Inside Lacrosse Podcasts

Four PLL teams remain, peaking at the right time for the right to play in mountainous Salt Lake City this weekend.

IL's Chris Rosenthall and Kevin Brown are back to recap the PLL Quarterfinals with takeaways from the Outlaws and Cannons' victories before diving into where the Redwoods and Whipsnakes go from here after bowing out.

From the Denver four Tewaaraton winners being back together to Boston's defense peaking at the right time, their quarterfinal wins set up some scintillating semifinal matchups against the Archers and Waterdogs. Rosie previews the offseasons ahead for the exiting quarterfinal teams, taking a look at the top  free agents for California and Maryland while giving Rob Pannell his flowers after an emotional final game of the season (and possibly career).

From the natural narratives of Brennan O'Neill playing against the Utah defense to the built-up animosity of past matchups between Boston and Philly, the final four aren't just peaking at the right time, but also have the most intrigue. Whether it's the boos raining down from the Salt Lake City crowd for every O'Neill touch or the beef between the Cannons and Waterdogs, the intensity will be incredible. Come for the analysis on what Denver and Boston need to do better in the semis, stay for the ref decision Rosie brings up that makes Kevin break. The two end with a big-picture look at what a title would mean for the remaining semifinalists in the grand scheme of things when it comes to legacies, re-establishing a dynasty or building one.

Around this time every year, dozens of parents of high school prospects ask IL's Terry Foy some version of the question, "How does recruiting work?"

In an effort to round out that answer, he's interviewing DI men's lacrosse coaches about their process, continuing the fourth year of the "How Recruiting Works" series with Johns Hopkins coach Peter Milliman.

The discussion begins as Milliman's traces the evolution of his principles of play and how they intersect with the way the game is played. From there, he outlines how his staff works together to develop a recruiting board, how he relies on his relationships high school and club coaches to get feedback on prospects (sharing a favorite nugget on the topic) and ends with a discussion of how the unique elements of the Blue Jays' athletic department — chiefly being a predominantly Division III institution in the Big Ten — informs how he regards on the ongoing changes in college athletics.

On the eve of the PLL Quarterfinals, IL's Kevin Brown and Chris Rosenthall welcome back friend of the pod Rob Pannell to preview the Maryland Whipsnakes-Boston Cannons matchup. The newly minted all-time career points leader looks for his second title in leading a youthful offense to an upset against a red-hot conference rival. 

From a favorite RP3  playoff memory to how he has prolonged his career to what it's like playing at age 36 alongside a player like 23-year-old Joey Spallina who grew up idolizing him, it's a fun interview filled with respect for the game and his playoff counterpart, Marcus Holman, who Pannell says is playing the best lacrosse of his career at age 35.

Rosie and Kevin start with some big-picture playoff outlooks, provide some takeaways to Gavin Adler's appearance on the Stick Talk Podcast, preview both PLL Quarterfinal matchups and provide their predictions. The two end the episode dishing out some rapid-fire End of Season Award takes via a "Buy OR Sell" segment before giving some season superlatives quick-hitters.

As summer turns to fall, clubs across the country start locking in their uniform and apparel orders.

Too often, that is a precursor to missed shipments, printing errors, late deliveries and, above all, complaints. Those are the problems that Joe Monahan, a longtime sporting goods industry veteran and lax dad, set out to solve with the gearUP team, offering team stores that never close and shipping directly to the customer. In order to show how much easier working with gearUP has made their lives, M&D's Chris Robinson and 3d Georgia's James Leary join Monahan and IL's Terry Foy for a quick discussion about what gearUP brings to the table.

Around this time every year, dozens of parents of high school prospects ask IL's Terry Foy some version of the question, "How does recruiting work?"

In an effort to round out that answer, he's interviewing DI men's lacrosse coaches about their process, continuing the fourth year of the "How Recruiting Works" series with Holy Cross coach JL Reppert.

A 1999 Navy alum who spent six seasons as Maryland's offensive coordinator before taking over the Crusaders' top spot, Reppert dives into how being a Patriot League school with 3,000 undergraduates, 27 sports and no grad schools make for such a unique environment. Coming off a 6-8 campaign, they've stacked good recruiting classes as they work toward climbing the conference standings.

Around this time every year, dozens of parents of high school prospects ask IL's Terry Foy some version of the question, "How does recruiting work?"

In an effort to round out that answer, he's interviewing DI men's lacrosse coaches about their process, continuing the fourth year of the "How Recruiting Works" series with UMass coach Kyle Smith.

Coming off his first season after taking over for Greg Cannella, Smith dives deep into the program's roots as a third-generation alum, now having gone through the transition from being an assistant to being the head man. He dives into what it's like to be one of the few Division I-A lacrosse programs that has football but is not in the Power 4, what that means to where they sit within the athletic department, what the move to the Atlantic-10 has meant to recruiting, how the rule changes affect their approach (hint: it's favored in-state recruiting) and much more.

IL's Chris Rosenthall and Kevin Brown are back to discuss the end of the regular season in the PLL and recap the incredible atmosphere around the first-ever WLL Championship with the Maryland Charm claiming the title.

Hear from MVP Sydni Black, goalie Jenika Cuocco and star middie Ally Kennedy as the Charm outlasted the Palms for title glory with plenty of excitement and inspiration.

From there, Rosie and Kevin break down the East and West playoff pictures and how the Waterdogs look to be a step above the rest of the league. They set the stage for the Quarterfinal matchups from Minnesota with Maryland and Boston looking for the right to take the Waterdogs on in the semifinals, while the Outlaws and Redwoods will be a battle attrition en route to a date with the Archers in Salt Lake City. Come for the reactions from the monumental first-ever WLL Championship game, stay for the key analysis on what's ahead for the PLL postseason.

Around this time every year, dozens of parents of high school prospects ask IL's Terry Foy some version of the question, "How does recruiting work?"

In an effort to round out that answer, he's interviewing DI men's lacrosse coaches about their process, continuing the fourth year of the "How Recruiting Works" series with Hampton coach Vincent Culpepper.

Coming off his first season after taking over for Chazz Woodson, Culpepper dives into his playing and coaching background, how he went from playing at Indiana to coaching at Wabash to being the Director of Operations at North Carolina to being the Pirates' head man. He describes building the plane in the air last summer, which led to landing six 3-star recruits in the Class of 2027. It all starts around the pitch: "Who do you want to play you in the movie?"

Around this time every year, dozens of parents of high school prospects ask IL's Terry Foy some version of the question, "How does recruiting work?"

In an effort to round out that answer, he's interviewing a series of DI men's lacrosse coaches about their process, kicking off the fourth year of the "How Recruiting Works" series with North Carolina coach Joe Breschi.

Coming off of a year in which they built IL's No. 1-ranked class with six 5-star and five 4-star recruits, Breschi talks about the advantage being a Tar Heel alum gives him in the sales pitch, how having two former head coaches as assistants has changed his role, how the state of North Carolina's decision to reclassify all athletic scholarships valued at the in-state tuition price affected his practical number of scholarships and much more.

IL's Kevin Brown and Chris Rosenthall return to discuss a wild midweek of news in the PLL as five Syracuse rookies may be looking to head back to college for a fifth year, and the PLL and WLL are teaming up with the NLL to promote the Lexus Global Lacrosse Games in December.

After breaking all of that down, Rosie eloquently recaps how he stayed up until 3 a.m. Friday night to bear witness to the Waterdogs' first of two wins in Denver, why the Archers are so scary on their four-game win streak and Kevin officially cancels his title game collision course between the most talented two teams on paper, Philly and Denver, due to the latter's injury woes.

The duo previews the run-in for the East and West teams' remaining games and predict who will miss out on the PLL postseason. Up next is Week 11 in Columbus, where a big doubleheader of opportunities await Anthony Kelly's California Redwoods.