In the Crease
A "Coast to Coast" discussion on DII Lacrosse with Kevin Stenstrom and Danny Moran
In the Crease
Conference Previews for the 2022 season - NE10
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This is the third in our series of episodes on D2 Lacrosse Conference Previews for the upcoming season. This one covers one of the largest and probably best known conference - the NE10. As a bonus, Coach Tom Mariano came on to talk about his Pace team for this year, as well as the state of the NE10 . But, first Danny and I give our rundown on the state of play in this conference. If you like what we are doing, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and help us spread the word of the great things happening in D2 Men's Lacrosse! You can check out Pace at:
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Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Priest 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 our prolific pundit and prognosticator of D2 Men's Lacrosse, Danny Moran. How's it going, Danny? I can't even repeat that. You notice how I slowed down my tempo to make sure I got it. Kevin, that was impressive. Thank you so much. Kevin, I'm doing really well tonight. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I'm doing great. And well, Danny, here we go again, continuing our series of conference uh previews for the upcoming 2022 season. And tonight, we are tackling one of the big ones, and probably the best known with the NE10.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's what you keep calling the granddaddy of them all, right? The NE10, uh, the storied conference of Division II uh for years with Mary Mack and Lemoyne, and just a great conference, top to bottom um uh pace. Just, you know, just a great conference. And uh we we'll go over tonight, we'll go down that conference uh team by team and we'll talk about some of the players. And um it should be interesting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so let's let's just get right into it, Danny, and talk about the NE-10 and and where this conference looks like for the 2022 season.
SPEAKER_01You know, you talk of you you always say that the NE-10 is the granddaddy of them all. Um, you know, it's a great conference, and I it's good that we start with, you know, the top dog in the conference. Let's talk about the top, let's talk about the whole conference in itself. You have Lemoyne, St. Anslum, Adelphi, Bentley, Southern New Hampshire, Pace, Franklin Pierce, Assumption, St. Rose, and American International. It's 11 colleges. It's a big conference, okay? Right. But sitting at the top, of course, is the Lemoyne Dolphins, coached by Dan Sheehan, um, national champions from last year. Right. Um, what can you say? There's nothing, there's not much you can say other than this team is so well coached. They're so disciplined. They get great players. They had all Americans up and down both sides of the field last year. Um, okay, they're big, they're big gun Hutchings, Matt Hutchings. He's gone. But McCreary, Kevin Sheen, Lauren Seipick, yeah, they're all coming back. Yeah. Like, you know, that most of that offense is coming back.
SPEAKER_00And their face-off specialist is coming back at 58%. So, I mean, that's that's where you want to be. That's a great percentage.
SPEAKER_01But what's what's Le Moyne known for? Defense. Yeah, well, guess who's back? Nate Arnold.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So, I mean, good luck in the NE10, because because Lemoyne is poised right there. Right.
SPEAKER_00They're the top dog. They'll be the top dog again. You gotta knock them off.
SPEAKER_01And if and if you ask me, they're they're they're poised right there to be there again. I mean, they're just a phenomenal team. What can you say? Next, next man, next, next team up to really talk about in that is St. Aides, because of what they did going to the championship last year, you know, and they got a lot of guys coming back too, Kev.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they've got that young set of offensive players, you know, that are the Larson boys that are gonna be sophomores.
SPEAKER_01You ready for this? The Larson kids, okay? Freshmen, true freshmen last year on St. A's. Noah put up 38 points. And Nick Larson put up 35 points as true freshmen. Right. You know, almost 80 points between the two of them. They got three more years.
SPEAKER_00And as Coach Shimana said, though, you know, he's just got to be able to get so that uh uh Coach Sheehan doesn't, you know, just put the the D minis against them.
SPEAKER_01Well, well, they're gonna, you know, they're obviously gonna be so much better because they have that year under their belt. Without a doubt. And and yes, and they have the best, I think, in my opinion, the best goalie in division two, CJ Hart. Without a doubt. So Saint A Saint Ace is poised again, I mean, to do to do really good things. Um, next on that list is a Delphi. Um, I was gonna ask you about that. A Delphi's good, man. They're a good squad. Coach Gordon Purdy does an amazing job of recruiting kids. He gets the right kids there. Um you know their their big gun, which was Gordon's son, Gordon Jr., he's gone. But they always reload. They always reload. And and they have a division one, they have a division one transfer coming in. Tom Galgano's coming in from Binghamton. He's gonna, I'm sure he's gonna be really, really good for that defense. Uh Delphi is gonna be a team to reckon with nationally, I I think this year.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, when I looked at their roster, Danny, and I was gonna ask you about that, and I think you hit upon it, right? If I looked at it, especially on the the offensive side, they've got their number two score returning, but realistically, it looks like they have to reload. But it's a reload, and it's probably a you know, next man up. Who's next that's been there that's gonna take over? And you know they've got depth, you know they're well coached, yes. So they've got they've got players that are poised to come in. You just can't believe that they're not.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I just I just know what a Delphi does year in and year out. Um, what that coaching staff does and how disciplined they are, but they get really good players to come there. So again, you know, if they lose a couple of big guns, it's next man up, man. Just like you said.
SPEAKER_00You know, last year they had to play Lemoyne three times. Those were their three. Yeah, you know, I mean I like we, I mean, that's so, you know, and this year's gonna be different. The the uh they're gonna have out-of-conference play. They're not gonna play all just in conference. I think it's gonna be the schedule's gonna be different even within conference. So they're not gonna probably see Lemoyne twice, probably see him once before they they get him in into the the tournament, right? So it's gonna be a little bit different. And now Delphi's probably gonna be right up at the top.
SPEAKER_01Uh no doubt. They're gonna be right in it. I guarantee it. I just they're just like I said, Coach Gordon Purdy does an amazing job with recruiting and just getting really good players to come and buy into his program. And, you know, they're they're nationally parental, they're a perennial national team every year, you know. They're always, always in the mix, always. And I think next year they're gonna be really good. I really do believe that. Um, next on that list is pace with Coach Tom Mariano, the pace setters up in Pleasantville in Westchester County, New York. Um that team, to me, they had a six and seven record last year, but that just didn't that that's not pace. Okay, that's not who they are. Um, again, they they had to play Lemoyne a few times as well. They lost to him by uh one game by three, they lost another game to Lemoyne by two, they lost to a Delphi in overtime, and they lost to St. A's in the conference quarterfinals, uh semifinals by two. By two. So, you know, they have four losses there, all within two goals. So, and two of those losses were against the National Championship Lemoyne Dolphins.
SPEAKER_00So right, and we're gonna have the coach on a little bit later to get his perspective. But if you look at some of the players he has even coming back, right? So the number two and number three scores are coming back with Jake Ferris and Anthony Caputo. You know, he's also bringing back a goalkeeper we love, right? The Ragu. That's right.
SPEAKER_01So Lewis Ragusa and goal goalie. You know, he was an all-American last year. He he was he's a really good goalie. So um you ask any coach in any any conference high school, junior high school, if you got a good goalie, you got a chance to win the game. You know, he he's gonna make stops. So I think Pace is gonna come out with a little chip on their shoulder this year. I really do.
SPEAKER_00You know, yeah, I don't see them staying at 500 this year.
SPEAKER_01Oh, hell no. No, no, no, no. They're too good. They're much better, you know, and they're out of conference schedule. I know that they've tried to, you know, they try to get some good teams on their out of conference schedule, but I don't know what everything's gonna be like with COVID and travel and overnight still. That might not be back to 100% normal like we knew two years ago. So we'll have to see what Pace does out of conference, but I think they're gonna be a force to be reckoned with in the NE 10.
SPEAKER_00So those are yeah, I'm excited to see where they where they go.
SPEAKER_01So Lamont, St. A's, Adelphi, and Pace, those squads right there. It's it's their conference. And I think everybody else is next, if you ask.
SPEAKER_00What about Bentley? What do you think of Bentley? Now they were over 500 last year.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, they were, and they had a really good season, you know, and they got a couple of, you know, some of their scorers are coming back, you know.
SPEAKER_00Um, yeah, they're they have a solid MIDI core coming back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Ben Baldessaro is coming back, and Chris Campbell's coming back, and these were their top scorers last year. So, you know what? Bentley's Bentley is right there, right there. I think they have a little bit of work to do, but again, they're in a tough conference, man.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, unless some seniors come back, it looks like they have to totally reload on attack. And, you know, I don't know enough about Bentley to know about their their depth. Like you see it like we've just talked about with the Delphi. You always know that they've got the depth there. Bentley's always been a good team, though. They've always had a good team in the NE 10. So it'll be interesting to see. I I do agree with you. I think I would give the edge to Pace. As a matter of fact, last year I think Pace beat Bentley twice. Yes. So, I mean, I think that edge is still there, but Bentley's gonna be Bentley's gonna give other teams in the conference and out of conference a lot of trouble.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, they're not they're not the type of team that you can just roll over. They're they're gonna be a scrappy, gritty bunch. And you can ask any coach in the NE-10 how good Bentley was last year. You know, they were a scrappy bunch. You know, they did they just didn't lay down for teams. And, you know, sometimes good teams don't like teams like Bentley. They don't like playing teams like that.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_01You know, they just don't like it. They're like, damn, this team's good, you know, and it could be one ground ball, one save in a difference in a game. So Bentley's right there. They're you know, I don't think they're in that group yet, that upper echelon group of the NE10 just yet. Uh but I think they're knocking on that doorstep a little bit. Right. Next on that list uh is Franklin Pierce, another uh really like well-coached, gritty uh team uh that you know might just be it might be a depth problem with with Franklin Pierce. Uh but they got some of their scorers coming back, Owen McCormick and Cabe Caleb Akilah. Yeah, they're coming back, and you know they they should be a squad much like what they were this year, I think.
SPEAKER_00You know, let's see what they it looks like to me they gotta improve on their face-offs. They're only about 32% last year, which is you know, that's the killer.
SPEAKER_01That's a killer, man.
SPEAKER_00That's a killer because you're now you've got to get your deep your defense has to carry you too many times. It's just tough to do that. And if you look at their their record from last year, to me, they need to be able to close the gap with teams over 500.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. But you know what? You need the ball. You know, you need the ball, you need possessions. So, you know, that that kills a team at 32%. That's not good. So and you know what? I'm finding out that a lot of colleges, you know, had recruited kids to come in and face-off that have been on their knee their whole life, you know, going at with motorcycle grip. They've been doing it their whole life, they've gone to training, they've gone to face-off camps, they've gone, you know, they they're so specialized at it. And then last year the NCAA changed that rule where everybody's off their knee, they're back to regular grip. And I think that's hurt some teams. Oh, I honestly do, you know, and so now coaches are looking for face-off kids who can face off from the squatting position and and not on their knee anymore. And I don't know how many kids are that great at that. You know, I'm seeing, I guess what I'm seeing is a lot more 50-50 balls at at face-off now. Sure. You know, so that's exciting in a way.
SPEAKER_00It's fun to watch. It's nerve-wracking at times, but it is fun to watch, without a doubt.
SPEAKER_01So then next on that list is St. Michael's. Kev, this this is the team that's struggling, you know. St. Michaels is struggling. You know, again, they're in a tough, tough conference. Then you got Assumption right behind them, you know, only won two games last year.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and both of them, so you know, St. Michael's, you know, if you look at their their stats, you know, their face-off wasn't bad at 50%, but you know, they're they're only averaging, they were only averaging eight goals per game, and that was basically the same thing as Assumption. You know, and both those teams, you know, like Assumption, their man up was only at 9% last year. That's not good. So you've those stats have got to change, and um they've got to work on some things, you know. But both those teams have to have to work on that. Now, Assumption's got a couple of their attackmen returning, you know, a few defenders. So they they're bringing back some of the same players. And then, you know, really St. Michael's, what they've got to do, I think, is they even struggled last year. Uh, and last year, like with all the COVID things and everything else, it was just different. They struggled even with those teams like Southern, the ones right at that 500 level, right? That's how they have to get over. They need to start beating the Southern New Hampshire. They need to play better against Franklin Pierce, you know, to really improve. They need to do that against Assumption. And then that that, you know, they they need to take the little bites first.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00They don't have to worry about Lemoyne to improve. They don't have to worry about Le Moine. They need to worry about the ones that were about at 500 where they can really try to improve their game there.
SPEAKER_01I I agree with you. You know, they have to get past teams like Franklin Pierce on a consistent basis and you know, to start thinking about getting to that, taking that next step. And that sounds like to me, uh recruiting, it might be like one or two players away, Kev. Right. You know, you get that one, you know, that one Under Armour All-American kid that says, Hey, St. Mike's, I'm coming. You know, and that could be the difference in changing a program around, getting that one kid. So let's see what they do this year as far as recruiting, and hopefully St. Michael's uh, you know, can put out a little bit of a better product. Yep. But again, they're in the NE 10, man. Like it's that's that's no joke of a conference. I mean, top to bottom, really.
SPEAKER_00Right. And and so we'll see what out of conference play does for them, too. And you hope that they also can add some teams that challenge them as well out of conference, because I think that's what you need, you know, um, to to really try to improve. What about Southern New Hampshire?
SPEAKER_01Again, that that's another team, you know, that's a 500 team that they're gritty, they get some good players from that that area. Um that's that's another team that's probably like one or two players away from being pretty darn good. You know, they're scrappy, they go out, they they they play hard. Um they do all the right things, but they're playing Adel Phi, they're playing Pace, they're playing Le Moyne, and they're you know, they're playing St. Anselms, they're playing some really, really good squads.
SPEAKER_00Now they've got they've got their number two and number three score returning, you know, Chris Valentine being one of them. They they've got their face-off specialists returning, and he was at about 58% last year, which is great, you know, it's a it's a good thing. And then and then their their goalkeeper, Ronda Paul is looks like he's coming back, and he was at about 59%, you know, save percentage. So they've got some core guys that they can continue to build around. It's just, I think you're right. I think it becomes down to that depth, and then, you know, making that next leap of you know, playing a little bit tougher against that those top teams we talked about.
SPEAKER_01Again, you know, it's it's it's about getting that one, that one player that can really change the program around. And, you know, Southern New Hampshire, they take care of all the business they're supposed to take care of, and they struggle against the big boys. Right. You know, so how do you get there? You again, I think you need that that one that one guy, that one kid that can really, you know, change change the program around a little bit. And and they got players up there, you know, that it's it's not like they they have to travel far to recruit to get really good players. So I'm I'm excited to see what Southern New Hampshire can do because they got some seasoned players coming back, and Coach's got to be happy about that. You know, he's got some key players coming back, and that's important.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Now, what about St. Rose?
SPEAKER_01Well, they got a new coach now, you know. And we've talked to him. He's bringing a lot of energy. He's bringing it.
SPEAKER_00Coach Williams is bringing a lot of energy. Yes, when he talks about playing championship caliber lacrosse, and that's his mantra. I mean, I think that's great. That's a great way to get your team focused, right? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01I mean, if if it's like being at home. If you want your kids to go to college, you gotta talk about college at home a lot, right? So if you want your team to be champions, you have to approach your your your approach has to be like a champion. Hey, this is what it takes to be a champion. This is what we need to do to be champions. And that's what uh coach has is gonna bring to St. Rose, you know, um first first time head coach. And like you you want to talk about enthusiastic. He was a really he was a great guest. And you know what? He was an assistant to another great coach uh of it up at Frostburg Stage, Coach Garleman. So he's got some pedigree, and I think he's gonna do good things, but uh I think it's gonna be a few years until he gets his cleats dug in uh into the program and gets his everything going the way he wants it to go. I think it's gonna be a few years. But I think in four years from now, we're gonna be talking to St. Rose different about differently about St. Rose. They're not gonna be the one in eight team in the NE10 anymore.
SPEAKER_00Right. I think you got to look at um two things. One, I think you need to look at now that you know we gotta look, well, we've already talked about this a little bit. What does the schedule look like in 2022 versus how they did it in the NE-10 and conference play in 2021? Right? That may change things up for a little bit. But I think the other thing for St. Rose is I think they will be more competitive. I'm not sure it's going to translate to wins this next year, but you're gonna see that that steady growth, I think. That transition.
SPEAKER_01Right. That transition of them making that change. And again, I agree with you. Uh you'll see the competition. I'm sure Coach is gonna bring the he'll have them boys playing hard, I'm sure. Like you said, it may not translate into wins, but if they can stay competitive, and and that will help in recruiting, and he's uh you know a really good recruiter. He he knows that northeast area up there, and and uh he I think in three years when he has his cleats dug in real hard. At St. Rose, I think you're going to see a much different team. I really do.
SPEAKER_00It'll be it'll be great to watch. So so now I think we're we're basically almost wrapped up. I think we've got uh uh AIC, what I like to call AIC. I grew up in the area um in right near Springfield, Massa. I would love to see American International College, AIC, start to turn the tide. It's like I watch on D3. I watch, I I follow Springfield College, right? Because those are the two closest to where I grew up. You know, they're in my backyard as a kid. And, you know, unfortunately, right now, and and I'm dated, right? So I'm gonna give you a little perspective. You know, I'm an old man, I've got gray hair, so and I haven't lived in that area for a long time. But when I was growing up, uh American International College was a local college. It was local kids that went to that school. It wasn't known much more outside of the Western Mass and Massachusetts, let alone, you know, New England, New York, Pennsylvania. It really wasn't known about that. And if you look at their roster right now, it somewhat reflects that. I looked at their roster and they've only got about 24 players, and about 15 of them come right from that western mass area. Now, Western Mass, if you look at, and I'm dated for this again, right? Because I haven't been there for a long time. When I was growing up, Western Mass was not as well known for high school across as in the eastern part of the state, right? When you get from, you know, in the Boston area. That's where all the really good schools were from in high school and where you'd recruit from. So they've got a base right now, in my opinion, where they still have to build from. They've got a very young team, almost all freshmen and sophomores, and uh and a shorter roster, which means they don't have the depth. You know, with only 24, you know, you you're they're gonna be playing a lot of games.
SPEAKER_01All right.
SPEAKER_00Tough to keep that that that pace up. So I think they're still a little ways off. Um, I my opinion, and I you know, would love we we'd I'd love to get the coach on. We'll we'll reach out to him, see if he wants to get on during the season, is talk about that. Like, I think that to me, you almost have to start to see if you recruit outside of that western Massachusetts area. Now they've got some players from outside, so they're starting it's not like they have only that, right? But that's what I would that's what I was seeing.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, I don't know much about AIC, to be honest with you. I just know that they've been struggling for a long time there. Um I again, I I don't know much about the school, and I just learned a lot just from you just now. I mean I mean, this is school obviously that is struggling to get players, but hey, you know what? They're going out and they're playing. That's right. And they're in the NE 10. So there's 24 kids and made up of like freshmen and sophomores, which it to me is kind of cool because I'm a freshman, I'm playing. I don't give a crap if I get beat up. I uh you know, I want to win, but I'm out there playing. I'm playing the game I love, and I'm only gonna get better.
SPEAKER_00You can't let's see what they're gonna be like when they're juniors and seniors. We talked about this with Coach Prince in DeUville, right? That's correct. So that wasn't where he was going at first to bring in mostly freshmen, but that's where he transitioned to. And if he thought about it, he's like, look at and all these kids from AIC are playing in the NE 10. They're they are playing top-notch teams that they will only learn from. And if they take it as lessons learned to try to build from, maybe in a couple of years they also can, you know, put some wins under their belt and start to change around uh AIC into more of a winning program. Well, you know what?
SPEAKER_01I think all of Division II and the NE 10 would love to see uh American International turn that turn that, you know, go from first base to second base, so to speak, you know. I think I think the entire conference and the entire division would love to see that. And you know what? Hey, for you young players out there, you know, uh AIC you can play. Go up there and play and get an education.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Exactly. So anything else uh that we missed as we go through kind of that roundup and preview of NE10 that you want to talk about? No, this has been a really a fun one, you know.
SPEAKER_01Uh I'm excited for the season. You know, the season.
SPEAKER_00Well, we're not over with this right now, so because what we'd like to like to do is bring in bring in a coach from the NE10. Uh luckily Coach Mariano from Pace has been willing to come on and talk to us not only about his team, but about NE10 and the N D2. So why don't we bring them on?
SPEAKER_01Hey, that's a great idea, Coach Tom Mariano from Pace University, everybody.
SPEAKER_00Hey coach, how you doing tonight?
SPEAKER_02Good, good, great tonight. Thanks for having me on. Thanks for doing.
SPEAKER_01We really appreciate it. Yeah, we do. We really appreciate it. We're humbled again, Kevin and I, or to to have another great coach from a great team come on and talk about not only the NE10, but we'll talk about some pace lacrosse tonight, too. You know, the NE10 has been what Kevin likes to call the granddaddy of them all. And when it comes to conferences, um, you know, story teams up and down, uh just ranked teams throughout. Um, and pace has been no different. Um we want to talk a little bit about last year and and what's gonna go on for the future here at PACE and and and and the future of the NE10. Um uh last year was a kind of a crazy year because of COVID and everything, and you guys basically played in conference. Um you had a record that quite frankly, I don't think really reflects your team and and how good they are. Um you had an overall six to seven record, but you had to play Lemoyne three times. And yeah, you know, a Delphi, you lost in OT to you know, a Delphi. And Lemoyne by 3-1 at first time, you lost to Lemoyne by two, and then insane A's in the conference championships. You lost by two, like you were right there. Um tell us about last season.
SPEAKER_02You know, I think, you know, I you know, it took a long time to kind of get us there, and then it took a long time. You know, the season at times felt like it was forever, and then it was at times it felt like it was really rushed. You know, I think for all of us it was very awkward. We were doing things different, you know, two buses, sit here, here's assigned charts. Right. You know, our meals were different, nobody was staying overnight. I mean, the stories I've heard, not just from us, but coaches at all divisions, you know, traveling, you know, five hours one way to play a game, six hours, seven hours to play a game, get back in the bus, you know, you didn't have locker rooms. So, you know, it was a crazy experience, but I think we're all just so grateful to be playing. Um, you know, and I think early on, you know, we're we're programmed that we speak honesty and truth. And, you know, right away once the schedule came out, and I said, we got a doozy. You know, we're playing, you know, obviously, you know, the Northeast 10 is arguably the best conference in the country. And honestly, not just Men's lacrosse. I mean, you look at every single sport. I mean, we just had two teams make the NCAA tournament in football, which typically football has been a weaker sport for us, but every other sport is putting in two to four or five teams in the NCAA tournament. So we knew it was gonna be tough, but I think, you know, uh, we had a lot of older guys last year who took the challenge head on. Great leadership. You know, we had a chance, we had a lot of conversations with Division I'm to play, and unlike other people, we weren't gonna make an exhibition because what was the point of playing the exhibition? You know, if we're gonna play, put it on the scoreboard, ESPN 3, it counts. So we end up 6-7, which for us is a bad season. But I'm very proud of our kids and our players. They didn't blink. You know, we weren't scheduled to play a game for three months, three weeks. BU calls me Tuesday at night, says, Hey, do you guys want to play? Talk to my administrators. Okay. By Wednesday afternoon, we're playing Saturday. Well, just so you understand, we hadn't done Man Atman down at that point. We hadn't even done six-on-six, we hadn't done full field, we hadn't stitched full field yet. Because we started in late January and we weren't gonna play until March 20th. So we didn't want to burn the team out. So literally within 72 hours, you know, we put in some man up, some man down, full field. And I was very happy with with our the men in the program. We went up and played hard, and BU was good, and you know, it was a good first half, and they kind of wore us down. I think honestly, we saw this with everybody last year. If you had that a game or two in before everybody, that year and a half off, it showed. And then we just we knew it was gonna be tough going into Le Moyne. I mean, you know, is there a better program in college lacrosse than Le Moyne? I don't I don't think so. You know, and I'm not talking Division II. I'm talking at any level. So we knew that was gonna be a battle. And I, you know, and if you know anything about the NE10 and Pace and the Delphi, you know, it's hard for me to say it's a rivalry because we've only beaten them once in the like 60 times we've played them in the eight years I've been at Pace. Okay. But I think if you ask the kids who play in that program uh in our program, it's an absolute just knockdown, drag out. You know, we do have major issues with officials because officials come in, oh, it's pace of Delphi. It's pace Adelphi. These guys are gonna be crazy, they're gonna go at each other. Which we want to as coaches and players, but they flag everything. Yeah. But it's you know, I think it was one of those, you know, we took the phrase we get to play, and you've seen it a lot. We knew it was hard, but the reality is if we played a normal any ten schedule, it was going to be difficult. And that's why, you know, I love all the boys down south and all the people across the country. Oh, the NY10, you know, our top to bottom is better. Play the schedule that we play. You know, imagine playing, you know, pace of Delphi Lemoyne Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday. And then you turn around, no doubt. And then you turn around on Tuesday and you've got to travel four hours to Franklin Pierce, who is as tough a team as there is. Well coached, gritty. You know, we played there once in late April and it was snowing. You know, so it's not just our talent top to bottom, it's the whole gamut and grind of the NE10, which I think separates us from every, you know, all these other people have a week between games, and that's cute. You know, if we're being honest, that's cute. You know, we're playing six straight weeks of weekday games.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, no, pace is you know, my sister went to pace. I know all about pace. Okay, awesome. You know, I know about Pleasantville. I've been up on the campus a bunch of times. I uh had a uh son, my one of my son's friends, Vogelsberg, played at uh base a couple years ago, and he's a good player too. So I watched a lot of pace, I watched a lot of games.
SPEAKER_02Um I mean, we won't bring up that Sean turned us down, but we won't bring that up. I often remind him when I see him on the recruiting show.
SPEAKER_01Oh boy, okay.
SPEAKER_02We won't bring that up.
SPEAKER_01That's great, Coach. I appreciate that. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02Listen, the NE10, you know, listen, Division II, I just don't think that's why when I said before, if we can talk Division II, you know, I'll put some of the con, and not just the NE10, but a lot of the conferences. It's just really good lacrosse. It's competitive, people are committed, you know, there's full-time coaches left and right. I mean, look at the amount of teams. You know, we're almost past division one, and 10 years ago, you know, division two, 15 years ago, had like 35 teams. That's right. That's right. It's doubled that, and more are coming. You know, we're still adding. So I, you know, I just have such a great respect for the coaches, the players, because we're kind of, you know, it's no frills, it's no frills across, man. It's meat and potatoes, kids playing, competing, grinding. It's awesome. I I've enjoyed being in division two immensely. I've enjoyed the the rivalries with the coaches and the players, and you know, I think we definitely we still have a little camaraderie at our level that you don't see like Division I. You know, Division I they all hate each other and they badmouth each other, and you know, yeah, we we you know a lot of guys badmouth each other in division two, but at the end of the day, everybody has a healthy respect and and such a great camaraderie.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and coach, you said it, you couldn't have said it better. I mean, that's kind of why Danny and I started this whole thing because we didn't think that D2 was getting the love that it deserved. I mean, you you I can't say it any better than you said it as far as the competition. I loved how you called it meat and potatoes. It's no frills. You go out there, it's great play, and it's just fun, fun, fun to watch.
SPEAKER_02Well, and the other thing too is, you know, we've been playing, a lot of us have been playing shot clock shot clock lacrosse way before the shot clock came in.
SPEAKER_01What do you mean? What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02Fast, not overcoaching it. You know, in the N how much can you coach when you play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday?
SPEAKER_01No, you're right. I hear you.
SPEAKER_02You know, we're barely practicing, especially your starters. You get in that run, you they've got to rest, they've got to recover. You know, we're very mindful of their bodies. We've got to give them a break. So, how much are you really doing? Where a lot of times it's, you know, and that's where your schematics and your philosophy and your fundamentals and the foundation of your program stand out. But, you know, I I look at some of these playbooks, and I'm not going to name divisions, but there's some guys, and you know, and they get paid a lot of money, and they, you know, I think they get paid by the page in their playbook. And they got a lot of plays. You know, honestly, last year we ran two plays. We ran a bunch of different offenses, but we ran two plays the whole year. Right. It wasn't about that. It's not about that at this level, I think, you know, especially in the N-10 because we're playing so much.
SPEAKER_01And and high quality lacrosse as well. You know, that's you know, you're top level lacrosse. And like you said, in Division II, that that that quality is coming out in more and more teams, more conferences are sending teams to to the NCAAs now, and you know, teams out west.
SPEAKER_02You know, you're missing out if you didn't watch a Lingate Wingate Lenore Ryan game last year, you know, a Tampa Lenore Ryan game, Belmont Abbey. I mean, I could go down the list, Mount Olive. Right. You know, if you didn't watch Bentley, you know, watch a Pace Bentley game, watch Oh yeah. We did, we did watch that game. You know, those two.
SPEAKER_00And we even we even talked about the championship of the Peach Belt. I mean, you watched that game, it was it was great, great lacrosse, and you saw how much invested the kids were in that game.
SPEAKER_02And then, you know, you're talking about the Monte Vallos and you know, freaking the team to watch out for right now is Newberry. I mean, there's just you know, you Indy, Coach Stocks. I mean, the guy's a wizard. You know, Frostburg State's ready to take the next step. Right. You know, and I think our attitude is, you know, we'll play anybody anywhere if it fits. I can't say I can't say that for a lot of my other peers in Division II who don't seem to want to play us on a consistent basis. But, you know, that's my little shade at some DQ coaches if they watch us.
SPEAKER_01A lot of guys, you know. I'm loving it, coach.
SPEAKER_02And I love the guys who are like, we'll play you February 5th. I'm like, we've been practicing for a week. Like, thanks.
SPEAKER_01Right, exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_02And then they all ask, hey, we'll play you mid-April. You know we have midweek games. And it's it's hard to get any 10-game on the schedule, but we're starting to see everybody wants to play Lemoyne, but no one wants to play like Pace St. Anselm. And honestly, I don't I don't blame them.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_00How does your off-conference schedule look like this year? It has that been solidified yet?
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep. You know, we we've we don't have contracts back, so I guess technically I can't talk about it, but we've got you know a team out of Delaware, Wilmington, like Coach Wickert's a good friend of mine. You know, they're up and coming program, they're gonna be talented. You know, Mickey Hover at Georgian Court's doing a really good job. Right. You know, they'll the that's always a good game for us, you know, and then we'll have Dominican, who's local to us, and Caldwell. You know, Coach Clank's doing a nice job. Um, you know, that's some of the other things we run into a little bit. You know, we we we're traveling so much in the A10, like we'd love to, we've tried to schedule Mercy Hearst, tried to schedule Seton Hill. How many overnights can we do in one season? How much time can we be on a bus? Right. You know, we just haven't been able to work it out. And you know, yeah, you're also with COVID and the regionalization of all this, you're not really gonna see many of the north versus south games, which is a shame. You know, we'd love to go, we'd love to play Wingate and Coach Boyle, he's a good friend. Like we, you know, Coach Barrett of Belmont Abbey, you know, Lenore Ryan, we would play all those guys, but we just can't fit them in.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. That's a shame. It's a shame because that that's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00Those would be great games. I would love to see more of those from the you know northern northern division conference teams against southern conference teams in regular season play.
SPEAKER_02I just think the problem is right now, you know, we could go play the number one team in the country from the south, beat them, and it doesn't really help us for the NCAA. It'll help you a little bit, but it doesn't help you as much as beating, honestly, and I, you know, I'll get uh scolded for this, but in terms of the rankings, you might play like the 15th team in the country from the north, and that gives you more points towards the NCA than beating the number one team ranked in the South. Which is a shame, because like you said, those would be great games.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, those would be great games. It's a shame. Maybe uh maybe maybe in the future this division two will start to grow because it's growing exponentially, this division. Uh maybe, maybe that'll be part of the norm where the North goes to play the South, you know, a no a normal thing.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think what we really need to happen, we we we honestly could use another 15 to 30 teams, and then we could legitimately push for expansion of our brackets because we just got it, so it's hard to ask for, and we do have some growth, but it's not the same as let's say Division III or the women's game that is just growing through the roof. Right. You know, we do need to expand, to expand the brackets, we need to add more teams, and then you could start getting funky and maybe you know three regions, maybe no regions, you have AQs, but yeah, I know a lot of conferences want AQs, and you know, we've had years where the NE10s had three or four teams in the NCA tournament, and a lot of times we've been that third or fourth team, so we're not necessarily in fan, you know, fans of the AQ right now until we get extension.
SPEAKER_01I I don't think we're there yet with the automatic qualifiers, but I think it's trending towards that way, maybe four four or five years from now.
SPEAKER_02Like I said, I think if we could, you know, and there is different talks of different teams, you know, we've had some didn't have growth for a little bit. We've added a few teams, some teams have moved to division one, some teams have moved up, some teams have added.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02You know, I think we would legitimately within the next five years need to add ten more teams minimum. And that's just me throwing numbers out. I don't have any facts, any basis on that.
SPEAKER_01I think you're gonna see that. I think it I think that's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_02I think so. You know, you look at you know, look at division one. I mean, just look at the you know, the power five, and I know they're getting beaten by games, and but that happens happens once in a while. You know, the power five is the best because they can't figure out how to spend money. That's how much money they have. Right. They're doing anything they want, you know. You got iPads for iPads for players, you know, and I know I'm being a little exaggerating there, but it's I know what you're saying. But it it's you know, they just have that big time football and basketball money, and that's why you know you look at the Loyolas, the Denvers, to see them have the success they have, kind of, you know, not smaller schools, but certainly not high profile programs like in Ohio State or Penn State or Virginia. Right, right, right. So you know, but in division two, you know, we're all pretty similar in size. Some are a little smaller, some a little bit bigger. You know, funding's all over the place, but I think in division two, with the way the aid is done and no countable aid, it allows people to be competitive.
SPEAKER_01It certainly does. I agree.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so then, coach, just going to this season, can you just give us a feel for what how you you're thinking about your team? I looks like you have some good players coming back, both on the offensive side and the defensive side, especially, you know, one player that we really love is your goalkeeper.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02The Ragu.
SPEAKER_00Ragault.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Lewis, you know, we think he's one of the best in the country, if not the best. He is and I'll I'll keep pounding my chest. You know, he may not always have the best stats. Well, you know, play a Delphi three times and play Lemoyne twice in some of these teams, and you're maybe not going to have the best stats save percentage. But he's not far off. But I I wouldn't want anybody else, you know, in goal for me. You know, I think, you know, and I I you know, we've kind of had this fall like, you know, coach, man, a third defenseman, you know, it's a tough spot. I'm like, why? Because he's not Dan Lewis, who might have been the best player in division two. Like, no duh. Thanks, guys. You know, so you know, Dan. 6'5, 240, an absolute animal on the field. You don't replace players like that. Right. But the guy going in is going to be good. And the guys who are fighting for that spot, they're much better now than five years ago my third defenseman was. So, you know, I think we've improved our depth. We've added a couple, you know, key guys, some some really good looking freshmen have had good falls. It's great. You know, we're excited, but I think, you know, listen, every coach, right? Every coach, uh, fallball was good. You know, it was pretty good to good. And the coaches who say it was great, they end up having terrible springs anyways. So you you don't quite know. You don't really know, you know, to be honest. But we like the group we have, we're working hard, you know. We've kind of, you know, we're doing some different things. You know, we we very much, like I said, you know, we believe in shot clock offense. And by that I mean we don't worry about the shot clock. We're not worried about it. We just play.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, and I think that's how we practice, that's how we approach things. You know, just our kind of mission statement. We want these kids to be great. I want them to be the best versus themselves in everything they do. I don't know what that means for each one of them. It's different, but that that is a relentless pursuit of excellence every single day.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but your boys get after it, coach, game in and game out. There's no doubt about that. I mean, again, I don't think that this record really explains the kind of season and the kind of team that you have and you put out year after year. You're constantly in the top 10.
SPEAKER_02No, we honestly, and I I'm not one, you know, I think you're earning on the field, you know, and I think this is coming from coaches down south who had great teams last year, who were like, you guys are really good. You know, we felt we honestly were a top 10 team. You know, we felt honestly ourselves and a Delphi. I mean, a Delphi was the best team to not make the NC tournament. They were ridiculous last year. What they get penalized because they lost to Lemoyne three times by a handful of goals. Which that's exactly what happened. Absolutely. Their games were ridiculous. Ridiculous. The the action, the the level of play, you know, it's two different styles. You know, it's there's no love between upstate and Long Island. Right. You know, and and I honestly I feel bad for that program and those players. And I feel, you know, sometimes we're our own worst enemy in the N. But we know it. We don't we don't shy away from it. We talk about as coaches. We own it. We're gonna own it. We you know, I think that's our attitude in our conference. You know, we think we're we have really good teams across the board. Let's prove it on the field.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. That's that's the best uh that's the best stuff I've heard in a long time. What about you, Kev?
SPEAKER_00Well, that's right. I mean, I think that's what we want to see. We're looking forward to it this next season, and and we really appreciate you coming on, coach, and talking to us, give us your insights and and not only where you're going, but I I loved your comments not only about the NE10, but about D2 as well. I I really appreciate that and and really appreciate you coming on.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think, you know, I think hopefully, I don't think we're all like this, but I think we all need to be like this. You know, obviously you care about your family, you know, and for all of us, our family is our players and our program, you know, you they're number one in your heart. You're gonna protect them. But then you next protect your conference, and then ultimately we all have to protect the division. Right. And I just think unfortunately, you know, and honestly, the guy, and I know people don't believe it or believe, you know, I learned a lot of that I've learned from Danny Sheehan. You know, and I I remind Danny all the time I might be the only division two coach, right? I might be the only coach in America who actually likes Danny. Um, Danny's awesome. You know, when you win 98% of your games, you can do whatever you want. Yeah. Right. But, you know, Danny going in the last year, and he said it even at the end, he goes, I don't care about winning. I'm just happy that my team is playing. I'm just happy we're all playing. I'm just happy we're able to play. And I don't think, and he's just so quiet and modest, and he doesn't care about awards. He could care less about all American coach of the year. He just cares about his players having a great experience. But he's always very protective of the N and very protective Division II. And I learned that early with him, and I think it's a trick-a-done effect. I think a lot of guys in our conference, and a lot of guys in other conferences, I get to see a lot because as the president of USLA, I see how guys vote All American and how guys do this and do that. Right. I'd like to see us all protect Division II. Because without a good Division II, we don't have good jobs. We don't have great opportunities for our players.
SPEAKER_01Well, again, you know, like Kevin said earlier, the reason why we're doing this podcast is because nobody really talks about Division II uh in the social atmosphere, in this in this day of social media.
SPEAKER_02Um it's really it's really hard to talk about division two when you've got a mouthful of Division I.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but you know what? That's what we we're saying screwed Division I. There's a really great brand of lacrosse coming on here in Division II.
SPEAKER_02And then we all, I mean, perfect example is, and I know Mike's not happy about it, but you know, you look at what Charlie Bertrand did at Merrimack, who was an absolute just animal. Right. I don't know. He looked pretty darn good in a Virginia uniform.
SPEAKER_01Sure, sure as hell did. He'd be pretty darn good. And you know, we've had other coaches on our podcast, and we've talked about Division I type players are coming to D2. They're coming to hey, I'm coming to play, I'm getting a stacked scholarship, I'm gonna, I'm getting some academic money, I'm getting some athletic money. It's gonna cost me a hell of a lot less money to go to school there, and I got a better chance of playing, and then sitting at Virginia for two years, or sitting at, you know, one of the top Division I schools for two years. So you're getting Division I type players in Division II. You're getting that caliber now in Division II.
SPEAKER_02100%. You know, I've listened everybody's got their own path, their own, they're okay, they're gonna beat the drum the way they want. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. You know, we've had some Division I transfers, and honestly, some of them have worked out and been great for us, and some of them have not been very good. And that's kind of why they had to transfer from Division I because they weren't committed to the game. But it's like anything else. If you're committed to the game and you love doing this, and you have some ability and some drive, you're gonna be good. I mean, that's you know, point blank. I don't care what level. High school, you know, NAI, you know, buddy mine coaches NAI, NAI, they have great lacrosse, great players. I mean, it's just division three, division two, division one. I tell recruits, don't get caught up in the divisions. You know, find a place where you can be great and have a tremendous experience and enjoy this because the rest of your life's gonna kind of suck. And I say that you know, as you you know, add that mortgage payment and car payment and facilities and college tuition.
SPEAKER_01That's great advice. That's great advice.
SPEAKER_02You know, how many college players right now know how much a phone bill is? You know, what a cell phone costs?
SPEAKER_01They don't know. They don't. No.
SPEAKER_02Hopefully, Sean's been cut off and he knows what his Verizon bill or APT costs. He's on his own, coach.
SPEAKER_01He's on his own.
SPEAKER_02God bless him. You know, and I think that that's you know, there's just there's so many great opportunities, you know, at all levels. And obviously, we're biased in division two, but we tell recruits, hey, find find a place that's you, be you, find the right choice. And there's so many, there's not that many great players right now. And let's face it, the great players are all going to the same schools. Yep. And then hopefully some of us are trying to steal guys that develop. But man, there's a lot of pretty good to really good players who, if they come in and work hard, will develop and turn out to be pretty special. And it's fun watching that. And it's honestly it's fun watching a kid who's not a great player but is a really hard worker and plays for four years, has a great experience, texts you once a week because he had a great experience, and he gets a really good job because he knows how to work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And chances are when you graduate from PACE, you're gonna get a pretty good job.
SPEAKER_02You know, uh the people you know we we have, you know, we have some seniors that are coming back, but you know, I think probably 50-60% of our seniors either have job offers or have already accepted jobs, and you know, the last in the this is my ninth year of PACE, we're probably at like sixty-five to sixty-eight thousand dollars starting salary.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. That's not bad.
SPEAKER_01No, no. That's not bad. Most of everybody that I know that graduated from PACE have have done very well for themselves. So it's a great school academically, you know, definitely, no doubt. And they've been putting out great lacrosse teams year after year. And I'm sure that this upcoming year is going to be no different, coach. We really wish you the best of luck. And thanks for coming on with us tonight. We really do appreciate it. And uh we'd love to get you back on. You've been a great guest.
SPEAKER_02Definitely. Well, I appreciate what you guys do. You know what? Listen, I've been doing this for you know 28 years, you know, Division I, II and Pros, and I love talking lacrosse. I could talk for hours. I always tell people, as long as it fits, I'll I'll help out any way, any way I can. You know, much to my wife. Just like when I told my wife, I'm like, yeah, I think I'm gonna add another, I'm gonna fly to Michigan in December. That'll be my third weekend away to do clinics and stuff. But you just, you know, and now with the social media, the interaction. I'm talking to, you know, I have high school coaches from Montana, like, hey, I saw this drill you put up. What are you doing there? Wow, the interaction, it's awesome right now. I mean, honestly, what a great time to be in La Crosse, in my opinion. You know, we've got all these tremendous coaches that aren't college coaches, that aren't high school coaches, they're just training kids and it's it's high value, high content. I mean, it's awesome. The game, the skill level. You know, I went last week into an Igloo tournament, watched 2024s and 2023s. The 2024s were ridiculous. Yeah, yeah. Ridiculous. So it's just, I'm excited for where the game is and where it's going. But like I said, I appreciate what you guys do. It's really, you know, grateful to be around people who care this much about D2 lacrosse and lacrosse in general. And anything I can help, please reach out.
SPEAKER_00Coach, thanks so much. Have a good night. Thank you guys. Have a great night. We'll see you, coach. Good luck. We'll see you soon. Thanks. All right, thank you. So, what do you think, Danny? Well, I mean, that was just great. All the things that Coach Mariano brought out, not only about his team, but about the conference and the division. It's things that we have been talking about since we started this podcast, and I really love the way he captured it.
SPEAKER_01Uh, he he reiterated kind of what we've kind of started
mariano end
SPEAKER_01this program about, you know, just he loves D2. And he he he was a really good guest tonight. I really appreciate uh Coach Mariana coming on. Um, he touched upon it, yeah.
SPEAKER_00He touched upon it. If you look at his bio, he was the head coach of the Florida launch. He was an assistant for the Ohio Machine, he coached D1 at Sacred Heart for 17 years. That's right. So it's not like he hasn't been anywhere else but D2. And yet, what did he talk about? He talked about what D2 brings to the table.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he was phenomenal. He was a great guest. I'm so I'm so happy he was came on tonight. And you know, um, like I said, my sister went to PACE. I know a lot about PACE. I've been at the campus, it's a beautiful campus up in Westchester County, New York. Like this time of year, it's beautiful up there. And um uh like I said, uh people who graduate from there usually do very, very well. It's a very good business school. Um they set you up good, but but Pace has been playing quality lacrosse for a long time. Ding ding, here we go. I forgot. I gotta get that bell, goddamn it. I gotta get that bell. But they're a good team, and I like watching them play. They they they're scrappy, they're fast, they play fast, they play physical, and like we we discussed, you know, that record really didn't really portray the type of team that Pace is. And I think they're gonna come out with a chip on their shoulder this year. I think they're gonna play well. I really do. And I'm so happy he came on.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know it was great. And I think he did a good job of talking about the strength of the any 10, which we we've talked about before. And I think he kind of reiterated a lot of the things that we talked about as we did this preview, right? And I'm I'm excited. He got me really excited to watch any 10 lacrosse this next year.
SPEAKER_01They are the granddaddy of them all, Kev. Like you said, they are the granddaddy. And he brought up some really good points about you know, playing in weather and and and the the trips, it just in conference, you know, and you know, playing three games a week and and in snow and just you know, it's blue-collar lacrosse, man. You gotta really, really love it to to to to to take that kind of on. Take that on, you know what I mean? Because it's exactly the tough the tough part of the season is the beginning of the season up here in the northeast. I mean, it's still it's still darn cold, man. They're brushing the snow off the field so these kids can play, you know. Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_00All right, Danny. Well, I think that about does it. I think this has been great. Uh great preview and roundup of the NE10 conference for the 2022 season. Um, thanks for sharing it and sharing your thoughts with with me and everyone else. And uh, I guess that's a wrap.
SPEAKER_01That's a wrap. That was a good one. We'll see you next time, Kev.
SPEAKER_00That's a wrap for In the Crease with Danny and Kevin.