Game Time - A look back at week 3 and a preview of Week 4 of the 2023 season

Intro

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenturn, and with me as always is that proud D2 lacrosse dad, Danny Moran.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

Your son had a pretty damn good game this week, Danny. Thank you so much for bringing that up, Kev. Because you know what? I don't normally like to talk about them too much like this, but my man, he he had a great game the other day. He had four goals. He had four goals. And uh they gave me a freshman getting play. I love it. He got the hard hat. Yeah, he got the hard hat. And you know what? I just couldn't be more happier for him because I know how hard he's grinded, and I know how hard that he put in the extra work, you know, to get where he is. And just to be a freshman on this team and getting run and contributing, um, he's got six goals, two assists, and two ground balls in three games as a freshman. I couldn't be more happier. So, Joe, way to go, kid. Mom and dad were both very proud of you, happy for you, and keep it going, man. Uh, hashtag free and loose.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

There we go. There we go. Let's move on, though. That's that's enough about Joe for the rest of the podcast. But I did want to start off with that because he did have a good game and it was thank you for bringing that up, though, Kev.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

I really do appreciate that. Uh, that means a lot. Thank you. You bet. You bet.

Week in Review

SPEAKER_02 1:35

All right, so let's move on to the weekend review. There were some unbelievable matchups and some unbelievable games.

SPEAKER_03 1:43

Kevin, this weekend, if you want to really get down to the nitty-gritty, this weekend was filled with quality lacrosse. There was a lot of good games, Kevin. Some really, really top-notch, high-quality games this past weekend. It was a really good weekend for lacrosse.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Yeah, a lot of top 20 matchups, but even some of the ones that weren't in the top 20 that played, some really good games. Let's start it off with what I coined on social media as I realized it the Peach Belt Sunshine State Conference Challenge.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

Yeah, a couple of teams going back and forth from those two conferences.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Yeah, so Emmy Riddle and St. Leo, they kind of travel to Alabama and they're playing against Alabama and Montevallo. They both played Friday night. So two matchups there, and then they swap for Sunday. In the end, in the end, it was a split for the conferences, two to two. But the real winner was Emory Riddle. We they won both games. They beat Montevalo and they beat Alabama Huntsville, which is not easy to do.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Kev, uh, I think we're watching Emory Riddle crow up and right in front of our eyes. Yep. They're really coming along, man. They're just playing very well. Coach Wims has them playing good, man. And those are two quality wins for that for that program.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Yeah, without a doubt. Without a doubt. So, but let's move on. The the first game I watched this weekend, limestone against Rollins. Good game. That was a solid game. Rollins pulls it out 13-11, but it was a game of runs and then totally back and forth. I think if I counted right, Danny, there were five lead changes, and nine times the game was tied throughout this match.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

Yeah, it was quite the game. You know what really stuck out to me was Rollins' defense. They played really, really good defense, man. I their poles are getting uh their sticks in lanes and knocking down passes. And you know what? I'm not used to limestone being like that on offense. I they're usually a little bit more sharper on offense. I felt their defense kept them in the game because they ride so hard, man. But that was that was a pretty good game and a real big win for Rollins.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

It's a huge win. And I and I'll I'll even say that I mean, I've read a few articles talking about how this was a big upset. And like I told you last week, I don't really see this one based on what we saw coming, what Rollins had coming in with some of the players that they had some transfers of some guys that are moving up in there and that are coming back for their team. I saw this as a very evenly matched game before they even played it, and that's how it played out. I mean, you know, it looked like Rollins had the momentum going in the third and they had the lead nine-seven. Limestone scores four in a row to go up 11-9 with 855 left, and then Rollins scores scores four in a row to seal it. I mean, that's how how back and forth it was in a game of runs.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

Yeah, you know, and again, uh, you know, what stood out to me, what stood out, you know, I always look for that eye candy. What stands out? What is sticking out? Number one that was sticking out to me was limestone's ride. They ride hard, they make it really hard for other teams to clear the ball. So Rollins had to fight to just to clear the ball. Yeah, just to clear the ball. But once they got into their offensive set, they were able to move the ball very well, get that defense of limestone moving, and and and they were able to get quality goals, quality shots off. Yeah. Rollins' defense was able to, like I said, they were just seemed to get sticks in the way and knock down balls, and they were quick to slide and cause double teams and cause turnovers and kind of disrupted the offense for limestone a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Yeah, I mean, that probably played out. You saw some of the stats where Limestone took 62 shots, but only 25 were on net. And I I give that a lot of that to Rollins' defense of giving not letting them have quality shots onto the net.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

You know, they were getting sticks on hands and sticks on sticks, and shots were going all over the place. And what's the goalie's name again? Um, from Rollins Shay Catchedurian. Catchedurian had a great game, he was stopping everything.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

Yeah, he had 14 saves. But did you there was one save that I thought kind of epitomized his day? He actually had a great save, close, almost like a doorstep save. Yep, and then he tried to clear it, but a limestone player on the crease intercepted it, and he's right on the crease, ready to go.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

He quick sticked it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Quick sticked it, and Catchadurian saved it again. He stopped that one. Then he cleared it, and Rollins scored right after that.

SPEAKER_03 6:51

Yeah, that was big. That was big. That was a great play by Catchadurian. He had a really good game. I was very impressed with him. He's a Syracuse transfer. Is that that's right, that's right. He's a Syracuse transfer. So, you know, he's he's gone against some pretty big, you know, some pretty big boys in practice with Syracuse. So here he is playing for Rollins. And hey, Rollins is what they popped up to number 15 in the country this week, didn't they? Not oh, I think they're even higher.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

I think they're even higher than that. Hang on. Rollins is at number nine right now.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Yeah, not number nine. So the first five are Tampa Lemoyne, Mercy Hearst, Adelphi, Lenore Ryan. Then six through ten is Mercy, Undy, Wingate, Rollins, and St. A. So they're in the top ten, and that was a big win for their program. That was a big win. You know what? Country's better watch out for Rollins.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Without a doubt. Without a doubt. Okay. Here's a game I watched Saturday night. Now, let me preface this whole thing. It was kind of a funny weekend. We went up to visit my daughter at Hofstra. And so I'm watching games. God love my wife. Five and a half hours up from Northern Virginia. I'm watching games streaming as she's driving the whole way up. I'm watching games, you know, trying to watch games on my phone. I'm watching games. I watched the Coker North Greenville game when we finished dinner and I came back to the hotel room. That was an unbelievable game.

SPEAKER_03 8:21

Watching games at dinner with your daughter at school.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

No, I didn't watch during dinner. I watched the next day when we're at the diner for brunch. I'll get to that game. That's okay. Coker North Greenville. North Greenville pulls it out in overtime, 13 to 12. Did you see any of this game? I did not. I'll tell you why. I pulled, I'm I'm watching the scores as I'm I'm looking at my scores. My wife's like, Will you stop looking at what the scores are on your phone? Coker led in the third 11-5. I was like, Oh my gosh, here comes look what coker's doing this year. It's unbelievable. But the Crusaders crawl back. I turned it on when I got back. It was 11-7 when I got back in the hotel room. Then Coker goes up 12-7. No give by North Greenville. They just kept on coming and they score the next five. They score the time goal with 134 left in the game. Wow. Then it went back and forth, and none can really do anything. It's a couple turnovers, but then they went back. Goes into overtime. And North Greenville calls a timeout. I think this is how it went. They came out with a set play that worked to perfection because on the uh basically on the left-hand grease, the guy was wide open, shot in, and they win. Wow. And they went nuts. North Greenville went nuts. Coker was devastated, obviously. But this is how great this game was. I mean, it was it no team gave in. And I you have to give it to Coker where they were last year, not in a lot of games. They've won games this year, and they were very close to beating a really good North Greenville team.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

Yeah, yeah. Coker's not a bad team. We've discussed that several times. And we know North Greenville can ball.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Without a doubt. Without a doubt. Okay, that was a fun game to watch Saturday night. Now, other game on Saturday that I finally got to watch uh on replay was Seton Hill UIndy. That might have been my favorite game of the weekend, Kev.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

That was a crazy game. It was a great game, man. It was a great game.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

UIndy pulls it out by scoring a goal with 16 seconds left to win 17-16.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

Yeah, and Seton Hill turned the ball over twice just before that goal. So Seton Hill had the chance to really put it away, to tie it up and put it away at the end. This game went back and forth. You want to talk about goal, goal. Goal, right, goal, goal, goal, goal. I don't think there was ever more than a two-goal lead by the other team. I think um it was uh what was it 10-8 at halftime, you indie. It was 5-4 after first U Indy.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Yeah, and then Undy, U Indy goes up to 16-14 with 4-0 eight left. But the Griffins come right back on the next two minutes and score two goals, and it's tied. I mean, that's even having two-goal. Well, we know this, having a six-goal lead isn't always guaranteed, but with 4-0 eight left, the way this game was going, how tight it was, I thought maybe Undy had at that point, but Seton Hill came storming back. They did not give up.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

No, Seton's a good squad, man. Vinny Cook Cagliandro had three. Andy Davis had two and one. Connor Zonstan had one and four. Carter Green, a freshman. He's a freshman on this team. Yeah, he's pretty good, man. I was pretty impressed with him. Uh Peyton Gensler, the fire plug attackman. Did you see that kid? Yeah, he's built like a brick shit house. Dude, he is stacked, that kid. And he's fast and he's aggressive. He had one. Aiden McLaughlin's another freshman for Seton Hill getting a lot of run. Blake Morrow had had a goal. They run out a lot of guys.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

And and and Jeremy Zorfo had a had a hat trick. I'll say three guys with hat tricks.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

So and but Swarzo had three and one. He had an assist too. So he had a good game. Yeah. But you know what? They they they run out a lot of guys. They're deep. Yeah. But you know what? So is you Indy. They run out of a ton of guys, too.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Kyle, four goals. Drew Billig, Nick Rangard, Tristan Schaefer. Tristan Schaper.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Five goals. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They just got guys after guys. Nathan Lamb, Jake Allen, Drew Billig, like you said, Kyle Bash, Ryan Herzlap, Sam Arston. These kids just keep coming and coming. They just got guys there. I really liked their short stick DM. I like that kid Bash, man. He's number seven. He is damn good. I just like his energy. He he causes turnovers. U Indy's a real good team. They like to push and transition. They're fast. They like to get out and transition. Their transition looked very good to me. They got a couple of unsettled goals because Seton Hill couldn't get back on defense quick enough. But you know what? They're fast and quick, but it was there were some things at the end of that game that I felt that Seton Hill could have done because they were winning the face-off battle. They were winning the face-off battle, Seton Hill. There was a play where a UND player ran into a double team and fell down and got the flag. So now they're man up, right? So they call a timeout to set up a play. And they're down one. They come out of the timeout, they run the play. The kid makes the save. They go to clear, they mess up the clear. UND comes down again, takes an ill-vised shot, but gets the ball back at X. They call another timeout. They set up a play. Boom, game. That was it. Yeah. So Seton Hill turned the ball over in their last two possessions. And they had a chance to put it away because they won both face-offs.

unknown 14:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

That's how close that game was. It came down to literally one or two possessions.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Yeah.

unknown 14:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

That brings Undy to 3-0. So I mean it's they're on a roll. Seton Hill's Seton Hill's going to be tough this year. They're they're going to bounce back. They're good. I mean, they're good. Undy was number seven, Seton Hill's number 11 in last week's poll. So, and I don't think it changed. They they they basically stayed their same spots today this week because that's how close they are. So it was it was going to be a close game. Here's another game.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

If you if you hold on, but if you look at the stats, you know, Undy had 49 shots, Seton Hill had 43. Kind of close. 32 shots on goal to 22 shots on goal from Seton Hill. UND made six saves. Kid from Seton Hill made 15 saves. 22 turnovers by UND's 11. Yeah. UND's 11. Yeah. And two of them, two of them at the worst time. So that was the difference in the game, I think. Turnovers. But man, that was a fun game to watch. It was as that was one of the better games I've seen in a long time, Kev, to be honest with you. Yeah, it was it was a great game. It went back and forth. I didn't know who was going to win. I said at the end, I said whoever's got the ball last is going to win.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Yeah. Yeah. And it was 16 seconds left, basically. You know? Yeah. It was a good one. I enjoyed it. Okay. The other that now there are a couple games on Sunday, the big matchups we talked about last week. You we want to start with start with Le Moyne and Mercy.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

Yeah, we can start with Le Moyne and Mercy. Uh, first of all, you gotta congrats to Coach Dan Shannon for his 350th career win. Without a doubt. So that's a congratulations. And uh that's well deserved, Coach. You know, you've been there a long time and you've been doing your thing, and you have all the respect in the world from all everybody on in the country in division two, and just congratulations from the guys from In the Crease on that win. Congrats.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

100%. And that's the other thing. The first thing I wrote is the fact that we talked about it in the preview. They lost seven of their top eight scores. What's gonna happen? But like expected, they just roll out new players, whether they're transfers or they're they're just waiting their turn, like Kyle Caves. Wow five goals, a junior that couldn't see the field last year. And this was Dan Sheehan's quote, and I I had to take it down. I had to use it for this because I think it's so cool. He said today was a program win. When you have a guy like Kyle, who could have started last year on almost any team in the country, finally gets his number called. That says a lot about Kyle and our locker room.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

Yeah, you know, I was interested to see who they were gonna. I wanted to see the names of the kids that they were gonna roll out because it was gonna be all new to us. Man, Max Kramer, Isaac Facetti, Seth Benedict, Sam Carey. Well, Kevin Sheehan, we know he's a he's a returner. Yeah, Joey Pizimenti. Joey Pizimenti, the Albany Transfer, Kyle Case, Sam Lambert. These are all new names to us, Kevin. Outside of Mr. Sheehan. They're all new names to us. And they did not disappoint. Lamoy looks like Lemoyne.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Without a doubt. But here's what's interesting, though. Even with, I mean, they scored 10 goals. We talk about the the big uh production by Kyle Caves and Joey Pasimenti had three goals and two assists. Yeah, it really was a defensive effort, I thought. It was three two at half.

SPEAKER_03 18:07

Yeah. You know, when compared to the other games, like if you talk about the Tampa Lorron game or the Seton Hill U Indy, or even the Rollins Limestone game, this game was so much slower paced than those games. Yeah. So it was a slow-paced game. And and you know, Coach Sheehan, he's all about the defense. He's all about the defense. His defenses are among the best every year. And again, if their defense stood out because Mercy is loaded and stacked with offensive players. Are you kidding me? Just Gibbons and Kiernan and just uh and TJ Heider and just they're they're just stacked offensively. And and to just to see Lemoyne do what they did says a lot to Dan Sheen and his defense.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

Yeah, I mean, and and they really shut down Mercy uh in the second half. They didn't score for over 10 minutes. Yeah. While the Dolphins scored, I think, four times to take a two-goal lead uh in at that period. And that kind of was the difference. They they basically got it to 10-6, and and Mercy came back with a couple goals, but they sh when they shut him down for 10 minutes or so from scoring, that that's all she wrote for that game.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

It was a two-goal game, you know. Le Moyne won 10-8. You know, but hey, Mercy, again, they turn the ball over. They were on a man up and turned the ball over. Yep. You know, you you can't do that against Le Moyne. Mercy, you're the number two team in the country. You can't throw the ball away on a man up. You need to bury the biscuit, especially against a team like Lemoyne. And and that it that's just an unforced error, and that shouldn't have happened. So Mercy had their chances. You know, I'm not gonna say they had good looks at the at the goal, they took good shots. Just I've just felt that Lemoyne's defense, that that, you know, that 10 minutes of no goals for Mercy was the difference in the game because Mercy's good, Kevin. They're very good squad. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

This this is just the beginning of us talking about them this season. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 20:18

They'll be fine. Yeah, they'll be fine. They'll be fine. So hit the panic button. Le Moine surprised me a little bit. You know, I just I this I don't know if even though they beat Mercy, I felt it was a defensive game. What did Lemoy do offensively that turned you on? Did you see anything offensively that was just wow?

SPEAKER_02 20:42

No, I think you said it. This was really a six-on-six game. It was set offenses against set defenses. There wasn't a lot of transition, as I recall, thinking back in the game. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that. And so, and both defenses are very good, so it's going to be tough. And I I do remember when I saw Lemoyne, and we talked about this a little bit, there was so much precision to their team last year because the those players on offense had played so many years together, yeah, that they knew where that where their their you know their other teammates are gonna be before he's there.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

And I think they they're gonna they're gonna grow into that at Lemoyne.

SPEAKER_03 21:27

But I'll tell you, yeah, they're not there yet. They're not there yet offensively, I don't think. But again, as long as the as co as long as Coach is alive and there's three polls out there, they're gonna stop teams. They're just good at that.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Just remember what you said. Think of all those those remember all those names you just rang out during this podcast. I mean, there's guys that went yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:54

Ethan Lyon, Joey Pisimenti, Kyle Case, and Sam Lambert. How many teams in D D two would like to have that problem. Oh, are you kidding me? Every team in D2 would love to have that problem. Exactly. Okay. So that you know it was a 10-8 game, number two versus number four. Uh, you know, I felt that Mercy threw the ball away a couple of times, some in a you know, unforced turnovers, but hey, Mercy, like you said, they'll be fine. They go to two and one. And uh that was a good game, man. It was.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Two top dogs getting after it. I I really wish they had played at different times, so I could have rolled from one to the other, but they're both exactly the same time. And the Tampa Lenorein game, this was the game I was having brunch with my wife and and my daughter, and I've got the game on my phone in the little corner there watching it. Uh, and so I didn't get to really pay attention to it all the time, but good game. Good game. 13-9 final, the Spartans pull it out. This game, Danny, was very physical, from what I could tell. Yeah, very physical.

SPEAKER_03 22:59

Yep, yep. Very physical game. It was fast, it was physical. Um, a lot of great uh ball movement by uh by Tampa and really good off ball movement. If you watch Tampa off ball, yeah, it's a it's a thing of beauty, bro. It's a thing of beauty. These guys cut, set picks, back behind sides, case that just do a lot of moving. The defensemen are always moving their heads trying to figure out where their guy is, who's hot, who, where am I sliding to. It's constant. It's like it's like the net that don't go away. You just can't figure out. And they got a million guys that can score too, Tampa. They're deep as hell, man. They just there's another team that just brings in legs, you know. Kolkowski with two and three, you know, McAnaney with one. Danny Fitzpatrick last year, last week was he had one goal and four assists. He was just auditioned dimes this week. Four goals, four goals and one assist. I really like the way Fitzpatrick plays. There's something solid and hard and aggressive about his game, and very this is what I'm doing, and you can't stop me. And he's it's not a lot of flash, it's not a lot of it's uh here we go, and grip it and rip it. And he's just so smart with the ball. His IQ is just really good. I mean, I think he's a big reason why they're so great on offense. And last year, I don't know if I gave him as much uh credit for that, but after watching a couple of games this year from Tampa already, and just watching what Danny's doing out there, he's a leader, he's facilitating, you know. Yeah, and and then you had a couple of guys with you know a couple of goals each they share the rock, have yeah, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

Well they did last year too. They always have multiple scores. But I'll tell you what, on Lenore Ryan's side, this game another was back and forth. Lenore Ryan had the early lead, they were they were up 4-2 after one. Tampa comes back, they take the lead 7-5 at half. Yeah, then uh Lenore Ryan evens it up at seven in the third, and and Tampa goes on a four-goal run. And at that point, Danny, when it was 11-7, I'm thinking, okay, that's probably it. No. Lenore Ryan scores twice to bring it within two. And I'm thinking, I'm thinking, here they come. That's what I was thinking. I'm like, here comes Lenore Ryan. They're not giving in. But as we've seen Tampa do time and time again, they close the door by scoring twice themselves to pull it, you know, make it a four-go differ, four-goal differential.

SPEAKER_03 25:38

You know, Tampa's defense at the end of the game seems to just chain it up. They just chain it up, man. Like they're locking up for the weekend. Like, you know, locking up the tools, man. We're going away. And they just, you know, they just lock people down. It's really impressive to see because I'm gonna be honest with you, Kevin. Lenore Ryan's a phenomenal team. That's another team that's stacked offensively and defensively. Listen, Nolan Hoffman in goal for Lenore Ryan had 10 saves. He was really good in goal. Excilston, you know, he's a great player. He had three. Bryce Reese, one of their captains, loved the way he plays. He had two. Evan Voss had two, a couple guys had one. You know what? If you look at the stats, Tampa had 39 shots until Lenore Ryan's 35. And you know what? Lenore Ryan hit six pipes. Six pipes. You know, two or three of those balls are an inch to the left. Yeah. It's a different ball game. Yeah. It's a different ball game. Blake Ulmer only made six saves. They didn't make him work very hard. They didn't make him work very hard, but he made the saves that he had to.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

They had well both goalies ending up being at around 40-43% on their save percentage, which is for both those guys. That's uncharacteristic, which would tell you how good these teams are, right? When they're they're putting shots on goal, they are effective.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Yeah. You know, but you know, Lenorein had trouble putting shots on goal. Out of the 35 shots that they took, they only put 15 on goal. And six of them was saved. And six of them hit pipes. So, you know, they had 17 turnovers compared to Tampa's 13. They were even on clears, they were basically even on ground balls. They were pretty close to even on face-offs, the edge going to Tampa there. And the EMOs were two for four with Tampa and one for four. So Tampa had the edge on the extra man. So it was a close game. A couple of things either way, could have gone either way. I think Lenore Ryan's a really good team. I don't think that that loss hurts them at all. No. You know, in the rankings, they lost to the number one team. That's not gonna hurt them. And and they gave them a game. It wasn't like a walkover, it was a game. But Tampa's defense at the end of games, Kev, they seem to just get the chains and get the locks and and and get the keys, and because we want to go now.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

And then I've and they're not giving the combo out or the keys to anyone else.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

And the first thing on my notes that I wrote physical and fast paced and Tampa's all the off-ball movement. That's what was really impressive to me, just watching Tampa go off ball and the things that they were doing. I you just saw Lenore Ryan defenders just turning their heads the whole time on swivels, just trying to figure out where am I going next, what am I doing next. And that that comes from just great coaching and being stacked with great players. So exactly. Tampa, Tampa's a handful, Kev. Yeah, they're a they're a handful. And Lenore Ryan is too. That was a really fun game to watch.

SPEAKER_02 28:53

There were a lot. That's what was so great about this week. There were a lot of just really tight matchups, top 20 match, top 10 matchup games that early on in the season, doesn't hurt anyone, but really makes it fun for those watching. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

You know what? Those were our three go-to games. We had four go-to games, and they were all phenomenal, if you really ask me. They were really each one, it was we nailed ahead on that one. We just we really did.

Coach's Spotlight

SPEAKER_02 29:23

Okay, Danny, let's move on to our coach's spotlight. This week we get to talk to a coach who's entering his sixth season with this program. But unlike Coach DeCarlo last week, he is a transplant with this program as he moved from Colorado, where he played and then coached at Colorado State. But not only that, he played and coached professionally as a player and then as an assistant for the Denver Outlaws. So he brings a unique perspective, not only playing professionally, but you know, we usually see coaches go maybe east to west, or players go east to west. He went west to east. So let's welcome him in, Coach Alex Smith, head coach of the St. Michaels Purple Knights. Hey coach.

SPEAKER_03 30:08

Hey guys, how are we doing? Hey Coach Smith, thanks so much for coming on In the Increase Podcast with the two knuckleheads tonight. We appreciate it, really. No, you just came off the field from practice, how'd it go tonight?

SPEAKER_01 30:22

Excuse me. It was good. You know, we're we're kind of looking down the barrel, some tough weather at the end of the week. So we're trying to get as much as we can get in this uh this early part of the week and get ready for a tough one this week, uh, this weekend down at Bentley. So it's a it's a big week for the program for sure.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

Yeah, yeah. So, well, first, Coach, uh just like say crack, congrats on your your win against Post to start off the season one and oh. How does that feel? What is that a I'm I'm sure that just feels great to be able to start the the season off that way with a win.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

Yeah, I mean, honestly, I'm kind of relieved because you know we're we're scouting post. We're we're watching film of last year. Um, I know Coach Jez is down there doing a great job, and he's comes from a great pedigree. So I'm nervous for the past three months about how we're gonna show up on the road in this in this opening game. And you know, it was great to get our offense, you know, playing really well and and sharing the ball around and getting some goals and some good looks. Um, you know, our defense, uh, our defense played well in spots, but I think we you know we're obviously gonna have to improve as we get into the NE10. So it feels good, but it's more of a it's more of a relief to get that first one done, and and now we get to get on with the with the work of the rest of the season.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

Yeah, and like you said, you've got Bentley next. That's that's a storied program in the in the NE10. So how are you feeling about that? You guys are you are your is your players jazz to go down to Bentley and try to take them on?

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Yeah, I think so. I mean, there's a couple layers to that one. You know, we about half our team is from kind of greater Boston area, and so they're always happy to go play kind of closer to home and and make sure that all their family's gonna be there. So there's that piece of it. And then, you know, obviously Coach Murph's done an amazing job with Bentley over the years, and it's such a desirable school and a desirable location to be in. So um, you know, they're they're they're one of the perennial top teams in in our conference, and it's gonna be a great test for us. So yeah, we're we're excited, man. We it's it's a tough place to play, um, but at the same time, it's a great opportunity for us to, you know, this is why we do it is to play the best in the in the country, and um, it's pretty awesome. We get to get right after it here week two.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

You know, in any 10, man, in the beginning of the season, I always say, man, it's rough to be in the NE 10, especially in the beginning. The weather, bro, the weather is just insane. How are you guys dealing with it? Well, you're from Colorado, so yeah, you're you're cool with the cold, I see.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

I'm cool with the cold, and it's actually, you know, since I'm I moved out here, um, I had no idea like Vermont might as well have been the moon for me, you know. I had no idea, I'd never visited or anything. And so that, you know, when I'm doing my phone interview, I'm like, how do you guys like play across there? You know, like tell me how we have a how tell me how we have a program in Vermont. And so um, you know, get to get to know the get to know the um the lifestyle a little bit. And you know, we have a great facilities crew that that gets our field plowed all the time when we need to. Um, you know, all we have to really worry about is when the tempests get really bad, and and truthfully, when they're really bad for us, they're probably really bad for for Bentley too, you know. Um, so it's it's been a pretty good transition for us. Um, got new lights on the field this summer, which is really helping our ability to have more, you know, more time with our guys and and and more or less class conflicts. So that's been a really big thing for us. So, you know, we're we're just um I kind of come from a place where it's like uh be happy what you have and and not necessarily complain about what you don't have. And um, you know, I think that's kind of the overall ethos at St. Mike's. Like, let's, you know, the whatever we get, we're gonna make the most out of it. And I think that's kind of the the type of team we've we've put together. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

That's awesome, coach. I uh just to let you know, I grew up in New England, I grew up in western Massachusetts. So Vermont to me is is kind of like home, it's beautiful there. But I have to ask you, you kind of we talked about it in the intro. Did you grow up in college? Tell us about your lacrosse journey and how you you shifted from Colorado if you grew up there to come out east to to, like you said, almost being on the moon in Vermont, a totally different atmosphere.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Yeah, you know, I um I grew up a little south of Denver in a town called Parker in suburbs of Denver. And um, you know, back then in the late 90s, the club lacrosse wasn't really a thing yet. There was maybe one or two guys that were coming out of the state and going D1. Um, and that those were like big deals when that happened. And so um when I I went to college with no illusions of playing lacrosse in college, I went to Colorado State, that's where you know half my graduating class from my high school went. And um, I happened to like walk by the field one day and I saw that there was a club team there, and so I decided I was gonna go out for it. And then from there, it was just like really fortunate because I ended up playing for one of the you know most historic kind of successful programs and coaches of all time and flip Nomberg out there. And he became my mentor right away and and someone that um made me go from like liking lacrosse to truly loving the sport and and loving loving the whole aspect of building a team and um you know trying to trying to be more than the sum of just the the people on the team. And so his his influence on me can't be can't be understated or overstated. Um so you know, I'm I'm playing lacrosse out there and you know it takes me three years to get on the field and I'm getting frustrated and I'm ready to quit every fall. And you know, I keep coming back in the spring and finally I get my my shot, my junior senior year, and um played well, you know, and we won we won three national championships while I was there as a player, and I got right into coaching, and it was just pure happenstance that the Denver Outlaws started up in 06, a couple years after I was done. And I happened to know Brian Reese, who was the GM at the time, and he said, Hey, why don't you come on out to this like showcase that we have going on? And um I borrowed gear, I got in the showcase, I played some goal, I did really well. And they're like, Hey, why don't you come to training camp? I'm like, okay, and then it just like kept on, kept on coming. And um, my whole goal going into training camp is like, I'm not gonna let I'm not gonna give them a reason to get rid of me. And so that that was like my philosophy for five years, and I got to back up Trevor Tierney that first year, which was really, really fun, and um, you know, see one of the best goalies in the world kind of operate. And so uh I got to start and and play a whole game that first year, and uh I got in like five or six games, and so I hung on with the outlaws for five or six years, and um in that time kind of ingratiated myself as someone who was saying, you know, semi-coherent things from my backup position on the bench, and so uh Brian Reese was was uh kind enough to let me kind of cut my teeth coaching, coaching the big boys, as it were. Um, so kind of simultaneously as I'm taking the rings at or taking the reins at CSU, I'm getting this experience from a um uh a professional background as well. And so it was really cool for me to kind of grow as a coach as my playing career is winding down. And um, you know, so I I was at CSU for a long time. I was there from 04 to 15 as a coach. I was the head coach for six years there, and you know, we we kind of had a a family, uh, a family tragedy at the time, and and um, you know, we decided we wanted to start over. And um, it was something where I had been looking for looking for a college job for a long time that was a true full-paying, you know, full-time job. And the St. Mike's one came open and um made a few phone calls and had a few good people in my corner. And I uh you know, I was lucky enough to get through the interview, and it's been a great move for us. We we love Vermont. We I love the level, I love the school. Um, it's been a really good landing spot, and so you know, it's it's been a real blessing for us, and and I'm I'm really happy about it.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

Phenomenal. That's an awesome story, especially, Coach, when you talk about riding the bench for a few years and always wanting to give up because you you probably have a lot of players that you can they can relate to you and you can relate to them because it happens to a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

You got to bide your time, especially at the college level, you know. And I mean, it so many players are the best players on their high school team and they're coming into a college situation where now you're the fifth attackman or sixth attackman, and or the third line midfield. Like, how are you gonna handle that? And so I I do think, you know, not only riding the bench in college for a little bit, but then going from being like a star as a junior and senior in college to truly being a role player at the pro level, it just gave me a lot of perspective on like what a team needs, right? I and I understood how important it was as a backup goalie to I had to be on my game every Friday night for our team practice because that was my game, you know, and so I had to be sharp, I had to help my team get better, I had to try to run the defense the same way Trev did. So that that to me really gave me a lot of perspective on like how important a role is, even if it's a backup goalie role, which is you know, I like to joke it's the it's the best position in lacrosse. Um, but it's also you know, it's it's like there's a lot of pressure with that too, you know. Uh you know, you're coming in cold off the bench. And so anyway, I I I I think that that experience really helped me as a coach kind of be able to relate to guys who maybe aren't aren't the superstars all the time.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

That's awesome. That's awesome. So let's let's turn to your team. Last year, you guys were three and twelve, but you had several close losses, like by one or two goals. I mean, you're really in a lot of the games, and now you have you're bringing back a lot of veterans, including most of your man up squad that was like 46% last year. So are you hoping now to turn the tide on those games so those one or two losses become a W instead of an L?

SPEAKER_01 39:41

Yeah, it's interesting. Our our SID just did kind of our preseason write-up on us, and he called us a veteran laden squad. And I was like, oh my god, it's true. Finally, you know, we have guys who've been here for two, three years that have been playing. And so, yeah, we we feel really, especially on the offensive side, that we've got some guys who've been playing together for a really long time. And you mentioned the man up, we take a lot of pride in our man up um here at St. Mike's, and we work on it a lot. So it's it's it's great to see that pay off. And our guys are just playing so free, and and um they're playing, they just know what each other's strengths and weaknesses are, and they're able to kind of to to to to play without me micromanaging them as much as I might have done 10 years ago. So it's really cool to see that growth and development.

SPEAKER_03 40:24

How many are you carrying on the roster, coach?

SPEAKER_01 40:27

Uh, we like to be right around 45. So I think we're 44 this spring, and then perfect. 45 is kind of our number.

SPEAKER_03 40:32

It's it's a perfect number you're at. That's a perfect. You can get after it for practice. You can practice a lot of different things with that and the kind of number. And and it gives you depth, you know, gives you depth. You know, guys can come off the bench, give a guy a little breather, and and not lose too much in the quality athlete on the field, you know, the depth is important.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

100%. We kind of have a joke in the office, you know, with my assistant coach uh Dan Johnson. It's like there's no limit to the amount of like good quality midfielders we're gonna bring in and recruit because you're only two or three sprained ankles away from not being able to scrimmage, right? And so for us to to find those guys that are that are big, tough athletic and could compete in our conference, that's a that's a major goal every recruiting cycle.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

Yeah, coach. And so let's talk about some of those players. I mean, I looked at the the stats from the postgame and Max Catavlos, is that how you say his last name? He had three goals, Drew Collins, three goals, three assists, Sebastian Simonson, three goals, three assists. Guys are all returning, and I think, like you said, they they know how to play together.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

Yeah, that's and that's a you know, that's a that's an attack group that got to play almost every single game together last year. And so now there's a there's a real sense of uh kind of camaraderie and chemistry with those guys to where you know they're they're running some things on their own that we've kind of talked about, but they're they're now doing those things organically on their own, making their own calls, making their own reads on the field. And it's it's really it's awesome to see them have that kind of power and control. And you know, the the best teams I've coached have always kind of been able to coach themselves. And I've it listened it's been a journey here at St. Mike's. It it was not an overnight thing, but we do feel like, hey, this this this group has a chance to be really good. And so uh we're we're pretty excited to see how this season unfolds.

SPEAKER_03 42:19

Let's talk about some of your assistance, coach, because I always say that you know, a good a good team always has a good assistant or two. Let's talk about some of your assistance.

SPEAKER_01 42:29

Yeah, I'm I'm really fortunate. You know, we just I think one of the one of the cool things about St. Mike since I've been here is is the increase in support that we've been getting over the five years that I've been here. And that they've all been little things, but they've all been instrumental things. And so one of the things that happened this past Christmas time is I got a call from our athletic director, and he said, You now have a full-time assistant coach. And like that seems like a pretty minor thing, maybe to the outside. But when you're begging for coaches to come do this, you know, 60 hour a week job for five grand a year, and like you're just hoping you can get someone. Now I've got a guy who's full-time in the office and he's breaking down film with me. And Coach Dan Johnson, I think, is like a a true unicorn in what he brings to our program. He's an alum of the program, he is so passionate about the game, he knows every single player from every D1 team and where they he knows so much about the game. And um, it's it's really cool. So I've always said, kind of, you know, I I've never had a full-time assistant in 15 years ahead coaching. So now I get to, I don't have to watch what he's doing. I don't have to sign off on it. I know what he's doing is good. And so he's over there working with the defense, he does an amazing job. Um, and he's he's been he he challenges me to be a better coach all the time. It's a it's been a great, great uh couple months having this uh full time assistant thing. And then we've also been really fortunate since I've been here to to have guys on on more of that part time level that that step up and bring different things to the program. Um Martin Bose is a is a guy who played. D1 lacrosse at Hartford and cup of coffee in the PLL and just a really great kind of short stick D MIDI mind, you know, talking about things in a in a way that different than than our kids had heard from other people. Kevin Hunt is another uh kind of part-time assistant that we have who lives here locally, who who played some semi-pro box and graduated from the program. So, you know, I I've always been kind of that like hodgepodge, you know, let's see what we get. And now we we have a lot more consistency around the coaching, which is which is awesome. And um, I don't know, it's just great to have someone in the office who who cares about lacrosse as much as I do. And and that uh, you know, we we we sit there and we're we're diagramming stuff on the board all day long. It's it's a really fun dynamic.

SPEAKER_03 44:44

It's great. And the program just kind of benefit from that. You know, it's a you know, a head coach wears a lot of hats, you know, he's got to give that hat off to somebody once in a while. It's uh it's a big thing, you know. You got uniforms and buses and hotels and just it gets deep. It's more than what meets the the the average parent, uh, you know, their eye. They don't really know what goes into coaching. It's a lot to have so to have a full have a full-time assistant is just uh a good thing. And it sounds like you got a good one there, coach.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

Yeah, we got a great one. You didn't even mention the recruiting piece, which is, you know, as I get older and as I get more, I mean, some people would maybe say not mature, but like as I feel like I'm maturing as a person and as a coach, um the more I realize like the game is is so player driven, and you're only as good as your players are gonna be, you know, and and so we've really kind of made a commitment here at St. Mike's that uh recruitment is not just something we kind of do, you know, it's a it's a full-time job for us. We you know, we're probably 70% of our of our discussions are around recruiting and and getting guys on campus and trying to figure out the logistics of that stuff. So um, you know, again, that's that's a it's really hard to recruit 45 guys all by yourself. So yeah, having two guys uh dig into that really uh really takes the load off.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

That that's great, coach. That is awesome. Uh I have one last question for you. We kind of talked about it before we introduced you on, and I'm I'm kind of curious to get your perspective on this. You know, you played MCLA in college, you played MLL, you played those different levels, but you never did anything with D2 until you came to St. Mike. So tell us what you think about Division II lacrosse, maybe with the NE10 or in general division two lacrosse.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

Yeah, I think I mean, you know, going back five, six years when I was applying for this job, I knew who Lemoyne was and I knew who Adelphi was. And that was about all I knew about D2 lacrosse. I think I knew about Limestone, right? Like everyone knew about those three teams. Yeah, I'd never even heard of Merrimack, I'd never heard of St. Anselms, I'd never heard of Bentley, like those schools weren't even in my in my like field of vision being out of Colorado. No, 100% and and so coming out here and like knowing that those two teams were gonna be really good, but then having no idea whatsoever that, hey, this school called Franklin Pearson Ringe, New Hampshire is a pretty good program. Like you're not sleeping on those guys, and hey, this team, you know, Assumption in Worcester Mass, like that's a good program too. Like all of these teams are good, and so that that to me has been the biggest kind of takeaway, you know, going from MCLA, where you know, truthfully, at the time, and and things have changed now, but at the time there was four teams, you know. Every year it was us at CSU, BYU, UC Santa Barbara, and like Sonoma. And so we knew us four were gonna meet in the semifinals every year, and so now it's it's totally different. All nine of our conference games um are gonna be slugfests, they're gonna be battles. And so that was something I just had no clue about before I got here. And you know, it makes sense when you think about like the the um the the the talent and the geography and and all the just the the people that are here, the population density. Um, but then you look at what's happening down south where D2 lacrosse is really exploding. I mean, I'm like looking at I'm looking at like results, and you're seeing this team Anderson come out of nowhere, and they're blowing teams out. And I'm like, who are these guys? Watch out for them, coach. Yeah, there's there's a lot of programs that are doing some really good stuff. And so, you know, what what I think I tell people a lot is D2 is probably the place where the most growth is actually happening at our level. You know, we kind of mentioned um there's this weird like D D2 vibe in the lacrosse world that doesn't exist in any other sport. You know, when we're talking to our women's soccer coach and they have 200-something D2 teams, you know, D2 is clearly above D3 at the at the soccer at soccer. Whereas in lacrosse, we still have that kind of you have Nescaq to worry about and some of these other things. But you know, I I think the the level of play at the D2 level is really improving. It's a lot of fun. Um, you know, I'd I'd love to see it get more get more west. You know, I know we had some momentum going that way and it's kind of dried up a little bit. So hopefully that that picks back up soon. But it's been really fun for me, you know, just the fact that I get to play someone who's potentially ranked every single week is is like exactly what I want out of this job. And and uh yeah, we feel real fortunate to be where we're at in this conference.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Yeah, I I think division two and coach, I I had three sons. Well, my youngest is a freshman right now at a D2 school, but had two. One went to St. Leo, one went to Wingate. And let me tell you something, the level of play at some of these schools, you know, you look at the Tampa's, the Lenore Rhines in the South, and and then you look at the Adelphis and the Lemoines in the north, even St. A's, you know, like these guys are they're really good squads, mercy. You know, they're there's division one caliber players playing at the division two level.

SPEAKER_01 49:52

Absolutely, yeah. And I mean, I I look at St. A's as a team, you know, I a lot of respect for Coach Shimano down there. And a big reason I I look at them as a model is we're very similar type of schools, you know, and um they have a couple majors we don't have, and we have a couple majors they don't have. But like to see what he's built with that program and turn that team into a into a true contender makes me feel like all right, we can do it up here too. And so that's they've been kind of a little bit of a blueprint for us, and you know, someone we're we're working hard to catch as well. Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 50:23

That's awesome, coach. Well, I'll tell you what, this has been a lot of fun having you on. I really appreciate you coming on. We wish you all the best in the season. We wish you first all the best against Bentley. I'll be watching off trying to watch that game, coach. So we wish you well on that and the rest of your season. And uh, thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_01 50:41

I appreciate you guys. Thanks for all you're doing for D2 lacrosse. You guys are great, coach.

SPEAKER_03 50:46

I gotta be honest before you go, you said you never listened to the podcast, and I gotta be honest, I never watched St. Michael's play. So guess what? All right, there we go. Guess what I gotta do this week? I gotta watch the Bentley game. So thank you so much for giving a good show. Thank you so much for coming on. You've been a great guest tonight, and uh St. Mike's got a good guy at the helm, man. I really enjoyed the conversation tonight. I like where you come from. I like you know the fact that you're in that NE10, you're a Vermont guy, you're up there, you got a bunch of skiboarders, snowboarders, and skiers on the team. It's it's cool, man. Uh, thank you so much for coming on. We really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 51:25

Yeah, Sam. Thanks, you guys. Appreciate you guys.

Games to Watch this Week

SPEAKER_02 51:28

Hey, that was a lot of fun having Coach Smith on. Yeah, Coach Smith is a good guy, man.

SPEAKER_03 51:34

I really liked him, man. I thought I you know. He brings some energy. These coaches are pretty cool, Kev, man. They're just kind of my kind of guys, you know, sports guys, beer drinkers, you know, those kind of guys, the ESPN guys. They're just my kind of guys. And I just coach was great, you know, and uh I wish him all the best up there at St. Michael's up in Vermont. He's got a good story, he's got pedigree as a coach. So, you know, and and he can bring a lot of you know what he's what he knows from the pro pro ranks and teach those kids at St. Mike's. They're a little small now in numbers and stuff, but they'll get that.

SPEAKER_02 52:15

Oh, they got no, they got a they've got a good roster. They're finally at five or five. They're finally at the at the point where they've got probably since he's been there, where he's got more, as he said, more senior folks that have played several years with them. So that's the great thing. But let's move on. Let's talk about games to watch this week. I got a ton of them, Danny. I got a ton of them. A ton of so let's just start off with Friday. So my first one on Friday is uh on the 24th, is Maryville against Westminster. This is Westminster doing their GLBC road swing. They've got Maryville on Friday and they've got Rockhurst on Sunday. So that's why I'm kind of this is where we're gonna, and I'm gonna talk about Colorado Mesa in a little bit, but this is where they're doing, they've got to come out. The RMAC teams coming out east, maybe not that far GLBC, but they're coming out east, and these are important games for these teams, both Westminster and Colorado Mesa. Colorado Mesa has got Belmont Abbey on Saturday, and then they turn around and play Mount Olive on Tuesday, so they're doing their Conference Carolina swing. And so we've talked about this for teams like Colorado Mesa and Westminster to be in those rankings. Last year they ended up maybe more about 500 on those games. This is the time that they've got to win these games.

SPEAKER_03 53:36

Absolutely, 100%. I agree with you.

SPEAKER_02 53:40

The next one, Danny, on Friday, I've got is Anderson and Rollins. Yeah, um I think Anderson's gonna be tested. I think they are too. They've started off 5-0, but this really could be their toughest test yet. They did beat Florida Southern, a very, very good team, but as we talked about in the conference previews, I think we gotta have had Rollins a little bit higher. The Tars have to turn around and play Newberry two days later on Sunday. Yeah. And my question, so really with this with Anderson, so that's their question on Newberry Newberry, they've got to turn around and play a tough Newberry team, but how do they handle a good team like Anderson after an emotional win against Limestone?

SPEAKER_03 54:23

I think they're gonna be pumped. I think they're gonna say to themselves, hey, we can hang with anybody. Oh, and they can. I think that's what Rollins is. I think they're pumped to confidence right now. That was a big win against Limestone. Limestone's a marked, they're a marked team. They've got championships upon championships under their belt. They're the perennial top ten team. And so when you play limestone, and I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times. People are going to bring their A game. And that includes maybe the lower tier guys, but no, Rollins isn't a low-tier team anymore. No, they're not. They are in the mix. You better watch out. They got players, they play defense, they play physical, they play fast, and they're deep. So I expect them to give Anderson a good game. This is gonna be one to watch.

SPEAKER_02 55:16

Without a doubt. And then when they play Newberry, too. So I think it'll be really interesting to see where they are as far as their record at the end of the weekend.

SPEAKER_03 55:25

If Rollins beats Anderson and then beats Newberry, yeah. The country's got to be on watch for Rollins. They better be on watch now. If anybody hasn't seen them play, you know, if anybody hasn't seen them play, go back and watch that limestone game. You'll see what I'm saying. These this team is good. Yeah, and they got players, they got players. So that's gonna be interesting.

SPEAKER_02 55:48

All right, who else you like? So I've got on Saturday, just talking about that, Florida Southern and Limestone, because I got several games on Saturday. Florida Southern's at two and one, but they haven't played since their Anderson loss, and Limestone is coming off their loss to Rollins, and they do not want to repeat that. No, no, no. So I think that'll be. I mean, I just think that's another good matchup. I think Florida Southern's a good team. Limestone is gonna be coming after it because they don't want to lose to another Sunshine State conference team, two in a row. It's gonna be a I think it's gonna be a physical good game.

SPEAKER_03 56:26

Yeah, that should be a very good game to watch. And uh I like the game next to it too, Lenore Ryan, and Lewis. I think Lewis exactly they they can play, they're in the top 20. So that's a top 20 matchup, and you got Florida Southern Limestone, that's another top 20 matchup, so you got two right there.

SPEAKER_02 56:45

So yeah, and and uh just like we said, limestone doesn't want to lose two in a row, Lenore Ryan doesn't want to lose two in a row, and they're gonna want to take revenge over their tampa loss. So they're home. Yeah, they're home, but but uh Seton Hill, they you know Lewis beat Seton Hill last year, so it's not like they haven't beat you know top ten teams before.

SPEAKER_03 57:07

No, Lewis is formidable, they're very formidable. You know, when you once you're hit the top 20, Kev, you're a formidable team. Yeah, and it's any given Sunday. It's any given Sunday. Yeah, all it takes is one attackman from the other team to go down with an ankle to just screw up everything. Yeah, so you know, you just can't count these teams out, you know. Just can't, you just can't. Is it an uphill battle for Lewis? Yeah, a little bit. But they're a tough team, man. With a tough coach. With a tough coach.

SPEAKER_02 57:39

Okay, one other one I've got on Saturday, and it's not a top 20 matchup, but it's AIC Caldwell. I'm going to this game, Danny. I'm going up, going back home to Springfield, Massachusetts area. Gonna watch these two. This is gonna be a fun matchup. Two former teammates as head coaches playing against each other, and both teams have started off one and oh. Yeah, this should be a fun one. Yeah, and where's your seats? Where's your seats? Um well, so Coach Ballone said that he's gonna put me in the press box. Uh we'll see what actually happens on Saturday.

SPEAKER_03 58:17

But you lucky dog, you lucky dog. You better hope the press box is heated, my friend.

SPEAKER_02 58:24

Oh, I'm bringing warm clothes. Let me tell you, it's supposed to be like 29 degrees there.

SPEAKER_03 58:28

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So but that's all I got. That's all I got this week, you know, as far as like real big games. Those couple top 20. I like the Rollins matchups for the weekend, the two Rollins games, Newberry and and and those pink games. I like them, and that's pretty much all I got for now.

SPEAKER_02 58:49

I've got two more for you. One is another Saturday matchup, and that Chestnut Hill against Seton Hill, mainly because this is the first game for Jim DiCarlo as head coach, and we had him on. Seton Hill's coming off a close loss to Undy. Once again, they don't want to lose two in a row. I think Seton Hill has the um, I think Seton Hill's gonna have the advantage here, but it'll it'll be fun to see what Chestnut Hill can bring their first game. As he said on the podcast, it was how stupid was I to do have them first.

SPEAKER_03 59:17

But I think that's he was great too, man. I like Coach DiCarlo from Chestnut Hill. He was a good guy. Like liked everything about him, that Philly, that Philly swag that he had, you know.

SPEAKER_02 59:30

Yeah, and the only other game, the last game I've got is a Tuesday, the 28th of February, and it's pace against Malloy, and that's because it's the first game of the season for Pace, and I'm looking forward to see them get out there and see what they do.

SPEAKER_03 59:43

Too bad it was too bad it's up at pace. I wish it was at Malloy because Malloy is close to me. And you could just go, yeah. I could just scoot over there. Yeah, it's like 15 minutes from me, but pace is like about an hour and a half from me.

SPEAKER_02 59:56

Yeah, so it's the third game for Malloy. You know, they've got they got Franklin Pierce on Wednesday, Walsh on Saturday. So two games, those are going to be two tough games for them, and then the bigger game pace as a third game. So I think that'll just be an interesting one. But that's kind of what I've got right now in the games. Once again, just like last week, I think there's some ones that are some really good matchups, really interesting matchups, you know, that I think will be fun to watch, and we'll see who comes up on top.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:23

Yeah, and you know, some teams are even next week are going to be starting conference play already, believe it or not. Yeah. So it's it's crazy. It's going kind of quick already. But here we are in week three, and there's been a couple of like like upsets with Lenore Ryan going down. I wouldn't call it an upset, but you know, limestone losing, uh, I think was a biggie. I think Mercy losing to Lemoyne, you know, was all these are all uh change, it changes all the uh the numbers up there in the in the polls.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:55

It does, it does, and I think it's not the only time we're gonna see that this year. I think there's gonna be a lot of back and forth within that top ten, especially. I think that'll be interesting. I agree.

Player's Spotlight

SPEAKER_02 1:01:08

Let's move on to the player's spotlight. My favorite part, Kev. My favorite part. I hear you, I hear you. I think this one is going to be pretty cool. This player is another attackman, but unlike Matt Rogers, he only scored six goals in his first game for his. So let's just welcome him in. Talon Heath of the Malone University Pioneers.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:55

How are you doing, guys? But yeah, I mean, the first goal in program history was honestly a pretty special experience for me. Really surreal and honestly, kind of a relief, you know. It's always there's always so much pressure on that first goal, and it was just a really good, a good dish for my teammate, Zach Smargesso. Just turned the corner and put it short side, shot the scout. That was that was a big thing, you know. Uh, pre-game was our coach was honest, you know, shooting the scout. So just did what I had to do, and it was out, it was an awesome experience, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:23

So, what'd your teammates do after you scored that goal?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:26

Um, honestly, uh, I was so the gentleman was pumping. So I know everyone everyone was super excited, and you know, our bench of four guys there they were pretty hype too. We gotta pretty we got pretty low numbers, you know, being a first year.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:39

I know, I know. Yeah, oh that's great. I would have had a big porch party and said, Yeah, man, 11 more coming, let's go. Right, yeah. Uh yeah, that's great, Talon. That's that's such a great feeling to have, man. That's such a wow, that's something that will always be there, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:56

Yeah, it is. I just really realized that at first, and then because I wasn't I wasn't too focused on wow, first goal in program history. Obviously, we had the whole game to play, but um, after the game, you know, I got a text from my mom, and she was like, Yeah, first goal in program history, like great job. And I was like, Wow, like that's that it's it's a pretty big moment, and it's super cool being able to have that have that title.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

Do you have the do you have the ball?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:17

No, we don't we didn't get the ball, unfortunately. I know I was thinking about that after. Um, we did get the game ball after we won. We got the over. So we got that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:27

Yeah, so that's the next thing. First game ever in the program, and you guys win it. What was the locker room like after that?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:36

Honestly, we were just we were ecstatic, I guess is the only word. Like after the game, we talked to the boys after we might have celebrated a little bit too hard, like some stick throwing. I don't know if you guys watched it, but but honestly, like when we saw that goal going in overtime, we were just we were we were loving it. I mean, we felt on top of the world, and it was it's really a special experience being able to say you won your first game ever in a program, uh, program history. So that was that's a big moment for us and for all the young guys because obviously we're we're mostly freshmen, you know. So yeah, experience for them as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:07

All right, you're a sophomore, though, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:10

Sophomore, so yeah, my story's my story's a little interesting. So um, freshman year, I went to Lewis University. Um, I decided to go there and had some success there, and honestly, it just it wasn't the right fit for me. So tried to transfer out of there, and my transcripts actually got held. So I was in like a gap year, so I'm a sophomore sophomore academically, but should be a junior. So yeah, I had a full year off of lacrosse. So for me, especially, it was an awesome experience, you know, getting that first goal because it was just it's been so long since I got to play lacrosse, and it's the sport I love, so it was awesome. It really, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:44

So, how did you choose or decide to to go to Malone? That's a big, big thing. I mean, Lewis was a fairly new program, but you know, Coach Baruzzi has that thing humming already. Oh, yeah, it's awesome. And and so you how did you find out about Malone and why did you decide to go there?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:02

It's a great question. So honestly, I've coach uh Coach Campbell has been in contact with me all throughout high school, and you know, I honestly kind of blew him off throughout high school at his old school. And we joke about that now, but he's always just you know uh, you know, been reaching out to me, texting me no matter what. And I had a really good friend of mine who went to his school, Emanuel College. And so I kind of had like that mutual relationship with him. And after the whole transcript thing happened, and I was, you know, had a whole year off. I was I really wanted to get back into school and really wanted to play lacrosse again. So he he found he reached out to me, he's like, hey, I'm starting a new program here in Ohio, and we'd really like, you know, to bring a transfer guy, like an older guy on the team. And I was like, I was I was ready to go. I was like, yeah, like I really want to play lacrosse again. And I really just I really trusted the vision that Coach Campbell had. And yeah, I mean, everything, everything seems to be going right already, so that's good.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:56

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:58

It's sitting on all eight, as that.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:00

Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:00

I found it interesting too because if you look at some of the other contributors on the offensive side with Zach, now say Zach's last name again for me because I butchered it last time on the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:10

No worries, uh Zach Smargesso, the Italian stallion. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:15

Zach Smargesso. I love it. I love it. All right. When he listens to the previous podcast, I messed it up and I and I apologize on that. So I love it. And then Kenny Kaiser and Ramsey Bernard, uh, all three contributed with you in both games you guys played. What is it like playing with them?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:34

Honestly, it's it's it's really awesome, you know, because when they first got on campus, them being freshmen, I tried to give them like my knowledge I had as my like one year experience. And it's it's really cool to see like the developments and like the strides they've taken from that first day on campus to that first game. Like they stepped on the field and it was just like they're ready to go. Like there is that, like there's no freshman jitters, like because they knew like we're we're such a low team, like or low-numbered team, that they just had they had to uh step into that role and they and they did. They did it, they did a great job. And it's you know, you don't see that a lot, you don't see a lot of freshmen contributors, and us being a new program, that's that's pretty much all we are, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:07

So it's right. So growing up in Minnesota, how the hell did you wind up playing lacrosse?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:18

Honestly, I didn't even know what lacrosse really was until I was about 10 years old. And because obviously I was a hockey player, you know, Minnesota hockey of course hockey player my whole life, and then I played soccer, so that kind of you know, I during the same season, summer didn't hear about lacrosse, and then one of my buddies actually joined. I think I was 11 or 12, and he was kind of like Talon, like come come play lacrosse with me, like it could be it could be super cool. And I was like, you know what, why not? Like, let's give it a try. So yeah, I just as soon as I started, I just I fell in love with it and I was like, This is what I want to do. Like, kind of it kind of took over hockey in my life because hockey was my whole life until I finally and then you know I started taking it seriously around 13, 14, and I joined uh true Minnesota. Pretty successful club there. I played for the 2020 state team and then played a little bit on the national team, and everything kind of just took off from there. Uh, Coach Peruzzi saw me at a showcase, and I ended up at Lewis, and then now here we are. So everything happens for a reason, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:16

Wow, they're really growing some good, good players out of Minnesota, right? Because two years ago they had the kid Wingate from Wingate, who was short stick D mini of the year, he's out of mid out of Minnesota, and they had an all-American attackman at Wingate who was out of Minnesota as well. So they they're producing some pretty good lacrosse players. And uh Minnesota's not really known for its for its lacrosse, they're known for its hockey, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:41

Yeah, exactly. It's really cool to see. I mean, I would say, because like we did a lot of traveling with my club team, and Minnesota lacrosse is a lot, I guess, you know, just like a different, it's a different game. Like everyone plays more physical, I would say. Well, you when you go to East Coast, go to Maryland, it's way more of a skill game. So I don't know. We got some we got some dogs in Minnesota though. People people are sleeping on Minnesota lacrosse, and it's good to see 100%. We're finally getting some recognition. Like, I got a lot of I got a lot of friends playing college lacrosse right now. I got one buddy who's a starter at high point, and it's really great to see like wow like what Minnesota kids are doing now. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:14

Coach Torpe up there down there in High Point. That's a nice school if you've ever visited.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:19

It's beautiful, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:20

There's not a blade of grass out of place. Really?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:24

Yeah, I know. It's a I know you know he's lucky, he's lucky. I tell him all the time, like, yeah, it's good for you for being up there, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:30

Hey, it's no Malone University. That's what I'm gonna say, though. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:34

I guess let's yeah, let's focus back on D2 lacrosse, enough of the D1 lacrosse. Yeah, yeah, that's enough of that. That's right, Tyler. We talk about that enough.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:40

Well, what's so what's it like uh playing for Coach Campbell? And really, that has it really sunk in. I mean, you play your first couple games, really being the foundation, the cornerstone for this program. I mean, that just like we talked about your first goal will always be there. You this team, this team this year will always be the the foundation setters for for the program for going on for years to come.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:07

No, yeah, that's that's it's it's really cool. I mean, we talk about it all the time. Uh Coach Campbell really preaches, you know, like we're setting the standard, we're setting the culture. So we really make sure, like obviously, we're a young team and we can get out of line sometimes, but he does a great job of reeling us back in and he really knows how to coach us all individually and as a team as a whole. So it's it's really cool. I think we're building a great program here, and we got a really good foundation. And it's just, you know, obviously, we're gonna get through this year, and then it's gonna be super exciting to see what we bring in next year. And it's yeah, it's it's really awesome, you know, being that founding the like the founding fathers, you could say, yeah, Malone Lacrosse.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:41

Pretty soon people will be passing right by the Football Hall of Fame and going to watch Malone lacrosse, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:49

Football hall of fame. You know, we can see it from campus, it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:52

I I like your enthusiasm, man. I uh you sound like you're having a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:57

No, it is, yeah. I'm I'm having so much fun, honestly, and I feel like I'm finding a lot of success here. So it's it's really it's really awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:05

That's great, and you got to tell mom that you know we we had to drag you out of study hall tonight for this podcast, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:12

Yeah, don't worry about it, don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:14

Mom, mom, it's not all about fun. He's actually studying. We had we had to take him out of study hall tonight for a couple of minutes.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:20

I'm not complaining, I'm not complaining.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:22

No, it's good to see, you know, like a young kid like you, and you you know, starting at one place and then maybe saying, hey, it's not a fit. You go to a school that's you know, basically starting a program. And and and to do that, that takes a lot of, you know, I think that takes a lot of nerve, man. It takes a lot of thought and and and and and a lot more, especially since you've been playing and you got recruited, and then Coach Baruzzi knows the stuff, you know. And yeah, I think what you did was really, really cool. And to see your enthusiasm, like, all right, this is an audio podcast. We we're not gonna show how good looking you are, right? But you know, I can see I I can see the excitement in your face. Like, I can see that you're really truly excited to be there, and that's a really cool thing. That's really cool to see.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:08

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:09

Yeah, so he has nerves and he has guts. But is he ready for the firing round, Danny? That's what I want to know.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:19

All right, we got a 10 question firing round, Talon. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:25

Uh oh. So I guess I'm ready.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:27

Here we are, folks. We got Talon Heath. He's from Elk, what's it? Uh Elk River. Elk River, Minnesota. That's right, yeah. And he's playing lacrosse at Malone in Canton, Ohio. Uh stone's throw from the Hall of Fame there.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:43

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:44

He's he scored the first goal in Malone's program history. So that's something that's always going to be on the board at Malone forever and ever and ever. So we got you on 10 questions. We're gonna fire them off. Just give us your quickest answer. You ready? I'll try. Here we go. Favorite ice cream.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:06

Ooh, mint chocolate chip. Oh, that's the second one in two weeks for the mint chocolate chip.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:11

Crazy. Favorite TV show.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:14

Ooh, breaking bad.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:16

Okay. That's a good one. Favorite cartoon as a kid? Regular show. The regular show. That's the second time we've gotten that one, too.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:25

Dang, I might want to know this guy. We might be friends.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:30

Uh favorite food.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:32

What's your favorite food? Ooh. That's a tough one. I want to say. I don't know. Let's just go.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:40

What's your go-to dinner, man? Like, I just love when mom cooks.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:44

Well, my mom's not the best cook, but yeah, but where's are you a barbecue fan? Yeah, no, yeah. We'll go, we'll go barbecue, we'll go brisket for sure. That's real.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:55

Uh there we go. Morning bird or night owl?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:58

Oh, night owl for sure. I can't wait. 6 a.m. looks pretty rough for me.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:03

Yeah. Xbox or PlayStation? Xbox. Okay. Favorite type of music.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:10

Ooh, we're gonna have to go 90s alternative for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:14

All right, my kind of music too, man. I really dig uh alternative. I'm actually a drummer and I play in a band, and I love that type of music. Really? There you go.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:23

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:24

I like 80s and 90s alternative. I play a lot of it too. So, what was the last song you listened to?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:30

Ooh, last song I listened to, 90s alternative. Um, I don't know, I gotta like look at my playlist. Obviously, like cliche. I heard Mr. Brightside on in our calf today, but obviously that's but maybe like maybe like Mr. Jones, but okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:45

All right, all right. Favorite class at Malone.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:50

Ooh, literature and society. That was one I had last semester, and I'm a business major, but I really enjoyed that class for for an odd reason. That was that was that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:59

Favorite football team.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:01

Vikings, go back and go. You go skull.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:07

Favorite thing to do when you want to relax.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:12

Probably just play Xbox, honestly. Go back to the Xbox. That's what I that's what I like to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:16

But that's competition. You're gonna get you all hyped up because it's still competition.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:20

I I mean, I guess then probably watch movie. I'm a big movie guy, love movies.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:25

All right, great, great, great. Runs or lifts?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:29

Lifts, don't like running.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:32

Okay. Who's the funniest kid on the team at Malone?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:36

I'm gonna have to say uh Luke Ory, Canadian boy from BC for sure. He's my I brought him from Lewis uh with me, actually. You came from Lewis with me as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:45

What makes him so funny?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:47

I guess. I mean, I'm sure you've talked to some Canadians before, just the way, just the way Canadians are, you know, they're just guys.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:54

Oh, okay. Who was the one kid on the team that would you would never let date your sister?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:02

We're gonna have to go uh the Italian stallion, Zach Smargesso for sure. Yeah, yeah, without a doubt. Yeah, he's uh he's a good looking fella, and you know, he's kind of the lady killer. So we're gonna we're gonna keep him away from my daughter in the future for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:16

Oh, that's great, great. Okay, and last, but not oh not last, but what any hobbies outside of lacrosse? You have any hobbies?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:26

Yeah, um, I love love hockey, obviously. I mean, since lacrosse kind of took took the load of my uh competitive sports, I I always love going to the outdoor rinks in Minnesota when I'm back home for the winter and playing hockey. That's what I love to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:38

Wow, that's great. And last but not least, give us your best impression of Coach Campbell.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:45

Oh, let's think yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:48

He's laughing, he's got that smirk on, ladies and gentlemen.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:52

Like, what would what would I want to say? I don't even I don't even know. I mean, he's very I mean when he gets when he gets mad, he's not like he's not a screamer, really, to say he's very passive aggressive. So, you know, he'd be like, like, let's say, okay, against Quincy, um, I threw the I threw a bad threw a bad pass, you know, the flag was down, and we had a free possession. I tried to throw a skip, got knocked down, and he was like, Talent, what are you doing, man? I'm like, like, have you ever like have you played lacrosse? Like, do you know? Got it, got a 60 second shot clock. Flag is down, free possession. You throw that pass? You throw that pass?

SPEAKER_04 1:17:30

Like, all right, I'm back home.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:32

Like, you're right, you got a point. I shouldn't, I shouldn't be making that pass.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:36

Well, Talon, you did great on the firing round. That was awesome stuff. You were a great guest tonight. Hope you had a lot of fun on the In the Crease podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:44

Yeah, I did. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:45

Yeah, you you're balling out so far, man. Keep it up. It's you know, you're gonna you're gonna get your bumps and bruises being that first year program. But you know what? With guys like you leading, they're good, they got they're in good hands. So keep up, keep up the good work. We I just love your enthusiasm. I love your your whole attitude about being at Malone. And I wish you nothing but success, my young man. You you're a really good guest tonight.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:10

Yeah, thank you so much, guys. Really appreciate you guys for having

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 1:18:13

me on.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:14

What a great story by Talon Heath. How he started off on Lewis and then moved over. He he was out for a whole year because of his transcripts. Coach Campbell stays in touch with him over the years and then brings him in to help out a young team in Malone.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:29

Yeah, I liked him a lot. He seemed like a really cool kid. He was at ease with us for sure. He seems like a kid that's sure of himself and confident, and he's having a lot of fun where he's what he's doing now. He knows it's a new program. He knows that they're low in numbers, and you know, there's gonna be freshmen out there, but he seems to take it with uh with a lot of pride that he's like one of the senior guys, uh, even though he's only a sophomore. And uh you know what? And I like a kid like that. He's just you know what, kids are gonna look up to talent. And you know, he he scored the first goal in Malone uh University's program, history, something that they can't ever take away from him, something to be proud of. You should have got the ball, for God's sake. You know, but he got the he got the game ball, so that's good. There you go. But he was a great guest, and I I wish him nothing but the best.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:22

Exactly. So before we wrap up, as we've done this for a few weeks now, and I think we said we said this last year, but if any of our listeners out there have suggestions, you haven't we haven't had a certain coach on, or you've got a player that you think is doing well, shoot us a note, DM us either on In the Crease, uh on Instagram or on Twitter or on Facebook, and and we'll you know try to get those players and coaches on because God knows we've got a long season and we can do with as many coaches and players suggestions as they have.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:55

Oh, 100%. And you know what? The DMs are funny, man. People like said, I'm gonna DM them. I got a DM from coach Sean McGuinness. He's with Thomas More University. Oh, yeah. And uh they screw inside lacrosse screwed up the whole score thing. So there really was Davison Elkins 22, uh Thomas More University seven. And uh coach DM'd me and he's like, as much as I want to win, they got the final score wrong. And I said, Okay, thanks, coach. We'll make the correction on the podcast. And he said, Thanks. You'll be the first to know when we get that W. I said, No, you won't. We'll be watching. Keep grinding. So that was cool. Coach McGinnis from Thomas More University. Uh, shout out to you, buddy. Uh, we'll get them next time. But thanks for the movie.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:46

We'll see them and we'll see them in D2 next year.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:49

Yeah, thanks for the DM. We appreciate it. We're gonna get them all. We've got to get him on the program.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:54

Yeah, without a doubt. Well, he's definitely gonna be part of the coaching changes next year if we don't get him on earlier than that. So yeah, that but I guess, Danny, with that, with that DM example, that's a wrap.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:07

That's a wrap, Kev. Week three.