Game Time - A look back at week 7 and a preview of Week 8 of the 2024 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 Cross. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is my twin brother from another mother, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny. Hey, Kevin, how's everything going in Northern Virginia tonight? How are you doing? We're doing well. Just got back from San Antonio, Texas, seeing uh our son Ronan as he's in a little bit of rehab as he's going through uh special forces training down there for the Air Force. Kind of interesting. He uh he he loves it. He likes he just wants to get dirty, be in the mud. So it's quite a remarkable transition and transformation. I've seen him do that. But the great thing I got to do was he asked for me to bring down a couple of cross sticks. So we got to throw the ball around a little bit together. That's great. That's awesome. How's he doing? He's doing good. He's doing well. He's healing. He's gonna get ready and get back into it in May. So all things are good. Sounds good. Good to hear. Good to hear. And how about you up there in uh Long Island? It was St. Patty's weekend. What do you think it was like?

SPEAKER_04 1:17

I saw you making cabbage. Yes, I made some uh I made corn beef and cabbage. Of course I make corn beef and cabbage. Saturday was a beautiful day for a parade in New York City. Watch the parade. A lot of people from Rockaway and where I'm from, Long Island, uh make it into the city bus fulls. They make it into the city every year and they do their whole thing. And uh it's always a great day in New York, especially it was a beautiful day. It was like in the upper 60s, it was just gorgeous. And then uh Danny Boyd played a little music on Saturday night, and uh it was a good weekend, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Awesome, awesome. Okay, well now let's we now it's time to kind of shift back away from St. Patty's Day and and playing music and watching parades and watching my son and seeing my son, and on to move on to the top 10 roundup.

Top 10 Roundup

SPEAKER_04 2:07

Oh Kev, we have a good one. And this week it's your round up. All right, Kevin, the top ten uh limestone number one, beat Flaggler. Uh, oof, what is it 24 to 11? Oof, oof. That was a beatdown. Flagler's a scrappy team, but they're not ready for the limestones of the world. But number two, Rollins in the big upset of the week, Kev lost to U Indy in U Indy, 11-7. Number three, LR beat a struggling LMU team in uh in uh SAC action, beat them 22 to 2, Kev. Yeah. Number four, number four, Tampa beat number 16, Colorado Mesa, 17-12. Mesa was competitive in that game, Kev. Number five, Adelphi beat number nine Bentley in a pretty darn good game, 12-9. 12-9. Number six, Mercy. The Mavs beat uh Roberts Wesley in a tight one. The Kardiac Kids again. Well, that was 12-11. And uh number seven, the Newberry Wolves lost to number eight Wingate 11-9. And that wingate defense held Newberry to its lowest score, scoring total uh of any any game this season so far. Uh number eight, Wingate beat Newberry 11-9. Number nine, Bentley lost to number five at Delphi. And number 10, UND beat number two, Rollins 11-7.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

And that's your round.

Week in Review

SPEAKER_02 4:12

All right, Danny, that was a great rundown. And I also have a couple of scores of note, Kev, real quick.

SPEAKER_04 4:19

Uh St. Rose over Caldwell 22 to 8, and then lost to Pace 20 to 8. Dominic and New York beat St. Thomas Aquinas 12-11 in overtime in a thriller, Kev. St. Mike's beat Southern New Hampshire in a tight one, 12-11.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Yeah, we're gonna go over that one. I got some notes on that one.

SPEAKER_04 4:39

Lake Erie over DE 19-10, and Florida Tech over PBA, big 16-6, handed PBA their first loss of the season, and Lander beat Anderson 13-12.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

So just a couple. And overtime in that one, Lander beaten Anderson. It was a good game. I saw the very, very end of it. I actually watched the overtime part. I caught it right then. All right, so let's move on to some other games that we all kind of watched. I was kind of watching with one eye open as I was also doing a lot of stuff with uh my wife and my son this weekend. Let's start off with that. Let's start off with the big upset. There were actually a couple upsets this week, if you go back uh to Friday, but let's start off. You want to start off with UND Rollins? Yeah, we can start off with the uh UND Rollins game. Um, what'd you think? Did you see the whole game? I saw parts of it. I'll tell you, UND makes a statement right off the bat with a goal off the faceoff. Yeah. And then kind of what I saw is it kind of got bogged down in the first quarter with mistakes and some turnovers, but some good defense as well. Both teams had 10 turnovers in the first half, Danny. Yeah. So it was only 2-1 after one, Undy. I didn't really see any team, didn't look like they were dominating, but UIndy started to pull away in the second quarter with a balanced attack. And they go up 7-3, scoring the last goal of the half with one second left.

SPEAKER_04 6:11

Yeah, yeah. It was just that first quarter was a tight quarter. Yeah, you know, feeling each other out. Yeah you know, two big teams, you know, two heavyweights going at it, two really good teams. Um, like you said, it was 2-1 Undy after one. Uh Christian Schaefer and Justin Williams both scored, and then Grant Hansen scored for Rollins. Magan and Lamb scored for Undy before Jack Johnstone added one for Rollins. And like you said, it was 7-3 at half U Indy. They were looking pretty strong. Yeah. They were looking pretty strong. And then Rollins scored the first four goals of the third period, Kevin.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

They're like, okay, here we go. Here we go. Well, and that was the only goals of the third period. So they shut out Undy that that period to make it. It was uh so it was 7-7 after three. And funny, if you look at U Indy scoring at the end of the second quarter, Rollins flipped that, and they scored with six seconds left in the third to make it to tie it up.

SPEAKER_04 7:11

Yeah. It was a kind of good third quarter, you know, but I felt like in the fourth quarter, I felt like Undy's defense really stepped up. They really started to play well because, you know, Berkman and Hanson, they're really, really good players. I mean, their defense held them to two goals and one goal respectively. I mean, those guys are prolific scorers. Yeah, Rollins.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

And so you got to give the defense credit. I'll tell you, one of the things I was thinking is I just throughout the whole game, I didn't think, and maybe it's the UNE's defense and what they were doing. Rollins' offense just seemed a bit out of sync. They they just didn't seem like they're firing all cylinders. Now, maybe it's what the defense was, and the defense played well. They basically basically, you're right, they were doing things to keep them from getting to their their spots. But and Carls, and Casey Carlson, let me tell you something. He had a game.

SPEAKER_04 8:06

Casey Carlson's really playing well, guys. I'm I'm I'm gonna be honest with you. I think he's really playing well. He's a savvy veteran now. He's a four-year player, you know, he's in his senior year. He's been playing ever since he got to college. He's been on the field, he's been in big, big games, and he doesn't get flustered anymore. Yeah, he had a lot of things. There was games right here.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Yeah, well, and I'll tell you, you know, you look at the saves, 13 saves. It's not, it's that's solid. That's really good. You know, it's not a wow game anymore. When he made the saves. That's exactly right. It's not a 20-save game, but it's the saves he made when he made them.

SPEAKER_04 8:43

Because Rollins was able to get shots off.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

There was a couple, there was a couple shots that were all that were not goals solely because of Casey Carlson.

SPEAKER_04 8:52

Yeah, man. He made some really big saves, especially in the fourth quarter. But you know what? You know where I felt that Rollins really lost this game, Kev, was at the face-off dot. They've they sent out three guys. They sent out Thomas Garvin, Ben Copin, and Lake Baker, and they were combined seven for 20 at face-off.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

Caleb Parker has been just eating it up this year.

SPEAKER_04 9:16

Yeah, he was 13 for 20. I mean, like, I just think that that's where a big that's the stat that stood out to me. Undy was able to control possessions and and and score and score. And score. They were they were able to dodge, they were beating their one-on-one matchups. And uh, I'll tell you, man, that Justin Williams had himself a game. He had two goals and assists. Connor Magan had two goals, Ben Howard one and one, Owen Braddock, two and one, Adam Owan, like I said, uh rank art shape for Lamb.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Total goal scorers, Danny. And then Justin Williams, who's a St. Leo transfer, who knows Rollins better than probably anyone on that team. Right.

SPEAKER_04 9:59

I think Rollins' the hidden spy. You know, for Rollins only to score seven goals, that says a lot about Undy's defense, if you ask me. Um, Mikey Berkman, two and two, uh Grant Hansen for the Tars had one and one. Logan Myers had two assists, Sean Caracciolo had a goal, Sam Madsen had a goal. Hey, and Catchadorian.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Johnstone had two goals. Yeah. So Johnstone. Yeah, and yeah, both goalies were solid. It's not like Catchadurin had a bad game. They both rode. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:28

He had 14 saves. So uh uh on shots, Undy outshot him big time, 52 to 33. That's big, that's a big disparaging number there.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

Only stat that wasn't close.

SPEAKER_04 10:40

Yeah. Um Undy had 19 turnovers, Rollins had 17. Uh, the the Greyhounds are 21 to 23 on clears. Uh the Tars are 26 to 28. Um Ground Balls were close, 28 to 26 in favor of Undy. And on the EMO, Rollins had the edge uh one out of three and uh zero out of two for U Indy. So U Indy just, you know, Rollins had to travel. They got on that plane and had to go up there, and they got beat. They got beat. Yep, they did. They did. All right. That was a big upset. I thought it was a pretty good game.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

And and uh hats off to Undy coming back from their loss. That's right. To then play a higher, even a higher ranked team and beaten them. So they lost to Newberry, then came around and beat Rollins. So they're, you know, you know, it's it's so funny this year's uh Danny. I've seen that a couple times with teams. You're like, oh wow, they they lost, and now that they're not the same. We've said that a few times. U Indy, Adelphi, a couple teams we just haven't seen Anderson. We've seen like where they were last year, right? And yet Undy keeps on coming back, they keep on coming back, and they are a well coached team that plays very disciplined on all sides of the field and on special teams. They've got it all that they can continue to keep on rolling. That's why I can't wait. I I went and looked UND Maryville, and we'll talk about the Maryville game against Westminster, which is the other upset. UNDE Maryville, they played the last game against each other in conference play this year, and I think it's in April sometime. That will be one to watch to see where both teams go in conference going down there. Absolutely. Let's talk Westminster against Maryville. Westminster pulls out 12-7. Did you watch that game? I did. I did.

SPEAKER_04 12:35

I did watch the game. It was uh it was a pretty good game, you know. I think you know, Westminster was there to play.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

They came out on fire and built a 6-2 lead that I think the Saints just could never recover from. They were pretty even scoring after that. Maryville got it back to 7-4 and a half, but then Westminster rattled off five goals to go up 12-4. I never expect that against Maryville.

SPEAKER_04 13:04

Um, no, you know what? I expected a little bit more offensively from Maryville, but you know, each team only scored one goal in the third period. You know, it was like it was a like it was kind of like a weird kind of game. It had like some ebbs and flows to it, and it slowed down, it got quick again. And I just felt felt that Maryville was turning the ball over a lot.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Yeah. Although it the the even if you say that, the stats were pretty damn close in everything except saves.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Westminster had 25 saves to Maryville's 13. Christian Jones, 25 saves, seven goals against. That is an unbelievable game.

SPEAKER_04 13:49

Out of 32 shots on goal. Yeah. So he had himself a game, Christian Jones, man. And that's, you know, that might have been the big difference, too. You know, the stats are pretty clear, you know, they're they're pretty close in all categories. Maybe, maybe shots, Maryville outshot him.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Well, that's what I'm saying. There are other stats that Mary El Maryville led many of the team stats except for that one in saves, which is kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_04 14:18

Yeah. You know, Maryville made a little late run, but it was it was a little too late, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

It's well, yeah, they I think it was like the last uh five minutes, they scored three goals in the last five minutes. And you you can't you can't close the gap in that amount of time.

SPEAKER_04 14:33

I was wondering if, you know, being in the Rockies Mountains was the thin air. Did it bother them, you know, being in the thinner air up there?

SPEAKER_02 14:42

You know, is it they've had two big travel weeks in a row. They went up to Delphi, then they go out to Utah. Now they've they played after that, they played Dominican and one. But none of those teams uh were up to Westminster's caliber. And you have to give Westminster credit because I will tell you, I've seen them play several games. I only saw a little bit of this game, and they've impressed me every time. So watch for this next week when they play Colorado Mesa. That's one of my games to watch.

SPEAKER_04 15:14

Well, I think with that win, Westminster got into the top 20. Meryville was number 14 in the country. And just the other day, they beat number 15 Colorado Mesa, who's not a slouch team in any way, shape, or form. And then they lose to unranked, you know, Westminster. So I was wondering if that maybe that thin air, you know, I don't know. I've never been to the Rockies like that in an athletic type of way. But I know that athletes in the past have said that they got to be up there for a day or two to get acclimated to the to the thinness of the oxygen, I guess it is. Oxygen, yeah, but when the air.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Yeah, but that is gonna catch you a little bit later. When the Griffins went up 6'2 in the first, that's not the air that's doing it to you, usually.

SPEAKER_04 16:05

Luke Silstrop with four and one. How about that, man? He had himself a game for the Griffiths. Merritt McMahon had four goals, Joe Celentano, two and two, Sean Gragnola, one and two, Hagan Buchanan, seven, seven out uh, and at the dot. Jack Fairbanks, two out of seven at the dot. Christian Jones, like we spoke about, 20 25 saves on 32 shots on goal. And for the Maryville, uh, Zach Baker had three assists. Ben, three goals, I thought. Three goals, I'm sorry. Ben Mickett had three goals, Clayton Surretted one. Um, you know, they've struggled, they struggled at the dot for sure. Yeah. But I'll tell you, it was uh so Maryville goes to six and one, and I'm you know one, I was a little kind of a little disappointed in the Saints in that game. I was wondering what happened.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah, well, uh, you called it though when we were watching the games to watch. You said look out for Westminster, and Westminster, I think, deserves where they're at in number 20.

SPEAKER_04 17:06

Yeah, yeah, I do too. I do too. I think they're worthy of it. I as well.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

Okay, let's move on to a top 10 matchup on Saturday, Bentley against a Delphi.

SPEAKER_04 17:21

Not only a top 10, but any any 10 stuff too. Implications, you know. Yeah, seedings for tournament time and all of that stuff.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Adelphi pulls it out 12-9, and it seemed like Bentley had no answer for Eamon Hall, who scored eight goals that day. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:38

Yeah, he was on it. I don't think anybody could have stopped Eamon Hall that day. He was very, very good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

A Delphi was down two in the second following a three-goal stretch from Bentley, and then Hall notched two of his eight goals to even the score at five. Bentley would answer and give that, uh, give them a one-goal lead at half, six-five. But then Adelphi's third quarter, they were they went four goals against Bentley's one. Yeah. And that really proved to be the difference maker.

SPEAKER_04 18:10

Yeah, they exploded for four in that third. Yep. It was nine-seven after that. It was Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

And and it was funny. It's it was like that second half. I started I was watching the fourth quarter as we were driving somewhere. I was not driving, I was in the backseat, just to point that out. And uh it just seemed that every time Bentley was trying to come back in that fourth to make it close, Adelphi just wouldn't let him. Either they they beat him on, you know, they maybe Bentley would score, but Adelphi would come back and score as well. They just would not let him, you know, close that gap.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

Yeah. My my my man Dylan Renner in goal, man.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

14 saves to that's another one. I have Dylan Renner, 14 saves to Tinsley Jackson's 10. So the two separate advantages that we talked about on special teams last week played out. Cam Bartolomeo went 18 out of 23 at the dot for Bentley. Yeah. And Dylan Renner outdid Tinsley Jackson in saves.

SPEAKER_04 19:14

I'm telling you, Renner's keeping that team. They're keeping teams out of the, you know, from burying the biscuit. He's making saves. He's making big saves at big times, you know. And yeah, you know, like we just talked about with Casey Carlson. Yeah. Right. Other teams will go for their runs, and Dylan is just stopping. You know, Bentley outshot a Delphi 39 to 30. You know, uh they outground balled him. I mean, Bentley played good. They didn't play, they didn't play bad. That three goal difference is a very close three goals. Yeah, and again, Eamon Hall, eight goals. Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_02 19:53

I know. You know, Logan Tucker had two goals, three assists. Uh Brandon Donald had, or Braden Donald had two goals. But you're right. Eamon Hall, when you've got a guy that's on fire like that, that's eight. He scored two-thirds of a Delphi's goals.

SPEAKER_04 20:12

Yeah, he was he was on fire, man. He was on fire. So a Delphi struggles at at face-offs big time. They do.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

They brought in a they had several people again this week that they had in uh facing off at X.

SPEAKER_04 20:29

Nick O'Shea, two for ten. They even sent Mikey Delessandro, the the sophomore long pole in there, and he won. He was one for one. Mikey Delessandro played with my son at True Blue, so they played football together. So he's a good player. Um uh Ryan Dernan was one for two, Aiden Fitzgerald two for nine, and Michael Zacchini, zero for three at the dot. So they struggle at Delphi at the dot. So if you got a team with a good LSM, they can create a lot of problems for a Delphi. But you got to try to get it past Renner, and that's another good luck thing.

SPEAKER_02 21:10

So I think it's Delphi's offense, you know, that's right. Their defense, if they're not winning the face-offs, their defense is gonna stop enough to keep them in the game. 100%. 100%.

SPEAKER_04 21:22

Because they're not blowing up teams either, Delphi. They're not blowing up teams. Teams are scoring on them, their teams can be close with them. They're not blowing everybody up, but man, I'm telling you, I just love the way Dylan Renner is playing. If he's not a first team All-American this year, God hope. Something's wrong with this country. Something's wrong with this country.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

All right, let's move on. A few other games uh that caught my eye. I didn't really get to watch them. We talked about them last week, so I'm gonna run through them quickly. The first is St. Michael's against Southern Hampshire. We talked about this, Danny, that this is what like Vine. For that spot in the tournament. St. Michael's wins it 12-11 with Alec Alex Shergwin of St. Mike's scoring the winning goal with 1-11 left to play to secure the victory. Yeah. That's how close this game was.

SPEAKER_04 22:22

And what's what's St. Mike's record now?

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Four-one. Southern New Hampshire is one and four. I'll get to that in a little minute. So it was 4-2 after one, 6-4 after two. And it was St. Mike's of both those. The Penman scored four of the next five goals to take the lead at 8-7. And then that was the first of four one-goal leads that Southern New Hampshire had. But the Purple Knights score the last two to take the win. And like you just said, Southern New Hampshire is now one and four. But they lost three games this year by one goal. That's tough. So they're close. But here's the even tougher thing. They had the lead in all three of those games going into the fourth. Now, only one of them, they had several goals. The rest, all two of the three were just like this one, a one-goal lead. Yeah. So very, very tight and very close. They're just ending up on the wrong side. St. Mike's, on the other hand, we just talked about, is now four and one. And they've won some squeakers as well. And this is kind of the ones they they they still need these. Like this one is a big one for them. So these NE-10 games for those teams are huge right now.

SPEAKER_04 23:42

Yeah, yeah. You know, middle of season stuff.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Yep. Another one quickly, Alabama Huntsville against Emory Riddle. I thought this would be a lot closer than the way it ended up. Emory Riddle takes it 14-7. They scored the first three goals of the game and never looked back. It was 3-1 after one. Alabama and Huntsville tried to keep it close in the second when it was 5-2. But Emory Riddle closed the half with two more to go up 7-2, and that's all she wrote. They actually got it to 12-4 after three. And then Alabama Huntsville fought back to 14-7 final. Eagles dominated in several facets of the game, and this is the real difference. They went 16 of 25 in face-offs. They were three for five in extra man offense, and Alabama Huntsville went 0 for 0 for 3. And in saves again. We've seen this a couple times. The discrepancy in a couple of games this week. Emmy Riddle, 15 saves. Alabama Huntsville, 9. Now here's the next thing. We talked about Eamon Hall. Isaiah Hines for Emmy Riddle, 8 goals. Add himself a day. He did. He did. Christian Hoffer, two goals, two assists. Pete Abbas, two goals, one assist. And then Reed Kerr, their goalie, 15 saves, 7 goals against. On Alabama Huntsville, Pete Fabrizio had two goals. David Friend had two assists. Tommy Pierre their goalie, he's a freshman. He had a tough day. Nine saves, 14 goals against. But he has played well when I've seen him play this year. But remember, he's a freshman. So he's he's you know, he's gonna have some of those games where he struggled, and this was one of them, unfortunately. Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 25:29

Well, you know what? As long as Jez is there, they're gonna, they're gonna improve as a team. They'll get they'll get better and better each team, just because of the coach. Just because of the coach.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Well, that's what and Emmy Riddle did that. I mean, they won that game against Alabama Huntsville, and you know, I think Coach Fry's got the uh Alabama Huntsville in the right place. I think though that's what I was surprised by the score. I was really surprised of how much Emmy Riddle won that by.

SPEAKER_04 25:52

Me too.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

I thought that would be a close game.

SPEAKER_04 25:55

Me too. I thought it would be closer as well.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Here's one that we were looking at. I think you talked about that. Yeah. Mercyhurst, they mercyhurst wins 10-7, but it's that's not huge. This is like a defensive battle between these two teams. Mercyhurst outscored the Flyers in the first and third quarters, 4-2 and 4-1, respectively, to seal the win. And that was it. Other than that, you know, that was it was close. And that's why I said it was a defensive struggle. Brett only, 17 saves, Rhea, 14 saves for Lewis. So Mercy Hurst gets to 3-3 heading into conference play, which is what we talked about. They needed that win. They needed that win big time.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

Uh and Lewis was competitive, man.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

You know, they yeah, they it was a once again, a three-goal game that was closer than you thought. Except for those bursts, those four goal bursts in those two quarters, it was a dead even game. Mercy Hurst, Ethan Lanimore, four goals, one assist. We're seeing starting to see him ramp up. Jeremy Phoenix Lefebvre, two goals, and Colin Tardoff, one goal, one assist for Mercy Hurst. Lewis, Evan Clement, two goals, one assist. Drew Andre, one goal, two assists, and Luke Schroeder, one and one. But once again, some close games. Close, close games. And you talked some of the others I had, you talked about, you've already talked about. And one I have to point out once again, because it seems they do it every week, is Mercy continue as the cardiac kids beating Roberts Wesley by one goal.

SPEAKER_04 27:35

Yeah, man. I wouldn't want to be a mercy parent, man. My heart would be like going. I've been through that with some of my middle sons' games back in the day when they were the cardiac kids, winning goals by winning games by one, letting teams back in and stuff like that. So crazy. So, how about the Tiffin Malone game? Malone comes out with the win. 17-8. I like this because it's a Midwest game. We don't really talk about the Midwest crazy a lot. We're always talking about the big boys. But I thought that this would be a good game. It wasn't as close as I thought, but it was interesting to me to just watch the game. Pretty good first quarter. Each team traded goals. Malone was getting their shots off and led 5-3 after one. Uh Ramsey Bernard, uh, then Eli Shiotti buried biscuits for the Pioneers, then Luke Ory scored a short-handed goal from Malone, and the Pioneers added two more and only gave up one. Uh, Phillip Bell was very good in goal, uh, really much, pretty much stopping everything the Dragons could really throw at them. And uh it was 10-4 at half. Each team added to the goal total, but too much Malone, too much Philip Bell and Eli Ciati. Eli Ciati from Malone, the graduate attack. You know where he's from, Kev? Where is he from? Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania. He had four goals, three assists on a seven-point day. He hit really good. And Luke, Luke Ory, six-foot, 200-pound red shirt sophomore, had three goals and one assist. You know where he's from? Nanemo, British Columbia, on the north side of the border there. Uh Kenny Kaiser, the freshman attack out of Sarasota, Florida, three goals and one assist. And then Zach Smargiaso, two goals. Ramsey Bernard, two goals and assists, John Marx, two goals and assists, Nolan Winter. Uh Camden Kraft, 20 for 27 at the dot from Malone. He had himself a day. And uh again, Phillip Bell with 15 saves for Tiffin. Matt Nanaro, three goals. Brandon McDonald, two goals and assist. Connor Gulcina, two and one. Aiden Gilbert had one. Grant Pyre struggled at the X, seven to twenty six. And Tyler Nutting in goals had nine saves. So Malone, Malone looked good in that game versus Tiffin and battle, battle of the Midwest boys.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

Yeah, and you know, Malone a second-year program, and Tiffin a first year program. That's good to see. I mean, it looks like Tiffin's three and five.

SPEAKER_04 30:16

Yeah. Not so bad for a first-year program. And Malone is four and four in a second-year program. These guys are playing, they're playing pretty decent lacrosse.

SPEAKER_02 30:25

Exactly. Exactly.

Games to Watch this Week

SPEAKER_02 30:28

All right, let's move on to games to watch this week. You talked about it, Danny. You talked about, we we talked about the big boys on the East Coast, whether it's up in the north or in the south. But the first one I'm looking at is this Thursday, the 21st of March, and that's Quincy against Rockhurst. Quincy heads in to conference play at 5 and 3, and they want to continue to improve, but want to start beating the likes of teams like Rockhurst, is where they've struggled before. Rockhurst is at 6-2. Actually, they've already beat Quincy in non-conference play as well as William Jewell. They lost to Tampa and St. Leo, so they need these wins to keep their NCAA hopes alive. And they need to make a run in the conference.

SPEAKER_04 31:19

I like that game. That's going to be a good game, actually.

SPEAKER_02 31:22

Yeah. What are you looking at? What's some games you're looking at there?

SPEAKER_04 31:27

Well, I'm looking at the Meryville-Montevallo game. Now I'm wondering how Maryville's going to bounce back from a loss, and Montevallo's not a bad team, so that might not be a bad game to watch.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

Montevallo's bounced back a little bit on the last few games. So that would be a good game.

SPEAKER_04 31:48

That's not going to be a bad game. You know, that's going to be a game worth watching. There's also a bunch of games. What do you think about the Florida Tech St.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Leo game? I have that on my list. St. Leo beat Florida Tech last year. And now, you know, they're ranked. St. Leo's ranked. So they want that to continue. Florida Tech, it's at Florida Tech, which is going to help them. They're two and five, but they've played a pretty tough out-of-conference.

SPEAKER_04 32:15

They always play a tough out-of-conference schedule, Florida Tech.

SPEAKER_02 32:18

They will not lay down. They're going to want this one back from St. Leo over last year.

SPEAKER_04 32:23

Yeah, St. Leo's going to beat them. St. Leo's a good team, man. I like the way they're playing. Their offense is scoring points. They're tough. They're tough.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

I will tell you, I agree with you that on paper and in my mind right now, St. Leo should win that game. I would not put it past Florida Tech at home.

SPEAKER_04 32:44

I like St. Leo in that game.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

Yeah. I've got another one. We talked about Tiffin and Malone. Here's another one. Uh, brand new program against a program that's only been out there for its second year. That's on Saturday, the 23rd. It's Holy Family against Bridgeport. New teams in the conference battling. Interesting. If you look at it just like you look at Malone with one year advantage over Tiffin, I think the same thing's going to happen. Bridgeport is going to win over Holy Family, but both will be looking for that first conference win. So who knows? We'll see.

SPEAKER_04 33:22

Bridgeport's at three and four right now. What's Holy Family?

SPEAKER_02 33:26

They're one and three or one and four right now. They've got one win under their belt. I like Bridgeport in that game. I think Bridgeport will win it out. What else are you looking at?

SPEAKER_04 33:38

Well, there's a couple of big ones. Uh what do you think about uh the SAC game coming up this week? Wingate hosting Lenore Ryan.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

That's always a grind of a game. Oh my lord, that's gonna be a game. I don't think these teams really like each other, Danny. No, they don't like each other. They don't they're they're playing at Wingate. LR's play. That's the first time in a long time. Feels that way, doesn't it? LR's only loss is to limestone. Wingate has two losses, but both were only by a goal, right? Was it one goal for each of them?

SPEAKER_04 34:15

I I forget. These games just go.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

I've But here's the difference. Both played Tampa with different results. Lenore Ryan won. Wingate lost to Tampa. Personally, I don't think that makes a difference. These two teams know each other so well.

SPEAKER_04 34:34

I think the diff I think the difference at this game will probably be at face-off. Matt Mancini's been playing great for Lenore Ryan in the face-off position of both teams great defense, both teams great offenses. Yep. You know, I you know I have to give the edge a little bit to LR right now.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

I would agree with you. I think you you just hit the nail on the head. If Wingate can pull off an Adelphi by losing the face-off, but their defense getting saves, and I say that's beyond just Sully getting saves.

SPEAKER_04 35:09

Yeah, well, that's what they did against Tampa. They were losing big time at the face-off, but they were able to cause turnovers. Wingate, they were able to get balls back and those 50-50s and stuff like that. So wingate stuff like that. I think that's gonna be a barn burner of a game. Yeah, I agree. I agree.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

And it's at Wingate, so we'll see. Here's the other SAC game, Danny, that's gonna be interesting. That's Newberry against Limestone. Another key conference matchup. The Wolves and Coach Cotter are looking to knock off that top team. They've just lost by two to Wingate. They're playing at Newberry, but limestone looks pretty tough to beat, and they're 10-0.

SPEAKER_04 35:50

I'm impressed with Newberry. I think they're a really, really, really good team. I think their goalie is fantastic. But you know what? That limestone defense right now, forget the offense and Zach Terry and those guys, they're gonna score goals. They're going to get goals. Yeah. It's it's limestone's defense and what they've been able to do defensively, really, to shut down teams and make teams uncomfortable and force shots and force passes and you know what. So I'm gonna have to give the edge to limestone. Where is this game? Is it at Newberry?

SPEAKER_02 36:24

It's at Newberry.

SPEAKER_04 36:26

Yeah. So I'm gonna give the edge to Limestone on this one. They're the number one team in the country right now.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

Oh, I I would too. I would too, Danny. I agree with you. But I think it's gonna be a game just like the Wingate game. It's gonna be a couple goals, would be my guess.

SPEAKER_04 36:41

You never know how the ball bounces in these big games like this, man. Like it could be, you know, it could be one post, it could be one ground ball, it could be one penalty, you know. Yeah, these teams are these are these are the elite teams of Division II now. You know, you're talking about the the best of the best. They're all well coached, there's athletes on both sides of the ball for both teams. So anything can happen, you know that any given Sunday, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:07

Exactly. And we've seen that already this year. We have seen that several times. We saw last time. Yes, we have. That's right. Westminster Maryaville is a great example. Perfect example. And that's a game. Here's a game. When was the last time we had two ranked teams out of the Armac? Maybe when we first started the podcast, maybe it was, but I don't remember them both, maybe a couple years ago. This Sunday, Colorado Mesa coming in at number 17, plays Westminster, number 20 in the rankings for USILA. Westminster's only loss is to Tampa. That's their only loss this year. They beat Maryville while Colorado Mesa lost to them. Yeah. And we talked about this. Did the venues matter? Colorado Mesa played at Lewisfield, you know, and they played in near Chicago, whereas Maryville had to go out and play Westminster at home. Colorado Mesa is 3-2, with their losses being to Tampa and Maryville. Now they play Florida Southern tomorrow. We are actually recording this on Monday evening. And they play Flagler on Thursday. So they go Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday. They're in Florida. They fly back sometime Thursday or Friday to have a game on Sunday at their home field. But I got questions like will Westminster will they be ready, refreshed, and ready to go? Or will and Colorado Mesa will they be tired out? Or will Colorado Mesa? You know how sometimes you were a coach, sometimes you want your team playing regularly.

unknown 38:46

Right.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

Because then they're they're in the groove, right? And you take a week off or so, sometimes, and you're only in practice, you get a little stale. Absolutely. So what is it gonna be? I think this is gonna be a great game.

SPEAKER_04 39:01

You know what? They're always really good games, these two guys. They're you know, like Lenore Ryan and Wingate hate each other, and some of these other schools, and these two hate each other. They want to beat the snot out of each other's brag and rights, you know.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

And except for last year, Colorado Mesa, I think, won out against Westminster last year. Yeah, but every other year, they usually go back and forth.

SPEAKER_04 39:23

Yeah, you know what? It's a heated rivalry in Division II lacrosse, same conference, both pretty good teams, you know, both well coached, players on both sides. Should be a great game, Kev. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:36

Any others you looking at? No, that's about it right now. All right, I've got I've got one more. And it's Tuesday, the 26th of March. It's Assumption at Southern New Hampshire. And I'm really looking at this from Assumption's perspective. Because they've been quiet. And as they've been quiet, they sit at four and one. That's crazy. And my question is, are they the best mid-pack any 10 team this year? They could be. They've been playing good ball, but I think Southern New Hampshire is going to give them the real test. We've seen this with Southern New Hampshire. We went through it and we talked about we can review. They've lost three games, three one goal games. So just because they're one and four doesn't mean that they're they're not gonna be a tough out. And so I think this is gonna be a test and see what assumption can do.

SPEAKER_04 40:32

They scored 10 goals against Mercy in the very first game of the season, they beat Roberts Wesleyan by three. They destroyed Caldwell, and they beat a good Georgian court team by one. Yeah. And beat a good AIC team by two. So now they enter, you know, solid N-10 play. Yeah. Yeah, they got uh Southern New Hampshire, St. Mike's, Adelphi, Pace, St. A's, St. Rose, Bentley, and Franklin Pierce. If they can go 500 in those games, you might see them in the NE 10.

SPEAKER_02 41:11

Totally agree. And the way I've been watching them and seeing them, I've watched a little bit of their games, I haven't seen much, but just watching how they've played against the you just said it, who they play and who they played and won. They're a team to be reckoned with. They could go easily go to the NE 10 conference tournament, easily.

SPEAKER_04 41:29

So now these two games for Assumption right now, against uh Southern New Hampshire and St. Mike's, these these next two are really, really, really big games for Assumption. Yeah, really big games. Yeah. And if like if they can win those two games, I think they're gonna be in the tournament.

SPEAKER_02 41:47

I agree.

SPEAKER_04 41:48

I agree. Cool stuff, man. It's cool stuff.

SPEAKER_03 41:52

I love it.

The Game of the Week

SPEAKER_02 42:35

We picked one game again this week, you and I together for the game, the game of the week. And that's this Saturday. Tampa, number three in the nation against Rollins, number five. What do you think?

SPEAKER_04 42:52

Sunshine State Conference. This is it, man. This is a big game for both teams. This is gonna be this is gonna be a good game to watch. Yeah. If you're not watching your son's game, then you gotta watch this game.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

Well, and here's what's tough for for fans out there. Wingate Lenore on game, night game, 7 p.m. Kind of settle in, get your popcorn, get your favorite beverage. Unfortunately, Tampa Rollins is at 8 p.m. Two great night games. How many times have you have we seen that in Division II play? Not often. Usually there's like uh one one one solid, really good game at like the seven o'clock. We've got two really good ones that you're gonna have to battle for. Both teams have only one loss, right? Tampa lost to LR. Rollins just lost to UND. They're playing at Tampa. And you know the Spartans want revenge for last year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:51

It's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough. Rollins, you know, coming off a loss. Now, this is the first time. Are they gonna want to advenge it? This is well, this is gonna see what this team's made. Right. Exactly. This is what when you see the meat and potatoes, what kind of character a team has coming off a loss like that. Going into Tampa, playing the number three team in the country. Not an easy thing to do. But you know what? It's not going to be an easy run for Tampa. They're going to have to they're going to have to fight for goals.

SPEAKER_02 44:21

I find this really interesting because I don't think Rollins has really played a full four quarters, except maybe against a Delphi. And they're going to have to play four full quarters against Tampa to win.

SPEAKER_04 44:37

Yeah. I agree. I agree. You know what though? Again, I I mean both both teams are very good. Tampa holds the edge a little bit on the faceoffs. Um Rollins holds the the the edge in goal. Yep. You know, um now it comes down to execution on defense and offense, staying out of the box, that type of thing, discipline, good discipline, lacrosse. And I think that's what you're going to see out of both of these teams. Do you think it's defense or offense that wins it, or it's just the whole combination of the well, you know, Kev, I coached football for a long, long time, and I know that offense wins games, but defense wins championships. So I think, you know, when defenses step up and make it hard for good offenses to the edge goes to the defense, you know. And you know, just this is a pick'em game for me. This is a pick'em game. I might have to give the edge to Tampa only because it's home.

SPEAKER_02 45:39

You just took the words right out of my mouth. Pick'em game, Tampa gets the edge. That's all I can say. I I have not I have not seen, like I said, I have not seen Rollins play except against a Delphi again. I've seen them with some other teams. They just let some teams stay with them, let Flagler stay with them. They let a few teams just stay with them a little bit more than they wanted. They can't do that against Tampa. They cannot.

SPEAKER_04 46:05

No. I've watched Rollins a few times this year. They're good, man. They're good. Oh, yeah, they're very good. Offensively, they're good.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

Oh, I'm not saying I'm not don't get anything wrong when I say that. I'm not saying they're not good. I just, I guess maybe they've already set the bar so high for me last year.

SPEAKER_04 46:19

You know, I'm like, no, I didn't take it that way at all. I didn't take it that way that you meant that. I just I just think that Rollins is a really good offense, and but their defense is very good too, you know. So yes. And and and last year I felt that it was their defense that really was the catapult for their for their team last year. But then I'm watching Grant Hanson and Berkman and these guys, multiple scorers. You know, who you who's gonna guard? It's a it's a tough guard, right? Rollins are, you know. So Tampa, you know what? They're they're a battle-tested team right now. And uh again, being at home, being at home, I think that they're going to have a little bit of the edge. Should be a great, great game. Great game.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

That's and that's why we picked it. That's why we picked it.

SPEAKER_04 47:10

The following segment of Increase is sponsored by laxjobs.us. Find 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 across job opportunities, upload a resume, create a take a profile, and be saved by hundreds of potential employers. You can sign up for email job alerts as well. Are you looking to hire lacrosse people? At laxjobs.us, you can post a job that released to a network of qualified job seekers. 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.

Player's Spotlight

SPEAKER_02 48:18

All right, Danny. Time for the player spotlight. My favorite part, Kev. My favorite part. And you were missed last week. I have to say, I had to do it on my own. It was not easy. I'm glad you're back. This one, Danny, is really interesting. We talked a couple episodes ago of how quickly our kids' collegial across careers went by.

unknown 48:40

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 48:40

Blink of an eye, right? Yep, it goes by at warp speed in the four years at school. Well, this one's interesting because we get to get that perspective from these two players who are also brothers. And also because we've been watching them their whole career and talking about them on in the crease since they were freshmen. Many times. I'm excited to have them on tonight. I really am. I'm excited. It also tells you how quickly three years of the podcast, four years of the podcast have gone by almost.

SPEAKER_04 49:13

Yeah, it's quick.

SPEAKER_02 49:14

But but enough about us, right? Let's let's bring them in right now. Nick and Noah Larson of the St. Ansome Hawks. Hey guys.

SPEAKER_00 49:21

What's up, boys? What's going on? Thanks for having us on. Yeah, thanks for having us, guys.

SPEAKER_04 49:25

All right. I've been waiting for a long time to get you guys on. I've been a big fan. I'm a big fan of St. A's. I'm a big fan of Coach Shimana. But when we first started this podcast, you guys were just itty bitty freshmen out there. But you were making noise noise.

SPEAKER_02 49:39

Probably still taller than me, though.

SPEAKER_04 49:41

Yeah, inside. But you know what? You guys were making noise. First of all, we're on a Zoom meeting. You guys are together. I don't know who Nick is, and I don't know who Noah is. Which one is who? So I'm Nick. I have the white t-shirt on. Noah. Hey, Nick. Hey, Noah. Okay, good. It's finally good to meet you guys. Write that note down. Nick white t-shirt. Welcome to In the Crease, fellas. Thank you so much for taking time from Study Hall tonight to come down and uh and and join uh the two knuckleheads on In the Crease. We really appreciate you taking the time.

SPEAKER_00 50:16

No problem. Thanks for having us on. Yeah, no problem.

SPEAKER_02 50:18

Okay, here's my first question. And I have to ask this. This is a twin question. I actually am a twin as well, but my twin, I have a twin sister. So here it is. You guys get this all the time. Who's older?

SPEAKER_00 50:31

I am Nick. I'm older by 10 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 50:34

Ten minutes? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:35

That's how that's But I'm but I'm taller than Nick, so No, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 50:42

I had to say my whole life that my sister got the the brains, the beauty. Yeah. So it she got all of it, and I got nothing. So and the height. She's actually taller than me as well.

SPEAKER_00 50:52

He's only got half an inch on me.

SPEAKER_04 50:57

So you're with the St. Anselm's Hawks. Let me ask you a question. How did Coach Shimana get you guys to get there?

SPEAKER_00 51:05

Um so we were um, I probably met Coach Shimana at the end of our sophomore year high school at a um summer recruiting tournament, and he reached out, and we actually had some sort of idea he was gonna reach out because we've had a few kids from our high school end up at St. A's that were a couple years older than us. So I got a text from one of our teammates saying that Coach Mona's probably gonna reach out, and then he reached out, and then we kind of went through the whole like recruiting process for the next couple years with him. So Noah, was it was it a package deal? Yeah, it was the same exact thing, just separate emails. Yeah, I think it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 51:46

Oh, separate emails, I love it. I love it. Did you guys want to play college together, or were you guys thinking maybe something different?

SPEAKER_00 51:54

Um, at first we kind of want to go different paths, but then uh by the end of our junior year summer, we kind of figured like, hey, we both want to go to St. A's, like, why not just go together? So at first it kind of started off as a different thing, and then at the end of it, we're like, hey, why not go together? So And it worked out. It worked out perfectly, and it's the best decision I've made. So 100%.

SPEAKER_02 52:17

That's awesome. That's awesome. Because that's that's a tough thing. You know, growing up as a twin myself, I'm sure you've got the same thing. You you run in the same circles, and sooner or later you you want you're thinking about doing that being a little bit independent between each other, right?

SPEAKER_00 52:32

Yeah, like my older brother was like, he was really big on me and Nick kind of going to different places, but um he was just telling my parents like he wants us to kind of move on individually and have our own lives, but couldn't get really too far away from him. So it's actually pretty easy here. Like we do obviously hang out with the same people, but we've taken two different kind of education paths um academically, and that kind of made ourselves like grow away from each other. But we also we live together still, actually. We're in uh we're in a townhouse of five other guys, so it's okay. It's uh what's chaotic at times.

SPEAKER_04 53:10

So what are you studying, Nick?

SPEAKER_00 53:13

Uh I'm a sociology major, but I am probably gonna go into sales at some point.

SPEAKER_04 53:18

Okay. And what about you, Noah?

SPEAKER_00 53:20

I'm a finance major right now, so I'm applying to jobs, obviously. But uh it's kind of hit me this semester that you know this summer I'm not gonna be playing lacrosse or probably lifting weights or training for the season, so it's kind of surreal at this point.

SPEAKER_02 53:32

Yeah, yeah. I bet. I bet. So what drew you to St. A's versus probably other place you wanted to go?

SPEAKER_00 53:40

Um probably the culture. I've what I said before, like we've known a bunch of people that have actually gone through the program and I only heard good things from literally from them. I didn't hear a single negative thing. And one of our other teammates, Henry Alford, who actually went to Algonquin with me and Noah, same class and everything, he was getting recruited by St. A's too. And he actually made the decision first. He committed before us, and then me and Noah kind of took a hard look, and we were like, I don't know, the other schools we were considering were like St. A's got like being able to compete for something, get a good education, and being able to get a job right out of school were kind of a few of the huge main factors, and it all kind of led to St. A's. It kind of touched on all of them. Yeah, interesting. But um, I'd say also the coaching staff and the teammates. Um, I know Coach Shama, he was relatively new when we were getting recruited. I think he's only been there for like what four years? Four years, I want to say. But um, I knew the vision that he had for St. A's and the rest of the coaching staff, and also the uh kids on the team like Matty Ward and Griffin Shoemaker, just for example. Uh CJ too. CJ Hunt.

SPEAKER_05 54:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:50

Um, those guys really like drew me and Nick to the program and the culture that they were building, and I totally believed in it 100%.

SPEAKER_04 54:57

Yeah, when you're freshman and you walk onto the field with those guys, you know, out there, what does that make you feel? What kind of feelings did you have? Like, man, I'm with good guys or bad, I'm gonna listen to these guys. They've been around the block. Like, what was going through your head?

SPEAKER_00 55:10

It was kind of crazy because in high school you're kind of like the guy. The guy and then going to St. A's, like you're starting at the bottom again, and you got to work your way up of being able to play with those that 2021 senior class with uh Griffin Shoemaker, Matty Ward, uh CJ Hart. They're such leaders and such good guys that like anything they said, me and Nolad would take it and run. Because they were just we're learning so much on the fly, and not just learning from that senior class, but the classes above us. Like that's that sophomore junior class, we learned a ton. And obviously, yeah, the fifth years with Joe Hardigan, and then with uh Coach Shimana and Coach Nardello at the time and Coach Hayward, they were all really good about bringing me and Noah and the rest of the freshmen in and kind of teaching us the ways.

SPEAKER_02 56:04

So now you guys are in those shoes. What is that like?

SPEAKER_00 56:08

It's honestly it's kind of crazy. Like sometimes I still feel like I'm a freshman, but people are listening to you. I know, I know. It's crazy, but um, I try to think like you know, treat the freshman like how I was treated. Like it doesn't matter if you're a senior or fifth year, like we're all on the same team. Like I remember my freshman year, like Griffin Shoemaker used to stop by uh the dorm, we call it Dominic Hall, which is just a freshman boys dorm, and we just go shoot a bucket or something before practice. And just kind of that culture that those guys built. I kind of try to do the same thing with uh the freshman now. It was more so in the fall, but in the spring, we kind of got a busy schedule or got practice going on or traveling or whatever it may be. So it's a little bit more difficult, but just kind of instilling that culture with those younger guys and showing them how I was treated as a freshman is uh huge for those guys.

SPEAKER_02 56:58

So now I have to ask you this. If I look at St. A's roster, when I go on the website, most offensive players are listed as either attack or MIDI. You two both have a slash after your names. A slash M. Can you guys explain that to me?

SPEAKER_00 57:19

Um honestly, I think I put it in. We have uh like an arms like website that we use, we fill out, and when I got here, I didn't know if I was gonna play attacker midfield, and I haven't really changed it. So, but I could I have it as in as both because I can play both if I had to.

SPEAKER_02 57:36

Well, and and what do you how about you, Noah?

SPEAKER_00 57:39

Yeah, same thing for me. Um I think my freshman year actually says D MIDI too. So I was like a little thumb out of the roster my freshman year, but that was you're like, just get me in, coach. I don't care where you play. I'll play any position. But um, yeah, so obviously my freshman and sophomore year, I played a lot in the midfield, and then uh last year I got a chance to attack, which is kind of my natural position since high school.

SPEAKER_02 58:01

So that's what I was wondering. I think that was part of it. You're kind of you're two players on the team that can be interchangeable in both those positions, I think.

SPEAKER_00 58:09

Yeah, I I mean I actually played attack in high school and I played midfield in club, and then I came here and I just played midfield the entire time.

SPEAKER_04 58:18

Yeah. Interesting. Listen, you guys sitting at uh what are you, three and one? Yep, three and one. Tough loss to Bentley. Always a good game when you guys play each other. Let's talk about the let's talk about the NE 10 in general. What a conference, huh?

SPEAKER_00 58:36

Yeah, definitely. I definitely would argue that it's the best conference in the country just because of how deep, like and how good the teams have been naturally. But obviously, there are other really good conferences in the north and south, especially with all those teams in Florida that um that are definitely very good as well.

SPEAKER_02 58:55

So yeah, don't count out those teams in North Carolina either, there, uh, Noah, what do you think about the NE-10?

SPEAKER_04 59:03

Like when you're a freshman, you're coming in, you're an NE-10. It's like it's the granddaddy of them all. It's been the oldest conference. It's the oldest conference. A lot of history to that conference, a lot of history in the lacrosse community in that conference. It's a black and blue league, you're traveling, you're on buses, it's a Wednesday, it's cold out. What's it like, Noah, playing in the NE10?

SPEAKER_00 59:29

I love it because it makes you like bring your best game every time you play. Like, no matter who you play, whether it's you know, if Us, Pace, Adelphi, Assumption, Bentley, like any one of those teams can beat you on any single day. I'm not just including those teams, but other teams in the NE10 as well, which is awesome because like if you don't show up one day, some team's gonna kick your butt. But um, yeah, like you said, it's like, in my words, I want to say it's kind of like the ACC of Division II. It's the best two across. But obviously, you can't forget about the teams in North Carolina or Florida as well. No, you guys are doing pretty good down there, those guys right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:07

But you guys said it right, and actually, Coach Ameriano of Pace has said this uh to us before, right? What happens with you guys starting a little bit later to catch up with the games? A lot of the teams in the South get to play early game a week for a while. They start earlier, like they start earlier, so they they can do one game a week, and then all of a sudden they have to pick it up and they're doing two games a week. You guys in the NE 10 are almost doing two games per week. I know you guys are a little bit off. You actually have uh almost a week off, which is a little bit different from the NE10, but and you said it right. I mean, you look at the game last week, uh, this past weekend, Assumption against AIC, it was a 10-8 game. No one would have expected that from AIC, and no one would expect Assumption to be four and one so far this season. So St.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:55

Mike's is four and one as well right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:56

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:58

Yeah, these these teams are vying for that Lemoyne spot, you know, like Lemoyne's gone. So that opens up a spot now in that NE10, because it's been the top five pretty much the last couple years. Now it opens a spot. Who's gonna be? St. Mike, St. Rose, Southern New Hampshire. They're struggling a little bit. But anyway, it's a great conference. I I think that I think it's amazing. Conference. I was at the game two years ago when you guys came down to Long Island to play Adelphi in the rain. Remember that one?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:29

Yep. I remember that.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:32

You guys came up a little short, man. You almost had them. You almost had them in that game.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:37

I think we lost 15-14.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:39

Yeah, it was.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:40

It was a one-goal game, but I think we went down like four or five-nothing in the first quarter, and we kind of crawled back during the whole game, but I don't think we ever got a lead.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:49

Yeah, that was a that was a great game, but it was the weather, you know, that was in that rain. I hate playing in the rain.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:54

Yeah, I mean all the NE10 teams are kind of used to playing in the poor weather, no matter if it's snowing or raining.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:01

So that's that's true. That's true. Well, let's move on then. Let's move on. I think, Danny, that we've warmed them up. Nick and Noah, they're very, you know, vocal guys. They've they're they're pretty well versed. I think they're ready for the firing round.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:18

The firing round. All right, fellas. We got Nick and Noah Larson from the St. Ansome Hawks here with us tonight. I'm big fans of these guys. Kevin, I've been asking for a while. Let's get these guys on. You guys have been great so far. Now you're in the firing round. We're gonna hit you with some questions. First one, Noah, mom's best meal. Oh God. Um she's listening, man. You better come up with something good. Uh Shepherd's Pie. Shepherd's pie, huh? That's a good one. And Nick, Nick, what do you think mom's best meal is? Um, chili. Chili. All right. Um, Noah, morning bird or night owl?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:03

Morning bird.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:05

Nick. Morning bird. Oh, morning bird, okay. Yeah, right. Noah, runs or lips? Nick. Lifts. All right, good. Favorite holiday, Noah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:22

Ah, Christmas, 100%.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:24

And Nick.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:26

I'll be different. Thanksgiving. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:29

Nick, what did you get your brother for Christmas this past year? He borrowed 10 from Dad.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:41

I'll give him my love.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:43

Ah, there you go. There you go. I love it. All right. Noah, Netflix or ESPN?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:51

Uh, ESPN.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:53

Nick. ESPN. ESPN. Okay. Noah, NLL or PLL?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

Uh PLL.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:01

Nick.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:02

PLL. I don't watch box too much, so.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:05

Okay. I figured you guys from the north, you might have a little box in you, but okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:10

If you get to go watch a game live, they are a blast. An L NL game.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:15

I'm sure, especially a place like Buffalo. They pack that arena.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:18

Yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:20

And it's bruising, man. Those guys beat that shit out of each other. Oh my god. They're just coming on. They're just coming on. They take two steps and they're getting slammed. It's crazy. All right. Next question. Noah, PlayStation or Xbox?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:34

PlayStation.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:35

And you, Nick.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:36

PlayStation.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:38

Okay. Noah, tell us something about yourself that not many people know.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:47

Usually this guy I usually go with I'm a twin, but you guys obviously know that.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:52

Yeah. Yeah. And so is the rest of the audience.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:55

I think the rest of the D2 College Lacrosse world know that. And not because of our podcast. If they watch Stan Games, they know that there's Larson brothers together.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:04

That's right. I would say my older brother played College Lacrosse at Wentworth.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:08

At Wentworth?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:09

There we go.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:09

That's a good one. You know what? Another question, real quick, before we continue on with the firing round. How many brothers and sisters do you have in the Larson family?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:18

Just one more older brother. He's uh 25 right now.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:22

All right, great. So three boys just like us. All right, awesome. Good stuff. Nick, tell us something about yourself that not many people know.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

Um, I like to consider myself a very good ping pong player. All right, all right, very good. Me and my other roommate uh have some pretty good battles. He's very good as well.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:43

That's awesome. That's awesome. Uh Noah, who's the funniest kid on the team?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:49

Ooh. Can I say two? Yeah, sure. Uh shout out Ian Boyles for and Will Davis.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:55

What makes them so funny?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:57

Because their goalies are weird.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:01

All right. What about you, Nick? Who do you think's the funniest on the team?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:06

Uh I'll go with two as well. I'm gonna have to go uh Ian Boysvert, goalie, um, and then probably Liam McCarthy. He's got some sort of weird dry sense of humor that a lot of people can't pull off. So I love it.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:23

I love those dry sense of humor, guys. Okay. Noah, which kid on the team would you never let date your sister if you had one?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:33

Craig Unone.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:37

And what about you, Nick?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:40

Um Jay Klepaki.

unknown 1:06:44

All right.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:45

And why, why, why, Jay?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:47

Um, he's kind of like he's a freshman, and I uh I like to consider him someone I like to mentor. So I I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:56

Okay. All right. He what he needs is he needs he needs still some more grooming, like four years of grooming before he can really do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:02

Yeah, he needs a little more grooming, I guess. Okay, Noah.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:08

Uh what other sports did you play in high school?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:12

Um in high school is mostly hockey and lacrosse. But obviously, at times, like in my younger years, I used to play basketball and soccer, but then obviously with uh getting pretty competitive in hockey and lacrosse, like it just took up too much time. So we just stuck to those two sports. So in the fall, it'd be club hockey or just like in mass, it's always half season. So you play your half season team, and then as that season ends, then you kind of hop over to hockey and then play that whole winter season and go to lacrosse in the spring.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:40

Wow. And what about you, Nick?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:43

Same exact thing. I'd we'd play uh half season hockey in the fall. Once Thanksgiving would hit, we'd go play for our public school and then play all the way up until the middle of March, and then lacrosse would hit. It'd be a fresh lacrosse, ready to go.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:57

Oh, all right, cool. That's pretty interesting. Um, okay, Noah, favorite sandwich?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:03

Um for a deli sandwich, I would say probably turkey and cheese on ciabattar roll.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:10

Okay, what about you, Nick?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:12

Uh, I'll do turkey and cheese on sourdough.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:15

All right. I like turkey and cheese too, myself. Noah, what's your go-to snack? It's 10:30 at night just before bedtime. What's that go-to snack?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:25

Um, probably cookie dough ice cream.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:28

It's so unhealthy for an athlete, you know. So unhealthy.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:34

Danny, he didn't say he eats it a lot. You just asked snack. Come on, man.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:38

It's the go-to. You know what you do when you go have the go-to. You always have some go-to around. What about you, Nick? Um go-to snack.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:48

Lately, it's been uh Captain Crunch. Shout out to Will Davis because Will Davis got me on that uh on that bandwagon. Having cereal snack now.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:58

I love cereal, man. I eat cereal. I used to eat it a lot, I got out of it, and now I'm eating a lot. I'm a big frosted flakes guy. All right. Noah, best professor at St. A's, and the best, and who's the and what class did he teach or she?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:16

Best professor? Oh, Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:19

Um, they're listening too, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:23

I know. I say uh Professor McGuinness just because he always followed along with our games in the spring. So I thought that was pretty cool. And he taught uh, I want to say accounting one with me. Maybe it was cost accounting, but one of those accounting courses I took with him.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:39

Alright, shout out to Professor McGuinness.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:41

What about you, Nick? Uh, probably Professor Sisko. She was my advisor the last couple of years, and she kind of straightened me to get on a good path for after college and after lacrosse. So Professor Sisko definitely.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:57

Alright, shout out. All right, Noah, give us one item on your bucket list.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:05

Oh god. Maybe skydiving? I feel like I have to do that at some point. But um good one.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:13

That's daredevil shit right there. That ain't me. What about you, Nick? One bucket list item.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:20

Um, I'd like to travel to Denmark because that's where my great-grandfather is from. I think it'd be cool to kind of go back and see what it's like over there.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:28

That's that's a beautiful country. I've been there a few times when I was still in the active duty in the Navy. You will love it.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:35

That's really cool. I like that a lot. Okay. Between the two of you, you guys can pick which one you guys want to do. Give us your best impression of Coach Shimana. They both got smiles on, Coach, like them smirky smiles.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:51

They're both pointing at the other person at the other brother, though.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:53

I don't want to get in trouble for this.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:55

Uh you're you've got special dispensation for this one. That's right, Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:00

I'm trying to think of a one-liner he used a lot. It's all about the little things. Yeah, you say that one. He says that a lot. Um They're afraid, Coach.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:15

They're afraid. No.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:16

Oh, I'll go. Um effort, toughness, and discipline. We'll do that one. That's where he has every speech, every uh time he breaks out of hull after right before a game. So that's kind of one of his big go-to's.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:30

Oh, that's great. Hey, Nick and Noah Lawson. You did you did great in the firing round. You did a good job. Congratulations. You got through it, boys.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:41

Yeah, and and boys, it was Nick and Noah. I shouldn't call you boys. You're you're practically men. Young men. Thank you so much for coming on. It's been it's been a treat for us having you on as we've watched you these past four years uh grow up, not only on the lacrosse field, but off the lacrosse field as you get ready for your careers uh post-St. A. So thanks so much for coming on. It's great having you.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:03

Thanks for having us having us on, guys. Really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:07

Yeah, fellas, I'm really excited that I got to finally get a chance to talk to you guys and meet you guys. I've been I've been a big fan. Kevin can tell you, man. I'm like, did you see Larson Boys? They just these guys are blowing it up. And you guys were freshmen, and I just like I thought it was cool that you were freshmen and you were on the field on a good team and playing and being and and contributing and just you know, every time Saw St. Ace, bang, they were winning another one, winning another one in the NE 10 tournament, you know, uh coming up with another win. So it's been a great, it's been great to have you on. I really appreciate you guys taking the time from Study Hall. And uh congratulations. Good luck the rest of the season, and uh, we'll see you soon. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:50

Thanks again, you guys.

Shout Outs

SPEAKER_02 1:12:52

All right, Danny. Great, great time with the Larson brothers, don't you think?

SPEAKER_04 1:12:58

What a great kids. I was really excited to have them on, man, because like I said, we've watched them grow and play in this division and in this league and as freshmen and and just really played well and contributed to a really, really good team. And then every week, when you look at teenage, there's the Larson brothers, they're in the books, yeah. Two and one, one and two, two ground balls, you know, they're just solid there, solid, great players, you know, all all conference guys, all America in there, you know. So I was really happy to have them on. And what great kids, huh? Mr. and Mrs. Larson. You should be very proud of those boys.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:38

Yeah, I totally agree. And it was interesting for me as being a twin, even though having a twin sister instead of having a twin brother, because that's why I could ask some of the questions. Like, did you want to go to the same school? What do you think about that? How has that worked out? I loved how they said because my sister and I were in the exact same boat. We applied to the same schools, we ended up going to different schools, and it worked out for us very well. Right. But when they said it was the right choice, it ended up being great, and the other one's like 100%. This is you know, playing together, going to school together. It was just great to hear. It's it's not always easy. You want sooner or later, you've got to make your own path.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:16

I forgot to ask him. I forgot to ask him who had the higher GPA. We will never know.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:24

Yes, I know. But it was great to have them on. I'm glad they came. It was all right. So now it's time for some shout outs.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:33

Oh, my first shout-out tonight goes uh to Matt Matriga, the junior Fogo from Flagler. 200 face-off wins. Congratulations, Matt!

SPEAKER_02 1:14:44

I saw that. That's a great shout-out. Here's my first. It's to Tristan Engelhart of Deuville. 100 career points. His is the first in program history. Congrats, Tristan. That's awesome. That's great.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:02

Uh, my next shout out goes to Matt Branco, the senior defender from Felician. Came the all-time leader in cause turnovers at Felician. So, congratulations, Matt.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:17

That's awesome. This one is a group one, Danny. My last shout-out for the for the podcast, this episode, and it goes to the players' fans and friends of CSU Pueblo and William Jewell. Their game last Thursday was delayed nearly three hours due to an overnight snowstorm that filled the turf with about three inches of snow at the stadium. Crazy. That's awesome. Oh my god. How did they get to play? The players, parents, and fans of both teams pitched in to shovel the turf. They had to use a running clock for the whole game. They just, that's all they did. They, I mean, uh, I because it delayed for three hours. I think they probably figured we've been out here for so long, we can't we can't delay. So as William Jewell posted, and I saw this on Instagram solution based, not excuse-based, let the fellas play. I think that says it all for both teams and the fans to be able to do that and pull that off.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:17

So the fans came down and they all helped everybody.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:20

Yeah. No problems on the solution. I hate that uh Division II teams have got to do that, that that we don't have the resources, our schools don't have the resource to do that. But for them to just all get say, screw it, these boys need to play. And then to go do that is just amazing.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:38

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:39

I would like a big shout out.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:41

Good on them. That's that's a really cool story. Uh, my last uh shout out goes out to Linus Toward from Rockhurst. Kevin, he's leading all the freshmen in the country with 25 goals. He had four against Tampa, eight against Adams State, and five against CSU Pueblo. So keep rocking it there at Rockhurst Linus, uh leading all the freshmen in the country in goals. Keep it up.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:07

That's awesome. And then just to close out and to thank our segment sponsor, laxjobs.us, creating lacrosse community by pulling together people who are looking for lacrosse jobs with employers. All for free. Yeah, laxjobs.us, guys, do it. And with that, Danny, for this week, that's a wrap. That's a wrap, guys.