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

Intro

SPEAKER_04 0:10

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's La Crosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stentrom, and with me as always is the D2 Men's Lacrosse fan favorite, Danny Moran. How you doing, Danny?

SPEAKER_03 0:27

I'm doing great, Kevin. Thank you so much for that. Uh your intros are phenomenal.

SPEAKER_04 0:32

I have to tell you why I have to tell you why I picked that because I was at a D2 game this weekend and someone said, Oh, you do the podcast? Are you Danny? I had to say, No, I'm the good-looking one of the two. Oh, good one. So I figured, well, you must be the fan favorite if everyone's asking for you.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Well, I'm I'm humbled. But you know what? What the people don't know is that you're really the guy in this podcast. You're the producer, the director, the technical uh coordinator, um, and amongst other things. So you wear many hats as well, young man. So Kevin Stenstrom, I'm doing great tonight. How are you doing tonight in Northern Virginia?

SPEAKER_04 1:18

I'm doing wonderful. I'm doing wonderful in the middle of conference tournaments, you know. But I think before we go down those that happened this weekend, we have to discuss one game that happened last week as we were recording,

Week in Review

SPEAKER_04 1:31

and that's Lemoine Adelphi. Regular season finale for both. A Delphi wins 13-7.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

Yeah, Adelphi playing quality lacrosse Kev. Big time, big time. Hey, 13-7 win for the Panthers. It was the first victory the Panthers over the Dolphins since 2017. Yeah, amazing. So it's been a while for the Panthers, but I mean, it was a great game. A Delphi jumped out quickly, and Lamorne just, you know what? Just couldn't find their mojo.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

Yeah, it's almost like you know, they a Delphi scores the first six goals in nine minutes. It's almost like they punched Lamorne in the mouth and it didn't put knock him down, but they were just reeling. They brought it back to 7-5. But then what happens? A Delphi goes on another six-goal run unanswered into the fourth quarter. So it wasn't as fast, but it like you said, it was like they were still reeling. They they got enough juice to get it close seven five, and then a Delphi opened the gap again.

SPEAKER_03 2:45

Yeah, um, again, like I said, I mean, a Delphi's defense, I think, was really key in this game. And I know that you know, Adelphi scored, and they got Deknowski and Steinbach and Magrito and all those guys. Right. They had five that scored multiple goals, but but you're right, score punches. But to hold Le Moine to seven, and we know how Lemoyne plays, they play hard and they play fast, and and they move the ball well and they're in right spots. But you know what? Adelphi's defense was dominant. They were really, really, really dominant.

SPEAKER_04 3:20

Held Le Moine to zero goals in the third quarter.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

You know, Sean McGovern had three ground balls and two cost turnovers. Um, Thomas Galgano had a really big game just back from meniscus or surgery or whatever. He had ACL surgery six weeks ago. And he's back playing, and he had three ground balls and a cost turnover. And and don't forget Mr. Dylan Renner in goal. Oh, yeah. I mean, this kid is a real good player. Um, any 10, you know, all conference team. Yep, yep. I mean, he's he's a he's a player. So, I mean, Deknowski had three and one, Steinbach had two and two, Jason Rabuto had two and one, and Joe Diggle and Eamon Hall both had two goals. I mean, they they really moved the ball well. Adelphi was a really they were the better team that day. Um, for Lemoyne, you know, your your usual cast, Ben McCreary with two and one, Kevin Sheen with one and one, Colin Sipick had two had two assists, and then we had Braden Elmer, Devin Andrews, Evan Kelly, and Carter Collins all chipped in with a goal apiece, but it wasn't enough, man. It wasn't enough. No. The Delphi Delphi had the complete game, and they came off that loss for Mercy, you know, because Mercy spanked the crap out of them the week before. Right. So that was a big comeback game. I mean, that win earned the Delphi the NET the NE10 regular season crown and the top seed in the tournament. Exactly. You know, and and look, like I said, Lemoyne just after Amon Hall scored that goal in the fourth, you just saw that you know, Lemoy just couldn't recover. They just didn't have their mojo in that game. They just didn't. And they held Lemoyne scoreless. That defense held Le Moine scoreless in the third. So I'm gonna give the big gold star to the Delphi's defense.

SPEAKER_04 5:11

That was an unbelievable game, but let's now move on to the conference tournaments that happened this past weekend. Some really great games. Let's start off with the CACC. We'll go quickly through what happened in the semifinals. Wilmington handled Dominican fairly easily. I mean, it was 24 to 8. Yeah. We we talked to Coach Stargart and recorded him last week. So, just editor's note, you're gonna hear us talk about what they have to do against Wilmington. It's not exactly what Coach Stargard wanted from his team, but Wilmington was just just too strong. Yeah, absolutely. And then Georgian, Georgian Cork made it close against Chestnut Hill 17 to 15. They gave him a game. And I was wondering then, would it would it that make it tough? Look, you have Wilmington that had a fairly easy game. Chestnut Hill coming off a tough game. Do you give the edge to Wilmington? We thought Wilmington would would win out. Chestnut Hill goes into the finals and they pull it out 13-12 and they retain the championship.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

Yeah, I was surprised. I'm gonna be honest with you. I was surprised. I thought it was Wilmington's to lose, and they lost. You know, they lost that game. And and that was a big uh Wilmington's been playing good this year. They're ranked and they're doing well. That was a game I bet you they want back. I bet you they want that one back.

SPEAKER_04 6:34

Well, you know what? The a regular season game was an overtime game, and this was the same thing. This was a back and forth game. There was no real separation.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

You know why? Because they match up evenly, they match up. Remember, we talked about, you know, you can have the better record, but if my team matches up athletically with yours, you know, I have a chance. I have a I have a fighter's, a boxer's chance, they call it, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:00

And Justin Hill's Liam McCann, his two late goals broke the 11-11 tie. Yeah, he had a good game. Yeah, and that gave the Grivers a lead uh in in the fourth quarter. He finished with four goals on the afternoon, and then Billy DeMaio threw in three as well.

SPEAKER_03 7:17

So and added a dime.

SPEAKER_04 7:19

He had an assist too. So he the two of them, eight points between the two of them. Yep, and then Austin Jones recorded 16 saves on the day, including back-to-back saves on shots within five feet of the goal within 20 seconds. That was amazing. It was like yeah, it was a bang bang type of thing, and so because of that, he gets tournament player, most valuable player.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Yeah, and right, and deservingly so.

SPEAKER_04 7:45

Yep, it was just it was a really good game. Like you said, they are so evenly matched. They're gonna be fighting. They fought it out this year in regular season, they fought it out in the finals. Chestnut Hill just came up on top.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

You know, Wilmington gave him a hard game. Logan Stinson had four goals, TJ Catton had two and two, Jake Copio had two and one, and Keyshawn Bell had two goals, and then they had six other players with a goal. Yeah, so they were sharing the rock, and you know what? It was just, you know, it was Chestnut Hill's Day. It was Chestnut Hill's Day. Yep. So congratulations to the Chestnut Hill, your CACC champs for 2022.

SPEAKER_04 8:24

That's right. That's right. Let's talk about Conference Carolinas. You go, baby. All right, so in the semifinals, Barton made it really close. I wasn't expecting this this close. They lost to Belmont 8-7. And because that wasn't the one we were expecting to be close. The one we thought would be close would be North Greenville against Mount Olive. That was fairly close, too. That was 12-9. So both teams had to play tough and tough matches going into the finals. They go into the finals. It's your typical first half with these two teams looking fairly evenly matched. It's six four and half. Mount Olive starts the scoring in the third, but then it was all Belmont Abbey. So they they got within 6-5, and then Belmont Abbey just closed it out, made a 10-5, and then 12-6 was the final.

unknown 9:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

So they really, they really that it was it wasn't, it was a somewhat of a game of two halves. The first half fairly close. Second half, Belmont Abbey just kind of took it away. And and their goalkeeper, Thomas Sullivan, was a tournament MVP with 14 saves in the win. Another Irish kid there, Sullivan. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:39

In between the pipes, loving it. I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_04 9:42

There's Belmont Abbey two years in a row.

SPEAKER_03 9:45

Yeah, man. And you know what? Belmont Abbey didn't start out that great again this year. Remember, last year they lost to Cataw in the beginning of the year, and they came back strong. And you know what? Again, this was maybe not the year that Belmont Abbey was used to having, but they they ended strong and they should take that into the next season, you know.

SPEAKER_04 10:05

And that's I texted Coach Barrett after they won and said, Hey, congratulations. He said, Yeah, we started off slow, but we came on exactly that came on strong in the end. And so I mean, and so they were playing for the the conference tournament championship and they got it. So congratulations to Belmont Crusaders.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Yeah, to the Crusaders Conference Carolina Champs 2022. Good job, fellas. How about the GLVC?

SPEAKER_04 10:33

That was the final was crazy. So let's start off quickly. Lewis has always made it tough. Yeah. Lewis made it tough.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

Lewis, let me tell you something. Lewis is an impressive team. I like what Coach Peruzi's doing there. I like the spunk of that team. I like the fight in that team. Yep. They're maybe a year or two away from being a very, very good team. That's that's how good they are. I think what they're doing there. And you know, the UND's a good team, Kev. They have top defense in the country. And yeah, you know, and and to score like that and give them a game is you know, uh uh, I give Lewis a lot of credit for that game. Even though they came up on the short ended stick, it's still still a good team. Without a doubt.

SPEAKER_04 11:25

Linenwood, though, took care of Rockhurst 11-4. They were not gonna have a repeat of their final game in the season. Yeah, last week. Just last week. Yeah, you know. So they they come in pretty strong, and Linenwood has a five goal second quarter and starts looking like their dominating uh possession. To me, it looked like they they their defense was really swarming and starting to create turnovers. And so it looked like that since they got up by a few goals, it looked like to me that Austin Barnett, the goalie for UND, was trying for quick transitions off of saves. But because of the way the swarming defense was working, they they were the Lions are doing a good job of just stopping it. So you think with that five-goal run, uh Lindenwood may be up, but it was seven four at half. It was still pretty close.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Do you know that the Lions outshot Undy 28 to 16 in the first half? Yeah, that's against the number one defense in the country. Yeah, so Lindenwood, Lindenwood came to play.

SPEAKER_04 12:36

Yeah. Yeah, they did. They did. Lindenwood scores to make it 8-4 in the opening. Uh, but UND fights back. It's 8-6 with 5-30 left in the third. It's 9-6 after three. Uh, and then it kind of opens up from there, and and it's a 13-10 final. 13 goals was the most allowed this season by the UND. Yeah, yeah. And how about Pat Castro? Yeah. Kid at a game, bro. Seven goals and two assists.

SPEAKER_03 13:12

That's that's huge. Nine points against the best defense in the country. What does that say about that kid?

SPEAKER_04 13:17

Yeah, it shows why he was the conference player of the year, and that game shows why. In the biggest game of the season, seven goals, two assists.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

Yeah, the Lions are happy that he's on their team, huh?

SPEAKER_04 13:32

Without a doubt. So I, you know, it's funny is they lost to Rockhurst, and and play in hindsight, it's almost like that got them focused. Right? The coach said, if we win, we're in. They lost to Rockhurst, and they just turned around and said, We ain't losing another one.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

Yeah. They beat him 11-4 the second time. I mean, they put a spanking on them.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

Right, and then they come in against you Indy. And I we you and I both thought you indie would win.

SPEAKER_03 14:01

Because it was absolutely because of that defense, because of the defense, you know, it's it's hard to score goals against you indie. They're just like you said, they're only giving up seven, eight goals a game. It's hard to score against that team. They're fast, they're aggressive, they're athletic. But, you know, again, the Lions outscored Undy 5-1 in the second quarter and outshot the Greyhounds 28-16 in the first half. I know.

SPEAKER_04 14:26

I mean, it's starting even out in the second, but that's just a crazy stat in that first half. That will tell you how fast they Lyndon was coming out. We're like, no way, we are not gonna lose this game.

SPEAKER_03 14:37

You know what? Cam Smith had 2-1, Pete Covington had two goals, and Nolan Corker had one goal and three assists. So them boys played, they played well. Lyndon Wood is your GLVC champ for 2022, and they beat U Indy twice this year.

SPEAKER_04 14:57

Yeah. That's I think they're in. I think they're in the NCAA tournament.

SPEAKER_03 15:02

100% there.

SPEAKER_04 15:03

Yeah, 100%, 100%. Okay, let's move on to the Sunshine State.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

That was fun. It was a fun, that was a fun conference.

SPEAKER_04 15:10

It was a it was a fun semifinals and then and then finals. So Tampa beats Florida Tech 15-9. Florida Tech led it half, but then Tampa offense woke up.

SPEAKER_03 15:24

Actually, the first half was a really good first half. It went back and forth, it was really matched. I was like, oh, is this gonna be like last game when they took Tampa to the overtime? And then Tampa came out in the second half and was like, uh-uh.

SPEAKER_04 15:38

No, no, yeah, nope, nope. We we're gonna get on the bus early. Which is exactly what happened in the final. We'll get to that in a second, right? But the Florida Southern Rollins game, now that was a match. I didn't know which coach I would be trying to contact and say congratulations, because it went into overtime. Yeah, to be honest, going into overtime, I thought Rollins was gonna pull it out. So did I. So did I. I just thought they had the momentum, but Florida Southern pulled it out with a with a crazy goal.

SPEAKER_03 16:15

Yeah, you know, Florida Southern's been on the uh the winning side of a couple of games like that this year, you know. And don't forget they beat number one Lemoyne, Florida Southern this year. So they had a really, really great year, Florida Southern. They really, really did.

SPEAKER_04 16:31

Yep, yep. So now there's the matchup. It's Tampa against Florida Southern. And it was all Spartans in the first quarter. They come out, it was eight, three by the end of that quarter. I mean, how many Fitzgerald have in the first quarter?

SPEAKER_03 16:50

He had a hat trick in the first quarter, right there. I mean, yeah, yeah. Luke McAnini, that's a really good play. Tampa team is really good, man.

SPEAKER_04 16:59

Well, then Blake Ulmer had 21 saves in the game, but you know, they it was tied, it was 10-5 at half. Florida Southern brought it back. Was it like basically they both scored two goals? So it's like, okay, they're they're holding their own now. And then going into the fourth, it was 13-7, so still not huge. It's a six-goal difference, and then Tampa pours it on with four unanswered in 90 seconds.

SPEAKER_03 17:22

Yeah, man. There's just they're tough, man. And they're deep and their attack units good, and they're because Florida Southern doesn't have a bad defense, they have a very good defense. Now, how about their their the defense with Badeau, though? I mean, he had himself a game. Oh, he's been playing lights out. I mean, he had himself a game. He was causing turnovers, he was wreaking havoc. And and and how about Blake Umer, man? Made Sunshine State Conference MVP, tournament MVP. Kids kids are stud in in the pipes, man. I actually DM'd him. I actually DM'd him and I said, Hey, great season. Congratulations on the MVP. He was like, Thanks, Dan, it means a lot. So, I mean, we had Blake on, he was one of our first guests, one of them.

SPEAKER_04 18:08

One of them, right?

SPEAKER_03 18:09

Yep, one of the first. And uh, I enjoyed Blake, you know, coming on. And he I've been just watching him play all year, and he's been just, I mean, Tampa all the way around is a really, really good squad. There's no weakness, there's no weakness.

SPEAKER_04 18:24

They they have a perfect season going so far, perfect season through the champ this championship. They're gonna go far in the NCAs. It'll be interesting to see how far they go. Yeah, it's so congratulations to them. We should at least first congratulate them on a great championship for the Sunshine State.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

Yeah, congratulations to Tampa Spartans. I mean, last year we didn't give you any love at all. This year we've been talking about Tampa a lot. We really have. We've learned the sharp lesson. Yes, the crow didn't taste that good.

SPEAKER_04 18:57

All right, so the last conference tournament to talk about that happened this week was at the in the sack. So Lenore Ryan beats Wingate 17-13 and limestone over Queens 16-11. Both games, I think, were closer than the score appeared. 100%. But Lenore Ryan and Limestone, they pulled away and they they won those games. And we'll get more to the Lenore Ryan game. I think that their final with Limestone, the Wingate game was like almost a mirror, and I'll get to that in a bit.

SPEAKER_03 19:28

So yeah, um, so let's the one thing that I have to say, out of all the games that I watched, I watched a ton of games this week starting Thursday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. There were games all week. I must have watched eight, nine games. Yeah. Out of all the different conferences, the sack was the most physical games by far. Yeah. Those they were physical. They were the most physical games. Reminded me of Long Island High School lacrosse 10 years ago when you were allowed to beat the crap out of each other. Now you're not allowed to do that anymore, you know. But those two teams, those teams, all the teams in the sack were getting after it. Those games were physical, by far the most physical out of all the conferences. Like that's the one thing I have to say right off the bat.

SPEAKER_04 20:19

Totally agree. This is what I say how it was kind of mirrored. Both games, the wing game and the game against limestone in the first quarter, basically even. So you go in the second quarter, it's a basic, I think it was 3-3 in the limestone game. It was 3-2, Wingate was up. But in that second quarter, both games, Lenore Ryan goes on a tear against Limestone. They they went with six unanswered in the second to go up nine, three.

SPEAKER_03 20:53

Yeah, I mean, Lenore Ryan played really, really well, and I'm gonna tell you why, Kev, their defense. Yep, yep. That's what I was gonna say. In the both games for Lenore Ryan, Victor Powell was amazing. Yep, he was on another level. He was his energy level was 10 times higher than everybody else on the field. He was amazing, and he had to guard the best guys on both teams. He had to guard Patton. I mean, he did a great job all game, but there's a reason why Wingate lost. Wingate, if you ask me, if you ask me, Wingate outplayed Lenore Ryan. I know the score doesn't say that, but I think they outplayed him. They outshot him, they beat him on the ground ball war. Yeah, they shots on goal. Um, the uh face offs were even, I mean, for the most part. Yeah. Um wingate was three for three on the man ups, and and Lenore Ryan was one for three or one for two, if I'm not mistaken. But Noah Johnson in goal for Lenore Ryan maybe played his two best games of the year.

SPEAKER_04 22:08

Agree. I mean, he played a great game against Wingate and he brought it again with limestone.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

He won the game. He won the game for the Wingate game. He stopped so many goals. Wingate was getting shots. They were getting their shots. It was making stuff after stop after stop after stop. You know what are you going to do when you outshoot a team and you outground ball them and you're even on face-offs and you still lose. And you still lose? You got to say why. Okay, why? It wasn't your offense. It wasn't Wingate's offense because they played well. It was the defense of LR and Mr. Powell and Mr. Johnson. Those two guys were phenomenal.

SPEAKER_04 22:50

Yeah, and and against limestone, the same thing. I mean, I I wrote down that they had a swarming D. It was causing limestone turnovers and also causing limestone to kind of rush on some of their passes, which made him sloppy in the first half. It gets to be nine-four at half. And you know, then there was a little bit of comeback from Limestone right at the end. But like you said, Lenore Ryan had a pretty much a complete game. They pushed transition when they needed to, but they got their stick checks on ground balls to get it back. They were just all over, all over them.

SPEAKER_03 23:27

They were making making it tough for both teams to ride. They were riding hard. Lenore Ryan came to play, and like I said, big players play big in big games. And and Noah Johnson was the sack MVP tournament player. You know, he was the MVP for the tournament. And he deserved it. Because he was amazing in goal. Like I said, Wingate outshot him, limestone outshot him. I mean, these teams were able to get their shots off. They were able to do it. I mean, they're both really good teams. So they're they were able to get their shots off, but they just couldn't get it past Noah Johnson. They just couldn't. How about this? Wingate had five pipes, five pipes, right? Yeah. And then one Noah Johnson crawled up his chest, went down his back, and landed on the line, right? And didn't and didn't cross the line. That's six goals. That's six goals. An inch for those five pipes. And that part it's a different ball game. Okay. Noah Johnson, hats off to you, my man. Uh MVP, and hats off to the Lenore Ryan Bears, a back-to-back.

SPEAKER_04 24:36

That's right, back to back. So congratulations to them. I have to give one last note, Danny, on a game that happened prior to this weekend, and that is young Harris beating shorter, because that's the first win of the season for Young Harris coming back. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 24:58

Congratulations.

SPEAKER_04 24:59

Congrats to their team and Coach Herring. That that just you gotta we did it for other teams that did it. I think we gotta do it for them. That's just phenomenal. They only won one game this season, and we'll talk about what happened and games to watch this week because they're out of their tournament already. We can talk about that, but you gotta give them it's uh they're rebuilding, and so to get that win under their belt must have felt great. Like you said, oh it's huge. I wonder how much they partied after that. I'm just gonna say that.

SPEAKER_03 25:26

You know, they were partying, bro. They had a lot of Gatorade uh back at the ranch, wherever they were. But you know what? Young Harris, you know, like the Peach Belt conference got underway today. Yeah, and so everybody in the Peach Belt gets in. And Flagler put a smoking on young Harris today. Okay, they did. So they did. So Flagler in their first year in Division II, they got a couple of wins under their belt and a conference tournament win. How's that for Flagler?

SPEAKER_04 26:01

Yeah, that's true. That's good. We'll get to that when we get to our our games to watch this week because Flagler's in it, obviously, going forward.

Coach's Spotlight

SPEAKER_04 26:10

Okay, Danny, let's move on to our coach's spotlight. All right. You know, we talked last week about how Dominican reached out to us on Instagram, which got us talking about that great game they had against Post.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

Yeah, the 1312 overtime thriller. Yeah. It was a good one.

SPEAKER_04 26:30

There's more to that story, Danny. I we were DMing back and forth. I asked if the head coach would be willing to come on, thinking that they've got someone doing their social media. The answer back this is the head coach. Not only that, when I told him that we had day jobs, he said he does too. He wants a global sales and marketing department for a legal firm. He's only a part-time coach. I'm like, we gotta get this guy on. I was amazed. So let's just welcome him in, Coach Daniel Steigert of Dominican. Welcome, coach.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Good to be on, guys. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 27:16

Hey, Coach Steigert, Dominican Chargers. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with the In the Crease Knuckleheads tonight. Really appreciate you taking the time.

SPEAKER_04 27:25

So let's just start with that, Coach. Tell us about running the program at Dominican part-time, and yet you still have your team not only at 500, but in the CACC playoffs. How do you do that?

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Um, yeah, I got a lot of support um from the uh the company I I work for. Uh they're very supportive in what I do. Um, you know, so you know, I coach part-time at Dominic and I also coach with the French national team. Um, but but to to you know, first and foremost is my company. They're they're very supportive of what I do, you know, give me a lot of uh freedom to be able to chase my dreams. But uh, you know, the the the credit really goes to the players. Um, you know, they they they really do uh what they gotta do. I got great leadership, I got great assistant coaches. Um, you know, Coach Meger, you know, he's my right-hand man. He does a lot of our recruiting. So, you know, he he does a great job with that. Um, you know, Coach Falco and Coach U Pierce, you know, they're two fantastic guys for me, uh, both former players of the program. But but really it it's the players at the end of the day. You know, they they come ready to work every single day. They they they're buying into the culture, into the core values we have, and uh they make my job, uh my job as easy as it can be. And and uh, you know, they bought into the big picture, and uh, you know, that they they want to win, and you know, we both want to win, and um, you know, the the credits to the players.

SPEAKER_04 28:54

Yeah, so let's talk about that for a second. Your team, and I know your players know this too, right? You're under the radar compared to a lot of the big dogs in D2, not in the national rankings, not at the top of your conference, but your team does not give up and they always fight. And I love that. Last game, the game against Post showed that. In spade, you guys are behind, you just fought, you fought, and you just stayed in it until you closed it out. Where does your team get that motivation?

SPEAKER_00 29:28

Um, you know, I I I I think it's from our our our senior leadership and and our captains to be quite honest with you. Um, you know, we've been in a lot of close games this year, and and kind of looking back to to where I was, you know, back in 2018 when I took over the program, we were losing a lot of one goal games. And and you know, winning is a learning process. And, you know, now, you know, four or five years later, you know, our our guys are are learning how to win and finding ways to win. So you look at a a game like Post University, right? Um, you know, it was a back and forth game. You know, they they were winning for for a good portion of the game. You know, credit to Post, they're a fantastic team, and and uh Coach Jez is doing a great job over there. Um, you know, but our guys just didn't give up. And um, you know, we we got great leadership, you know, guys like uh William Gordon, Brian O'Loughlin, uh Pat Gifford, you know, they're they're some of our senior leadership and captains, and uh, you know, they they found ways to win. You know, Danny Carson, uh our our lefty attackman. Um, you know, he he's playing through a bunch of injuries right now. Um, you know, and it was funny, you know, we were down one goal with um, I think it was 30 seconds left or so, and I called a timeout, and he comes in the huddle and he said he says, Coach, I want the ball. Is this Carson? Yeah, Carson. And um I said, All right, guys, yeah, Carson's getting the ball. Uh so we dropped the play to get the ball to Carson and and he delivered um to tie the game and then ultimately won the game in overtime for us. But um, you know, I tell our guys all the time, you know, champions want the ball in their hands when the game's on the line, and um, you know, he he really stepped up. But long island kid. Long island kid. Hey, I I recruit town of Babylon kids. You know, I'm a copay guy myself. Oh, are you?

SPEAKER_02 31:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

So I always try to, you know, uh look at town of Babylon, but uh, but yeah, our guys are fantastic. You know, they um you know, winning's a learning process, and and and we've pulled out a lot of one goal games this year. Um, you know, I look at a guy like like William Gordon, uh, another uh Long Island guy from Abneyville. Um, you know, we were playing Caldwell in the first conference game of the year, and uh, you know, he really stepped up and uh you know he plays both sides of the ball for us. And um, you know, he's a St. Anthony's kid and and and he knows how to win. And you know, part of the reason of recruiting him was he has the intangibles uh of knowing what it takes to win. And you know, he he's a he's a big reason why you know we've become very successful over the past few years. Um, you know, because he just wills his way to victory, and uh, you know, a lot of a lot of guys feed off of him as well. So um, you know, we we've grinded out some some close wins this year, and uh the credit really goes to the senior leadership who who have been here for a while, um, you know, who went through those one goal losses, those two goal losses, and uh, you know, they they now know what it takes to win, and um, you know, they they've done a fantastic job.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

You Matt you mentioned Pat Gifford before between the pipes. He had a career high 21 saves coach last week.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Yeah, yeah. He's been he's been solid this whole year. Um, you know, and um, you know, we have three really great goalies. Um so so coming into this year, I you know, I I didn't know you know who I was gonna go with. And you know, Gifford really edged out you know the the two other goalies. And um, you know, he um he's been great this whole year for us. And he he really has kept us in a lot of games and you know has been a big reason why um you know we've been so successful and where we are now. So he um you know he he had 21 saves against Post and the game before that against Wilmington, um he had I think 16 or 17 saves, which was a career high for him as well. So he's he's really been fantastic for us this year.

SPEAKER_04 33:18

That's awesome, coach. Well, you also played for Dominican, right? 2010 to 2013, I think. We've had other coaches on that have done the same thing. So, but I'd like to hear from you what's it like to coach for the school you played at?

SPEAKER_00 33:34

It's um yeah, it's been really fun. Um, you know, it it's been interesting to see where the program was when I was a player, you know, through the ups and downs when I was a player, and then to step into coaching uh right after I graduated. So um, you know, it it it's been fun. It it's um you know, to get to see things from the perspective of a player and um and a coach now. And um, you know, when I was playing, we were in the ECC, you know, we were with teams like Dowling, Tech, New Um, LIU Post, Malloy. And then at that time, we also had Mercy Hearst, Seton Hill, Lake Erie. You know, it it was a gauntlet of a conference. And uh, you know, it it was tough. And then, you know, moving to the CACC um back in 2018, um, it's it's been a great transition for us. And uh, you know, but but but playing as a player um, you know, to to where I am now, you know, it's um it's great to see the progress that that we've had as a program. Um, you know, from from when I was started there in 2009 in terms of facilities and um support and you know um everything we get from administration, um, which has been fantastic. So um it's really cool to see.

SPEAKER_04 34:48

So now you just talked about being in the CACC, you get to the playoffs, and now you've got to play Wilmington. So what are you telling your boys and how you're getting ready for that game?

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Sure. Um, you know, so so this is our third consecutive trick uh trip to the semifinals. Um, you know, so I told him today that this is our year. Um, you know, we we you know the one thing I've been saying all season is you know, we have to focus on ourselves. You know, we can't really, you know, focus on what other people do. We we just have to be the best versions of ourselves. Um, you know, we have to make sure our grass is as as green as it can be. Um, you know, listen, at the end of the end of the at the end of the day, Wilmington's a very, very good team, you know. And uh, you know, uh Coach Swicker, you know, credit to him. He he's put his team in a great position, uh, not only for the conference tournament, but for the national tournament. Um, you know, and and they're a solid team. They got a lot of depth, they're very athletic. Um, you know, but at the end of the day, we're a solid team, we're very athletic. We got the players as well. So um, you know, what we we have uh a super focus on us and and what we have to do and what we have to execute on. Um and we saw them a few weeks ago. Um, you know, so we know who they are, we know what they have, you know, we know what they're capable of. But um, you know, we we know what we're capable of as well. So they're a formidable opponent, they're gonna be good, they're gonna be ready to go. Um, you know, and one of the other things I I told our guys today was, you know, the pressure's on them, right? You know, they're I think they're they're fifth in the region. Yeah, first, first seed in the tournament, they're fifth in the region. So, you know, the they know the pressure's on them that they have to win out. You know, they're expected to win the the championship for our conference, you know, and the pressure's on them to make the NCAA tournament. So, you know, I don't know what what their locker room is going to be like with that pressure. Um, you know, but our guys, you know, we can we can just go out and play, you know, we we can go have fun and and and do our thing. Um, but the message this week is to uh to focus on ourselves and and you know don't get so caught up in in everything that that they can do.

SPEAKER_03 37:03

Yeah, good message, good message.

SPEAKER_04 37:05

Yeah, I like that, coach. One last thing I've got. You confessed to us on on Instagram that you're a big fan of D2 and the opportunities it presents. We talk about that all the time, but I'm sure people are sick of hearing Danny and me say it. So if you could just tell us in your own words why you think D2 has so many opportunities that it presents to student athletes.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Sure. I I mean, listen, I was a D2 athlete myself, and you know, now seeing it from the coaching and administrative side. Um, you know, in terms of uh of competition, it it provides quality competition that you can still play. You know, rosters are generally nowadays, uh probably anywhere from 30 to 40 players on a roster. Um so there's so there's uh um you know uh roster spots available to play against quality competition. Um, you know, financially, um there is financial support available through fast food athletic scholarships, academic scholarships, things like that. Um, you know, Division II does a great job of putting an emphasis on academic um standards. So, you know, the the the thing is they they want you to succeed after college as well. And and that that's a message of mine is when we recruit guys, you know, I I want to see them succeed after college, right? You know, you mentioned at the beginning of this that that I also work at another job doing sales and marketing, right? Um, you know, so so I'm in the business world as well. And you know, I I went through division two, you know, got provided a lot of opportunities to get into that and coaching. Um, you know, so so there's a lot of opportunities to to play, uh financial support, um, you know, opportunities after college, uh career-wise. Um, you know, so so there's a lot of great things about division two. And um, you know, that that's a big message of mine is that division two can help you get places. And uh, you know, my my high school coach, uh, you know, Coach Conan, you know, back when I was in high school, he would always say, you know, let lacrosse take you places. And uh I never knew what that meant. And uh, you know, now that I'm a coach and you know, the experience I have, uh, I can clearly say I now know what he meant, right? You know, so so you know, with with Dominican, I I I've gotten to meet a lot of great people um, you know, through coaching, meet meet a lot of great people, a lot of great friends. Um, you know, I I I've been able to travel this country, you know, to to play lacrosse, coach lacrosse, watch lacrosse. Um, you know, it's it's got me, like I said before, with the French team where I where I get to travel the world and and help grow the game over there.

SPEAKER_03 39:45

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

You know, and and it got me to to to a job where where I do very well. Um, you know, I I get to travel the world with with them as well. And um, you know, it it all stems from you know being an athlete and and you know being a lacrosse player and learning how to be a team player and and work with other people. And you know, sometimes you know you you're not the main puzzle piece, and you know, you you might just be a role person, but you know, if you're that role person, you better be the best person in that role if you want to advance and become that main puzzle piece. So um, you know, so that so that's you know, in terms of opportunities, um, you know, that that's that that's kind of my take on it.

SPEAKER_04 40:29

That's a great message, coach. We really appreciate that. And we really appreciate you coming on and talking to us. Like I said, it was funny. We talked about it uh when we went over your game and games and weekend review about how you said, like, hey, we're just trying to win games to get on the podcast. Well, you almost had me there, but the rest of the story was just way too good. So I I had a lot of fun having you on. So thanks so much for coming on.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Yeah, no, absolutely. Um, you know, and I I appreciate you having me uh on. And uh, you know, I I um, you know, it's uh I heard a lot of great things about you about the the podcast, you know, coming into this. And you know, I I tune in when I can. And uh, you know, I I a lot of other coaches really do talk about the podcast and how much they enjoy it. You know, I know the guys over at Felician, uh, Brendan and Jack Wilson, um, you know, they they they really um you know love listening to you guys. So um, you know, kudos to you guys, you know, keep up the great work. Um, you know, I I you're doing a great thing for Division II and uh you know helping grow the Division II game.

SPEAKER_03 41:34

Thank you so much, Coach. That means so much coming from you. I really enjoyed having you on tonight. Uh the Dominican Chargers, I I posted on the Instagram, my Instagram page. We see you, Chargers. And um, you know, we just wanted you to know that we we do see you, okay? We do see you. And uh continued success, coach. It was really interesting to have you on tonight. We really appreciate you taking the time. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

Thanks again, guys. I I I appreciate you having me on. This is um this has been great, and uh, you know, hopefully we can do it again without

Games to Watch thie Week

SPEAKER_00 42:06

it.

SPEAKER_04 42:08

All right, Danny. It's the rest of the conference tournament championships this week and this weekend to close out the Division II season before we get into the NCAA. So let's start off. We talked a little bit in in the weekend review about Peach Belt and Flagler beating young Harris to make it into the semis. Montevallo just finished up as we've been recording this and beat shorter 24 to 5. 24 goals. Wow. All right so Montevallo faces Lander on May 6th, and Flagler faces Alabama Huntsville on May 6th.

SPEAKER_03 43:00

Interesting. I like the P2L, man.

SPEAKER_04 43:02

Yeah, yeah. Because I think really that Montevallo lander game is gonna be really interesting.

SPEAKER_03 43:10

Absolutely. Because Monte Valo wants to avenge. They do. They're the defending champs, right? And then and you got lander coming in playing hot this year on the P2. Yep. And that should be a fun one to watch. And and the Flaggler game. I you know, that's you gotta team into games like that.

SPEAKER_04 43:30

Alabama Huntsville beat him uh by a good amount in the in the the regular season game, but Flagler is not gonna sit down. I have to give the nod to Alabama Huntsville on that game, though, but I think it'll be a good game.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Yeah, but Flaggler's not the same team they were. You know, they're growing and learning each game, each practice, okay, and they get a win under their belt, and they're like, hey, we can play. Who do you think? I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 44:03

I'd probably give the nod to Alabama, Huntsville.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

I'd probably have to give the nod just because of their depth a little bit, you know, and just a little bit more senior late.

SPEAKER_04 44:15

That's what I think. And I think between Monte Valo and Lander, I think that's another pick'em game, like we had Florida Southern Rollins. But I'm gonna give the nod to Monte Valo.

SPEAKER_03 44:25

I'm gonna go opposite with you on this one, Kev. I'm gonna I'm gonna ride with Lander. I think they've been playing hot. They got, you know, they're just they got everything on their side right now. You know, they're just playing really well. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 44:39

So well, as I said, I think it's a pick'em, but I'm going with uh Monte Valo now in the tournament, new slate, okay coming back at them, and they do want the revenge, so I that's why I'm going with them. So then in the final, we'd have different folks, but I to me, oh that's another to be. I don't think anyone goes that's another pick-up game, but I'm gonna give the nod to Alabama Huntsville this year.

SPEAKER_03 45:05

Wow, wow. Um wow, really? I I think they're gonna pull it out.

SPEAKER_04 45:16

Yeah, you just I think they had the taste last year, they lost to Monte Valo. Right, right now they beat Lander in the regular season, not by much, though. So if Lander gets in, that's gonna be a close game. I think the same thing with Monte Valo, I think it's gonna be a close game. But if you had to say who are you gonna pick, I'm gonna say Alabama, Huntsville. I think they just had a little bit stronger season. Yeah, I'm gonna go with them.

SPEAKER_03 45:41

See, see, this is what makes the peach belt a really cool comic. Yeah, exactly. Because you got four or five teams that could pull it off, you know, and that makes it cool, I think. I think that's interesting. So, in that peach belt, every game is so important, you know what I'm saying? And they got in there and all the teams get to play, which is I think is cool as well. And you know, any given Sunday, like you said, but you're gonna go with Alabama Huntsville for the championship, huh? Yeah, I'm gonna go with, I'm gonna go with Lander. Okay, we'll see. One of us will be Eaton Crow.

SPEAKER_04 46:16

Yes, because all right, how about the GMAC? So Walsh plays Merseyhurst on Wednesday and Lake Erie plays Seton Hill the same day for the semis.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

Okay, okay. Lake Erie and Seton Hill, you know, Lake Erie's had an up and down season, they haven't been very consistent, although better than last year. Yes, they've definitely been a much improved team. Yes, yeah, but they they didn't find that consistency. You know what? Some young players still on Lake Erie. Um, again, not enough consistency out of that team.

SPEAKER_04 46:53

So what do you think? I'm going Seton Hill and Mercyhurst. I think it's a rematch in the in the finals for them on Saturday, May 7th.

SPEAKER_03 47:01

Yeah, Walsh doesn't stand a chance against Mercyhurst. I'm sorry. No, they don't stand a chance, they just don't match up, they just don't match up. So you got Mercyhurst and Seton Hill. Those two teams hate each other, Kevin. They hate each other and they wanna they both want to win that game. Um, you know, Seton Hill, I mean, they gave Tampa a good game a couple of weeks ago. Yep. Um their matchup in the regular season with Mercy Hearst was they gave Mercy a good game a couple of weeks ago, but I'm gonna have to give the edge to uh to the Lakers and Coach Ryan.

SPEAKER_04 47:44

I agree. And I do that only because of the consistency of Mercy Hurst over what Seaton Hill did this year. I think they will they will win it. They will win the championship.

SPEAKER_03 47:57

You know, they have Miles Hamm and Ethan Landemore, two of the most prolific scorers in in Division II on the same option. Right. Right. So, you know, Seton Hill's gonna have to try to find one guy to stop because they're not gonna stop both of them. And you know what? Again, Seton Hill didn't play great in the beginning of the season, but they really played great at the end. All right, they lost to number one tamp a couple of weeks ago. They had it within one goal within with four minutes left. So Teton Hill's a much improved team from the beginning of the season to now. And could they knock off the house?

SPEAKER_04 48:31

Oh, yes, yes, yes, they can. So that's I mean, we're making these picks, but you know us like Yeah, we don't know shit.

SPEAKER_03 48:40

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Oh, hey, but you know what? We'll go, we go by the eye candy, we go up by what we see. Hey, you and I have watched a lot of lacrosse this year, Kevin. It's been a lot of division two. And you know what? We kind of know these teams now. We know their tendencies, their strengths, their weaknesses. I've watched Seton Hill five times this year. Yeah, at least five times. Yes, five games I've watched them. And you know what? Could they do they have what it takes to knock off Mercy Hurst? Absolutely, they do. But they're gonna need a full team effort and they're gonna have to keep the turnovers to a minimum, and they're gonna have to stay out of the box.

SPEAKER_04 49:18

Yep, yep, yep. Okay, let's move on. Let's talk about RMAC. So this one is interesting. The same thing they did last year, these are quick turnarounds, obviously, probably because of travel and everything else. So CSU Pueblo plays Colorado Mesa on Friday, May 6th. Adam State plays Westminster the same day. Then whoever wins those games, they go to the championship the next day on Saturday. Oh, next day, next day, May 7th. That's so that stinks. Yeah, not a lot of turn 24-hour turnaround. I obviously need to recover Colorado Mesa against Westminster in the final.

SPEAKER_03 50:01

Yeah, that's what it looks like. And I have to give the edge to Colorado Mesa.

SPEAKER_04 50:07

They just beat him. They just beat him in the last game of the regular season. But last year it just flipped, right? Colorado Mesa beat Westminster last game of the regular season. They turn around a week later, and Westminster beats them in the final. I think I agree with you. It's Colorado Mesa. So let's go to the ECC.

SPEAKER_03 50:26

This is mercy, mercy, mercy, yeah, mercy. And let me tell you about mercy. Let me tell you something about mercy. That's a damn good team right there. Um, this this week they're ranked number two in the country, Kevin. Yeah, I mean, I mean, they're they just climbed.

SPEAKER_04 50:48

They like you said it all year, all season, chip on their shoulder, have the players. Just to say, Roberts Wesley and plays Mercy on Wednesday, and Malloy plays Frostburg for the semis. And I assume it's going to be Frostburg Mercy in the in the finals. I don't think any of these teams have really come close to Mercy in the regular season from a score. We thought Roberts Wesling would, but Mercy put a beating on them. So, like you said, it's Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.

SPEAKER_03 51:19

I said last week Mercy's on a mission. I mean, they just had the last three games, they beat Adelphi, Roberts Wesley, and Frostburg State. Three good, three good teams. Okay. Yeah. A Delphi beat Lemoyne. A Delphi beat Pace. You know, a Delphi is a good team. Yep. And Mercy spanked them. And you know what? That that junior attackman, TJ Haider, he had himself a week. He was named uh ECC offensive player of the week. He just had himself a great week. You know, they got Dominic Scorsche up there. They got a bunch of. Oh, they've got a bunch of, yeah. They got once again.

SPEAKER_04 51:56

We've talked about this with Mercy here. She shut off Miles Hamm and you still have Lanny Moore. Well, that's the same thing with Mercy. They've got plenty of big scores, and their defense is awesome. So I agree. It's going to be all Mercy. Okay, last one, granddaddy of them all, the NE10.

SPEAKER_03 52:16

Yeah, they got underway. Well, they got underway over the weekend. They did.

SPEAKER_04 52:20

They got over they did. The quarterfinals, St. Anselm took care of uh Southern New Hampshire 18-6.

SPEAKER_03 52:26

Yes, and A is looking good now.

SPEAKER_04 52:28

And Bentley handled Pace 7-3. They avenge that loss. Almost the same kind of game that happened at the end of the regular season, except uh Pace just couldn't come back. No, Bentley played good very well.

SPEAKER_03 52:46

It was a really good game.

SPEAKER_04 52:47

It was. It was a great game. It was a great game. So now St. A's plays against Lemoyne on Wednesday and Bentley plays a Delphi.

SPEAKER_03 52:58

Yeah, yeah. And you know what? I think the Bentley and Delphi game will probably be a pretty decent game.

SPEAKER_04 53:06

I think even St. A's Lemoyne could be a good game. So do I think that's a good one? But I I think you're right. I think Bentley Adelphi will be interesting. I think Lemoyne and Adelphi pull out both, though.

SPEAKER_03 53:19

You know what? St. A's is a good team. Kevin, they can beat they can beat Lemoyne. They can. They can. I agree. They got the offense. They got the depth. They got the defense. They got the face-off guy. They got the kid in goal and CJ Hart. I mean, St. A's got has what it takes to beat them. Again, going to be a full team effort. They're going to have to play well. Lemoyne, you know, is a stopped defense. They they they know how to play defense. They're aggressive. They get their sticks in lanes. They make they make things difficult. And on the other side, Bentley's been playing really well. Yeah. I mean, they they lost that game to pace a couple of weeks ago, but they gave up three goals in in 45 seconds. Right, right. Just un unheard of, usually. It doesn't happen that often. No, you know. And so Bentley came back and avenged that loss against a really good pace team. Yes. Really good pace team. Yes. What does that tell you about Bentley?

SPEAKER_04 54:20

They can play. Yeah. They're not going to back down. So they're going to bring it against a Delphi.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

Yeah, but I get I'm going to give the edge to a Delphi. They're just, I think they're so deep, especially at midfield, and their defense is and they got Dylan Renner. I mean, they're they're a squad.

unknown 54:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:38

They're a squad, a Delphi. No doubt.

SPEAKER_04 54:40

So who do you think the championships on Saturday, May 7th? Who do you think wins it? I I think it's a Delphi's to lose. I think you're right. If it's a Delphi Lemoyne, like I think it will be, I think Lemoy is going to be prepared and not get that punch in the mouth by a Delphi. But I think a Delphi pulls it out.

SPEAKER_03 55:10

I I mean a Delphi's already beaten Lemoyne and rather handily. Lemoyne didn't really they didn't really do much against Delphi. We spoke about it last week. A Delphi didn't do anything crazy. They just beat them. They were a better team. Oh yeah. But uh Delphi's defense, Kevin, is really, really good. I mean, we had Sean McGovern on the podcast. I mean, that kid's a beast on the field. When you see him live play, you're like, wow. Yep. And then, you know, that whole defense. And then you got Duknowski and and and and and those guys. Duknowski was actually named any conference player of the year. I mean, the kid's a stud. Yeah. I mean, he's he's a he's a hard load to handle. And then they're so deep at midfield. We had Coach Birdie, who was named Coach of the Year. Yes, he was. Congratulations, Coach Burdy. Yeah, congratulations, Coach. I mean I think a Delphi's gonna win the any time. I I'm gonna give the edge to Adelphi. I'm with you on that. I'm with you.

SPEAKER_04 56:16

I was gonna play devil's advocate for a little bit and say Lemoyne's gonna come, um, but I I'm gonna say a Delphi.

SPEAKER_03 56:22

But they have to get past the tough Bentley team first. So you're right, see how they do again. You're right. Bentley's no joke.

Player's Spotlight

SPEAKER_04 56:31

Moving on to the player spotlight. My favorite part, Kev. I always have to wait till you say that, Danny. This year's goalie play has really been outstanding in D2. And with the level play, we probably could have had a goalie in each one of our player spotlights each week. CJ Hart, Blake Omer. We already had on. We could have Keaton Rorick, Max Freestone, Kyle Ebert, Austin Barnett, Dylan Renner. The list goes on and on. Yeah, man. But we have been talking about this goalie since last year. Yeah, we like him. Yeah, he always seems to come up with big saves when it's needed for his team, and it shows in his recognition. So 2019, any 10 rookie of the year, yeah, man. 2020, they just played two games. He had like one unbelievable game. I think he had like, I don't know, 17 saves in one game was just unbelievable. And he kept on building that every year. 2021, he makes the any 10 all-conference team. Yep. And I just found out he was announced as all conference team again, second team for any 10 this year.

SPEAKER_03 57:42

Yeah, just saw that today.

SPEAKER_04 57:44

So while we welcome him in, we should congratulate him as well. So here he is, Lewis Ragusa, the big Ragu.

SPEAKER_01 57:52

The Raggoo, Kevin Danny. Thank you guys so much for having me on. It's uh a pleasure. Big fan of the pod. Appreciate what you guys uh are doing for us, D2 boys, showing us love.

SPEAKER_03 58:04

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 58:05

Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_03 58:06

And the reason why we call you the Ragu is because you bring the sauce every week, kid.

SPEAKER_01 58:11

I like that. I like that.

SPEAKER_03 58:13

Yeah, Ragusa, he's from Yorktown Heights, Kevin. If you know anything about Yorktown Heights, it's a dominant, dominant top notch place for youth lacrosse, middle school across, and high school lacrosse. And this is where Ragusa played, man. And uh he's continuing to to rock the boat in D2 and just do stellar things there at pace for the setters.

SPEAKER_04 58:40

Yeah, without a doubt. But I think I have to start, uh Lewis, I have to ask you this. You always seem to play huge against Bentley. So last year, career high, 19 saves, followed by beating up this year in the regular season with 20. Then, even though your loss in the in the playoffs with them, I was watching that game. You had five unbelievable saves in the second in the quarterfinals this past week, which is amazing. Is that is Bentley one of those teams that you just really get up for?

SPEAKER_01 59:15

Uh I I wouldn't say that. I would say every team uh I I get up for, but uh I would just say there's such uh familiar foes since my four times. I believe I played them six or seven times, a couple of uh the same guys. So uh just seeing in uh film uh throughout the times we play them, I kind of just uh get to learn their tendencies a little bit. So I guess I kind of try and use that to my advantage when I play them. I kind of like to do that for every team we play. But I like to kind of see their shooters. So uh I guess I like to think I'm at maybe like a little advantage during that because I see it a lot. I watch a lot of film on that.

SPEAKER_04 59:49

Yeah, that's great. I mean, to be honest, when I watch your game, it it does seem that it's it's more, you mean because you're not a huge guy in the goal, right? You're not a big goalie, but you're quick. And I think part of it is your reflexes, and probably like you said, part of it is is the study, especially against the NE10 teams that you play so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:09

Yeah, of course, of course, and uh such uh high caliber teams on NE10. They got uh unreal shooters throughout everybody.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:17

No doubt, no doubt. The granddaddy of them all, right, Kev, the NE10.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:24

You're from Yorktown Heights, so how did you and when did you get interested in lacrosse? And then secondarily, was it always goalie?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:33

Uh so I was actually late to the party for being a Yorktown kid. I was a baseball kid actually growing up to until uh about fourth grade. I made uh made the transition. Uh a kid on my team, Richie Gianovska, his dad uh came up to me and was like, I think you should try the sport, lacrosse, like a really athletic kid. I think you would uh transition smoothly into it. So me and my dad was like, why not? My dad grew up in uh lower Westchester, Mount Vernon, never played lacrosse, never really knew about it. So he never really got me into it when I was younger. So that was my uh my outlet to it. So I played actually MIDI for my first two years, fourth and fifth grade, and then uh sixth grade, one of our goalies got hurt out of tournament, and I was like, Oh yeah, I'll play. So I kind of just jumped in the net from sixth grade, and from sixth grade on, I have not come out of the net and have been a goalie since.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:23

Did you really just enjoy it? Like when you got in there the first time, or what was that like your first time as you kind of volunteered?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:31

I kind of like always wanted to be like open-minded to it. I like always thought it was kind of really fascinating, like you're taking away something from someone. So I kind of just like fell in love with that feeling of doing. So I was like, I think this might be the position for me. Like the thief crack, correct, correct? Robberies, as I call them. Yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:50

I always I always think that to play goalie, I think you gotta be part crazy, man. It's like, you know, some of these balls are coming at you 110, 115 miles an hour. I mean, yeah, how does one of those off the shin feel?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:05

And actually, uh, my shin the last two weeks, I've just been absolutely getting destroyed. So after I can't really feel them too much anymore. So after the first it's kind of healing now, so it's uh it's doing better.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:16

That's great. How did you decide on pace as a school you wanted to play in?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:23

So uh growing up, if you uh in high school told me I would go to uh college 20 minutes, uh not even 10 minutes up to the comic from my house, I would tell you you were crazy. I thought I wanted to do the cool whole going away from college. But uh in Yorktown, I had to do my time and I sat behind some really, really good goalkeepers in my years. Uh Liam Donnelly played at Albany Rutgers in Utah. So I really didn't get to uh get too much uh showcasing in Yorktown. It was kind of just uh in the tournament. So I was just I I wouldn't say I was uh I was I was a little under-recruited, so I didn't really have those big name callings. Was always putting okay numbers up in high school, was nothing crazy, was in a top 10 goalie in the class. But um Coach Mariana's dad uh loves Yorktown across and would always come to the games and uh said to his son, he's like, I think you have something special in the Yorktown goalie. Like, I think you should try and go after him. And that's exactly what happened, and it's uh actually been the best decision I've probably ever made in my life.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:23

Wow, got recruited by the old man by coach's dad. That is crazy. I don't think I've ever heard something like that before. That's really actually very interesting.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:32

We we need to ask Coach Mariano about that, that he's got his dad out there scouting for him.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:38

Yeah. And he's scouting in the right he's in the right spot.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:42

Yeah, he's going to the games, giving him uh good info on the section one teams, trying to open a nice pipeline, nice commute. It's not too far.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:52

So so then what's it like to play for Coach Mariano? You know we've had him on the podcast a few times. I know you know that.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:00

Of course, of course. No, I like it. Uh he he he just uh he doesn't expect a lot. I think he just I like to hold myself to a high standard, and I think he likes to do that with me too. So we have a relationship there. Like we uh we don't like to be complacent, like we always just try and just try and get better. And I like how that's how he does for all his players. He knows his potential in his players, and he really wants to get it out of them. So I really that's what I do love about him is how he tries to get his best out of his players.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:27

Yeah, that's great. So let's now switch. You said that you know, you didn't get a lot of looks, you played with guys who went D1. You go D2. So, what do you like about D2?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:41

I would just say uh Pace is probably around through uh 3,000 kids. So I do like the small community of it. Uh the school for it, the Lubin School of Business is unbelievable. So it's a great education. Yeah, and just like the classroom environment, it's really you're not number one of 350 in a lecture hall. Right. Right. Professor knows your name. Uh, so that's something I really do enjoy about being here.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:06

Yeah, it's a great, great business school. Actually, my sister went to Pace. I I've been up in Pleasantville a ton of times. I always, my old man used to go make me pick her up. I'm like, Dad, she's got a car. Why do I got to pick her up? I don't want her driving on the Taconic on a Friday night, you know. So I would have to go pick her up. But Pace is a beautiful campus. Um, I've been there like a bunch of times. Uh, Coach Mariano actually uh I don't know how long were you there when Kevin Vogelsberg was there?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:37

I was. He was a senior in my freshman year in 2019.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:40

Okay, because my son played with Vogue's in some in summer ball.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:45

And uh Vogue is a good dude.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:47

And he's a good player, too, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:49

Yeah. And um sneaky, he was very sneaky.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:52

And uh coach saw my son, and he invited him up there, you know. So we went up and uh nice to look at.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:00

Gym I call. People really don't know about it until they see it and they're like, wow, I can't believe this is here.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:06

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:06

So a nice little hidden gym.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:08

Yeah. And what are you studying?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:10

Business management.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:12

Okay. So Danny and I talked about this. Pace is one of those teams that even in the N that they're somewhat, they're not under the radar. They're always in the mix. But but they start off, you know, they start off sometimes right around that number 10 in the nation, number 12, and and you haven't played a few games. And Danny and I are like, why are they number 10 or 12? There's been teams that played like three or four games. And then you start seeing pace play. And you're like, aha, I get it. Coach Mariano always has you guys ready to go. You always play great. And you you have you've had great seasons for the last several years. Talk to me about this season because you've had some you've had a great season once again, but you know, there have been some teams that have given you a little little trouble. Bentley being one of them, had that unbelievable comeback win against them in the regular season before having that was a great game. Phenomenal game. And you had a great game that game. So what's the what do you think the culture is for your team and and what do you guys strive for every year? And especially being in the NE 10 when you've got always Lemoyne and a Delphi kind of staring down at you a lot, which you know, I personally think Pace can play right with them.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:31

I I'd say the culture is it's a big uh family culture. We break a lot of our huddles, uh, everything little D offense will break down with family. So I'd say that's the big thing is culture. I came in with a pretty big class with uh 14 of us, and all 14 of us are still there, and we're probably the 14 of my best friends. Which is kind of cool to see throughout like the years. Um, the juniors are all so close, the sophomores are all so close, and you could probably ask it. And now you're starting to see the development with the freshman, which is cool because you see it form. So that's it's it's really cool to see. And I bet if you ask those kids who say who are some of your best friends in your life, and they would probably name those kids that that you met just only so four years ago compared to your friends at home that you've known forever. So I'd say that's really big in the locker room, it's just how close knit we are. And I'd just say um just playing in such a good con uh conference, he just tells us to be ourselves, uh, be pace lacrosse. We don't need to be anybody else that we're not. So just playing to who we are, uh following the pace lacrosse motto of just like family toughness, just uh is really what we uh harp on.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:36

Yeah, pace is always in the mix, man. Every year, every single year, of course. Mariano, he does a phenomenal job up there. And you know, your your strength of schedule, your schedule, you know, in the NE10, you're you're not playing many cupcakes, you know, and then you're out of conference schedule. But like Kevin said before, we always used to say, why is Pace ranked sixth? They haven't played a game yet, you know, like but we know now, you know, because what you guys do on the field. Um, tell me this. Uh uh, what's uh uh what's it like uh to play uh with a team uh that's kind of expected to do well. I I know that you said yet you have high expectations of yourself, but realistically, I think deep down inside you guys expect to do well. What's it like to play with a team that's a perennial top 10, top five, top 10 team every year?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:32

I'd say it's uh not something we want to think so much on. We just want to do our individual jobs and just teach the younger kids to like show once we're pretty uh I'd say senior dominant class, upper upper uh class. So we want to just try and uh develop the younger kids into us and like what it's like. Uh we were telling them like on the road once uh the NA10 really gets uh picking up, uh it's really boom, boom, boom. If if you stop to blink, you you'll miss it all. So just uh being up in the moment, just being present and just uh just being there, being being active and everything, absorbing it, not letting anything go to waste. Because when these four years are over, it's it's over.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:12

Yeah, you're exactly right. Uh my son's a senior, and even just as his dad, blink of an eye from freshman to senior year, just amazing. Absolutely. But Danny, I think now that we really have the big Ragu warmed up, it's time to put him in the firing line.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:35

All right, the big Ragu. We are so happy that you came on the show tonight. We've been uh we've been waiting years, yeah. We've we've been talking about you for a year and a half. Pleasure, absolute pleasure. So, question number one in the firing line. What's the first sport you picked up?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:53

It would be t ball, it was baseball. My dad is a big baseball player, my sister played softball at Bingham Pen. Oh wow. So we've so we've always had mitts in our garage, whether if it was a baseball, softball, it would it would be baseball for me. It was the first sport I ever picked up.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:08

Hey, dad, hey dad, got two kids that played college ball, man. That's pretty awesome. And you got them on baseball. But um, could you hit a curve? Could you hit a curve? Because I couldn't hit a curve.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:20

Uh towards once my time was uh up in baseball, I couldn't hit the ball past the pitcher's mound. I was more of a pitcher.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:27

I kind of lost it.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:29

Uh I played um baseball up till uh fifth grade, so I was I was playing both for a little, but I I you saw me getting absolutely worse at uh baseball as the time went on. So it was it was time for me to put down baseball.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:44

He had a good transition plan, Danny. Next question favorite pro team?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:52

Oh, that's that's a hard one. I'd I'd probably say the Jets. Me and my dad uh just always on Sundays in the fall, just especially New York, that was the only uh team we'd get on TV. So we were just like, all right, let's let's rock with the Jets. I really never I just enjoyed watching a bunch, some of just like my favorite players when I was younger, so I really didn't have a favorite team.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:12

If I had a pick, it would be the Jets.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:13

Okay, who's your favorite pro athlete?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:17

Oh, that's a hard one. Uh I'd probably just go Steph Curry. Basketball plays with uh some swag to him. I think that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:26

Yeah, he's got swag, he's got class and got a hell of a J, bro. A hell of a J. Okay. Next next question. Xbox or PlayStation?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:36

Uh definitely PlayStation. Definitely PlayStation. All my friends had that. So that's what I want with.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:42

Uh sounds good. All right. Next one runs or lifts?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:46

Definitely runs. Uh I I lift, but uh from my position, I don't think I really need to be the strongest kid out on the field. I think just uh I need to be one of the fastest, have my reflexes stay up. So I definitely rather run than lift.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:00

See me now. You're the first goalie that said runs. Most goalies don't want to do too much running. So the good answer.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:08

Yeah, but but but he's more built for it, Danny. Yeah, Lewis is more built for it. He's got he's got the build that you can he he can get the runs in pretty pretty pretty easily.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:18

Yeah, he's wiry. He's a wiry fella. Okay, who's the funniest guy on the team?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:25

Uh would be graduate student Griffin Shyland. Uh he I and I actually don't think he means it. He's just like a really funny, good kid, just a good goofy dude that is could uh let up the room wherever he walks in.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:37

All right, Griffin getting a shout out from the Ragu. Who's the most athletic guy on that team? You know, the guy that can do everything. Hoops, you know, ping pong, one of those guys, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:50

When it's uh with that stuff, uh, I'd probably go defenseman Matt Rice. You wouldn't think so. He's a pretty big kid, but he's probably one of the best non-basketball players I've ever seen in a while. We we try and play uh intramuros in the fall.

unknown 1:14:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:05

And uh he's probably one of the best players in the intramural league. He's kind of a peak when it comes to basketball, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:10

All right, cool. Who's the one guy on the team? My favorite question, Kevin. It's coming. I'd see it. Who's the one guy on the team you would never let date your sister?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:24

Uh I'd say uh freshman. Uh we call him the Don. His name is uh Jonah White Wilson. Uh definitely, definitely the Don, I'd say. Jonah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:37

Don. Jonah White Wilson. All right. I'm not even gonna get into it. Okay. All right. Give us your best impression of Coach Mariano.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:47

Oh, I was I was thinking of this. Uh I listened to a couple pods, and I and this is one of the questions. I wouldn't say it's an expression, it's kind of just a saying, and yeah, it's especially this came big when our COVID, our season, uh, when we were at practice, he's like, we get to do this. We get we get to be here. Uh some teams around the country last year, the Ivies, as we saw, like weren't being allowed to play. So his big thing was harping on, we get to do this, we get to be here, we get to be at practice today. So that's very good. That's something I I kind of keep with me. And how I might live my life is I get to do something like this.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:22

I like that. I like that. We get to do this. You know, we're here and we get to do that. I get it. Now, I know you're a fourth-year senior and you do have uh an eligible season left. Do you plan on coming back? Are you undecided at this point?

SPEAKER_01 1:15:39

Or I would I would definitely say it's in the works. Uh, I know I gotta figure out all my credits-wise. Uh, pace is kind of gotta make sure I'm eligible to uh compete next year. So it's uh after this uh semester, I'll have a better idea of what uh what is going on. But as of right now, yes, I plan to be back at pace next year.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:58

Wow, that's a big if you need any letters of recommendation from two knuckleheads to do a podcast. We want you back so we can see you play and and get more education. You probably start working, you know. If you haven't finished your your degree, start working on a master's. So we want you back at pace.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:14

Sounds good, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:16

Definitely want to see you back at pace. It gives us a lot to talk about with you between the pipes. Lewis Ragusa from Yorktown Heights, Pace University Cetters. Son, you're an amazing player. We love watching you play. You've been uh somebody we've spoken about many, many times on this podcast, and we are finally so happy that you came on and uh give your dad a big shout-out for us, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:44

I will, I appreciate it. Thank you guys so, so much. It was awesome.

Final THoughts

SPEAKER_04 1:16:49

Well, there you go, Danny, the big Ragu, finally on the show in the player spotlight. It's so great to talk to him in person.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:57

Yeah, what a good kid. He was smiling the whole time. He was very personable, good-looking kid, got the flow going a little bit, you know, Yorktown Heights kid, you know, big, big, big lacrosse um hotbed Yorktown Heights. That high school's in the New York State Championship almost every year. But um, I I really like that kid. I like the way he plays, you know. We watched him since last year.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:23

He did such a good job about talking about pace and the culture of the team, and it's a family, and almost like uh pace uh university is a family, and uh uh you could see it in his uh body language, uh how much that meant to him.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:41

Yeah, he's very comfortable there, you know. It it was a good fit for him. Yeah, you know, he he everything about the school fit his personality, and you know what? And his personality is pretty good in between the pipes as well. You know, exactly. He's pretty good, he's a pretty good player, and and he's a better young man. And I was really happy he came on tonight.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:03

Yeah, and we're unfortunately, Danny, like we talked about last year about this time, it's getting bittersweet. It's sweet because of all the playoffs and great lacrosse we're getting to see, but it's bitter because just like uh talking to Louis Ragusa, we're coming to the end of the regular season. But I'll tell you what, this next week is gonna be a lot of fun to watch, and I can't wait to see it.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:26

Yeah, next week we'll we'll probably talk about the regionals a little bit. Yeah, yeah. You know, with the there's probably been a little changes here and there, especially with limestone losing. I I think with you know, Mercy winning, I think Mercy might take that top uh spot in the north. And if they don't, they'll be second to Lemoyne only because of strength of schedule. Adelphi won't get that top notch spot, I don't think. Because I think overall their strength of schedule wasn't up uh with Lemoyne or uh the other teams. You know, we talked about uh Adelphi's uh schedule being favorable, so to speak, you know. Right, right. So that I that might be the it, you know, I just think Mercy might be that number one in the in the watch out for mercy. That's all I'm gonna say.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:23

Yeah, and then in the south, certainly Tampa at top. So I think it's gonna be two Sunshine State, two SAC, and two GLBC for the six.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:32

Yeah, yes, I agree with you. Uh it'll probably be Tampa at the one spot, I think, uh after this week. Maybe Lenore Ryan in that second spot. Or or Lindenwood. Lindenwood could jump into that second spot. Could be. Okay. Depends on what the committee thinks about their RPI strength of schedule, et cetera, et cetera. Um, I think Lenore Ryan moves into that third spot with that big win over limestone, and then after that, what do you think?

SPEAKER_04 1:20:08

I think Limestone, so you got limestone then, you got U Indy, and then it could be Florida Southern or Rollins. Even though Rollins lost, it all comes down to what the RPI strength schedule is.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:18

That's I say Florida Southern gets the nod. That's just my opinion. And and I think everybody else is looking looking in, you know. That's that's the way I feel. So we'll talk more about the reasons next week as well.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:32

Yeah, with that, Danny, that's a wrap.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:36

That's a wrap, guys.