Quotables is a weekly feature aggregating all the quotes from post game press conferences in a PLL weekend. The goal is to have this available as soon as possible, and as soon as transcription is available in the event games aren't covered in person.
PLL week one quotables features feedback on the new rules, assessments of the games, reasoning for coaching moves, and more. It's organized by team in the order in which they were available to the media following games.
ATLAS
Coach Mike Pressler on the Atlas effort and Danny Logan...
Well the undefeated thing is over with. We don’t have to worry about that the rest of the season, so that’s a positive. It was a great battle. I was very disappointed by our third quarter, especially those first five minutes. We cut it to one, then they get up four. But our guys are tough, battled back. We had a chance there, down one with seven seconds to go, and Eric Law gets an incredible take to tie it. Great battle between TD and Trevor, two of the best faceoff guys. It really hurt us when Danny Logan went down. He’s our top short stick. I don’t know the seriousness of his injury but that deflated our sails a little bit.
I’ll put it on us in a lot of ways. Too many miss opportunities on offense, too many great takes where we didn’t hit the cage. That was one, and our off ball defense needs a lot of work. I’m learning this in the league being a first year coach. It’s not an on ball defensive league, it’s an off ball defensive league. They did a really good job of making us pay. Garnsey had five of the first seven, we made some mistakes in the transition game running middies off, all those are self induced wounds. Give them credit, they beat us fair and square, but at the end of the day, we helped them too much. We’re 0-1 headed to Charlotte. We have to regroup, watch the film, figure this out, and find out where Danny Logan is going forward to next week.
Coach Pressler on the idea of switching Garnsey's matchup...
Tucker Durkin is our captain, and a leader. He’s much more of a better off ball defenseman in his elder years than he is on ball. Tucker got caught in a few bad situations there, and we did switch the matchup at the end. I thought Brett Makar had a great game as our second LSM. There was a thought of that, but we were draped all over those guys. We’re hanging all over them, and you have to give them credit for incredible individual play. Some of those we weren’t doing a great job covering, some we were hanging on them, but that’s the nature of the league. The league is made up of stars, especially on offense, and their stars maybe played little bit better than ours.
Coach Pressler on the Atlas rookies...
Xander Dickson. Practice is overrated. (chuckling). Two days of practice and here he is. He is everything we thought he was as advertised. Incredible off ball player, and a much better on ball player than he gets credit for. We ran him in the midfield with that first group of Costabile and Romar, and he was terrific. Adler, just takes out his matchup. For Makar, he’s never really played much LSM. He’s been the guy at Maryland at close. But only dressing five poles, he was kind of the odd man out if you start Durkin. He was outstanding on the wing, he had three or four grounders on the wing. So our pups, our rookies, were terrific in game one.
Trevor Baptiste on post face off strategy...
I think in a lot of ways, there isn’t a lot of time to sub. So you kind of have to stay. By the time you sub and get an offensive guy on, depending on how the faceoff went, by the time he gets in, he has to turn and run off for a defensive man on. So it opens up the opportunity to stay and play. IT’s something we have to build on as a team. I think we can get a little more out of it. Our progressions weren’t solid. We had some good opportunities, but at some point we were playing rushed instead of playing quick. And at some points we were playing very stale, holding the ball, letting them get set up. Short clock, you have to feel the game. Down by two, been playing a lot of defense, it’s probably good to use the whole 32 second shot clock and not just use the first five.
Trevor Baptiste on battling TD Ierlan...
At this level, everyone’s really good. Especially TD. We’ve had some epic battles over the years. We’re teammates on Team USA, and that’s great, being on the same side. I think you prepare for it like you prepare for anybody. Know the scout, keep battling. You know you’re not going to win every one, but just stay with it.
Trevor Baptiste on donating $100 for every faceoff win to inner city programs...
It’s something that’s important to me. It’s so sad that lacrosse gets this stigma of a rich guy, country club sport. If anyone watches the games, it’s a physical tough game. I’ve played a bunch of sports in my life and I leave a lacrosse game and feel pretty banged up after. So changing that stigma but also giving that opportunity to kids to show them there are other sports out there, other opportunities, and if you like it, you shouldn’t feel like we don’t want you here. Whether they are in the game or outside the game. I’m hoping it goes really far and I can keep winning faceoffs. And start winning games.
Trevor Baptiste on having a big day but the Atlas not coming away with a win...
It’s a mixture of things. Generally speaking, if you win 100% of the faceoffs and say you don’t score every possession, you play offense less than the other team. You win the faceoff, play offense, don’t score, you play 32 seconds of offense, the other team has 52 seconds. That is what it is. I don’t think that it’s one for one there. I think we could have played better, had some better chances, and been on the same page more. We were kind of playing like this was week 8 in week 1. I think we needed to be just a bit more communicative between each other.
REDWOODS
Coach Nat St Laurent on the play of Jack Kelly
I know not all saves are created equal. He made some big saves early when we were kind of not as organized as we needed to be defensively, and he kind of saved us. Then some of those turned into transition the other way for us.
(Coach is told Jack went 47.8% with 11 saves)
I don’t know who’s watching that (jokingly). But like I said, we got the win, he stole some saves. In this league, shooters are so good, you can’t let them get their hands free, I don’t care how good a goalie you are. He made big saves for us when we needed them, and we were up and out a lot.
Coach St Laurent on John Grant Jr's Impact as OC...
It’s been great. The guys know not only can he talk them through it, he can actually do it. You’ve seen him do it. It’s something we’ve been working on for a long time, working together, getting back together. I think Chris does a great job with the defense, so it’s been a great addition. It's a beautiful mind. He’s always thinking lacrosse. We are on the phone really late, according to our wives, but it’s fun having him here.
Coach St Laurent on the play in the closing seconds...
We were hoping the first line of defense, we put Perkovic and Myles at attack to deter a long pass. Then Romar did Romar things so once he got past that we got a little nervous. But I think I’ve lost a championship game with Eric Law scoring as time expired, so I was a little nervous. But it’s game one, we’ve got a lot we need to work on, and those end of play situations, that’s something we have to do a better job on. But that also shouldn’t happen. We were running out the clock, we need to score that goal instead of taking that shot clock violation so we can go up by two there. That was the biggest thing. Our end we should have executed better, so it goes to a faceoff, with one timeout, that’s the way I was hoping it was gonna go. We’ll learn from it, we’ll move on, but we’re 1-0. Winning is hard, especially in this league. Late in the game, need to be smarter knowing the time and score. We have to take the dunk if we can get it. You have to in this league. And you can see Rob’s body language, and I trust him, I think he was going to pull that two because the goalie was out. And if he hits it, it’s game set match. So we have to talk through that a little bit and then, two men up, we take a two, then commit a foul, those are a couple situations. There were some one time ground balls that we have to pick up in the middle of the field. These teams are too good. I’m still trying to figure out how they scored the goal to get within one, but it’s the PLL, that’s gonna happen.
Coach St Laurent on what Wes Berg brings...
He’s special. We wanted him here in 2019 because he’s a winner. Unfortunate events, we couldn’t protect him with the league growing, but we were able to get him back. He calms the offense down. When you have him and Rob Pannell on the same field, it brings a very calming presence. He’s played with Junior, he’s been coached by Junior, so he really understands everything that’s going on. His leadership and experience was incredible today.
Coach St Laurent on Ryder Garnsey...
Good to have the kid back. I call him the kid, I don’t mean anything bad by it. He’s one of those guys, I guess that’s the new he is him that the kids are saying now, but we referred to you as the kid. We were really excited to bring him back. He’s got this energy, he brings a smile on his face, and he is tough as nails. Tough as nails. The progression he’s shown over the years, being a coach, everything he’s brought to Notre Dame, it’s special and we’re really happy for him.
Coach St Laurent on Nakeie Montgomery (no question was asked, Coach added this unprompted)
How about the play of Nakeie Montgomery? I’d be remiss if I walked away with talking about the unselfishness, the speed, everything we asked him to do. I thought he was outstanding.
Coach St Laurent on the impact of Charlie Bertrand and how he fits...
We want Charlie to be Charlie. He’s so cerebral. He’s a chameleon. He blends in, goes from DII National Player of the Year to a DI team where they move him to midfield and he’s a wing dodger. Then he comes to the PLL and he’s in the running for Midfielder of the Year, playing for Team USA. He’s a special player. He’s going to continue to grow, read situations, and in this offense, at any time, that left side coming over the top, we’re really excited about possibilities for him.
Ryder Garnsey on St Laurent saying "he is him" about him...
(Laughs) Guys were finding me and the ball is going in the back of the net. Sometimes it’s just your week. Today it was mine, next week it’ll be somebody else’s. It’s a really selfless group we have in our locker room so we don’t care who it is, just that we get more goals than the other team.
Nakeie on which stat he was most proud of in the game between assists, GBs, and holding Romar scoreless...
The ground balls. That’s what was asked of me. And that’s what going to be asked of me this year. Obviously all my career I played offense at Duke, played a little offense last year. It’s pretty clear this year, I’m used at defense a lot. That’s something I’ve had to embrace during camp and I have embraced. For me, I’m grateful to be one of the 19 guys that suit up. It’s a reminder that 152 play every weekend. I’m just grateful for the chance to be out there, even in a new role. And so proud of the other guys. My first assist, I don’t get that if TD doesn’t beat Trevor on the clamp and get it to me. I’ll do my best to make the play in front of me. Coming down, the play where I hit Rob, and he passed to Ryder, that doesn’t happen without Jack Kelly. We’re just facing off otherwise. I’m just doing my job. I’m fitting into the puzzle, doing the best I can, running around trying to make plays off my teammates making plays, that’s what going on.
Ryder on being coached by Junior...
He makes a big impact. He’s one of the best players of all time, hard not to have a tremendous amount of respect for that guy, and a lot of buy in for whatever he says. You see it in the way we’ve embraced off ball moment that has sometimes been stagnant in year’s past, I think we did a great job of that today. Hopefully we continue to do a great job of that all year. The biggest impact he’s had is in the buy in on off ball movement. We’ve always had great initiators, and guys who are great off ball, but we sort of lost our way about it in some way,s including myself. But he preaches working just as hard without the ball as with the ball. There’s one ball out there and six guys, so if only the guy with the ball is working hard, the offense doesn’t look very good.
Ryder on physical matchups..
I love it. If they are throwing big checks, they probably aren’t moving their feet as much. I wear some pads, between that and the adrenaline, it doesn’t hurt very much. I’ll soak those checks all day long.
Ryder on 100 career points...
That’s cool. Glad it happened in a win. I didn’t know that. It means I have great teammates that are putting me in great spots. I don’t think I’ve had too many unassisted goals. Great teammates put you in great spots, you get a few lucky bounces along the way, and you play in enough games that happens, playing attack especially.
Ryder on what's in his head while rolling on the ground through checks to score a goal...
Honestly, not a lot. Just get out of here, get out of here with the ball. At the end of the play, there was a little space in front of me so I tried to take that. When I’m rolling around, I’m just sort of hoping that guys will leave me alone. Got pretty lucky that nobody landed checks on my stick, or not a strong enough check. But it’s not a conscious thing of trying to execute something, sometimes you just get lucky. You’re rolling around, worming around on the field, and you just get some breaks sometimes
CANNONS
Coach Brian Holman on the team effort...
It was a good battle. We’re just, as a group, trying to establish an identity. And I thought we did part of that. How we want to play is tough, resilient, those are the words are guys want to describe themselves as. I thought we did some really good things. Early on I thought the offense was a little stagnant, and that is a large part of having a new coordinator and pretty much six new guys in multiple positions. But as the game went on we started to settle in, so I’m really proud of what we did on the first step. It’s wins and learns. We learned a lot today, I can’t wait to watch the film. Congratulations to the Archers, it’s a powerful group. You’re not going to hold them to 3, 4, 5 goals. They have some superstars on that team, they did a good job.
Coach Holman on Sisselberger stopping their runs...
He wasn’t pick where he was picked for nothing. Big strong guy, he did a great job. We wanted to see what he could do with it, so part of it is on us. Who are you sliding off of; Grant, Connor, O’Keefe, so he did a good job. If he can keep that pace all year, god bless him.
Coach Holman on changing goalies in the 4th quarter...
We have a great relationship in the goalie room. I’ve known Adam a long time, I’ve worked with him but have known him a long time. He’s no spring chicken. We talked as the season started, if he starts to feel tired, and he’s under a lot of pressure. If you know Adam and have seen him play, he exudes an inordinate amount of energy for a goalie. You can hear him all over the stadium, he’s getting ground balls, he’s taking a beating. I just felt it coming, and we have this relationship now where I’m going to be straight up, I’ll go with my gut, the goalie room is 100% is behind it. The other piece is, Colin is a really good goalie. That may be the way we approach it, we may stay with one, we don’t know. We have two excellent goalkeepers, they’re both ready to go any minute, and I don’t hesitate about playing either one. And they don’t hesitate either.
Coach Holman on if he feels like guys need to step up with Lyle out...
No, that’s not our approach at all. It’s a team game, we’re instituting a team style of offense. It’s more familiarity with each other is doing. That attack has played a few days together, Kav was down with his brothers for one and a half of those days. We are going to keep everything in perspective and continue to push to get better. It isn’t about one man or two man or a system, it’s about us. As you saw in the second half, we started to settle in a bit, that’s who we are going to be. The ball will go from this guy to that guy. I haven’t watched the film, but 75% of what you think you see out there isn’t true until you see it on film. We had three or four excellent looks in the first half and if we bury those, it changes the whole game. So I’m ecstatic about where we are after a few days of practice.
Coach Holman on in game adjustments to the Archers...
We’re not ready to do that yet. We just want to play. All I wanted to do today and all the guys wanted to do today is just play lacrosse. Lets just have some semblance of who we can look like in this environment as a team. I’ll say it again, it’s brand spanking new pretty much. So what this will do is let us start to maybe think that way. Where we can make some tweaks, changes, adjustments. At the end of the day, we wanted to play, play as hard as we could, we did that, and let the chips fall where they may.
Coach Holman on Ryan Drenner being immediately effective...
I don’t like calling people out, it’s not in my nature, but he will know when we get in the locker room. It was perfect, and that’s what we’re trying to do. Get guys like Dren in certain situations where he can showcase his skills without having to carry a pole all the time. The same with Asher, we’ll be able to get him in better spots. He’s playing against Graeme Hossack, first team he’s really been back there by himself. But back to Ryan, he’s a super human being. He’s a hard worker. He doesn’t say a whole lot. And I am so happy he’s on our team.
Coach Holman on feeling first games nerves...
Thanks for caring about me so much, my wife didn’t even ask me about that (laughing). It’s incredible. I’ll never not say this, I’m blessed. I’m blessed. Grateful to be here, I thank the good lord. Being in this environment with these young men, and their purposefully intent way of wanting to play this game, I couldn’t be happier. I’m just hoping I can continue to lead them in the direction they deserve to go in. It’s funny, I don’t get much nerves anymore. It’s more like I just want them to do well. It’s not like you get nervous, I’m not playing, I can’t do anything. But I want them to be happy because they work so hard. It’s like seeing your kid studying, grinding for a test or an exam. They go into that test, you want them to do well because they worked so hard. That’s my goal. Help them push forward, continue to create an identity with them for what Cannons Lacrosse Club is going to look like and we’re well on our way right now.
Coach Holman on how he thought Matt Campbell looked...
What’d you think? (I thought he looked good). Well there you go (chuckling). See you guys are as smart as we are (laughing). Again we’re blessed. He fell to us by the grace of god, we took him, and his upside, I can’t wait to see it. Matt loves this game, he loves his teammates. I was impressed. Nothing has phased him so far, it looks like he’s been in the league a long time. There’s some things we can clean up. I think he’d say the speed of the game, doubles, coming off hedge and picks, they get at you quick. We can clean that up. But he’s going to be a very very good player for us, and he’s an outstanding young man.
Coach Holman on what worked to limit the Archers early...
I think what worked is that it’s the first game. I watched a little of the first game, and I saw some of that too. Guys weren’t settling in, that’s part of it. And I thought we played good defense. We wanted them to earn their matchups, and I thought we did a good job, and in the second half, they made some adjustments attacking certain areas where we may not be as strong as we need to be right now. They’re professionals, they start shooting the ball better.
Marcus Holman on the Cannons effort...
It feels good to wear a cannon jersey. I’m proud of our team’s effort. Obviously not a very clean game by any means but to be expected game one of the season. A lot of new faces are playing together trying to get that chemistry offensively and defensively. We were close, they threw their punches, we punched back. Schreiber at the end of the game had a huge goal to make it a three goal game. Like I said, proud of the effort, wins and lessons.
Marcus Holman on the shot clock change...
Maybe ask us next week when we win a couple more faceoffs (jokingly). I thought, again today was a day where we didn’t win as many, will help your team. Their offense has to play a little bit quicker, and they may not get to run as fluid an offense as they could if they had 52 seconds. You don’t want to be reckless in those possessions, but it’s definitely quick. You get into your dodge and there’s 12 seconds left on the shot clock, so maybe some more underneath dodge or just going kamikaze style to the goal. But I think we need a couple more weeks to answer that.
Matt Kavanagh on his offseason mentality...
It was a super long offseason for me. I did not have season I wanted to last year, it was disappointing, and then getting traded. But that happening early in the offseason put me in a good mindset of a fresh start, playing with a group that is hungry. We were last in the league last year and have a lot to prove, myself included. I think everyone took that and held themselves accountable this offseason and took that into camp. And I think we had a really good training camp. We’re not going to less this loss define us, obviously we would have liked to come out with a win, but there’s definitely a lot to build off and hold our heads high and be proud of.
Marcus Holman on his new journey with the Cannons...
There was some carryover from MLL to PLL with the Machine and the Archers. It was funny, before the game, Tom Schreiber at the coin toss, being the captain, told me this was the first pro game he’s played without me as a teammate. We played nine or ten years. Maybe not the greatest thing to tell me before the game, I was like damn, that’s getting me in my feels. But I have a lot of respect for Tom, for Matt McMahon who was guarding me. The Archers have a lot of changes as well, so kind of a new culture there too. But I’m excited to be in this locker room. It’s pretty special to be out there having your dad coaching you, I trust him, I know Kav does as well, he’s going to steer the ship in the right direction. We as players have to make some plays. They made more than we did today, that’s the bottom line. Maybe if we shoot a bit better in the first half it’s not as big a deficit in the second half and we can come out with a win, but we didn’t.
ARCHERS
Coach Bates on earning the win...
After a week together, it’s a nice reward for a good hard week of work. I’m pleased that our guys came together and kept plugging. I don’t think any of us think it was the prettiest game in the world, but it’s a results business, so get the W. We had some new guys playing, our SSDM puppies did a nice job, those two held up. Half field defense was decent I would say. Offensively we got production from some different guys, and got some great production out of Siss at the X. That gives you momentum, gives you the ball, and that’s huge for us. All things considered, we are going to take this, be excited about getting a W, and go back to work, it’s a short week
Coach Bates on Sisselberger's impact...
It’s huge. It’s a gain of momentum. If you don’t have the ball, you have to defend, and then have the ball. So just happy for him, I know what a competitor he is. For us as a team, it stems the tide. There were big faceoffs in big moments, and for us that was a huge difference. No doubt about it. I was happy to see his ability to, in those moments, give us the ball, settle us down. We’re getting used to the short clock, I think we did a nice job managing it. But at the end of the day, if you can get and make them make a stop, that settles us down defensively.
Coach Bates on the status of Grant Ament...
We’re just trying to be conservative more than anything. I think it was a little bit of a tweak. We’ll see how the week goes, but right now, seems like it’s not similar to what he had last year
Coach Bates on the slow start...
Was that a record for lowest scoring PLL first quarter ever? Frankly, both goalies played well. It was a difference maker for them. And our mantra was just keep playing. It was a bit like a boxing match, feel each other out a bit. But I thought both goalies made some saves early, and there wasn’t as much pace early as you thought. Teams were more comfortable in the half field set as opposed to getting up and down. Then it ends up 16-13, so the floodgates opened a bit.
Coach Bates on the versatility in his offense...
We can come at you a bunch of ways offensively, that’s the takeaway. If you don’t want to slide to us, we have matchups that are going to make you pay. So in big moments Tre had a big goal, Matt Moore had a big goal, Fieldsy was on point and had four goals. Tom didn’t practice a whole lot this week and that last goal was a nice reward for him to kind of seal it. Getting Mac off and seeing how that adds a little range to us offensively. So as the offensive coach, I try and stay out of the way and give them some tools to play with. And between the lines I thought we played well in terms of our ride and clear game. Shorties played well, and the young guys allow us to do some different things and they can run the field.
Coach Bates on his lineup at attack...
I’ll keep you guessing (smiling). Fieldsy we are going to anchor down there probably. He is such a tough matchup. Certainly doesn’t mind a pole on him, and that’s a real advantage. He put four up today, and production don’t lie. He did the nice (looks to Connor) was that one bounce or two Fieldsy? That was the highlight one, but a big goal. And I thought it loosened us up a bit frankly, I thought we were a little tight. So having him down low allows him to be comfortable. And you always have to know where Mac is. If the ball finds his stick, it’s a quick release, and it’s going to be a tough save. And we brought Grant from the box a little bit which we’ll do. But it goes back to the interchangeable idea.
Coach Bates on feeding Mac O'Keefe after he took 11 shots...
I’ll take 10 a game. Honestly, if we can get his hands free, it’s always a tough save. Our guys know that, and they feed off each other. At the end of the day, a core value for us offensively is we share the ball, so I think when the ball moves, it just makes life tough. But for him, we’ll give him as many shots as we can get him. There’s going to be production.
Coach Bates on Brett Dobson getting the win...
We gave him the game ball. His first pro field win. He plays with such great energy, usually with poise. We lost a little poise there at the end, but you learn from that stuff. He’s such a great competitor, his energy is contagious. We gave up some cheapies, some ground balls and rebounds on the crease. It’s always good for a goalie to get that first one and get settled in a little bit. And it’s clear the deck for a reason. He’s our guy right now, and we feel like he’s a guy you are going to see five, seven, ten years still making a lot of saves. So really happy he got a W. His teammates believe in him, so to get that reward is great for everyone.
Mike Sisselberger on being a run stopper...
It wasn’t really my wins to take credit for. I look at the faceoff like a 3v3. Our unit, we practiced all week. I’m so blessed to have these guys around me. Even if I might not pick up the ball, having those guys with me and supporting me no matter what happens I can’t thank them enough. And we get the ball to the offensive end, we just have so many weapons. Connor Fields, unlimited names, even coming off the bench. So getting the ball in their hands is a recipe for success. I’m so grateful for this team.
Connor Fields on his between the leagues goal...
It started with a two man game on the wing, and I felt I had space behind me. Actually Tom was screaming for the ball on the play so I knew that if I missed, I’d probably be on the bench (laughing). But I felt like there was space back there, and then just wanted to go for it. It was low on the clock, and I thought that was one of the only things I could do. Pulver did a great job out there, that whole defense did. It’s a tough unit to go against. In that moment, that’s what I felt was the best opportunity.
Connor Fields on playing make it take it offense...
Siss is a beast. It’s make it take it if we score. It allows you to play looser, more free, having fun. Having him at the faceoff dot, having our defense, Dobber in net, all that leads to more confidence offensively knowing that if you turn it over, or if you get stopped, you got a bunch of guys behind you that will have you back. It’s definitely a boost of confidence.
Connor Fields on returning to Albany...
Best place on earth. It’s great to be back here, it’s a lot of fun. It’s a fun week hanging out with the guys and for me it’s a trip down memory lane a bit just being on campus and around lacrosse. It reminds me of the good old days. We had fun all week, credit to coach bates and the rest of the coaching staff. I feel like we’re a super close group so, we just had fun and enjoyed being around each other this week, and we hope it leads to success.
Mike Sisselberger on adjusting to the PLL faceoff...
The biggest adjustment is the mental battle. Physically, I feel like I’m right there with those guys. But having a next play mentality, coach bates talks about it a lot, whether you lose or win. You can’t really hold your hat on that. You could smoke them out of the front on one of them, you could get smoked out of the front on the next. So just having a team around me that’s supportive. They told me you can go 0-20 today, just give it 120%. That resonated with me and I couldn’t do that to the team. So I had to give it my all, and I’m so grateful for the guys around me. Like I said, faceoffs is a 3v3 battle, not just me at the X, so there were a couple I got bailed out on today. I still have a lot of adapting to do. It’s a great day but next game, next play mentality. I have a heavyweight matchup next week in Connor Farrell who is so talented, and Chrome in a general is just a talented team. So I’m looking forward to that and I think the biggest thing for me is going against the best guys in the world. That’s what drives me. And I’m really excited for this team.
Connor Fields on what's different this year...
We’ve had this in the past, and there are guys who aren’t on the team anymore who are great players. This year, we just have versatility. We have a bunch of people who can beat you off the dodge, and people who can catch and shoot. It’s a fun group to be around. Coach Bates does a great job putting gin a system that allows us to be in a set but also be able to play. IT allows us to be comfortable. Top down on the roster is all great players. It’s a lot of fun to be out there and having those guys on offense just leaves other guys more open because of the talent we have.
Mike Sisselberger on recovery...
Biggest thing is adapting to how big the players are. Definitely different from college. Taking hits from them, especially going to the goal, recovery is huge. During the week I was battling some back stuff, Coach Bates was great with letting me rest, adjust, and get dialed back in. Him taking the chance on me for today was a blessing in disguise. And like I said, it’s a 3v3 battle. Even if I don’t do my job in that moment I have a guy like Jared Conners or Treezy on my wing that are there ready to go.
Mike Sisselberger on playing offense with the short clock...
Biggest thing I need to focus on his my conditioning. Might need to go home and run a couple sprints because I was getting tired on that shot clock. It was a blessing for sure, I love to push transition and I know that we have the guys to do it. So as long as I can stay on the field and stay on the field, I think there’s a couple goals to be scored in that transition 32 seconds. Shout out to Coach Bates, I almost put another one in there but he called a timeout. And I get that, we have a couple guys that can suit up next week that aren’t me (jokingly).
CHAOS
Nick Rowlett on having early success playing with his brother Jack...
I know I probably get all the credit, it’s my percentage, but every time is a 3 on 3. My attackman are getting open for me, they’re making it easy. Guys are boxing out, guys are getting up field. Clearing out space in the small field is always super important. So even though I might have gone 72%, it’s a 3 on 3 every time. My wings did a great job.
Playing with Jack. Something I always wanted to do. We went to the same high school together but I never really played on the field at the same time as him. To look to up throughout his college and pro career, to have sort of a built in mentor given that I see him every day, is a lot of fun. And it makes the transition process easier between college and pro.
Blaze Riorden on feeling pressure in low scoring games...
I’m pretty sure they scored on their first two shots on me. So I don’t know if that was the mindset that it was gonna be hard to put one past me when a d middie scores from 12 and then Currier scores from a low angle. We know how fast this game is. The 2 point arc keeps you in the game no matter what. It was the first game, we settled in, I think you saw throughout the league a little bit, it was sloppy and we’re adjusting to new rules. You’re playing against the best guys in the world. It’s a product of both of those. But it’s always good from a goaltenders perspective and a defensive perspective in a league that’s so offensive dominant to have it come down to defenses battle it out to win a game.
Blaze Riorden on returning to Albany...
The support has always been there. I gave coach Marr a big hug and he said look around, we built something special. That really hit home. This is the capital region, but it’s the lacrosse region. People love it, they showed up both days, they know the game, and I thought today’s performance was a great show of the greatest sport on earth being presented to fans that are ready for it for a long time. They look forward to this weekend, I look forward to this weekend, and I’m really proud to be a Great Dane.
Blaze Riorden on opening day jitters being gone...
Personally, I don’t know if there are any more jitters. I think I’ve seen it all, seen about a million shots in my career, this is eight years for me, so the jitters are past me. But just the new journey with a new group of guys, that’s the exciting part is. Getting to meet new guys, see what guys sacrificed for the ultimate goal. To be around a group of men that all possess that and go home to their own lives and use that hunger to be successful in the real world, that’s the type of people you want to be around. That’s the type of people that keep you hungry to be successful, and the game itself is the fun part.
Blaze Riorden on what he saw on the final shot...
Any time I get asked about letting in a game winning goal I say the same thing: obviously I didn’t see enough (chuckling). Two guys going hard, they both fell on the play, and Connor got up and tucked his stick. We talk about the crease dive, it’s like a dunk in basketball. You get to hose areas, you’re getting a high percentage shot. He took it to what I call the moneymaker, that’s where the money is made. He took it, we slid, it was a tough way to end but I think the game would have gone a lot longer if it wasn’t for a game like that because both defenses were making it really hard on the offenses.
Blaze Riorden on the rookies and why they're special...
Guys like Nick. Coming in and showing how hungry they are to be in this league. It just reminds me of when I was 22 and embarked on this journey and how much it meant to me. There’s a lot that goes into being a professional lacrosse player. I’m so proud of how these rookies came in and handled that pressure, and played in the game. Nick took over 1000 faceoffs in the last seven days and there wasn’t one where he wasn’t rolling on the ground wanting the ball. I haven’t seen him give up on a play yet, and that’s the chaos way. So proud and fortunate to play with some youngsters that keep you hungry and keep you looking over your shoulder because I know this game is growing in a way that the competition level is off the charts. And if you slow down, you’re going to get caught up to.
Coach Andy Towers on his team's effort...
Really proud of the way our team played. Certainly our defense played really well. Blaze showed why he’s the best player in the world. Nick Rowlett played an outstanding game and gave us a lot of possessions. And I’m proud of the way our offense played. I felt like the first quarter we were a little anxious offensively, but then it felt like we settled in. But it also felt like we played against a very strong defense as well. I’m very proud of the effort we put forth. Frustrated because it’s not the result we wanted, but we were right there. We were one possession short.
Coach Towers on rookies and roster changes...
We’re going to worry about what our 25 man roster looks like and our 19 man roster looks like for Charlotte in the next 24 hours. First and foremost, we are happy the Buffalo guys were able to finish it off and get their championship, which is so great. We need to talk to those guys find out what they’re thinking, what their health is like, what their energy level is like, and then watch the film, breakdown the film, and then we’ll have some tough decisions to make.
We’ve built a defensive roster that I think is the best in the world. I think we have the best player in the world in Blaze, I think we’ve got cover guys that win their matchups way more often than they don’t. We’ve got short sticks that show their athleticism and their toughness, we did a great job communicating, and we did a great job on man down. But we had to play a lot of man down. That was the reality of it. And I feel like offensively if we give our defense a rest so they can play the next possession with a lot of energy, that gives us lot of options. I thought our offense did a good job of that from the second quarter on. First quarter, I thought our offense was a little quick. But our defense is the established strength of this club. And our offense is only going to get better and better.
Coach Towers on Max Adler traveling from Buffalo to support the team...
The fact that he just played less than whatever it is, 20 hours ago, had an unbelievable game, it speaks volumes about the type of person and the type of teammate Max is. And it speaks to the type of locker room that we have. That’s really the first priority when we’re looking to add players, the first thing we’re asking is, are they our type of person? Will they be able to thrive and add to our locker room culture? And Max exemplifies that.
Coach Towers on the play of rookie Brian Minicus...
Brian Minicus is going to present some problems for teams in this league. The reality is his lateral quickness and north/south explosiveness is truly unique. You can see it from opening dodge, that he was able to create separation against great players. We’re going to be able to use him all over the perimeter. How his supporting cast changes will be dictated by the mental, emotional, and physical health of the buffalo guys coming back. We have to look at the film, some guys really stepped up and played well for us today, but we have limits on who we can keep on our roster. We have limits on the 19. But it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Brian Minicus isn’t in the lineup every single week with what he brings to our team. We haven’t had a guy we can flip the ball to and they can break someone down, a pole, and score if they don’t slide. I think we all saw today, we have that player in Minicus.
Coach Towers on limiting Michael Sowers...
Sowers is an unbelievable player. He’s one of the very best players in the world. But he had a tough matchup today with Jack Rowlett. I’ll take Jack Rowlett covering anybody at any time. His compete level, his athleticism, his physicality, his passion, is unmatched. Anyone that has to draw Jack Rowlett is going to have their hands full, and Jack showed that today
Coach Towers on veterans Kyle Jackson and Ryan Smith...
You have two veterans out there in Smithers and KJ playing with, more or less, six rookies. Guys that haven’t played a lot. I know Voigt has played a bit, Lindley was drafted last year but wasn’t in the lineup, but reality is you have two veterans that are dress every game guys for us playing with a bunch of inexperienced guys. And I think the message was settle down, stay in the moment, run what we’ve practiced, let how the defense plays dictate who gets the opportunities. I thought we were a little anxious in the first quarter but I really felt like settled down. At the end of the day it was a defensive slugfest, and both teams struggled to create high quality shots. That’s pretty reflective of the sport in general where in the early part of this season, defense has a little bit of an edge. Even though we just finished training camp, what you saw today was two elite defenses and the offenses had to manage that. I’m very proud of our effort, but disappointed with the end result.
WATERDOGS
Head Coach Andy Copelan on the team win...
All the credit in the world to Coach Towers and that team. They gave us everything we could handle. It was going to be a low scoring game with the kind of defense. They're obviously missing some of their offensive personnel with the Bandits winning it last night. I don’t think we played great, but I think the Chaos deserve a lot of credit for that.
Coach Copelan on Zach Currier doing everything...
It’s just who Zach is. I think the the faceoff shortened clock benefits a guy like Zach, both offensively and defensively, in those situations. He’s just a throwback middie who’s exceptional off the ground and can muck it up. Even at the X a couple times today, I thought he really gave us something. Zach is awesome, I wouldn’t trade that guy for anything, he’s the best.
Coach Copelan on the play of his defense...
I thought we played hard, I thought we challenged, I thought we identified some of their new faces. I think that guy Minicus is going to be awesome. The first time he dodged Ben Randall from X, you really saw his explosiveness there. We weathered the storm in that we kind of knew what was coming, and we just settled down and played pretty fast. But again give the chaos credit, they did a great job getting us out of transition which is a huge part of who we are. We’ve got to learn from this and get better but 1-0 is better than the alternative.
Coach Copelan on dealing with a hot faceoff man and hot goalie...
I hope the Rowletts don't have a third boy coming up. Those two guys are awesome. Blaze obviously was awesome. Between Jack and Blaze you arguably have two of the top five players in the world. You add Byrne, you add Dhane back into the mix next week, that team is a handful. There’s reasons why they’ve made the last 3 or 4 championships.
Those two specialty positions are huge. What Blaze does, maybe he got into our shooters heads a little bit at times. Maybe we just pulled on shots we might not otherwise take. He was all over the two ball today which is a big part of our DNA. we are lucky to squeak that one out.
Coach Copelan on the handling multiple defensive looks...
I think we were prepared for it. I’ll give Will Bowen and awful lot of credit you can feel his presence out there. Not surprising with how high Coach Towers would take him in in the 1st round. I thought he did a great job, I don’t want to say quarterbacking, but you felt him in slide situations. He slid really aggressively to rollback stuff. And when Jake got a shortstick, he’s an underrated dodger, and he’s really good in the pick game. So not to take a swing at what we did, I just think what we did today was not at the level it’s going to need to be going forward.
Coach Copelan on possible faceoff changes...
We started with the lineup we did today, we very objectively have to go back and look at the film. We’re certainly not opposed to change if we feel like change is warranted. I will say both Tucci and James Reilly had an awesome camp. I do think there’s something there with James, so we’ve gotta say who we think the best matchup is on a week to week basis. And then the hope is we get Withers back after worlds as well.
Connor Kelly on his last shot...
Blaze and I have gone back and forth a lot over the years. I was expecting him to drop but he’d seen a lot of high shots rom me. So I tried to sneak one by him, and was able to get it through
Kieran McArdle on the matchup with Jarrod Neumann...
Playing with Jarrod back in the MLL days, he kind of knows my style of play a little bit. He’s a big physical defenseman, knows I like to get to my left hand. I think I had a few looks I should have scored on and the stat sheet looks a little different if I put a few in the back of the net, but it’s always fun to compete against Jarrod.
Kelly and McArdle on the shot clock...
Kieran - It’s definitely going to take some getting used to. It’s definitely rushed, sometimes we can’t get our O-middies on the field like Connor. I think as we get used to it more and more, we’ll be more comfortable with it, but yeah definitely a little rushed but something we’ll get used to.
Connor - There’s definitely a learning curve. As you’ve seen the last couple games, nobody really has a plan just yet as to what they want to do. I think we’ll figure out week to week, what it’s going to look like. But how can you be successful, it’s a going to be a big part of the game, so we’re going to have to capitalize.
Kieran McArdle on being named captain...
It’s a huge honor. I don’t think my role changes too much with this team. You probably won’t see me in the huddle giving the rah rah speeches. But within the offense, and getting our guys together and making sure we’re doing the right things, leading by example will be more my way of doing things. We have a great locker room and a bunch of leaders, so I’m honored to be named captain.
Connor Kelly on Kieran- Well earned. I thought he as a captain for us last year so I don’t think the C changes anything. Well earned.
Connor and Kieran on the play of Zach Currier...
Connor - Zach’s a beast. Off the ground he’s one of the best in the world. He’s like a long pole when it’s on the ground. So to have in him between the lines, on the defensive end, and pushing transition, he’s one of the best in the world and we’re fortunate to have him.
Kieran - Same old Zach. Just unbelievable.
WHIPSNAKES
Coach Jim Stagnitta on the team effort...
First game, a lot of new faces out there. We were missing some of our veterans. I think we had four guys at least who were playing their first PLL game. And at times they looked like it, at times they made really good plays. I thought we got better as the game went on. Tucker, Leadmon, Roman, first time out there, Sean Lulley. Lot of guys out there playing for the first time. They made some really good plays, and they made some plays that they’ll learn in time not to make and they’ll get better. I thought we had our chances offensively at times. It’s been a little bit of our achilles heel, we didn’t finish all of those. We talked before the game, the Chrome is as good as anybody in the league at running the field with pole their poles and their shorties. And they took advantage of that with us a couple times. There’s some areas we need to focus on and continue to evaluate, adn get a little bit better. But we fought back, we certainly had our opportunities. I think we probably could have done a better job on that last play of the game, team defense wise, but the kid made a nice play and stuck a big shot.
Coach Stagnitta on if 13 is too many shots for Dordevic...
I want Tucker to shoot when it’s the appropriate shot to take. Out of those 13, I probably had a problem with three or four of those. We talked about it. Part of it is not necessarily the shot, it’s how he shoots it. It’s a different level here. And this 32 second thing is tough. You end up with the ball in your stick with five seconds left when you run on the field, he took a couple of those. But his shot selection is something that all young guys get used to. We’ll get better at that. That said, he came back and stuck that one lefty down the alley to tie the game late. He’s gonna be a really good player and he’s gonna learn as we go.
Coach Stagnitta on Peter LaSalla's play...
Our hope was that Petey would get us to 50%. And he did. To be perfectly candid, I thought particularly in the first half, they outplayed us on their wings. Their wing play was better than ours and we could have had a few more of those. But I thought he did a great job. One thing Lars told me is, Petey has never missed a game. He’s been banged up. But he battles. I’m really pleased with what he did, haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet. He came in against a seasoned vet who has had success in this league, and he held his own. I’m really happy with what he did.
Coach Stagnitta on the 32 second clock...
We’re going to have to evaluate that. It’s short. Once everybody gets set, it’s short. I like what we do, we’re just going to have to evaluate the personnel we have doing it. I felt that our d middies got tired today. We didn’t enough faceoffs and they battled on the wings, and they stayed on and played some offense. That’s something we’re going to look hard at.
Coach Stagnitta on Kyle Bernlohr making 3 first half and 12 second half saves...
He had a tough week. He’s a high school coach, he had to fly home, he didn’t get the reps. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But Kyle’s been doing this for a long time. We have a lot of confidence in him. He had a great second half. That’s kind of what we expect from him. We did get a little bit of what has made us successful.We hung around at the X, we made saves, which allowed us to kind of close that gap. But I think it took Kyle a half to get into a groove and get accustomed to the pace and the speed of it, because he missed the scrimmage and he didn’t get a whole lot of live plays this week.
Will Manny on mentoring Tucker Dordevic...
It was great rooming with Tuck all week and getting to know him a little bit. He’s gifted. He’s so athletic. When we get to watch this film, I think a lot of those young bucks will get to see personnel, like who’s going to do what on the defensive end, that’s something i can help with. Keeping their head up, drawing two, moving it is a really good job as opposed to trying to just shoot the ball. He’s going to be fine, the fact that he can produce all those shots is really good. Now we just have to get him settle in and he’ll be fine like he was his senior year at Georgetown. I’m going to be talking to those guys a lot, and that’s what I think I’m here for.
Michael Ehrhardt on the effort of Petey LaSalla...
Those guys are coming off a really long season, Petey had a hell of a career at UVA. He battled, and he’s battled tested. He competed out there. He played in a final four game last weekend and now he’s facing off for us on the big stage. I thought he did a hell of a job today, he scrapped, he hung in there, and he’s only going to get better as the season goes on. So I’m really excited for Petey. He’s gonna get back to work and do a great job for us this year.
Manny and Ehrhardt on the 32 seconds off the faceoff...
Manny - It’s definitely fast. I think we underperformed. We scrimmage the Chaos and we did a little of faceoff to one possession vs the Archers, and we did it really well during training camp. Then today, it was a little frustrating from my perspective watching these other three games and saying the same thing like “everyone’s playing slow otu of the faceoff”. And we did a good job of that during camp, but we didn’t do a good job of that today. So again it’s fast, but you can still play lacrosse. You just have to be on the same page and have a game plan.
Ehrhardt - It’s definitely interesting. That’s for sure. It’s something we are all going to have to get used to. It’s definitely a different dynamic to the game. I think teams are going to strategize a little more around it. You have to be smart with it because wing guys are basically staying on for offense and then, you know, get back and play defense if they don’t score. So it’s definitely a different element to the game that guys will have to get used to as the season goes on.
Michael Ehrhardt on why Chrome and Whips play such good games...
I personally think, between the both of us, it’s just excellent lacrosse. It’s fundamental, and look, it’s probably not the most exciting. But both teams play very fundamentally great defenses, they have really good goalies, for us obviously they have a lot of Maryland guys on that team too, just like us. They created a great culture, Coach Soudo has done a great job building that team out, and like us, they’re going to continue to get better throughout the year. They’re going to remain a top team in this league with the brand of ball they play out there, and kudosto them today. I thought they battled a little bit harder than us.
Will Manny on playing with high school teammate Mike Chanenchuk...
It’s great. I didn’t realize how many of the guys I actually know on this team when I got to the locker room. Through the past couple years, Team USA tryouts over the last couple years, but I’ve known Channy since 2005. From high school, and Mike is one of those guys you can, you know the second goal toady. We actually spoke about it the possession before. I said hey, wen you’re just holding the ball and we’re getting our guys on, I’m just going to back off Jesse, throw it in there. And he did. That’s a good start for us to have in game one. That’s just a veteran experience between mike and I, hmi listening, me seeing it, and trusting it. I’m very excited going from Tom Schreiber who I played with in high school to Mike, and a lot of those familiar faces, Chaminade guys right here (smacks Ehrhardt on the back) in the pros, which is always awesome.
CHROME
Cross Ferrera on the week he's had...
Sunday we won the national championship. I flew out the next morning, had practice. Then toned it down a bit, but just grinding every day. Haven’t had any days off since the championship, but it paid off today.
Cross Ferrera on the final shot...
You’ve got six other guys around you. You know you get your touches, you just go. It’s not really a one man thing, I rely on those guys as much as they rely on me. I found myself picking the ball up with nine seconds left and at that point you just go and hope for the best.
Jesse Bernhardt on the Chrome rookies...
It’s always exciting. It keeps guys like me, Manley, and JMac young to be around these guys. We need to catch up on the lingo and stuff these days. It’s good, Coach Soudan, Coach Monte, Coach Kerwick, they’ve been doing this a long time. They have certain guys that they are looking for. There’s a lot of talented lacrosse players playing the game, not a lot of spots to go around. So it’s about finding the right guys, not just the best guys out there. They’ve done a good job of bringing in talented players, guys like Cross and Sam, but they’re good people too. We got to get to know each other this week and obviously not the prettiest, but you see the talent and the camaraderi building and you know that goes off the field. It takes a lot more than X’s and O’s to win games at this level. The ability to have a connection, relationships, whether it’s guys who have been around weather it’s guys who have been around versus young guys who just got here. That’s the stuff where we pride ourselves on trying to be a little bit different.
Ferrera and Bernhardt on the Chrome transition...
Cross - Especially now with the shot clock at 32 seconds, there’s a lot of transition in a game. To have guys that can work the ceneter of the field as well as they do helps a lot. Terefenko and Manley both had a goal off transition so it helps a lot of having guys like that.
Jesse - this game is so fast paced, you need guys who can get up and down. You don’t play a lot of them because you can only dress so many dudes. So to have guys like Terry, Will Haus, Alex Smith, Nick Grill, Eli Salama, they kind of get up and down all game. They put in a lot of work. It can be a grind but those things make a different. I thought today the middle of the field, whether it was post face off or some of those early ones by Mike were kind of a differentiator, which you need. It’s hard to score 6v6.
Bernhardt on Sconone starting transitions...
We had a lot of trust in Sean today. He made a lot of saves that kind of bailed us out and covered up some blemishes. But it’s a by product of the trust we have in him. You’re generally not breaking up the field unless you think your guy is gonna save it. Either that or it’s gonna be a faceoff, it’s going in or off the endline. Certain shots, guys are just going to take. There’s no stat line of zero shots, not in this league. So some of those shots are going to be more favorable, you know this goes back to the relationship and knowing who you play with and what you’re willing to give up, you’re just kind of hedge your bets and say on this one, I’m just going to leak because it’s a good chance Sean is going to save it. If he saves it, good things are going to happen. If he misses it you try and get back in.
Bernhardt on the Chrome defensive matchups...
That was kind of the gameplan. We spent a lot ofthe week focused on us. As we came toward the end of the weekend we start talking more gameplanning. We have a ton of faith in Mike. He’s done a good job on Matt in a lot of the matchups we’ve had. Matt is a tremendous player and he’s going to get his points. I don’t think I know what his stat line was, so even more credit to Mike. But again, credit to Mike he’s been around, he’s a smart dude. There’s probably one at the end I should have left him a little longer just to trust him on that match up. But he did a great job and we’ve got all the faith in the world in him.
Coach Tim Soudan on the team win...
What a great week. A lot of new guys in camp this year and getting to know those guys was awesome. They all fit in really well. It was kind of a hard fought battle in the beginning and and we had to let some guys go, which is always difficult. As we got tot he middle of the week we had to justify where either legs were and pulled back the reins a little back. I think we did a good job of that and managed that. I think our focus and and legs kind of went in the second half, and you didn’t see us moving the ball as well. Some uncharacteristic things happened that didn’t happen in the first half, and I that was just a long week. First thing to go is your focus and decision making. We saw that happen a bit. I think them tying it up woke our guys up. And then it just kind of landed in the right guys hands at the end of the game, against a shorty. We were just yelling at him to get topside and see what happens, yelling to get some cutters going as well, and he came around the corner and buried it.
Exciting way to cap off a very long week for everybody. We built a lot of relationships this week that are just going to get stronger. Super excited for the guys. It’s a long week, and we’re really happy with the outcome. At the nd of the day, you’re looking to win games and put guys in a position to be successful. The deefense played really good against a really good Whipsnakes team. We’ll try to build on this and address some mistakes we made.
Coach Soudan on the decision to include Cross Ferrera paying off...
It’s pretty satisfying. There’s a lot of decisions and factors that weighed into that decision. We’ve some guys that are out that are going to be coming back in. We wanted to get a good look at him. Dressing him instead of Dylan is no knock on Dylan. Dylan had a wedding last night, he’d have to travel back today, I just didn’t think that was the most competitive advantage for us. Cross played well, we didn’t see of ton of him in the scrimmage. He somehow got off five shots and had a goal and an assist.
I’ve been watching Cross for the last two years. He plays with my son at Salisbury and happened to be there a lot. I watched every single game. What I know most of all is that he just has a different gear. He runs by somebody he just can just step in, get his shot off and shoot in a lot of different ways. I think he would probably tell you right now that he should have had 3 or 4 goals. I wouldn’t disagree. You just trust your gut, in that situation, with him playing on my son’s team, maybe that looks biased, but it certainly wasn’t biased. Take a look at this resume, it’s really good. We just had enough guts to act on it. I’m really happy for him, he’s had a great week, it’s going to be a short turnaround this week. We’ll see what decisions we make by Tuesday and go from there.
Coach Soudan on his faith in the rookies...
Sam was probably our best middie throughout camp. He di a really, really good job. As those guys learn you look at hte stat line. You look at Justin Anderson, he was helping those guys along all week. We know what we get out of Justin. He’s going to runny guys, be opportunistic, and he’s going to be smart. He didn’t necessarily run by guys to be bulls. The one thing we noticed this week is this group moves the ball better than any group we’ve had. And I think it showed today especially in the first half. We had some unassisted goals right out of the gate, some transition stuff, but when we moved the ball, good things happened.
So we have a lot of faith in the rookies. Sam played really hard, and I think in the second half, we might have over ran him in the frist half a bit. We didn’t realize how tired he was, and he’s not going to tell us. But all in all everything worked out. To get in the win column the first week, especially, after a long grueling week of training camp is great for us.
Coach Soudan on his captains...
On gameday, we do a lot of just letting the captains talk to the guys and they set the tone in the locker room, in the morning meetings. They are very insightful guys. You see side conversations going on, they’ve been playing so long that they understand that it’s just the first game, but every game in the season matters. They’re invaluable. You have guys like Jesse that are more quiet. You wouldn’t think it with how articulate he is and how much he talks, but he’s more quiet. Mike is more rah rah. And Jordan is a great locker room guy and great in the huddle. Their impact has been huge. You have to have that leadership around, so kudos to them.
Coach Soudan on the physicality of Sam Handley...
He’s just a handful to guard, right? And he proved it all week. He does that with the idea that he’s going to roll back and find someone wide open, So he’s almost got a feeder first mentality. And just his height allows him to throw passes over people, and he’s got a great IQ for the game. Being a big strong guy where he can just lower his shoulder and get an advantage is huge. Especially when you can shoot it on the run from 14 yards. He had an incredible week. We are really happy with our rookies.
Coach Soudan on Jordan Macintosh's changing role...
I think Mac is kind of a glue guy on the sidelines. I don’t know that he got as many runs as he would have liked. They were very matchup oriented today. They did slide a bit, we try to get them into slide situations. He’s a great man up guy, he had two opportunities on man up, but I think we’re going to figure out. What is most important in this league is to have guys on the field that can break people down. I think Mac is a guy we use on razor picks, big little picks, and he’s kind of an inside finisher. So we’ll evaluate what that looks like on film and kind of evaluate if his role is going to pick up or be the same. But his role as aleader, organizing guys on the sideline, and talking through things, was huge today. There’s a lot of lessons being served around by some of the older guys, especially in the box area.
Coach Soudan on practice intensity feeding the transition game...
We actually played a little sixes early on. The reason we did that is, we had 10 poles in camp. And we didn’t know how we would be able to see them. So we played that six on six format up and down. And it was pretty high intensity at times of practice. We’d do that, go into some 2v2 stuff, some indy stuff, some teaching stuff, and then we get back after it in some unsettled stuff and get into 6v6 and practice the stuff we put in that day. But we try and do everything to a clear, because it’s super important to get up and out. The sconone to everybody, and even Owen did a great job outletting the ball. We try to make practice as game like as possible, and it paid off. We have some offensive minded defensive guys. You see Mike Manley hunting to get over and he’s super talented. People don’t think he’s going to pull his stick through two long sticks and shoot, but he’s been doing it his whole career. I hope I didn’t just blow it for him (chuckles).
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