Dive into Emmaus Men's Soccer

[00:00:00] Speaker A: That's really our goal, is to be at the national tournament with them in this next season. Two seasons. Three seasons. And start to be a regular competitor in the regional championship. Conference championship. [00:00:20] Speaker B: And welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to in the nest, the Emmaus athletic sports podcast. You know what I did there? I had to wait for the beat drop. I'm trying to work on that, trying to do a better job of getting in there. Last time we almost freestyled, but today we have a special podcast. We welcome Chris McHugh, the head men's soccer coach of Emmaus athletics. Coach McHugh. Chris. [00:00:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:00:49] Speaker B: I call you Chris. [00:00:50] Speaker A: You may call me Chris. [00:00:51] Speaker B: Okay, McHugh. How are you doing today? [00:00:54] Speaker A: I'm doing great. Excited to be here. [00:00:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:00:57] Speaker A: I know you're one of the biggest Emmaus men's soccer fans around, on campus, off campus, in the alumni base. And so you're the perfect guy to talk to about our season and what's going on with Emmaus soccer. [00:01:07] Speaker B: I appreciate that. I do. I love that. We talked a little bit about how you're representing the. We're both up here kind of representing the men's team right here in Emmaus. So it's really great to have that. We were talking a little bit before. I know we got a lot to get into, but I like just so for you sports fans out there, Danny DeVito, if you recognize that name, he's. [00:01:37] Speaker A: An actor, but Tommy DeVito. [00:01:39] Speaker B: That's right. [00:01:40] Speaker A: Is a football player. [00:01:42] Speaker B: They're so similar in names. Gosh, give me a break. Tommy DeVito, the backup quarterback for the Giants from Illinois. You coached him also? [00:01:54] Speaker A: I was in a former life. I was a former life. Yep. That's great. Shout out to coach Reggie, our strength and conditioning coach. Gym teacher by day and strength coach by night. But, yeah, I was a gym teacher back in New Jersey and was the PE teacher for Tommy DeVito, the Giants quarterback right now in fifth and 6th grade. [00:02:14] Speaker B: Was he a Giants fan growing up? Do you know? Was everyone a Giants fan there? [00:02:17] Speaker A: Everyone was, yeah. They won a Super bowl with Eli back in the day, and he would wear the jerseys to class and play Dodgeball, get the kids out. So I knew he had a good arm. I knew he had accuracy. And lo and behold, he's doing it now. [00:02:29] Speaker B: That's like every kid's dream is to play for their favorite team growing up. That's really cool. I didn't know that. So if anyone knows Tommy and they ask him who's their fifth grade gym teacher, they would say, oh, yeah. McHugh. What would they call you like, Mr. McHugh? [00:02:43] Speaker A: Yeah, Mr. McHugh. McHugh. A lot. [00:02:45] Speaker B: McHugh. Okay, fair enough. I like that. Well, we'll get into it, but we can't have an episode without our favorite little mascots. We still don't have a name for these guys unless we do by this episode. But do you have a name for these? Are you familiar with these two guys? [00:03:04] Speaker A: I've started to see them pop up around campus, and we're going to pop up other places around the state, around the country here. Soon. [00:03:13] Speaker B: They're going on tour, I guess. Now, we still need names for these, everyone. So please message me. Message Matt, message Chris. All right, get on Eric about it. I'm talking to you. And we got to figure out a name. We got to get these guys involved. I don't want this guy to be called Eddie. I'm sick of Eddie. Eddie. [00:03:36] Speaker A: Eddie. I heard that on the last one. [00:03:38] Speaker B: He's so soft. Oh, my goodness. [00:03:40] Speaker C: I liked Hatchet. [00:03:41] Speaker B: Hatchet wasn't bad for this guy. [00:03:43] Speaker C: I don't know who was that commented. [00:03:44] Speaker A: That, but, yeah, maybe hatch. [00:03:45] Speaker C: I liked hatch. [00:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah, that's my phone. Did you guys like it? That was so. [00:03:52] Speaker A: Sounds like we're in the holiday season with that. [00:03:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I am. It's actually seven years from Lucas Graham, but mixed in with the. Let's not. I don't want to talk about this. All right, so today's episode, we are going to talk about the soccer season with coach McHugh, as well as bring in some players and talk to them about the season, about their accomplishments, about their goals for next year and what they're planning on doing season as well as life and how they got to Emmaus. So we'll be interviewing team captain Josh, Matt, and then one of the freshmen, Bennett Kramer. So looking forward to those interviews later in this episode. But right now, coach, let's talk about this. I just got to ask you, what are some, before we get there, before we get to the takeaways of the season, let's talk about, you are a two time national championship coach at Moody. You've coached a lot of players throughout the year, some that have won national player of the year. Et. But. So that's a little bit about your background. So we've interviewed you before, but if you could let the people know a little bit more about yourself and how you got to Emmaus. [00:05:11] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I'm in my fifth year at Emmaus, which is great. And we love it here. We love it in Dubuque and prior to coming to Emmaus, have a background in PE teaching, like I talked about back in New Jersey. [00:05:22] Speaker B: Tommy Yep. [00:05:23] Speaker A: And was a boys varsity soccer coach, coached youth soccer, wanted to be involved with college coaching, had done some college coaching as an assistant when I was in grad school at Montclair State, New Jersey. And just ironically, there's lots of New Jersey connections here at Emmaus that come across them in the lunchroom and as people come to visit. So if you're a New Jersey kid and you want to come on over, we've got one on our team and it's a great place to be. But yeah, I was at Moody for six seasons and we had success there. We won two national championships and coached two national players of the year and coach of the year award, and so excited about what we're building at Emmaus because some of the things we've gotten to this year, starting to bring back memories and remind me of some of the success we had at Moody. And a lot of our players are kind of fighting, competing, and kind of on the cusp of, I think, doing some of the things we did at. [00:06:16] Speaker B: Moody, and we'll get to that later. But now let's talk about a little bit of your takeaways from this season. Coach so the soccer team finished six, five and three. So three ties or draws, they say in the soccer world, which is crazy, but our home record was four, one and one, which is amazing, killing at home. Shout out to all the fans, all the faculty, staff, all the alum who come to the games, support our boys. So we have a great home record. We have a great MCC record, four and two, but obviously more of those loss coming on the road. So a little bit of that as well as some of the accomplishments from the season. [00:07:00] Speaker A: Sure. No, we had a great year. I think, again, my first year at Emaus, I got hired into the athletic director role and coach Block coached in 2019 with coach Brown, and they were coming off of a conference championship in 2018 and we were getting ready to go in 2020 and kind of had a pause there with COVID And so we've really been rebuilding the program again the last three years. So coming in this year, hoping to be competitive, have a winning record, but not sure if we were going to get there because we hadn't had that success the last two years, but we knew we had some good young players and yeah, the guys really kind of picked it up right from the start. I know you and Matt have referenced our home opening game of the season when we beat Marinatha five to one. Yeah. Great atmosphere at Fishfield all year. We had great turnout all year. Like, a lot of parents coming out to the game. So I feel like that really set the tone for just belief, being really competitive at home, kind of bringing the energy and competing and kind of growing into the year. [00:08:07] Speaker B: I have to thank you, coach, for having such, like. I don't know if there's a game plan to always come down to the wire and have so many close games, but it is an electric atmosphere when that happens, when you just can't sit down, you have to be standing. You got to be pacing up and down the sidelines. That's what I'd be doing. I'll be hanging out with Matt or Luke Sterwinsky, and we'll be pacing up and down the sidelines together. I'll talk to Seth Curtula, one of the ball. Just. I'll even talk to the ref sometimes. I don't know. It's just, like, such a fun atmosphere when you have such a close. Of course, we don't want that, but that's what really draws us in. But honestly, we want to be, like, blowing people out, but I don't know. But having such a close game. [00:08:52] Speaker A: Yeah, it was nice to be in the games this year. We've had games that we haven't quite been in the mix. And coach Eric Raspussen's on the sideline with me is an alum. We have Anthony Flores. Coach Flores, a friend of yours that's an alum. So we've got some of that nervous tension, excitement happening on the sideline as the game's going on, and some big celebrations, too. So I always joke, if there was a coach's cam, it'd be interesting to see how I look during the game. [00:09:17] Speaker B: But I feel like you're cool, calm and collective, honestly. [00:09:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:09:22] Speaker A: And that's what most people would say. [00:09:24] Speaker C: Most of the time. [00:09:25] Speaker B: Most of the time. [00:09:25] Speaker A: Most of the time. [00:09:26] Speaker B: Then you'll snap a clipboard and everybody. Oh, my goodness. He means he's serious. [00:09:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:30] Speaker B: That's the best. [00:09:31] Speaker A: I tried once this year, like a Tony Dunn, like, very resistant plastic. I found out. [00:09:35] Speaker B: Would you say you're. Did you turn around away from the players, or you try to break it in front of them? And it was embarrassing. [00:09:42] Speaker A: Kind of punch at it once or twice, maybe once across the knee, and it just wasn't happened. So I had to throw it in and kind of spear it into the grass. [00:09:51] Speaker B: I would have loved to watch that. I don't even know, but I think. [00:09:57] Speaker A: With that said, yeah, we had a lot of fight back this year. So you mentioned we had three draws, and so the team didn't give up. I think we came back really well this year and had a big home win against faith and just a lot of growth in the program two years ago, honestly, we lost by a big margin against faith at home. And so to beat them this year was a big win for us. [00:10:20] Speaker B: It was definitely. And you mentioned at the beginning, just to see the growth of this team is amazing. And you are creating a program, not just you, but everyone involved with this soccer team, with the athletic program, like basketball, volleyball, cross country, they affect soccer, soccer affects them. You see volleyball doing such a fantastic job. It really helps the growth of the athletic program, helps the growth of their team, which can help the growth of others. So it's really cool to see the growth of this team. And that's like something we'll get over. Like this year we had twelve first year players, and that's not even including, or then like three community college transfers, but nine freshmen that we had, and we'll get into that. But that just shows it tells a lot of the growth of this program and where it's going. Right. And then to think about, like, the crown game. Crown was a national championship level team, right. They made it to the national tournament, lost in the group stage, as we talked prior, but they were up there. They barely missed the championship game. Barely, literally by like two scores, which is a goal differentiate. And we were able to compete with them. [00:11:36] Speaker A: No, we've been fortunate to play crown the last two years. They've gone to the national tournament the last two years. So it's been a nice measuring stick to see where we're at. Lost two one, one year, four to three this year. But they're kind of right there. And within our region now we're in the Midwest region. We have grace Christian College. They've been to the national tournament the last two years. And so, yeah, that's really our goal is to be at the national tournament with them in this next season, two seasons, three seasons, and start to be a regular competitor in the regional championship. Conference championship. [00:12:08] Speaker B: So how do you mentioned regionals? A little bit. And regionals is what really matters, I guess you could say. Not saying a conference play doesn't matter, conference play is a great tournament of itself. But to get to that national championship level, you have to go through the region. So for the listeners who might not know what are some of the teams in our region and what does the play look like. [00:12:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I know we had some regional realignment. So now, Emmaus, we're in with some schools in Wisconsin and over in Michigan, and Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Marinatha Baptist University in Wisconsin, and then we have Kuiper College that comes in as a new team next year. Grace Christian University in Grand Rapids and Kuiper are both in Grand Rapids and Great Lakes Christian College in Michigan. So Great Lakes and grace have been competitive the last two years at the top. Marinatha and Moody historically have been to the national tournament. They've won national championships. So I think it's a pretty even region where anyone can win on a day, which makes it exciting as you're kind of growing into those top tier teams, which we're hoping to do. And so having seen them this year, we feel like, oh, man, we've got really strong goal scorer. Christian Anderson, Tucker Cappis in goal really was an outstanding performer for us this year. Can we keep adding pieces? And we'd love to flip it on crown and maybe beat them in a year or two, see them at the national tournament and really feel like it's a possibility coming up. [00:13:37] Speaker B: Yeah, and, like, we had seven players that have been recognized this year from awards. So our only senior on the team, Zach, or was honored with an honorable mention all region, which is a higher reward itself, being competing against those schools that you just mentioned. Great Lakes and Grace being top of cream of the crop. Right. And then Josh, Matt coming away with both first team in all conference. In all region, as well as the Kyle Root award, which you have coached previous players that have also received that award. Christian Anderson also being first team all conference. First team all region. We have Tucker being first team all conference, honorable mention all region, which for freshmen goalie going up against one of the best goalies in the nation, that is in our region. That's also really impressive, pretty much saying that possibly the second best goalie in the region as a freshman going up. Is that goalie a junior, the Grace goalie? [00:14:38] Speaker A: I think he was a senior this year, but I think he was the all american selection at goalkeeper. [00:14:42] Speaker B: Yeah. See, like. And Tucker's going up against this guy when it comes to votes, and he's already being recognized as someone that's going to possibly be cream of the crop. Right. So then you got caleb hunter, second team all conference, but first team all region, which I would take that any day. [00:14:58] Speaker A: Kudos to caleb. [00:15:00] Speaker B: And then you have Bennett Crainer, who had second team all conference honorable mention all region, and Edwin Ventura, second team all conference. So there's a lot of words I just said that might have been like one of exactly. [00:15:11] Speaker A: I mean, that's seven players recognized. You start eleven on the field. So, I mean, more than half of our guys are being recognized for their performances and we have top guys. I mean, really, you're going to talk to Josh and Bennett here shortly. And josh has just been a top performer since the day stepped in. He's a three time first team all region player. So for the guys playing with us now, and the guys are going to be playing with us next year, I tell them like, you are playing with one of the best players in the country and Josh is an all american level. We just need to get a couple more wins and put ourselves in some of those bigger games so that more coaches can see him. [00:15:46] Speaker B: Yeah, Josh has a very unique season this year and we'll talk about that later. But just the fact that you look at what is on the know when it comes to stat wise, it's like, oh, whatever. But that's the thing about soccer that a lot of people don't understand. Maybe you can explain to people why it's not always important what is on these numbers don't always mean everything. Yeah, they don't tell the whole story. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Yeah. No, I think Josh's season is a little bit intertwined with christian Anderson. He was our forward this year. Christian is one of the leading goal scorers in the country. He had 13 goals and he was producing most of the attack for us. So that meant Josh could do all these little things and just put out fires and defend. He could make a final pass or he could pass to someone else who's going to pass to christian. But Josh played all three positions, defender, midfield, forward this year, center forward, center back, center midfield. So honestly, as the year went on and Christian picked up an injury the last couple of games, just my reappreciation for Josh elevated because he's doing all these things pretty effortlessly in terms of how he carries himself, but putting in a ton of effort on the field. [00:16:58] Speaker B: And that's something crazy for you listeners who might not know soccer quite well. For Josh to be able to play pretty much all three different phases of the field and come away with a first team all conference, first team all region is extremely impressive. Usually if a player, let's say if they're normally a forward, but you have to draft them back on defense or midfield throughout the season and they're jumping around, then they're competing against players in all those positions when it comes to these awards. So Josh did that this season, but still walked away. Know the top honor, right. So shows and tells a lot of not just a player Josh is, but also the character, especially with that Kyle or the Kyle Rhode award. [00:17:43] Speaker A: Can I just jump in on that? The Kyle Rhode Jr. Award is this award that the National Christian College Athletic association kind of recognizes one individual in each sport as an overall performer, someone who's a leader on their campus, on their team, service in the community, service in their church, love for the lord, and good academics. So kind of this blended and, yeah, Josh was recognized as the selection for across all the country, all the soccer players on the men's side, and so big honor for Josh and I think for. And so really proud of him. And again, just has been a great leader for our team and someone that the guys can look up to. [00:18:23] Speaker B: Well deserved award, that is for sure. So we're talking a lot about players right now and something that's really cool or not necessarily really cool, but a question for you. We had nine freshmen this year, but 13 1st year students. Just because they're a transfer doesn't mean they might not act like a freshman. How was babysitting this year? Was it like babysitting or was it herding cats? What do we got here? [00:18:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Sometimes coaching can resemble babysitting, and sometimes some of your biggest successes is picking the right restaurant, feeding them well. Everyone's happy after the game. [00:18:59] Speaker B: That's one of my questions for the guys. What's their favorite spot? [00:19:04] Speaker A: But these guys honestly did not take a ton of babysitting. Coach Eric and I got back from every trip, and we were like, man, that went pretty smooth. The guys have been responsible, taking care of business, so we definitely have a lot of light hearted moments and can rag on each other or little jokes here and there, but this is a really good group to coach. [00:19:27] Speaker B: Who do you think the players prefer? Because we take two vans now that the bus broke down. Why can't I talk about that? [00:19:36] Speaker A: Hey, if you're survivor, bus breakdown a couple of seasons ago, that was impressive. We took the last trip in the bus. Yeah, we retired it. [00:19:46] Speaker B: If you're a listener and you want to sponsor a new bus, come on in. We would love it. I remember I was a manager for the soccer team for three years, and having the whole team together on the bus really built community, really helped us define some character and grow bonds with one another, which helped our performance on the field. You look at 2018, we were able to win a conference that year, and the bus rides and the away trips were always everyone's favorite. Right. You don't want players and teams to be like, oh, I got to go away this weekend. You want them to be excited to be like, hanging out with their friends, creating memories. Fellowship, like true fellowship, like breaking bread and having a good time. Not just doing homework, but doing homework. [00:20:29] Speaker A: We have good trips, and there's two distinct vans. Yeah, coach got one van. I got one van. I think they both have their own vibe. They have their own stylist conversation. [00:20:37] Speaker B: What's your vibe? What's your vibe? What's your van vibe? [00:20:40] Speaker A: I'll be honest, my van was a little more on the quiet. Yeah, I had Caleb Pogony Pogon in the front seat with me sometimes, and he'll have the big headphones on like this and just be chilling for about two, 3 hours. And all of a sudden he'll just come at me with something total random, in fact. And him and spicenger sometimes doing some geopolitical talk and mixing in some theology. So we had some interesting ones, but I think pretty distinct from what was going on in coach Eric's car. [00:21:09] Speaker B: Eric, what was your car like? [00:21:11] Speaker C: We had a lot of good conversations. We talked sports, we talked theology. [00:21:16] Speaker B: Girls. [00:21:17] Speaker C: Yeah, girls. [00:21:19] Speaker A: They talk. A lot of girls. [00:21:20] Speaker B: They're waiting for that season to get over. [00:21:22] Speaker C: I tried to stay out of those ones. [00:21:24] Speaker B: Yeah, that's good. [00:21:24] Speaker C: Although I grilled them on the relationships a little bit, maybe, but yeah, there is some crazy stuff that happened in our cars. [00:21:30] Speaker A: But we did have a no dating policy for the freshmen until the season. That's new. [00:21:36] Speaker C: It went somewhat successfully. [00:21:39] Speaker B: I wasn't even going to talk about that, but I mean, I didn't even actually consider talking about it. But where did that come from? [00:21:46] Speaker A: I think you come on campus the first time, you're a new student. Preseason is great. You're getting to know the guys on your team. You're starting to get to know some of the other athletes that are on campus. Cross country team, volleyball team, love for everyone to hang out as a group, keep showing up at each other's game. Maybe you make eye contact with someone, but you have other things to focus on. You got your school, you got your sport. And we just said, hey, just put it on the back burner. Season is going to be over early mid November, go home at Thanksgiving, and then if it's still there, take her home. Yeah. If that look in the eye is still there, maybe something can happen for you. [00:22:23] Speaker B: I appreciate that. I think a lot of, not just freshmen, but people young adults need to hear that is to really focus on building their schedule, their structure in life and their foundation, especially coming into a new community, new culture, trying to understand that first before falling in love. That's awesome. But so not like herding cats. A lot of responsible freshmen, though. [00:22:48] Speaker A: I would say so, I think. Yeah, good group. We talk a lot of football, make a lot of other sports analogies as we coach or always interact. Backdoor cuts from basketball, post patterns from football. [00:23:00] Speaker C: The basketball ones didn't work as well this year, coach. Last year we had a lot of guys that really got our basketball references. Not so much this year. [00:23:08] Speaker B: So you're going to change it up. [00:23:09] Speaker A: So I'm a Bears fan, so I was kind of ragging on the Bears for a lot of the season. [00:23:14] Speaker B: Are you guys going to keep Justin Fields? What do you think? [00:23:17] Speaker A: Again, the Giants and the Bears are now two of the hottest teams in football, so we'll see what happens. [00:23:22] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. [00:23:23] Speaker A: Three out of four. Yeah. [00:23:24] Speaker B: I think you should keep Justin. I mean, right now you guys have two top five picks. [00:23:28] Speaker C: At least our quarterback's healthy. [00:23:29] Speaker B: Shane, he broke his finger. He just broke his. Who cares? At least mine is better. [00:23:36] Speaker A: Shane's a Chargers fan. [00:23:37] Speaker B: Chargers fan. It's like such a random thing to be a Chargers fan. Why'd I choose them? There's an interstellar meme of the person screaming, whatever I'm that with. Like, why did I choose to be a Chargers fan? If I can go in the past and scream at young Shane, like, don't do, yeah, don't do this, but amaze. [00:23:56] Speaker A: A fun place to be because, yeah, we got football all fall. We got packers fans. We have Vikings fans. [00:24:04] Speaker B: Packers fans are nice. I went to a Packers game this year, but here they're just, I can't with them. And you probably enjoy that, being a Bears fan. But let's get back on soccer. Even though it's fun to talk about football, but this is the real football. Stupid joke. So we talked a little bit about the players, and we've mentioned just the accomplishments, the awards that all these players have received to combine that with your previous success. When you were coaching at Moody, you had three Kyle root Jr. Award winners that were on your rosters, I guess now three, two for Moody. But second, you had second national or two national championship players of the year. But then you were the 2012 Coach of the year, national coach of the year, as well as winning the national championship, 2012 and 2013. With all that said, from your success at mooting, being the head coach there, growing the program, inheriting it, everything. By the time you entered the door and left, what are some similarities of the program? The team, but the team specifically, not necessarily the program, but the foundation you had there for the team to what we have today with this Emmaus men soccer team. [00:25:32] Speaker A: Yeah, no, there's growing similarities. And also want to shout out Zach Ort, who just finished and was our one senior this year because he was here expecting to play. We didn't have the season in 2020, and he stuck with us. And he's really helped lay this foundation where now we've got these nine freshmen, a couple of community college guys to build on what he, Carlos Ventura, their captain, Josh, have done. So I think what we're starting to see is, one, we've got great families in the program, and those guys come from great families. So their parents have pointed them to Christ. They're coming to our games, and these guys are here at Emmaus for the right reasons. They appreciate and want to study the Bible as part of their education. So some are in ministry majors, some are business majors or teacher education. But what we tell guys, as they're thinking about coming here, too, is this is a great place to see and set the stage for what God has for you, for your life. You don't need to know. Some people are pretty clear, I want to do this. Others are like, I'm not sure, but I want to grow in my faith and I want to play soccer. And when you're thinking those two things, this is a fantastic spot to be. And so this freshman group is helping to lay that foundation. I think our culture here, we're talking about faith. You said football, soccer, football, faith, football, future are the three things we talk about, and we want you to grow and take the next steps in your walk with Christ. We want you to get better as a player, and you have to put in the time and effort yourself. And if you do that well, then you can walk with courage and faith into your future and like what God's going to have for you. So every season it's unknown. You can want to go to the national championships, but you got to do the work. And you might have some tough, close losses along the way. But if you do put in the work, there's nothing to be ashamed of. And everything might fall in your favor, and you could overcome some of the challenges and go to the national championship. And then you get to give praise to God and a big testimony of like, well, here's the things we're doing, and we want to follow them in faith. So I think some of the similarities is just guys that are really competitive. We love multi sport guys and guys that come from high school programs that win. I think Bennett wrestled. I think Caleb Hunter was a wrestler. They're on all region, so that's great. Tucker played basketball, so you bring some of these elements in and then everyone meshes together and we keep getting better as soccer players and kind of grow as a team. I always say we're going to play, and this was at moody, too. We're going to be better at the end of the season than we are in September. We're just not giving up. And there's always a point in the season where you're like, it would be better just to be done. This would be easier. And it's true, it would be easier if were done, but that's not what we're doing here. We're pushing the whole way. I think there's some similarities starting to develop between the two programs, and it's really the guys that come with a great work ethic. They want to be a great teammate and do things together with their teammates and they're willing to just good. [00:28:44] Speaker B: That's like. So it sounds like we got a lot of great character on the team. We have the character, we have the skill and within the character, the faith aspect of growing your relationship with Jesus. And I see that with these guys, these players of the seriousness of their faith, and it's really cool. And I think a lot of Caleb Hunter, for example, I was his admissions counselor and I helped bring him in here, but the whole process last year of trying to get him to come here, finding out that, yeah, this guy plays soccer, watching his film and be like, oh, this guy's not just like a soccer player, but he's a soccer player. And just what he brings into the community and on this team, as someone who know a mature believer, goes a long way. And there's a ton of shout outs that we could have with Zach being on the team and coming back and not choosing to in the summer saying, I'm not going to play, I'm going to focus on senior year, but then being know, I miss it, I want to play. [00:29:43] Speaker A: Yeah. No. Yeah. Credit to you and to coach t, who are always repping all the teams and men's soccer and trying to say, hey, there's opportunity here. And so someone like Caleb comes on the radar. I think he worked at summer camp and had interacted with Luke Strawinsky and Zach Scholl and knew some of these guys and then turns out he's a fantastic soccer player, and he kept getting better as the season went on. Super tough. Can't get past him ever. [00:30:10] Speaker B: I love it. [00:30:11] Speaker A: Yeah. He's just going to throw his body in the front of everything. [00:30:13] Speaker B: He's got the drive that's like a workhorse. He won't quit. And it's great to have a player like that on a team. I think about not Tucker we have now, but another tucker that we had on a team. His name was Tyler Tucker, and he was like a trained because when he ran around practice, he would be, like, chugging along. [00:30:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:33] Speaker B: He would make those noises and he would just freak out everybody. But the thing is, he always went hard. Right. [00:30:39] Speaker A: Caleb's one of those guys. [00:30:40] Speaker B: Caleb's one of those, uh, but brings a lot of skill to the soccer. [00:30:45] Speaker A: But, like you were saying, mature in his faith. I know. One of the guys was telling me yesterday, hey, coach, did you know we just started a Bible study here at the end of the semester? I was like, no. And he's like, yeah, we're going through Galatians. We're trying to finish studying Galatians. We're doing Tuesday, Thursday nights. And as a head coach, you're like, I love being the last one to know. They didn't need us to give them the idea, and they're like, wanting to be together and wanting to see what the word says and how it applies their life here at Emmaus. So that's a big praise. [00:31:11] Speaker B: That is awesome. I love hearing those stories of the students really going out and just having their own stuff, like outside of the classroom, outside of church and what we are here at Emmaus and just making it a reality. Right. So we talked a little bit about the similarities of your national championship teams back at moody and how a lot of the similarities of the competitiveness, the character, the skill that we have here at this team. So what is separating us from being the number one seeded team in region, which we were today, or this year, to being the number three to one seed in national tournament play? [00:31:55] Speaker A: Yeah. No, that's a great question, and that's what we're working on with the guys that are here and as we recruit and talk to families and some of the guys that are in high school, juniors, seniors, we have 20 guys on the roster this year. I think for 24, we'd love to be in 2024. We'd love to have 24, 25 guys and just kind of keep adding depth and a little more quality on some of the outside positions, extra wingers some fullbacks so guys that can keep playing with the ball and we can dictate games. I think that's what coach Eric and I talk about. Like, can we be proactive and do all the things with the ball consistently so that we don't have to defend and just counterattack, which is effective way to score? We did that this year. Christian is super fast, super strong, got in behind the defense, could finish against a keeper. Drew, like five penalty kicks this year. So awesome. That's a good path for us to score, but we'd love to add some more. So I know just a shout out for the guys we're talking to and we've made some offers. If we're talking to you, we're really like, give us a look because you're some of these guys that are going to get us over the hump and put us in the championship game, take us down to Florida, say there's no better place to be the week before thanksgiving than Orlando, Florida. You could be in class. You're going to do the classwork from Florida, but we can do it from Florida and play a couple more soccer games. [00:33:14] Speaker B: Yeah. And the thing is, what would you say? I'll let you talk about this because Matt and I speak a lot about the programs here at Emmaus, but what separates us here at Emmaus as an athletic program from other schools? [00:33:28] Speaker A: That's a great question, too. I think know you guys talk about it. I think we have a fantastic coaching staff across the board at Emmaus. We've got coach Eric, coach Anthony, both alums, both played in the program and love the lord and want to help the guys get better on the field and off the think. And our guys on our team, too, like I said, they want to play and they want to grow. So it's a very cohesive group. And I think in the tough moments of soccer games, like all playoff games are going to be close. So I know coach Eric and I talked. I told the guys at some .2 weeks left in the season, I'm like, guys, if you're going to win, you're going to win by one goal. We're only scoring two. You guys have to win two to one or two nothing. And it's going to be tension filled in the last ten minutes. Shane's going to be talking to the ref. People are going to be nervous, shaking out the nerves on some of these plays. And so, really, can you survive those moments or can you respond? So I'd say at the end of our season this year, we showed a lot. We scored a tying goal in the conference tournament when we were down to ten men. We tied a game at marinatha. One one. Joseph spicenger scored. Christian didn't play. Our leading goal scorer, tucker saved a PK to preserve the tie. Joseph tied it up in like the 70 eigth 80th minute. [00:34:46] Speaker B: That's insane. [00:34:47] Speaker A: So some of those elements are starting to show up of faith. We won two to one at home. Christian had got hurt that game we were playing. Fantastic. The first 20 minutes he goes down and then we kind of have to change our game plan and really defend a lot in the second half. So I think, yeah, just adding a little more soccer specific, little more speed. We could use some fast guys on the outside to keep getting behind the defense, a little bit more consistency with our passing, but a lot of the structures there, mostly we just need to play more together. I told Eric we just had nine freshmen on the field. They just need to play another 1015 games together. And when they're junior seniors, we keep talking about you and Matt. I know I listen to every show, so if you're not listening, you got to listen. But excited for 24, excited for 25 volleyball team, cross country basketball teams as they get more reps together in this next year, too. [00:35:41] Speaker B: Oh, that volleyball team. Next year they're going to nationals. You heard it here first. I don't care if they crucify me or whatnot, but they're going to nationals next year. It's on the pin. It's a circle, like, oh, they're going to be make sure to have no events that weekend because the volleyball team will be out of town. So this is awesome to hear. What really separates us as a program, but even just as a school, and how I think everyone preaches on here and shares is that you're more than a number, you are a face, you are a name, you're a person here. And how does that work? What does that look like in this soccer team for these players who might be listening, who you want to recruit, who you want to bring in, not just for soccer, but for this culture here at Emmaus to grow it real quickly? But what separates us from that? What is something that maybe they want to hear of, how they'll be more than a know? [00:36:43] Speaker A: One of the questions that comes up a lot is like, if I play sports, is that a good use of my time? How am I actually going to grow closer to God playing sports? Isn't that just like 15 hours a week that I've lost where I could be earning money, I could be whatever. And on the flip side, I'd say that's 15 hours. That is a super unique experience where you're with brothers or sisters in Christ, you're trying to meet a goal and strive for something. And what we tell our team in the beginning is like, you have an opportunity to know Christ in a different way because you're going to go through a season with these guys and the struggle of trying to reach the goals of losing, responding, disappointment or succeeding and not getting prideful or arrogant, conceited and the know, we talk about iron, sharpens iron a lot. But if the Holy Spirit, which he does, lives in you and lives in me, when I say something and confront you or encourage you, it's not just me doing it, it's the Lord trying to build you up or point you back. And so I think whatever role you have on a team and for the guys that might come next year, you're player 22. You play a big role. Like our second team guys this year really sharpened our first team, and that can be tough to accept. No one wants to be like, all right, I'm the backup quarterback, I'm the backup, whatever. But sometimes that's the role God gives you for that season. And I think at a place like Emmaus, you asked, what's the difference? It's like you can ascend out of that role. So within a season, you could play yourself into a position. Sometimes there's injuries, and by the time you get to your third and fourth year here, we have so much time together. We talked about there's this huge trust. You know what we're looking for. We know how you work. And now you could have a more prominent role than you did your first year, for sure. [00:38:29] Speaker B: And that's awesome. I see that, like, through and through, not just in the athletic program, but in academics and how your professors will know who you are and want to help you succeed, but more importantly, grow your relationship with Jesus, and they'll walk alongside you. So thank you for touching on that a little bit. But what are some of your guys'real? Quickly, what are the goals next year? Do you have any? I know you're probably not wanting to share too much, and of course, maybe everyone's goal is to just like in the NFL, win the Super bowl, win the Super bowl, but maybe some more. Not saying that's not realistic, but obviously, let's not look at the end of the season, but at the beginning of the season, coming into the fall, what do you want? What do you and Eric are looking for into the soccer team. [00:39:15] Speaker A: Yeah. No, we've almost finished our schedule for next year. We're going to have a really good schedule. Competitive. [00:39:22] Speaker B: Any circle calendar circles? [00:39:25] Speaker A: Well, we have some guys from Minnesota on the team. We're going to be going up to play University of Northwestern, St. Paul, up in St. Paul, twin Cities area. [00:39:32] Speaker B: You're playing northwestern? [00:39:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So that'll be a big one for us. [00:39:36] Speaker B: Wow. [00:39:36] Speaker A: In the season. That is huge for our Minnesota families to come out and support NAc. [00:39:42] Speaker B: That's d one. NCCAA. [00:39:44] Speaker A: Yeah. For their sports. NCCA, they play d one and they're in the d three conference up there, the UMaC. So that'll be a good test. And I think as we perform in those games, that'll give us a picture of how we could do at the top end of our conference and region. So we didn't get to play in either the conference championship or the region championship this year. We were, like, real close. So for sure, our goal is to be in those championship games and to give ourselves a chance by the end of the season to feel like, oh, we can win. We don't have to just be here. We can win something next year. [00:40:16] Speaker B: Cool. Well, thanks for that teaser a little bit, and I appreciate that. And we're looking to grow the roster more. Get that depth I see, too. But thank you so much, coach McHugh. I appreciate you having you on the podcast and good luck with the Bears and the rest of the season. Of course. [00:40:32] Speaker A: Yeah, no, we'll hope to be there. Bears have a chance to sneak in the playoffs. They run the table nine and eight, beat the packers in the last game of the season. We'll be there. [00:40:41] Speaker B: You guys aren't making the playoffs. I'm just going to say. Right. I'm sorry. All right, well, thank you, coach. I appreciate having you on and hearing more about the soccer program in this season and what you have to take away and what we look forward into the future and this young team growing. So now we're going to transition into our interviews of the players with Josh, Matt and Bennett Kramer. So thank you for listening, everyone. We'll see you just now. [00:41:05] Speaker A: Yep. Thanks, Shane. [00:41:07] Speaker B: All right, everyone, welcome back. Thank you for. Hopefully you enjoyed the first portion of the podcast with Coach Chris McHugh. Now we have Bennett. I've been saying your name wrong, your last name, and I feel terrible. [00:41:22] Speaker D: No, it's all good. [00:41:23] Speaker B: Say it. I don't want to mess up again, so you got to say it. [00:41:29] Speaker D: Kriiner. [00:41:29] Speaker B: Kriiner. Yeah, I don't know what I've been saying. I've been saying a lot of stuff. I'm going to start calling Josh Matt. Josh Matty. We'll get to Josh Matty later, but real quickly. So tell us a little bit about yourself, Bennett, and how you got to Emmaus. Just a little bit about your story and where you see yourself going after your academics here. [00:41:51] Speaker D: Yeah, Emmaus was not really my first choice, to be honest. [00:41:55] Speaker B: It never is. And, no, that sounds terrible, but some people it is, though. Okay, continue. [00:42:02] Speaker D: But no, Coach McHugh knows that. He was kind of reaching out to me, and I was like, I don't really want to. I got other plans and stuff, and he kind of kept reaching out to me. And then over time, I just kind of started thinking about it, and the reason why I started thinking about it more was I just kind of felt called to ministry a little bit. My youth pastor has been a huge role in my life. Shout out to Cole. [00:42:29] Speaker B: Shout out Cole. [00:42:30] Speaker D: Yeah, he probably won't watch this, but it's all right. [00:42:33] Speaker B: You send it to him. [00:42:34] Speaker D: Yeah. He has been very influential on me. Just inspiring. And just seeing how he has served the Lord. He's only, like, four years older than me, but he's given up his full time vocation to do full time ministry, and that's something that I have looked up to. And so that's why I kind of wanted to do the same, serve the Lord in that aspect. And I've gotten a lot of encouragement from my pastors and from Cole that I have gifts of teaching and all of that, and they think I would be great for ministry of some kind. And I believe that, too. And I believe that that's God calling me to ministry. So that's why I started pondering Emmaus more. I'm like, well, if I'm going to be going into ministry at some point in my life, why not just go to Emmaus now where I can be prepared? [00:43:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:43:32] Speaker D: And then one thing led to another, and now I'm here at Emmaus and just trying to get as well prepared for whatever ministry God has for me. Obviously, my plans did not happen initially in the college decision, so I don't want to make plans. Like, I don't want to say I want to be a pastor. I want to start my own church, because I don't know what God's going to, I get to do. He can use me for whatever ministry he has in his plan. And so it's a little difficult not knowing the exact things that I need to study, but I'm trying to be as broad as possible to get every single aspect so that when the time comes for the Lord to show me a direction, then I can be like, all right, I'm ready for whatever it is. [00:44:20] Speaker B: I love that. That's such a pivotal thing to get to, to really understand and process, especially at a young age like yourself, of understanding what I want isn't necessarily what the Lord wants, and what the Lord wants is more important. So it's really great for you to express that, share that, and for anyone listening, maybe they're going through the same thing. And you touched base on a little bit of how Emmaus wasn't your first option, but now you're here. I hope you're enjoying it. I think you're enjoying it. And you guys had a pretty successful soccer season, you could say, especially yourself, being a second team all conference, as well as an honorable mention when it comes to regional play. But what was it that really, I mean, I guess you touched base on ministry and everything, but I'm going to tell you this, there's a lot of players, there's a lot of soccer players out there and students themselves that maybe are questioning coming to Emmaus and saying, I don't want that. It's a smaller school. It's like ministry focused. Yet we do have professional degrees as well. What is something that you would say to them right now? I know probably this is something to wrap up with, but what was something that you would say to them when making that college decision? [00:45:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:45:36] Speaker D: One thing that I had heard from others on my visits, and I've experienced here at Emmaus over and over again, is just the community. It's amazing. Everywhere you go, you see a friendly face, and that's because it's so small. Some people may not like that, but it just feels comfortable. It feels like home. Everyone has just a connection, especially with the soccer team. We're close, we're brothers, we're family, and for a lot of things, most of us do a lot of things together. We've just already formed, at least for me, formed a group that we can turn to and do Bible study and do life with, and it's just really great. The community here is very fast at forming, and it's just really awesome. [00:46:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I would love to just have an episode of just talking about this specifically, but we'll continue on as we have a lot to cover. But being a part of this team, you talk about community a lot, and what is like one of the. It's a large freshman class and a lot of talent. Does that excite you, having, being a part of a team with a lot of talented players on it? [00:46:43] Speaker D: It does, yeah. I came into this year not really sure how good we would be, how many freshmen there were. It was really encouraging coming in on August 11, it feels like not that long ago, but during preseason and just seeing all the freshmen but the whole team and seeing how good we could actually be if we come together and play as a team, play as a family, get it? [00:47:13] Speaker B: A little more pieces in there and more players. [00:47:17] Speaker D: We started to do that towards the end of the year, and I honestly felt that if we had a few more weeks, we were going to be great, a lot better than where we were at. And so it just excites me for next year and the next three years, especially if all of those guys stay Tuttle, you better stay. [00:47:36] Speaker B: All right. I love a little fun question. What van do you ride with? Do you go with Chris McHugh or do you go with Eric? [00:47:45] Speaker D: Coach Eric. [00:47:46] Speaker B: You go with Eric? What are some of your guys'conversations? Do you choose it for conversation based? Do you choose it because Eric's Eric? I guess he's a weirdo. [00:47:58] Speaker C: He's a little weird. [00:48:01] Speaker B: Is it fun? Do you enjoy the car rides? [00:48:03] Speaker D: Yeah, I sit at a spot where I can sleep if I want to. I can do school if I want to. But I could also party if you want to. Yeah, party if I want. [00:48:13] Speaker C: Would. [00:48:13] Speaker B: We would sleep on the aisles. [00:48:14] Speaker D: Yeah, we do that. But, yeah, we listen to music. Eric shared some of his past dating stories, so that's. [00:48:24] Speaker B: I don't want to hear those. [00:48:26] Speaker D: Maybe I shouldn't have said that. [00:48:28] Speaker B: When you say you listen to music, I just imagine Eric only listening to concerning him podcasts and listening to himself. [00:48:34] Speaker D: Yeah, that's the only thing we listen. [00:48:35] Speaker B: To all the time. Dude, you're so self centered. Oh, my goodness. Can't believe it. What's the hot spot? So coach McHugh kind of talked a little bit about babysitting you guys. I'm joking. He didn't say that. But he complimented you guys, actually, of choosing healthier options when it comes to food. So maybe you didn't, but what do you feel like is like, the best place you guys have gone to this year when choosing a restaurant to eat at for away trips? [00:49:06] Speaker D: For me, it was ponch. [00:49:07] Speaker B: Just ponch. Are you ponch or chipotle? [00:49:10] Speaker D: I don't know. It depends. I like them both. Okay, that's lame. But I guess after season we went to pizza Ranch. That was a dub. [00:49:20] Speaker B: That was a dub. Pizza ranch is a dub. I've never heard that before. No. Wow. So do you feel like it was a pretty successful season for yourself or for the team itself? [00:49:34] Speaker D: Yeah. Overall, I think. I mean, first winning record since 2018. I think that's right. Not knowing where the season was going to be, at least on my end, and then having nine freshmen starting at different times in the season, being able to come together over the course of the season and produce that result is, I think, just huge, not only for us as a team, but for the soccer program, and it's just very promising and exciting going forward. [00:50:09] Speaker B: And I love hearing this from you, how much you are infatuated with the culture here, with the community, especially on the soccer team. And I hear that from all you guys. You guys just started a Bible study, hanging out. So that's something that is very unique that you can have here. And the thing is, yeah, you can make friends anywhere. You can hang out anywhere. But are those friendships Christ centered? And you've experienced that here at Emmaus of experiencing people who are like minded when it comes to biblical things. Do you see a lot of growth because of that aspect within you just within this first semester? [00:50:46] Speaker D: Oh, 100%, yeah. My soccer team in high school was nowhere near what it's like here. It's completely different, and I think it caught me off guard a little bit during preseason stuff. It's like I actually have teammates that share the same faith that I can talk to about things, I can pray with, I can bond over the gospel with, and it's just really amazing because I've never had that before. It's just really great. [00:51:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Have you seen a lot of your character on the field? Not just off the field, but on the field kind of change? If maybe you were a rough player in high school, but then now you're like, okay, I got to shape him up. Have you seen a lot of what you've been learning, a lot of the examples of others Josh himself maybe have rubbed off on you and how you carry yourself on the field, because that's what I really appreciate about Emmaus is the players don't just it. They don't just come here to play, but they come here to grow their relationship with Jesus. And you see that on the field. That's why we walk away with sportsmanship awards all the time. So have you kind of seen that a little bit of your play? [00:51:49] Speaker D: Yeah. Like you said, josh is a huge example. I was going to say he definitely is just, you look at him and he's like, I'm like, that's who I want to be on the field, not just off the field. And I had my moments during the season where I wasn't doing that, but it's definitely pushing me to next season. It's like I want to hold myself to a higher standard, and that's Christ's standard just on the field as well. [00:52:16] Speaker B: I love that. And I'm really looking forward to you guys playing next year and seeing your sophomore year, which your play is going to increase. It's going to be awesome and it's going to be great. But real quickly, before you leave, I have a question in here that I really want to ask, and it was, you'll graduate, what, 2027? Yeah, spring 2027. Of course, your last soccer season will be fall 2026. But when you walk across that stage at 2027, as all your classmates will know who you are, your professors know who you are, and what do you want? Your legacy on the field, obviously off the field, that's a different question. And I'm sure there's a lot of things of, like you preaching in chapel, having Bible studies and discipleship programs here. But on the field, what do you kind of want to walk away with? How many banners you want to be in the gym? What do you want them to look back and be like, this soccer team? And this portion was the best soccer team Emas has ever had. [00:53:07] Speaker D: I was talking to Josh earlier before we came in here, and next three years, conference champs. Yeah, two of those years, I would love to go to nationals and hopefully bring back a national champ for coach. That would be his third. [00:53:22] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:53:23] Speaker D: Yeah, that'd be crazy. [00:53:25] Speaker B: And I don't think Emeus has ever won a regional game when it comes to soccer. So that would be a huge accomplishment, is just winning a regional game. And that's why we need more, you know, listen to the story of Bennett, of someone who didn't really necessarily want to come to Emmaus, but saw the impacts that it has been, and you aren't looking back. So thank you, Bennett, so much. I appreciate you coming on. And now we're off to talk to Josh Matty, and we welcome Josh Matty to the podcast. I know it's Josh Matt, but I've been saying Bennett's name wrong, too, so I'm going to say your name wrong. So he's not the only one left out. Here's your friends that you've tried to introduce us with with names. We've shared them on the podcast. We can talk more about that later, but we don't have much time. This podcast has gone too long. But it's awesome. I want to go longer. Right. But something I kind of. Before we begin, introduce yourself. Tell the people who you are. Who is Josh? Matt, how'd you get to Emmaus? [00:54:27] Speaker C: Well, Emmaus was not my first choice, but it was my only option. [00:54:34] Speaker B: Okay. [00:54:35] Speaker C: Yeah, I wanted to play soccer in college. [00:54:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:38] Speaker C: I also knew I wanted to be in ministry. I was, like, looking around at different schools and just like, there were no open doors. Everybody either didn't respond to me or they were like, super far away, further than 8 hours away. And, yeah, Emmaus just fit. At that point. I wanted to be business administration so that I could do business for ministries, that administrative side. But, yeah, that's a short story. [00:55:11] Speaker B: Short story. And I love it. I love hearing people's story, how they got to Emmaus. And a lot of times it's the Lord leading. And of course, that's where you want to go. You want to follow the Lord. But Josh, Matt from Canada, Captain Canada is what the students as well as the soccer players call him now and again. I'm a little cheesy, but you like it? [00:55:31] Speaker C: I love cheese. [00:55:32] Speaker B: Yeah. So what's your major? Now that you started in business, what are you now? [00:55:36] Speaker C: I am ministry leadership. [00:55:37] Speaker B: Ministry leadership. Okay, so you're part of the EM department? Fun department. Really great. That was department I was a part of. But this is your junior year here. You came in and lived in a dorm halls. Now you're married, so, yeah. That's awesome. [00:55:53] Speaker C: Exciting. [00:55:53] Speaker B: You enjoy married life? [00:55:55] Speaker C: I do. [00:55:55] Speaker B: That's awesome. So you've guys been married for almost a year, correct? [00:55:58] Speaker C: A year. The 27th month. [00:56:01] Speaker B: There you go. I knew that. Almost a year. There we go. So congratulations on a year of marriage. That's really fun. But kind of looking into soccer a little bit. One of the questions I asked you or I sent to you before was, what were some of your goals for this year? And you come in with this sheet. I just can't not talk about this. But here, I don't know if you guys can see this. This is a sheet you made on canva. [00:56:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:56:29] Speaker B: All right. But this is Josh Matt's goals, his soccer goals. Number five soccer goals. And I love it. Glorify Christ above all. But some of your goals was to win the Kyle Root junior award next year, but you didn't think you would win it this year. How does it feel to, do you feel the honor to win this award. And what is that like? [00:56:56] Speaker C: Yeah. I feel so incredibly blessed to receive that award, knowing that it's Christ in me doing all that work. And that's the only reason I love ministry. I love serving. It's because of Christ and his transformation in my life. Not even, like, before Emmaus as well. I was saved at 14, but also the sanctification that I've seen at Emmaus as well has been incredible. And I owe everything to Christ and then to my wife and then to Emmaus. [00:57:30] Speaker B: Yeah. The order. [00:57:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:32] Speaker B: That's great. This is really cool, actually, of how maybe we should post something like this. But you made this before coming to Emmaus. [00:57:40] Speaker C: No, sorry. I made that this summer. [00:57:42] Speaker B: This summer. Okay, so you made this this summer for your goals. So which ones have you not hit? Which ones have you not gotten to yet? I'm stealing this. [00:57:51] Speaker C: This is totally going to be super embarrassing because people are going to be like, you're not going to get that. But I read a book this summer, and it talked about making goals to become mentally strong in the game, whatever the game is. And it said to shoot big. So I figured, what's bigger than national player of the year? [00:58:11] Speaker B: Hey, I love that. [00:58:12] Speaker C: So that's a goal for 2024. Next year. [00:58:15] Speaker B: Let's do it. Let's get those pieces around us. Okay. [00:58:20] Speaker C: Scholar athletes on there as well for this year and next year. I didn't get it this year. That's cool. Hey, I'll get it next year. [00:58:28] Speaker B: There we go. [00:58:29] Speaker C: No problem. All american. First team or second team this year? I did not get, but I'm totally happy with it. [00:58:36] Speaker B: Hey, but you walked away with what? The first team all conference. First team all region. Yes. And the Kyle root, which I'm surprised you don't really have that on here. It's like the all region teams, but. Okay. Continue. Yeah. [00:58:48] Speaker C: So then there's the conference mvp. 2023. 2024. I did not get it this year. James Busnis at Faith Baptist. Dude, come on. You're just too good. Yeah, it was tough. He's one of the toughest players to defend. I don't like defending him, but I think he's graduating this year, so next year is yours. Yeah. I don't have to worry about him. [00:59:16] Speaker B: That's great. [00:59:17] Speaker C: I'll miss him on the field. And then just like a blanket goal. Hardest working attacker and defender. Yeah. That was just for mindset to try and do that every single game, every single practice. [00:59:30] Speaker B: I love it. And it's like, in the Maya's colors, too. There's a lot of good stuff on here, and this is really cool to be goal orientated and to have something in mind in the future, but something that you're working towards and even if it's in your mind or if it's on a piece of paper, that's really awesome. I feel like you should get the whole team to do this, man. [00:59:52] Speaker C: That's what. We have a team meeting today. I want to show this and talk about it and help people work through it. [00:59:58] Speaker B: Sweet. No, that's awesome. So. So you hit some of the goals this year, which is awesome. And where do you feel like you've grown as a player since your freshman year that has gotten you to this point? [01:00:10] Speaker C: Oh, man. Yeah, freshman year, I think just a big thing was I got injured closer to the end of the season, so a big thing of mine I want just like, finishing a season the past two years. I've done that the past two years, so I've been really proud about that. My ankles are normally dead by the end. They've been a lot better this year, so I see myself progressing just physically, staying on top of it, staying in better shape, and I think skill wise, shooting has pretty increased for me. [01:00:48] Speaker B: Do you feel like Emmaus has helped a lot with in growing your skills as a player? [01:00:53] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. And even, like, I talk about this a lot, I've had a lot of coaches growing up, and I only had one coach back home who really taught me fundamental technical skills. And coach McHugh is like the first coach I've ever had to teach me a soccer system to teach me how to play with a team, like what to do in different scenarios, where to have freedom. First coach to ever do that, and he is the best coach I've ever had. [01:01:23] Speaker B: That's nice. [01:01:23] Speaker C: And I've grown so much in my soccer knowledge before, it was like, sure, I was a good player. I could dribble. I could score a goal if I needed to or dribble or pass the ball where I needed to go, and that has gotten better here. But knowledge of the game, love for the game, completely changed and transformed here. [01:01:43] Speaker B: Has your family seen a lot of growth and you were like your twin brother? [01:01:48] Speaker C: Well, no. We fight about who's the better soccer player all the time. So it's like he probably won't acknowledge that I'm getting better or that I'm better than him because he's better than me. He is better than me. [01:02:05] Speaker B: Well, we'll see next year when you're a national player of the year. [01:02:09] Speaker C: Exactly. [01:02:10] Speaker B: There you go, baby. So you were the captain this year. Awesome honor. You were also captain last year as well. So what was it like this year, though, specifically with babysitting all the freshmen that we had on the team? [01:02:23] Speaker C: And it was really fun, but it was also pretty hard. I felt it was hard to connect with them on a personal level just because there was so many of them. [01:02:37] Speaker B: A lot of babies. [01:02:38] Speaker C: Normally you get like a couple coming in and you can get close with them, but we had a lot. [01:02:45] Speaker B: So what I'm hearing is that this year you've grown a lot in taking care of so many freshmen that next year you're ready to take care of them even more. [01:02:53] Speaker C: I think I can take like 20 next year. I'd be okay with that. [01:03:00] Speaker B: What are your thoughts of the freshman class this year? So I've heard a lot of good things. Talking to Bennett as well as coach and then just within the podcast, but outside the podcast hearing a lot. Are you pretty optimistic about this team? Like on the field but also off the field? What are your thoughts with that? [01:03:15] Speaker C: I see a ton of growth guys coming in. There's some guys where I was like, I'm not sure the character they're going to have. I'm not going to sure where they are in their faith. And most of them, all of them have surpassed what my initial reaction was to them, and that has been incredible. Like Bennett, I thought you were going to be like a goon. I thought he was just going to be trouble. He comes in, he's an eagle impact player for sure. [01:03:47] Speaker B: I love that. [01:03:47] Speaker C: Yeah, there's like ten other freshmen that are the same like that. And it makes my job easy. I don't have to. Sure, I'm still going to disciple. I'm still going to try and care for them the best I can. Guys, maybe you shouldn't go out for pizza the night before a game. [01:04:07] Speaker B: We had a student that got a tattoo before the game. [01:04:10] Speaker C: Wow. [01:04:10] Speaker B: I know. Carson McMahon shout out the captain. The captain did it. But no, that's really cool. And I love hearing everything. That's what everyone has to say about the freshman class this year. This is outside the soccer team, but the freshman class this year and how they've had a massive impact on the student body. But from what you're saying of these freshmen with the soccer team and the skill that they bring and where we are as a team and how we're growing, would you say we're pretty close to a national championship level team skill wise? [01:04:46] Speaker C: I mean, that's what next year is going to test. Coach was showing me a schedule, and we got some big teams on there. [01:04:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:53] Speaker C: Teams that I am like, this year and the years before, I would definitely be like, oh, man, I'm going to have to work out. I'm going to have to go out there and work my butt off nonstop the entire game, and that would get me really nervous. But now I'm super excited. Nervous to play those teams, to push ourselves something a little quote I have in my mind for this season and the coming season, no matter who we're playing, even if we're playing Barcelona, I still want an all out defense, all out attack. Doesn't matter who we're playing. [01:05:35] Speaker B: I get that that would be a. [01:05:36] Speaker C: Tough game, but it would be a tough game. [01:05:39] Speaker B: And I love hearing all this, and on behalf of the entire team and everything, I know they appreciate you a lot, Josh, of your leadership, and I know you won't speak a lot of your leadership and how you know, but already in this short interview and hearing about your goals and how you act as a player and how you care a lot about what goes on off the field, what you embody and what your character is really reflects onto the other players. And with this young freshman class, it's a light to them. It's something that someone, for them to seek after and follow. So on behalf of the team as well as the people of this student body, they do look up to you, and they're very thankful for your leadership on and off the field. So thank you, Josh, for that. We appreciate it. Right. Before we leave, who do you ride with? Do you drive with Eric or McHugh? [01:06:29] Speaker C: I'm always with coach McHugh. [01:06:31] Speaker B: Yeah, he's your budy. [01:06:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:06:33] Speaker B: And you guys listen to some orchestra music? That's why I feel like he listens to. I'm just joking. [01:06:37] Speaker C: He listens to podcasts on his own sometimes. But I'm like the copilot that helps them stay awake most of the time. There'll be some guys who will be like, oh, can I ride in the front? And I'd be like, get in bed. Are you going to talk to coach, or are you just going to sit there quietly? [01:06:50] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll talk. We'll talk. They don't talk. [01:06:52] Speaker C: They don't talk. [01:06:53] Speaker B: Fair enough. [01:06:54] Speaker C: After that, I just claim it for myself. [01:06:56] Speaker B: Yeah, you're the captain. It's your seat, man. The driver's seat. [01:07:00] Speaker C: The last thing I will say, yeah. Pizza ranch. That was a blunder. That was a blunder. That was, like, awful. That was on me. That was on me, guys. I was like, coach, let's go. [01:07:12] Speaker B: No more pizza ranch. [01:07:13] Speaker C: No more. [01:07:14] Speaker B: No more pizza ranch. The dessert pizza is good, but everything else is mad, I guess. I don't mind pizza ranch. It's whatever. Well, Josh, I wish we could talk more, but we got to end it here. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Hopefully you were able to learn a lot from the stories of Bennett and Josh and Chris McHugh. But find us on our social media. Follow us and everything. But thanks for listening to everyone, and we'll catch you next time. And guess what? It's a great day to be an eagle. See you next time, everyone.