, like those teams are coming up too.

SPEAKER_06 46:09

Oh, yeah, Coach Jez and now Coach Lopes has got uh new excitement down there, Caldwell. It's like you talked about, Coach, it is an up and coming conference that you have got to watch out for, and you cannot rest on any of those teams.

SPEAKER_00 46:23

Uh yeah, and like any of them is like especially like the uh Georgian Court and Dominican, two teams that I was able to play against. I mean, those games that just makes my blood boil, like anything, like I am not losing to them. Uh the guys, the guys know I'm I'm intense and I'm energetic, and like I I allow them to to a point, you know, like but they know like hey, coach Jim's fired up, we better be ready to go. All right, like it's like it's my thing is like, hey, I put that helmet on, I bled, all right. I had major injuries for for this team, all right, for this program. All right, there's no place I'd rather be, and I will do whatever I can to make this program the best as possible.

SPEAKER_03 47:10

So well, the guys that's guys know that that's great to hear, and I'm sure the uh the uh ads gonna love to hear that too. I hope he listens to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 47:20

I'll let Jesse know. I'm sure he'll he will. He will. He's he's a big he's a big podcast guy in the office.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

So oh, that's great, that's great.

SPEAKER_06 47:28

Yeah, so coach, uh I'll tell you what, there's nothing better than the way you just ended it, and and how you got me fired up. You got me fired up to watch me too, uh especially in conference. I'm gonna be all those games, Dominican, especially probably now Dominican and Georgian court, more so than Wilmington, because you kind of expect those games, but those two now I'm gonna watch you. I gotta watch you on the sidelines during those games.

SPEAKER_00 47:52

I'm energetic, I'm flying up and down the field. I I got a present for as a Fitbit just so they can track my steps and heartbeat. Yeah, it's heartbeat too. Like, I'm even when I was just the defensive coach, like you can see I'm doing hand signals, I'm going like this, I'm giving arm like baseball, like got so like the offense can't pick up what I'm saying. I'm I'm pacing up and down the whole time, uh, but like, and it's all just because I care about this program, I care about the guys that I'm coaching, and I'm I'm a loud Italian with a stubbornness of a Ukrainian background, and my dad's from Springfield Delco. So if you know that area, it's a it's a kill for chaos. Like it's it's a cut for chaos and energy that's stubborn, and coach the guys know that I'll never crack a smile unless there's a zero in the opponent's column. Like, hey, we might have won, we might have won 20 to 1. Yeah, but you gave up that one, it's not good enough. You know, we gotta keep going striving for perfect.

SPEAKER_03 48:57

Well, you know what, coach? You come into my part of the neighborhood and March 15th when you play Malloy. I think I'm gonna come. All right, I think I'm gonna come to the game. I'll introduce myself after the game, and oh my own. I pray, I'm praying that you win, and you so well you shake my hand, you won't you won't break it. Well, that should be a good game. That should be a really good game.

SPEAKER_00 49:21

That should be a good game. My thing though is like I'm like, I'm not one to quickly judge the team at the end of the game, you know. Like, that's one thing that like even after a win, sometimes coaches can get on them and look, did we just win that game or did we lose by 20? You know, like right things, like, hey, the best time to get kind of get on them is in the in the film, you know. That hey, like I'm I'm gonna be mad, I'm gonna be angry about if we lost, but at the end of the day, like we're still a bunch of brothers. I'm just a much older brother that graduated six years ago, so right, right.

SPEAKER_03 49:57

But yeah, so that's cool stuff, coach. Man, yeah, I love your energy, I love your enthusiasm. And again, I think I'm gonna come to that Malloy game on March 15th, man.

SPEAKER_00 50:07

I can't wait to meet you. You know, I'm I'm just hoping again we win too.

SPEAKER_06 50:11

I'm hoping all right, coach. Well, we can't thank you enough for coming on. It was great to finally get you on. We couldn't get you on during the coaching changes. Um, that was my fault, not your fault. So it's been great that you're on, and we look forward to watching Chestnut Hill this season, and we wish you all the best and your team all the best in 2023.

SPEAKER_03 50:34

Yeah, Coach Jim DeCarlo, Chestnut Hill Griffins. We really appreciate you taking the time tonight. You have been a great guest. We'll see you next time.

Games to Watch

SPEAKER_06 50:43

I'll tell you what, Danny, after talking to Coach DiCarlo, I am fired up to talk about the games that are coming up this week. He got me pumped.

SPEAKER_03 50:51

What a great guy, man. I really like Coach DiCarlo. He's awesome, man. I could definitely see myself hanging out with a guy like that. He's got that Philly, that Philly Northeast in him, man. He's got a little fire in him, he's got that enthusiasm. He looks like he's got some discipline, you know, that he's gonna demand some discipline out of his players, which I admire out of a coach. He's a young coach, he's been there. That's his alma mater. And uh, you know, Chestnut Hill's a good team, Kev. They're a good squad.

SPEAKER_06 51:22

They're a good squad. They're gonna be exciting to watch. And that's where we're at right now. We're now getting there, like I said in the intro. The North region is starting to play their game. So we've got a lot more games to kind of rattle through quickly. So let's get started right off the bat. First game on my list is Saturday on the 18th, and that's limestone against Rollins. This is the first game for Rollins, and like we talked about in the preview, and in our our top 20, I think they're stacked. I'm expecting a lot from them, but they have a tough opponent to start with, and it doesn't get easier for them because they've got two of the teams we just talked about, Anderson and Newberry after that. So they're gonna want to try to get this, they want to get the ball rolling early. Now, limestone is 2-0, and they're going, you know, they're playing North Greenfield prior to Rollins this this Wednesday. Probably the game will be over by the time the podcast comes out. So they could be 3-0 heading to play Rollins.

SPEAKER_03 52:27

Well, let's, you know, North Greenville's not a joke. They play, they match up well against Limestone. For some reason, North Greenville plays very well against Limestone. So that's a game for Limestone. That's a watch out game. You know, you can't you can't take North Greenville you know lightly. They're a good squad, they're well coached, they're deep now.

SPEAKER_06 52:50

Once again, we talked about this parody. I personally think if North Greenville wins, it's not an upset. It's just where we are in even teams within the division.

SPEAKER_03 53:05

That's interesting. That's an interesting take. I I think I might call it an upset if North Greenville. I understand what you're saying, though. You're saying that these guys are good and they deserve rankings. You know, what if they had a top 25? Maybe North Greenville would be in the top 25, you know? Yeah. But that's a grill, that's a good game. You know, that limestone Rollins game should be good. That's a good game. What what games are you looking at? Now, I think now if the Saturday's games, you know, limestone Rollins, you gotta watch, but I think Seton Hill Undy is a really good game.

SPEAKER_06 53:42

First game for Seton Hill, yeah, for Undy. Top 20 matchup.

SPEAKER_03 53:47

100%, 100%. And another game on Saturday. Yeah, I don't know if I like any more games on Saturday, to be honest.

SPEAKER_06 53:55

I got one, I got one for you on Saturday, Coker, North Greenville. Yes. Oh, see the reason why Coker now is I I I see this, it'll be interesting to see what North Greenville, first of all, does against Limestone and then going into Saturday. Okay. So they've got a tough test, and Coker is I don't think Coker has a game on Wednesday. So that tells me, can Coker take advantage of this? Because North Greenfield won't have as much time to prepare because they've got limestone on Wednesday, then they got to turn right around to Coker.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

I think the big games are on Sunday, though. The real, real gotta watch games. You're right. Um, my first gotta watch game is hey, Mercy and Lemoyne.

unknown 54:37

All right.

SPEAKER_03 54:37

I'm going back going back to last year's, you know, uh NCAA and just like those games at the end of the year between those two teams to see these guys start off the season against each other. I can't wait. And you know what? Mercy's fired up, man. They want, they got a lot of players coming back, and they still have to go.

SPEAKER_06 54:59

So this will be Mercy's third game because they played Dominican, killed them. They play St. Rose this Wednesday, and then they head in on Sunday against Lemoyne. This is the first game for Lemoyne, though, but you're right. Top 10 matchup. This is a must-watch game. The other one, which I think you're you're thinking about, is Lenore Ryan, Tampa. Gotta watch that game.

SPEAKER_03 55:21

Yeah. I want to watch Lenore, Ryan, and Tampa. I want to watch that game. That's gonna be. I'm not leaving my couch. That's where I'm gonna be.

SPEAKER_06 55:33

That's our number one against our number two in our poll. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:39

And I just think that that's got that's that's gonna be a big game, Kev.

SPEAKER_06 55:45

Yeah, that is going to be both those are gonna be huge.

SPEAKER_03 55:50

Because I don't and Lenore Ryan gets him at home, man, between the bricks up there in Hickory. I mean, that's a big plus. You know how those Lenore Ryan fans are. Oh, you know how those Lenore Ryan fans are. Just imagine when Tampa. Just imagine what Tampa's gonna hear. They're gonna hear some stuff, man.

SPEAKER_06 56:11

Yeah. Oh, they're gonna be fired up. They are going to be fired up. And you know what's great about Lenore? So no, they're playing, they're playing in a neutral field, they're playing in Savannah. Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 56:22

But Lenore Ryan's the home team, though, right?

SPEAKER_06 56:26

They can. I'm I'm not really sure how they are. Yeah, they they played there in Savannah last year against them. That's why I checked. They're actually gonna now that stinks.

SPEAKER_03 56:36

See, I think you should play at your home, you know, your home field. Those big games like that. I don't know. Unless it's at like homewood field or you know, some iconic field like that. If you want to do the a neutral game there, I get it. But anyway, but that's gonna be a great game to watch, man.

SPEAKER_06 56:55

Here's here it is, it's gonna be fantastic. Here's another one on Sunday I've got my eye on not as high profile as as the last two we talked about, but it's Lewis against Roberts Wesleyan. Oh, yeah, that's gonna be Roberts Wesleyan is a strong team, and they beat Wheeling in their first game to start the season 20 to 10. And Lake Erie, I mean, Lewis beat Lake Erie 12 to 7. So I'm telling you, this is a matchup, and it's gonna be it's gonna be good to watch.

SPEAKER_03 57:22

I totally agree with you. I think that's gonna be a good game and one worth watching. So that's that's all the games I have, Kev. I've got a few, yeah. I've got Moran, Mercy Lemoyne, the Roberts Wesley game. You know, here's here's a everybody else is just kind of getting underway, like Georgian Court Bantley. They're getting underway.

SPEAKER_06 57:43

And and there's some that I'd I'd point out for the following Wednesday on the 22nd. The first is AIC Bridgeport, and that's because this is the first game ever for the Bridgeport Purple Knights. So that'll be interesting. Second game for Coach Spallone with the Jell O Jackets. Um, first game is going to be on the 18th against uh St. Thomas Aquinas. So I think that's a good matchup. I also think on that Wednesday, Malloy and Franklin Pierce. First season of the first game of the season for Malloy and Coach Dunn going against Coach Callahan and the Ravens, who've already beaten Duville in their first game. So that will be an interesting matchup.

SPEAKER_03 58:17

Saw Malloy practicing this morning, Kev. Eight o'clock. Eight o'clock this morning, them boys were on the field. Oh, that's bankers' hours. And I said to I said to my partner, I go, could you imagine being on the field to practice right now? He's like, no, I don't even want to, I don't even want to go to one.

SPEAKER_06 58:36

Yeah, exactly. And then finally, another mentor apprentice game, and that is on Wednesday, the 22nd, St. Rose and Frostburg.

SPEAKER_03 58:46

Yeah, that should be good. That's good. Coach Garleman and Coach Williams. It's really good. It's really good.

SPEAKER_06 58:53

All right, good, good rack wrap

DII News

SPEAKER_06 58:56

up there. I do have a little news of the week. Here's the one thing of the news that I want to point out, and actually, Coach Williams, uh, Alex Williams of uh St. Rose, let me know about this. On their game against Mercy, which is this Wednesday, which will probably already have been played by the time the podcast comes out, they're honoring and celebrating the life of Matt Frankel, their goalie. As you recall, Danny, he passed away in August of natural causes. And so they're doing a little ceremony for him, honoring his life. It's a gonna be a great tribute to their dedicated player and leader of their team for the Golden Knights. They've got a phrase called Together for 26. So I just wanted to point that out. I think that's just wonderful they're doing, thinking of their of the Franco family and the whole St. Rose community, not just the lacrosse team, but the whole college community that knew Matt, cherished him as a friend and as a colleague. And I think that's just great that they're doing that.

SPEAKER_03 59:58

Uh, this tells you what kind of man Coach Coach Williams is. He's just, you know, this top dog. He they don't get much better than that. He's a really great guy, and he's doing the right things together for 26. Yep. Yep.

Player's Spotlight

SPEAKER_06 1:00:14

All right, Danny. Let's move on to the player spotlight.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:18

My favorite part, Kev.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:20

My favorite part. I know. I've been missing that this year so far.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:24

I forgot about that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:25

Yeah. So we have already seen this early in the season a lot of freshmen getting run. And this player has really burst onto the scene scoring 11 goals in his very first game. Yeah, man. That was a single game record for his program. But not only that, Danny, he wasn't a one-hit wonder. He followed that up in this next game against Florida Southern, scoring eight goals.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:54

Yeah, I watched that game. I watched that one.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:57

Yeah, it's a lot of fun to watch, and a lot of fun watching him. So why don't we just welcome him in? Matthew Rogers, attackman for the Anderson Trojans.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:06

How are we doing? Welcome, Matthew. How's it going, brother? It's good. It's it's good. How about you? Yeah, we're doing good, man. I'm up in Long Island. Kevin's in northern Virginia, and you're down there in uh Anderson. And let me ask you something. Did you ever think it was going to be like this when you stepped on campus? First couple of games? No, I didn't. Yeah, so you know, your first game, you know, you bang out 11 goals instead of program record. That must have been what was it like at the end of that game?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:43

Like, what did Coach Mitchell say? You know, uh, I was really static into going into that game. I mean, of course, I was really nervous as my first ever college gross game, but uh I kind of just stuck to what I knew best and just played the game. And uh Coach Mitchell was uh he was shocked, but he's like, okay, don't don't get uh too hotheaded here. We still got a whole season. Just play across.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:09

Does it help having players like Bo Henson and and Logan Gaddis next to you? Does that relieve some of the pressure for you? Because those guys are great. They basically helped build the program with Coach Mitchell, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:22

Yes. The they are great teammates on and off the field. And I look up to both of them as uh mentors, if you will. Uh I love asking them questions. They always got the answer, and they're really trustworthy uh teammates to play with. It's great to be out there with them, and I'm truly blessed to have teammates like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:40

That's that's awesome. You know, the Trojans have just burst onto the scene. They're only around a couple of years. They're in that tough sack conference, and they've been able to do things that a lot of programs wish they could do in their first couple of three years. Um to be on a team with like Cam Weeks, who's getting you possession after possession, that's gotta make you feel real good on the inside, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:05

It does. You know, uh it's great having again, it goes back to the trust part. I mean, I everybody can trust Cam. He's always there, and he you can always trust him to get the face off and get a possession. And it also creates so many opportunities for everyone else on the field as well, like Logan, Gaddis, Raiden, Badron, uh, Bo as well. And it helps a lot.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:27

Yeah, it's interesting. We just talked about that in the earlier segment that I thought your game against Florida Southern, it really was a total team effort from defense to offense to special teams. But when there was that two-minute unreleasable penalty, the fact that Cam Weeks could always win the face-off and give you guys another chance. That's how you scored four goals.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:50

Yeah, that was that was a moment. That was amazing. Just watching him 1v2, two polls on each side and come down and scoring. It was ecstatic. And it it that really brought up the energy. I mean, everyone was hyped up after that.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:01

Oh, no, no doubt. You know, and then that's another big win for Anderson program. You know, Anderson right now is unranked, but I think maybe after this week you might have snuck yourselves into that top 20, and I think that's where you belong. Um, tell us about that Florida Southern game. A lot different from the Chowan game. You know, that's them boys can play at Florida Southern. They had some defenders, they have some really good short stick D-mittes. What did you think of the difference between of the first week and the second week?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:29

You know, uh, they're they were very physical. I mean, both teams put up great competition, and playing Florida Southern was probably one of the hardest cross games I've ever played. I mean, I I've never played that good competition growing up in Indiana, especially. Uh, but it was great. And I really I feel like it tested everybody's ability to work together, not as just an individual person, but it was it was definitely different than uh the first game.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:54

Yeah, well, I'll tell you what, that that's another point you make right there that we talked about. You guys really did work as a team on offense, moving the ball around, it was just amazing. And that that was you you said it right. That's what you had to do against a team like Florida Southern. But let's let's move on. You you mentioned it, you come from Carmel, Indiana. So that's not really known as a hotbed of lacrosse. So can you can walk us through how you got started in the game and and how you ended up at Anderson?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:22

Yeah, so I started around the summer of my sixth grade year in middle school. So I was pretty late on like a lot of people. I know quite a few people on our team who have been playing for a while. And yeah, I uh I played a little 7v7 indoor type gig near my house in Carmel. And uh, I mean, no one knew what they were doing, you know, kind of just little kids hitting each other with sticks. Yeah. We went to uh the uh our real travel team in the summer. Uh that was when we started playing like all the teams around us, and it was a challenge. I can't really remember that. Much of how I actually played, but I just remember more after that point of when I started to struggle a lot in the sport itself. And that came around seventh grade. Uh, I traveled for my travel team again and I didn't make it. Um, I was told I was too short to play at a higher level, and I just need to get wait till I get bigger. And of course, like obviously that never happened. Um, I I worked my tail off, came back eighth grade. I made the team, but I didn't play at all. I mean, I was told my skills just weren't there. I mean, like, I I don't blame the coaches for doing that, but I mean it really pushed me and came high school and uh we're playing playing a lot better competition. Like the competition in high school is much better than fall and uh uh spring in the summer, especially. Um I didn't play on many travel teams, so I didn't really know the gate outside of my area. And once I stepped on a travel field, there was a uh a smaller program in our area that I played for and uh I got bagged on for it. Why are you playing for this team? You know, like they're not good. And I didn't care. It gave me a chance to be a leader, and I learned that I can play the game. I'm I'm too focused on how I'm gonna mess up. And um, I got that size stuck in my head. And once I joined this team, I learned that people looked up to me on that team. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I was the best player on the team. A lot of people were just starting. I was two years in. Uh, I wasn't the best either, but I was all I had. And knowing people looked up to me and believed in me as a teammate kind of gave myself a confidence boost. And I found myself from there. I would say I started progressing from that moment on, and I did not give up. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:40

That's that's very interesting. I I like that. That's that little drive and fortitude and that's inside of you that you know you can't be taught. That comes from your DNA, man. You know what I'm saying? That's pretty cool stuff. So, so now you're in high school, you're playing better competition. And what about now, like the recruiting start? How did that go?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:02

So, uh, freshman year, I was on the JV team, the worst one. We had three teams, we had a big school, so I was on the worst one. I I was still wasn't valued as a player, and I kind of accepted it. I used it as a motivation COVID game. We didn't get a season, so I didn't really get to do anything then. I worked really hard then, and uh I didn't really think about playing college across then, especially I was like, I can't even make my varsity team, and all my buddies are going up in varsity and playing and having a blast. And I'm like, I'm still on the worst JB team. I don't know what to do. But I I found a goal. I wanted to play college across. I don't know where, I don't know when, I don't know how, but I just had that goal and I worked my butt off. Came junior year, and I started and I scored, I think, 68, 69 goals, and then like 15 assists. And uh that that year really uh started my recruiting process. I got all that confidence. I was on varsity. I went from JV to varsity, and that gave me all my confidence. And I showed myself I can get recruited, I mean I can do this. And I when LeGrid played a ton of uh camps and whatnot, we have Grand Park in our area. We hold the NXT showcases, KM showcase. Yeah. Uh Under Armour All American Showcase was there, so was the Nike O American Showcase. And of course, even those, I mean, those kids are crazy, like they're good. It really showed me too that, like, okay, you're not the best. Like, don't get cocky, okay? But you can play knowledge, and I I believe in that. So those uh show showcases really helped me get my word out there.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:35

That's great. So, how'd you meet Coach Mitchell? How'd that happen?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:39

I remember I was looking at Montevala, and uh, I was like, oh, this Monte Val team, they're playing this one-year program, their very first game, opening game. And then came out, Riley's obviously hit that winning goal against them. We won by one, their very first win in history. And I was like, you know, Montevala's a great school because I was already gonna visit them. And I was like, I might just give Coach Mitchell a call. I mean, he seems like he's building something and giving a first win, and everybody's all hype and static. I was like, I want to be a part of that. And that kind of drew me in a little bit. And I texted him and got more contact with him.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:16

That's great, that's great. And now you're at Anderson, and if you go to ncAA.com right now, on the top of the uh leaderboard is Matthew Rogers, freshman attack from Carmel, Indiana. 21 goals in three games, kid. That's amazing. Um, that's just amazing to me. And you know, you're just starting out, and you know what? Screw that short shit. Okay, because there's a guy by the name of Rob Pinnell who played for Cornell, okay? He's in the PL. He's not the tallest, huge guy you'd ever want to see, but he's sick with the stick. And he's he's made quite quite a living for himself. And you know what? You can follow in those footsteps. I think you have what it takes. If you keep doing what you're doing, you're gonna get you're gonna get a lot of accolades, young man. It's only the beginning for you. But on that, I do have to say that you got some tough guys on your schedule, especially when you start that sack. You know, when you start the sack sack stuff, there's some big big boys on that, on those squads, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_06 1:11:24

So you're getting ready for some more physical play.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:27

Yeah, Florida Southern's good, you know, definitely, but wait till you see limestone or LR or some of those Wingate and some of those squads. Yep, yep. So even Newberry and then and Catawba, you know, they're all like, you know, these SAC schools are pretty good, but Anderson is definitely making a name for themselves. I'm impressed with them. We've had Coach Mitchell on our program, and he was great. We loved him, and I love everything about the school. I really do. And uh got the chance to watch you play the other night against Florida Southern. And I was like, Kevin, let's let's get him on, you know, and that's because I I think what you're doing as a freshman is just amazing, really good stuff. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:08

All right, Danny. Now that he's warmed up and he's told us a little bit of his story, which is a great story, by the way, Matthew. I love the story of you people telling you you you can't even play, and you had it in your mind that you're gonna play. So this next round is pretty easy for you. It'll be easy, but it's our rapid fire round with Danny shooting you questions that you have to answer. You ready for it? I'm so ready.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:33

He's so ready.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:34

I'm so ready. We're shooting them out there. Okay, we have Matthew Rogers, freshman attack out of Carmel, Indiana, playing for the Anderson Trojans down there, just bawling out his first couple of games in his career. And uh, we're really happy to have him on tonight. So here we go. Send questions. Here we go. Favorite TV show.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:55

My favorite TV show. We're talking about animated series or just like whatever it is, bro. Um, it was definitely a regular show growing up. A small cartoon that didn't uh last long, but it was definitely one of my favorite favorite actress, actress. I don't really have any. I I couldn't even name one. I could name one, but like name her Peyton List. Okay, here we go. Favorite ice cream. My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip ice cream.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:24

Oh mint chocolate chips the best classic favorite breakfast food.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:31

My favorite breakfast food. Um, my girlfriend got me in a French toast. I never liked it. Oh, there you go. I never liked it. I'm like, this stuff is amazing. I gotta get more of that. They don't make French toast and caramel in the Indiana. They definitely do. I've never been a fan of it. I've always been a picky eater. That's why tiny.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:55

Ah, that's funny. Okay. Runs or lifts?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:00

Definitely lifts.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:01

Uh okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:03

Go ahead. Uh elaborate. Runs are very important, but I feel like it depends what kind of lift. I mean, if you're talking about calisthenics, that's very important. You know, you can still get that explosive jolty route motion. There's a ton of players in the uh PLO, like uh uh Matt Rambo, especially. We all know he's not he's not running uh a mile in under six minutes, but yeah, he he can play and his footwork is amazing, and he's one of the best attackmen I've ever seen, like on TV. So uh getting that lifting in, uh that really helped me especially is getting a little bit bigger on the field, get the faster shot, quicker footwork, and yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:42

Excellent. Yep, excellent. Xbox or PlayStation? PlayStation. Okay, favorite class so far at Anderson.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:51

Mine was my first kinesiology class.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:55

Kinesiology? Okay. All right. I I I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:00

I don't know what the hell that is. You're gonna have to say study of like your body's movement and how the body moves and stuff like that. Interesting. And who who's your favorite professor so far at the end of the store? Um struggle a little bit, but she's always there to help when I need to have questions.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:25

So okay. Professor Martinez gets a shout out. That's probably a first for her. She's you're gonna have to tell her that she's on the podcast. Well, okay. Who's the funniest kid on the team? Oh, that's a great one.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:41

Um, I would have to say Garrett or Garrett or Bo.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:50

Garrett or Bo? Yeah, all right, good. It's good to have those funny guys. You want to sit next to them on them long bus trips, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Okay. Who's the most athletic on the team? Like the one kid that can like do it all basketball, bowling, darts, like one of those guys, you know, just like super duper athletic.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:11

I'm not sure about that, but I know it's probably Garrett. I mean, he is a freak of an athlete and he's good at almost everything. I mean, he's he's the fastest kid ever, he's the best attitude. And uh, I'm sure that he can he's good at those small games. I'm sure he can get out a ping-pong paddle and school everybody in that.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:30

Yeah, okay, that's good. Okay, who's the one kid on the team that you would not let date your sister?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:39

Um, definitely Will Hazelhurst. All right, cool. Tell us about Will. What Will is a crazy kid. I mean, he's flying around. Um, he he's so energetic. He just he loves himself and he does not care what people think about him. No, he'll he's the loudest person ever, and he'll just blurt things out, just pointless things coming here now for study hall.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:02

So you know what? I kind of like those kind of guys. I always kind of gravitated towards those kind of guys. Okay. Last question give us your best impression of Coach Mitchell.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:17

Um, I gotta think, what does he always say? Okay, so recently, because I've done a little bit of publicity, he's always constantly telling me, hey, rat poison. He's always on that rat poison stuff, meaning he doesn't want me to get hot-headed or think about all the people talking about me. I just gotta keep playing my game and kind of ignore it in a way, not necessarily ignore it, but you know, uh regardless of what everybody's saying, he wants me to keep doing my thing.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:48

So yeah, if you if you if you yeah, I get what he's saying. If you keep on letting that all the accolades go to your head, it'll be like rat poison and you'll just die on the field.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:58

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:59

Well, you you got Leez McCrae this week, and they they can't ignore you, that's for sure. Hey, Matthew Rogers, you've been a great guest tonight. We appreciate so much you taking time out of study hall, mom. I swear to god, he's studying. Okay, we took him out of study hall for 10 minutes so he could get on this national podcast with us in an ecclesiastical Matt. Continue uh continued success, man. And uh, I'll be watching you. Good luck for the rest of the season, okay? Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_06 1:18:30

All right, Danny. That was a lot of fun with young Matthew Rogers, freshman from Anderson University.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:37

Dude, he's starting off the season like a like a freight train. Yeah. Wow. And you know what? What a humble young man. And the story was interesting. It was. And I really liked Matt. He's a good kid, man, and I wish him nothing but the best. I'm so glad he came on the plot podcast. Uh he seemed a little nervous at first, but he kind of settled in a little.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:06

Yeah, that well, I'll tell you what. Me being only 5'7, I love the I'm a small guy and can play the game. Yeah, you know what? The adversity brings out the best in us sometimes, Kev. Sometimes he kept working at it. He kept working at it, and now look where he is. Starting, not only starting at a great D2 school as a freshman, but lighting it up so far.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:33

Yeah, and he he I think he's a big reason why they're they just got into the top 20 this this week in the USILX. So what a great young man. I wish him the best of luck this season. Keep putting that biscuit in the basket, kid.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:47

Exactly. So, as we end for this episode, just a reminder to everyone to please share this podcast with all your friends, relatives, and neighbors. Let's keep it going. Let's get this thing rolling this year. We're having a lot of fun. I hope you are too, all our listeners out there. So, like and subscribe whenever you can.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:05

Couldn't say it better than myself, Kevin. That was perfect.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:09

There we go. That's a wrap, Danny. And that's a wrap. Week two, Kevin.