Lacrosse Season has started: Our first episode of the 2026 season!

Intro

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Creest with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Mensacross. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the ChatGPT of D2 Lacrosse, Danny Moran.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

The ChatGPT. That's a good one. Is that a Madovnik one?

SPEAKER_02 0:56

That was my footnote, but you guessed it. I can always tell.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

I love that man's sense of humor. I can tell right away. He's the best man.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Yeah, you're not really our RI, our real intelligence, not our artificial intelligence.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

Well, thank you so much for that warm introduction, Mr. Sentram. How's everything tonight in Northern Virginia? Are you staying warm? Because it's goddamn cold out there, boy.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

It is. I am inside, so I'm I'm fine. But uh yeah, we we always talk weather, but let's get through it. You know, we're recording this when we just had the snowstorm that hit, you know, 80% of the country. I think you and I got about the same amount, six to eight inches, but it was really the killer was the cold that has stayed here, like 20 degrees down to wind chill in the the teens, if not less. It's it's just been no fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:45

Single digits uh in the wind chill factors in the morning. And tomorrow, I think it's supposed to be maybe minus two to minus four with the wind chill tomorrow. Should be just wonderful going to work tomorrow. Can't wait, man. It's gonna be wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Then you have to go find parking space that's not close to where you take the subway.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Drive over mounds of snow. People don't shovel their car out. It's a mess. Queens is a mess. That's where I park, and it's just a mess when it snows.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

I told you this, and I'll tell it on the on this podcast. We stayed pretty diligent on Sunday when it was coming down. We went out three times that day to shovel our driveway because I was fearful that once the sleek came and froze over, it was going to be a nightmare. I can't tell you how many people I saw as I went for a run today. I actually went for a run in 20-degree weather, were out there chopping away at the ice, six inches of ice and snow in the driveway trying to get cars cleared.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

Yeah, because after the snow, we had sleet and hail and ice, and then it iced up, and it's just cats and dogs living together. It's just like an ice cube outside. Yeah, not good.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Not good. Can't wait for summer. I know, but look at it's it's spring in lacrosse time. This is our first in-season episode for 2026.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Are you ready to go, Kev? I'm ready. Are you ready to go? Because I'm ready to go. We're ready to go, Cal. Yeah. Yeah, we're ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

We have been building to this, Danny, and now it is here. It's funny, by the time this episode drops, there will be just one day left before the D2 lacrosse season starts.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

That's right. It's gonna drop this week, and first games start on Friday, coming up.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

And it's really cool because there's three of them that night Florida Tech at Tampa, Barton at Coker, and Lewis heading to Northwood.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

Northwood opening up their season with Lewis, huh? Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Crazy. And then they follow that up later on. Their next game is against you Indy. I mean, talk about starting tough.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Oh my God. Running into diesel trains right away. The Northwood. That's that's quite the opening two games. It is.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

That's either gonna make them tough and resilient, or they're gonna have less players after that. No, I look at they did it, they had a great season last year. I'm kind of interested to see how they weather the storm. If they stay competitive with them, that's all they need to do.

SPEAKER_03 4:52

Yeah, good luck.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Yeah, good luck.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

It's not gonna be easy. Powerhouse, you know, teams, if you ask me. But that's great for for Northwood to open up against Lewis. Who do you like in that game? I think I'm taking Lewis. Yeah, I like Lewis. I like Lewis on the road in that game. And then you got Barton at Coker, which could be a good game.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

That actually, out of the three, I think that's gonna be the really the closest game.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

I like Coker at home. What about you?

SPEAKER_02 5:22

I that's a that's a would be a pick. Um, I'm I'm gonna go with you. I'm gonna say coker also. See what happens. And then I I'd have to pick Tampa over Florida Tech.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

Yeah, yeah. I would think that Tampa would beat Florida Tech. Well, who's is that at Tampa? It's at Tampa. Yeah, they're tough at home.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Yeah. They are really tough. I wouldn't want to play them at home.

Games to Watch

SPEAKER_02 5:42

But we usually do like a weekend review. Obviously, we're not there yet because this is the beginning. There's the teams up north are still scrimmaging. There's still some scrimmages in the south, actually, this weekend as well. But we've got a few games that we have pegged to watch this week. The first one on my list, Danny, is on Saturday, January 31st, and that's Flagler against Emory Riddle. Should be a good game. Should be. This is the first game for both teams last year as well. Flagler won that one 13-8. We both have Flagler at number 12 in our top 20. But what I find interesting as I went through it is there's some good matchups and who wins out. Both teams have new face-off specialists. Emmy Riddle has Jackson Holden coming over from post. Flagler has Ryan McLaughlin coming over from LIU. He's a red shirt freshman, and they've got a senior Mitchell Lynch from Southern New Hampshire. So who wins out in those battles? And then in goalie, they no longer have Flagler no longer has Josh Stevens. He was a starter 12 games last year. But remember Josh and Wade Lehman split time. Le Mont. Le Mont went back and forth. So he played in all 16 games and split time. But Josh, he's back with a 49% save percentage, 9.2 goals against average. Emory Riddle, Carter Grosinger. 54% save percentage is back. So the goalie battle is going to be interesting to watch.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yeah, I think, you know, right now as I see it, Emory Riddle is a much improved team. I mean, John Jez is just doing a really good job there. Um, first game, they're home, which is a big key. That's huge. Yeah. I think Emory Riddle's gonna be pretty pretty formidable squad. I think Flagler's just got maybe a little bit more on the depth side, maybe athletic wise. They might be a little bit more athletic than the Emory Riddle.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

You know, I think so so the the other final matchup I had was the returning offensive Flagler against a returning defense of Emory Riddle.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

If I look at the two two really good coaches, too.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Really good coaches, I give a little bit of the nod to Flagler just because of the offensive firepower they have.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Yeah, like again, they play fast. They play. Remember a couple of years ago how chaotic they were? They were so fast, but they're not.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

And they couldn't keep up with themselves. Yeah. And now they can.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

Yes, exactly. And now they're kind of refined a little bit. They're still fast and athletic. Again, Emory Riddle's good too, man. They've really improved since John Jazz got there. Had a bunch of freshmen come in this year, Kev. I think they're gonna be a much improved team. I think it's gonna be a close game, but I I think Flagler's gonna take it just again, because I just think they're a little bit more deeper, maybe just a couple of more athletes in key spots. But I agree with you, you know, with the face-off and and and and and goalie play, you know, those matchups are Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

I say like last year it was 13-8. I think this one's closer. I think Flagler pulls it out, but it's a one or two goal game.

SPEAKER_03 9:11

Okay. I yeah, I could totally see that. Yeah, yeah. And you know what? It's supposed to be cold down there this weekend. Like you're talking in the 30s in in Florida. That's not right. It dude, it snowed in the panhandle last week. And they're talking about some really frigid cold weather. This this whole weekend on the Northeast is gonna be a cold, cold weekend from from the Carolinas is gonna be cold because there's games happening in the Carolinas. I mean, there's this it's gonna be cold in Florida. These kids aren't gonna be used to that, them Floridian kids. Okay, who else are you looking at then? Well, on Sunday we got a couple of games. We do. North Greenville traveling to Wingate.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Conference Carolina champs versus SAC champs.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

That's exactly what I had. Both conference champs last year. Wingate stacked on offense. North Greenville has a new goalkeeper. How will he handle the pressure? And does North Greenville's experienced D step up to help that goalkeeper? On the other side, Caden Castle comes back battling his old team.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

Yeah, his old player.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

North Greenville player. But he's the interesting thing is he's not the only North Greenville weapon. They've got Nick Meyer, Aiden Sizemore. Can they exploit a new look at Wingate defense?

SPEAKER_03 10:46

It's gonna be a good game, I think, you know. I like Wingate at home. That offense, boy. And and they've added depth at face-off. So I heard that they did pretty well in their scrimmage last weekend. Uh heard the face-off group did very well. So, you know, if wingate's gonna be better at the face-off, they're gonna be tough. So I like wing I like Wingate at home in a close game. I think NGU's gonna be tough. They got a good defense overlooked last year, you know, stubborn. There's you know, everybody's looking at Castle and Moffitt scoring goal after goal after goal, not realizing their defense is pretty stout, not giving up too many goals. Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:30

I would not be surprised in this game if it is close like the first quarter, and if North Greenville even is up in the beginning of the first quarter. We've seen this before. And we talked, I talked about this in the in the conference preview for Wingate. I would not be surprised their defense, that their defense gets stronger during the game, because that's the way that when they're younger and they're not as experienced, not that they're not good and they don't play uh uh a really good form of ball on the defense side because Coach Boyle always has got him going. It's gonna be new look, it's just gonna take some time. But I I give the nod to Wingate on this game.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

Yeah. That should be a good one, though. It's at Wingate, and I'll be there, Kev. I'll be there in that game. I don't even care if it's 28 degrees. If I'm out of New York, I'll be a happy man. You'll pretend it's a lot warmer. I will, I will, totally. You know what? It's another game that's really got my eye. I tell you, man, the Lees McCrae Bobcats.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

This is an interesting one on Sunday. Lees McCrae going to UAH.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Mm-hmm. Let me tell you something. Lees McCrae could be 2-0 after their first two games. I am very interested to see.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

I'm really interested in this game because Jordan Warren takes over as the head coach for Alabama Huntsville. He was kind of the interim at the end of last year. He took over full time, he's been an assistant there. He's got a huge, huge roster. A lot of folks coming back. But Lees McCrae has a much bigger roster. Double the size practically of what they had last year. 17 transfers. What can that those players do for Lees McCrae? And my real question, we talked about this in their conference preview, is Caden Onagi back after the ACL, or is he still out getting better?

SPEAKER_03 13:31

I'd be surprised to see him actually.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

I would too. I would too. I would not be surprised at all. In fact, I expect him not to be in for the first few games.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

Because when he comes back, that offense is going to be extremely formidable. Yeah. Because they've already improved their roster. They brought in Canadians, they brought in a lot of transfers. And the and Ad No Nagy, I think, is going to be just a huge, huge plus for them. I'm very interested to see the first two games of the Bobcats. And that this first one against UAH, if they can pull us off, man, it's going to be you're going to have to watch out for them a little bit, I think. You know? They might not be that push over Bobcat team that they used to be.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

That's exactly what Lees McCrae wants. They want this win to get them started, I think, this year.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

They're going to be pumped for that game.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Yeah. UAH, like I'm really I think UAH, there's so many good games on Sunday. I think UAH is going to come out defending their home turf. I I think this is going to be a battle. That should be a good one. The the other game on Sunday that I'm looking at is UIndy versus Lenore Ryan. At Lenore Ryan. Lenore Rhine has played a GLVC team in their first game almost every year that we've been doing this podcast, Danny. Last season it was a 13-12th overtime win of Meryville. Now they played U Indy too, and they beat them 15-13 last year. So these uh GLVC teams are not new. Or Lenore Ryan is not new to them. They know Lenore Rhine. U Indy knows Lenore Rhine.

SPEAKER_03 15:22

They play each other every year.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:25

And some teams and sometimes they have to play in the tournament against each other in the national tournament. Yeah. That's true. That's true. U Indy's gotta go between the bricks. It's tough, man.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

Now we both had LR at seven in our top 20, and both of us had Undy out. So Undy beating LR is a bit of a tough task. I know that Coach Stock will have his boys ready, but can they stay with Lenore Ryan for four quarters? If they do and they win, they make a huge statement going into this season.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

That's a stretch, though. I think the odds are stacked against you, Indy, pretty big, if you ask me.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

I definitely give the nod to Lenore Ryan, but I see this game for Lenore Ryan almost like a must-win. And why do I say that? LaCrosse Reference came out with a good article today on Lenore Ryan's schedule. And they have a good strength of schedule without a doubt. But that's what makes it even tougher. And so when you play other teams that are even tougher than UIndy, you need these games to stay in there. Unless Undy turns it around and has a great season, then it doesn't look as bad, right? I do give the nod to Lenore Ryan here.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

Yeah, I just think Undy's a little bit young still. I think they're still searching for that identity. They kind of lost last year, and I don't think that they're going to find it in the first game at LR in the BRICS.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Yeah, that is a really tough task.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

That is a really tough ask for any team. They got Matt Mancini. That kid is of uh oh man, every coach's dream is to have a kid like that, going 64, 65% of the dot. And the kid's just bigger, stronger, faster, better now. You know, he's just, you know, he's just he's gonna be tough. He's gonna give LR a lot of possessions. Their offenses we talked about that last week and then the conference previews. You know, our question in LR is in goal. So we'll find out on Sunday who they're gonna start and how it goes. I totally agree.

Game of the Week

SPEAKER_02 17:36

All right. Now it's time for our game of the week. Is Newberry versus Tampa. Yeah, that should be a good one, man. You said it's like a top 10. It's almost like a top ten, yeah. Now, I didn't have Newberry as high in mine, but that doesn't really mean anything. We talked about this last week. They easily, I even said this, they could be a lot higher than when I had them. They are a very good team. They have to go into Tampa and beat them. This game is on Sunday, so Tampa goes from playing Florida Tech on Friday. They stay home and they play Newberry on Sunday.

SPEAKER_03 19:01

Yeah, I mean, that's gonna be a good test for both both teams, actually. Because you know what? Newberry's a tough team. Tampa's Newberry's not gonna roll over for Tampa. Tampa's gonna have to earn their stripes in this game.

SPEAKER_02 19:14

My note can the Wolves potent attack with Liam Volins, Gage Vigor, Scott Williams, rattle a new Tampa goalie. We don't even know who the Tampa goalie is. Now they've got some some big transfers from Kyle Raleigh from Syracuse, Weston Schmidt from Maryland, and they've got a bunch of others. So who wins that spot and how do they end up playing?

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Yeah, but neither one of those guys got minutes at those goals. You know what I mean? Right. We don't know how good they are. They might be great, you know. Who knows? You know, that's my point is that you're the number four goalie at Syracuse, chances are you're pretty good.

unknown 19:48

Right.

SPEAKER_03 19:49

That doesn't translate anymore in the D2 game. I just don't think so.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

Especially when you talk about the offensive firepower that Newberry can throw at him.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

That's right. And I just think the overall player is getting better in Division II. It's not like, you know, these teams are Division I type programs, Tampa Newberry. These guys are like Division I type programs getting Division I caliber players, Kev. So it's not so easy for these transfers to come into D2 anymore, like, hey, I'm just gonna come in and just, you know, I'm gonna rock up points. It's not that easy. I've seen transfers come into D2 and not get much burn, or they were just okay, you know. They were just contributors, just contributors, you know, and that's it, and nothing more and nothing less. And some I've seen transfers come from D1 and light shit up, you know? Shane Ketchadorian, Conotario, those guys, you know, that they've did well. So let's see what these guys can do at Tampa. Um, I don't know who's gonna get the start there either.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Um that's one of the reasons why I want to watch this game is like who does get the start? And do they split or do they have they gone with one person? And who is that? That's what I'm really interested in.

SPEAKER_03 21:05

I've never known JB to be one to split. I know. I've seen him pull guys. Yeah, I've seen him pull guys, but he's not the type to split boys. He's gonna leave his boy in there. Yeah, he's gonna quickly dance with who he's gonna dance with who we brought to the dance, you know what I'm saying? I agree. So I like that game. It's a top, it's a top 10, top 12 type matchup with again, two uh, you know, Newberry's a tough team. They're athletic, they're defensively physical, they like to get they're not afraid of contact, they're not afraid to get physical. And you know what? Sometimes, you know, those good teams like Tampa, they I always used to tell my football teams you know what good teams don't like? Physical. Yeah. Physical. They don't like it when you out physical them. You take them out of their game.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

So I think Newberry wants to get up early because, like you said, if You get a team like Newberry and giving them and they are up. That's only gonna bolster their confidence. And it's one of those things of you do not want to wake up that bear.

SPEAKER_03 22:10

Now, another thing at Tampa, I don't know who's going in at face-off. Is it gonna be Naso? Yeah. You know, because he's all right, you know, he's not Jacob Chiz. He's not Mikey Flores. Yeah. He's not Matt Mancini. Yeah. You know, so he's just not. He's good, but he's not. I just don't know if they brought somebody else in, if somebody I don't know what's going on. So in a couple of those key spots, face off and in goal for Tampa, we kind of don't know what they got. So, but I still like Tampa at home, Kev. I think it's gonna be I think it's gonna be a good game. Totally agree.

Player's Spotlight

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Now it's time for the lights.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

My favorite part, Kev.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

My favorite part.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

I've been waiting many months for you to say that, Danny. And I've been waiting months to say it again. And this is amazing, the player we have on. He was num the the number one points getter on his team last year as a freshman. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_03 24:25

He was kicking booty out of the gate.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

And his 41 goals was the most for any freshman in 2025. Amazing. He had a great year. Yeah, unbelievable. And I can't wait to see what he does this year. It's not even a question of what do you think you'll do this year when we bring him on? Because I don't think that really matters. I think he's gonna have a great season. But let's just bring him on, Danny. Matt LeMay of the St. Ansom Hawks.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

Yeah, Matt.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

How's it going?

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Good, man. How's it going? How are you doing up there in Massachusetts? Man, it must be cold up there tonight, huh?

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Yeah, yeah. A lot of snow in the past few days, but you know, it's been good. It's been real good.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

You know, when you're a New England boy. If it's gonna be cold, you might as well have snow, I always say.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

All right. Well, let's get started here. Why don't you just start off? Tell us about your lacrosse journey. Where did it start? When did you start playing? And how did you get to St. A's?

SPEAKER_00 25:21

Yeah, um, I'd say I started lacrosse. I was really young, probably I want to say close to three or four years old. I've always had a stick in my hand. I mean, I grew up watching my brother, and he's kind of he's kind of been the mentor for me, I guess, through and definitely through my my younger ages and today. Um But it was it was young. I started playing town lacrosse with with him, and my dad was the coach, and we'd always we'd always just be playing lacrosse. That's what it was when we were young. That's that's what I love to do. Did your dad play? No, my dad did not play. No, he did not.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Danny, he's a knucklehead like us. Yeah, yeah, loves the game, love the game, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:03

Yeah, he does. He really does. Yeah, it's but um, yeah, my brother, he uh he was always there for me when I was younger, and he he kind of brought me into lacrosse, honestly, and it's really that's really where it started for me.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

Wow that's awesome. So you you get to high school, you start the recruiting process. How did you end up picking Saint Ansom?

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Yeah, you know, when I was doing the the recruiting process, obviously my brother played at Bentley. Um I was gonna get to that.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

I was gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

I was gonna find I always I always had interest in in the NE 10. I mean, I saw all the teams, all the all the high skill players, I thought this was the place, it was just uh honestly the conference for me. Um and I went through all the the showcases and all that stuff, and um I actually got in contact with our old coach now um before, and we just kind of went back and forth and for that last summer, and it just it just seemed like the right place for me. I mean, I met this coaching staff and I met some of the players, and it was just it was honestly convenient too, just being in New Hampshire. I'm from I'm from Massachusetts, so honestly easy commute for me. Yeah, uh but it just it's it sounded like the right place for me when I got this campus. It just it felt right.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

Yeah, so yep. So you actually started being recruited by Coach Shimana.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

That's right, yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

And then now with Coach Burdoa, how was that change over? Because you you basically came in with him, right? He was the his first year, you were a freshman. So you're you're growing he's growing the program with you.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Yeah, I mean, it it definitely was it definitely uh it was kind of a shock, I guess, but yeah, getting recruited by one coach and then and then coming to school with a different coach. But um this past year and a half with with Coach Bordeaux is is just great. He's he's an awesome coach and he's he's so relatable just because he's you know he's kind of close to our age, and honestly, uh he obviously played here, so it's yeah, it's he's an he really is an awesome coach. It's just it's great to have him.

SPEAKER_03 28:11

Now, when you got there, but let's be honest, did you expect to be starting or to get on the field right away? Or did you think that, man, I'm gonna have to work at this a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 28:21

Yeah, absolutely. It's it was definitely it was definitely a grind. I mean, obviously the year before I came here, they had they had a really good team, you know, at the midfield attack. The whole team was all around was an awesome team. And I just knew it was gonna be a grind to to even get that some playing time, honestly. And I just honestly, I just kept working for it and things just kept going my way, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 28:44

Dude, that's interesting. Yeah, he's just not afraid to rip it, man. Which is I love that about you know, attackman. Like, as you as soon as your hands were free, you were letting it go. What gives you that mindset, especially as a young freshman? Because a lot of times freshmen on on teams that are you know stacked and got good guys that are coming back or whatnot, sometimes they give it up to those guys, you know. They, hey, it's your goal, it's your shot, it's your shot. But not you, not you so much. You kind of said, hey man, give me the ball. What was your philosophy with that mindset?

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Yeah, I mean, honestly, ever since I was young, I just I would honestly go in the yard and I literally shoot all day. That's what I would do. I would just shoot. And um, when I first got to St. A's, and we had the first couple practices or whatever, and then then the season started in the games. And I remember I had a couple conversations with Coach Bordeaux um about it, and he just what kind of helped me was that he had the confidence in me to be able to shoot, and that's what kind of dro that kind of drove me to to really have the confidence myself. You know, my teammates obviously had the confidence in me at some times, and and it was really it was big on coach because he he believed in me, and that's that kind of helped me out a lot.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

He gave you the green light. He saw something in you, you know. He said, Hey, listen, you gotta take it, right?

SPEAKER_04 30:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:05

That's what's great, man. That's what's great. I love what Coach Bordeaux did this past year with that team. It was amazed. We're a really fun team to watch, stacked on both sides of the ball. Even your defense was ridiculous. Only team to beat a Delphi. Tell me what that was like that day.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

Yeah, um, it was honestly surreal. It really was. Um our team, we that was that was a game we looked forward to, you know. A Delphi obviously a good team, and we just want to go out there and do the best we can. But that entire game, it w everybody was locked in, on the field, off the field, in the locker room, everybody was ready. You know, it was just it was a game that we that we came into and we're like, we're gonna win this game.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

Wow, that's great. Yeah, so now it you're on the cusp of the 2026 season. Starts for you in a couple weeks. What are your thoughts going into this season? And what's the vibe in the locker room for this season?

SPEAKER_00 31:08

Yeah, I mean, um, our team, I think our team's really united. I mean, we all we all get along great together and we have that honestly, we have that brotherhood together. Um obviously last year we were a young team, um, both sides of the ball, kind of. And I don't know, we're just trying to go out this year and and honestly just do the best we can. Really, we're we're putting in the work and we're we're doing what we can, and everybody is, no matter if you're playing, if you're not playing. It's really it's just the team as a whole. We're doing we're doing everything we can.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

Any freshmen come in, uh lighten your tail up a little bit? Uh you know what I mean? Looking to get your spot, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

That's a good freshman. We do, we definitely do. A lot of good talent coming in.

SPEAKER_03 31:51

That's great. That's great. I'm looking forward to watching St. A's play this year. I mean, again, great teams, top to bottom, and I love watching you play. Every week I would say, Kevin, you gotta see, you gotta watch LeMay, man, right, Kevin?

SPEAKER_02 32:03

Am I Yeah, no, you're right. We're it's funny, Matt. You mentioned this the team before you, like guys like the Larson brothers, right? We watched the Larson brothers grow up from the first practically the first episode we had on this podcast and watched them four years, and then we watch a a player like you just light it up as a freshman. It reminds me a lot of the Larson brothers when they were freshmen and what they could really do and the freedom you have with the game when you when you've got this the ball in your hands and your stick. It's just amazing. One last question I have. So you said like the NE10 was your brother went to Bentley, like the NE10 was the conference for you. Has it lived up to your expectations? Playing in D2 and the NE10.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Yeah, yeah, I I definitely think so. I mean, obviously, no matter really what team it is, you're gonna face pretty much the best talent in New England. I mean, that was the goal for me is to find the best conference where I could where I feel like I'd, you know, have a lot of good players to play against and really improve myself through these four years. And it it really has. This is this is the spot for me.

SPEAKER_03 33:14

Well, it is a great conference. I mean, with Pace and Bentley and you know the others in there, Assumption making noise now. St. Mike's even trying to come up, they're coming up. I mean, it at one point the NE-10 was the conference. Now it's like NE10 and then the SAC maybe down in South with you know the Newberries, the Lenore Rhines, the Wingates, or they had the limestones or whatever. But those two, those two conferences right there have like 10 of the top 20 teams within those two conferences. And the NE-10, Kevin calls them the granddaddy of them all because so much history is in the NE10. Those schools go back a long time in Division II lacrosse and just the history in the NE10. And you know what? I'm surprised that Coach Murphy of her Bentley didn't try to scoop you up. How come? He's got a smile on his face.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

I honestly, I did do I did some recruiting with him, and I don't know, I just something drew me towards St. A's, I guess. Just it was the spot for me.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

He just didn't want to go to his own path than his brother.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

He didn't want to go to school with his older brother and show him up, right? That's what now. How was it like when St. A's played Bentley last year? How was that like for mom and dad?

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Oh, it was awesome. It was. We had um the at least the first I mean, honestly, all four times we played, but the first time we played each other, there there was a lot of people for my family there.

SPEAKER_03 34:43

Oh, that's great, man.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

It was awesome.

SPEAKER_03 34:47

Who does mom root for?

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Like, you know, it was it was honestly a mix.

SPEAKER_02 34:51

I mean, I think my dad jersey going.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

Oh, we we tried to convince her, we did, but it she wouldn't do it, not for one year. Um, but I think it was like my dad had the hat for St. A's, he had the sweatshirt for Bentley, my mom had the jacket for Saint A's and the sweatshirt for Bentley, and they mixed them up. They were.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

Oh, that's great. And you know what? The best part was that you both scored in that game.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:17

That was awesome. I re because I watched the game. I watched it. I was like, oh, his brother scored. They both scored. Mom and dad must be like awesome, you know?

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Yeah. It was it was an awesome time. I mean, obviously, I I really want to win and really want to beat him, but it was it was good to see us both do something in that game.

SPEAKER_02 35:35

That's great, man. That's fantastic. Well, Danny. He's a pretty eloquent speaker. He could probably take over the podcast, but I think it's time.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

Got some new sound effects, Kev. I like it.

SPEAKER_02 35:51

You can't even hear me talk.

SPEAKER_03 35:56

All right, ladies and gentlemen, tonight's first week one player spotlight. We have none other than Matt LeMay, the attackman for Saint Ace, the Westminster Massachusetts native was kicking ass last year. 41 goals, 14 assists. He doesn't like to dish too much, Kev. Well, why not when you can shoot the rock like that? I wouldn't dish too much either. Give him the ball. And a really cool 22 ground balls and six cause turnovers. Um, Matt, we're gonna throw you through the fire line. Couple of questions, just give us your best answers. You ready?

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Ready?

SPEAKER_03 36:34

Here we go. Number one, mom's best meal.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Mom's best meal. Ooh. I have to go to the chicken parm.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

Chicken palm, okay. What's your go-to midnight snack? Go-to midnight snack.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

I like uh I like yogurt and granola.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 36:57

All right.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

Not too excited. All right. It's a little too healthy for us, Matt. That's the problem.

SPEAKER_03 37:05

That's right. Game day breakfast food. Game day breakfast food.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Um, I'm big, I'm a big fruit guy. I'll I'll have probably two bananas.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

Excellent, excellent. Um Xbox or PlayStation?

SPEAKER_00 37:20

I'm an Xbox.

SPEAKER_03 37:21

Okay, what game are you playing recently?

SPEAKER_00 37:24

Uh I'm playing Fortnite with some of my roommates.

SPEAKER_03 37:28

Fortnite?

SPEAKER_00 37:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:29

Okay. Wow. Favorite cartoon as a kid.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

Ooh, favorite cartoon.

SPEAKER_03 37:37

Ed Ed Netty.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

I'm probably a sucker for SpongeBob.

SPEAKER_03 37:41

All right, that's a good one. What kind of music do you listen to?

SPEAKER_00 37:46

I'm big into country.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

Big into country. Who's your who's your big country artist that you listen to a lot?

SPEAKER_00 37:52

Um, mostly I would say probably Luke Combs or Riley Green.

SPEAKER_03 37:56

Luke Combs or Riley Green. I actually fill in. I'm a drummer, so I fill in with a country band uh from time to time. It's pretty interesting. I wear the flannel, put the cowboy hat on, and do the yeehaws, and it's pretty fun, actually. And we get paid. So uh um one item, give us one item on your bucket list, something that you'd love to do someday.

SPEAKER_00 38:21

Um I'd love to go see some of the national parks out west.

SPEAKER_03 38:26

Interesting. That's good. I like it. What what interests you about the parks? What is it?

SPEAKER_00 38:31

I don't know. I just honestly, I see videos online. It it looks it looks awesome. It really does.

SPEAKER_03 38:37

All right. How about this? Which teammate would be voted least likely to pick up a ground ball?

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Least likely to pick up a ground ball. Ah, I'm going, my buddy Danny McNeil.

SPEAKER_03 38:52

Danny McNeil. All right. All right. Who's the funniest kid on the team?

SPEAKER_00 38:59

Oh, that's a hard one. Um I think I'm gonna give this one to Brady Martin.

SPEAKER_03 39:06

Brady Martin, he's funny. What makes him so funny?

SPEAKER_00 39:09

He's he's he's just great to be around. He really is. He's he's good with the jokes.

SPEAKER_03 39:14

The kind of guy you want to sit next to on the bus on those long, those long bus rides, right?

SPEAKER_00 39:19

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 39:20

All right, cool. Besides lacrosse, I've heard a little birdie tell me that you like to play a little golf. Is that true?

SPEAKER_00 39:28

I am, yeah, I do like golf. That's the golf in the summer.

SPEAKER_03 39:31

Yeah, Kevin and I both play. Kevin's better than me. I suck. I've been playing since I'm nine years old, and I still suck. True story, two summers ago, I was hitting the ball so well, Matt. Hitting the ball. I was like actually pointing to where I wanted to do it. You know, like I was like, I'm I'm hitting it where I want to hit it. Last year, I could barely get the ball off the ground. It was weird. I just completely lost my shot. Uh, so what's your handicap?

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Um, I I want to say it's probably gone up a lot since because I I played in high school and it was it was pretty good in the single digits. And I after high school, I I slowly started to play less golf. So I'd I'd put myself at probably like an eight right now.

SPEAKER_03 40:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

Single my best handicap was 13, and that was before my first son was born, and then after that, downhill.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

That's funny. So last but not least, give us your best impression of Coach Bordell.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Oh, that's so hard. That's so hard.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

Not any one lines that he uses at practice or one line he uses at practice. Does he have an accent or something that you can like imitate or something?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

No, I don't know if it's much of an impression, but let's hear what you got.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 41:00

We usually have like a we'll have a checklist in the in the locker room kind of goals for the year, and he's like, it's he kind of just says, on to the next one, on to the next one. What's next in our list?

SPEAKER_03 41:11

That's kind of on to the next one. All right. And that's it, Kev. And that's all the time we got in the firing round. Matt LeMay, you did a great job. We really appreciate you. You were awesome tonight.

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate you guys having me on here.

Shout outs

SPEAKER_02 41:30

I'm really looking forward to seeing Matt LeMay this year, especially after talking to him just now. He's a good player, man.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

He doesn't even know how good he is. Do you see him?

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Yeah, he was nice. He was nice and relaxed.

SPEAKER_03 41:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:45

And it was it's I think that's what makes him so good, is I think it's just a game to him.

SPEAKER_03 41:51

Well, he said he's he's that's all he did was just shoot, you know, since he's three years old, he had the stick in his hand. And it shows, Kev. Yeah, he's just so smooth, he's so good with the shooting. He's and and again, if his hands are just a little bit free, I mean, just a little bit free, he's gonna let it go. And you know what? I it was funny when I asked him, you know, what made you say, hey, give me the ball, you know, because usually those freshmen like to give up the ball to those upperclassmen who have been there a couple of years, you know. He was just like, I don't know, they trust me. And I was like, Yeah, they should trust you.

SPEAKER_02 42:25

Well, I remember it was this Coach Burdeaux, who basically gave him that confidence to do that. He probably said, look it, do it. Like, and the the best part of the conversation I thought was when we're talking about the game against Bentley and his brother and his parents. That was so much fun. I just loved it. I loved you know the way he was explaining.

SPEAKER_03 42:47

Imagine if your kid, you know, you had two kids and they're playing against each other and they bolts. And they're both really good. Yeah, yeah. But Matt's a really good player. I expect him to be an all-American this year, Kev. I agree with you. He's not something's wrong. I mean, he's just that good. And I just love the way he plays. I mean, from the first time I saw him, he just stood out. You know what I mean? I like those eye candy, you know, I'm an eye candy guy. I think sometimes the eye candy tells a story, sometimes more a little bit more than stats do. Right. You know, little things that they do on the field that doesn't show up on the stat, on the stat sheet. You know what I mean? And I like those kind of players, those players. I look for those players. I'm like, which kid is standing out? Which kid is sucking up those ground balls? Which kid is really making it hard for middies to dodge and get down the alley? Which kid is doing that? I look for those. Matt stood out from the very first game I saw him. I was like, this kid's gonna be good. And then each week, I think he's got like five hat tricks, a couple of four goal games. Like he's like just a freshman lighting up. So I hope he I hope he goes out there and. Just is great this year, Kev. I really enjoyed having him on. That was great.

SPEAKER_02 44:05

All right.

SPEAKER_03 44:07

Time for shout-outs.

SPEAKER_04 44:09

Shout outs.

SPEAKER_03 44:11

What you got? Got a couple of shout-outs. Well, Kev, I don't know if you know this, but our good friend, Coach Dean Jenkins, up at Bentley, he has taken a job at UMass Lowell. He's moving up in the ranks, and he's going up to UMass Lowell. And I couldn't be more happier for Coach D. He's a good friend of the program. And uh wish you all the best of luck, Coach. He said he's still gonna listen to us. So he's great. And here's a really good one, Kev. I don't know if you know this. Dylan Renner, the former Delphi goalie and goalie of the year and player of the year and first team All-American, and he's did everything but sell popcorn at halftime, that kid. Well, he's now on the coaching staff at VMI, the Virginia Military Institute. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. And former Wingate offensive coordinator, Seth Grimwood, who is an alumni of Wingate, went out to Westminster and coached, went out to Chawan and coached, came back and made that Wingate team go from a 10-11 goal game team to like almost an 18-goal game. So Seth Grimwood has taken an offensive coordinator job at Virginia Military Institute. So I'm happy for both of those guys. Coach Grimwood, I'm gonna miss you. Wingate, definitely gonna miss you. But how about Renner and Grimwood together at VMI? That's a very interesting match, if you ask me. I know. I you know what I was thinking? I was thinking that maybe we should get those two knuckleheads on the show the week either before or the week after Wingate plays at Delphi. I like that idea. Maybe they could come on and maybe talk a little trash to each other. I like that idea. So uh shout out to those coaches. Guys, you know, congratulations. Good job. And uh we wish you the all the luck, and we we really appreciate everything that you've done for us and in Division II, and just good luck, guys. We really appreciate you.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

I love those shout outs, Danny. And I love the fact that the season's beginning. Yeah, man, this is gonna be awesome.

SPEAKER_03 46:43

Yeah, I'm I'm excited. I am definitely ready to go, Ken. Week one coming up, Kev.

SPEAKER_02 47:04

Love it. And for this episode, Danny That's a wrap.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

That's a wrap.