Game Time - A look back at week 8 and a preview of Week 9 of the 2022 season

SPEAKER_04 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 Stenstrom, and with me as always is my D2 lacrosse partner in crime, Danny Moran. How's it going, Danny?

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Hey Kevin, I'm doing great tonight. How are you doing in Northern Virginia this evening?

SPEAKER_04 0:32

I'm doing well. I'm doing well. You know, any anytime you and I get to talk about lacrosse, it's always a good day. So absolutely, man. How do you think things are shaping up? What I saw this past week is some subtle shifts in the D2 landscape and really some very close games that happened.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Things are starting to shape up a little bit. Um, some of the dominant teams are starting to show their dominance. They're starting to um point in the directions that uh needed to be pointed in the D2 lacrosse world. And we're getting there. And I think we're starting to see some of the teams that are going to be teams to reckon with from here on out.

SPEAKER_04 1:18

Yeah, so

Week in Review

SPEAKER_04 1:20

the first game I like to talk about is what I'm talking about as far as a subtle shift, maybe more from last year to this year, and that's the Roberts Wesleyan Frostburg game. Great game. 12-11 in overtime, Roberts Wesleyan pulls it off. But the most amazing thing is, you know, Frostburg last year really had the number. Well, it was a close game against Roberts Wesley, but Frostburg was having such a good season last year, and we thought they'd turn it around this year. Right now, they're sitting at three and four, and it's Roberts Wesleyan that's at seven and one now.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Yeah, Roberts Wesleyan's uh playing very well. We had Coach Delfino on last week, and um he talked about how much he loves his team and the way they're playing right now.

SPEAKER_04 2:04

But let me tell you how evenly matched this this game was. It was five to five at half, and then Frostburg takes a two-goal lead in the third, but that certainly was not enough pushing for Roberts Wesleyan. They tied in the fourth, eight to eight. Then they trade some goals, and then Robert Wesleyan goes up by two, 11-9, with 420 left. So now Frostburg needs to come back. And the Bobcats score back-to-back goals in seven seconds to tie the game. Oh, macro. That's awesome. So, you know, it goes into overtime and Roberts Wesleyan wins it on a man up possession with one minute left in the overtime and almost went the full overtime. So it was a really good game. But now they're like I said, Red Hawks are seven and one and they're undefeated in conference play. You know, I don't think they can match Mercy, but they're they're having a great run in the ECC this year.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Yes, they're doing well in the ECC. I agree with you. Mercy's the top dog in that in that conference. And um, but Coach Delfino told us last week he just loves the way his team is playing. It just is there's a chemistry there, and they're just playing well. They're just clicking, they're clicking.

SPEAKER_04 3:22

Yeah, yeah, it was it was a great game. So, here how about the game that you actually went and saw?

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Yeah, the game I actually attended. I uh I went to the St. Anslum's Adelphi game, and and it was a great afternoon for lacrosse. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, a little chilly, chilly enough for a jacket, but not cold where you felt the cold. And uh a nice day for lacrosse. And let me tell you something, Kevin. I was so glad I went to that game because that was one hell of a game. Um it was a one-goal game. It went back and forth. I'll tell you, Adelphi was very impressive. Both teams were very impressive. Um Adelphi was, you know, midfielder Kyle Steinbach had three and one. Uh Tacman, Jason Rabuto had three. Uh there was just they were spreading a rock. But I liked Adelphi's defense. They played really well. And uh this LSM they have, Sean McGovern had four ground balls, and Brian Hoarder recorded nine ground balls. They were getting after it. Both teams played really, really well. Of course, St. Anselms had CJ Hart in goal, and he was amazing in goal. And to see him play in person, Kevin, you don't realize how truly athletic he really is. I mean, he's just an athletic kid. He actually made a pass from his butt, made a save, slipped, fell on his butt, fell on his butt, and passed the ball to the outlet who was past the restraining line between the midfield and restraining line. I was like, wow, what a pass. That was, but it was a good game. It was a it was 5'2 after one. Um Delphi went on a little run, a little four-goal run in the beginning of the game.

SPEAKER_04 5:24

Yeah, and that's what I saw. Like they had quick starts in both halves to separate themselves from St. Anselm. And I almost feel like that was what did it for him because the Hawks continued to creep back, but every time they did that, a Delphi would answer.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Yeah, exactly. I mean, that that was a game, it could have gone either way. I it looked like a Delphi was in control, but then St. Ace would go on these little two, three, four goal runs and and and and bring it right back. And and even Kyle Drennor in in uh, I mean, Dylan Renner, I'm sorry, in goal for a Delphi, he was great too, man. He had a he had 11 saves on 25 shots on goal. And just it was a really well-played game between two really, really good teams. Uh, N-10 up in the north. You know how the North likes to say, you know, the NE-10 is the granddaddy of the game. But it was a really good day. And uh towards the end of the game, um St. A's had possession. And they had about a minute, a little over a minute left in the game. And coach didn't call a timeout. He left it, he let it, he let them play a little bit, and then he called a timeout. And I just kind of felt maybe he should have called the timeout a little earlier in the possession and maybe try to set something up and give them some time. And they wound up not getting the shot that they wanted at the end. They had the last shot, uh, St. Anslems did, and they didn't get the shot they wanted. And not a high percentage shot, something uh I'm sure Coach would want back. But at the end of the game, my my nephew plays for Delphi. He's hurt right now, but he was at the game. So after the game, I wanted to go to the other side of the field, say hello to my nephew, and that was where the teams were coming off. So I call I saw Coach Shimana, I reached out, I introduced myself, and he said, Hey, I love what you guys are doing. I really appreciate what you guys are doing on the In the Crease podcast. And I'm like, this guy just lost a 15-14 conference game, and he's complimenting me. Yeah. And I'm like, who the hell am I? He you know, I'm nobody, you know, I'm I'm nobody, Kev. I was really taken back. And then he turned around, he kept walking because the team was walking to the bus, and he turned around, he goes, I probably should have called a timeout earlier in the possession. I was like, holy crap, I didn't know what to say. At that, Kevin, at that, the skies opened up, a storm blew in. It was like a Cecil B. DeMille epic movie. See the power the power you have, yeah. And and it it there was lightning and hail and rain. And next thing you know, the wind was like, I was like, what the heck's going on here? And so now everybody's like trying to scramble to get out of the rain. And uh Coach Volpe from Adelphi came up to me and he goes, Boy, you guys really like the South, don't you? I said, Uh-oh. So, you know what? They're listening out there, and and it was a great game. Coach Volpe, we're talking about a Delphi now, okay? We're talking about a Delphi, and we say that you guys are legit. Um, you're definitely a team to be reckoned with. We need to get Coach Purdy on. Hopefully, he can come on with us. And maybe, if not, we'll get Coach Volpe on.

SPEAKER_04 8:58

Yeah, and maybe one of their players, like you said, maybe the uh LSM, Sean McGovern. Would love to have him on.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

I would love to get, I would love to have him on. So, you know what? That was a great any 10 game, great northern, you know, lacrosse game held on Long Island. The game couldn't have been any better. And um, St. A's is a really good team.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

Yeah, that was a really good two good, two good teams. Uh of course, Saint A's had to play back-to-back Le Moine and a Delphi, and we'll get into that in games to watch. But let's move on. Let's talk about Lenore Ryan Queens. Yeah, another good game. Yeah, very evenly matched game. Lenore Ryan goes to four and one in sack play and stays tied with Wingate at the top of the conference. And I you almost talk, it's almost the same thing that happened with Delphi and St. Aides. LR was able to open a four-goal lead in both halves, eight to four in the first half and twelve to eight with 1039 left in the game. And uh to me, once again, that was the difference. Early in the fourth quarter, like that. I was thinking, does Queens have enough in their tank to keep keep going? It just seemed like they they had lost it, right? They'd gotten close and then uh LR opens up to four goals directly. But I was wrong. They definitely had it in their tank, and they came back to within one 12-11. Yep, yep. And they they just couldn't close it. They couldn't close it. I mean, they they it's and I say that in the sense of I feel like Lenore Ryan had enough of that runway with enough goal separation that you know they just ran out of time and couldn't do it. Now, LR put another goal in there with an empty net because they were they were riding 10-man ride, right?

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Right. Yeah, Kannada buried that one at the end. I mean, LR's a good team, you know. Eccleson had four goals, Kannada had three. Yeah, Eccleson had a great game. Great game. He's he's a good player, you know. Oh, he is a really good player. Um, Queens, Keelan Pylon had three, and Tyler Ewan had two. You know, Queens is a solid team, too. Yeah, and you know what? This is an SAC game, and it's a conference game, and every game in the SAC, every conference game is important, Kevin. We talk about all the time in that conference how one game can make a difference for a big difference in that team. That's how good that conference is.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And here's another close one Belmont Abbey, Mount Olive, 12-10 final. Once again, two games.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

I didn't get to yeah, I didn't get to watch that one.

SPEAKER_04 11:39

I got to watch that game and it was evenly matched. Belmont Abbey seemed to me to have a little more control throughout the game than Mount Olive, but Mount Olive always always kept it close, and very quietly, Belmont Abbey has now gone on a four-game win streak, and they're 2-0 in the conference. Same thing we talked about Belmont and Abbey and Mount Olive being at the top of their conference tier, usually, fighting it out in an early game in their conference play, and Belmont Abbey comes out on top. And I think the difference really was in two different areas. One was face-offs, Belmont Abbey won 17 out of 26. Yeah. And then in in the goal. Thomas Sullivan had 16 saves for Belmont Abbey. And I think that was a difference. Because if you look at everything else, shots, shots on goal, Mount Olive was either even with them or hit. And so it came down to just a few more saves. That's how close the game was.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

Yeah, and that's that's the beauty of lacrosse. Like one or two plays can make a big difference in a game. And you know what? There's another conference game, yeah with with with tournament implications, you know, conference seedings and stuff like that. Early on in conference play, which is just crazy. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 13:04

Now there was a game that happened today, just finished up as we're recording this on Tuesday, and that's Pace Lemoyne. Yeah, I watched it. I I got to see some of it. Um, and it took to me, tell me if I'm wrong, uh Lemoyne just had a complete game. They won 14 to 6, and they were just clicking on offense and defense.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

Yeah, they were moving the ball really well. They just they're good, man. They're a good team. Lemoyne looked very sharp today. At home, they were home, so pace had to travel up. It was cold here on Long Island. I can only imagine how cold it was in Syracuse. I think I saw Lemoyne tweet yesterday that they were practicing in the snow.

SPEAKER_04 13:47

So it's funny, it's funny. I was watching and on the screen, you know, the the field is pristine, nice turf. You see, you can see in the distance another field, nice green. Everything else is white, covered, covered in snow.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

So god god knows how cold it was. I saw kids in in sweats and and leggings playing today. So it must have been a cold one up there, but Lemoyne looked really, really good. I was interested in this game because I wanted to see where Pace was. You know, um you know, they were undefeated coming into this game. And yeah, and Lemoyne was just, it was too much Sypic, too much Sheehan, too much Pierce, and Nate Arnold on defense. You know, just just these guys are studs, Kevin. These guys are really good.

SPEAKER_04 14:34

Pace is a good team, they just kept pace off off rhythm, off kilter.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Yeah, you know, Jake Veras had two, and Anthony Caputo, who's a really good player, he had one, you know, and and Kyle Casey Rodriguez, Max Sweetie, all pitched in with a goal apiece for Pace. But and even Ragusa in and goal, which we we loved that kid. Yeah, Ragusa and goal made some great saves, but you know, the ball movement of Lemoyne was so good today. They were so fast and so sharp, and passes were on target, and it had easy goals, man. They were getting goals at will. That's how good they played today. They just were on all eight. I think Lemoyne probably would have beat anybody today, playing the way we played today.

SPEAKER_04 15:21

I agree. From what I saw, I didn't see the whole game. I was watching bits and pieces of it, but that's what I got from it. All right, so I've got a few notables to talk about. First, and you kind of mentioned it when you talk about how important these conference games are. Kotaba beat Anderson 17-13. And that goes back to what we talked about about there are no days off when you're in conference play. Anderson just beat Wingate, turns around. Uh, Cotaba had a one and five or a two-in-five record, and they beat Anderson.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Oh, oh, oh, what conference is that again? The SAC. Again, we come back to the SAC. Every single game, every single team is important in that. So now you have Anderson that pulls off the big, big upset last week, beating number three Wingate, gets into the top 20, comes back, loses to a real scrappy Kotaba team who's been up and down this year, a little inconsistent. But you just said it, they're always scrappy. They've always been a scrappy team. I've been watching Kotaba for close to six years now, and I they're just not a team to ever, you know, turn or or look past, let's say. Right, right. And and may maybe Anderson did that. Maybe they looked past, maybe that wing gate win gave them a little bit too many, too much wind in their sails, so to speak. And um they just didn't, they just couldn't put a pull a win against Guitava. And that's a big win for Catawa. And that that there we go in conference play. So now that can be a good one. So now Anderson's got a couple of conference losses, and that, you know, so now it starts heating up in that conference now. So it's great. I I love it when they get into conference play.

SPEAKER_04 17:10

Yeah, and and speaking of that, speaking of the sack, just a shout out to Coach John Snow and his coker team. They got their first win this past weekend. Uh 14-7 over weekend memorial.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

Yeah, congratulations, Coach Snow. I know you've been, I know you've been wanting it, kid. So you got that dub. Congratulations. Uh first of many to come at Coker, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_04 17:34

Yeah. And so finally, Danny, I have to eat crow. It's the first time this season, but I have to eat crow. I said last week that I thought Meryville would take care of Rockhurst. Their game was last Wednesday, and boy was I wrong. The Hawks outscored Meryville 15 to 2 in the second half. And they won it convincingly, 17 to 8. So I'm eating Crow, and I got a shout out to the Rockhurst Hawks. That was a great win on their on their turf. Yeah, man. Good for the Rockhurst.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

That's it. Hey, we've eaten Crow before. It's not the first time we've beaten Crow. We'll do it again. We'll eat Crow again, I'm sure. I'm sure.

Coach's Spotlight

SPEAKER_04 18:19

Okay, Danny, let's move on to our coach's spotlight. I have wanted to get this coach on since we did the N10 conference preview because his team is in the backyard of my hometown. And I think that's we started talking about his team, and I was talking about how you know it was a commuter school and that you know Western Mass wasn't known for lacrosse that much, and blah blah blah blah blah. And then I realized I haven't lived there in like 30 years. I could be totally wrong. And so I even said on that podcast, you remember I'm like, we got to get Coach Robbins on. Yep. So that you know, to tell us the true story and tell him what he's what he's trying to do. So tonight we get to do that. We get we have Coach Tim Robbins from American International College, the head coach there. So let's just welcome him on. Hey coach, how you doing?

SPEAKER_02 19:14

I'm doing very well. Thank you, fellas, for having me. Coach Robbins AIC. So happy that you took the time tonight to spend a little time with the two knuckleheads from Indicrees.

SPEAKER_04 19:25

So, like I said in the intro, Coach, you know, I'm a Western Mass boy. You're a Western Mass boy, grew up in Northampton, East Hampton area, went and played at Springfield College, and now you're coaching in Springfield at AIC. So catch me up on lacrosse in Western Massachusetts.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Well, I'd say, I mean, lacrosse is has grown a lot, you know, especially in the past 30 years here. I mean, and and elsewhere, right?

SPEAKER_04 19:58

I swear it felt like just yesterday, Coach.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

That was great, Coach. One of the things you've probably noticed is we got we actually got you know a handful of guys from from the Berkshires. And, you know, I don't think the Berkshires have lacrosse probably 10 years ago. Right. So now you got you know, Wakona right now, we kind of call them the long meadow of the Berkshires. They got an incredible football program and they got some serious athletes. It's actually um their coach played with me and then coached me in high school, Joe O'Neil. And so they they do a great job. And he's he's kind of helped me find some guys from from a little bit, you know, less of a hotbed region, right? So Western Mass, especially the Berkshire area, wasn't always, you know, the greatest across area.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

And so we we got some great athletes, we got some good kids, we got some kids that got you know originally recruited to play football at some colleges and then kind of ended up falling on my doorstep. And um, you know, what we do is you know, we're we're we're always finding the same kids as everybody else, right? So, you know, a couple of years ago, Lemoyne stole the best, you know, defensemen from this area, you know, right off our plate, the kid from Cathedral, and he ended up being, you know, one of the best defensemen in D2 lacrosse. Um, and and so, you know, what you see is Western Mass kids now going everywhere, right? And so, you know, and you can see it just by you know the the youth programs, the the amount of all Americans here is still way less than than Eastern Mass. But it there's you know, there's colleges like Springfield College, Western New England, you know, Williams, and these college, Amherst College, you know, there's just so much good lacrosse in this area at the college level. And, you know, and that's where, you know, here at AIC, we're really trying to emulate that. So obviously you mentioned me playing at Springfield College, you know, growing up and watching Springfield College, my cousin played there. And then just trying to emulate what Coach Bugby has done, you know, and and Coach Cleo, the Western New England coach, he's also a Springfield grad, you know. Just seeing how those guys have have grown their programs over the years and and kind of stay on top. And what we we we get a lot of you know Massachusetts guys for ourselves, you know, we're always trying to recruit Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, kind of, you know, most of the Northeast. And you know, we travel everywhere too. But, you know, those the big boys, you know, like Lemoyne, Adelphi, you know, it's kind of tough if you're recruiting the same guys as them, you know, a lot of times they're going, they're going to Lemoyne or Adelphi. And a lot of Long Island guys like to stay close to home, you know, so we're getting a lot of the guys that want to stay close to home as well. That we see uh, you know, a huge upside in, you know, and great character. So, you know, our guys right now are you know have are great kids, they do well in school, you know, and we're and we're trying to get grow, you know, the the lacrosse IQ a little bit faster here than than some of the guys would need to that are going to these you know number one and number two teams in the country.

SPEAKER_04 22:57

Well, I'll tell you what, coach, I have to say this right now. Being a homeboy, there's nothing more I'd like to see than you steal some players from Lemoine and Adelphi and then kick their ass a few times. That's what I'd like to see. I would love to see AIC do that. But you know, coach, you won your first game this season, and you had some really close ones against Dominican and Felician. And I watched some of those games, and I watched your team last year, and I think you're playing better this year. How would you assess your season so far and your team?

SPEAKER_00 23:33

You know, I I I agree. I think we're we're exponentially better, especially since when I when I first took over. I mean, when I took over, we were playing one year with like 12 kids, and and we made it through. We had a Midian goal versus Le Moine, you know. But so this year, we honestly, you know, going into these games, you know, we prepare every game to win, but we looking at you know the Jims and the Joneses, we we really thought that we match up really well with our out of conference schedule. And those type of games, you know, we're we're probably, in my opinion, we're a face-off guy and a dominant midi away from from being four and two, you know. And I think Caldwell's a great team. They're they got a full of New Jersey kids and some New York guys, you know. I think you know that that game, you know, was a little windy. It was the first time for us playing there, and then we got you know a lot of freshmen playing big time roles on the team. Yeah, and then we also have had some some detrimental injuries. So we've played some of our games right now. We got three of our best players out for the whole season. And then we've also had you know four or five ACL sprains and you know, a couple guys that are battling through. And I know you know this time of year everybody's not a hundred percent, but so they're gonna ending though. We're we're it might be we're we're we're a little bit, you know, we're we're you know, one and six right now, but we're so close to being you know four and three. And I think you know that would have been a huge increase in in the amount of wins since the years past, and actually would be tied for the most wins in AIC history in the season, you know, and so but we we we stay hungry. So we go in, you know, every all these any 10 games too, we're you know, we're we're preparing to win. And it's just you know, getting the guys and freshmen to catch up to that speed of the college game, right? And you know, those we're we're we need we we generate a lot of shots. We don't we we we got a scrap for face-off wins a lot. So you know, a lot of teams that we're playing have have a pretty dominant face-off guy. And for us, you know, that's been I think one of our things that we really try to work on. We try to get the wings involved more, and then riding and clearing for us has always been a little bit of an issue because it's the hardest thing for us to do in practice, you know. So now we got we actually can set up full field in practice. And until about you know, last year, we it was sometimes, you know, you got a couple kids that go into class, class conflicts, and the best thing you can do is six on six. And now we're we're playing full field in practice. And I think you know, as as you go to this level from from you know, some of these Berkshire programs too, and some of these, you know, Western Mass teams, they there wasn't a huge focus in high school on on rides and clears. And and right now at the college level, it is such a focus. So, you know, you can take you know anywhere from a half hour to an hour of practice just trying to prepare for rides and clears. And I think that's where you know our guys need to grow a little bit more, is just in that clearing game. And because if you're giving guys second chance opportunities, that's it's kind of killer. And so if you're watching our game today, it almost seemed like every time we failed the clear, Franklin Pierce was capitalizing on that. And I thought if we if we can tighten up some of our looks and decision making in that area of the game, you know, that game goes goes drastically different. And then we can, you know, right now I know St. A's and Lemoyne and and Adelphi, they can and pace, they ride with the best of them, you know, and to to catch those guys, you know, we gotta be be prepared for that. And you know, we like I said, we we're we're generating opportunities when we have the ball. We we take, you know, most of the time quite a bit of shots, right? And so we when we do have the ball, I feel pretty confident that we're gonna create opportunities, you know, and and our guys battle till the till the end. And I think we you know we're we're always believing we can win. So even you know, if we're down nine, three, we got energy on the sideline, we're flying around, and and the guys' spirits stay really good. And and I think that's that shows their character. And I think if we we win the ground ball war a few more times in these, you know, past couple games, and you know, the Dominican game was actually in about an inch of snow. So for that one, both teams, you know, didn't didn't exactly take care of the ball as well as we should, and and it was a lot slower, so it was an interesting game, you know, it was 7-5, and I thought that was that was an exciting game. It was great to be part of it and great to get it in. You know, and then you know, post was was also a a great a great game. The guys we came out of the gates a little slow, and then we we stepped it up for the last you know second half. We played great, and second quarter, we kind of got things going. But I think if we were able to put together uh a very solid full 60 minutes, you know, we're those are games we we really can win. And you know, a couple of times we get out of the gates a little slow, and then you know, Felician, we came out of the gates pretty, pretty hot. You know, we got up pretty early, and then it was you know, we kind of fizzled out towards the end of the game. But again, I think we're you know, with a little bit of a lack of depth uh and a smaller roster at times, you know, it's that that playing that full 60 minutes at the highest level tends to be a little bit harder. And I think if we're able to just you know put that full four quarters together, you know, we're we're again talking about having a winning record right now.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

How many go ahead?

SPEAKER_00 28:59

How many are you carrying on your on your roster right now, coach? We we technically have have 33 guys on the roster, you know, and then you know, with the injuries, we're we're bringing in you know 25 to 26 guys that are that are dressing for for games, you know. And so the the depth, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_04 29:16

Yeah, Danny and I talked about that in a lot of our conference previews as we looked at some of the rosters for teams, and when you get to that, uh the some of them are low 20s, 22 to anywhere to like the low 30s. If you have you know, when you get 30 like you are, that's not bad. But like you said, if you get injuries to play a full 60 and you got the same guys, they've they've got to be in unbelievable shape. But I'll tell you what I see from your team when I saw I did watch some of the game today. I'll give you two observations. One, on the games I've seen, I think your defense has played pretty well. I mean, the scores do not show it, but the defense plays really well. You're right, on the clears and everything is a struggle. And then sometimes on offense, it doesn't seem like it's clicking. Then all of a sudden, like even today against Franklin Pierce, all of a sudden I'm like, wait a minute, they just did three passes, they got the guy open, he's he scores. It's like it all of a sudden it clicks, it clicks, and then it goes out and it clicks back in. And I think that comes exactly what you said. I was gonna mention that that you have such a young roster with so many freshmen, only one senior and one graduate student. So you're playing those guys like uh you your insight is amazing about your team, about it's lacrosse IQ and playing at the speed of college ball.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Yes, absolutely. But you're competitive, you know, you're competitive, you're playing competitive ball. 7-5 is not a dominant blowout, that's a game. And and you know what, to have freshmen to me personally, I think it's great because by the time these kids are seniors, they're gonna be seasoned, you know, they're gonna play all the big boys, they're gonna have all that all those games under their belt. It's only gonna, it's only gonna trend upwards, coach.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Absolutely, absolutely. And I'll tell you what, one thing too, I'm pretty proud of, though, is one of our Berkshire guys, he was a goalie, and and he actually started in goal for us a couple of years ago, and and now he's one of our our first line middies, you know. And so, you know, he's he was a hockey guy, so he's he's kind of got some grit anyways with him. Okay, but it it's you know, in the fall, he was he was playing lights out, he was awesome, you know, and he's still he's a great facilitator for us. So when he's out there, we trust that we're gonna be trying to do the right things on offense, getting the ball that backside, you know, and and like you said, I mean, when when we're connecting a few passes in a row and and we're moving off ball, I think things connect very nicely, you know, and then it's if if we're you know, there's a lot been a lot of unforced errors, you know. I think a lot of that is is nerves. We've got some young guys again, like, you know, a couple guys are our freshmen, one guy's starting that attack versus pace, number nine team in the country, you know, and he's like, Oh my god, like last year I was playing against, you know, um, maybe Lee Mass or something like that. Yeah, you know, and now he's he's literally playing against you know D1 transfers, and it's it's just a whole whole different world of lacrosse for him. And you know, and they they battle, you know, and I think that's the the best thing about them is you know, where our freshmen go, you know, they run into a wall, you know, and they're they're like, this is awesome. That's awesome to hear.

SPEAKER_04 32:26

That's awesome to hear.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

So they're relishing the challenge, is what you're saying. Absolutely, you know, and uh and they and a lot of them, you know, we're multi-sport athletes too. So we got some guys that are really good athletes, their feet are great, you know. And again, like you were saying, the speed of it. So just you know, being able to manipulate a defense with with passing, you know, and and understanding what happened what you do after you draw a slide, you know. I think when you get the kids from Long Island, you know, they kind of already know that because they've been doing it since they got out of the womb. And when you got a roster again with you know, more kids from Western Mass area that maybe didn't have a chance to play youth, you know, it that that that ends to be a bit of a learning curve for them. And I think, you know, Dominican, their roster is full of, you know, probably upstate New York guys for the most part, and Westchester area, some Long Island. So again, those areas you know, you know, where Lamoyans from and and Albany area, those kids have have been playing youth forever now. And you know, if you get again go against kids from Niskayuna or our CBA, Albany or Syracuse, you know, those those kids have been playing the right way for years and years, you know, and now you know some of these guys on our team were like one of the only ones that maybe could catch and throw very well on their teams, you know. So it's it I'm proud of the the progress we make, you know, and we also again we we want to win. So so it gets, you know, when these guys are going in, I'm I'm definitely you know proud of them, but I'm also trying to push them in the right way because you know we don't want to wait until they're juniors and seniors to win. We want this freshman class to win as a freshman, too. Absolutely, no doubt, no doubt.

SPEAKER_04 34:01

Yeah, but we've talked about this with other coaches that are in your similar situation with a lot of freshmen, and it's lessons learned, even when you lose, right? You lose those kids as freshmen are just gonna build upon that, especially in the any 10. I mean, what do you tell these guys? You're in the heart of it now. You just played Franklin Pierce, it's any 10 after this, and you say they'll run through walls. So, do you have to tell these guys? You know, do you have to pump them up, or are they just so psyched that they're in the any 10? Like, oh, we'll we'll take on anyone.

SPEAKER_00 34:34

I mean, I honestly, my you know, I I actually don't have to do any of the pump up stuff, really. We actually have one of our freshmen that's starting at attack, Seamus Hayes. He actually gets the boys going a lot in the locker room, you know, and and me, I try to get them mentally more prepared, you know, about what we got to do, X's and O's, Y's, or with our game plan and reiterate, you know, the importance of what we're looking at, you know, where the other team's sliding from, how we're gonna ride, how we're gonna clear, you know, and and but the guys, they they I'm never worried about them getting jacked up for a game. I mean, it's actually, you know, sometimes they're they're more jacked up at the end of the game than they were at the beginning of the game, too. But it's like, you know, they they stay up the whole time. You know, we also got you know, one guy that just joined us from football, he's you know, 6'4, about 290 pounds. No, and number 66.

SPEAKER_04 35:27

Is he number six? I saw him on the sidelines today, Danny. I saw him on the sidelines. I'm like, oh my god. So I had to look him up, and he's listed at 285 pounds.

SPEAKER_02 35:39

What position is he playing?

SPEAKER_00 35:41

He's he he's playing some defense for us, and you know, and he's actually he's played lacrosse for maybe four days now, and you know, we've we actually put him in against pace, you know, and it's probably second or third day playing lacrosse ever. Oh my god, and he probably laid the biggest hit on the field that whole day, you know, kind of felt it from the sideline. But he's he's a coachable kid, he he moves very well, you know. His stick work isn't isn't always you know at the highest level yet, but he can zoom down balls, he can throw the ball, and you know, we actually trust him in in a zone right now. So we we put it played zone quite a bit versus pace, and and we also want to get more more guys on the field in games like that. So, you know, we implemented the zone and we we prepped him on it, and I mean we think he did pretty well, you know. And today we got him in a little bit more too. And you know, we we played some zone, we played some man today, and and you know, it's it's fun because he naturally he's just a presence, you know, and then he's just a coachable great kid, and he the boys love him. You know, we got a couple multi-sport athletes, so we got you know, one of our other starting defensemen, 24, Clark Marshawny's a receiver for our football team, and then we actually got a hockey guy on the roster yesterday. So we have one of the backup goalways for the hockey team. He played today, got a couple runs as a midi today, number 33. You know, he he naturally looks the part. He he can catch and throw. He's played lacrosse, he's from Pennsylvania, and you know, he played lacrosse in high school, you know. So we're we got we got a lot of buzz going around, you know, kids from on campus are are hitting us up, trying to trying to join the team. You know, we also got a guy that was on the soccer team, and then you know, obviously we're always you know bringing in these recruits. And like you said, we're we're graduating, you know, we have two seniors, but what one of them's gonna return, you know, and and so we got all these guys coming in, and then a whole nother freshman class that we're trying to bring in. So next year we're looking at you know anywhere from 40 to 45 guys on the roster. You know, we can expect that to be another exponential growth year for us. And you know, maybe we're not we're not going in and and thinking we're we're really gonna be the not the underdog going against Lemoyne, but again, we we think you know we're gonna be able to make it a game with with teams like that pretty quickly, you know.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

And I think well, you know what? And when you're baking the cake, you need the ingredients, coach. And and what you're doing is you're starting to put the ingredients in there, you're starting to get all the ingredients that you need to bake this cake. And I think, like again, you're trending upwards. You've been playing, you know, competitive lacrosse, and it just boggles my mind that you're getting guys to come from other sports like yesterday to come and play, and they're getting run today. I think that's great. I can't tell you how cool that is. I think that is.

SPEAKER_04 38:31

And it's it's cool that your players love the game so much that after they lose to like a Franklin Pierce and it's 20 to 5, that they're more hyped up after the game to keep playing and wanting to play. That that says something about you and your program and the kids you have that they love the sport that much. And you've got you're you've got converts, you've got converts from other sports are like, hey, I'll do this too. This looks like a lot of fun. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

No, I think it's really awesome. I mean, yeah, again, we're growing the game. We're growing the game. And if it means a little step like that, where we get a kid from the football team or a kid from the soccer team, or or maybe a kid who's played some high school across or junior high school across, maybe he didn't plan on playing college, and now he's has this opportunity. And I just think it's phenomenal, and it's just great for the game. I I think.

SPEAKER_04 39:27

I agree. I agree. Yeah, coach, we cannot thank you enough. I cannot thank you enough of setting a guy who who is 30 years behind Western Massachusetts straight. You know, my wife usually tries to cut out all the gray in my hair so you can't see it. So we really appreciate you coming on. It was it was great to talk to you. Fantastic to get your perspective on what you're doing, and really cool to hear about your players, maybe not individual ones, but what they do as a group. I mean, that is what this is all about, and really one of the reasons why we do this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

Absolutely. Thank you. And you know, one of the things you asked earlier about, you know, AIC kind of being uh, you know, more of a two-year school, right? And then, but right now we, you know, what I when I grew up in the area too, and you know, I didn't ever really know much about AIC because, like you said, it was kind of looked at as, you know, almost like a glorified community college. But now we've, you know, we just started exercise science department and we got a brand new building on campus for that. We've been one of the top 50 to 60, 70 ranked nursing programs. We are PT OT programs, incredible, you know, and so we're actually getting in kids right now that have 4.0s coming out of high school. We also, you know, still have a niche because we have one of the oldest IEP centers in the Northeast, and we got some great resources for you know, some kids with learning disabilities and such. So we're getting in, you know, a wide variety from kids maybe with 2.2s to kids with, you know, 3.8s to 4.0s, you know, and so you know, we got a lot of business guys, we got an incredible criminal justice program, you know, and and like I didn't know most of this stuff until I actually started working here, right? And so what we're trying to do now is is really recruit kids to our to our better majors, right? And so we really like getting guys in that that we're not gonna really have to worry about if they're gonna be eligible, right? So we're trying to make it cool to to work hard and get and get good grades. And I think that's been you know a testament to our guys and their character and what they do. And I think that's you know, again, why our spirits stay so high on the field is because they they tend to do the right things, you know. We we we very very do very well in school for the most part, you know, and and we stay out of trouble, you know. And you know, of course, as a coach, I'd like guys to be a little bit better at lacrosse in some aspects. Again, like you know, we're we're growing and and we're trying to make something special out of out of this place, especially in the in the men's lacrosse program.

SPEAKER_04 41:59

That's just awesome, coach. That's just awesome. And this has been a lot of fun. So thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_02 42:05

Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Coach Robbins. You were a phenomenal dynamite guest tonight. We we wish you and AIC all the best of luck and continued success for this six for this season and uh keep trending upwards and keep keep keep those kids coming and put them sticks in them hands. I I love it. You've been a great guest tonight. Thank you so much for coming on.

SPEAKER_00 42:28

Absolutely, thank you. Appreciate the time.

Week in Review

SPEAKER_04 42:32

All right, Danny, let's move on and talk about games to watch this week. I think there's some critical conference matchups this week, as well as probably the biggest one, which isn't a conference matchup, but it's unfinished business. You know what I'm talking about, right? Mercy and Mercyhurst.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

Woo boy, that's gonna be that's gonna be Born Burger, that's for sure. No, that you know what? Mercy beat Mercy Hurst last year. So you know Coach Ryan and the Lakers have that circled on their calendar, and I'm sure Mercy does too.

SPEAKER_04 43:10

I'm sure it's unfinished. Right, because it's unfinished business. They were supposed to meet in the NCA tournament, and Mercy, because of COVID, right, couldn't play.

SPEAKER_02 43:25

Yeah, they got they they got pulled out of the tournament, and you know, they've been playing with a chip on their shoulder all year, Cav. I said it before the season started. I said Mercy's a good team, they got most of their kids coming back. Um, they're hungry. That you know, they got the rug pulled out from them in the NCAA's last year with the COVID whole thing, and they've been playing with a chip on their shoulder. So I'm really interested to see the Mercy Mercy Hearst game this week.

SPEAKER_04 43:54

Yeah, and their records like Mercy Hearst is five and two, and Mercy's six and one. This is Going to be close.

SPEAKER_02 44:02

Yeah, this should be a good game. And watch, watch it be a blowout, you know. And we'll have and we'll have to be incredible. And you know, but you you would think that it would be a close game, you know. I you just think it would be, you know, Mercy's been playing great, and so is again, Mercy Hurst is always there, circling, yeah like the sharks. They're just circling and they just take care of business little by little by little. And then at the end of the season, there's the Lakers. But this should be a really good one.

SPEAKER_04 44:34

Exactly. So let's move on. Here's a conference matchup that I'm really interested in. We haven't talked too much about this conference so far this year, talked about a few games, but it's in the peach belt, and it's Lander against Montevallo. Lander sits at 7-4, and Montevallo is at 55 and 5. But we talked about this in the conference previews and when we talked to Coach Lang. Everyone in the peach belt is going to want to knock off Montevallo because they're at the top of the mountain right now. Yeah, Lander's sitting at 7-4, but they're playing some pretty good ball, and they could do it. And this, what's interesting about this, is this is a the first conference game for both, but we talked about implications. This could go a long way to determining season championship and certainly seeding in the tournament.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Yes, seeding for the Peach Bell conference tournament is this is a big game for that, for that. And again, this is what I love about conference play, Kev. You know, one game, two games could really mean a big difference in a season for a team, whether they're going to be, you know, tournament champs or where they see uh sit in a seating wise in the tournament or and possibly uh NCAA tournament. So that's what's great about conference games. And this Montevallo Lander game, this should be a this should be a pretty good game to watch.

SPEAKER_04 45:59

I agree.

SPEAKER_02 46:00

I agree.

SPEAKER_04 46:02

The other really, really big conference game is Tampa against Rollins. Number one meeting number 11.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

The Battle of the Undefeated's in the Sunshine State Conference. Um I'm real this should be this is a game I gotta watch. I gotta watch it. Yeah. Yeah. I just gotta watch that game no matter what. I've got to find a way to watch that game. I haven't seen Tampa play since week two. I've been trying to catch up on all these other games and and try to keep on top of the big ones. So I've kind of let Tampa get under me a little bit. So, but I want to watch this Tampa Rollins games. I I think it's gonna be a really good game, hopefully. Hopefully. And um, again, conference game, both teams undefeated, seatings, conference, all of that. It's all in play here with the Rollins Tampa game this week. Exactly. Exactly. Where is the game? Where is it?

SPEAKER_04 47:04

That's a good question.

SPEAKER_02 47:06

Let me find out because that can mean a difference too. If they're home, you know, if Tampa's home, they're gonna have a little bit of the of the advantage. But if Rollins is home and they can get that big, that big crowd, like they did in the beginning of the year, you know, like here comes number one, Tampa. It's at Tampa. Ah, all right. All right, so I think Tampa's gonna have a little bit of an advantage there, seeing that it's a home game.

SPEAKER_04 47:36

I would agree, but you know, you've seen how Rollins has been playing.

SPEAKER_02 47:41

So it's just beating everybody. They're beating everybody up on their on their schedule. Rollins is playing as good as anybody in the country right now, Kevin. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 47:54

Okay, actually, there's two NE10 games that I had on my my schedule. First is Bentley St. A's, and I see this because what it's another critical NE-10 matchup. Bentley is sitting 3-0 in conference play, and St. A's is one and two, but they the teams they lost to are Delphi and Lemoyne. So St. A's is gonna be hungry to get this game back, and Bentley's gonna want to make a statement.

SPEAKER_02 48:18

I think Bentley would have better watch out because I saw the Hawks when they walked off the field at a Delphi after that heartbreaking one-goal loss. They were nunjatu happy. There was a lot of sad faces. Those kids, those kids were pissed, Kev. They wanted that game. And you know what? I as as a as a former coach and a former player, you kind of like to see that in a team. You like to see when they're annoyed when they didn't win. You like to see that it bothered them. And it bothered them. You could tell they were not happy, they were beelining right to the bus. And so, Bentley, uh, you guys, you're gonna be in for a ball game. I I'd watch out any the NE10 has a team called St. Anslums that's very good and very hungry again. And like you pointed out, their only two losses came to number one, Lemoyne, and number three, a Delphi.

SPEAKER_04 49:21

Yep, yep. And so the other NE10 game, we just talked about Pace losing to Le Moine, and now they're going against the team you got to see in person, a Delphi. And the reason why I have this on my schedule is that Coach Mariana, when we had him on the show, said this game is always a slug fest as long as the refs let them play. So we'll see if the refs let them play, right? I mean, I think it'd be fun. A Delphi should be undefeated entering this game. They've got to play assumption uh coming up, but they should be undefeated. And Pace, like I said, just lost to Le Moyne, and then they've got Southern New Hampshire on the dock at before. So this is one that's gonna Pace is gonna want, and uh certainly a Delphi's want is gonna want to keep rolling. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 50:10

And this is Tuesday, the 29th, as we record this, and Adelphi is actually playing St. Rose as we speak, as we record this right now. So Adelphi's playing St. Rose, another NE10 game. And like I said, I was very, very, very impressed with Adelphi's team. Um, total, a total team. They have everything. They have face-off, they have LSMs, MIDI's for days. I spoke about great attack unit, really good kid in goal, and and and a great coach and staff. Yeah, you know, they got they got all the pieces needed to make a deep run. Pace's gonna have to they're gonna have to play better than they played today if they want if they want to beat a Delphi.

SPEAKER_04 50:57

Agreed, agreed. Uh it's funny. I've I've seen a couple of Pace's games, and uh, like I said, that one game, they were just unbelievable, but they're really into the meat with playing once it same thing St. A's had to run up against. You play Lemoyne and a Delphi. And you gotta you gotta have a perfect game.

SPEAKER_02 51:19

They're in the top five, you know, they're top five teams for a reason, Kevin. These kids, these these teams are good. Yeah, they're stacked, they're deep. Yeah, uh, I mean, a Delphi, what what surprised me is how big they were. They're pretty big boys, especially on defense. You know, they're they're big, yeah, and and they're fast and they get after it. And they have um they they press out, they come out, they get sticks on people. They're pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_04 51:44

So now there's a couple games that are happening this Wednesday, which is tomorrow, as we record this on Tuesday, the 29th. So we may not get the podcast out in time, but it would be good for people to probably go back and watch. We'll see how they go. One of them is another where St. Ace has to play next, and that's against Wilmington. You know, Wilmington's been playing really well, except when they played against Pace. And Saint A's is coming off like we talked about. They had to play back to back, Lamont and Adelphi. So they're gonna be hungry, like you said. They weren't happy, they're gonna be hungry to go after this game and win it. And Wilmington really needs this game if they want to be in the tournament conversation.

SPEAKER_02 52:29

Yeah, I like St. A's. Yeah, I I think I do too. Not taking anything away from Wilmington. I just think St. A's is a really good team.

SPEAKER_04 52:38

Yeah, yeah, the way even the way they played against uh Lemoyne. I mean, there's three-goal difference total between the two Lemoyne and the Delphi.

SPEAKER_02 52:47

I was just gonna point that out. Exactly. I mean, they're that good, they're that good. Yeah, you know what game I'd like to see this week, too? What's that? Is that Lenore Ryan Newberry game? Yeah, Newberry's been playing very, very well. And and you know what? Here we go in that SAC again. You know, could Newberry pull it off? Absolutely, they can pull it off.

SPEAKER_04 53:14

Lenore Ryan is sitting four and one. Newberry's three and one in the conference, they're both at seven and three. Yeah, yeah. Talk about I mean, tournament conversation, not only for the SAC, but for the NCAA potentially.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

You know, it's a pick'em game, I think. I think it's a pick'em game.

SPEAKER_04 53:34

Well, then what's interesting, if Newberry can pull it off, guess who they have to play after that, though?

SPEAKER_02 53:39

Limestone.

unknown 53:41

Oof.

SPEAKER_02 53:42

So they're entering there, you know, Newberry's entering the meat and potatoes of the SAC now. Yeah. So they're gonna start to play the big dogs. Let's see where they lie. But you know what? They've been playing really, really good. And there's no reason for them to lie down against Lenore Ryan. I don't think they will. I think they're well coached. I think they're a whole different kind of they got a whole new vibe going on there at New Newberry right now, and they're on a nice roll. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 54:10

Yep, they are. One last game that I'm interested in because I got to watch them play last year, and they played twice this year, and this is the first of it, and that's Frostburg against Seaton Hill. Both really need this game. Now, Seaton Hill just got back into the top 20. Frostburg's sitting at three and four. This isn't a conference game, but Frostburg needs this to get them going this year.

SPEAKER_02 54:40

Yeah, Frostburg needs this game. They they need this game desperately. But I have to tell you, I like Seaton Hill. I like the way they've been playing. You know what? They started out slow, but they're coming back. They're playing better now. They they gave Mercy a good game. It was in the rain, but it was a good game. Uh, you know, Mercy wasn't dominant. I mean, especially, you know, uh Seaton Hill in that third quarter against Mercy. Their defense really stepped up and held Mercy scoreless. And you know, Mercy can score in bunches and and quit. So should be interesting, I think, actually.

SPEAKER_04 55:15

Yeah.

Player's Spotlight

SPEAKER_04 55:18

Okay, moving on to the player spotlight.

SPEAKER_02 55:21

My favorite part, Kev.

SPEAKER_04 55:22

Here we go. We've have pretty much covered every position. We've had goalies, we've had middies, we've had some attack men, and we've had defenders. But we have yet to have a face-off specialist on this podcast. That and today and uh we have a great one. If you look at his career stats, not only is he just tearing up this year, but basically he's been doing that his whole career. But this year is even more special as he's in his fifth year and he's just tearing up, he is winning face-offs at a 71% clip right now and has really dominated most of the games he's been in. So let's welcome Kevin Horowitz of the Florida Southern Miccasins. How's it going, Kevin? Um, thanks for having me on. Yeah, it's great to have you. So if I looked at your stats through the years, when you were a sophomore, you're at 60%. When you were a junior, you were at 80%. You slipped in in last year at about 55%. But and we can get into that because we've already talked about that off camera, but now you're back up again. So what do you say about how did you get to this level?

SPEAKER_01 56:40

I would have to say it's it's a little bit everything. I mean, I don't do it alone. I have my wing guys, my the D MITIS and the LSMs. I mean, if you look at the numbers, I mean, at the end of the day, I only pick up half my ground balls, half my ground balls, half my face-off wins. So without those guys, it it's it makes it tough. I mean, if you don't have their, they don't have your back, it's those your I guess your percentage and everything else, it goes down. But um, I mean, just to get back to where I was and just getting back into like just the feel of like I guess I guess getting back to where I was my junior year. I guess it took a lot of help from some of my friends back down south. Uh like I've told you off camera. Uh I had Tommy Burke in Vermont, uh Jared Chinoy at Richmond and Gable Braun at Virginia. Those guys are my buddies. Like, I mean, we spend four or five, six days a week training in the summertime. So I definitely gotta give a uh shout out to those boys and uh because they keep me right and keep me going.

SPEAKER_02 57:35

So all D1 studs, man. That's good that you're working out with guys like that. Yeah, that's that definitely has to help.

SPEAKER_04 57:42

So, and you had two things last year going against you. One was a change in the rules, and two, and we talked about this with Coach Jorgensen when we had him on the podcast, geez, over the summer, about how the Sunshine State Conference had a lot of games canceled, changed, postponed, a lot of fits and starts to the to the whole season. So, walk us through those things for last year and then you then get into this year.

SPEAKER_01 58:14

Like, I think last year, I think people kind of looked at our records. I think preseason we got ranked pretty high, and or not ranked high, but we we were in the top 20. Yeah, and so people kind of looked at us and they were like, Okay, like they're they're kind of getting there, they're getting there. And all of a sudden last year we went two and six. And and I'm telling you this now, our team did not change much. We added two transfers that play. It was just the fact of shutdowns and everything else, and just a strict COVID, and just no one could get into a groove, my myself included. Last year we had the rule change, and being in South Florida, the fields were shut down. I mean, they they happened to do the stand-up, the switch of stand-up, and all of a sudden you have now the fields are closed, you can't get on the fields. My me and my buddies like Dryden Browse at Lynn. Me and him were actually we're actually friends, and believe it or not, even though we compete against each other all the time. And he, me and him would we'd have to go sneak on to fields just so that we can get reps and practice, and we get thrown off every other week. And it's like we're sitting here like, how are we supposed to adjust these new rules when we can't even get onto a field during the COVID shutdown? And back in the for my senior year, I mean, between all of a sudden we're one week on, one week off, and the fact that I really didn't get much time to really feel it out and really get comfortable. I mean, all last year it was for me, it was just figuring out what worked and what where I was comfortable and what like because I knew what I knew what I wanted and I knew where where I wanted to be at. And I just for me, it was just finding what clicked and what worked and what felt comfortable. And you sit there and you're like, okay, like what works and what doesn't. And at some point I just committed to one thing, committed to one stance, and said, This is it, I'm dealing with this, I'm getting comfortable with this, this is what I'm doing. Because last year, all I did is I was changing every week, I was changing my stance, changing my grip, changing everything, and it all that stuff matters, and I just wasn't comfortable.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:00

So now you enter this year, and Danny and I have been watching a lot of the games and watching Florida Southern, and not only you, but your whole team is playing so well. It's so fun to watch. You move the ball really well, your defense is really solid, and then you get to the Le Moine game. Walk us through that game and how special was that, especially based on what you guys were at facing last year.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:30

Yeah, I mean, just to be able to bounce back and kind of just get that win. I mean, it was huge. I mean, when you really look at it, we were down, what, six two, I think, at the end of the first or towards the end of the first quarter. I mean, teams go down six two to Lemoyne. I mean, with their reputation, you don't you don't really come back. I mean, when you watch their game film and you watch them on, you watch them, you just see what they do and their reputation. I mean, you get down on them, you're like, okay, like now what? And kind of we all kind of just looked at each other and everyone kind of like everyone was like, all right, well, we got this. Let's just keep going, let's push them. And all of a sudden we got a poll goal from I think Griffin Phillips, and then we got another, and then we had another golden transition real quick. And next thing you know, it's 6'4 going into the second quarter, and we're like, okay, we we really can do this. And so we kind of just let the momentum build, and we just kept flying around. And I mean, eventually we really got into it, and you could really see that how in shape our team was, and you could start seeing it. We started speeding up in the fourth, third, and fourth quarter as like as Lemoyne really started to slow down a little bit, and you could see it, and all of a sudden it's 12 10, and there's 30 seconds left, and we're like, we're doing it, like we're here, we're like we did it, like we're like this game is over, like like it's done, like we we've won it. And it was just it was it was a little bit surreal. I mean, that's like that's kind of one of the reasons why you come back. I mean, I came back because I felt strongly about the team, I felt strongly about the coaching staff, and so I I was I was it was it was a good moment, it was a good moment for us, and I mean I as a team and just everything else. I mean, we worked really hard, and Coach Ward pushed us very hard, and so I it was it was it was definitely it was a great moment.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:06

So, what did you say to yourself when you saw Lemoyne on the schedule?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:10

You're like it was I was fired up. I I okay, that's yeah, that is that is what that is a game that like I mean. I sit there and you want to talk about a game that you and you circle on your schedule. That was one I played, I played on my freshman year, and then so after after playing them my freshman year and going up to Lemoine in the freezing cold as a South Florida boy. I was like, I was like, I cannot wait for them to come down to us and play us this year. I mean, and we were ready for it, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:40

No, you guys were very ready for it, and you know what, that second half, you you were getting possession after possession, man, and it was really uh a problem for Lemoyne. They they just didn't get those possessions, and um how was the celebration?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:56

Oh we we went nuts. I mean, I mean when in in the in reality, I mean we we really went nuts. Uh we had uh we had a teammate chip his tooth, one of our and so I mean we had the whole the whole celebration. I mean, we were we were we were fired off. I mean, you can there's no other way to describe it. I mean, they hadn't lost in three years, so for us it was it was awesome. No doubt, no doubt.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:21

It really was. Let me switch a little bit here, Kevin, because I want to talk about it. You know, Jay Miner is the only other one who's listed as a face-off specialist. And if you look back, I think he's had like a couple of face-offs maybe this season. I guess my question is because you've seen other teams that have more kind of help the workload. It's a big workload. I mean, that you're in there all the time, but do you do you actually relish the fact that it keeps you in the groove of just taking all the face-offs you can?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:50

Yeah, I mean, when I like when I see a team that has two face-off guys, I think it's actually benefit for me, the fact that I can just stay in a game and stay in a rhythm. I mean, when I see two face-off guys and see a team that rotates two face-off guys, you got to think how hard it is to stay in a groove when all of a sudden you take three face-offs, guy comes off. Now his his teammate comes on, takes three face-offs, then now he's back trying to come out and take another three face-offs. But he could be sitting on the bench for a quarter sometimes. I mean, so it definitely makes a difference. I think it's a it's a it's a big deal. I mean, I like it. I I like having the workload of it. And so for me, it's a it's I guess it's a blessing that I get to take all these reps, especially my my last year lacrosse. I mean, I'm taking it all in. So yeah, so I'm definitely jumping.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:35

So it's it's a great way to go out, huh?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:38

Yeah, yeah. I think I think by the time I'm done this year, I'm gonna be at 400 plus draws. So I'm I'm cool with it.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:47

Hey, so now your team is seven and three as you head into conference play. Yep. And the Sunshine State Conference is no joke. It it never is a joke any year. And I think that kind of played out last year when we finally saw Tampa go into the NCAA tournament. But how are you guys feeling about now going in just into the meat of the Sunshine State Conference play?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:16

I think I think we feel good. Uh we've had a we've had this last week or so off. I mean, we're we have this whole week now to prepare for Embry Riddle. And I think we feel good. I think the team's confident. I think we're confident, we're hungry. I think we feel a little disrespected by the rankings still at this point. I mean, I we feel like we could be even higher. I mean, when you really look at our losses. And so I I think that we should be higher. But I think the team's hungry and eager. And I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, we work hard and we work really hard at practice. And there, and I think we're just at the end of the day, we're just working harder than like the other teams. And so I think the as a whole, I think we're ready. I think the team's ready. We're playing really good lacrosse. And I think some of these other teams don't really know necessarily what's coming. Yeah, because I think where you we run hard, we ride hard, we play good lacrosse, we play clean lacrosse, we're physical, and so I think we I think I think we're ready for a good little run here.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:09

Yeah, I think it's gonna be really fun to watch.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:12

I'm looking forward to the Tampa game, you know. Um, like your only losses came to ranked teams, number five limestone, and and and and who else? Um limestone, Tampa, and Linda Wood. And and Tampa. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure you like to have like at least one of those ones back.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:30

The limestone one killed us. We were up 11-9 with about, I think, four minutes left, and we kind of we just lost a little bit of gap. We just kind of slowed down and just had a little hiccup towards the end of the fourth quarter there. And I think Limestone feels like they uh they got away with one there too.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:46

So yeah, I I I agree with you when I think Florida Southern should be ranked higher. Just you know what, just keep balling out, and I think you're gonna find that rank and go up.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:56

I think you will. I think so too. I think I think they're gonna be pretty once I think we're gonna definitely we got Embery Riddle, St. Leo, then we got Tampa, so we can't look past anyone, but we're definitely ready. We definitely want to get after Tampa.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:08

I think you guys are in a on a really good position, and what you do in the conference is going to dictate not only for you, but for the other teams in the conference.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:18

Yeah, I'm just I'm right now, I'm just doing my job. I'm just trying to do what I can to help make sure that we keep winning games. I mean, I'm like that, like I told you earlier, that I'm not gonna take all the credit for it. I mean, I have the D Middies and the LSMs that to thank for part of my success there. So, but but still at the end of the day, my job is to keep the ball in our get the ball to our offense and keep the pressure off our defense and basically just keep us on runs. And I think if you've seen recent games, I think we've been doing a pretty good job of that. I mean, you watch our game against Lynn, I mean, you watch any of the games, I mean Egan Le Moine, Frostburg, you start going on the list. I mean, we we go on runs and we're pretty and then we're I think we're a pretty streaky team, and so I think it I think that just me being able to get the ball to our team definitely helps that.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:03

So no doubt, 100%. Kevin, you've been a great guest tonight. Um, the the team has been playing great. I think you guys are really poised to do something special. And Kevin, I think he's ready. Are you there? Kevin Stenstrom.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:17

I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, I'm waiting, I'm waiting for the firing round. I don't know if he's ready for it. But he's quick. Well, he's quick. We've seen him, we've seen him at the face-off X, so I'm sure he's quick enough for the firing round.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:30

Yes, he's quick enough for the fire round. Here comes 10 questions, real quick off the top of your head. Just give us the answer as fast as you can. Oh boy, oh boy, nah, this is easy. You'll do fine, Kevin. You're a good kid. First sport you ever picked up. Definitely, I think it was baseball, definitely, for sure, first of all.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:50

Okay, favorite professional team, dolphins. I'm a dolphins fan through and through. I'm tired dolphins fan. My teammates hear about it. I talk about it all day long. Definitely a dolphins fan.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:02

Well, I told you earlier I lived in South Florida for a little while, and I have a little place in my heart for the Dolphins as well. So good choice. Um, favorite pro athlete.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:13

Favorite pro athlete, that's tough. I mean, I I'm I'm all for just I think it'd be Tom Brady. I I really do think Tom Brady. I mean, he's the goat. I mean, you watch his competitiveness and his abilities, it's it's unmatched.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:26

I'd have to agree with that. And uh my dog's name is Brady. So here we go.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:31

And I grew up in Massachusetts, so you can tell which team I I read for in the AFCE.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:37

So okay, next question: Xbox or PlayStation?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:43

Um, I've actually it's actually both. Recently I had a PlayStation, but I've had Xboxes and PlayStation, so I I go both ways. Okay, next question: runs or lifts? Definitely lifts. If my teammates will laugh at this if they ever hear this one because they definitely know it's not runs.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:04

Well, I could tell by that neck, you got that lifter's neck, you got that big strong neck. Okay, here's what here's a shout-out. For he's laughing, he's laughing. All you podcast listeners out there who can't see. Kevin is smiling. Okay, here's a shout-out for one of you guys on your team. Who's the funniest guy on the mocks?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:23

Oh boy. Um, funniest guy going down. I'm not even sure on that one. I I think off the top of my head, it would I don't even know. I guess I'd say I give it along the lines of like a Tom Boyd and I guess Ronald Reese, guys like that. We got a we got a couple characters for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:44

Okay, okay. Who's the most athletic guy on the team? Best best all-around athlete. You know, that one guy that's just like awesome at everything he does, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:55

Okay, so from a physical size athlete standpoint, I'd say Craig Connors, but a kid that you'd have to look at other than that, I'd say Sean Noel. He's a little tidy kid, but he that kid is good at just about anything he does.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:08

So all right, Sean. All right, Sean gets a shout-out from Kevin. All right, all right. Here's some here's one of my favorites in the firing round. Kevin, you're gonna like this one. Who's the one guy on the team that you would never let date your sister?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:24

Okay, this one and me sitting right here next to me. I'm gonna say Jordan Long.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:29

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:30

That's my roommate. I don't think I I don't think I'd want him anywhere near my sister.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:34

That's so great, Kevin. That's awesome. Okay, now give us your best impression of coach.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:43

Oh boy. Um, I think so. And you start talking about that. Um I think the the yelling and the cuts, cut, cut, you start yelling at us, cut, hustle, move the ball. I mean, you get start getting the typical coaching lines. I mean, he starts getting after us some days in practice, and you're like, oh boy. So it's it's pretty funny. Um I'm gonna keep I'm gonna keep that one short because I'm sure he'll hear this.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:12

All right, last question. What's your plan after graduation, Kevin?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:17

Um, I'm actually gonna go work for my father. My father owns a manufacturing company, and so um I right now it's in a transition period, and I think it's I have just from my schooling and stuff like that, had the abilities to uh to help my dad out. So I felt like that would be it'd be cool. I mean, obviously, my dad's my role model, and be able to work alongside him and help him out is a big, big thing for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:39

So uh, what a great thing to say, Kevin. What a what an admirable thing. You're you're a fine young man. You did great in the firing round, you really did. You're you're phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:51

Caught me a little bit. I was trying to think of that one. There's 70, there's 70 semi guys, it's hard. All of them are pretty funny, but sometimes we that only caught me a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:00

You're under enough pressure, you know, at the face-off X. We're just trying to give you different pressure in the firing round here. But you did great. That's fun. I was I was I was ready for it was great having you on, Kevin. We've been wanting to have it on for several weeks now, and and we really appreciate appreciate Coach Ward allowing you to come on and talk with us. It was it was fantastic. And I don't think we need to wish you luck. I think you will do great the rest of your games at face off x, and I'm sure we'll be talking about the the mocks for weeks to come as the season gets ramps up even more in conference play.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:36

Yeah, I think you will be too. I think you will be too. Thank you for having me on.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:40

Yeah, Kevin Horowitz, fifth-year senior for Florida Southern, currently fifth in the country at face off at 71%. You've been a great guest tonight. Continued success, young man. You were a great young man. Your father should be very proud of you. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. We'll see you soon, okay? Keep calling out, kid. All right, sounds good.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_04 1:14:05

How cool was that to see Kevin Horwitz so fired up about his team season.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:12

Oh man, I I really was very impressed with Kevin this evening. Uh uh, I just what a really uh cool young man, just confident, not cocky, but confident. And I just like his work ethic and uh just the way he spoke and just talking about his team and his teammates. Very impressive young man. I was very glad we got him on tonight.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:33

I was too. It was great. He kind of just uh continued to show me how the players really indeed to lacrosse focus on team first. It's just amazing. He when we said, well, how do you how do you play so well at the at the X? And his answer was I couldn't be there without my LSMs and my short stick D minis. I only get half the ground balls.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:00

I think that displays character, what kind of character he has, you know, and that comes from mom and dad, too. So Mr. and Mrs. Horowitz, he did a fine job raising this young man. And you know what? I was interested. What interests me is that face-off thing because so many kids have been on their knee for so many years, Kev. And last year they changed the rules, and it really evened the playing field for a lot of teams. And and the way he spoke about how he worked, okay, that doesn't work. And then he was working with four Division I, you know, FOGOs. I mean, that that explains everything. That that's his want and his ethic. Yeah, he's a great and he's a fifth-year senior. Yeah, this is his swan song. Yeah, he's working harder now than he probably has, and what a great kid. I I'm so happy we got him on.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:49

It was great to have him. So then going into this next week, I think, Danny, that these games coming up could be a tipping point or a turning point in some of the conferences.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:01

Oh, yeah, I agree. You know, we're in conference play, Kev. We said it three or four times tonight. And in conference play, every any given Sunday, anything can happen. Um, and it all has ramifications, some in conference tournament and some from possibly NCAA tournament at the end of the season. So this is the meat and potatoes of the season, and then this is the best part. Teams start to separate themselves from the other teams.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:31

Exactly. I don't think there's anything else to say, Danny, for this week.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:36

Hey, this tonight was a quality lacrosse podcast. And that's a wrap. And that's a wrap, Cup.