Season 1, Episode 30- Matthew Frame and Danny Brady

In this week's episode of Immaculata Athletics' "Tuesday Talk" podcast, we discuss the last few games for each of the spring teams and preview the upcoming week, including Atlantic East Conference playoff hunts for multiple teams.

Listen to our special guests, senior men's lacrosse midfielder Matthew Frame and sophomore men's lacrosse defender Danny Brady!

"Memories" interlude music written by Soundroll
https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/memories
License code: 1DFK7PQ3EPFYKYOJ

Release date: Tuesday, April 21, 2026

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Transcript

Introduction

Baseball

SPEAKER_04 0:11

Welcome to episode 30 of the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. Joined by Director of Athletic Communications, Larry Dielman, and student assistant Connor Kikowski. This is Sports Information Director Andy Alvarez, bringing you results and news from this past week's action in Immaculate Athletics and previewing the week ahead. We're now up to episode 30. Another milestone for us guys. That's good to see. Flag football went 3-0 this week. Baseball offense was on display in a 3-in-1 week. Softball picked up a pair of crucial conference wins on Saturday. Both tennis teams clinched a fourth seed in the playoffs. Women's Lacrosse won both games and they clinched a spot in the playoffs. And men's lacrosse fell to a very strong Montclair state team. And Track and Field down some more records at the Moravian and Missouri Courtney events this weekend. So let's get started looking back at last week's results.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Let's get things started with baseball. Baseball went three and one again this week. They went three and one last week and three and one this week. So they had a shootout with TCNJ. Unfortunately, that was a defeat, but a series sweep, 3-0 over St. Elizabeth. Against TCNJ, this was last Tuesday. The final score was 25-17. No, that is not a typo. It was 25-17. It was a football score. This was a four-hour game. And I was there for those four hours, and what a shootout it was. Four players for the Mighty Max log, two runs each. Nick Turnage had four hits and two ribbies. Danny Nasito and JT Luther, three RBIs each off the bench. Immaculata used nine pitchers. It was a bullpen game for those of you that don't know what that means. Basically, it's one of these midweek non-conference games. You don't want to use your aces necessarily, like some of your top pitchers. You try to save your better pitchers for the weekend games. TCNJ used 10 pitchers, so 19 pitchers in total. It's a pitching change almost every inning. Keeping up with a lot of these substitutions was definitely an adventure. Trevor Robbins started 2.1 innings and threw 47 pitches for the day. And it was definitely a great game. I thought we were going to hit darkness. It was pushing 7.30. And what was crazy was that softball played that day as well, as we'll talk about in a few moments. Softball finished their double header before we were even close to finishing a single baseball game. So it just tells you what a game that was. TCNJ had a couple strong seven run innings that they were able to pull away, but TCNJ usually had very strong program. And the bullpen game, our pitchers did very well, but the Lions definitely had momentum. Against St. Elizabeth, what a series this was. Immaculata absolutely dominated. 22-1 on Friday in seven innings, 13 zip in seven innings in game one on Saturday, and 10-4 in game two. So across the series, 45-5 was the score for the whole weekend. Just absolutely no answers from the Eagles. Game one on Friday was essentially over in the first inning. Seven Mighty Max runs. Matt Pasarini, Danny Nasito, JT Luther each had three runs, three hits for Luke Hardnock, three ribbies for Ryan Nase, Nick Turnage, and Justin Hoffman. Alex LePage only went two innings, and John Fitzpatrick pitched the rest of the way. They were up by, I think, ten runs. There was a rain delay, and I guess they figured there was no point in putting Alex back in. And they saved him for Saturday, actually. Game two on Saturday, LePage went again. Five players had two runs. Nasito Turnage and Nays two hits, three RBIs for Nasito Turnage and Josh Goulburn. Alex LePage retired a career high 14 batters on strikeouts, and he tied Jason Hughes's program record. And Alex also threw 115 pitches and allowed six hits and just one walk. Game three, four players, two runs each, four had two hits apiece. Matt Passerini, two RBIs, and Tommy DeSarno, seven innings and five K's on the mound. Alex LePage was the AEC pitcher of the week. Nick Turnage on the AEC Weekly Honor Roll. Up next, guys, baseball probably one of their toughest games of the year, if not the toughest. They will go to Rowan to face my alma mater, the profs, tomorrow, Tuesday, April 21st at 3 30. Rowan is currently number six in the D3 Baseball.com top 25 poll. A very strong team. But guys, baseball absolutely had a week against St. Elizabeth. TCNJ was a shootout for the ages. And you know, you guys came over from softball, and I'm just I'm sitting there trying to get all these subs and stuff in. But, you know, what a great week for them.

SPEAKER_04 5:17

An exciting week for baseball to see them uh you know take a jump up in the standings again and you know really uh kind of assert themselves and you know puts up in a good position to compete for playoff spots and uh you know that was a lot of runs on Tuesday.

Flag Football

SPEAKER_03 5:30

Yeah, this um sweep definitely put them up in the uh the standings of not just a home playoff match, but maybe hosting the whole thing. So that's good to see. Switching over to Flag Football, who had a really good week, they went 3-0 with another Merrywitch forfeit being one of them, and they clinched the third seed in the AEC playoffs. On Saturday, they were at a tri match hosted by Chestnut Hill, and they also played Newman. Against Chestnut Hill, it was 32 to 6 was the final. Devin Kosker went 119 yards for two touchdowns and added a rushing score. Jacqueline Malanini added seven tackles, and Natalie Dodd had three tackles and an interception. Against Newman, 23-0 was the final. Kosker went for 77 yards with a touchdown. Khalia Gaines had three sacks for 22 yards. Eliana Sakowski had three interceptions, and Jacqueline Malanini had two interceptions. And for their efforts this week, Jacqueline Malanini and Eliana Satowski were both named to the AC Weekly Honoral. And some history in the making. The Immaculate Flagfull team will host their first ever playoff game Tuesday night at 8 p.m. when they take on the sixth seed Penn State School at Draper Wall Stadium. So that is a big moment for the flag football team. It will be a whiteout game. So have everyone tell everyone you know to come on out and support the flag football team. And then if they get past them, the whole series will switch to Eastern, who has the one seed this coming weekend. But definitely has a lot of momentum going into this game tomorrow night.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Yeah, it's been a great season for flag football. 14-3 to finish the regular season, 13-3 in conference play, and just another great result over at Chestnut Hill on Saturday. Outscored them 55-6 for the day across Chestnut Hill and Newman. Devin Cosgrove, a quarterback, despite being a freshman, has really proven herself to be a great option for the future. And we have a lot of great playmakers. Jacqueline and Eliana, I think, I think the pair, the two of them, made the honor roll last week, and then both of them making the honor roll this week or two weeks ago. You know, it's good to see consistency for the conference results, and hopefully we can make some noise tomorrow and maybe even Saturday.

Women's Lacrosse

SPEAKER_04 7:44

Yeah, it's uh definitely good to see the team having success. Uh, I mean, they're one of them Eastern and uh Merrymount are teams that have competed in the playoffs both seasons so far. Uh the two actual seasons, and obviously our team competed in the inaugural championships that were hosted here. So it's good for our team to get that recognition, concede, and uh hosting that first round game. And if you get through that, then you get to go over to uh Eastern on Saturday and play in the semifinals against either Eastern or Mary Mountains. They're good teams, but they're opportunities. You know, so there's opportunities to get through. And you know, it's been a great season, you know, Devin Cosgrove, Satowski, Joppa, all of them have had, you know, Molinini, Bronkel. A lot of players have had recognition this season on that team. And then Clea Gaines, you had a couple safeties in the uh Chestnut Hill game. One was a snap out of the end zone, and the other one was uh sack in the end zone by uh Gaines, I believe. So that was uh you know a good result for the uh for the Mighty Macs. And it's good to see them go get that home playoff game. And hopefully everybody comes out and brings the excitement. Switching uh gears to uh Women's Lacrosse, uh the Women's Lacrosse team went 2-0 this week, both of which were at home, extended their team winning streak to three games. It's the first time they've won three games in a row since the 2024 season in April. They did that, was the last time uh you know they accomplished that. On Wednesday, they took on Cedar Crest. Uh, they won their final non-conference game of the season. They won 14-7, defeating the uh the Falcons. Uh Elizabeth Mahmood had five goals. Kira Benoit, three goals, uh, three assists and five clause turnovers. Alexa Marzak had five ground balls. She also scored three or four goals, I think, on that one, four goals that game herself. Uh Julia Pohl had an assist and six draw controls. Abigail Garnieri had uh five saves and forty-six minutes of action. On Saturday, they hosted Sentenary. They won 13-3. Uh 7-0 in the first quarter was a real difference maker. Uh Kira Benoit, four goals, uh, two assists, six draw controls. She had the obviously three and three the other day, so that was a you know a real big week for her. Julia Pohl had three assists, uh, seven ground balls, five caused turnovers, and five draw controls. Elizabeth Mahmood had a couple goals. Uh Magmarzak scored. You know, it was a big day for the uh the Mighty Macs. Uh, either you got some other players like uh Aleia Piperado had uh had three goals in that game as well. Morgan Barnes scored a goal. You got all your goals, you got action. Um Gabigael Garnier had two saves and 36 minutes of action. Um with that win, the Mighty Macs uh locked up a spot in the Atlantic East Conference playoffs. So they're going back to the playoffs for the first time since 2024. Kira Benoit was named the AEC Player of the Week, and Elizabeth Mahmoud was named to the weekly honor roll. The uh Women's Lacrosse team is back up uh for their final home game of the regular season. They'll take on Newman on Wednesday at 4.30 here at Draper Oil Stadium. Hope everyone will come out and support the Mighty Macs. And they will be playing their playoff game at Newman, who locked up the top seed in the AEC tournament uh on in their game on Saturday. So Saturday they'll be traveling to Newman. I don't know what the time of the game's been announced yet, most likely somewhere probably around like one o'clock or something like that. Women's lacrosse, uh good things happening there, guys.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

Yeah, it's definitely been ever since Kira Benoit and Julia Pohl have joined the team from basketball, it's been a lot of fun to watch the Women's Lacrosse team. They've had a little bit of a rough stress during the game, but they have definitely found a groove and they've stuck with it, and it's good to see them having success and good to see them going back to the playoffs for the first time in two years.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Julia Paul and Kira Benoit. I mean, we've talked about them all season, how how big of a difference maker they've been since that tough start, but you know, they've really put in some really good numbers. Elizabeth Mahmood, I believe Andy, she surpassed 50, or is she hovering at 50? She actually has 50 goals. Okay, so she is at 50. So she's made a great impact in her first season in Mighty Max Blue. Abby Gornary has been doing great, and it's good to see the backup goalies get some time too, where Abby doesn't have to go the whole 60 minutes, or she doesn't have to save 15 to 20 shots per game that she can kind of just do what's needed and then you know allow the backup goalies to get some time and you know, you kind of have that win secured, and hopefully we can get a win maybe on Wednesday and Saturday and just see what they can do as the playoffs draw near.

Men's Lacrosse

SPEAKER_04 12:04

And I think that's an important thing also I'd like to note is you got uh going into the final week here, you know, with the playoffs and everything like that. Special note to uh Abby Garnier, uh Carly Oberg and Roddy Mullen that have been with this team for four years now and have really battled through a lot of different things and you know have been constant with those teams and uh very happy for them with the success this team is having as they finish up their college careers here at the uh with the Mighty Macs this season. Moving on to uh Men's lacrosse. Men's lacrosse only played one game this week uh due to their centenary game being previously canceled by centenary shutting down their team for the season. They went up to uh North Jersey and played a strong uh Montclair State team. Uh they did a polling 17-6. Uh Jude Azzarano had three goals, one assist, five ground balls. Brady Lynch had two uh caused turnovers. Brian Fuchs won six faceoffs. Matthew Ludlow did make 14 saves and 54 minutes of action. Obviously, you know, Montclair State got off to a fast start. Maculata kind of tightened things up a little bit after that point. But uh it was a tough game, difficult game against a strong team, but you know, I think the team can take things from that game that will help them when they uh as they move into their uh their final regular season game at Newman on uh Wednesday. Uh right now McElotta is currently sitting in second in the conference. There are still possibilities to where they could finish anywhere from first to third, but they will be in the playoffs. Most likely they should be hosting a semifinal on on Saturday here, uh time to be determined. But they're in the playoffs, they just now need to determine where they're gonna finish. Looking forward to them uh you know really making the run now as you get set through uh whether it goes through through Immaculata, if they have to go on the road, things like that. I think this team is in a good position to compete for shot in another championship and a possible return to the you know to the NCA tournament. And uh Jude Azzarano was named uh to the uh the AEC Weekly Honor roll for his uh performance in the in the game at Montclair State. Your guys' thoughts on Men's Across?

SPEAKER_03 14:02

I mean, obviously Montclair State, very strong team. So going in there and getting six goals and seeing Jude Azerano have success is good, especially with one more regular season game to go before the playoffs. And it's a whole new season when you enter the playoffs with only four teams, and anything can happen. And we know how close that Merrymount game was. So even if they're the one seed, anything can happen.

Men's and Women's Tennis

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Yeah, this team's doing really good this year. Hopefully, we can make a run back to the AEC championship and beyond. Obviously, you're not gonna let one loss define you this week. The centenary thing, that's that's been known for a while. So, you know, just having this game. Although the good thing about the schedule last week for them, despite the loss, they're able to kind of clean stuff up and they're able to get some extra rest this past weekend, you know, regroup and and look at the film and you know, hopefully go into Newman with that mindset, you know, win and get a get a home playoff game. So hopefully things work out in their favor, and we'll see where Merrymount and Gwynedd fall as well. Let's switch over to tennis. Both teams went 0-2 this week, but they each clinched the number four seed in the playoffs. Starting with the men's side, it was a 7-0 sweep by Albright. Patrick Arnold and Easton Ragno fell 6-2 in doubles. Alex Corsones, he fell in a tight singles match 5-7-6-3-10-7. And then against Merrywood, it was 5-2 for the Pacers. Alex Corsones and Nick Brown 7-5 win in doubles. Nick Brown 6-0-6-3 in singles. Pat Arnold 6-0-4-6-6-4. And Alex Corsones, again, another tight loss. 4-6, 7-6-7-3 for the tiebreaker, and then 1-0-10-6 was a tiebreaker in the third set. For the men, they clinched the four seed. They will play Merrymount on Friday, April 24th against the number one seed. This will be at Newman because Newman is hosting the whole tournament across Friday and Saturday. So they'll take on Merrymount in a neutral site game. Meanwhile, for the women, again, 7-0 for Albright on Tuesday. Laura Farrow and Elizabeth Madsen, 6-2 defeat in doubles. Sophia Carey with a tough battle in singles, 6-2-7-5, 5-2 against Marywood. So both teams put up the same scores against both teams, which is kind of interesting. Immaculata for the women's side, they won the doubles point against Marywood. So for those of you that might not be as familiar in tennis, for the doubles point, you play three matches and you have to win two to get one point. So you have six singles matches that all equal six points. Obviously, one times six is six. And then for the seventh point, you play two of three to get that win. IU won the doubles point, Sophia Carey and Haley Elwell 6-3, Ashley Battagen and Athena Criticson 6-4. And then in the singles section, Ashley Battagen 6-4-6-4. And Sophia Carey went the distance in a tough defeat. 4-6, 7-6-7-5 in the second set, and then 6-3 to round out the third set. Up next, same thing as the men. They will be at Newman on Friday for the playoffs. And instead of Marymount, they will be taking on number one seeded Pratt for the semifinals. So some tough competition, guys, coming up. I know both teams will look to avenge those losses from earlier this year, respectively to Merrymount and Pratt. Anything can happen in the playoffs, but it's on a neutral site, so we'll see how that works out.

SPEAKER_04 17:37

Yeah, it's good for them to get that opportunity to go to the playoffs this year. Zed Newman, it's not if they don't have to make the long trip. It's uh you know, it's close. They're decent, they're good courts, good setup there. Obviously, you're playing good teams, but I think it's good that both teams got back into the playoffs this year and you know, something to build from in the future.

Softball

SPEAKER_03 17:53

All right, and we're gonna go switch gears now to softball, who saw a split this week, so two and two for the week, but they picked up a big sweep over Gwenamurcy to stay alive in the AEC playoffs. They played Delaware Valley on Tuesday here at the IU Softball Stadium. 8-4 was the final in game one, and 11-2 was the final in five innings, and they were swept by the Aggies. Four players had one run each. Alexandrana had three hits and two ribbies. Sarah Pearson struck out two batteries in four point two innings of work. And in game two, Kate Daly and Madison for Micah tallied runs, two hits for Formica and Carly Carter. Carcher was responsible for the lone RBI. Seven run, fifth inning gave Delbound the win. And Nadia Boya struck out four bowers in four innings of work. And then to Gwendon Mercy, where they traveled to face the Griffins. 11-10 in eight innings was the final for Game 1, and 12-3 was the final in six innings for the second game. And they came back from behind. I think they were down four to nothing at one point in the first game, but they won it 11-10 in eight. Madison for Mike and Alexandra each had three runs and two hits apiece. Natalie Tassoni had three hits. Jamie Green had three ribies. Sarah Pearson had five strikeouts in 3.1 innings. Carly Carcher had an RBI single, won the game in the eighth, and teams traded four runs each in the seventh inning. In game two, Madison for Michael had three runs, four heads, and two ribies. Alexis Andrada had four ribies, and Jessica Vito pitched a complete game with two strikeouts. And for her efforts this week, Alexis Andrada was named to the AC Weekly Honor. They are at Penn State Brandywine on Monday this week for a doubleheader, and then they will have Wilkes on Tuesday, April 21st at Wilkes for a doubleheader, I believe, at 4 and 6. And then they will be back here on Saturday for their final regular season finale against Merrimouth for senior day here at the IU softball field. But getting that big sweep over Gwen and Mercy is huge for this team and it keeps them alive in this playoff race. What are your guys' thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 20:04

Yeah, softball definitely needed that. They were on the skid a couple doubleheaders, but bouncing back over Gwen and Mercy is huge. And Andy and Coach Kopsky from the baseball team and I were kind of looking at some of the scenarios this morning. And, you know, well, if this happens and that happens, they're definitely going to need to beat Merrymount on Saturday. That's going to be the major thing for them to make a playoff push. They might need a little help along the way. We'll see how some of these other doubleheaders go across the conference this week, but definitely puts them in a great spot as we head into next weekend. They have a lot of games this week. Lake Connor said with Penn State Brandywine. That's a makeup game from March. Wilkes, that's a makeup game from March. And they also go up to Ruckers Newark on Thursday, get some N-Jack action going up to Newark. So that'll be fun. And so four doubleheaders this week. Definitely lots of softball. Hopefully, get some results go our way.

SPEAKER_04 21:04

Yeah, that was uh big on Saturday as we were watching as that game, you know, kind of bounced around that first game. And then they were able to uh obviously, you know, have a big second game as well, get a good pitching performance from uh from Jessica Vito. That was good to see them get that done. And hopefully they can, you know, find a way to uh compete in that series with uh that doubleheader with Mary Mount on uh on Saturday and try to get themselves an opportunity to make the playoffs. It was kind of weird the other day with uh the first game that doubleheader McAlata was up, and then Del Val suddenly decided to insert all seven seven other starters that they had chosen not to put into the starting lineup. And that game changed dramatically on that point. So that was tough.

SPEAKER_03 21:41

That that was fun to do. Trust me. Half an hour where they had to go in all the spots and if they re-enter not, that was a lot of fun to do.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

Try putting in 19 pitchers for a baseball game and subbing everybody out like in the middle of the game. Yeah, that was that was fun.

Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field

SPEAKER_04 21:55

Moving on to uh track and field, uh the men's and women's track and field teams were in now. Action in two different events this weekend. And some people were in two different events. They broke some more records. Our very own Connor Kikowski made his 10K debut at Moravian on Friday night at Mizerrecordy on Saturday. Uh Dylan Cruz finished second in the long jump with a 6.46 meters jump and finished second in the high jump with 1.82 meters. Maurice Franklin finished 12th in the 400 with a time of 57.26. Jason Cannerino finished fourth in the 3,000 meters steeplechase with a time of 12 minutes, 16.79 seconds. And Colin Corkery finished third in the shot put throw of 13.56 uh meters, which was a IU and a Atlantic Keys conference record again. He broke it in his first throw and then broke it again, I believe, in his third throw. So he broke that twice, uh the program and Atlantic Keys conference record. So a good week for Colin Corkery. Women's uh track and field, Abby Grillo finished first with an IU program record time of two minutes 16.28 seconds in the 800 meters. Jackie Leone finished second in the 1500 meters with a time of uh five minutes six point one five seconds. Maggie Friend broke her her own IU program record in the hammer throw with a throw of twenty five point thirty one meters. Jillian Humphreys finished third in the high jump with a jump of 1.46 meters. On Friday at Moravian, uh Aubrey Donahue set a 10K program record with a time of 39 minutes and 5.01 seconds. Uh Brianne Dimek finished with a PR in the 10K of 44 minutes and 49.90 seconds. For their efforts this week, Colin Corkery was named the AEC Outstanding Athlete of the Week. Abby Grillo and Maggie Friend were named to the weekly honor roll. Uh up next, uh the track and field teams will be at the King's College Monarch Open this coming Saturday. So that was uh you know another good week for our track and field teams, guys.

SPEAKER_03 23:52

Yeah, I did that 25 laps of 10K on Friday night. I'm Arabian, and that was no bueno. My legs were definitely feeling it the next morning. But it was a good experience to say that I did it. It's not something I probably will do again this season. I'm more of a 5K guy and a 1500 runner, so I probably will stick to that. But yeah, the track and field's had a lot of success this year, and we're excited to host the championships at Draperwall Stadium in two weeks.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

Every week, man, with these records, it's it's truly something. I mean, Colin Corkery has been on an absolute heater this season. Every week, I'm writing these recaps. Conference record, program record, double record break, this, that. It's it's truly something. Dylan Cruz stood out this week, two second place finishes and high jump and long jump. As we said in our staff meeting, I know Coach Tramara from men's basketball is asking about Kevin Tellisford. He's been doing good, he's been setting PRs since joining the team. So yeah, we've had we've had a lot of great performances. And on the women's side, too, Abby Grillo in her freshman year is making a big impact. Maggie Friend is pretty much a you know an automatic weekly honor roll write-in. And you know, Aubrey Donahue, of course, does her thing, breaking her own records of her other records. It's it's really something, and hopefully the Kings see some more records fall a lot of the same. And as we somehow are only two weeks away from track and field championships.

Matthew Frame and Danny Brady Interview

SPEAKER_04 25:19

It's been an interesting uh you know season for the track and field teams. Shout out to them. Uh, I know that you know it was a bus difficulties on trip back, so they uh they they got back late, but you know, they work hard. You know, they're out there. We see them out there every time we go out there for an event. They're out there putting in their time, putting in their efforts. The throwers are constantly working, so it's good and you know, the reward for them being able to have the championships here this year, as opposed to having to go up to Gwendon. Thank God. Yeah, so they're happy to have it here. I think now would be a good time to uh bring in our guests. Uh we'll be back with Matthew Frame and Dan Brady from the uh Maculata Men's Lacrosse team, and we'll have that after this quick break on the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. Welcome back to the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. We are joined by our guests, Matthew Frame and Dan Brady. Welcome to the show, guys. Yeah, thanks for having us. How did you guys get your start playing lacrosse? And when did you know it was something that you wanted to play at the collegiate level?

SPEAKER_01 26:17

I started playing lacrosse when I was in third grade for Militons of Wreck, and I fell in love with the game instantly. And like throughout like my years playing it, I kept on developing and growing, like learning love for the sport. Then throughout my high school career, junior year, I reached out to my coach, the old coach from last year, and and I'll see if I was able to play for college. And I set my highly tape and I was able to play. So I was very much excited.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

I started playing lacrosse around like fourth grade. One of my best friends on the bus was asking, like, hey, you want to play this sport? Uh we need people on the team. I was like, sure, I'll give it a try. I actually started out as a goalie because they didn't have one, so they decided like put the new kid at net just because, like, yeah, and then play goalie for like a year and then transition to defense. And then around like my after like my junior season, I I was like, I want to play this at the next level. Uh, and I had a couple buddies like frame who played plays college lacrosse. I was like, shoot in the text, see like what's it was it like if like maybe there's a chance I could come up here and play with him, and things turned out lucky to where like I was able to come up here and play lacrosse with frame like I did in high school.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

So, what would you guys say are some of the similarities and differences between last year's championship team and this year's, where you guys are in the running to make it back to the championship game? Like maybe roster-wise, do you have like similar or different playing styles? Like, what what would you say are some of like the similarities and differences, and what kind of like makes each team unique in their own ways?

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Oh, yeah. So, some similarities I feel like we have are like we're hungry. Last year we were like hungry. We wanted to win the conference, like this year. It's the same thing. We know like every team has a target on our back. Everyone wants to get back from last year, wants to revenge, wants to beat us. But we we like that. We like having the pressure on us because our team's just a bunch of full hunt hungry dogs. Doesn't matter how like how young we are. We're hungry because like all the freshmen last year, they know like how we say like how much fun it was, like winning it, and they want that feeling for themselves. And the seniors, they want to go out on a like high note and win.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

Our last year's team, we had we had 12 guys graduated. This year we had 20 new freshmen coming in, so it was a very young team, and they each have the dedication and determination to help us win the chip, and the seniors are ready for whatever it takes to win the chip.

SPEAKER_03 28:51

So, you guys have already talked about there's been a lot of memorable moments of this season so far. What has been your favorite game this season so far?

SPEAKER_01 28:58

I think my favorite game of this season so far would probably be against Gwendon Mercy because it was senior day and it was a lot of emotions, and the the stands were packed, and that was amazing. And like that game throughout playing it was like just crazy how much energy everyone had and how much the team played well.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

My favorite game this year is either between St. Vincent, where like my boy Jason Smaron scored the game winner goal. But I think my real favorite game this year was against Drew, where it was a pretty juice, pretty very juiced game. And we got our get back from last year where they beat us in overtime at the Lebanon Cup or whatever it was called. But we came back and we beat them, and it was a very, very juiced game.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

So, Matt, you've been highly efficient as a scorer. What's your mindset when you get the ball in a scoring position?

SPEAKER_01 29:49

So my mindset when I get in like a scorer position is try to put the ball in the back of the net, get it past the goalie, and see white hit hit white, and uh help my team accomplish the win a goal, accomplish winning and have fun, make the teammates proud and everything.

SPEAKER_03 30:05

Dan, every team needs guys who do the little things for their team. What's your role that might not show up in the stat sheet?

SPEAKER_00 30:13

I mean, it's just like showing up when like my numbers call us when like I I need to do something, I'm there giving like 110% hustling every play. Just doing like all the dirty work that's like even on the sideline, like echoing the calls so that the offense can know like what play they're running, laying down like the shot clock so they know like if they gotta go. But yeah, it's just doing like all the dirty things, just make sure that like it's a team success. Always gotta put the team first, and it's just like wherever if we win, we're all winning and we're all won.

SPEAKER_04 30:44

The team has been uh pretty dominant at home this season. What makes the home environment at Draper Wall Stadium so effective for you guys?

SPEAKER_00 30:51

I think it's just like having like we have great fans that come out to support us every home game. Like our families traveled from bottom tip of Maryland, from Jersey, from all over the country where they're from to come watch us play. We got friends who come watch us play every game. And it's just knowing that like we're like home, every every team has like a secure comp confidence at home. Like, you got because you want to defend it. You don't want to see any team celebrating on your home turf and do anything about it. Like when you saw this is back in like 2020 for like football, when you saw like Juju Smith Schuster celebrating on like other teams' logos and stuff, you saw like all the NFL fans and players get like very upset about that. We're the same thing. We don't want to see other players like celebrate on our logo on our field because it's our field. We got we want to defend that every chance we get and gives us extra motivation to like don't lose at home and win.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Yeah, I think the fans come a big partial cart part of the game. Like the fans have to be loud at Draper Walsh and be hype for us when we're winning and when we're down, like help us get back up. And like the fans are like they bring us enough support and it helps us lead off from the bench and leads off to the field. And we really do appreciate all the fans that always come out and support.

SPEAKER_02 32:09

What would you say is something that you guys have improved the most this season? Maybe it's something personal, like a certain skill set in your game, or maybe you think the team has improved on a little bit better. So, what's something you think that has gotten better?

SPEAKER_01 32:23

I think the team improved on like working together as like a whole rather than just themselves, like just one person on the team. And like we draw more closer together while we're working together and like building the culture that we build for the standard to have us succeed and and have a good season.

SPEAKER_00 32:43

On the defensive end, we started we improved a lot more on just playing like team defense instead of just like playing just like 1v1 and just worrying about my mashup, my man or like we started coming in to help in where like instead of now just having a two, we have the three and four ready to for the slide. So, like just the whole team like has continually bought in together, bought in and improved so much to be able to reach where we want to reach. And the scary thing is that we haven't improved as much as we can right now. We haven't even reached our ceiling yet this year, which is a scary thing.

SPEAKER_03 33:18

So, one thing we like to do with each of our guests is talking about the team in general, like we've been doing. You guys always come out with a lot of intensity. Every time I'm working on these guys, you guys are running out, you're screaming, you're getting pumped up. So, who would you say is the most intense in practice?

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Well, in practice, I think I gotta give it to my boy C Dog. Like, he's always fired up every time he hits a play, he's always like screaming, getting juiced up, and like guess like the people who aren't in that drill, like getting juiced up, and like us on the defense end, we like have like this little celebration where like when one of us make like a huge play, we just start like go crazy with our six, where we like just put it overhead and just do like some stupid celebration every time someone on the defense end like has it played. But I'll definitely say Colton is like one of the most intense players out at our practice.

SPEAKER_03 34:05

So you guys both went to the same high school, Mill Township down in Jersey near Kate Mays. What's it like to reunite here at McDowell playing the same sport?

SPEAKER_01 34:15

I mean, it's great. I like to be playing my old teammates, one of my best friends, and like we help build each other up, like help us get better at the lacrosse and help us get better off the field. He's always there to help me when I'm whenever I need something or like whatever on the field. Like it's very cool having another person that went to your high school and that's on the same team as you as college.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

I mean, it's great. I would say is like it's one of the main reasons why like I came here because I already had like that built-in connection with the team instead of like stressing about trying to force my friends in. But like I already had like someone who like I've known since I was five years old, who I've played lacrosse with since like fourth grade. So like it's a sense of comfortability playing lacrosse with one of my best friends to just like make things easier and like have that chemistry and connection that like we've had together forever, and even like not just in lacrosse, like just like hanging out. It's just we're back home sometimes, which is nice.

SPEAKER_04 35:12

What do you want people to remember the most about this Immaculate team?

SPEAKER_01 35:17

So we have a lot of grit and dedication, and uh, we want to complete the mission and have the May standard that we sh that we thrive for to win the championship and keep on competing throughout the tournament.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

I want this team to be remembered for like the adversary we went through. Beginning of this year, like September, October, August. Like, we didn't know who our coach was gonna be. We didn't know when we were gonna get a coach. We didn't even know if we were gonna get have a fall ball. So like we had to take that upon ourselves to like go through open, go through open field. And we're a young team, so like we're gonna go through adversity. Like every game is gonna be a challenge, it's gonna be difficult. But I want people to remember that when times got hard, we rose through it and we came back even stronger. We checked rock, ball up top, everything got better no matter how hard we got hit. Just sit check rock and was a new game, new day.

SPEAKER_04 36:11

Well, we uh we thank you guys for coming in and talking with us, and uh we wish you guys the best of luck in your final game at Newman on Wednesday and then on Saturday in the in the playoffs as the semifinals get started.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

Yeah, thank you. Uh Pop Bow Saturday, Draper Walsh Stadium.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you for having us.

Conclusion

SPEAKER_04 36:29

And we'll be back after this quick break on the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. And welcome back to the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. Well, guys, that's kind of brings a wrap to this week. Uh episode 30. Did you ever think we would get to this point where we'd be 30 shows in on this little project that we started in September?

SPEAKER_03 36:54

It feels like we've been going longer than 30, I'll tell you that. It doesn't even feel like we only did 30. It feels more like a hundred episodes if you combine them all a year. But yeah, it's been a lot of fun doing this and telling the stories of Immaculate Lags in a different way. And more of a a news story is definitely big for this school.

SPEAKER_02 37:11

Yeah, it's a good milestone to get to 30. And unfortunately, we're not going to hit 40 this year because we're coming up on the end of the season. But we'll definitely have a couple more episodes for you guys coming in the next few weeks. And then as Andy said, anything major that would happen over the summer, we'd let you know about that too. But you know, we're coming up on these last couple episodes, so we'll definitely make it some good ones.

SPEAKER_04 37:34

And uh, we hope that you'll join us next week for episode 31 Romax.