It's down to the FINAL FOUR!!

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creest with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Sentrum, and with me as always is the proud father of a third college graduate and D2 lacrosse player, Danny Morant. Hey, Danny.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Kev, bittersweet weekend, man.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Yeah, I I remember those days. I remember those days. I still have to wait for our daughter to officially graduate. She's still studying away at Oxford, but I I can imagine that. You actually had graduation on Saturday and then went and saw your son's last college game, unfortunately, on Sunday. We'll get into that game, but that's why I'm sure it was bittersweet. Great, great times and tough times at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Well, it's an end of an era. That's the thing, you know. And um, Kevin, honest to God, lacrosse has been a huge part of the Moran family for over 20 years now. And you know, it's changed our lives. Uh, all of us, all of us, everybody in the family, all the kids, the wife, everybody. It really changed us and it made us. I don't know. I it just it's just different. It's just a different sport, lacrosse. It's different from football, it's different from basketball. You know, the kids played those too, but again, I I'm very blessed that the boys were healthy and big and athletic and and smart. I don't know where they got that from. You hold your own, mister. You hold your own criticism from me. Pops used to have some hops back in the day. But you know what? I'm just very grateful to the good Lord for giving them everything, uh all the things that they needed to succeed. And they did well with it. And I'm very happy. And you know what? I'm happy for all the seniors that graduate, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yeah, that's that's you we'll get it. That's my shout out for tonight. We'll I'll say it again when we get to the end.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

To be a student athlete, man, it's a tough situation. Let's put it this way the kids graduated Saturday, nine o'clock, you know, it gets going a little later, 9.15. That's a good three hours. Yeah. And then there's pictures by the lake with the families and the friends and families and whatnot. And then they had practice at two. They had to leave to go to practice. Like, it's such a big day. And yet another big day is coming tomorrow, and the kids had to go to practice. So I found that interesting, an interesting dynamic. Yeah, I wondered how that was working.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah, yeah. And I'm wondering we're gonna get we're gonna digress a little bit, but you just think about that. Um, you graduate one day and you gotta turn your head around in for uh an NCA tournament game. Yeah, yeah. Basically 24 hours later, that's I mean Yeah, 100%. That's tough for someone who's really mature to be able to really, you know, focus on both, and there's a lot of emotions. There's a lot of and you know, Wingate's not the only one that had to deal with things like that. So it's just interesting. It's uh I was thinking about that weekend when I saw when I saw pictures of you at the graduation, and then I saw the getting ready to watch the game. I try to watch other games besides that one because they're all on at the same damn time, which still pisses me off. Thank God they're on demand. You can watch them later. Yeah, well, I'm glad you've shown me where the champions pass was because I was losing and I couldn't find it on Monday.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

I couldn't believe that that's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

So, anyone who wants to go watch the games, go to just Google NCAA Championship Pass, and it'll bring you to what you want for all the D2 games. They're all there. Champs hyphen pass. Yeah. I just Googled Champs Pass and I got it came up. So how are you tonight, Mr. Stenstrom in Northern Virginia? How's it going? Well, I I've tried to watch a lot of lacrosse. That's what I'm telling you. There's so many games that we we I wanted to try to catch all of them. We've got a lot of them to go over, and then kind of I'm a little tuckered out from all my notes. And uh and but it was it was great to see a lot of these games, and it's interesting to see how they ended up. But we got a lot to go over from the first round to the quarterfinals. So are you ready to get started? I'm ready to get started. Let's start off up in the north for the games that were last Sunday was their first first round games for the North Region, and let's start with St. Anselm against St. Michael's. The Catholic schools.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Have to do this for the Catholic schools. I was right there.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

And what you have to, I have to say, off the top, you have to give it up for the Purple Knights. Absolutely. They end up winning this quality. They win this nine-eight against the number two seed, and they were the number seven and the number three team in the nation.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Yeah, man. And I questioned that number three. I questioned that a couple of weeks ago, that St. Ace. I didn't know whether they really belonged at three for a while there. But hey, St. Mike's, huh? But with the Irish kids, too. Murphy and a bunch of kids, Murphy and Maguire, and they got a bunch of Irish kids. I'm loving St. Mike's, you know that. But they came out really fast playing and playing with house money, Kev.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Exactly right. You said it, you nailed it. They came out fast, and that's all they needed to do. They led at the beginning, held a 4-2 lead after one. And here's what's in, Danny. It was 5'4 at half, they were still up. And I thought, okay, St. A's is poised now in the second half to do what they usually do against a team that they've played a lot of times that hasn't been to their caliber in the past several games. Now, give St. Mike's credit all through this season. We've talked about this several times. They've made a lot of these tough games, even though they may have lost close by one goal or two goals. There was a great article in USA Lacrosse on St. Michael's. If you haven't read it, you should read it because it kind of goes exactly what Coach Smith sent to us in the preview. He didn't know it was going to have. He actually thought this is not a rebuilding year, but it was really trying to figure out what was going to happen. He just happened to get the right chemistry with a couple of seniors and a couple of underclassmen, even freshmen, that really stepped up. And they they basically came out in the second half and scored the first three unanswered to go up 8-4.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Yeah. Yeah. You know, St. A's is good. They were able to bury a couple of biscuits at the end of that half to bring it to within one. And uh St. Mike's had a 9-5 lead with like 11 minutes left, you know. And they just they really made it hard for St. A's. They just made it difficult. I think I felt that St. A's in like towards the end of the third, the beginning of the fourth quarter, started playing tight, a little on their heels on defense. They had a lot of unforced turnovers. A lot of unforced turns.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Which is so unlike St. Anselm. Now, I also give a little credit to St. Mike's D for that.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Yeah. But St. A's had four consecutive turnovers and four consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter. Yeah. That you, you know, in an NCAA game, those those mistakes are gonna come back to haunt you, and it really, really did. And they, you know, I they were just uncharacteristic mistakes, if you ask. They had the opportunities. Some of them are on fast breaks in transition where they had numbers and just threw the ball away.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Well, then you also have to give some credit to Nate Gulachensky. Oh, he was great. He was great again.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

He's been great all tournament.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he had he had 15 saves with some really c clutch ones again.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

65%. Yeah. I'll take that all day, every day, and twice on Sunday for St. Mike's. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Yeah, I mean, you look and you look at the stats. I mean, St. A's outshot him 43 to 26. Now, here's the interesting thing. Shots on goal. This is where St. Mike's was a lot more efficient and effective. 19 for St. Mike's and 23 for St. A's. And then go to saves. I say again, Nate Gulichinsky with 15 and St. Anselm with 10.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Yeah. And you know what, Kev? Even though those were going on and St. A's was behind, they were still able to bring it to within one with like a minute and 40 left.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Yeah. It was, yeah, exactly. It was 9-8 with 140 left. You got it exactly right. And I and St. A's once again had a chance.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

They won the face-off huge, right? But they turned it over. They call a timeout. They call a play. Come out of the play. Turn the ball over. St. Mike's got the boat, ball back. They got it into the zone. Coach Smith called a timeout. They came out of the timeout, just ran the clock out. And St. Mike's comes away with a one-goal, 9-8 victory in the Catholic bowl in a quality, quality lacrosse game.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

It was a really fun game to watch. One of the best games to watch on Sunday, without a doubt. Let's move on.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Sean Murphy had two goals and two assists. Owen Balfour had two goals and two assists. Four of the other guys had one. Noah Poirier struggled at the dot. Six for 17, but Golinchenski saved his ass with 15 saves at 65%. For St. A's, Eddie O'Brien had two. Matt LeMay had two. Boyle, Dean Wellen, each with one. Quinn Gannon, pretty good. 13 for 19 at the dot. And Finn Granara, 10 saves, 52%. St. Mike's nine. St. A's way. So St. Mike's went to 10 and 5, and St. A's finished their season at 11 and 3. Good season for St. A's.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Yeah. Yeah, we got one more season with them next year before they move to D3. All right. Let's move on. Let's cover. I don't have a lot of information on this. I don't even have the stats on this one, but a Delphi against Wilmington. This is number one against number eight. Ends up a Delphi did their usual. Thank you for that. I started to talk. I'm like, wait, Danny's got something new he can do.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Every time you hear a Delphi, you're gonna hear you're gonna hear this.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

And that's what this game was. They won 16 to 6. And here's the amazing thing. We talked about this two years ago when they won the natty two years ago. And they said, how can a team they were so good? They won that natty with a like a 30% face-off win rate. Yeah, two years ago. Across the year. Now last year they were better. This year with Will Greaves, this game, he went 16 out of 17 for 94%.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Absolutely crazy.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

And when you're doing that, the other team doesn't really have that much of a chance unless they can unless you can stop their offense and you look at the all the weapons and include in that, and we'll get this to the next game when they play against pace, you include in that their polls who can pass it. They don't have any they scored the first seven goals, Danny. And then they followed it up with runs of five and three goals throughout the game to just take it away. I mean, there looked like times that Wilmington was going to uh make it respectable, yeah, but then there's another run. And then it's just, you know, when you when you get that five-run goal, which was later on, between I think the second and the third, that's all she wrote. And ended up being 16-6.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

The Panthers are stacked at every single damn position. They're just really, really good. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. They just rolled over Wilmington, and you and I predicted that.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, exactly. And a good you know, good season for Wilmington. A Delphi, you can say it again. Roland, Roland, Roland. I don't know who's gonna stop them, to be honest.

unknown 13:22

Rollin, roll in, roll in.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

That's like our theme. All right, that's pace against Seton Hill, still up in the North Region. First round for them. Pace pulls this out 18 to 13. And I'm gonna say one thing. We talked about this. You convinced me of this, Danny. Last week. Two words. Battle tested. Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

What'd you think of that game? Um, I was not surprised at all. I had predicted a couple of weeks ago, I said Seton Hill hasn't really played anybody yet, Kev, in in a while. Right. I I felt that they just hadn't been battle tested in a while. And Pace had just gone through the gauntlet with Cine A's and Adelphi and played them well, and played them well. And then Pace had to play Adelphi again, got beat up a little bit. But you know what? Pace is a really, really good team, Kev. Yeah. They they're they're they're another team in the North that's stacked at all positions. They got good face-off guys, good multiple goalies, multiple guys that can score. Their defense is stout. And that Seton Hill team, they struggled. Uh they they struck early with two goals in the first two minutes before Trevor Lamero got pace on the board. But the Seton Hill Griffiths, they were they were aggressively offensively, they were aggressive and put a few more biscuits in the basket. But get Valdino, they put a nice run to the end of that first quarter, and uh Pace and Seton Hill were tied at five after one.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

And that's yeah, and uh just like let me uh I'm sorry about interrupt, but like yeah, they Satan Hill had a 5-1 lead, but battle tested. Pace comes back and ties at 5-5 to end it at the first quarter.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Didn't panic, just kept, you know, just kept chipping at that stone, getting possessions, going down, working their offense, playing defense, and it was a good, you know, like good Northeast lacrosse start of a game, you know. Like I just thought both teams came out pretty strong, you know, and looking good. The second quarter was a little bit more settled, yet it was still fast paced. It was still moving at a good clip. Both teams are quick, you know. The griff scored four off a great effort by Carter Lee. He had a really good game. And uh, but Getz and Danowski, those two guys kept it close for pace. They just, you know, every time seating them, bang, bang, bang, they come right back, you know, getz or or or Danowski, and they kept it close. Herbster, Nate Herbster had a beautiful behind the back on a man up, and the grips actually led 9-7 at half. Will Cody had six saves alone in the second quarter. Wow. Yeah. And to start off the third, well, that's when Pace said, Yeah, we're done. Hard time. We're going home now. And they they went uh six unanswered, and uh it was 12-9 after three, and that was pretty much it. Seton Hill was on their heels for the rest of the game, tight, you know, just couldn't.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

I I yeah, and I think Pace's D tightened up going in you know in that second half, and were much more effective. And you're right. The difference was Seton Hill's offense was very fast and very aggressive in that first quarter. Yeah. Then things started to settle in, and Pace's defense kind of took over in that second half. You look at it from that scoring six unanswered, that one was like what you said, gets Danowski. But the other thing is their defense shut them down.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Yeah, yeah. I mean, like they're good. Pace. I I think I they've been a good team all year. I just they're balanced offensively on, you know, with attack and and midfield. They're their short stake D mids have been great all year. And he he actually Mariano pulled Kern again for Wilcox again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

After running that first quarter sometime, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

He had 10 saves. So for Pace, the freshman, Zach getts five goals and two assists in the game. Donowski had four goals and two assists. Trevor Lamero had three goals. Matt Baldino had three goals and an assist. Jake Sensi had a goal. Like I said, uh Hunter Wilcox with 10 saves. Hugo, Vilalba. That's not an easy name to say. Vilalba. Vilalba.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Yeah, Villaloba?

SPEAKER_00 18:04

I'd have to look at it. Vilalba. V-I-L-A-L-D-A. Villalba. Viaba? They used 12 for 27 at the dot. And for Seton Hill, Carter Lee, three goals and two assists. Nakes Herbster with two goals. Five other guys with one. Uh Taten Menchillo and Tucker Zostan. Uh 9 for 14 and 4 for 8 at the dot. Will Cody, excellent in goal in the loss with 18 saves. Yeah. So Pace continued on. Uh they moved up to 13 and 5, and the Seton Hill Griffiths ended their season with another good season. Uh they ended 16 and 3.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Yeah, a great team. We said this last year. We said it again this year. And I'm I'm seeing it. I think we're starting to see it in the GMAC. There's some teams that are starting to up their game to be able to give Seton Hill more competition, which is what they they really want in that GMAC, because the GMAC is huge. They don't have that many out of out of conference games to play. And the only thing they can try to do is put some of those, and that's tough with so many teams, somewhere in the middle or later on in the season, right? To to break it up. Yep. But congratulations to Pace. They played an awesome game. Let's move on to the last game in the North region for their first round, and that was number three in Malloy against number six Assumption. Malloy pulls this out 15-12. This is what I would say, Danny, to start this off, and I'm curious what you thought of this game. This was a total, unlike what you saw with Pace and Seaton Hill, and a few other games we're going to talk about, this was a much more methodical game. This was a to me was a lot of 6v6, not a lot of breakaways, transition goals. I thought this was an but I thought it was fairly evenly matched, too.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Well, to be honest with you, it was just what I expected from these two northeast blue-collar lacrosse teams. It was physical. Yeah. Lots of bodies hitting the floor, lots of flags in the air, lots of bodies finding the turf, tough scrums for ground balls, just great goalie play by both goalies. By both goalies. I this was a really good blue-collar, probably the most physical game that I watched all weekend. These guys, there was a lot of asses hitting the dirt, Kev. A lot of asses hitting the dirt. I love physical lacrosse. You know, sometimes sometimes you get that flag. I think sometimes these flags come a little too much sometimes when hits are legit. You know, they're you know, shoulder to shoulder. It might be a vicious, it might be it might be uh an aggressive hit, but a legal hit nonetheless.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah, I hear what you're saying. Sometimes you see the player go down, he's slow to get up, next thing you know, the flag is out and know that was a good hit. Bullshit.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

It's bullshit. You know, the refs have to start thinking about what's a legal hit and what's vicious and what's not. If a player's hands aren't extended and he's not looking, you know, it's not head to head or head to shoulder. If it's shoulder to shoulder and your arms are tucked, that's a legal hit. That's a legal check. And if your ass hits the ground, then so be it. And if it's a hard hit and your ass hits the ground, that's a good check. And we had a lot of that, but the flags were flying. You know, and I I hate that about this, but it was a good physical game. I thought boomer starting. Let me tell you something. He's one of the best midfielders in the country.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Yeah, he's really good.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

And he's only like size, speed. Yeah. He's only a sophomore. Let me tell you something. I liked Assumption all year, Kev. I've been saying it all year. I was like, I like this team. I put them in my top 20 in my preseason. They they kind of bounced around in and out, the top 20, but they were in there. But they're a good team. Oh yeah. And they're young. A lot of these guys come back. We'll talk about that later. But Staunton, Nolan Johnson, Max Lowenberg, they all scored, scored in the first half for the Hounds. Simic and Hammond and Jake Taylor and Brian Green all scored for the Lions in the first half. Green put the one on a man up. The Lions led 5'4 at half. Really good blue-collar game, like I said. Just back and forth, really good stuff. In the third, the Lions took a three-goal lead on two more by Simic, but Assumption fought back with more goals by Boomerstone and Loenberg and McHugh. But that pesky Lion team, they were able to cause a few turnovers that led to Malloy goals. And the Lions took a 10-7 lead into that final quarter, Kev. Yep. And in the fourth, each team just traded goals, a lot of them, and went back and forth. And the Greyhounds did manage to put a little run together, but just couldn't crack that three goal deficit, that three-goal deficit. So Malloy pulls it out 15-12, gets to move on. I gotta tip my cap to Coach Bordon and the Hounds for the season that they've had. And again, let's let's talk about this. Boomer Staunton, five goals, one assist. He's a sophomore, Kev. Sophomore. Max Lowenberg, three goals and three assists. He's a sophomore, Kev. Brian Short, Nolan Johnson, Ben McHugh, each with one. Brian Short, he's a junior. He comes back. Ben McHugh, he's a sophomore. He comes back. Uh Connor Stack, he was 14 for 28 at the dot. Excellent. I thought 19 for 28. I'm sorry. He's a junior cat. He comes back next year. Jack Kelly had three ground balls, a defenseman. He's a sophomore. Shane Corcoran in goal had 15 saves, was really good in goal in the loss. He's a sophomore. These kids come back. Assumption's gonna be a really good team next year. You mark my words.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

Yeah. They're gonna be right up there. They're gonna be the I think there could be several like that in the NE10 that are gonna elevate St. Mike's is the same way in a lot of ways. So, like, are they all gonna elevate up and be at that St. A pace level be really interesting? But you gotta give that then we we talked a lot about assumption, and and I think you made some really good points. They had a great season. Malloy, as we've said, I think we're not saying much about Malloy except that they won and what they did, only because I I think we expected them to win this.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Yeah, Jaden Simic, five goals, Noah Hammond, three goals and three assists. Yeah. They're good, man. Brian Green, three goals and assists, Justin Powls, two goals, Jake Taylor with a goal and two assists, Zach Kruk. Dude, they got a lot of guys that can put the biscuit in the basket, Malloy. And they're fast, they move the ball. And defensively, they're tough and they're physical. Like I said, they don't mind putting butts on the floor. Braden Pazienza and Zach Milligras were both at the dock combined, 10 for 29. And John Basili, excellent game in goal for Malloy. 18 saves.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Obviously, I've watched a lot of Malloy the last several weeks. And Basili has really impressed me. He goes up against other goalies that I know better. I don't know why that is. It's maybe it's the teams and just what I've done. And every time he matches them, pound for pound.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Kevin, to get this far in the in the tournament in the NCAAs, when you get this far, you better have a good goalie in it. Oh, yeah. You know, because that's that's huge. And all of these teams right now that are left all have phenomenal goalies. And that that, you know, when you keep the other team's biscuits out of your basket, you're doing a good job. Basili, I I like Malloy. I think Coach Dunn has done an outrageous job there. And just 100%. You know, and he lost some big boys from last year, and he just reloaded, and he's got these guys playing, they're hitting on all eight. And I just like the physicalness of their their defense. I mean, the you're gonna find your ass on the ground if you've come in.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

So I told you when they played against I think it was Mercy, and I said, I I think that was a statement. We you're coming into our house.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

We're gonna put your butts on the ground. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Respect the house. So yeah, Malloy moves on, man. Yeah, exactly. All right, let's move to the south region. We'll start with uh it was it was I don't want to call playing game. It was the opening round in the south. And this was number eight Concordia University of Irvine against number nine Flagler. This was a great game. This is a game where I wrote, you hate to see anyone lose this game. Flagler wins this 7-6 in overtime. Flagler did not lead throughout the game until they won in overtime. And the it was I said probably beginning of the fourth quarter, I watched this game that I th I said this is gonna go to overtime. It was that close. So great game. Flagler then moves on.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

It was a really good game.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Really good game. Flagler moves on to play Tampa as the number one seed on Sunday. And Tampa, just like a Delphi, took care of business 12-3. And let me start off with that's a tough road for Flagler. They fly out to Irvine, then back, then have graduation, then have to face Tampa at Tampa.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Welcome to the NCAA's boys. This is what happens at this time of year. Yeah, you know, yeah, they had to travel out to California and then travel back to Tampa. And like you said, in the middle of somewhere in the middle, they got their cap and gowns on and took a shower, combed their hair, had practice, you know, and walked, got their degree, and then went right to practice. I mean, it's tough, it's not easy. And uh, you know what? Flagler, uh, although they got there this year, they weren't the same team, a little bit different than last year's team. Um, but still got to the got to the tournament, they got to the dance tournament, and they had a tough road. They had, like I said, a CUI out in California, great game, could have gone either way, took overtime for them to win, and then they had to face a gauntlet in Tampa with MP Thomas and Schmidt and Conley Stone and Aaron Cho and Jackson Bashaw and Max Kesselring and oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Yeah, and what I would say with that too, Flagler held Tampa to only two goals in the first quarter, Danny. So at first you're thinking, okay, but that was about it. Tampa's D was just too strong, really. I mean, I think their D just clamped down on Flagler. And then Tampa outscored Flagler four to one in the second quarter and held Flagler to zero goals in the third while they scored three more. It's not like they poured on like we talked about a Delphi seven and then five, but they were consistent, you know, three, four goals a quarter, and that's where you get to 12-3. It was 9-1 after three. So there's there was too much of a deficit, obviously, going into the fourth quarter for them to make up. And it showed in the stats, Danny. The shots Flagler had 18 to Tampa's 48. Yeah, it's it's yeah, it's and that goes back to what you just said. MP Thomas, faceoffs, 15 for Tampa, two for Flagler. Having possession, having possession, having possession, and then their D every time that Flagler had it, being able to shut them down.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Kevin, I said it all year. Their deep Tampa's defense is great. Their offense is okay. They're good. Yeah, not wow. They're not wow. Okay. So without MP Thomas there, hmm. Hmm. Because he gets them a lot of possessions, Kevin. Yeah. They're good enough to score and work the ball and get shots off, but they're not the crazy great offense. They're not as good as good as offense as Anderson is. They're not as good as offense as some like Adelphi's is. Right. They're not as good as offense as Wingates is. Their offense isn't that good. But their defense is great. Yeah. And they have MP Thomas getting them possession after possession.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Their offense is very good, but you're right. The ones you kind of pointed out. We talked about Adelphi before, we'll get to Anderson. I agree with you. They've they've got some pieces. Jackson Bashaw, Grant Green, you know, Kesselring, Aaron Chow. They've got some guys.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

I'm not taking away from T.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Right. You're but you're right. They're where they hang their hat is their defense.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

Yeah, right. They're gonna win on their defense. Absolutely. Their offense isn't the offense that makes me go, oh man, oh God. No, they're good. They move the ball well. Yep. But I look at other offenses in the league and I say, whoa. Well, they they match up. Yep. Yeah, they're whoa. Yep. Yep. You know? So and then I look at defenses and I see a Delphi and I go, oh man. And I look at Tampa and I go, oh man. Yeah. Like really good defenses. I look at Malloy and I go, oh man. Like these defenses are good. You know what I'm saying? So Tampa's gonna be tough. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna take anything away. You don't want anybody. The DMs are gonna start coming in. How do you know? Just calling it like I see it, folks. That's all. You still probably got the best chance of getting there.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Oh, a hundred percent. I think what you're yeah, well you're not saying they're they're bad. You're just saying they do hang their hat. They sh they're gonna win on their D more than anything. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Okay, let's move on. Let's talk Anderson before we get to Wingate versus Anderson. Anderson first beat Barton. Anderson was the number seven seed, Barton the number 10 seed. Remember, Barton was the surprise coming out of Conference Carolinas. Hats off to him, man. Hats off. Anderson took care of him 24 to 12. That's about all we need to say, right? We you know but then they go against Wingate and they basically repeat what they did to Barton. If you look at from a score 21 to 13. But and you were at the game. This is what I saw. Wingate came out really that first quarter into most of the second quarter? A lot of uh half the second quarter, it looked like it was Wingate's. This Wingate's gonna do the same thing. They're up 4-1, they were there up 8-4, they were doing fine. It was a very evenly matched game. And then Anderson just goes on this huge run. Faceoffs. I was gonna let you sayoffs, face-offs, faceoffs.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. And you know what? You can't give a team like Anderson with such a prolific, they're the number one scoring offense in the country, Kev. And man, they have a lot of guys that can bury the biscuit. I mean, Raiden Badron is an absolute dog. If he's not, I personally, in my opinion, I think he's the best midfielder in the country. I do. I just think because he can score on anybody, on any team, yeah, at anybody. It's nobody can shut that kid down. You know, I've watched defenses shut other guys down. We'll talk about that later. But I mean, Anderson with their face-offs with Aiden Dixon and AJ Rush, they were able to let's put it this way, Dixon was 14 for 20 at the dot, and AJ Rush was 12 for 17 at the dot. They just destroyed Wingate on the face-offs.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

And I think the last time they played, I don't think AJ Rush, I think AJ Rush was injured. He was.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

He had a little AC joint problem in his face.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

And I was I was like, when I watched this game late, because this wasn't the game I was watching to begin with. I I got to it late. When I saw him on the field, I'm like, oh my gosh, that is a huge advantage.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

And you AJ Rush and Aiden Dixon together are practically unstoppable.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

They're really, really good tandem, the best tandem in the country, hands down. They both go like 50%. I mean, uh, Dixon took 20%, Rush took 17. I mean, just they were able, even when even the clamps that they didn't win, they got the ground balls. Yeah. And and and if the and if Wingate won the face-off and were able to get away with a clamp, they got the ball checked out, or there was a push or a scrum from the wings that you lose the ball. And and Anderson. So they owned the middle of the field against Wingate. And uh let me tell you something. Like you said, Wingate had a you know strong first quarter, but the rest of the game was all Trojans handing handing the Bulldogs probably the worst loss I can think of in recent memory. They don't lose by a lot when they lose, you know?

SPEAKER_01 36:41

Yeah, not by those kind of numbers. Now, let me go back and I'll say this again, and it proves out once again when we go to the quarterfinals and Anderson against Lenore Ryan. We talked about this, we've talked about this all season. We talked about it in the SAC conference preview. We said when you look at these top teams and four adding Kataba now, but we weren't talking about that conference preview. Newberry, Anderson, Lenore Ryan, Wingate. When you see Wingate last year, who did not do well in the regular conference season, run the table and then do well in the NCAAs, and do it by being away. Right. And yet they lost to a lot of these sack teams early in the season. I said, and we talked about this, you and I both agreed. You can't rest your laurels that, oh, okay, we I we beat Anderson by four goals last time. Throw that away. Doesn't matter. And that's exactly how it played out in the NCAA tournament. Anderson, you would think this game would be close. Even if Anderson win, which they we talked about this. I said it could be a pick-em game, but we wingate at home, blah, blah, blah, blah. We both said wing gate. To see that lop side of a score just astounded me in a lot of ways.

SPEAKER_00 38:01

Yeah, when when when Anderson went on that eight goal unanswered run, you could see Wingate just hang their hats. Like you could see it and like they had no answer. Yeah. They had no answer. They had no answer. And I'm gonna be honest with you, Kev, I don't think the defense they showed a little bit of youngness, a little bit. Oh, totally agree. Totally agree. There was some they got confused. There was some times when I felt they were sliding when they didn't have to slide. And that they would leave it, they they would leave that man in front of the crease wide open. And Anderson's a great dishing team. They dish the ball. They're a great passing team. Yeah, they don't know who it is. They, you know, they all share the ball. And I felt that again, and and I didn't feel that Wingate was physical enough. Dude, you gotta push people around. You gotta knock some asses on the dirt. And they were just making it, they were just letting guys get by them. I don't know. It just maybe they were on their heels a little bit, you know, that youngness again.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

I I think you hit that a little bit. I was seeing the same thing when I watched that is the fact that especially when they slid, they didn't have that second slide, that recovery slide, in the right place. There was a confusion. Someone wasn't in the right spot. Either was communication or they didn't know. I saw that several times. And and then when then that happens, I think when you're young, it it compounds itself from a confidence level.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Right. You know, two two there was actually three freshmen on the field a couple of times on the defensive side for Wingate.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

And when you have a team like Anderson, they're going to pick you apart.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

Yeah, they sure are. And you know what? And when you're winning face-offs and you're controlling time and possession, and you're keeping that Wingate prolific offense off the field. That's a great game plan. And that's exactly what happened. So Cole Sparks and Brayden Bushnow are excellent in that game, four goals. Raiden Badron with three goals, Cooper Laughlin had three goals, Matty Rogers had two, Kirchhoffer had two, three others had one, 21 goals they put up on Wingate, which is doesn't happen very often. Like I said, Dixon and Rush at the dot. But let me tell you something. Goalie Aiden Laughlin has been exceptional throughout the entire sack tournament and the NCAA tournament. And I'm telling you, if Anderson beats Tampa in the finals here, you gotta give Lachlan an all-American nod. Because what he's done, he stopped everything that Wingate shot at him. Stopped everything. He had 10 saves, and they only had 23 shots on goal, Wingate. So for the Dogs, uh Vinnie Patrico had five goals, Jackson Grant had two, Sean Clark with two, Kyle Spence had two, uh, Jared Bitzer and Joey Moran each with one, and Quad Williams, not a bad day. 14 saves. And uh Anderson moves on and sends Wingate home and my son.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

Yeah. All right. Last game. Oh, actually, we have two more games. I'm sorry. Let's move before we go to the quarterfinals. This was last Sunday. Lewis, number four against number five, Newberry. Lewis pulls us out 15-14. This was as tight as it gets. Totally back and forth. 3-2 after one, Newberry, and 7-7 at half. And this is what you should when I say back and forth on how tight. Newberry then took a three-goal lead in the third, which at the time to me seemed like a huge gap compared to how the teams were playing. Lewis then went on a 5-1 run and it was 12-11 after three.

unknown 42:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

Newberry's impressive team, man. I like them. They're pretty good. Uh Lewis pulled it out like the one goal. I mean, it was one quarter, really, the third quarter, you know, that they looked pretty good in. Yeah. It was a fast, aggressive game by both squads. Very fast, very, very fast. Yeah. And very aggressive. And I thought McMullen in goal really played well. I know at the end he only had 14 out of 29. He had 48%. But I thought he played really good. But the offense of the Flyers were so fast. They would dodge and shoot, dodge and shoot, dodge and shoot. I mean, they look like a D1 team to me. Because that's what Virginia was doing against the uh in the ACC tournament. It was dodging, shoot, dodge and shoot, dodge and shoot. You know, guy backing up, just making sure they got possession back. And when you start flying the ball around like that, they're going to start to go in. And uh I like the Polish pair, the Polish duo, Rukowski and Kaczynski. The Polish pair. They're good. They're really good, man. Yeah. And uh they were outstanding for Lewis. And but Matthew Burt for Newberry, he did everything good. I I was really impressed with his play.

SPEAKER_01 43:21

He had seven goals, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

I was really impressed with him. The Flyers, though, you know, they're gonna they had to take some SPF 50 with them down to Tampa last week. But so it was, you know, I I think Lewis is a really, really good team. They've been playing great all year. They were 14 3 after that game. Um, the Newbury Wolves had another great year. The SAC SAC Champs, don't forget. Yeah, they were the SAC champs this year. Gotta give you to Coach Cotter, tippy cap to them guys. They were 13 5. And in the game, like I said, Matt Burt with seven goals. Brad David had two goals and two assists. Five more guys with one. McMullen, like I said, I thought was really good in goal. Houston Horton was 17, 7 for 17, and Colby Rogers, 11 for 10. Uh combined 54% at the dot. Not too bad. And for Lewis, Camden Rapaz, three goals and assists. Cardi Kaczynski, three goals. Paul Ruskowski, three goals and three assists. Five other guys with one. Caden Donahue, 60, 16 saves on 30 shots, saw for 53%. And uh the two guys, Dylan Kendrick and Ty Shields, uh combined 45% at the dot. So good Lewis Flyers team gets to move on, and the Sack Champs, Newberry, go home. One goal lost. That's got to be a tough. It is. You know what? I was at Charlotte Airport on Monday and saw the Newberry Wolves getting off their flag. Saw them all. Yeah. I said, oh man. I felt bad for them. They looked tired. They looked great.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

Tell you what, great game, two great teams. Lewis. Lewis beat them by several goals last time. We didn't think this was going to happen this time, but they showed what they're made of and moved on against Tampa. We'll get to that in the quarterfinals.

SPEAKER_00 45:25

Lewis is impressive, man.

SPEAKER_01 45:26

They're very impressive. And they they held their own in a lot of ways against Tampa.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

They did. They did. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

We've got one more game to go over that was the second round for the South region in a way, and that was number three, Florida Tech, against number six, Lenore Ryan. Lenore Ryan pulls this out 15 to 8. And this is we talked about this last week, Dan. I know you didn't get to see it, so I'll go through this one quickly. We talked, I kind of said, will Florida Tech's defense which defense will show up? With the defense that we've seen most of the season or the defense we saw against Tampa in the SSC final and maybe against North Greenville, where they weren't the same thing. And what will they be like under the big bright lights of an NCAA tournament? I will tell you, I'm not sure that it was really that score reflected them being tight, maybe a little bit, but it really was the defense that did not seem like I've seen them before. They seemed to get stuck, didn't have sticks and lanes, and not the precision slides that I'd seen before in other games. And, you know, LR, that's the other thing is Florida Tech's offense wasn't built for large deficit comebacks.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

And LR minded.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

Right. LR scored in the first three possessions they had. That will tell you the difference in how the defense was playing for Florida Tech. First three possessions LR had, they scored. Yeah. Yep, that was part of it. But the defense couldn't stop them either. And so But they're fast, you know. Lenore is exactly right. I mean, you've got your defense has got to be on point to stop them. They're you we talked about them. It's it's a Delphi, you know, we talked Tampa, all the these top teams, Anderson. We talked about Anderson doing against Wingate. You cannot let a man, if you slide, you've got to have a recovery. You've got to have them, or otherwise, they're gonna beat you. They're gonna beat you because they're gonna find the open man, and that was happening. Realistically, all day, you just said it. It was ball movement and pinpoint passing by Lenore Ryan. It was 7-2 after one. Their passing got them up to 10-2. It was 11-3 at half. And like I said, Florida Tech's offense is not built to come back from that.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

No. And you got to get possessions, and you're not gonna win against Mancini. The guy is just ridiculous. Right, right. And even if you win the clamp against him, he's gonna come up with the ball. He's that strong again.

SPEAKER_01 48:07

Now, interestingly, they did pretty well in the stats. It was 15 for Lenore Ryan at face offs to 11 and Florida Tech. But I I really think it, once again, the difference was I just think ball movement and what LR was able to do. Yeah, they're just a better team. Better team.

SPEAKER_00 48:29

They're just a better team.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

You know, so for Lenore Ryan, Donnie Powell had five goals, one assist. Jared Huff had three goals, four assists, Morgan Mattish, two goals, two assists. Cooper Stark and Nate Serrano both had two goals. For Florida Tech, Brooks Van Esselston, two goals, and Joe Kovaleski, one goal and three assists. So LR moves on. Florida Tech, great season. You've got to tip your hat to them because I don't think anyone in D2, except for probably Florida Tech, saw this coming. Yeah, good season. And how well they played.

SPEAKER_00 49:02

Good season for the Florida Tech boys. They had a great season. Their defense was great. Yeah. They'll be back next year. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

It's gonna be tough. Yep, I agree. All right, everyone, buckle in. We still have a few more games to go over. It's the quarterfinals. Let's go back up to the north, Danny. Let's start with a Delphi and Pace. A Delphi wins this 12-5. Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_00 49:35

Anytime you say a Delphi, you're gonna hear that. I will say Panthers from now on.

SPEAKER_01 49:39

Yeah, I know. Any 10 championship was an explosive statement when they played pace, right? They just came out, scored, scored, scored. It was like 10-1. This game I thought was more methodical, and they were, but they were patient in how they pulled away, and they did pull away. This was like a death by a thousand cuts. And we talked about this earlier. That happens because they have no gaps or weaknesses. Their polls even contributed on offense again. Reese Bauer had two assists. Carter Linkletter had two goals and an assist. I mean, what are you gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 50:13

When your polls are scoring four or five points, it's time to pack it in and call it a day. But hey, I love the pace setters. I think they're an excellent, excellent ball club. I think they're really well coached, super balanced on offense and defense. They come to play, they come prepared. But, you know, Delphi is just an animal out there. They, you know, Kristen Tomey and goal, really tough to get a ball by. The guy's like 6'5, he's bigger than a house, he's bigger than the damn net. He's a big boy. Yeah. He stands in the middle and and three-quarters of the net, that net is covered. You know, he's just a big guy. And he's good. And he's athletic. He's got great hands. Yeah, he's athletic, yep. And he can pass the shit out of the ball. Yep. He they were able to get out and transition and got a couple of quick transition goals against Payton. Yeah. You know, like if if it ain't 6v6, they're getting out on transition on you. It's uh it's over. It's almost and here's here's my note. Adelphi's defense was on full display in Garden City. The nation's number one defense was fast and furious, really making it difficult for the setters to get good looks. Transition goals for a Delphi early, gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead after one, and Adelphi really never looked back. Pace had a great year with some big wins this season. But a Delphi, Kev, I just think that they're uh ready and poised for another natty.

SPEAKER_01 51:51

I agree they looked. You hit the nail on the head. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good team. Yes. Yes. And when you beat Pace twice by that the the gap they have, God God bless the team that's gonna go up them in the you know, I think pace is gonna go to the net natty again. But uh you said it. A Dolphi pressure on D was stifling. You m you said their D, they were so good. Guys like Dunowski and Lamaro, they had trouble beating their man.

SPEAKER_00 52:22

Dude, Delisandro was coming out to the 48-yard line and pressing on his man. They were they were in guys' jocks all day. Yeah, there was no time to there was no time to even breathe. Delphi was like, we are coming and coming hard. And dude, they got the swag, they got the confidence. In their heads, they're like, nobody's beating us. And they're playing like that. And again, I think Coach Mariano did an outstanding job with his team this year, went 12-6, lost that first one against Malloy, you know, lost against Adelphi, the number one team in the country. You know, I'm not I'm not so bad. I could take those losses, you know what I mean? Yeah. But they're a good, good team. And they just moped the floor with him. 12 to 5. Dunellen with two goals and three assists. Mikey Dernan, he's really good too. Two goals. Minnie McDermott, who's really, really good. Two goals. Really, really good. Roland, rolling, rolling. Yeah. Two goals and two assists. Carter Linkletter, who's really, really good. Two goals and assists. Noah Gibson, who's really, really good out of the goal. Even Ryan Woodland, these like these number two guys have been chipping in those last couple of weeks. And Tomei and goal with 15 saves. And and for Pace, Lee Poolin with two goals, Matt Baldino and Caden Myers with one each, Zach Getz as well. Hugo Vilalba. 10 for 20 at the dot, not too bad. And Jack Kern, he stayed in the game and uh earned himself 10 saves. So, hey, Pace, good season. You had a really good season, and um uh we'll see. We'll see you next year. Yeah. Pace moves on.

SPEAKER_01 54:15

All right, the other quarterfinal.

SPEAKER_00 54:18

I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

Uh Delphi moves on. Rollin', rolling, rolling, rolling. All right, the other quarterfinal in the North Region was Malloy against St. Michaels. Malloy pulls us out 12-7. And this game Malloy always, I'll put it this way. Malloy always had control of this game, but St. Michaels never gave up, and they always seemed like there was a chance until near the end that they could come back.

SPEAKER_00 54:55

You know, I never felt that Malloy was going to lose this game. Yeah, I agree with you. I felt that they were in control of the game. I think they were a better team all around. You know, faster, stronger, bigger, deeper, uh, just, you know, just a better team than St. Mike's. Um, I thought they used a really fast start to jump out to that four-goal lead in the first quarter. And I felt that, you know, I love Malloy's defense. They were getting they were aggressive, they were physical, they were knocking people around, uh, knocking balls out, getting ground balls, causing turnovers. Uh Basili was solid in goal again with 15 saves, and just a solid uh, you know, I think Mike's St. Mike's, dude, they lost a pace by one. This is a good season they had. They lost to St. A's by one. They beat Bentley, and they beat St. A's in the NCAA's. You gotta tip your cap to Coach Smith and St. Mike's.

SPEAKER_01 55:53

Well, that's what I said. This was interesting. I I made a note as I was watching the game before it was, you know, when it was four to one, I said St. Mike's needs to keep it close to win. And there was always that gap. They'd get within two and then Malloy would widen it. And that's why I agree with you that Malloy had control of this game. But I always felt like St. Michael's was, I mean, they never gave up. They never, they their defense was relentless and scrappy, especially face on based on the fact that Malloy had the bulk of the possession time, I felt. And then you go back to Nate Golachinsky.

SPEAKER_00 56:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:36

Their goalie, I mean, yeah, the it was a five-goal difference. It was eight, four and half. I think the other thing that you notice, you you talked about Malloy's different defense. I also thought their ball movement, we talk about this. When they when a team's got good ball movement and they can skip that rock around, they can just toss it around. That's what I saw Malloy doing. They're just well balanced.

SPEAKER_00 56:59

They had one, two, three, four, five guys score multiple goals. Multiple goals. And you know what? I thought, you know, St. Mike's is an up-and-coming team. They had a great season, ended up 10-6. Sean Murphy had a good year. He had three goals in that game. Owen Balfour had a goal, Chris Davis, Zeke Peraza, Noah Varano, all with a goal. Uh Golinchenski, like you said, 14 saves. Noah Poirier at the dot. That was 11 for 20 at the dot. I mean, great season for St. Mike's. A big upset over St. A's in the NCAAs. Their first trip to the NCAAs, and they get to the, you know, they get to play Malloy, who's going to the they lost to the Final Four team.

SPEAKER_01 57:42

Yeah, they go to the NCAAs for the first time in program history and win against St. A's.

SPEAKER_00 57:48

The number three team in the country, right? Yeah. Exactly. That was a complete upset, you know that. But I I tip my cap to Coach Smith and what he's done up there. And I think they're going to be an up-and-coming team. Look at Watson, seeing what they do in the recruitment stage and seeing what they can get up there.

SPEAKER_01 58:06

Yeah, and and Coach, and what they've done this year is only going to help them.

SPEAKER_00 58:10

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:12

All right, let's go to the South region and the two quarterfinals down there. Semifinals for the South region, but quarters in the D2. Let's start with LR against Anderson. Great game. Very, very good game. Anderson pulls this out 9-7. Here's what I would say, Danny. Aiden Laughlin, Aiden Laughlin, Aiden Loughlin.

SPEAKER_00 58:45

He was outstanding.

SPEAKER_01 58:45

Difference in the game.

SPEAKER_00 58:46

Outstanding. Stood on his head.

SPEAKER_01 58:49

25 total saves.

SPEAKER_00 58:51

Yep. He got into LR's heads. LR was like, we can't put one. They couldn't even put at the end, they were just shooting, and the ball wasn't even going near them. If you look at stats, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 59:02

I didn't even notice this, but their shots. LR had 53 shots to Anderson's 25. Shots on goal, 32 to 13. 32 shots on goal. And he saves 25 of them.

SPEAKER_00 59:17

Stood in his head. An all-American performance. 100%. Maybe the best performance by a goalie in Division II this season. It could be. It could be. I mean, to LR is a great team. To go up to LR between the bricks. Between the bricks, you and I both know, not an easy thing to do. LR brings it. They're a very well-coached team. They got Matt Mancini. They got some really good defenders. They got some great offensive players. But Anderson's offense is ridiculous. They're fast. They're fast. Kevin. The three fastest teams that I've seen, actually the four fastest teams. It's only one in the north, and all the other three are in the south. The Delphi is a fast team. They can move the ball on offense. But the other three offenses are all in the south. And it's Anderson, and they have an outstanding offense. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:24

A hundred percent. And their defense. Yeah, I agree. Their offense. It's funny when you look at the stats. I was shocked at how much LR kind of dominated a lot of the categories, but their offense they only scored nine. But that's all they needed. When you've it was just amazing to me, but you're you're exactly right. I thought that they just got so many weapons. I mean, that that it's tough to cover them. And then when they move the ball, you've got to be able to keep with them. And it's very tough. And the other thing I would say, though, is both defenses were really good. They were a lot of sticks in lanes, a lot of but I think Anderson's D almost anticipated a little bit better in that second half and was able to grab a few of those well turnovers.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:17

I mean, LR got looks. They just couldn't get him past it.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:21

Yeah. But a lot of that had to do, I think, also with the defense helping with that.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:26

They had a couple of doorstep shots that Lochlin saved. 100%. And then it was a rebound shot, and Sloan Stewart was right there to try to put it in. He blocked that one too. And it was just like, oh God. You know. You know, sometimes these goalies they go through these runs. And let me tell you something. Aiden Lachlan, like I said, the last three or four weeks has just stood on his head. I said a couple of weeks ago, Anderson started Devonport. And I didn't understand why. Right. And then he did it again. And I didn't understand why. Why? When your boy is doing stuff like this, this guy's hot. Coach Mitchell, don't take him out. You gotta leave him in.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:12

I don't think he's gonna take him out now.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:14

No, I mean, really, you know, and here's another funny part. Dixon and Rush combined, seven for twenty against Mancini. Yeah. They struggled at the dot, but their offense is so good. Their defense was able to make stops. Laughlin was able to make stops. They were able to get the ball back. And I'm telling you, Raiden Badron, I'm in my opinion, he's the best midfielder in the country because he can score on anybody. It doesn't matter. He can create, he can dodge, he can shoot from distance, he can roll inside.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:45

He had more than 50% of their goals, didn't he?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:48

He had five goals. He scored nine. Yeah. Bushnell, Hasel Horse, and Kurt Schoffer each had one. Uh Dixon and Rush combined 720. Lachlan with 25 saves. Uh Morgan Mattish for uh LR, three goals. Donnie Powell ended a phenomenal season, Donnie, and a phenomenal career. You are one hell of a ball player, my friend. And it's been great and fun watching you play and watching my son and you guys get after it. It's been great. And Mr. Powell, who's one of the big fans of the show, he's great too. You know, I'm gonna miss him. Uh Sloan Stewart and Nate Serrano, each with one. Matt Mancini, 12 for 19 at the dot. Again, like you said, LR outshot them 53 to 25 with 32 to 13 on goal, which is ridiculous. But they even outground bald him.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:43

But you know what? Again, Lachlan was just, you know, we have a hot goalie in goal right now for Anderson. So LR ends another great season. Uh scary good team again in Coach Paradine. Always gonna be there. Always gonna be there. Every year he's gonna be there. And Anderson is going on to face Tampa. Yes. And who beat Lewis? Only team that beat Tampa this year.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:13

Yeah. We'll get into that in a second. Let's go over how Tampa got there against Lewis. Tampa pulls this out 12-9, Danny, and I'm gonna start with the end because it was a weird finish to this game. Tampa scores with three minutes left to go up 12-8. You're like, okay, that's it, right? MP Thomas then creates an own goal on face-off to give Lewis some life. It's 12-9 with 240 left. But off of that face-off, Lewis got two penalties, and they go down four versus six. So Tampa can basically round the clock. Lewis, and they almost do. Lewis gets it with 12 seconds left and have no time, and actually they they turn it over and Tampa does it. But when you thought it was over, that's what was so weird. And that own goal just shocked everyone. You saw it, it was like, oh my gosh. But then right with that, it was like, what's going on? Then two penalties and and do they have life? Can they get close? I thought with three goals and two four is gonna be tough the way the game was going. But weird finish, but I have to admit that Lewis played a pretty darn good game, and they really held their own in that first half.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:24

Oh yeah, I thought Lewis played Tampa really well, actually, Kev. I think the thing that kind of hurt him was a bad finish to the second quarter and face and some face-off woes. That was enough to just keep Tampa in the winning circle, if you ask me. It was a very balanced game between both games. I felt that uh Fogo, MP Thomas of Tampa, who was 17 for 22 at the dot. I felt really I felt like he was the difference in this game for the Spartans because they were able to get possession and and keep the Flyers grounded. Hey, you like that one? I do. I do. You're a navy guy. Don't like to be grounded. Don't like to be grounded. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So um I thought Lewis played some really tough defense. They caused 13 turnovers against the Spartans. Yeah. You know, their defense is legit and they get after it. And uh I thought Tampa's defense did a great job. They shut down Rurkowski to only three shots on the day and only five shots for Carter Kaczynski. So their defense locked down on their two best guys and it worked. And MP Thomas winning face-offs. Again, I say if you take MP Thomas out out of the mix for Tampa, what kind of team you got? I mean, he's really helping them. Coach Coach Clark better take him out for a steak dinner. Yeah. Make sure he's got some. Don't let him get too heavy, though. He's got to stay some some vouchers for some uh you know after the win. After the win. Morton steakhouse of Tampa or something like that. JB, MP's killing it for you, kid. And you know it. But Tampa, 20-1. Zach Friend, three goals. Grant Green, two goals. Jackson Basher. The same lineup of assault weapons that they got there. And uh Tommy Ortega with two, three other guys with one, MP Thomas again, 17 for 22 at the dot. And Weston Schmidt in goal has been solid all year, Kev. All year in goal. Their defense is really great. And for Lewis, 14-4. Great season for Coach Joe Peruzzi and the Flyers. Cole Wesner with three goals. Camden Rapids with a goal. Liam Forsyth with a goal. Carter Kaczynski with goal and assist. Rukowski with a one goal and an assist. And Caden Daniel with 10 saves. And Tampa goes on and moves on.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:54

Yeah. Exactly. All right. That wraps up finally all the games since last time we dropped an episode, and this one's coming out late, as I hope most of our fans know. So let's get to it, Danny. It's the final four. Let's talk about the matchups and what you think. The first, a Delphi against Malloy. I said it, a Delphi. That's all I gotta say. Yeah, I agree with you. I I hope it's a great game. It would shock me if Malloy pulls us out. A Delphi is just way, way too strong.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:36

It's supposed to be a really, really nice day this week. It's supposed to be 85 on Saturday.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:41

So if uh the game is going to be played on Sunday now.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:45

Oh, it's on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:46

Sunday at 1 p.m. So mark your calendar.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:50

There's Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games once again. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:53

Sunday. All right. I like uh Delphi in this one. Malloy, great team, but I don't know if you got what it takes to uh keep the boys.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:04

Just that game. I agree. There's not much else to say on that one. The next game could be interesting. You teased it. Tampa against Anderson. Anderson beat Tampa in the regular season. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:24

Here's where coaching comes in. This is where JB Clark and his years of expertise comes in. What wrinkle? What do they do different? You know? Because you're gonna have to do something different. Because I think uh a big part of this game is gonna come down to face-offs. I think Russian Dixon can give MP Thomas a hard time. And um it's a pick-em game for me, Kev. I cannot choose a guy. It's a pick'em game. Anderson's offense is outstanding. I feel that Lachlan has been just unbelievable in goal. His confidence has got to be sky high. Um multiple guys that can score for Anderson. On the other side, Tampa, excellent, excellent defense with Conley Stone, Gordy Gumbold, uh, you know, and Weston Schmidt in goal, who's been outstanding all year. MP Thomas giving them possession, possession after possession, and and a cast of uh assault weapons themselves with Bashaw and Cho and Kessel Ring and Frank Green and Tom. Yeah. You know, so it's a real pick'em game for me, and I think a lot of is gonna come down to special teams play. Faceoffs and goalie play.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:52

That's exactly what I totally agree with you, Danny. It's it's gonna come down to those two things face-offs and goalie play. Which goalie's hotter? Both are really, really good. Lachlan has been crazy good. I don't think Wesson Schmidt has seen a team. I take that back. Lewis is very good too, but I think Anderson's weapons, they're just a little bit faster.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:20

Lewis is very, very good, but more on the defensive end. You know, their offense is good with Rukowski, they can put up points.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:29

They've got a lot of, yeah. But they're not Anderson's offense. I agree. I think Anderson's offense is one of the, if not the top one of the, like you talked about, one of the top three in the nation.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:40

The Anderson wing gate game was so fast. It was such a fast game, man. Like these teams, they're fast. I don't know what else to say. I look at the North and I said, man, some of the teams in the North, they're just it don't match the speed like in the South to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:58

My heart is with Anderson, and that's nothing against Tampa. I like Coach Clark. I like Coach Sullivan, I think they're great guys. I can do that. Their team is great. We've had Gordy Gomball on, but it's just the chance to not have the same two teams back in the final again. My head is kind of pointing towards Tampa. I don't know why. They're at home. They only lost by one to Anderson when they were at Anderson. They are more seasoned and experienced in the NCAA tournament than Anderson. Now, Anderson's done really well in this tournament. Do not get me wrong. They've proven it. Barton, Wingate, Lenore Ryan. They know both those teams, real all three of those teams, actually, Lenore Ryan and Wingate very, very well. So they the coaching knows how to match it up. They did it great against Anderson in the regular season. That game was March 7th.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:56

Both teams are different, and Anderson's a much better team than what they were on March 7th. So I yeah. It's a pick'em game for me. It really is.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:05

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go out on a limb though, because I don't want both of us to be pick'em because we've done this before. You I had to pick em once, you did not. I I appreciate that. I'm gonna say my head's gonna go with Tampa. That makes sense. I get it. I get it. But I you're exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:19

And that it's it's gonna be such a great matchup. Let me tell you something. Coming out of the South, it that that south, what a gauntlet that was. The Northeast wasn't as like that, you know, the North region. Just the teams in the South are so good. Newberry, Anderson, Wingate. Add into that Lewis and Meriville.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:43

Oh, yeah. And Tampa, of course.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:47

Tampa, of course, you know. But again, I think, again, coaching, I think comes into play here, you know, with JB being the general that he is, he's gonna come up with something. I think it's gonna be a wrinkle. I it's almost hard not to say Tampa, especially at home. Um it's hard to beat a team twice, especially a team like Tampa. Yeah. But man, uh Anderson is scary good, and they have two good face-off guys. If those guys can go 50, 52, 54 percent, Anderson's gonna be.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:22

Anderson's a very complete team. Yeah. If there's a team that can beat Tampa twice, it's a team like Anderson.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:30

Yeah. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:32

It's interesting. Can't wait to see it. Can't wait. We're getting down to the bottom. I can't wait. Getting very close to that, Natty. Okay, Danny, time now for shout-outs. Do you have any?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:44

Well, you know what, Kev, just shout out to uh my son and his senior teammates. It's been a great run watching you guys play. You what a great team you guys have been, and the brotherhood that you've made through through that and everything. I think shout out to Coach Tim Boyle, graduating 17 seniors, the biggest graduating class of Wingate history. And I think Coach Boyle is more proud of the graduates than he is winning. I swear to God. He was there at the commencement, clapping for every guy that went across. I mean, I think he cares that much that his yeah, he's he's done that every year.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:25

He did that when my son graduated, smaller class, obviously. But shout out to those boys. And I'm gonna go a little bit broader than that. I already said it up at the top, and you kind of said it also, right? I would shout out to all the players in D2 lacrosse that are graduating. Thanks for balling out on the field and in the classroom because you said it, Danny. Being a student athlete, it ain't easy.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:54

No, it's really, really hard, man. It's really hard. Kevin, just going to college is hard. Just going to college is hard. Just being a regular student. You know, you got classes, you got things you got to do, you got papers, you got to stressful. You know, it's a lot. It's a lot. And then Ed and being on a team. Uh, lifts, runs, team meetings, film, practice, stretching, uh, trainer's table. And then you got, you know, you're on a team, so now you have a mandatory library and all of that kind of stuff. So your time is limited. You have to be a mature young fella and lady and prioritize your time pretty well. And and uh it's not an easy thing to do to be a student athlete, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:44

Yeah, so that's why shout out to all of them. And the only last thing I would say is just remember, people, you can get your merch or buy a cup of coffee if you want. Maybe you can help us get to the natty by going to www.inthecrease lacrosse pod dot com. Danny, you saw you post one of the pictures of the nice high sea glass you can get.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:10

Yeah, we got high sea glasses. Do you have one? Do you have one? I love those. Go to the merch and get one. Hey, and shout out to all our listeners. Uh, ran into a bunch of Anderson uh moms and dads, and they listen to the podcast and they love it. And dude, we got a lot of people listening out there. It's been great. And for all you people that have bought merchandise so far, people have told me they bought a hat, they bought shirts. So uh we appreciate it, keep it coming. We make a little bit of money, but it just takes care of our overhead, Kev. And uh, you know, we're not we're not going to Tahiti tomorrow with the money we're making off of merchandise.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:47

Yeah, we don't have an offshore bank account, let's put it that way.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:50

But shout out to all the listeners for sticking by us all these years. Uh, gonna continue it. We got more to go.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:57

And with that, Danny, for this week and all those games that we just went through and waiting now for the semifinals, the final four, that's a wrap.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:06

That's a wrap, Kev.