Tourney time continues! A look back at week 13 and preview/predictions of Conference Tournament play

Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:10

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

SPEAKER_03 0:25

Hey Danny. Fantastic. What can I say? Good to hear, my friend.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

How's mom doing? She actually had a little bit of a fall today. Aw. But uh she's uh trying to do things on her own apartment. My sister was there. She got back up a little bruised. Uh hopefully she'll still be on the men. But uh, these are the trials and tribulations, you know, as you go through and are trying to come back from a stroke and other things, especially when you're 92.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

So yeah, hey, you know what? I give her credit for getting up and trying to do stuff, you know. Most people might, you know, start giving up a little bit, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

But she's up there, she's I have trouble getting out of bed sometimes, so yeah, I hear you. And everything good up there for you?

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Yeah, nice day in New York today, not a bad day. It's getting a little uh foggy right now on the beach over here. So uh getting a little cold.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Not a full moon coming, too, at the same time, uh a little uh horror. I think, yeah, something like that. I don't know. What a week, huh? Yeah, there's a lot to go over. There is so much, including NCA rankings, including where we stand at conference tournaments. So let's just get right into it and let's go with your top 10 roundup.

Top 10 Roundup

SPEAKER_03 1:45

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, in your senior. It's your lot of action in the top 10 this week. Limestone lost to LR in the stack championship. Number one, limestone. Number two, LR beat limestone. There we go. Number three, Tampa beat Florida Southern in SST semi-action 1711. Uh then they went on to uh yeah, they kept going. Yeah, they went on to beat Rollins in the Sunshine State Conference Championship. So Tampa's your Sunshine State Conference champs. Uh LR is your South Atlantic Conference champs, by the way. Uh number four, Adelphi beat uh SNE2 14 to 8. Uh number five, Mercy beat Deuville. It wasn't even fair. It wasn't even fair. I watched the first half of that game. It wasn't fair. Deuville had like seven kids on the sideline.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Yeah, they still have to build. They've got they still have a little ways to go, but I think they'll get there.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Yeah, Mercy beat them up bad 27-8. Number six, Wingate lost to Lenore Ryan in the SAC semis in double overtime, Kev in a thriller of a game. Number seven, Pace, beat Assumption in any 10 quarters, 16 to 8. Newberry, number 8, lost to Limestone 24-13 in the sack semis. Number 9, Rollins beat Florida Tech in the SSC semis 18-6. And number 10, big one, big one right here. UND lost to Meryville 11 to 8. And that's UR.

Week in Review

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Yeah, great roundup, Danny. You hit on some of the key things. We're in the midst of it right now. We're in the midst of finalizing regular season play, which has a lot of times seating implications, as well as conference tournament play, which you touched upon. So let's get right into it in the week and review. The first game, although it doesn't have seating implications, it was a great game. It went to overtime. I stated this last week when we talked about it, that it had to be a statement game for Flagler because they were going in one and two in conference and hadn't beat. They'd lost to UAH and they lost to Lander. Monavala was sitting at the top of the heap in the peach belt, winning the regular season championship. Flagler pulls it out 14-13 in overtime. Big win Flagler. Danny, this game showcased how evenly matched the top four teams in the peach belt are. I'll go over it again. Montavalo was 3-0 in conference. Flagler only beaten shorter in conference. Throw out the records as a predictor of who should win. Look at these scores by quarter, Danny. 3-3 after 1. 6-6 at half. 11-11 after three. 13-13 end of regulation. I mean, can you get it any closer? No, not at all. I've been loving Flagler all year, Kev. They needed that win, Danny, for their conference. They did. They did. They really did. I personally think, and we're going to talk about this later in another segment, obviously, in the games to watch. There's two conference tournaments that I think are crapshoots. Well, I'll pick my who I think is going to win later on, but I think it's the Peach Belt and it's GLBC. I agree with you. It's it's going to be crazy. Yep. And I have to say how overtime went. Falcons actually get the overtime face-off, but they can't score. So now Saints clear the ball, they get it in the box and they call timeout. Which typically teams do, right? Right. They set up a play in which they swing the ball to Trace McDonald. He gets a team set for him to get a shorty matchup and let him beat his man and score. And that's exactly what he did. It worked to perfection. There's so many times where I don't see it work because the defense uh does something they're not ready for, or just they've got to they've got to swing the ball. There's some, there's another game you'll we'll talk about later, Belmont Abbey, where there's just a mistake made. This one, you know, Montevallo went down. They had their their chances, they just couldn't do it. This was a a set play executed to perfection to win the game.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

That's Coach Duncan for you. He's good like that. Trace McDonald's a stud. He's been a stud all year for Flagler. And you know what? Flagler, even in the games that they've lost, Kev, they've been very competitive. They're a very competitive team. They've really improved this year. Um, I like their chances in the championship.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

We'll talk about that later. I think you and I are gonna be on different sides of the fence on that one. All right, but look at the stats. Montevallo had more shots on goal, 30 to 25, but Flagler had more saves, 17 to 11. But you just look, sometimes you just throw the stats out. I mean, just look at the scores at each end of each quarter, and it was crazy. On Montevallo, Jacob Obi had three goals, one assist. Zach LaBurge had three goals. Trevane Hunter, one goal, two assists. Matthew Boaz, two goals. Jackson Kuchuk, one goal, one assist. For Flagler, the man Trace McDonald, three goals, three assists. Luke Burton, two goals. Tyler Douglas comes in with four goals. Wow. And Geraint Shaw had two goals, two assists. They each team brought players. Each team had guys they were willing to go out and really lay it on the line. It was a really good game.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

That's awesome. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Now the next two are GLBC matchups. End of season. You mentioned the first one. We'll go to that one first. And that's U Indy losing to Maryville 11-8. I've got one word for this. Did you watch this game, Danny? I did not. I did not. I've got one word for this. Dylan Radke. All right. That's not one word, but it's the goalie for Meryville. 16 saves. Once again, if you look at and you look in when he had them, and we'll go through that in a little bit. He had 16 saves in the game. The game was pretty evenly matched. I mean, it was 3-1 Maryville after one, but U Indy was up 7-6 at half. But then the Saints shut out U Indy in the third. And they just methodically went down and scored four themselves to go up 10-7 by the end of the third. Dylan Radke in that quarter had seven, had four saves, and the Saints delimited Greyhounds to only six shots in the third. Six shots to the Undy's offense. That's pretty damn good. It was very good. Undy, I don't know, man. They last couple of weeks. Yeah. Now get this. Radke followed up with eight saves in the fourth, which was critical from keeping Undy at bay and and winning that game. Maryville with that win earns a share of the regular season title with Lewis.

SPEAKER_04 9:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Yep. Yep. It was a it was a really good game. It was close. The third quarter is kind of what separated it. Maryville just shutting them down. It was they did a really good job. And I'm it doesn't surprise me. It doesn't surprise me that it was close. It doesn't surprise me that Maryville won based on where they were. I think it's that tight, that tight in the GLBC this year.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Yeah. Big lot of question marks right now in that GLBC, huh?

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Yeah, because look at the next game. We talked about this. And I listened to our podcast a couple weeks ago, Danny, when we both said Rockhurst is in the driver's seat. And if you looked at the records, it really was a crapshoot back then. Lewis pulls it off against number 19 Rockhurst in overtime again, 14-13. Another GLVC hurdle team that Rockhurst had to get over. And it looked like they were going to win because I didn't get to watch the game because there were technical difficulties on the broadcast and that didn't really broadcast. Now I haven't gone back. I haven't a chance to see if they actually fixed that and if they posted or not. But with that win, Lewis secures the regular season championship with Maryvelle, and they are the one seed and have the right to host the GLBC Championship. Crazy. Crazy in the GLBC, man. What I saw, all I'm doing was tracking the scores because I couldn't get the game up. I saw at one point in the third Rockurst was up 9-6. The Flyers outscore Rockhurst 6-3 in the fourth. And actually the Hawks had scored the first two goals of that quarter in the fourth to go up 12-7. Then it's back and forth for a little bit, but Lewis rattles off four with the last one going in with 19 seconds left to tie it.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

Yeah, when I checked the score and I saw that Rockhurst was up by three, four goals, I was thinking, wow, you know what? It's kind of over. And then all of a sudden I saw the final and I was like, it's shock.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Yeah. So in overtime, Lewis won the draw, and after timeout, Clement scored a wraparound goal for the game winner just 36 seconds in. Beautiful goal. I did see that that highlight. It was really, really good. Lewis owned the ground balls and face-offs, 39 to 27, and face-offs were 22 to 9. Wow. That's right. And they needed all of those to stay in the game, especially in that fourth quarter when they were down. Rockers, Linus Toward had four goals, one assist. Alec Heflon had three assists. Josh McConnell had two goals, one assist. The goalies both were over 50%. Rockalila for Rockers had 15 saves. Rhea Ratha Ratha had 16 saves for Lewis. And then Lewis, Evan Clement, four goals, three assists, and the winner in the wraparound. Nolan Dalup, three goals, one assist. Baden Boyenko, one goal, two assists. Maliki, good, two goals. I mean, just it was like you, I was exactly with you. I saw the score. Rockhurst was up. It was three goals in the third. I'm thinking it's going the way I thought it could. Lewis did not give up on that fourth, and they came back and won it.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

Yeah, you know, Lewis has had like a little up and down season, but they got hot at the right time, didn't they?

SPEAKER_01 13:13

They actually, I think, are are better. They had a tough start with with Maryville, and then they got on a little bit of a roll. Then they had a loss. They've only had like three three losses, but they now they get to host. And I'm telling you, all they want is some good Chicago wins coming through their field when they play the tournament.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

So they they'll play they'll play Undie, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:42

First they play, they play Undy and Meryville and Rockers tee it up. Wow. Wow. We'll go over that game to watch.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

Interesting in the GLVC.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Yeah, very interesting. All right. So those were kind of the games left in regular season, but now there was still some conference tournament play this week. And let's talk some quarters. It's the GMAC tournament. Um Lake Erie beat Malone fairly easily, and then one of the quarterfinals 20 to 10. Wheeling and Walsh had a battle. This one went to overtime 11-10 with Walsh pulling it out. And Wheeling took a 5-1 lead after one, but Walsh clawed slowly back, winning the next three quarters to tie it up in regulation. Well may we talk about the game tying goal for Lewis. Game time goal for Walsh, four seconds left in regulation.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Oh God. That just puts gray hairs on the opposition coach, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 14:46

And then same thing, 38 seconds into overtime. Colby Bowman found the back of the net for the game winner.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Just, I mean, that was a that was I just want to point out it was an overtime game, really good. The stats, uh saves, once again, pretty pretty clear. I mean, God, Walsh had to have this to stay in the game. 21 saves for Walsh, 13 for Wheeling. Ground balls, Walsh led that to 32 to 11 over wheeling. And then faceoffs, Walsh 20, wheeling five. With those stats, you would have thought Walsh would have won in regulation. Right? You look at those stats like that's how could they? But Wheeling took more shots and had less turnovers. So maybe that's one of the balancing factors. Really, really good game. Wheeling Ty Taylor had four goals, Dakota Strong, two goals, one assist. Brody Fire had one goal, one assist, and on Walsh. Colby Bowman, five goals. Hudson Dennell, two goals, Ty Pilkington, three assists. Cameron Gregory and James Sternberg both had two goals and one assist. And like I said, Alex Moffin, their goalie, I hope I said it right. Movtion or Mopshin, I apologize. 21 saves, 10 goals against. Well, interesting. The other quarters, and I watched a little bit of both these games, and I should have been watching probably uh the uh the RMAC final, which I look I got on replay, was in the NE10. You talked about pace. Pace both these games, the higher seed won very convincingly. Pace beat Assumption 16-8, and Bentley beat St. Michael's 15-6. And I I will say right now, St. Mike's took Bentley to overtime in regular season, so I thought they'd give him a little bit of a a run. Yep, yep, yep, yep. I want to say this could be one of the first times they were any 10 conference tournament play. Probably. You know, the the the lights may have been a little bit too bright for them this this year on this. And Bentley, Bentley was just kind of executed everything right for them for them that game. Bentley's a solid team, man. Yeah, really good. Really good. All right, you want to get to some finals? Sure, whatever you want to do, man. All right, did you watch the Tampa Rollins game?

SPEAKER_03 17:20

I I didn't watch much lacrosse this weekend, I'm gonna admit. All right, well, let's first talk about how I went golfing Saturday, actually. I had a beautiful day. I said, let's get on the golf course. So me and my buddies had an afternoon, if you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

There you go. There you go. Well, I'll try to fill in for you, and you you pitch in when you can. Just remember how they got there. Tampa beat Florida Southern 17 to 11. Florida Southern kind of made it close in the first half before Tampa really pulled away. And really, there was never a question in the Rollins Florida Tech game. That was 18 to 6. Just kind of a beatdown. So now they come together. And to be honest, honest, Danny, Tampa wins this game 16 to 9. Yep. And the final, in my opinion, really was never a question either in this game.

unknown 18:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

It was Tampa all the way. I was kind of surprised that Rollins didn't give a more of a game. Well, I'll tell you one of the big, and we've said his name before, and he's been on a tear this year. Canyon Birch scored four goals in the first quarter. He's he's an animal like it. Rollins had no answer for Canyon Birch. He was all over the place, dodging, cutting. No, you're right. To get open score. But I would I would think that Rollins, it was just amazing. Now, they did something right because in the second half he was basically shut down. He scored six goals. But he had, you know, he even opened this the scoring in the second. So he had five goals in in you know the first 16-17 minutes. I'll tell you the one thing I saw, Rollins D looked a bit slow in their rotations, in their slides. They also they had some miscommunication on their defense. One critical one was easy for me. Not a coach, not a player, but I could even spot this. It allowed uh Canyon Burch to be left all alone on the crease for a six goal. And you could see it was one guy going, one defender going somewhere else, pointing to someone else too late. He didn't even hear that.

SPEAKER_03 19:28

And Burch didn't make the slide, yep, no wide open. Yeah, he'll shred you, he'll shred you. And you know what? With that loss, Rollins drops, they were at number three like all year, and now they're at like nine.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

Yeah, they dropped down, you're right. They were up there for a while. I forget which game it was, but it was you know, probably two-thirds, three-quarters away into the season. They had another loss that brought maybe it was against Tampa, maybe it was no, they lost to St.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

Leo, the St.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Leo one, yeah. Real, you're right. That's the one that dropped them down, and that's when they got the whole Sunshine State Conference tournament upside down. I was totally wrong on, which which I'm fine with. You know what?

SPEAKER_03 20:16

That loss, that loss, that Rollins loss to St. Leo might have been the loss that takes them out of the the um regional rankings.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Yeah, they needed well, they were in the last one, and we'll go over that. They were not even in the top six, and yeah, I think they needed to win the conference tournament to get into the top six. I agree, and they didn't do it. I don't know if they get in Rollins. Uh you know, they held it was 12-8 after three. I mean, it was still a possibility, um, but Rollins got shut out at the dot. And so Pullman's a beast at the dot for damn. And in the at the end of the half and the end of the third, they score, they Rollins scored a late goal with seconds left in both quarters to keep it kind of within striking distance, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:08

They're respectable.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

Yeah, you're like, okay, maybe, maybe, maybe. But they just matched, they couldn't even match Tampa in the fourth. Tampa outscored them four to one. And even if they just matched Tampa, they weren't going to beat them.

SPEAKER_03 21:20

Tampa's tough, man. They got a really good chance. I'm telling you, I said it a couple of weeks ago. I think they have a really good chance of making the national championship.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

I really do. I I agree with you. Here's the stats, Danny. Tampa owned ground balls and face-offs. For ground balls, it was 37-18. And here's the real kicker face offs 22 to six.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

Here you go. Poma, Alex Poma. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Yeah. Rollins Sam Matson had three goals, one assist, Grant Hansen had two goals, and Logan Myers had two goals, two assists. For Tampa, Canyon Birch, six goals, one assist. And like I said, no answer for him in the first half. All his six goals were in the first half. Yeah. Andrew Malani, three goals, two assists. Charlie Bolish. Yes, he is. Charlie Bolish is good. Two goals to assist players. They really are. Owen Miller, two goals to assist. And then you've got youngsters. The youngsters, Nick Pop and Ryan Kemp, one goal, one assist. I saw this with Lenore Ryan, and we'll get to that game against Limestone. Not only do they have their upperclassmen continuing to ball out, but they've got youngsters adding to the mix at the end of the season, which is exactly what you want. Yeah, they're balanced.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

They're balanced, you know, like it's like pick your poison with Tampa, you know, like who are you gonna guard? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

And there's several teams like that in the South. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? There are several and a few in the north. But I'll tell you, they are gonna be, I said this earlier in another episode, they are gonna be a tough out. We'll talk about that more when we get to the region rankings. I'm I'm perplexed on that one. Okay, this was crazy. The RMAC tournament and the final. How did they get there? It was Concordia University against Colorado Mesa University. How did CUI beat Westminster 15-9? Unbelievable. Unbelievable. That score blew me away, Kev. Me too. Me too. And I went back. I did not watch the game. I went back and looked at the recap. I looked at the box score. Concordia just played great D in the first half. They held Griffins to one goal in the first and zero in the second. And how did they follow that up on offense? They scored 11 in the half. Unbelievable. 11 and 1. Now, Westminster scored six in the third to get within seven. Now that's still a huge hill to climb, but almost if you saw Concordia play against Westminster and Colorado Mesa in regular season, as the season went on, they seemed to hold their own in that first half and then fell apart in the second against those two. Yeah. So you see you see the third quarter, and if you were a CUI fan, you would say, uh-oh. And if you're a Westminster fan, it'll be like, here we go. Concordia D locked them down again in the fourth. And they basically tied in in scores, I think that one. And they pull it out. Amazing. Amazing. Now, Colorado Mesa played Adam State in the other semi, and that was what you expected 22-2. But now let's get to the final, Danny. And I did not watch it when it was live, was trying to get stats. I couldn't find stats. It's almost because it was pay-per-view. So you had to pay $10 to watch it. And I was like, I want I want to see what the stats are. If Colorado Mesa blows them out like they had, Colorado Mesa beat CUI in both games by double digits in the regular season. Colorado Mesa had to win in overtime against CUI. 13-12 in overtime, Colorado Mesa won. So the first thing I say, congratulations, Colorado Mesa. It's a three-peat for you for the conference champions. You're a great team. But it's CUI that made a statement in that tournament.

SPEAKER_03 25:48

100%. 100%. CUI taking the three-time conference champ to overtime after losing by double digits to them twice. You know what that is, Kev? That's coaching.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

I was going to say that. They couldn't pull it out, but you saw them improve. And then it's having a team savvy enough to learn and execute as they go through the season. Because they've got they had a full roster. They had it's not like Thomas Moore or Tiffin or William Jewell, right? Right. They they had a championship pedigree team.

unknown 26:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

And that's what a championship pedigree team can do with good coaching and smart players. Just amazing. And the funny thing, Danny, is that it was 2-2 after one. But Colorado Mesa comes out in the second and scores four in the first seven minutes. So you're thinking, okay, here it comes. Colorado Mesa asserting their will. And Cordius goalie, Daniel Yang, he made some unbelievable saves just to keep the game within reach. It was 7-2 at half, Danny. This isn't this isn't like you would think, okay, this CUI would not give up. They played a methodical game, cut the lead to 7-5 in the third, and then it then CMU breaks it out, scores two. It's 9-5. It's 9-6 after 3. But then it's the last four minutes of this game, Danny, that just go crazy. Because it was a pretty methodical game up until then. With 343 left in the game, Concordia takes their first lead 11-10. Colorado Mesa wins the faceoff, clears, and scores on a transition and rebound goal 15 seconds later. So now it's tied up. Dylan Checkett then scores, but not right after the face-off. But that's what's funny. Dylan Checkett, you thought like a face-off. He stays on offense, gets the ball back, and scores. 12-11 Colorado Mesa.

unknown 28:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Colorado Mesa wins a face-off again and then hits the pipe for a fresh shot clock with 140 left. They can run down the clock, basically, right? And win the game. They're up 12-11. Concordia gets the ball back on a trail check with one minute left. Colorado Mesa gets called on a slash with 30 seconds left. It's a minute man up. So Concordia is a man up. They score with 11 seconds left to go to overtime.

unknown 28:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

James Steinkey then gets Stanky gets the ball, ground ball off of a face-off and dodges down the middle free with the score. I mean, that's the four that's the last four minutes of that game.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

Oh, crazy.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

It was chaotic. It was over.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

And see CY, you know, first year program, they go seven and eight on the season. Yeah. Make it make it to the conference championship and damn near win it. Imagine if we had automatic qualifiers.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Yeah, I hope to see the RMAC get a six team with CSU Pueblo going out. Let's go West Coast teams. Let's get another team in the RMAC so you get an automatic qualifier because it is now no longer a two-team race. Not nope, nope. And you know, you know Coach Sammy and Dominican.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

They want a piece of that action too.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:45

So congratulations to Coach Foss, man, for a really good inaugural season at CUI. We had him on the program in the beginning of the season, Kev. He was a great guy. Yeah. He knew it was a little bit of an uphill battle, but man, they did pretty well for their first year.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

They did really well. They did really well. There's a few, I think uh William Jewell is one uh game under 500, too. So other ones that have done well, but to go into your conference tournament and damn near pull it out. Yeah, it was great. It was great. All right. How about the Conference Carolinas tournament? Mount Olive. Let's just remind them. Unbelievable. Another overtime game. Mount Olive and Belmont Ami owned their semifinal contest. Mount Olive beat Barton 16 to 10, and Belmont Abbey took North Greenville 24 to 13. So you kind of knew coming down into this one, I kind of thought that that's what it would be Mount Olive against Belmont Abbey. The way all four of those teams have played this year. In how they played. A little more inconsistent, not as strong. Remember, last year, those two teams were in the final, and North Greenville won it all.

unknown 31:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

No, Barton won it all. Barton. Barton did, yeah. Barton won it all. And now you're going back to the stalwarts of Conference Carolina's Mount Olive, Belmont Abbey. And the Mount Olive wins at 12-11 in overtime. It was crazy. Did you see any of that game? I did not. All right. Well, let me give you the quick rundown.

SPEAKER_03 31:32

I only watched like one or two games all weekend this weekend. It was different for Danny Boyd this weekend. It is, man.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

You know, I've got to I'm sick of carrying you on my back during this whole episode. I'm getting my throat is getting parched here, my friend. And I'm having fun listening to you. Okay, let me run this down for you. First of all, it was three one three, three after one. The teams are just trading goals. I will tell you, and I I didn't, did I look at the I did not get the stats for this game. One of the things I noticed in the second quarter was Belmont Abbey was making some bad passes. And I bet they said they got to clean that up to stay in the game. It was a very physical game. No one scored for the first half of the second quarter until Mount Olive scored to take the lead. I mean, it took a while for them to score. Mount Olive was moving the ball really well to get good goals on the crease. They had it ended up being 7-5 at half. It was 8-7 after three. Belman Abbey actually fights back after going down 8-5 and had some great saves by their freshman goalie, Angus Snow. He's pretty good. He's very good. I can't believe what he's been able to do as a freshman. I can't wait to see how he improves. It's only going to get better. But now get this. Mount Olive is down one, 11-10, and has several shots in offense. This is near the end of the game. Belmont Abbey D is getting tired because they've been out there. I mean, they had several shots. You know how that just wears down a defense. You have a shot, hit the pipe, reset the clock. But they finally get the ball back. They can't clear it, Danny. And Mount Olive scores with 44 seconds left to tie it up 11-11.

unknown 33:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

So now in overtime, Belmont Abbey wins the face-off. They call a timeout. Trey Childers has the ball, one of their best players, and he's really good. So I was really kind of bummed to see this. He basically loses the ball out of the cross as he's cradling it. Just comes out of a stick.

unknown 33:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

Mount Olive picks it up, brings it down. They have a few chances to score before they finally move the ball back up on top. So they're rotating the ball around, they're spinning it around, and then they bury it for the conference championship up top. Mount Olive got to give them a lot of credit. They went from 7-8 and 4-2 last year to 11-3 and 7-0 this year.

SPEAKER_03 34:19

You know, they lost three out of their first five, Mount Olive, this year, and then ran 10 in a row. So 10 wins in a row. So they really turned it on like in the middle of the season, and they got themselves into the rankings. I think they're at 19 this week.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

Yeah. Yeah, well deserved. They have really improved, especially from when they were last year. Um, and their coach really bringing them around. His second year now, getting settled on what he's doing. They played really well. It was a really good game. Here's the other thing I'd point out Mount Olive was able to hold Jeremy Mahoney, Balman Abbey's top scorer, to just two points on four shots in that game.

unknown 35:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

Big big difference in the game. All right. The last one, I think this is the last one, Danny, before we go. Yeah, the last one to talk about, and I save this because I personally feel this game is just a showcase of how good D2 lacrosse can be. And D2 lacrosse is, and that's limestone against Lenore Ryan. Now that game I watched. Lenore Ryan pulls it out 13-12, but let's remind people how they got there. Limestone beat Newberry, like you said, 24-13. The first quarter of that game was close, but then Limestone just kept pulling away, and it just wasn't close after that. LR beat Wingate in, like you said, double overtime, 11-10. That was a chess match and a heavyweight bout. Pensa Benny.

unknown 36:00

Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Pensa Benny won the game for LR against Wing. I'm gonna tell you, I think Pensa Benny tilted the game for Lenore Ryan in the final, too.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

He was outstanding. He's been outstanding all year.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

He had some saves early in the game, one of his first saves, first quarter, on the doorstep, stops the ball with his foot. And it wasn't by accident. That's what he was trying to do. It was perfectly placed. His reaction was perfect. And I'm like, I don't know how he just did that.

SPEAKER_03 36:37

Yeah, he was he was outstanding. Rob Pensabenny. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. To me, to me, it's Dylan Renner in the north and Rob Pensabenny in the south. I think they're the two best goalies in the country.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

I think those two are vying for goalie of the year.

SPEAKER_03 36:53

And I think in the Wingate game, there was like four or five doorstep stops that he made. And he did it again in this one. Wingate were beating their one-on-one matchups and getting nothing but green grass between the offensive player and the and the goalie. And Pennsylvania made the saves.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

And he did it again this time. This is what I think the Lenore Ryan Wingate game was kind of a prelude to what this is, except this wasn't an overtime. This was a slug fest, and it was a game of runs, Danny. It was electric on the field. The energy, the speed, the physicality, all of it. I mean, everyone's the best game.

SPEAKER_03 37:34

One of the best games all year.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Every player went all out. They did not leave anything on the field. Every player at the end of the game must have just been spent.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

Definitely, definitely. I I haven't seen that was a really the whole sack semis and just the ZAC conference, if you ask me, Kev, those three, those four teams, those three teams, Wingate, Limestone, and LR are great. And Newberry was right there.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

They did not play as well against Limestone. They're they're a half a step.

SPEAKER_03 38:07

They're not at that level yet. They're not at those guys' level. All Americans on both sides of the ball, really good athletes, and deep. Deep. A lot of kids can score. A lot of kids can play defense. It's just they're a really good team, limestone, really good. LR is an amazing team with Pennsylvania there, with Manzini at the end just Victor Powell. Victor Powell did a superb job on Zach Terry the other day. Held him to one goal.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Well, and the other thing you would say, I would say it's their other players on their D, Ashley Masson. There was some defensive interceptions. Yep. A lot by the LRD that were just amazing. Just picked them out of the air. And they weren't long skip passes. It was a pass where you think it's going to go. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, that that cross is up there, and the LRD defenders got it in his in a stick.

SPEAKER_03 39:11

I thought the game was sick. I thought it was great. The energy, the level of of athleticism on the field, just the the kids, the depth on both teams. Just I don't know, man. Those games are just different to watch than a lot of the other games in D2 this year. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

And so let me talk about game runs. Limestone scores the first two, and then Lenore Ryan scores four straight to go up four to two. And one of those goals was a transition goal set up by Pensa Benny with a hockey assist. Yeah. I have to point that out because he brought it down. Yeah, he brought it up. It was, and it was what you always want to see tic-tac-toe. It was great. So it was four-two after one. Then limestone scores the next four. We've talked about this unbelievable ball movement, dodging, scrum goal on the crease after a Pennsylvania save. Just crazy. 7-5 at half. Then LR scores the first five goals in the second half to go up 9-7 in the third with 1235 left. And then uh they they scored another, so that was the five goals total. And then Limestones goes on, goes on a thing, make it 10 to tie it, scores three in a row to tie it 10-10.

SPEAKER_02 40:38

Yeah. Tom 40.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Yeah, well, and it we'll get to that. Both of them, Donnie Powell, Tom 40. What what I saw was like every time you thought that a team's back could be broken by these runs, when you're talking about four or five goals, and the other team, no fucking way, we're coming right back.

SPEAKER_03 41:04

Yep. It was a great game, man. It's like watching a D1 game when you watch those guys play. It really is. They're at a different level. Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 41:17

What I found interesting, you talk about Mike Mancini. The face-offs in the end were pretty close, 16 to 13 with LR in the lead. But LR won four out of five in the fourth. Yeah. When they need to make it the most. Then you go down, you go down. Yeah. When you go down, I had the list. Lenore Ryan, Donnie Powell, three goals, one assist. Will Canada, four assists, Sloan Stewart, and Jonathan Bender. Two names you don't hear that often. We talk about, I talked about it in the Tampa game. Guys, you don't hear now coming to play. Jonathan Benderoon, Duncan, both had two goals. Victor Powell, two ground balls, two cost turnovers. Nate Ashley, two ground balls, one cost turnover. Rob Pensa Benny, 12 saves. And you say that 12 saves, and you know, he had 12 goals against 50%. But I'm telling you, it's the saves he made.

SPEAKER_03 42:19

It's the times, it's when he makes saves. There was one goal that he let go was stick side high. He was pissed at himself. He's like, ah, that was one that shouldn't have got by me. Yeah, yeah. You know, so that there was one that he was mad that he let get in.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

Yeah. And O'Leary, the other goalie on the other side, played a good game. But when you're playing against Pennsylvania, it's a whole different ball game.

SPEAKER_03 42:45

Yeah, the thing about O'Leary is that he does give up goals here and there, but he played well. He played really well.

SPEAKER_01 42:52

He had some good saves too, where you're like, that should have gone in.

SPEAKER_03 42:57

I thought Beechley played well on defense for Limestone. I just, you know, they they they're fast, they they double quick, they come up fast, they recover quick. Limestone's tough, man.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

Yep. Limestone's tough. Jason Tom Forty, you mentioned him. He always seemed to be in the background with Mike McGarry and Zach Terry. But the last few games I watched him, he led in points. Five goals, one assist.

SPEAKER_03 43:23

He's really good, man. And he's he's not the flashy guy. You know, he's not that flashy, gonna dodge, spin, no step down in the right spot, quick hands, quick release.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

He knows when to get the ball to him in the right spot, forget about it.

SPEAKER_03 43:42

He plays smart. He's a smart knows where to be. Yeah, he's he really does. And he does the little things. We talked about him a couple of weeks ago. He does all the little things really, really well. And yeah, you know what? He's a big reason why they're there. I mean, Zach Terry's had a great year, and McGarry's always really good, but Tom. 40 is a big reason why why limestone's where they are.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

Yeah, and here's a couple other players, too, that I've mentioned. We'd mentioned the name of Carter Brand, one goal, two assists. Nate Sennez, two goals. Mike McGarry had two goals, one assist. Austin Lamoro, one goal, three assists. You've got some guys that are giving more assists than goals, and you get other guys that are just burying it. Yep. Really, really good game. I will tell you, it was a shame to see there had to be a winner in the Wingate Lenore Ryan game. And it was a shame to see there had to be a winner in the limestone Lenore Ryan game.

SPEAKER_03 44:36

I tell you, the last two games between Lenore Ryan, the last two games I watched Lenore Ryan play, the Wingate game in the semis and then the Limestone game in the SAC Championship. The two best games I've seen all year. I mean, just the amount of just great lacrosse play. And now with that win, LR goes to number one in the country.

SPEAKER_01 44:58

Yeah, and it'll be interesting to see on the regional rankings, what happens, right? Be really interesting to see because I think strength of schedule. That might have put them into the one spot. It may have, because they're playing limestone and Tampa played Rollins, right? So we'll get to that. But before we get to that, we got to talk about games to watch this week. But before we even get to those, which are really conference tournaments, and be really we got to go down that list because it's the thing it's going to be some interesting ones

DII News

SPEAKER_01 45:30

like we talked about. There's some D2 news of the week we have to get to. Coker has a new head coach. If you remember, Coach John Snow left last fall to recoup and rehab his shoulder. He had surgery last summer. It wasn't healing right. He had to do that. His assistant, Austin Ambrose, was named the interim. Well, just scratch that interim out of the title. He was named the head coach officially this past week. So congratulations, congratulations, coach. Coach Ambrose. I'll tell you, I think he did a great job of that team. I mean, that had been a little bit tough. You lose a coach like Jon Snow, who really had them humming. Yep. And Coker probably didn't have the season they wanted, but if you watch them play, they always played tough. They're still that scrappy team. They're only going to get better. And they're in the sack. So when you got to be in the sack and you got to play the teams like, I mean, their whole goal is to get to that level of a Newberry and an Anderson team. That's their first goal. Then it's to compete against the three big boys. Right. Right. Exactly. So congratulations, coach.

Games to Watch

SPEAKER_01 46:38

All right. So let's get into it then, Danny. Conference tournaments.

SPEAKER_03 46:43

Yeah, baby. This is my stuff right here.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

Here we go. Here we go. Now, here's the first one I've got on the list to talk about. And we we teased it a little bit in the Monteval Flagler game. It's the Peach Belt tournament. One of our favorites. May 3rd and 5th. Montevallo's the one seed, and they play Flagler.

SPEAKER_03 47:05

Yeah, they host. They host Flagler.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

They host Flagler. I think all the games are at Montevallo. Okay. So they host, they play Flagler on the third, and Lander plays UAH. So you got any predictions?

SPEAKER_03 47:21

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_01 47:22

All right, my friend, what do you got?

SPEAKER_03 47:23

Lander and Montevallo in the championship. Oh, I'm with you. I think Flagler gives Montevallo a game. I think Lander kind of beats UAH up handily. That's my prediction. And I think uh the Lander Bearcats take it this year.

SPEAKER_01 47:48

That's a good. I'm on the fence. I'll tell you, I add the same thing. I think the flag of the Montevallo game will be close. I think Lander will take care of Uah. However, I don't think it's going to be easy. I think it's going to be like a two or three goal game. I'm going to go with Montevallo to win it all at home and win the conference tournament. All right, Kev. All right. We're on the we're on the record now. We're on the record. All right. People can start chirping at us. You know, the the deets, the deets uh motorhome is past Moab, Utah. They're they're coming in through the Midwest right now. I've been watching their clips on Instagram. Um, pretty cool. So they're on their way to Monte Wala.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

All right, the Dietz family. You go get them, guys. That's awesome stuff.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

And the brew crew. They'll be part of the brew crew and the monastery. That's right. That's right. So Melody Brennan. Yeah. So here we go. Let's talk CACC. So we didn't really talk about this game. Um the the first round, because it's not really quarters because they had five teams in, was on April 28th. It was post as the four seed against Bridgeport, the three seed. Post beat Bridgeport 16-13. Post found themselves ahead early by seven in the second quarter and five in the third. But a pair of Purple Knight runs made things much closer down the stretch before Post closed it out with three goals in the final minutes. And that helped them edge them out. So look at that. Purple Knights come back, and then Post had to go on a run and score three to pull it out. But they get to move on. Post gets to move on. They play Wilmington on Wednesday, and Chestnut Hill plays Georgian court. What say you on these games, my friend?

SPEAKER_03 49:45

Well, I think uh postseason comes to an end when they play Wilmington this week. And I think the Chestnut Hill Georgian court game is going to be a really good game. I think it's going to be a really competitive game. And I think Chestnut Hill is going to pull out a close one. And those Wilmington and Chestnut Hill will play for the CACC Conference Championship. And I like Wilmington.

SPEAKER_01 50:16

Okay, I definitely am with you, Wilmington Post. I'm going to go opposite with you, Chestnut Hill, Georgian Court.

unknown 50:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

Chestnut Hill, I think, has actually been playing a little bit better than Georgian Court this season. But I think this is a revenge game on the final last year when Georgian Court lost. And so I think Georgian Court can pull this game out. And they win and they go against Wilmington, but I think they spend all their ammo on Chestnut Hill.

SPEAKER_03 50:47

So what's Georgian Court's record here? They're seven and one in conference, nine and four overall. Georgian Court is nine and seven overall and six and two in conference. Very close. Very close. Very close.

SPEAKER_01 51:04

So I'm going to give it, I'm going to give the final to Wilmington, Georgian Court. But like I said, I think Georgian Court spends all their ammo against Just Nut Hill, and Wilmington takes it. All right. Kev's on the record. All right. I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_03 51:18

I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_01 51:20

Let the hate mail commence.

SPEAKER_03 51:21

Yes, yes. The darts. The darts will be flowing.

SPEAKER_01 51:25

All right. So this one, I think we're going to get probably the same teams in the final. And this is the GMAC. So we already talked about some of the games. Walsh won the quarterfinal, and so did Lake Erie. Walsh plays Mercyhurst on the first, which is tomorrow Wednesday. We're recording this on Tuesday night. Seton Hill, the two seed, plays Lake Erie. Is that correct? Yes, yes. Yep. Yep. Okay. So what do you think, Danny? Do you want me to lay out mine first this time or do you want to?

SPEAKER_03 52:07

Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

Okay. The final's going to be Mercyhurst, Seaton Hill. I don't think that's much of a surprise. Walsh. Proud, proud of that team to come into this, to make it into the GMAC tournament, win a game. They've struggled a little bit this year. Lake Erie came on strong near the end. Neither one of them have the firepower between Seaton Hill and Mercyhurst. You're right. I agree. This is going to be a tough one, Danny. Mercyhurst, Seaton Hill. Mercyhurst won in the regular season, right? Um, yes, I believe so. I'm taking Seaton Hill. I'm going against the grain. I think Coach Novotney gets them going and they take Mercyhurst.

unknown 52:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 52:56

I'm pulling up Mercy Hurst. They're 11-4. Mercy Hurst eats Seaton Hill 13 to 12. There you go. So I think with the way Mercy Hearst has been rattling off wins, I think their team is humming right now. I think they fix their bugs. And I think with them moving up to Division I next year, I think they make a statement and they beat Seton Hill and Conference Champs.

SPEAKER_01 53:31

That's a good call. I I don't disagree. I mean, I I like that call. I like that call. I'm just trying to shake things up a little bit. I think it's gonna be a close game again. I think it's a one-goal game.

SPEAKER_03 53:43

They're always really good games, the Seton Hill, Mercy, Hearst games, and those conference championships. They don't like each other. It's a must watch. They don't like each other.

SPEAKER_01 53:53

If you watch that game at anytime it's at Seton Hill and you got the alumni in the corner.

SPEAKER_03 53:58

That's right. Yeah, God only knows the chirping that goes on in those games when the alumni are there. But you know what? I like I said, I think this thing Mercy Hurst is humming. Coach Keeley finally has the bugs all straightened out. They're really playing. They rattled off 10 in a row. And um again, like I said, they're moving up to D1. They're gonna make a statement, and I think they take it in a close game. I agree with you in a close game. Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 54:25

I love it. Okay, let's move to the ECC. Their tournament hasn't started at all yet, right?

SPEAKER_03 54:32

They start Wednesday. They start Wednesday, May 1st. We're recording Tuesday.

SPEAKER_01 54:37

Correct. Mercy plays Malloy and Frostburg State plays Roberts Wesleyan. Yep. What do you got?

SPEAKER_03 54:48

I think you know, Mercy's got Jason Cooner. Say goodbye to everybody in that in that conference. Mercy doesn't matter who plays them because Mercy's gonna beat them. So Mercy's gonna beat Malloy. And Frostburg's gonna beat RW in a close game. And and Mercy's gonna beat Frostburg because they got Jason Cooner. He's 75%, he's close to 80% on face-offs, man. Kid is an animal. He gets the ball over and over and over again. Mercy's always on offense, man. Always. Yep, I agree with you. I agree. What does Mercy do? What does Mercy always do? Allows them to come back. That's right. So don't don't don't be surprised if Frostberg makes it a little scary.

SPEAKER_01 55:41

So and here's what's funny, Danny. I when I was looking at this at first, I thought, and I was because I was getting it wrong, I thought Frostburg was going to play Malloy and Mercy was going to play Roberts Wesleyan. When Roberts Wesleyan played Mercy, one goal game. When Frostburg played Malloy, one goal game. When Mercy played Malloy in the regular season, beat him by several goals. When Frostburg played Roberts Wesleyan, beat him by several goals. Really, kind of just kind of if they swatch. And you're right, it's mercy in the end.

SPEAKER_03 56:25

Mercy beat Roberts Wesleyan by one.

SPEAKER_01 56:28

Yeah, but they don't play him.

SPEAKER_03 56:31

I'm just saying, like, and Frostburg by four, 16 to 12. Yep. So Mercy, man, look, Jason Cooner at the dot. The kid is just that good, Kevin. He's just that good. And I said, like in the last podcast, I think if you take Cooner away, that's a big thing. That team becomes not as good, if you understand what I'm saying. Yeah, they still have all that they're oh, they got Calabria and TJ Heider and uh Justin Gerkville. Justin Gerva, yeah, Gibbons. You can go down the line. Corbo at LST. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, they they still got guys, don't get me wrong, but Kuner just they're on offense all the time, Kev. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. And I think as long as you have somebody like Jason Cooner on your team, I don't care. You could put Jason on any team in the division two, he instantly makes them extremely better. Agreed.

SPEAKER_01 57:33

Agreed. So, you know, until he's at at that specialist position, he's like Pensa Benny. He tilts the game for your team.

SPEAKER_03 57:41

You've got and this is why I like Mercy in the NE 10. I mean, in the in the north. We'll get into region. Yeah, we'll get into that.

SPEAKER_01 57:50

We'll get into that. Yeah, we will. So let's move on. We got two more conferences and then we'll get to the NCA rankings and the regions uh to to close it out. GLVC, May 2nd and 4th. I've been talking about this May 5th and 7th. That was wrong. I finally figured it out. I got it right. I was looking at last year's because they didn't have that the new one up. Right. Lewis, like we said, number one seed and host. They play Undy on Thursday. And number two seed Maryville plays Rockhurst. I don't know what to pick. I'm with you 100%. I will I'll pick. I will pick first. Uwindy has lost to Rockhurst and Lewis. I wouldn't want to play UWindy. Even though Lewis is the host, and I think Lewis is a really good team. I hate to say this. I'm picking Undy in that semi. And I'm going to pick Meryville against Rockhurst.

SPEAKER_03 58:58

I like Undy in this game against Lewis. I think it's going to be a tough game with Lewis at home, home field, you know, home field advantage a little bit, you know?

SPEAKER_01 59:08

But I just think who would have thought you indie would be the four seed on the GLBC. Nobody. Nobody.

SPEAKER_03 59:15

Not even UI.

SPEAKER_01 59:17

And you don't think Coach Stocks is using that to his advantage?

SPEAKER_03 59:23

Oh, 100%. 100%. It's just about execution now. It is. It's about execution.

SPEAKER_01 59:29

You are 100% right. It is who which one of these teams executes the best over the week, over the weekend, Thursday through Saturday? Because you're going to need two games with good execution to win.

SPEAKER_03 59:41

What's Lewis's record? Like they're pretty good, you know? They're very good. And they kind of had like not the greatest. I thought they were going to be a better team in a way, but they've kind of scrapped their way back in, Lewis. Yep. I don't know. I just think you, Wendy, pulls it off. You know why?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:02

Because you think they'll beat uh Maryville in the final?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:07

That I don't know. That I think I think Maryville's got a great offense, man. So I think that game's going to be a lot. I see Maryville pulls it out in the conference championship. You and I are in agreement.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:24

I just think they're saying it's Maryville. I think they got a better offense. I think they do. I think they I think their defense is solid. I think their goalie is really good. Casey Carlson's really good too. So that's going to be a good matchup. So Lewis is 11-4. 11-4, Danny.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:41

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:43

But here's the great season. Here's what you know, we forget. Here's what happened. They lost their first game to Meryville and then went on a five-game win streak before they lost to Colorado, Mesa, and Merciers back to back. And then they went on another win streak until they lost to U Indy. And that's their own, you know. So they are they are a damn good team. This is if I could say there was a pick'em conference tournament, this is it.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:17

Oh, the tournament to pick them, yeah, yeah. Just these four, these these four teams all beat each other. You know, it's it's kind of like that close.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:25

It's it is like the peach belt. Peach belt's the same way.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:28

Yep. They all beat each belt. They all know each other very well. They all don't like each other. They want to beat the snot out of each other. Um, I think you indie's just got a little bit more than Lewis, I think, in the in the in the ammunition. And and Maryville is tough, man. And they already got a win over Undy. I think that's going to be in Undy's head. And I think Maryville's got a really good offense, and I think Maryville's going to take the GLVC.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:58

I agree. I agree. Okay, last one. Grand D of them all, NE10. We already talked about the quarters. That was April 27th. Bentley and Pace both won. So in the semis, tomorrow, Wednesday, the May 1st. Adelphi, the one seed, plays Bentley. St. Anselm plays Pace.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:19

Pace scares me. Pace is the team in the NE-10 that scares me. I wouldn't want to play that team. Because their offense is amazing. And and they got players for days, and they're well coached. They're deep. And they play St. A's, who's an unbelievable team, too. This is like a really good the N good this year. Pace and St. A's, Adel Fi and Bentley. Hmm. What say you, young Kevin?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:53

So St. A's beat Pace 13-7. Just a good just like two weeks ago. Just a few weeks ago. Bentley had a great game against St. Mike's. A great game. I mean, they executed really, really well. I also think the bright lights were too bright for St. Mike's in that game. So I think Adelphi beats Bentley. And I think St. Ace beats Pace.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:30

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Pace gets a revenge win against St. Ace.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:38

It can happen. It can definitely happen.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:40

I just like their offense, you know, their offense. It's all it's about the dot with them. If Pace can get um face-off wins and control possessions, it's gonna be a long day for St. A's. But then again, St. A's has Noah and Nick Larson, and they got a bunch of really stupid.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:00

And they've got the NE10 defensive player of the year.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:03

Yep. So and then Adelphi Bentley. A Delphi has Dylan Renner. And I say he's the reason why Adelphi's there because they've been beat out of them on the dot all year long. Their defense has transitioned into offense and gotten them goals. It's their defense has been holding a Delphi where they are. Bentley is not a team I think that can throw a lot of shots up at Renner. So I think a Delphi is gonna beat Bentley. I think it's gonna be a Delphi pace in the NET conference. And I'm gonna say that a Delphi squeaks it out in a real close game against Pace.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:57

So I've got St. A's against a Delphi in the final. Saint A's lost by one goal to Adelphi 8-7. That's right. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Saint A's, who is gonna come in and I think gonna be a little hungrier than a Delphi. And they're gonna beat a Delphi in the NE10. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:26

That's that's quite the pick. Yeah, yeah. I'm I'm in shock at that, Mr. Stenstrom.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:33

Sure, there's uh a few uh Adelphi coaches who will be texting me once this podcast comes out and disowning me.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:47

So uh this is the best part of the year.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:50

Um it's like so exciting, and I have no idea what I'm talking about, so it's all for fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:55

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:56

Well, I think these are tough, these are tough games to pick.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:59

They are. They are tough games, you know. And I just think about players and and type of play and what goes on with these teams and the type of uh games that they play. And uh St. A's is they're scary. They're scary good. Pace is scary good in the NE 10. Like those guys can make noise, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:21

Oh yeah, and I think we you talked about I uh at the dot I think they have to dominate, which they did a pretty good job. They have to dominate and then be able to get past Renner.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:36

And it's not easy. They gotta get good shots off. Yeah. So they gotta face a good a good Delphi defense with Delasandro, the soup, the sophomore, and a couple of those guys, and and Dylan Renner. I mean, if they can get lots of shots off, if they can just pepper renner and give him a hard time, maybe they can pull it out. But I mean it's all it's it's all on Dylan. It really is a lot of this A Delphi all year has really relied on Dylan Renner.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:08

I agree. I mean, I I think they've got horses everywhere, offense and defense, besides Dylan Renner. But you're right, when they lose the face-off dot and you see some of the saves he's made, he has kept them probably in on the win column more because of him than anything else. Uh I I know so.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:28

I mean, they've sent three, four, five guys out to take face-offs at Delphi, and just can't dominate a face-off game in a game, you know? Yeah. So it's gonna be fun to watch. It's gonna be fun to watch. They're vulnerable, Adelphi. They they have a vulnerability. Yes. Yes. But but they've been so solid in goal and so solid on defense, and then you got Logan Tucker, and these boys got to be able to get the biggest, and yeah. They can put the ball in the back of the net pretty quick. Yeah, and what I what I love about a Delphi is their aggressiveness. They're fast, they're quick, they get after shit, you know. They're no nonsense guys, a bunch of Italian coaches over there that probably kicking them in the booty when they're not when no one's looking, you know. Volpe and Catalan.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:17

Yeah, well, Volpey's the one who's gonna be calling me. I know it.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:20

You know what? They got they're just a great coaching staff, you know. These kids, you know, they're these kids are ready every week, you know, every week. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:30

So I mean, it's just gonna be great. We have to move on because we've been

NCAA Regional Rankings

SPEAKER_01 1:08:34

it's getting late, man. We got we gotta do the uh because we still haven't talked about the region rankings and where they stand right now and what we think. As of tonight, they have not posted the latest regional rankings. Yeah, probably come out tomorrow, but here's where they stand today. And let's start with the North, Danny. One through eight. Remember, only six go. Adelphi at one, mercy two, pace three, Bentley four, St. Anselm five, Mercy Hurst six. That's your top six who are in. Looking are out looking in, Frostburg State at seven, Seaton Hill at eight. One, do you see any changes based on what's happened this past week or so of games to change that up? And then two, what do you think's gonna happen? Do you see anything happening or or over based on what you think is gonna happen in conference tournaments? Do you think anything's gonna change? What are the other two, the last two in Frostburg State and Seton Hill?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:34

If Seton Hill beats Mercy Hurst in the conference championship, I think they get in. I agree. I don't think Frostburg's gonna beat Mercy. I agree there too. Now, in the North region, like you said, Adelphi, Mercy, Pace, I think those three teams are pretty much a lock. I think St. A's is a lock. Yep. Bentley a loss could put him out. Mercyhurst, I think if if Seton Hill beats them, Mercyhurst will be out, Seton Hill will be in.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:08

I think that's it. I actually think the first five are locks. I think Bentley's in. I I well Bentley's above St. A's, which surprised me a little bit, but but with that said, that's why I think, you know, I think if you look at where the NE10 is in their tournament, those four that are in the top five are in the finals. I don't think that you're gonna switch the rankers that much.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:32

But you know what? I I I I think who's the scary team in that north region? Who's the team I don't want to play? Well, I know you're gonna say mercy. Mercy. I don't want to play that team. Because of because of Jason Cunner. Because he just gets possessions, man. Yeah. Well, and they're a solid offensive team and they're a solid defensive team, but they let teams in. If Cunar struggles at the dot, Mercy might have a long day.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:06

And who who's gonna who's gonna give him a hard time at the dot? St. Ayas, maybe? Could be. Could be. Because they've pretty much you know, you know a Delphi ain't beating them at the dot. So if they play a Delphi at any point.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:22

Which they would if it stays this way, but what we could, yeah. So let's hold off on our watch on this one until we get to next week and we and the show is out. All right, let's talk South Region, Danny. Here's the lineup as of games played through April 21st. Tampa number one, limestone two, Lenore Ryan three, Undy four, Wingate five, Meryville six, that's your top six, and then Rollins seven, Newberry eight. Now there's been some games that have been played that could change this around coming forward. What do you think it may look like on the next ranking?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:01

I think the next ranking is gonna be LR one, limestone two, or or maybe Tampa two, but LR is gonna go to one. Um Tampa and Limestone could be a flip. Yeah, I agree. I think Undy has to win out to get in. That's my opinion. I think them at the fourth right now, I don't think that's gonna happen. I don't think it's a good thing. I don't think that's no. I think Wingate moves to the four. And that's just my opinion. And you know what? Will the committee you know, give a five five loss team a a ranking that high? But it's possible just based on their strength of schedule and who they played and whatnot. Maryville, if Maryville wins out, I think they're in. And I think you Indy will be out. I think Rollins is out with that St. Leo loss. I think that really, really hurts them. And I think maybe I hate to say it, but who's that eighth spot again?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:10

Newberry.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:11

I think they might get in, man. It's close, it's gonna be close. So here's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:16

That south is really tough. Yeah, so I agree. I think I think Lenorron could go to the top. Tampa and limestone are a wash, they're two, three, no matter how you look at it. Yeah, flip them, right? Exactly. You win, you can't stay at four. No, losing to Maryville. It's either Wingate or Maryville jumps up there.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:36

You could say Wingate's got the head-to-head match with Maryville.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:41

So I went so I would say Wingate for Maryville five, then the sixth spot. Good question. Is Undy and Maryville because of their strength of schedule and where they were in the rankings, does that just kind of move Undy to six? That's possible. I was I tell you, I was kind of surprised that Newberry wasn't in now. Newberry also lost their game, but so did Wingate.

unknown 1:14:09

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:09

Right? So is Limestone Lenore Ryan. So who knows? Maybe because Newberry played limestone, maybe they do go up to six.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:18

That's a really good possibility. That's really Undy could be at the sixth spot. You're right.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:24

I think it's Undy or Newberry at six.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:28

I agree. And I I would say probably leaning towards Undy a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:36

Only because I think they've got some games left, too. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:40

But what a what a lineup in the South, man. That's like the Batan death march. Those four teams are better than the four teams in the North. Those top four. I agree with you. All four of those teams. I I agree with you. Because when I watch the North games, Kev, I I've seen Pace. I've watched Bentley, I've seen Cine A's a bunch of times, I've watched Mercy Hearst, I've seen Adelphi uh pretty much almost all their games this season. They're not playing the type of ball that's being played in the South. When I saw that Lenore Ryan Tampa game, uh uh uh Lenore Ryan Limestone game, I felt as if I was watching a D1 type of game. 100%. When I saw the Wingate LR game, I felt I was watching a D one type of game. It's they're just it's just a better brand of lacrosse right now in the South. I just don't see any of those teams in the North being able to hang with those teams in the South.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:43

Well, I appreciate you saying that because now you're gonna get the hate messages from the coaches up north, like both.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:49

That's all right. They know that I don't know what I'm talking about. They already know. I admit it. I've eaten Crow many times on this show.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:56

You and me both, my friend. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:58

Hey, you know what? This is just two guys just you know giving their opinion. I love it, I love it. You know, there's a lot of podcasts out there that just they just give their opinions out there, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:08

We're just trying to stir it up, just stir it up, stir it up.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:12

Two two knuckleheads that never played the game, never coached. That's right, you know, so just from the eye candy, from what I've seen, you know. I've watched a lot of games.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:22

No, I'm with you, I'm with you.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:23

You know, so it's interesting. I love this book, the time of time of the year. I love I love lacrosse, man. I just love the game, I just love everything about it. I think D2 is great. You know, we had Fabian Fuentes, the mouth of the South from uh the mouth of the sports or whatever mouth of sports, mouth of sports. We had him on, and he was like, you know, he's been around the game a long time now. And he was like, how D2 is not getting the love is just it doesn't make sense. Yep, that's why we're doing this. That's why we're doing it. The following segment of Increase is sponsored by laxjobs.us. Final cross jobs, fine lacrosse people. Laxjobs.us is the number one source to browse and post lacrosse job opportunities on the web. If you're looking to work in lacrosse, at laxjobs.us, you can browse across job opportunities, upload a resume, create a take a profile and display by hundreds of potential employers. You can sign up for email job alerts as well. Are you looking to hire lacrosse people? At laxjobs.us, you can post a job to be released to a network of qualified job speakers. And the best part is that laxjobs.us is completely free to use. Our goal is simple. Fill lacrosse roles with lacrosse people. Visit us today at laxjobs.us and follow us at laxjobs underscore and join our community of professionals. Laxjobs.us. Find lacrosse jobs, find lacrosse people. Laxjobs.us.

Player's Spotligth

SPEAKER_01 1:18:05

Back to the player spotlight, Danny. My favorite part, Kev. My favorite part. You know that. I know. A couple weeks off, we had a couple broad catches, but we're back, and we had so much fun with the Larson brothers. We thought it'd be fun to bring on another set of brothers who are playing D2 lacrosse. And and you know, we have a lot to choose from the Calaries from Barton, Bakers from Davenport, and many more. I mean, I'm just scratching the surface, but we decided to bring on two brothers who decided to forge their own paths at different schools. So straight from your favorite place, Danny, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Crew Conroy, midfielder for Lander, and Rhodes Conroy, attackman for Lincoln Memorial. Hey boys, welcome.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:54

Thank you. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:57

It's gonna be here. It's awesome to have you there. The Kalamazoo kids, I guess. That's right. Okay, let's start off. I got to know this. Two brothers playing D2 lacrosse at a very high level. Crew, your stats, 76 goals, 31 assists. Rhodes, 91 goals, 38 assists. Where do you get your athletic ability? It's weak. It's weak. No, I'm just kidding. That's outstanding, fellas. Outstanding. Where do you get that from? Is it just in the DNA or is it?

SPEAKER_05 1:19:32

A lot of those numbers obviously come from the the guys we're playing with too around us. Obviously, we got great teammates and players around us every day to practice with and play games with. So a lot of those numbers come from that, and then obviously being put through a good, a good, a good program, get put on the right track. So that we've kind of just been given it uh a kind of easily, I would say, for lack of a better term, with having the guys around us that we do.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:56

Very well said, young man.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:00

Speaking back after off a crew there, I mean, yeah, great program here and great guys who really push those numbers up to they wouldn't be there without them, of course. But also growing up, me and me and crew, we were both three sport athletes growing up our whole life. So, I mean, we're just competitive and that it drives us to to want to succeed.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:23

Rhodes, you got that little Tennessee going thing going on, man. He's got that little Tennessee down there a little too long. Am I right? He's got that little Tennessee market going on there.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:32

Been in the mountains a little too long.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:34

A little southern, a little southern accent. Let me ask you guys a question. Coming from Michigan, not being a real hotbed for lacrosse, how'd you guys get started into lacrosse roads?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:45

Uh well, we were both born up in very northern Michigan, Traver City, and we were we were fortunate enough to both start our first year there, and then we moved down to Kalamazoo, and really that's where our lacrosse career, I guess you could say, took off. Um, we had a great um summer program that we worked through from U11 to U18 and great high school programs that really helped us develop.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:12

So crew, let me ask you this then. If you were three sport athletes, why lacrosse versus the other sports?

SPEAKER_05 1:21:20

I also I always kind of was attracted to lacrosse too, even after I started playing it, more so because, like you guys said, around us, there wasn't as many players. So it was kind of unique. That isn't we didn't go to school and talk about practice or the game with our with our buddies because we didn't really have many buddies on the team that were around us at school. Because, like, like he was saying, we we obviously had a great program coming up through high school and we learned a lot through there, but we actually went to a small private school in Kalamazoo called Hackett Catholic Prep now, and they didn't they don't have a lacrosse team, so we were a co-op program with another uh larger school called Vicksburg that was probably like 15-20 minutes away from the house. So we ended up we didn't really at one point I think there's three of us total, including me and my brother on the team from Hackett. So so it's kind of a different different program, different way to go around it for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:12

That's interesting. Okay, so now crew, I have a a question, then a follow-up. So how, because you're the older brother, I gotta know this. How did you get recruited all the way down in South Carolina?

SPEAKER_05 1:22:24

Yeah, I actually uh met Coach Lapore when he was still at Belmont Abbey before the program even started at Lander. And uh we well, I met I met him at a showcase in Indianapolis and kind of just talked there, and then I ended up going on a visit down to Belmont Abbey and ended up enjoying that and liked all the coaches and stuff, got to practice with the team and everything. And then uh I also was kind of juggling around a few different offers, a few different looks, and ended up. I actually my kind of route was a little different. It was a little hectic to to put it one way. I had uh originally committed and signed fully to Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:08

But uh that that ended up falling through, so I got a release from my NIL from or NLI from the NCAA. And then I had, like I said, I had already been in contact with Coach Laporte, and now at this time he was at lander, so I reached back out to him and said, Hey coach, you still have a spot for me on your team. I I'd love to come down there and check it out. And then I think it was probably two weeks later I ended up going on my visit that coming on my visit down here, and then and then I committed a few first a few days after that.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:36

Interesting. That's cool. Now, here's the follow-up. Did Coach Laporte try to recruit Rhodes?

SPEAKER_05 1:23:42

Oh yeah, oh yeah. He was he was talking to Rhodes a good bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:47

Okay, Rhodes, then why LMU over lander? Let's start the controversy right now on this podcast. Let's get it going.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:54

Get it out there. Yeah, I mean, I had like Chris said, I had I had a uh I had a good group of offers too. So I was weighing my options. I did my final two did come down to uh lander and joining my brother down there in Greenwood and uh or coming here to Lincoln Memorial. And I think my biggest reason uh for coming here to Lincoln Memorial was first of all, um uh I could I knew I would be able to, or at least had a good shot at making um an impact right away and and being uh being being a leader, uh being able to be a leader on this team, and then and then again just breaking my own breaking away from the path. Um, I guess kind of put a cliche to get out of the shadow.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:41

So that's I mean that's not a cliche that happens all the time. Did you act real? This is a now now. We're gonna get very uh uh philosophical and in the mental mental side of the game here. Did you feel that growing up being in the shadow for sports or or what?

SPEAKER_00 1:24:59

Um not necessarily. We we we excelled at different parts of our games and and in different sports. Um, we didn't play all three of the same sports growing up, which was, I guess, kind of a good thing, and because it drove us, it pushed us to be better in those separate sports, but also drove us to get better and be better than one another. So I wouldn't say I was in the shadow, but um it definitely motivated me to get better.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:27

So, Rhodes, what three sports did you play? Um lacrosse, lacrosse, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:33

Yeah, uh, I played lacrosse growing up in middle school, I played some football. That that wasn't my big thing. So uh in high school, I played um lacrosse, basketball, and tennis. My dad was a big tennis player, college tennis player, and he coached me for four years in high school.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:51

So see, see, that's where I thought when I asked the question about athletic ability, you were gonna give your dad a shout out. I heard it from a little bird that your dad was a tennis player in college.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:02

I guess that could be part of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:03

Well, what about you, crew? What three sports did you play?

SPEAKER_05 1:26:07

Uh yeah, I kind of like he said he grew up playing football a little bit and we were always around it, but I I my dad couldn't get me away from it, so I stuck to football through high school, and then I also played lacrosse, obviously, and then basketball too. So we had lacrosse and basketball in common, but then football and tennis is kind of where we broke apart, which is definitely a good thing, like he was saying.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:25

Yeah, yeah. It's interesting, it's fun. So now here's my big question. I I've got to ask, you're in two different conferences, you don't play on the same team, you have played against each other 2022 and 2023. What are your in-season conversations like between you two? How much trash talking goes on?

SPEAKER_05 1:26:46

I wouldn't say there's a whole lot of trash talk, honestly, because uh, I mean, obviously, like you said, we're in different conferences and then we don't we haven't we didn't play each other this year. We did the two previous years, but uh other than that week where we were playing each other, I think it's more just kind of checking in, seeing like what the week looks like for who whoever the other guy's playing, whatever team they got coming into town or where they're going, kind of talking how they how they feel about the game, stuff like that, just checking in more so I'd say.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:12

Roads, tell me the truth now.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:14

Yeah. Like he said, like those the weeks around those games when we did play each other, those it got a little heated. And he's I'm friends with his friends at lander, and he knows my buddies here at Link Memorial, so we can all exchange some words.

SPEAKER_05 1:27:30

My roommates would be Texan, reaching out and stuff like that, asking about the scout and all that.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:35

Oh, for do you do that a lot for teams that you both play? You know what I'm saying? Like if one thing if one school plays UAH first, and then you're like, Well, can you give give me the give me the scout on them?

SPEAKER_05 1:27:48

Oh, yeah, we'll definitely talk about stuff like that. Like, who are their guys uh who kind of stick out the most?

SPEAKER_01 1:27:53

I love it. What was it like playing against each other? Was it more nerve wracking for your parents, or were their nerves with you guys? guys.

SPEAKER_05 1:28:01

I think it was much more nerve-wracking for our parents after talking to them after the game at least. It kind of felt like more of a kind of just felt like another game while we're playing, obviously, because we're trying not to get too distracted by the moment. But uh I think I think after talking to my parents and then extended family grandparents, aunts, uncles and stuff who got to come watch too, they they said they were nervous the whole time.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:21

That's gotta be tough though when you think about it.

SPEAKER_05 1:28:23

You know my dad I think he was wearing a Lincoln Memorial hat and a a lander bearcats uh pullover. So kind of got house divided if you want to put it that way.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:33

You got to get mom one of those special jerseys made up you know half half golden purple and half you know navy blue. That's right. That's funny. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:43

All right so crew just tell us what it's like to have played Atlanta. You're a graduate so this is your you this is your Swan song coming up in the Peach Belt Championship tournament and what are you doing next?

SPEAKER_05 1:28:56

Yeah so I actually this past summer I was working I had an internship out in St. Louis where I worked for a company called Cancero and as a recruiting and staffing firm and they ended up offering me the full-time job full-time gig so I accepted that and uh I'll be starting out there in September. So I got a little bit of time over the summer to relax, go back home and and hang out probably bounce around between Greenwood and Kalamazoo just kind of use my last summer up but that's that's the plans after I'm done here.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:26

That's great. That's great. And if you had one thing to say uh the best thing about playing at lander what would it be?

SPEAKER_05 1:29:34

It's definitely the guys here. It's uh 100% it'd have to be the guys on the team and even the coaches too. We all we all just mess really well together. We can joke around at practice or we can be super serious and bought in like I mean we always are we're always there to get better and get something out of it but we can always have fun with it too which makes it a lot better. And then we come home from practice and I live with four other uh uh teammates so we don't even necessarily have to talk about practice but if we do it's still all all all fun and games and we enjoy every day of it too it's it's the best part of our day going to practice and seeing everyone that's great roads besides I want to know how how you're how you feel about playing it at LMU but what do you think it's gonna be like next year when you're the sole Conroy playing D2 lacrosse uh uh I'm a I'm excited for it I I know I'm gonna have a a lot of um support from my from my family and crew because he's he's not gonna be out there so maybe he'll be living through me a little bit one more year.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:36

So I'm looking forward to this summer with to be able to work out with him. I know he's gonna push me and definitely make me ready for this last season.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:45

And then one word for Lincoln Memorial why why play at Lincoln Memorial?

SPEAKER_00 1:30:50

Yeah like like Cruz said I mean it's it's got to be the community and just the the group of guys look from top to bottom uh I don't know if you've been to Harrogate uh Tennessee but I mean there's there's not much around there's not much around here so um it's it's important to be able to have a family like this and to be able to have a community that I can rely on. I mean Cruz 13 hours from home and I'm nine so it's yeah like we can pop home for the weekend. Home away from home is definitely a good way to put it right it's right it's nice to have these these guys to support you every day. And Rhodes what do you think about the SAC uh in in general that conference oh I mean I could talk about this forever but um it's it's cutthroat uh it's it's tough. I mean every game every game's a new challenge I mean every team has their weapons and you can't you can't take a game off in the in the sack so I mean there's there's weapons top to bottom and obviously we had didn't uh succeed like we wanted to this year but um I mean there's you got to give credit where credit's due and if there's a lot of good teams in the sack.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:06

Yeah and what about you and the peach belt what do you think about the peach belt because Kevin and I just love the peach belt conference. We we love the parody the parody in the conference you know which is amazing.

SPEAKER_05 1:32:16

A lot of similarity between a lot of the teams in here and especially between Lander and and Flagler for example starting their programs around the same time so kind of the same age programs kind of learning through the same processes at the same time stuff like that. But then we've also been super competitive with like Uah and Montevallo all all my years here. So it's been a really tight uh tight race and and like like he was saying too and you can't really take a game off either because we're all like you said there's a lot of parody there's guys on every team there's guys that can score there's guys that can defend and all that do everything. So it's it's a good way to put it like you said you can't really take a week off and it's kind of funny too uh we were watching the Montevallo and Flagler or Montevallo one of their games earlier this year and we had it uh up on the stream and we're like geez is that guy really still there like it's been this long he's still there but then I realized they're probably saying the same thing about me too so when is he gonna leave? Damn it right we're playing against these guys all these all through the year so you kind of get to recognize a few of them you talk to a few of them after the games and stuff so it's it's really been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:21

It's awesome that's awesome that you guys sound like you had a really good career there and still going like you're really enjoying it and I always say you kids are smart when you leave the north in the cold ass weather to go down south and stay warm I think you guys are so smart gotta gotta stay down there get out of St.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:40

Louis go back down south and make your money and bring mom and dad with you you know all right Danny we've listened to these two brothers and they are eloquent speakers in my mind I mean crew I like I don't if crew's not going to become a politician after his first job I don't know what he's gonna do but I think they're warmed up I don't I don't know how they'll do in the firing round but I think they're ready.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:06

Uh oh firing round all right tonight boys and girls we got the Conroy boys from Kalamazoo Michigan crew up and down in lander and and Rhodes down in LMU guys thank you so much for taking the time out of study hall tonight to to come on the show.

SPEAKER_05 1:34:25

Well both left it's not funny it's the truth all right gonna throw a couple of questions at you guys real quickly just come back with the best answer you possibly can Rhodes I'll start with you okay mom's best meal mom's best meal mom class teriyaki chicken broccoli and potatoes wow that sounds really good crew what do you think mom's best meal is oh I would probably have to go with uh either chicken parm or or one of the when she grows out grows some fish for us wow sounds good so chicken parm you would think here's a boy from Kalamazoo living in the south but wants a long island meal yeah New York meal right exactly he's smart he's a smart kid uh uh roads morning bird or night owl uh night owl for sure crew same question I'd say more of morning for me okay yep Rhodes runs or lifts lifts and what about you crew same here i'm i'm a I'm a lifting guy over running for sure yeah nobody wants to run you gotta get the running in when you can't in the offseason stuff but lift I enjoy lifting a lot more for sure too we had a player on two weeks ago and he said runs I was like wow you like the first kid that said runs roads ML or PLL uh I gotta go PLL the I think that changed the game yeah cool what about you crew what do you think MLL or PLL I would have to go PLL too just because of how modernized it is and how big of a following they're gaining every year and it's just getting bigger and bigger who's your favorite player oh that's a good question um I've liked Sergio Perkovic for a really long time growing up watching him at Notre Dame then going he went to Brother Ice High School in Michigan too so he's he's been one of my favorite players for a long time good one what about you Rhodes who's your favorite player uh I like that his name Grant Aymant the attackman uh shifty attackman I think uh he's really fun to watch and he sees the we sees the field like crazy yeah you're right I agree with you he's phenomenal crew what's your go-to midnight snack oh definitely the peanut butter pretzels that you get from in those big tubs yeah I love those uh I love them i every time i go on a road trip i grab a bottle of those things and we go try what about you bro what's your favorite uh go-to midnight snack uh either a nice bowl of ice cream or probably some extra toasty cheez-its okay all right you ever put the cheez-its in the ice cream I can't say I've done that there we go do you have any pre-game rituals no I mean I kind of have a little routine that I go through and it's pretty much the same every time but I wouldn't say I have a ritual uh I mean I kind of just get there we get there a few hours before the game obviously get to the facility and get organized but uh and I go get taped up or do whatever I need to do with the trainer and then I I always go play wall ball before I get my my gear and stuff on and kind of just do that with headphones on get some some me time and then I'm I'm kind of kind of one of those guys that's kind of crazy on game day you don't really want to mess with so just kind of do my stuff and get out there seeing you out there crew no no superstitions like you don't wear the same stinky socks or anything like that. Not anything stinky I have worn the same pair of compression shorts in every game at lander though.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:11

Okay there you go Rhodes we're gonna do the same question for you any pre-game rituals that you go through yeah similar to crew like nothing too crazy I guess probably the most abnormal thing is I know guys like to listen to like music to get them like pumped up and going I like I for about like an hour or so before the game I'll I'll pop some calming music in and just try to relax and just kind of settle down before the game which is different I know but I think it kind of helps me.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:43

That's cool. That's cool crew give us one item on your bucket list huh helicopter you want to go for a helicopter ride? Uh-huh I want to do I want I want to either want to do that or own my own helicopter at some point okay all right what about you Rhodes what give us one item on your bucket list I've never been to Hawaii and probably just going out there going to those islands I've always wanted to do so I've always thought that was cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:20

Very cool I like both good choices Rhodes I lived in Hawaii for three years I can verify it is paradise.

SPEAKER_05 1:39:28

That's good to know all right crew here we go your favorite class at lander oh yeah I've had a lot now when is this kid gonna leave yes yeah uh I'd probably say one of I had a digital marketing class where where we kind of had to uh design a whole digital marketing platform and like plan for a company that was coming into Greenwood and it was actually a real company too so we actually got to do some real work for them and and provide some uh advertisements and stuff like that for the company so I thought that was a pretty cool experience.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:04

That's interesting. And what about you, Rhodes Favorite class at LM Muta?

SPEAKER_00 1:40:10

Uh it's probably um I just finished it up earlier this week I turned in my final paper but I it's called Marketing Research uh I developed yeah you just developed a research question and I tied mine back to uh like sports at Lincoln Memorial and so I was able to involve my team a little bit too so I thought that was a pretty cool process and I just enjoyed doing that.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:32

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:32

All right crew give us one thing about you that not many people know not many one that not many people know that's a tough one um I'm lactose intolerant so I I don't eat ice cream I love it there we go so Rhodes is eating ice cream and you watch them like with your with your peanut butter he's in the basement on the other side of the basement like you see that's hysterical all right Rhodes tell us one thing about you that not many people know tough make you guys think a little bit he's thinking folks he's got a nice smile on his face he's trying to figure one out we'll say um this mustache that I got right here is it's taking a little too long to grow in to see to get to this point.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:43

That's pretty funny that's pretty funny.

SPEAKER_05 1:41:46

Okay crew who's the funniest kid on the team at Landa who there's a couple there's a couple of good options we could go with uh I definitely I think I would have to say uh Brandon Perkins he's a he's a midfielder he transferred in from limestone I think two years back but I think I would have to go with Brandon Perkins or uh our one of our goalies Reese Pearson I would say so he's pretty quiet guy but he's so like he the stuff he says is pretty funny.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:19

Rhodes same to you who was the funniest kid on the team at LMU um probably one of my good buddies he transferred in from Anna Rundle a Juco uh the same year I got here so he's been he's been with me through it Francis O'Hara um he's on a uh and he's just he's an hilarious guy you never know what he's gonna say and what's coming next so I mean he's he's just a guy he'll he'll yell out something in the huddle and even when coaches are cracking up so shaking their heads yeah all right crew who's the one kid on the team you'd never let date your sister probably one of my roommates actually his name's Sumner yep Sumner what'd you do kid what'd you do I don't know if I can give that out he gets a shout out in the wrong way Rhodes what about you who's the one kid on the team you'd never let date your sister yeah I guess me and Crew we know our roommates probably too well at this point so I gotta go my my roommate John Lombell he's he's always up to something that's funny.

SPEAKER_05 1:43:28

Crew your favorite lacrosse memory at Lander definitely win the championship last year winning the conference championship just that that moment running out on the field and everyone jumping around like that and cheering definitely definitely that game and that that experience for sure yeah there's not too many uh young men that play this game that get to do that you know that get to be in that position especially having it be the fourth year of being the being having a program so a lot a couple of the guys that were leaving they they didn't elect to do their fifth year so they were they're on their way out so it's cool to see that and their last game especially the guys that helped build up the program so yeah that was that was a fun time for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:07

Wow well said and what about you Rhodes your favorite lax memory at LMU so far uh I would probably say our our first sack win my freshman year is on the road at Mars Hill on uh I think it was a Wednesday night and we had a comeback victory in the sec second half to get our first sack wind of my career so that was a pretty special one that I'll always remember.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:32

Okay. Last one crew last question give us your give us your best impression of coach um kevin it's so funny when I say this now all the kids like their first face like the it's like they start they're like I don't want to get in trouble special dispensation we've talked to the Billy's either going to say faster faster faster repeat that or he's gonna say um get the ball to the backside that those are definitely definitely the most common sayings coming out of his mouth and what about you Rhodes give us your best impression the coach I like Joe he's a good he's a good kid man I like his I like your coach yeah probably is uh it's pass pass redouched thank you thank you that's always good well ladies and gentlemen that was the firing round with crew and Rhodes Conroy from Kalamazoo Michigan guys you've been a great great bunch of guests tonight you two guys are funny uh you could tell that you're not brothers you don't look like each other you don't you don't sound like each other but you know what you guys are great lacrosse players you guys have had hell current hell of a career so far thank you and we really really appreciate you guys coming on the podcast and tell your pops we were asking for them all right well do yeah thank you guys for having us on i i really enjoyed it that's a cool experience uh thank you very much uh we appreciate

Shout OUts

SPEAKER_03 1:46:10

it the Conroy boys they were eloquent what a good bunch of kids yeah yeah they were fun boy Rhodes has really got that Tennessee accent doesn't he he got the Kalamazoo right out of him yeah there's no more Kalamazoo left in him hey mom and dad you did a great job with those two boys really good kids had a lot of fun having them on you know and uh cruz cruise graduating he's got a job set up in St.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:43

Louis already good for him you know good bunch of kids and just just it was great to have him on and again I love saying calamizu there we go all right but now it's time for shout outs I'll start off I've got two and then I'll I'll pass it to you I've actually got three I want to do two give you one and then I'll I'll finish it up so my first shout out goes to Reese Bauer of AIC this is kind of continuing on our cause turn off turnover shout outs to Victor Powell and Nick Shannon Reese beat them all this year new NCAA D2 record holder for most cons turnovers in a single season he edged out coker's Michael Jensen who also beat the old record of 54 he had 55 Reese had 57 this season that's amazing that's amazing and he's a freshman I didn't know that congratulations Reese good job kid so that's my first shout out second shout out goes to three attackmen from Roberts Wesleyan Dan Doviak Jordan Dietz and Gunnar McMillan all three recently broke the 100 gold milestone for their careers that's amazing congratulations on the same time really cool congratulations to your shout out Danny all right Kev this is different I like to do my little my shout outs got to be a little bit different you know I just gotta be different that's all I'm gonna throw some teams at you I'm gonna ask you a question Wheeling St. Michael's AIC Post TBA Bridgeport Davenport Emory Riddle Shorter and Mars Hill Kev let me ask you what do all these teams have in common this year this year well I know because I saw where you got this from but I will I will tee it up this way Danny and I'll let you do the surprise we've talked about these teams on this podcast probably minus PBA which we should have given some love to all these teams we talked about and how they have changed and improved from the year before.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:06

Well Kev, what every single one of these teams has in common is that they all have improved from the year before in every single category and in national rankings okay wheeling went from 73rd to 59th. St. Mike's went to seven 49 to 35th AIC went they moved up one spot they've got five wins first time and program record yeah amazing amazing they went and they went up one spot but remember there's more teams in in here now that's right they went up one spot from 78th to 77th don't think that they're not proud of that they're very proud of that post went from 55th to 45th PBA went from 67th to 58th Bridgeport went from 65th to 56th Davenport went up 47th to 39th. Emory Riddle had a really good one 53 to 46, shorter from 83 to 79th. And Mars Hill went from 71 to 68th. So, Kev, shout out to all of those programs and their coaching staff and the guys putting in the hard work. You guys have all improved in every single category and you moved up in national rankings. So congratulations, guys. Keep it up. Keep it up.

SPEAKER_01 1:50:29

I love that, Danny. I love that. And I think my last shout out goes right with that one. We talk about a lot of the big teams all the time. We've talked about Davenport. We've talked about some of those teams. And they deserve that kind of shout-out for what they've done this year. Well, we also shout out a lot of players who've reached unbelievable heights, which is great. But this shout out goes to all those players who stay with the grind and continue to contribute to the team in any way they can. Many of these young men go unnoticed in the bigger picture when the team they are on is not really winning, right? There's a lot of players like that out there. Here's a good example of one Ryan Riggs, a goalie for Quincy. He finished up his career as a senior this past season, just last week. During his career, he has had to be a player, a leader, and a goalie coach for the other goalies on the team since they didn't have one. His lax IQ and his work ethic have been an example for the team. Although the team did not perform as well as they wanted, this year Ryan had some solid outings. Unfortunately, Danny, this is pointed out by uh a listener, he was actually the goalie for the UN against Undie when Caleb Parker had this quick score, the the record setter, like four seconds. What we didn't mention, and what we missed, because that was such the highlight, is he shut out Undy in the second quarter and limited them to seven points from Q2 to Q4. Wow. And he did it with a broken thumb that he got in the second quarter. He's tough, tough kidding. He ends his career with 701 saves in 49 games, and he has a 54% save percent average. He really exemplifies these players we're talking about. Amazing human, loved by his team, and that is more important to me than any stats.

SPEAKER_03 1:52:31

That's a great shout out, Coach.

SPEAKER_01 1:52:33

I talked to Coach Ruppel because I reached out to him, and and what this is what he said. Everything you are saying is an understatement. The head on his shoulders is second to none, and he will be leaving some gigantic shoes to fill next year. There aren't enough words for all the good things I could say about him. Now we talk, we talk about Ryan Riggs, but I can tell you right now, there are coaches who are probably shouting when they're listening to this through their headsets, ready to nominate players on their team that have gone through the grind and contributed to their team. And there's probably more than one on each team. And so I think they all deserve a shout out for this season for what they what they've done and how they've contributed to their teams. That's a good, that's a good shout-out, Kevin. I like that a lot. So that, Danny, I think for this week, probably our longest podcast ever. It's a long one. It's a long one. But you know what? It went by quick. It did. I don't know if it'll be a quick one for our listeners, but that's a wrap. That's a wrap, Kev.