Game Time - A look back at week 2 and a preview of Week 3 of the 2024 season

Intro

SPEAKER_06 0:09

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the squire of D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny. Hey, hey, Kev, how's it going tonight in northern Virginia? What's happening? It's uh you know, cold. We did get a little snow. Uh, not a lot. It's already gone, but we got a little snow, like you said up there. You got the brunt of it up in New York. But uh, we got a little bit of a it looked like maybe a half inch, and then it all melted away.

SPEAKER_07 0:43

Uh, we we got slammed. It was like a five, six hour storm, and upstate got like about a foot. We got about five inches, but a lot of it's gone already. But it's supposed to freeze tonight. Supposed to freeze tonight, so yeah. Yeah, so yeah, winter time. Yeah, sucks. I hate it. I hate it.

SPEAKER_06 1:03

I know, I hear you. Well, I'll tell you, it growing up in New England like I did, I almost feel if it's gonna be really cold, I might as well have snow on the ground. But I'm also at the point in my life where I just don't want it to be cold. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_07 1:20

That's why that's why old guys like me and you moved to Florida when it's so our bones don't hurt no more. Yeah, I'll tell you what.

SPEAKER_06 1:29

I did go for a run today, Toe. So you gotta give me a I don't I don't recall, but see, it was it was on it was almost 40 degrees by the time I went running. So and I I ran to the bathroom this morning. That was about it. There you go. Was it cold or warm in the bathroom when you got there? It was toasty warm. Toasty warm. There we go.

SPEAKER_07 1:48

Oh boy, but we need to come up with something else to talk about. I know, I

Week in Review

SPEAKER_07 1:53

know. Hey, exciting week, man. Another exciting week in the Division II lacrosse, man. There was a lot of stuff that went on, man. Some good games out there this past weekend.

SPEAKER_06 2:02

This is how I wrote it down. We had some great thrillers, two games go into overtime. And Danny, I also saw a couple of teams return to the forum in their second week that I thought they were gonna show in their first week. And then to top it off, we had several games, first games for new programs this week.

SPEAKER_07 2:25

Yeah, a bunch of them, couple of them.

SPEAKER_06 2:27

Virginia State, Tiffin, yeah, Virginia State, Tiffin, and William Jewell. We're all in the docket. We'll go through those in a little bit, but let's start off with the thrillers. Here's the first one. Oh, and another one. So the other team that started, first game ever, Holy Family. Right? They played Bethany. They played Bethany on Friday. Now, Bethany's a D3 team. They actually had played Tiffin the week before, but this one is actually that was a scrimmage for Tiffin. This was on the books for Holy Family. I got home from dinner on Friday night, and I I turn it on on my phone. I go to the web streaming, I turn it on, and it's it's your typical one camera up in the rafters of the football stadium that no one decides to zoom in.

unknown 3:16

Right.

SPEAKER_06 3:17

So you can't see it all. You can't see a bunch of people on the on the field, but you can't really see the ball moving. And I'm watching on my phone, so that's the other thing. I'm watching on a small screen. But I looked at the score, and Holy Family was down 11 to 3 in the third, and I thought, all right, look it. First game, they're down by a lot. I can't really see it. I could go to my computer. I'm just gonna sit and you know watch something else on TV. Huge mistake, Danny. Huge mistake. Holy Family erased an eight-goal deficit and outscored Bethany 7-0, if we were playing football, 7-0 in the fourth quarter. And they scored their last two goals in the last minute to tie it up. Wow. To bring it to overtime. Now, Bethany scores in overtime and they get the victory, but you've got to give some props to Holy Family for some resilience in their first game ever to like be down by that much and say, let's stick with it, boys. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_07 4:20

Yeah, and take your first game into overtime. That must have been an exciting game to be at.

SPEAKER_06 4:24

Yeah, yeah. So fun. So it's a few stats on on Holy Family. Julian DeFinis. I don't know if I said that right, four goals, one assist. James Biannea, he had three goals and one assess, and he scored the first goal ever for the program. And they put him up one zero. They were winning. They were leading, I should say. Not winning, they were leading. Max Covely had two goals, two assists. Trey Rohr on defense, four ground balls, two cost turnovers. So let's see if those boys can keep it up. Now they they had a second game uh and they didn't fare as well. They lost that game by by more, but uh so they're 0-2. But like we talked about with these teams, they are they're all coming in, they're new programs, they've got small rosters. It's just building blocks and it's learning.

SPEAKER_07 5:07

So yeah, yeah, yeah. Good for them. Holy family gets off to a good start, you know. That's a good start, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:13

I thought that was I was screaming. Even though it's a loss, you learn from that. Yeah, you're gonna take things from that. Yes, absolutely. Exactly. Now, here's another game that went to overtime Florida Southern Montevallo. Oh man, that was some game. Hold on. Wow, what a game.

SPEAKER_07 5:41

Unbelievable. That was that was a great game. You know what? I didn't even know what to think about it because Montevallo jumped out to a nine to four. Like they jumped out at the end.

SPEAKER_06 5:52

Yeah, they were it was they were up eight, one and it was nine, four after one. And it's funny, I got a DM from a fan. We got a DM from our fan on Instagram saying it was eight to one. And when I turned it on, it was it was nine to four. And I was watching several games at the time. So I had that in the background, but I really couldn't watch it. Um here's what's even more interesting, Danny. They still had a six-goal, Montevallo had a six-goal lead after three, and still with five minutes left. It was 17-11. And you're thinking, okay, they've got this game. Florida Southern comes storming back.

SPEAKER_07 6:28

Kevin, the beginning of the game was all Montevallo. Yeah. And their defense, they were just like causing turnovers and just making Florida Southern really look sloppy. And Florida Southern had just upset number three Wingate the week before. And they looked phenomenal, right? Like they looked really good. Now, this game, they looked like a completely different team, especially in that first half. I mean, Montavalo, they were surprising to me. I couldn't believe how well they were playing.

SPEAKER_06 6:57

They were really and here's another thing. We talked about this last week when they played Undy and they were throwing bad passes. They weren't in sync. And this game, they were in sync.

SPEAKER_07 7:09

Yeah, man. That that extra week of practice and that film session, whatever Coach Lang was doing with those guys, it really paid off. You know what? And Jacob Chiz, the face-off guy from Florida State, uh, Florida Southern rather, he's a really good face-off kick. He was getting beat up in the first half. He was not winning his face-offs in the first half. And that was another reason. I mean, these guys were giving Montevallo, was giving these guys a hard time. Jacob Chiz, though, now in the third quarter, Chiz started winning. He started winning. Yeah. And after the third, they began to win some face-offs, but the Falcons' defense was still stood strong, but Florida Southern's defense began to turn things up a little bit in the end of that third quarter. And by beginning of the fourth quarter, you could see the momentum change, Kev. It was shifting in favor of the mocks. It was 17-10 Falcons with seven minutes left. Okay. Walton scored for Florida Southern, made it 17-11. Chiz wins the face-offs and bang, a Brendan Glasser goal. Okay. Florida Southern brings him 17-12 with six minutes left. Chiz wins a face-off again and boom, an Onstead goal, 17-13 with four minutes left. Chiz wins the next face-off and bang, a Caleb Cook goal for Florida Southern, 17-14 now.

SPEAKER_06 8:40

So let me let me ask you, are you are you holding your breath yet at this point? Are you still thinking, okay, that's got to stop soon? I was kind of at the it's got the floodgates have got to stop soon.

SPEAKER_07 8:49

You could see now Alex Agorson was in golf for the Falcons. Yeah. And he played on his head. He played really good. But these last couple of minutes, you could see he was starting to get a little like, uh-oh. He was a little a little on his heels a little bit, you know, a little on his heels. So Walton, Walton, um, Chiz wins the face-off. Caleb Cook scores, right? 17-14, 13. Uh Montevallo scored and made it 18-14 Falcons with 226 to go. Okay. Chiz wins the face-off and bang, a Jonas Aquia goal at 18-15 with two minutes left. A great scrum at the face-off, and Florida Southern comes up with the 50-50. Now it's getting excited, right? Montevallo. Montevallo gets a push call, and Florida Southern goes man up. Nolan Ty scores off a beautiful assist by Caleb Cook. 18-16 brings it within two. Chiz wins the next face off clean and bang, Glasser again, 18-17 with one minute left in the game.

SPEAKER_06 10:06

Yeah, and they they scored those three goals uh in less than a minute. Less than 60 seconds.

SPEAKER_07 10:12

With 28 seconds left, Kat. This is great, people. Yeah. With 28 seconds left, Zach Fitzgerald for the mock snagged a slash penalty. And Falcons go man up. And you think, okay, there it is. I was like, they're in the EMO situation. They got a chance to put it away right now. What'd they do? They turn the ball over. Nick Shannon with a great check, playing 60 for Florida Southern, clears the ball with 17 seconds, gets the ball to Caleb Cook for the mocks, and Cook carries one. Now remember, Fitzgerald's in the box for a minute. That was a man-down goal. Yeah. That was a man-down goal. Now, when the play's over, it's tied up. Regulation's over. Florida Southern's still in the box. So Montevallo's got the man-up advantage at the beginning of the final period. And then Jatsman Jackson clue Traveri, the game winner for Montevallo.

SPEAKER_06 11:26

And what and what's interesting about that too, though, is he actually scored that. It wasn't, they weren't man up at that point. They had gone even. They had just gotten back. They had just gotten back in. They were six on six, but he he scored that goal. And he had a great dodge into the middle. He got on crease. He dodged in the middle as on crease for the win. He had like maybe a three-yard shot.

SPEAKER_07 11:52

Oh, yeah. It was a great game, man. It really was. It was as exciting as game as you can get. Matt Bowis had seven goals. Jason Kluczek was really good with four goals. Trevaine Hunter had two goals. And for Florida Southern, Caleb Cook was on fire. He had four goals. Flamin's back again with three goals.

SPEAKER_06 12:11

Nick Shannon, six ground balls, three cost turnovers.

SPEAKER_07 12:14

He's a beast. He's a beast. He's a beast. So again, Ingorson and goal for Montevallo. He made some really big saves in that game, too, man. That was as good as a game as you can get, Kev. And Montevallo sneaks into the top 20 with that big win. The Montevallo fans were out in force on social media on Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

SPEAKER_06 12:37

So here's funny, Danny. I sent a note to Coach Lang, I think it was Sunday morning. I said I congratulated him on the on the win. And I said, like, you know, I said one of his one of his uh parents said that she died a thousand deaths during that game. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 12:55

And uh I've been there I know what it's like to be in a cardiac game like that.

SPEAKER_06 12:59

Yeah. Oh yeah. So Coach Lang, he emails us back. And his here's his quote. From a fan's perspective, I'm sure it was a great game to watch. It definitely took a lot out of me, but I'm thankful we were able to pull it out at the end. It definitely took a lot out of me. He said the kid and our kids were great. So as usual, I mean it's a it's a great quote. And I can just imagine him on the sidelines, just you know, I don't, I can't even imagine coaching through that and trying to used you trying to stay calm to try to keep the team calm and then try to weather the storm and then you know Florida Southern kept on coming back. It was just a great game.

SPEAKER_07 13:37

Yeah, those those last six minutes. If you're you know, if you're Montevallo, you're like, oh, uh uh, what's going on? Because you look so good in the first half. Yeah. But you know what? Again, came down to the face-offs a little bit in between halves because Chiz was winning in the second half, which he wasn't really doing as good in the first half. And but in the second half, he turned it up. And you know what? Congratulations to the Falcons, man. Those guys worked hard, they played hard in that game, they never gave up. They, you know, they were going after ground balls. The game started to get pretty physical. Kev, as good a game, uh a lacrosse game as you can get. That was a that was a barn burner, as we say.

SPEAKER_06 14:16

Ton of fun. Here's another game that was a lot of fun to watch, and one I only caught near the end and was just neck and neck the whole time. And that was Malloy Seaton Hill.

unknown 14:26

Great.

SPEAKER_06 14:26

Seaton Hill pulls it out 11-10. But Danny, it was total back and forth. It was 2-2 after one, four-four after two, and seven, seven after three.

SPEAKER_07 14:41

Kevin, another really, really good game. It came down to this, you know what? A couple of bad turnovers by uh by Malloy. They had a lot of turnovers in that game. A lot of, you know, just just sloppy passes. First game, first game, you know. Right, right. First game stuff, you know. And you see a lot of that in the beginning of the season. I've watched, I don't know, at least a dozen games in the last two weeks, and I've seen a lot of sloppy play. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_06 15:08

It's very rare. There's only been a couple teams, not a couple games, a couple teams that haven't had sloppy play.

SPEAKER_07 15:15

Yeah, that was a good game. You know, Seton Hill traveled out to Long Island, out to Malloy, played out there in Rockville Center. It was a pretty nice day out Saturday, actually, up here in Long Island. It was like in the mid-50s, close to 60. So it was overcast, but it wasn't too bad out of. I mean, I mean perfect day to go to see a game. Yeah. I should have gone actually. But um I thought both teams' defenses played well. Yeah. I felt that both teams had really good defense, and I felt that both teams' offense struggled at times, made bad passes, made bad decisions with the ball, maybe forced it in when they should have maybe worked it a little bit more. Again, first team, first game season, you know, that type of thing. Uh a lot of that went on. But um Malloy, I gotta hand it to Coach Dunn, man. He's got a lot of freshmen and sophomores out there that they're a lot, they're a pretty young team.

SPEAKER_06 16:12

Yeah, just to finish how the game says it was tied after three, Seton Hills, Peyton Gensler, who you know we talk about, he's a senior. He's a great attackman for them. He scored with 10 seconds left to get the win, and he scored twice in the final minute. He had the tying goal at 46 seconds left, and then the winning goal with 10 seconds left. So Kevin, Kevin Gensler is a beast.

SPEAKER_07 16:44

Yeah, yeah. He is 5'11, 245-pound attackman. Yeah, he is a brick shithouse. You know where he's from? He's from Springford, Pennsylvania. So he's a graduate student attack. He had what three goals? How many?

SPEAKER_06 17:02

Yeah, three goals. He had three goals. Aiden Branberg had three goals for him as well. But yeah, he had three goals. And and you he's the guy you're gonna give the rock to in those pressure situations, and he delivered.

SPEAKER_07 17:15

Yeah, he's a big boy. Oh my god. He's like a yeah, he's like a yeah, he's like a big, thick kid. He's tough. He can back kids down. Nate Herbster had two goals and three assists. Yeah, it's a sophomore attack from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Kevin. There you go. And uh Mark Strunk was 15 for 24 at the X. Will Cody had six saves for Seton Hill, not bad.

SPEAKER_06 17:36

Well, and that's we so let's talk about that for a quick second. We talked about this in the conference preview, right? This is like the first time that Seton Hill hasn't had a seasoned goalie in cage for several years. And Will Will had six saves, but he had 10 goals against. So he's gonna probably, I'm sure, is gonna want to improve upon that. That's gonna be something to watch.

SPEAKER_07 17:57

Yeah, he only faced 16 shots on goal, stop six of them. So yeah, that's it's not so bad, it's not so great. Right. But again, first game, and you know what? Malloy's got some players out there. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Conrad McCaney had three goals. He was playing phenomenal. Chris Delaney had three goals. And can Green Pallulis and Hyman and uh Noah Taylor, the former Wingate kid. Yeah, uh, they all scored, they all scored a goal apiece. Um I thought, and Christian Michaels in goal for Malloy. He's very good. Steve saves, he's very good. 11 goals against, yeah. He had a good guy. He's very good. He's very good. Um, I DM'd Coach U Dunn, and uh he DM'd me back, and he said, we gotta learn to crawl before we can walk. And I was like, there's a legend saying, hey, my no, my team's young, but we're doing things right. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. So I like Coach Dunn. I think Malloy should be getting votes, man, because the way they played against a really, really.

SPEAKER_06 19:00

I I think I saw that they got they received some votes. I put basically wrote as a note, I think we've talked about this. I think Malloy has arrived. You look at the two teams we just talked about, Montevallo and Malloy, okay? And there's several other right in that same category that they are going to play everyone tough. When in years past, they've started claiming like Malloy a couple years ago when when Coach Dunn got there, they had a losing season. And now last year they're at the point like they won a lot of games against the big boys. Maybe they didn't win. And now they're they're matching the big boys, and that's where Montevallo is. They couldn't match the big boys in years past, and they went toe-to-toe with a top 20 team and beat them. And that's what those two teams are.

SPEAKER_07 19:44

You know, I have all the respect in the world for Coach Dunn. I think he's an amazing coach. And I I said to you when he got the job, I said, Kevin, it's not gonna be long before Malloy is gonna make be making noise again. Yeah, and you know what? I think that that's a team that should be receiving votes if they're not already. I'm not in the committee.

SPEAKER_06 20:02

They did. They did. That in the when I saw in USA lacrosse, they they said in other votes, you know, and Malloy was on that list, so which is good to do that's what they should be.

SPEAKER_07 20:11

They deserve it. 100%.

SPEAKER_06 20:12

You know what?

SPEAKER_07 20:13

And that was a quality lacrosse game.

SPEAKER_06 20:17

Cheers to you, my friend. All right, now let's move on. There, let's talk about the teams, at least in my mind, that I think have returned to form what I thought I would see the first week. And the first one was Wingate playing against Mercyhurst.

SPEAKER_07 20:35

Yeah, well, these two teams have a history. They've played 10 times in their history, and Wingate's only won twice. Out of 10 times. So it's, you know, Mercyhurst. They've they played at neutral ground, and the last couple of years they played down in Wingate. Uh Coach Trey Keeley in his first game brought the Lakers down to Wingate down there in North Carolina. And uh they met up with uh a really, really good defense, Kev.

SPEAKER_06 21:04

Yeah, so uh Wingate pulls it off 13 to 6. Let's start with our goalie. Thomas Sullivan was had another amazing game. But brick wall. The defense had an amazing game from D minis to LSM to the D pulls, the close defense. All played really well. That's some of the some of the saves that that Sully had were because the defense set him up for him. And then you add in, then you add in one more piece for defense, and that was the the ride by the attack and the midis. Their ride was tenacious during that game.

SPEAKER_07 21:42

Yeah, Wingate's defense is badass, man. Like I said, even in the loss that they had to uh Florida Southern last week. Oh, their defense played great. I didn't blame the defense, I blame the offense on that one, but their defense was amazing. Ethan Landemore's a three time All American. Scored. And only six shots.

SPEAKER_06 22:02

He only took six shots.

SPEAKER_07 22:04

Zero goals, zero assists on six shots. That speaks volumes. I can tell you short stick John Natoli, he who was like injured a lot last year. I'm telling you, he was he was amazing. He was the best game I've ever seen him play. I mean, he was all over the field, short sticky middy. He was clearing the ball. He was getting ground balls. He was he was he was really, really good.

SPEAKER_06 22:31

Both played transition middies both ways. And the great thing about Natoli, PayPal had two goals.

SPEAKER_07 22:38

His best game is a bulldog. He's part of the Fab Five. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:42

He's part of the Fab Five. But the thing I love about Natoly in that game was when he transitioned to offense, I don't think he made a mistake when he got on the other side. No, he played he played a damn good perfect heads up game. Yeah. Heads up game. Yeah, they were just and that was that was really the difference. I did not see the Lakers really being able to, they had trouble figuring out what they were doing offensively. Kind of what you saw with Wingate the week before, they were in the same shoes. Like they just couldn't get in sync on their office.

SPEAKER_07 23:13

Wingate was faster than them. They were trying to run like a 1-4-1 like invert from X. And Wingate was just faster and better. They were beating their man to the points and turning guys and getting sticks in lanes. And and you know what? Even though, even though you know Mercyhurst is a great team. I'm not going to take anything away from Mercy Hurst. Those kids are good, but they just ran into a brick wall in Sullivan, an amazing stout defense. And you know what that offense can do when they're the offense clicked in that game.

SPEAKER_06 23:47

What I expected to see him in the first game, what they did in the first quarter of their first game, and they were clicking on all sides. I mean, you look at some of the stats, you know, Sean Clark, redshirt freshman, five goals, two assists. Willie Greco, six assists, two ground balls, one cost turnover. Matt PayPal, two goals, four ground balls, one cost turnover. It goes to he was playing short 16 mini, but that also talks about the ride. Then Nick Arnold, two ground balls, three cost turnovers. Sully, 17 saves, six goals against 74% save percentage.

SPEAKER_07 24:23

Did you see Mercy Hurst go into the 10-man ride a couple of times?

SPEAKER_06 24:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 24:27

Yeah. And they left the goal open, and Wingate was shooting him from far and just missing, man. Just missing.

SPEAKER_05 24:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 24:34

There was one play where Olney was out of the goal by a good 12, 13 yards, riding, you know, doing this 10-man ride. The goal was open. I forget who shot the ball for Wingate. There was a long shot, like a 52-yard shot. And Olney went flying across the field, dove out, stuck his stick out, and was able to get his stick on the ball to stop the ball. That was an amazing, amazing athletic play.

SPEAKER_06 25:01

He's a great goalie. He's a great. And then guys like Braden McCard, their short stick D. Middle, who also had a goal for them. I mean, they have some great players on that team. And I expect Mercy Hurst to continue to rise. It's the first game of the season for them. Wingate's already had one. So, you know, you look at the um the difference. Uh, Wingate, even this time, they had 48 shots this time versus what they had last time, which is like 34. And they were 50% at the face-off percentage. So they had some great improvements in some of those stats to get where they were and be able to keep Mercy Hurst under control the whole game.

SPEAKER_07 25:34

Yeah, for Mercy Hurst, Lukey and Johnny had a goal. Colin Schmatz had a goal. Ryan Mahoney had a goal. Again, Landy Moore, scoreless. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. They locked him down. Uh, they went with a pair of uh guys at face off. Andrew Vetter went three for 10 at the X, and Matt Welch went eight for 12 at the X. Um, wingate's deep, man. They ran out 27 players in this game. 27 players they ran out. Uh they had uh Dylan Rucker was seven for 13 at the X. They put out McGarvey for a couple. He was one for five at the X. And uh freshman Logan Speth did really good at the X. He was three for four. So again, Sean Clark with a great game, five and two, Danny Riley with three, Greco with the six assists, um, Zach Sampson added two. Wingate was the wingate that we know. Yeah, yeah. And they did a good Mercy Hurst, and you know, and they were ranked number six. So it was a good win for Wingate, and you know, Mercy Hurst has they got their hands full.

SPEAKER_06 26:36

Yeah, and like I said in my top 20, I had Mercy Hurst farther back out of the top 10, mainly because I thought they they had lost enough that they had to make up for it. And I think it's you know, it's Coach Keeley, it's it's not that Coach Keeley isn't a great coach, he is, but there's new terminology, kind of a new offense probably being put in, and it's gonna take a little time for him. I think they'll figure it out. I think by the end of the season, they're gonna be they're gonna be up there. But they ran into a buzzsaw this time.

SPEAKER_07 27:04

Dude, they got a bunch of they got a bunch of players there at Mercy Hearst. They they got boys that can play. They'll put it together. You know, again, just like you just said, new coach, new terminology, a new look, a new feel. Once these, once these kids get really super comfortable and get a couple of games under their belt, I think they'll be the Mercy Hearst that we know.

SPEAKER_06 27:22

I agree. I agree. The other game, Danny, that was played on Saturday, that I another team that I thought didn't look what I thought they looked like in the first game, turned it around, and that was North Greenville playing Anderson at Anderson. North Greenville wins. Good game, actually. 11-9. A great game. Did you watch that? I did. I watched the second half of it. It was a good game. Yeah, so another one, just like the Malloy Seton Hill back and forth game for three quarters. It was 3-2 after one, North Greenville was up, four-forward half, and then it was six-five after three, and Anderson was up. They were tied at six in the fourth, and then Anderson reels off three goals, and you kind of feel like they have the momentum, right?

SPEAKER_07 28:04

It was going their way, right?

SPEAKER_06 28:05

Yeah. No. North Greenville answers with five in a row to go up 11-9. And that was the end of the game. There was a great you we talked about holy family and resilience. And when you're playing a team like Anderson, and Anderson gets up by three and you're in the fourth quarter, that takes some real steelied, steely-eyed resilience to steady yourself and come back. And they showed it, they played really well down the stretch.

SPEAKER_07 28:38

Well, you know, North Greenville, they lost last week, or am I going to do that? To Cotabba, yes. Yeah. So, you know, that's a that's a good win for North Greenville. You know what? You and I both know that North Greenville's got a pretty good team up there in Greenville, South Carolina, there. Um you know, I I was a little a little bit surprised at Anderson. I thought, I don't know, what's the word I'm looking for? I think there was like something missing, man. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 29:07

Yeah, I I think look at it, it was a close game all the way through. And I think the longer it was close, the more North Greenville got confidence. Anderson had to bury them early because North Greenville's a good team. And I think we we talked about that. We talked about this with and Anderson, they were they were undefeated going into that, but they hadn't really played, they played young Harris before that, so they hadn't played anyone of North Greenville's caliber. And you know, they just they ran into a team that was just matching them, and and Hayden Moffitt, we talked about this. I had him on my list, right? He's good, man. What is he gonna do out of the shadows? Six goals and an assist. Amazing. He might be better than Miles.

SPEAKER_07 29:53

I just started a fight in the Moffitt family.

SPEAKER_06 29:56

Yeah, you did. You did.

SPEAKER_07 29:57

Hey, Dalton's a good player, man. And he's he plays with passion and he plays with heart, and he's fast and aggressive out there. Yeah, and he ain't afraid to pull the trigger. No. I mean, this might be a big year for Mr. Moffitt.

SPEAKER_06 30:12

Yeah, and then on defense, Dalton Wilkins from had four ground balls, two cost turnovers. But here's what I want to point out Austin Jones, their goalie. He had 15 saves in this game and only nine goals against. And you think about what he did, he only had eight saves against Katawa. So another it's a great comeback for him because he's a good, he's a damn good goalie.

SPEAKER_07 30:33

Confidence builder, too.

SPEAKER_06 30:34

Yeah, yeah. You know, so it was a great game. Anderson, Tristan Kirkham had two goals, one assist. PJ Fenchak had two goals. Peyton Jefferson, Danny for Anderson was all over the field and everywhere. Four ground balls, four cost turnovers.

SPEAKER_07 30:54

He's very good, man. Yeah, he's really good. He's one of the best in the country, I think.

SPEAKER_06 30:58

I agree. I agree. 100%.

SPEAKER_07 31:02

Okay, so now what do you think of Anderson? Like, you know, they're in the tough conference in that, and then they've been making noise in that sack for a couple of years. What did you uh do you think this is a team that could make noise this year? I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_06 31:15

Yeah, I I I think so. I do. Okay. I do. I mean, I think they've got the players on both sides, offense and defense. They've got a great goalie. Uh actually two great goalies. I think it was just North Greenville, just, yeah. North Green. Had their number that night. Yeah, had their number. They just they came back. And uh I think they can make, I think they can still make noise.

SPEAKER_07 31:39

Again, I I didn't see the first half, I only saw the second half. And from what I could see, it looked like North Greenville defensively was confusing, you know, Anderson a little bit and just making them do things that they don't normally do. And and taking bad shots and and just, you know, and and goalie saves. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 31:56

Just North Greenville. I watched I watched the whole game, and it was just like I said, I just it felt like it was just totally even. It's popped through the whole right. So so all right, let's let's talk about first games for teams. We start off, it was Tuesday, it was a week ago, and it was Virginia State's first game against Lincoln Memorial, and it went like we thought it would, and LM dominated them. Yeah. LMU is good, man. Yeah, that's what I said. We thought it wasn't it was not going to be easy, and LMU won 22-5. It was 8-1 after one. But and Virginia State, let's give them some credit. Like they they were pretty consistent. They scored at least one goal per quarter. They had two in the third. They've got some athletes on their team and they've got speed. They just have to get used to the NCAA game. Yep. A little bit better. Once again, better on passing, better on clearing. It's a typical thing when you see new teams, right? It will go down some of these stats with these teams. But I'll tell you what, they fared fairly well in faceoffs. They were 13 of 30, which isn't horrendous, just under 50%. And they actually did well in ground balls. They had 30 ground balls to Lincoln Memorial's 28.

SPEAKER_07 33:11

So they're short on numbers and a lot of freshmen on that team. So there's a lot of learning to do. Again, like you said, learning the NCAA game. I think you know, Coach Church is gonna have those guys, you know, getting improving each week because he's a good coach, man.

SPEAKER_06 33:28

Yeah, yeah. He he's got the right attitude from. I'll tell you what, I we got this. I got a DM uh from someone telling us this happened. This is some great sportsmanship. Kalani Laughlin scored the first goal ever for Virginia State in the game. He is Kalani. LMU gave Virginia State the game ball from their first goal after the game. They saved the ball for them and gave it to him. Isn't that cool?

SPEAKER_07 33:55

Yep. Well, that's what lacrosse does. That's the game of lacrosse. Yeah. And you know what? It doesn't surprise me that Coach Wilson would do that. So it's a great thing to do. That's again, that's lacrosse. It's a gentleman's game, man.

SPEAKER_06 34:08

Yeah. Yep. You you play tough in between the lines, and when it's over, you know, you're one community again. It's just phenomenal to see. Okay, next game that happened on Saturday, and that was Tiffin against Davenport. And like we talked about, Danny, you last week about this game. Davenport has been kind of on a on an upward climb. They've been playing better and better. And they showed it in this game against Tiffin the first time. Once again, Tiffin having a small roster, first game. They beat Tiffin 22 to 6. Wow. It was 7-2 after one, and then the Panthers went on a 9-0 run to make it 16-2.

SPEAKER_07 34:47

Well, I hope the Panthers put their threes in. You know, I hope the I hope they got the couple of those freshman guys in there, got some run against uh, you know, Tiffin. Yeah. Because 2022 goals a lot.

SPEAKER_06 34:59

Yeah. But the stats, you know, here's the the stats were pretty close, except on the things you'd imagine, and we talked about this before shots. So Davenport had 48, the Tiffin's 24, ground balls 48 to 27, and face-offs 23 to 9. And that's typically what we've seen on new teams. That's where they struggle when they're first in there, especially probably not maybe not face-off all the time, but shots, ground balls, clearing. Um, they they've got a way to go, but you know, it was their first game, and and now they're taking lessons. Davenport, Jaden Ashley had four goals, two assists. Yeah. Trevor McDonald had three goals. Braylon Baker. Braylon Baker, three goals, six assists.

SPEAKER_07 35:39

He had a good game, nine-point game. That's that's badass right there.

SPEAKER_06 35:42

And then Caden Seeley on defense had three ground balls and two cost turnovers.

SPEAKER_07 35:47

Sean Ryan, 10 for 18 at the X. Yeah. How about Chase Post? Six ground balls and three close turnovers to Davenport. He got himself a game. Yeah. And Coach Travis Brown, man. Got to give him credit. Them guys scored six goals in their first game. Yeah. You know what? How about Isaac Wirt scored the first goal in Tiffin history. Tiffin program history. So that's good for him. Brandon McDonald had three goals. He's a graduate uh student. You know where he's from, Kev? Where is he from? Clifton Springs, New York. I have no clue as to where Clifton Springs is. But Brandon McDonnell had three goals and assists. Isaac Wertz, Keller, and uh Aidan Gilbert each added a goal apiece for them. And uh again, small roster, mostly freshmen for Tiffin, but they're on the boards, they're in the books.

unknown 36:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 36:37

There's guys scoring goals, there's guys making ground balls. So congratulations, Tiffin. You got your first game under your belt. Too bad you faced a really, really good Davenport Panther team.

SPEAKER_06 36:48

Yeah. Now here's the last one, and this is Quincy against William Jewell. This was Saturday as well. Quincy wins 15-7. But here's the interesting thing with this one. It was 5'3 at half, Danny. William Jewell then scores the first goal in the second half to get it within one, and then Quincy scores the next five, and the Hawks just break it open. They basically doubled him up in the third, six to three, and that is the real difference. And the final was 15-7. But they were hanging for a while, you know. Once again, team stats were the difference. Shots, Quincy had 54 to William Jewell 33, and then ground balls 42 to 24. But, you know, William Jewell, uh Olivia Laplant, two goals, one assist. Tanner Garth, two goals. Finn Ziberth, I think that's why he said their goalie had a good game. 16 saves, 15 goals against, but he kept them in the game for a while. He had a really good game. And then on the Quincy side, Jane Brain, four goals, one assist. Christian Zarney, three goals. Orton Erns, two goals, two assists. And then their goalie, Ryan Riggs, had 18 saves and 17 and seven goals against. So it was a good game. You know, Quincy's another team like Davenport that really came to the rise last year. And so it's tough for these new teams to play against teams that are really more seasoned.

SPEAKER_07 38:09

Yeah, so let me see if I got this right. Dominican, they have a couple of games under their belt, right? From California.

SPEAKER_06 38:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 38:15

Or Concordia. No, Dominican. Dominican. And why do I confuse these guys? I can't get it straight. I don't know why. So Holy Family had their first game, Virginia State had their first game, Tiffin had their first game. And William Moore.

SPEAKER_06 38:31

And William Jewel. Thomas Moore has their first game this coming week. We'll get to that in a little bit. Okay. They're playing William Jewell later on.

SPEAKER_07 38:40

So that's a good idea. All you knew guys, congratulations, getting your first games under your belt from the boys from D2. Uh, the only podcast about D2 in the crease knucklehead. So congratulations, guys.

SPEAKER_06 38:53

Here's kind of a game that was a little bit of a surprise, and a game that you and I both were looking forward to, and that was Meryville against Lewis.

SPEAKER_07 39:00

Yeah, kind of surprised at that for sure.

SPEAKER_06 39:03

Meryville wins this 13-5, and it was 8-1 at half. And I never would have expected that, Danny.

SPEAKER_07 39:11

I totally didn't expect that. Totally didn't expect that.

SPEAKER_06 39:16

Meryville was just playing really well in transition. They that produced a couple of goals for them, then they got the ball moving on offense. And and they also had some great breaks. They got a goal on a rebound that you would say, okay, it's kind of a garbage goal, but look at the attack when it was right there on the creeps. That's what you're supposed to do. Right place, right time. Yeah. You know, it it just seemed, and then on the defensive side, it just seemed like Maryville D never really let the Flyers set up their offense.

SPEAKER_07 39:51

Yeah, that's what I got from the game. I mean, I just saw uh Lewis not being able to get into an offensive flow at all. I mean, I just felt that Maryville's defense was just they were active and fast and aggressive and checking and and just you know, just wreaking havoc for Lewis. Yeah, I just felt like sticks were on sticks were on the hands a really good game defensively for Maryville. And you know what? I was expecting a lot more from Lewis, to be honest with you. I gotta say that I was shocked at that game.

SPEAKER_06 40:23

Yeah, and you know, really what it looks like when it's nine, you know, it's eight, one at a half, they just dug too big of a hole to get out of.

SPEAKER_07 40:34

Yeah, it was too much of a hole. You're right. They couldn't dig it out, they couldn't dig it out.

SPEAKER_06 40:38

So Maryville's a solid team, you know, really good team. Uh they both are stacked teams. That's why I thought it would be closer. I thought it'd be really close. And if you look at what I had for my top 20, I and I told you last week I gave Lewis a little bit of a, you know, a little bit of a favor in that game. And Maryville just came out and balled out at home. It was at home for them, so great. Yeah. For Zach Baker from Maryville had five goals. Reed Ursley had one goal, three assists. Bennett Gerton, a freshman, had four ground balls, two cost turnovers, and Dylan Raty had 15 saves and five goals against. On the Lewis side, Nate McLean had two goals. Maliki, good, had one goal, one assist. I did not see uh Boyenko in the game at all. I don't know if he's injured or not, but but their goalie, Rhea Rath, he had a good game. I mean, he had 18 saves, 13 goals against. He had a lot of shots on him, and he had a good game. It's it wasn't all on him. So it was it was just surprising for for Meryville. Yeah, yeah. And I think the only thing I want to say, I'm not gonna go through the games, but we both had Lenore Ryan, number one, in our top 20, and they're showing why they're there. Their offense and defense, and I think it's their defense, shutting down some good teams like Belmont Abbey and Undy. I mean, Undy went up by two goals to begin with, and all of a sudden you think, oh, let's see. But their defense really shut it down and allowed their offense to click.

SPEAKER_07 42:14

I couldn't agree with you more. Their defense is really, really, really good, man. They got they got studs on that side of the ball. Pennsylvania, Ingold, Victor Powell, yeah, you know, Colton McCracken. They got some players there on defense. You know what? They definitely have some players on offense. They look good. These new guys, these are uh these these uh transfers are starting to fit in a little bit. They didn't look so great in the first game. They look much better against Undy. U Indy couldn't do anything against them. They really couldn't.

SPEAKER_06 42:48

You're right. In the in the second half, it was 5-2 after, well, really after the first. It was 5-2 after the first, and it was 9-2 at a half. And I think, once again, I wrote this note. I think LR's offense, very good, and they were very good in spurts in that game against U Indy. But the D was steady and really tough throughout. So they held back the U Indy offense until all of a sudden LR would click. Lenore Ryan's offense would click and just score, score, score.

SPEAKER_07 43:22

Their defense is creating offense. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 43:24

Just like they did in the in the in the final last year.

SPEAKER_07 43:28

Yeah, they they knock balls down, they they're physical, they slide, they double, they get the ball out of the guy's hands, and they go flying down the field, man, in transition. They're a good team. They're a good team. Well, Noryan's gonna be a tough team to beat, folks.

Games to Watch thie Week

SPEAKER_06 43:43

All right, Danny, let's get to the games to watch this next week. And what's great about this is the North Region starts playing. And I've got one on Friday that starts that one off, and that's Caldwell against St. Michael's. It's the first game for the first time. Caldwell new head coach Blaze Mantinio. And what does St. Mike's do this year? Like we said in the preview, their D will be solid, but they lose a couple of attack men. And their offense, remember their offense was at like 71% assist-to-goal ratio. So I'm really interested to see if they can keep up that type of offense going. So great to see the North Region starting. And I think Caldwell St. Michael's is something to watch.

SPEAKER_07 44:25

Yeah. Who else in the North is starting this week?

SPEAKER_06 44:28

Um well, Roberts Wesleyan, uh Seton Hill. I mean, Seton Hill started last week. I have Roberts Wesleyan in there. They already played one. They played and beat Dominican of uh New Jersey. And Seton Hill won the Barn Burner, right? Against Malury. So that could be a good game. What's even more interesting about this one, Danny, is that's on Saturday. They play, they play those two play together on Saturday, the 17th. Roberts Wesleyan starts a grueling schedule. After that game, they basically play every two days for the next six days. So they play Seton Hill on the 17th, Walsh two days later on the 19th, Barton two days after that on the 21st, and they end it with Mount Olive on the 23rd.

SPEAKER_07 45:21

A rough six-day uh stretch.

SPEAKER_06 45:24

Crazy. Crazy.

SPEAKER_07 45:25

That's I like Davis Wesley, and they're a good team though, man.

SPEAKER_06 45:29

Yeah. Yeah. What other games are we looking at?

SPEAKER_07 45:33

Well, I was looking at, well, I I think the obvious one that stands out to me is the LR and Tampa. You know, it's a couple of big boys, top five matchup. Yeah. I think that should be an interesting game. Maybe uh Lenore Ryan gets pushed a little bit this game and uh tested a little bit, maybe.

SPEAKER_06 45:52

Yeah, now they're both undefeated. I would say that Lenore Ryan has faced a little tougher opponents than what Tampa has done. They're playing in a neutral site just like they did last year. Yeah. And Tampa pulled it out last year. So I think this could, you're right. I think this is going to be the biggest test for Lenore Ryan.

SPEAKER_07 46:08

So far, anyway. And uh, I like uh the I think a good uh matchup to a good game to watch should be the UND Mercy Hearst game. Yeah. Um, you know, both teams coming off losses, you know. Yeah. So and they're not used to losing these two teams. They're not used to losing, they're winning their NCAA caliber squads, you know. They're not they're not used to taking those L's early in the season.

SPEAKER_06 46:34

So I like to watch both teams have a new look kind of offense. Like they're not, they don't have the players that they used to have, and they're getting used to what they what they're doing on their offensive schemes, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 46:46

And new and new guys stepping in certain spots, you know. So yeah, I think that should be a good game. I want us I want to watch Malloy and Southern New Hampshire because that that I just like Malloy this year, man. Yeah, yeah. So I think if you Southern New Hampshire's they're not gonna be an easy team, and an NE 10 team, they're used to you know banging around with the big boys in the NE10s, so that should be a good matchup to play to see.

SPEAKER_06 47:13

Okay, I've got a I've got another one on Friday, and that's Malone against William Jewell. This is a GLBC GMAC matchup, so it's a north-south region, which is pretty cool. Malone was a new team last year. They started four and one last year, if you remember, as a brand new program. They're two and oh right now.

SPEAKER_07 47:32

So they have six wins total last year.

SPEAKER_06 47:34

They went seven and eight. They were just under 500.

SPEAKER_07 47:37

And that was a new program, you know, and they won seven games, and they've already won two this year. Yeah. Yeah, they're doing something good there, Malone.

SPEAKER_06 47:45

They're doing very well. And I and I think this could be interesting. You know, Cardinals did not play too bad against Quincy, so it could be really good, good matchup to watch. But here's the game. I like Malone. I think you're right. I think you're right. Here's the game, though, Danny, that everyone should tune into. If and if you're in the local area, if you're within an hour, you should go to this game, and that's Virginia State against UDC. Played at Virginia State.

SPEAKER_07 48:10

Historical game, Kev. This this game is historical.

SPEAKER_06 48:14

Yeah. Forget about the records. Put the records out. This already is a rivalry.

SPEAKER_07 48:20

Well, great rivalry. Kevin, this again, it's historical. We have two HBCUs playing an NCAA college lacrosse game. They played football. HBCUs have played in other sports, but there's never been two HBCU schools face each other in the game of lacrosse. This is a first. It's an American first. It's a USA lacrosse first, it's an NCAA first. This is truly a remarkable day coming up.

SPEAKER_06 48:57

You're exactly right. I can't say any more about it except what you just said. So we'll move on. Here's a game. And this is where you have a little trouble, Danny. We you had a little tongue twister when we were talking about uh games in review. I screw it up every time. I don't know why. Now you remember you may next week get it get it wrong who won and who lost. But this is Dominican of California against Concordia Irvine.

SPEAKER_07 49:25

There we go.

SPEAKER_06 49:26

Two Californians first first game for Concordia of the year. It's the first home game for the Panks, and even funnier or even more interesting, is it's the first game between two new programs, but they were clubs, both club last year. And now NCAD2. So it's got a lot of intrigue. This this game.

SPEAKER_07 49:52

I like Dominican in this game. I like Dominican. He's a Ranger fan, Coach Sammy, right? He had all the ranger stuff. Yeah, so I don't know. I I Dominicans got players that they are a good club team. This this team is making a little bit of noise in its early going here, huh? Yeah. So that should be a good one.

SPEAKER_06 50:12

I'm sure Concordia, I think this will be a close game. I think it'll be really fun to watch. I have two other games I'm looking at. One is a top 20 matchup, and that's Limestone against Florida Southern. Now, limestone is undefeated, and Florida Southern just came off a tough loss. You got to give the nod to limestone in this game. But look what Florida Southern did against Wingate. Do they turn it around?

SPEAKER_07 50:37

Well, if they can stop Zach Terry, they may have a shot. Yeah. So that means wherever he goes, wherever Mr. Terry goes, they better put somebody like Shannon or somebody right in his jock strap. If he goes to the bathroom, you go into the bathroom too. If he goes to X, you go to X. If he goes to Wing, you go to Wing. They're going to try to pick you. They're going to try to get him free. You gotta, you gotta guard Zach Terry. If you can, if you can hold him to like four goals or less, you might have a shot.

SPEAKER_06 51:11

Yeah, yeah. Good point. Last game I've got on my list. It's the first game. Yeah, they do. They do. The first game for Thomas More. So it'll be the second one ever. William Jewell. This is on Sunday. So William Jewell is playing on Friday, and then they turn around playing on Sunday against Thomas Moore. First game for Thomas More. Just like the Dominican and Concordia game, these are both new programs, but these are truly new programs.

unknown 51:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 51:38

So this is another one. You gotta put it on the thing of uh games to watch this week, just because of that that uniqueness. Yeah, I agree. That's all I got, Kev. I do too. It's another great week of games. You know, I'm going down to watch the Virginia State game. So how much time I'm gonna have if I as I have to travel down about two hours and travel back two hours to see a lot of games on Saturday. Maybe I'll try to catch some on Sunday, but uh it's gonna be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_07 52:07

Yeah, it should be great. The following segment of Increase is sponsored by Laxjobs.us. Fine lacrosse jobs, find lacrosse people. Laxjobs.us is the number one source to browse and post lacrosse job opportunities on the web. If you're looking to work in lacrosse, at laxjobs.us, you can browse lacrosse job opportunities, upload a resume, create a speaker profile, and pick 500 employers. You can sign up for email job alerts as well. Are you looking to hire lacrosse people? At laxjobs.us, you can post the job to release to a network of qualified job speakers. And the best part is that laxjobs.us is completely free to use. Our goal is simple. Fill lacrosse roles with lacrosse people. Visit us today at laxjobs.us and follow us at laxjobs underscore. And join our community of professionals. Laxjobs.us. Find lacrosse jobs. Find lacrosse people. Laxjobs.us

Team Spotlight

SPEAKER_07 53:19

bad news, Danny.

SPEAKER_06 53:21

No player spotlight again this week. Good news though. We have doubled down on the team spotlight. You know, I'm not really sure how this is gonna go. We got two teams that are getting ready to compete against each other, but we had to do it. As you know, we already talked about this in our games to watch. And because the Virginia State UDC game is so historic, we thought it'd be great to get both teams on to get their perspective of the game.

SPEAKER_07 53:54

Kevin, I since this game was slated, I said this is a historical game that no two HBCU have played each other in the game of lacrosse. They played in football. You got Jackson State and Grambling, you got all those schools. But in in Division I, we only have one school, and that's Hampton. Okay. In Division Two, we have two. And this is the first time in NCAA in United States history in the game of lacrosse where two HBCU schools are going at it. And it's exciting. It's about it's about the game and how we grow this game. And we always talk about growing the game of lacrosse and what the game of lacrosse does. It's the healers game, it's a spiritual game. But this this has a little bit more involved in it. It's just yeah, it's got historical, you know, it's got historical things just all over it.

SPEAKER_06 54:51

Yeah, when we first talked about it with both coaches, I circled it on my calendar and I've kept that date open. I'm driving the two hours down to Virginia State to watch this game. But so enough of us talk. Look, we didn't, you know, ever people hear us all the time. So why don't we just welcome in Coach Sean Church of Virginia State as well as Kalani Laughlin and Jace Wiggins from that team and from UDC, Coach Matt Merritt, Najee Wilson, and Julian Schem. Welcome, guys. How you doing? Welcome, fellas.

SPEAKER_01 55:24

I'm doing good. I'm doing good. How are you?

SPEAKER_07 55:27

I'm doing great. All right, boys. Excited? Are you excited for this game? Coach Church, welcome back to the program. It's good to see you again. You're looking good, man. No gray hairs. The team hasn't bogged you down too much yet. How's it going so far?

SPEAKER_04 55:43

Uh it's going well. Um, we're we've been learning a lot, but I can say um a lot of growth has been happening. Um, and our Mars Hill trip, we actually had a nice delay, woke up, the bus wasn't working. So we had uh some adversity on that trip. Game got pushed back a little bit, had to wait for the next bus from Virginia State to come to pick us up. Got back probably three, four in the morning. Um, cold tub, trash can, baths, courtesy coach trip, you code boy known some stuff again. And, you know, so I just I saw a lot of bonding happening, you know. Um, and then today we had another game. So, I mean, me as the coach, I kind of know where we are. You know where you get yourself in when you kind of take um this position. Um, this is a full out startup. So um ASA, I credit ASA and Monroe kind of giving me some knowledge on how to do all this. But one part of it is probably a lot of losing and a lot more small wins and um perspective, as I like to give my guys because we're all freshmen and um our day is gonna come sooner than later. So um we just gotta keep learning, keep our heads down, keep grinding, um, respect all, fear none, you know. But um keep in trying that we are playing the medicine game. We are getting the ability um to play at the highest level in college. But more importantly, for all these gentlemen on here, even the gentlemen from UDC, we're getting to represent um the HBCU sector, more importantly, Division II.

SPEAKER_06 57:06

Well said, Coach. Yeah, that's that's great. I I have another question for you, or hopefully, Coach Merritt will come back on. Uh, he he tried to he's trying, I think he's trying to escape from us. He's leaving it all up to his players to do the discussion right now. So, Najee, what made you decide to go to UDC?

SPEAKER_08 57:25

I just wanted to be a part of something different. Um, so we're both JUCO guys. I went to Autodaga for two years.

SPEAKER_06 57:32

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 57:33

Okay. Two years. Uh I was transferring graduating in the middle of COVID, so that 2020 year. So I was looking at a few schools, um, trying to decide what I want to do next. And the coach at the time, Coach Colbert, yeah. Um, I wanted to play for a coach that looked like me, you know, go to a school where a lot of students look like me, be a part of a program, you know, that can help me better myself on and off the field. So um I was one of the decided factors of going to UDC. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 58:03

Najee, let me ask you a question. What are you studying?

SPEAKER_08 58:06

Um criminal justice major.

SPEAKER_07 58:08

Criminal justice.

SPEAKER_06 58:09

All right, good for you. Awesome. So uh let me go to Kalani here. He's uh he's been quiet off camera here as we've been talking uh before we started recording here.

SPEAKER_07 58:19

So, first of all, congrats on scoring ones you gotta watch out for.

SPEAKER_06 58:24

But we've got the we've got the guy on that scored the first goal ever in Virginia State program history. So congrats on that, first of all, Kalani.

SPEAKER_00 58:34

Yes, thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 58:35

That's awesome. So, second, have you been able to grasp the significance of this game coming up with with UDC? Or am I just blowing it out of proportion and you're just going game to game? And really, UDC is just they are your next opponent. I know, I know UDC, as we're filming, as we're recording this, actually uh the UDC team, they're up in a hotel waiting for their game against Georgian Court, which is which is tomorrow. So, Kalani, what what do you think about the significance of this game?

SPEAKER_00 59:07

I think it, I think it's really awesome. Um, you know, we're making history. You know, that's that's the that's just great to me. And you know, I'm excited. That's all I got. I'm I'm excited, you know.

SPEAKER_06 59:22

That's awesome. That's awesome. Now that Coach Merritt and Merritt, uh Coach Merritt, I was giving you grief that you left all the uh the representation to your players, and uh they they're holding their hand up really well. But let me ask you this when did you put this game on the calendar for this year with Coach Church? When did you guys decide that?

SPEAKER_03 59:43

Oh man, I can't even remember. But I what I can say is I remember the women's team had theirs on their schedule, and then it kind of sprung up, like brought up the idea of all right, nah, we have to get this game on there as well. So I hit a church, and then it was it was a done deal from there.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:03

Yeah, yeah. What what do you think what does this game mean to you being able to play another HBCU?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:10

Uh like I said, last time I was on here, it it's just it's been a while to, you know, we've been waiting for other HBCUs to kind of come out of their shell and have lacrosse in their programs and like you know, start the journey for HBCU lacrosse.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:29

That's that's great. I and I can't wait for it either. And and like we just talked about in the intro, and and Danny said it, it's growing the game. And if this can spur on other HBCUs to come in, I would love to see it in D2 personally, but you know, where wherever they they are um would be great, but I think that would be phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:52

So Julian, you have played in a lot of NCA games. You've got a lot under your belt. Does this one, well, you've got first of all, let me ask you, how are you guys feeling for George and Cordy? You ready for tomorrow?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:07

Yeah, I think we're we're prepared for sure. I think I think we've got some things we need to tidy up on, but other than that, I think we got uh we're ready.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:19

That's awesome. I've been watching all you, I've been following all your Instagram posts, your stories, and your reels just to watch you guys in practice. So I'm excited to see you on the on the field for the first time. Does this yeah, yeah. It's a good team you're playing. It'll be fun to watch. Did but does this one that when you play against Virginia State, do you think that's gonna feel any different than other teams, or is it just it's just another team you've got to go after?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:44

Um honestly, I think it's gonna be I think it's kind of turned into a rivalry type game. So honestly, we're the only two schools in D2, uh HBCU, D2 schools right now. So honestly, yeah, like it's gonna be a repeated thing, you know? It's gonna be a thing that you know gains hype around the games every year, you know. So hopefully, yeah, I'm I'm really excited about this game. I think it's gonna feel different for sure. I think there's gonna be a different level of grit that the HBCU guys have been waiting for.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:13

We got to get a special trophy, man. You know, like Auburn, Alabama has that game every year. Whoever takes a trophy home gets to bring it home with him. And you know what? It's about bragging rights. I know you guys you all want to get after it when that game comes. I know, you know, it's all nicey nice now, but when you step in between the lines, it's go time.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:33

Yeah, it's all fun and it's all fun and games on Zoom, but when they get on the field against each other, 100%, man, because that's the way it should be.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:41

They want to this is historic, so it's gonna be the first one, you know, and then who's gonna win? It's gonna be big, big time bragging rights. And you know what? Hopefully, Coach Church and Coach Merritt can keep this thing going for a while and uh and and and make it even bigger than it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:58

I think that's something that's most definitely gonna happen. I mean, um I don't I know it's uh competition and this and that, but I don't want a bigger story also to not be told, which is how long me and Coach Merritt have actually known each other, how long we've competed each other not only as coaches now, but how long we've competed against each other as just athletes as well. So um, like I spoke on mine. I'm excited just to see a gentleman I've had the ability to watch as an athlete and now watch him as a coach. So to share the field with him outside of the competition and stuff like that. Um, that's really things that um I'm really looking forward to and that I'm enjoying again with just my path. Um, it's great to see this. Um, and more importantly, somebody who was my age who I know I'm planning to stick it out here. Um, Mo is cool. And I don't want people to lose sight of that. That another gentleman who is African American was given an opportunity to um lead his team at the helm just like me. And um, he's running in his way and he's already spinning stuff up and he has the juice going. So I don't want that to get lost in all the competition. That we do have two hardworking African-American men who are standing firm um at their programs, and we're really gonna both want to bring some noise in the future.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:16

Coach Merritt, I think he's buttering you up, man.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:18

Oh, he knows I'm not. He knows I'm not. That's that's the that's the truth. This is important.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:28

Church has always been locked in, and this is who we will forever be. So I understand that he's gonna come 100% for that game, if not every game. So, you know, if I don't bring that type of energy, then then I'll be doing a you know the service to him as you know, as a coach, as a friend, as somebody that we all compete against. Like it's it's it's go time.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:51

Let me ask you a question. What kind of lacrosse player was he?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:56

Oh, church?

SPEAKER_07 1:04:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:58

A dog.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:04

Now he's buttering you up, church.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:07

We're both dogs, man. I'm trying to get him to jump on my pro team this summer, man. We got things going on in the future, but no, he plays high-level Team Jamaica, you know. I play in the NLA, still moving around. We both again, big fans of one another. It's deeper than just us being coaches now. We're like really big fans of one another, and we have a lot of like like friends and common people who are in their journeys and trying to impact this game. So, um, no, I'm the biggest competitor. Everybody knows that I'll go south side real quick, but I know when we fuck my brother and know when the moment is bigger, also.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:41

That's phenomenal, man. This is good. This is I didn't know it went back that far. Yeah, I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:47

That's uh that's one of my brothers. Yeah, man. That's Nantucket. Don't don't you too?

SPEAKER_06 1:05:54

You guys gotta stick with your schools for a while. That's all I'm saying. Like, you can let's let's build these things both at UDC and and Virginia State. Let's make something out of it. You guys then start competing for conference championships. And then who knows? Maybe it will be in the Natty UDC against Virginia State. That would be phenomenal. But hey, Jace, let me ask you a question. Let me ask you a question. I I asked Najee this. I'm gonna ask you the same question. What made you decide to go to Virginia State and play lacrosse?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:26

That was the first commit, by the way, too.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:27

So oh, I like this was the first commit.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:32

Awesome, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:34

It was uh when was it? I committed last what September, yeah, like early September. Um I don't know. It it was for me, it was always a little bit more than just lacrosse. Um, I wanted to choose a school that like felt felt right for me. Like I wanted to be able to, no matter what happened on the field, I would be able to go off the field and say, okay, these are my people. Like I enjoy like the school aspect of it. Um I'm a very simple person, so I just wanted to find an environment that I knew like would be best suited for me. And just uh I always dreamed of an HBCU. Like I was always telling my parents, I was like, man, I would love to play at an HBCU. It's just difficult because there's not many lacrosse teams. And uh it was um actually my really good friend, um, he's on the team. He sent me uh coach's information when uh Coach Church was officially like selected as to be the head coach. And I reached out, sent him my film and everything, and we hopped on a phone call immediately after like my school day was over at 2:30. And we talked and we set up a visit. And as soon as I stepped, I mean, even before before I stepped foot on campus, I already knew. But as soon as like I stepped foot on campus and I shook like coach's hand, I was like, okay, like this is the place. And it just felt right. So after that, I was like, okay, like I I this is this is the spot where I want to be.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:51

Oh, that's awesome. Now now it means it don't sound like that.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:54

So it was in the bookstore, they come in in the bookstore. So at the end of the tour, you're not so good. Oh I like it. All the gear is in there. Yeah, you know, there's a hoodie right there, the hat's right there.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:05

Yeah, I shook his hand.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:06

I shook his hand and I was like, Yeah, I'm coming here, coach.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:10

Awesome. And then you then you bought a did you what'd you buy? A hat, uh a sweatshirt.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:14

What'd you gonna uh I think I bought like some sweatpants and a shirt? There you go. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:23

So that the inside question though, Jace, is since you'll be between the pipes, have you been watching any film on how to stop Julian?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:32

Uh not yet. Um, I think I'm just gonna, you know, coach's biggest thing always for me is just like have fun. And that's always been my thing too. So I think film coaches uh he harps on film a lot, and I've definitely been watching a lot more film than I used to in high school, which I think has already helped to improve my play. But um, you know, we're gonna get the film, we're gonna watch it. But at the end of the day, it's uh that split second like to react to this ball.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:00

It's just and if you're having fun, you're playing loose.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:04

Exactly, exactly. So I I know this is a big game, but um, I'm just gonna do my best to just go out there and have high energy and just stay positive and just do what I can to save whatever like balls come my way.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:18

When you say have fun and be loose, I I text my son before every game. Hashtag loose and free. I just want that to be in his head, to be loose and free, because when he plays tight, he plays like shit, you know. He just grips that stick, he grips that stick too tight and he makes mistakes. But when he plays loose and free, he's as good as just about anybody that I can think of. He's just he can play. But um, having fun. Jace, when you guys when you guys talk about that, you guys don't sound like freshmen, man. Like you sound older than your age, and that comes from home. Where are you from, Jace?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:57

I'm from uh Laurel, Maryland, in PD County. So I'm over.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:00

Oh yeah, I know exactly where Laurel is. You're like a half hour from where I live in uh Fairfax County there.

unknown 1:10:06

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:06

Okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:09

And Kalani, where are you from? Um, I'm from Aurora, Colorado. Aurora, Colorado. Wow. What's it what's it like for you to be on the East Coast, man?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:23

Um, it's great. I mean, I live in Florida now. Um so it I love it over here. All right, yeah, especially with the lacrosse and how popular it is over here, it's great.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:37

Yeah, Najee, where are now where are you from? If you went to Anandog, are you up from uh New York?

SPEAKER_08 1:10:42

Are you uh I'm I'm gonna try to say good. I'm from Bloomville, Connecticut.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:48

All right. There you go. There you go. And Julian, just to round out all the players, where are you from?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:56

I'm from Sykesville, Maryland.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:58

Oh Maryland kids.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:00

What do you what are you studying, Julian? I'm studying uh well, I graduated with my business management degree last semester, so now I'm doing my MBA. Oh wow, good for you. Congratulations, man. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:16

You can you can join the ranks of the unemployed soon.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:19

Just good. Hey, not with that. He's got an MBA. I'll tell you what, that that is phenomenal. He'll be having jobs handed to him.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:30

No, good for you, Julian. Man, that's that's that's big, that's huge, man. Getting your masters. And hey, for you young guys, you listening, Jace and Calani, you know, this these guys are going to get their masters. They're taking that level, that that that education level to the next level. And that's just gonna more success is gonna come their way because of that. It's all about the school, fellas. It's all about the grades, you know. And we you can't even play lacrosse unless you got the grades, you know what I'm saying? So the grades are everything. I, you know, there's nothing worse than a coach telling a kid, listen, man, I can't let you play. Your grades didn't, you know. That's it's a tough thing, right, Coach Merritt?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:09

Real tough. Extremely tough.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:13

So let's yeah, so let me let me flip this around. I have to ask this question to the coaches, and really the players, you can chime in. I'm really curious to hear if you've had any feedback from like alumni or other coaches or you know, your your school on this game that's coming up that you two are gonna play.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:34

George, you want to go? I think around Thursday, once after they play their first um game of the season, and um, I think both sides will probably start wrapping up.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:45

Chirping.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:46

Not even chirping, I just think promoting it talking about it. I think VDC's focus respectfully is their first game in the sure they have a good first out in with Georgie in court, and they start their season off with a dub. Um, but I think both schools know what it is, and with our ladies playing also, I think just both schools by Thursday, they're gonna personally wrap it up. I mean, I know I have friends who already reached out, and you know, they're making a truck down. And I know the same thing probably for Coach Merritt that people are making arrangements to travel down. So on the black web, we'll call it it's out there.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:21

Hey, now are the are the girls playing the same day? Are they playing? Yeah, we're playing at one o'clock.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:26

Oh, that is so awesome.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:28

Yeah, that I think a fun day.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:33

That is like a double, double historical day. One for the ladies and one for the the young men, man. Coach Marat, anybody reached out to you about this game?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:42

Yeah, yeah, everybody. I actually had a meeting uh yesterday with the president. So we we had a basketball game, and he spoke to me. He said that yeah, he's anticipating this game, he's not gonna be there, but you know, it just means something for the HBCUs to actually have this program, you know, developable across team and then go somewhere with this. So he actually reminded me that you know it's our 10th year as a program. And you know, when I was realize where we're at now, to even see that there's another program, to see that you know the success can go for another 10, especially for church, that you know, that's something that we kind of want for this to grow. And that's what I'm looking for.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:33

That's awesome. Uh, we we talk about it, and Danny said it before growing the game. And you you know, we're growing it geographically, but if we can grow it through diversification, god, that would be so awesome to see. I mean, just make make the game the way our our country is demographically made up, right? Like that would be just phenomenal to do. And that's you, your two teams are on the precipice and at the forefront of this. And that's what excites me so much about coming down and seeing this game on Saturday. So I just want to thank both teams for coming on. I know you have busy schedules that you know, Virginia State, they're they're they're tired and worn out from playing their game today. And I know UDC, they're they're ramped up and ready to go for tomorrow against Georgian Court. But thank you guys so much for coming on. It was a blast having you on. And uh, we can't wait to watch your whole season this year and see what you guys can do, both teams. But of course, we're excited for February 17th.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:36

Yes, sir. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:40

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 1:15:42

You guys have been phenomenal guests tonight. It's uh and Coach Marit and Coach Church, we've had you guys on before. And you know, Kevin and I were going back and forth. We're like, we gotta have them back on, you know. It's it's just it means too much. And you guys are good guys too, you know. And that's what I like. I that's the one thing about this game of lacrosse. Again, like Kevin said, we never played, we never coached. If I played, I'd be a MIDI. I'll tell you that right now. I'd be a MIDI because MIDI's rule. I don't give a shit what anybody says. MIDI's rule. But you know, the game, I love the game and what it means and what it stands for. And you know, my kids grew up on Long Island. So that there was a net every 30 yards. You know what I'm saying? Like everybody's got a net up here. And now what I'm seeing, being a New Yorker, I'm seeing it start to grow into the inner cities. Brooklyn Crescent in Brooklyn, they're starting to get a lacrosse club going. Up in the Bronx, they're starting to get it's starting to come together in the inner city now. And you're seeing young black kids with a stick saying, I don't want to play baseball, man. I want to play lacrosse like that sport, it's fun. And you know what? To see young black kids with a stick in their hand is just really cool to me. Because I was a basketball kid and I was the only white kid on my basketball team in high school. So, you know what I mean? So, like when I see that, I kind of relate opposite ways, you know what I'm saying? And it goes back, it goes both ways, believe it or not. You know, like being the only white kid on a basketball team that was like going to the States. I actually got run too, man. I was actually like the seventh guy off the bridge. I got some birds, man. I could play, I was quick, you know, I could play defense and stuff, but to see the way the game is going and to have two historically black colleges go at it in the in NCAA for the first time is nothing short of just phenomenal. And I am excited to see the game, and I wish all you guys the best of luck. Guys keep studying, study hard and and get those degrees, man, and and continue to be successful young men and follow your dreams. And thank you so much for coming on. You guys have been great, great guests tonight.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:02

Thank you very much, my dear. Thank you.

Shout OUts

SPEAKER_06 1:18:05

Danny, did you uh know uh that Coach Church and Coach Merritt go back so far?

SPEAKER_07 1:18:14

That was a great interview, man. Those guys, I you know what? I give them guys all the credit in the world. They like each other, they know each other a long time. And look what they're doing. They're doing something that they love and they're building cultures at these programs. Merritt's been there a long time. Church is just starting this out, you know, and starting his program out. Um, this fact that the two HBCU schools are going at it in the game of lacrosse for the first time in the NCAA, I think it's truly remarkable. And these guys, they were great guests. These kids are good guests. And hey, the two older guys are getting their degrees from UDC, and these younger guys were like, wow, looking up to these guys. What a cool interview. One of my favorites so far, Kev.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:59

Yeah, it was great. I was really impressed with the caliber of student athlete. You know, we talk about this all the time, and it's gonna take them a while to get up to the level of players, and it's even probably tougher to do it from an HBCU, from the the pool of players that are out there to get there, right? But if you look and when you talk to these players, and you said it, they all sound older and wiser than they are, and they come across, they have great reasons for doing what they're doing, and it and it did not start with, I want to play lacrosse. It's like, where do I want to go to school? What is gonna fit me? And that is exactly what we have been saying for a couple of years now, as we've had recruiters on and everything else, right? You've got to have pick the right place to be and play lacrosse. And so the fact that the fact that black athletes have this opportunity now, if they play lacrosse, to continue playing in college and schools like UDC and Virginia State and add in Hampton is phenomenal.

SPEAKER_07 1:20:12

It's it's great. You know, that this the game of this game of lacrosse, Kevin, I can't tell you how much it's changed my life. You know, how much I I've gone through in the last 20 years of this game and just what it's what I've seen from it. Again, I never played the game, but just what I I've seen my kids get out of it. And then through this podcast, what I see that these coaches go through and these players are going through, and how they go about and approach their lives and their games and their schools and their studies. And I just think it's a great thing. And you're gonna have a lot of fun down there this weekend to see that. That's gonna be very looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it. Get some pictures. They need a trophy, they got to get some kind of trophy that they do, they gotta make it a rivalry, they gotta do it, man. They gotta do it. So, Coach Merritt and Coach Church, and you guys that came on, thank you so much for coming on. That was a great interview, one of my favorites so far, Kev. Totally agree.

SPEAKER_06 1:21:08

All right, as we end, do you have any shout outs for this week?

SPEAKER_07 1:21:14

Oh, yeah, I got a shout-out. How about Wingate Attackman Willie Greco, third all-time NCAA assist man, over 200 assists, third in Division II all-time, tenth in all of NCAA all-time. Congratulations, Willie. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_06 1:21:40

That's awesome. Okay, I've got one, and I already talked about it, but I got to shout him again. And that's that's Austin Jones, a goalie for North Greenville. And that's because of the comeback kid, I'll call him for this past week. He had a he did not have a great game against Kataba. He had a great game against Anderson, and I think he deserves a shout-out. Right. What else do you have?

SPEAKER_07 1:22:04

Oh, well, I gotta give a shout out to the redshirt freshman attack from Wingate. How about it? Sean Clark, five goals and two assists, named to the U.S. ILA team of the week and was uh SAC offensive player of the week. So shout out to Sean Clark.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:24

That's awesome. He had an unbelievable game. Okay, here's my next shout out, and it goes to the first ever goal scorers for their team. So I'm gonna go down. We already talked about a little bit, we've already done it, but they deserve a separate shout out at the end. And here it goes. For Virginia State, it was Kalani Laughlin. Yay! For Holy Family, it was James Bienia. James? Olivier Leplant for William Jewell had the first goal ever. And then for Tiffin was Isaac Wirt. So congratulations, boys.

SPEAKER_07 1:22:54

Congrats, fellas.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:58

You have any more? I've got one more. I have one more as well. Go ahead. Okay, mine is to Eric George of Chihuan. He now has in his career over 200 points.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:11

That's just amazing. I tell you, he's been around for a couple of years. He's a really good player. And if you go into the stat books on ncAA.com, you always see Eric George's name near the top. Always see his name near the top. So he's one of those players. He's like the Archie Manning for the Saints, like just a great player on a team that's kind of struggles from time to time. Yeah. He's one of those players, Eric George. Shada. Good, good shada. And last but not least, Kev, I got a DM from a listener this week, a Long Island guy, a guy I worked with, Greg Hansen. All right. Greg shot me a DM and said, you guys need to start doing a daily podcast. I need more. Yeah, he's crazy. He needs more to listen to on his commute back from Manhattan every day. So shout out to Greg Hanson. Are you out of your mind? It takes enough just to do this one a week.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:14

We have day jobs, unfortunately. If we were getting paid more, I would do it. But I don't have that.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:20

And really kind of cool thing is that Greg's daughter, I believe, is a junior in high school, committed to Wingate University to play women's across. So awesome. Awesome.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:30

Shout out to my man Greg. Hey, and I love his enthusiasm and his and his passion that he thinks we actually should do something once every day.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:42

Wait till he hears this, he's gonna laugh, boy. I can't wait. My phone will be ringing for sure.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:47

I don't even know. I I think we just have to end there and call it a wrap, Danny.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:52

That's a wrap. That was a good this was a good week. A lot of stuff going on and the HBCU stuff. Great, a great week of La Cross, and another one coming up. And that's a wrap.