St. Lawrence University Men’s Soccer – Coach Mike Toshack
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Toshack from the St. Lawrence Men’s Program in New York. We talk about his recruiting timeline that leaves room for players that don’t get that D1 offer. He describes the school’s focus on helping you get a job and what your degree does for you. Lastly, we discuss the staff and their impact on the team. Learn more about St. Lawrence University Men’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Mike from St. Lawrence university in Northern New York. Welcome coach.
Coach: Yeah. Thanks for having me on forward to it.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. Um, excited chat. You guys are getting ready to kick off your season here.
Hopefully, uh, you, you, you got the boys in and already ripping and ready to go. Or when do you guys start?
Coach: Yeah, we, uh, we start, uh, this Friday coming up. We’re at Geneseo near Rochester. And then on the Sunday, we play Cortlandt State, who, uh, are a powerhouse in our region. Um, but yeah, no, it’s been good.
Preseason’s been great. Of course, they’re all, uh, I’ve come in flying and ready to go, which I’ve been really happy with and being as close to Canada as we are, where we’ve played three Canadian teams in the preseason and, uh, just recently, Queen’s University, which is, uh, the level in Canada right now, I’d say, is mid level D1, um, now with the Canadian Premier League, and they’re able to give athletic scholarships now to any Olympic sport, so it’s great for us to go up and we got a nice result there, so it’s a great game.
For us. So yeah, we’ve been, uh, right at it and can’t wait to get after the real thing.
Matt: Awesome. Well, you know, you’re, you’re starting a new season. So, so I’m going to, I guess, focus more on this class of 24, right? The kids that you just brought in, um, you know, when did you, when did you have that class? Kind of locked and loaded [00:01:30] or when do you expect maybe you hope to lock and load this class at 25?
What’s your kind of recruiting timeline as a d3?
Coach: Yeah, you know, um for me, we’ve a lot of our our top people are ones that have had some Division 1 interest in things as well. So we always have a spot or 2 or we wait to keep open if it doesn’t work out for them. And, uh, you know, this class pretty much was, uh, was locked in by, I would say, last February, um, when it was all said and done, Matt, by the time we were, we’re finished.
And, uh, this one for 2025. We’re we’re right after right now. I’m hoping again. It’ll probably it’ll probably again, come down to that around February 1st of March, because we do go the long road with some people, but usually we get a lot of early decision and things like that. Um, people that we’ve been on for about 2 years and trying to stay with.
So, you know, we’re, we’re very much in the thick of it with people right now. Um, a good group that we have to, to fill some of the needs that we have as a team. And, uh, you know, again, it’ll all come down to, you know, academic merit money and all the things that they get is good students and, uh, and to be competitive that way.
And, and, uh, we’ll see, but we feel good. It’s looking good so far. And, uh, [00:03:00] but again, it probably won’t close completely until February. I would think.
Matt: Well, and that brings up, uh, another question I have then. So obviously with D3, the academic scholarship component. You know, it was a fairly large deal for the recruits and figuring all that out.
So if I apply in what usually what October one is generally when applications started, right? Or
Coach: yeah, yeah, right. The right around that, that point. And then early decision, the first two week period you could go would be November 1st.
Matt: Okay. So then if you’re doing that, or even if you’re not early decisions, like when are you finding out?
About the academic money component and how has FAFSA with their delays kind of changed the decision timing for, for your players.
Coach: I mean, and that’s a good topic to talk about because it has affected that, um, for us, you know, we can do early reads and financial reads as well, which are. Very, very close to what they’re going to get, like, in that it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
And usually they’re on the very conservative side and they end up getting. A little bit more, so it gives them a really good picture because, you know, you’re dealing with schools that, you know, academically say, okay, you, you need to have them loaded in here committing to us by September. That’s not us.
But it’s others who we’re competing with. So those early reads and the good job that they do with it [00:04:30] really does give a good indicator so they can stay with us longer. Um, in that process, but the fast, but what you brought up, um, really interesting. I mean, even for kids, you know, every year you apply for it.
If you’re. And, uh, you know, players that we had here last, uh, last year’s freshmen, you know, not getting their packages till about two, three weeks ago, um, knowing what I’m going to get for them, you know, is this going to come through and, uh, you know, it would, but it still would leave you a little unsettled of course.
Right. Yeah. Uh, so the whole FASFA thing did make it. Um, for some of our people, um, a lot of them that we had were merit money people, and I would say three quarters of the group were, were merit money people, and then a quarter would be a FAFSA was a, was a factor for them. Um, so, you know, we waited the long haul like everybody else.
And the, the. Fiasco that it turned out to be. Apparently if they get it going properly, it’s only 20 questions instead of 150. But, you know, hopefully the bugs are out of the system. I’m not too sure though, after this summer. So we’ll, we’ll see. Yeah.
Matt: Yeah. Well, when it comes to your recruiting, like where, where do you like to go to see players?
What are some of the tournaments that are kind of on your must hit list? What, what does that look like?
Coach: Yeah. The [00:06:00] ECNL has been very big for us. Uh, as far as tournaments and showcases goes, we’ll, we’ll go across the country. Um, you know, the country’s open to us. We also have some very good players, student athletes that come from Europe, uh, in our group.
And we have people there as well. And I’ve really, I’ll give a plug for them, Amherst and Lafayette, PPA. Their camp that they run. Wow. Uh, you know, sometimes I. D. camps can be, I think, moneymakers for some people, but this, uh, the P. P. A. 1 that they have the quality that comes because you got the great academics plus D.
1 Lafayette and then ampers and it, uh, it attracts quite a few people. And I got the Liberty League, uh, player rookie of the year out of there last year. Um, another kid that was hardly recruited by anyone, a center back who I thought a huge potential played every second for us last year. I got honorable mention all league Liberty League.
Um, I think I, I got about 8 players out of that and, and I do all 4 sessions. I said, sign me up after the 1st year and the quality and it fits the diet, you know. The, uh, school, the type of school that we are and everything. So it brings a lot of people foreign and domestic to four locations there in one spot.
So that’s been very successful for [00:07:30] us as well as the, uh, some of the MLS next stuff. That will go to as well, and, uh, and then we’ll hit, you know, the odd off the road kind of things that you can see, like, some of the high school things. And there are some diamonds. They’re still out there. Um, the New York ID camp that was at Cortland state.
I do that as well. And there’s been some kids that we’ve, we’ve found, I’ve, I’ve found a couple out of there. So, um, but is has been a big 1 for us. We find it’s been very, uh. Very friendly to us and we’ll try and hit those national events that they have. Um, yeah. Okay.
Matt: Whether it’s at these camps or at a ECNL showcase or wherever you’re watching a player, what is it that you’re looking for in a recruit?
Whether that’s on the field attributes or off the field stuff.
Coach: Yeah. So I don’t, I don’t keep a very large squad. I like to, you know, I like the chemistry to be really good in the group and the culture and that’s important. And, you know, we’re at like 24, 25 field players. And I think that’s really important to be able to keep everyone engaged, uh, and I’ve found success with that.
So, but for me, you know, we have a certain way that we like to play. I know everybody likes to have the ball and everything is very much in vogue. But it’s been a history here of that at St. Lawrence, uh, going [00:09:00] back into the 90s and things. So, you know, when you know how you want to play and the things that you need out of it.
sort of every position on the field, it makes it that much easier to identify what you want. So first and foremost, is it someone that’s very comfortable on the ball, they’re comfortable in tight spaces, they like to play, um, you know, athletically, how, how are they, can they cover ground defensively? I’ll look.
You know, at very some other little markers. Like, how are they when things go bad? How are they when the ball turns over? How are what’s the reaction when the coach takes them off if they score a goal? Is everyone celebrating with them or not? Uh, are they running and celebrating with their teammates? Um, all those little factors that you’re trying to get as much information as you can, um, about the player, and then if we, we like them, and it’s a fit, we try to get them to come to campus, but, uh, definitely that and the markers of, you know, are they going to fit into the culture that, that we have here and, uh, you look for as many different things as you can and try to get them to campus.
Matt: Okay. Well one of the things that has, uh, blown up recently and is looking to blow up even more with the new NCAA regulations coming down the pike would be the transfer portal. Do you guys dabble in that? Do you see any movement of kids looking to say, Hey, I’m gonna make the transition maybe from D one or D two [00:10:30] to, to a D three school or, or not So much.
Coach: We have done, and I’ve only done it once, and we had two division one players. And a division three player that came the division three player worked out the best and they actually became an all region for us and everything I haven’t delved into it. Other than that, a few years ago, I just for me, and I know teams have been very successful and have done well with building their teams around it.
And, you know, Cortland’s a good one. Steve’s done a really good job. There’s some legitimate kid reasons why kids want to leave a place and maybe it wasn’t the right fit. It’s not always a red flag. Um, but for myself, I haven’t really gone into it. Um, you know, just because I am, I guess, because maybe I’ve been old school fun.
I don’t know, but, uh, you know, geez, why didn’t they like it where they were and things like that? So, you know, I, I haven’t really gone down the road. Um, It’s something that I’m not closing the door to. Especially, you know, like goalkeepers, for instance, you know, division one teams, they’re going to try and stack their roster.
And there’s goalkeepers that don’t play. They are very talented. And, you know, I have a background in professional soccer with goalkeepers and things. So to attract someone from a D1 and we’ve had people go [00:12:00] on from here, you know, is another possibility that I would probably look to 1st. Just for that reason that they are stock.
Well, then only usually 1 could play. So that would probably be an area where I would delve in first, if I jump in again.
Matt: Gotcha. That makes, makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Well, let’s, let’s learn a little bit more about the school. I’m sure there’s folks not familiar with St. Lawrence. Um, you’ve been there a few years, you’re, you’re, you’re well versed.
So tell us what, what are some of the things you find that, that make the school stand out? Some awesome things, maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: Yeah, first, first and foremost, you know, what’s the degree going to do for me? It looks great on a nice frame on the wall, but what’s it going to do for me?
And I think it’s at Saint Lawrence. We always balance between number 3 and number 4 in alumni engagement. And I think Notre Dame’s number 1. So it’s a, it’s a good company that you’re in. And, you know, I say that to kids and parents and okay, alumni, great. They enjoy themselves at St. Lawrence, but most importantly, and the school puts a big emphasis on that is the internships.
And then the hiring of of our graduates and most of my players, Matt, they know 3 to 4 months before they graduate where they’re going and already have a job lined up and and, you know, pretty high caliber jobs to, [00:13:30] you know, finance and things like that. Um, my goalkeeper this year is senior. He’s already set for next year.
He did a, uh, an internship in New York City with a big finance company and they’ve hired him for next year. And, and that’s happened for you. That’s not uncommon. And the school really puts that in the front porch and it’s a, Very, very big thing here for sure. Um, so those kinds of opportunities also, which, and I really push this with my players is the study abroad program that we have here is very, very good.
Uh, usually we get 4 to 5 guys, uh, in their spring semester, their junior year that will partake in that and it’s great. Uh, I find they come back, you know, a little more mature, worldly. Also, we try and set them up if we can, and, um, from my background in the professional game, people in the countries that they’re at, we’ve had guys play 17, 18 games, go over there and, uh, and, and have fun with it.
You know what I mean? Be able to play. In that environment, which is which is great. You know, if they get hooked up with a club team or or whatever. So that’s a big 1 that we push as well. And, you know, it’s obviously a liberal arts small. Uh, you know, population of the school, we hover between around 24 and 2000, 2400 to 2000 and, you know, you’re not student number X, Y, Z, 1, 2, 2, 3.
You know, the class [00:15:00] sizes are small, your professors know who you are and all of those things. So, you know, if that’s something that kind of attention that you want, um, you know, that’s a real plus that that we have, and has really been a big selling point why a lot of people have chosen it. On the soccer end, the athletic end, you know, we’ve had a real history here of doing well, the facilities, we’re a, we’re a division one school in hockey, men’s and women, and that division one vibe goes through the division three here.
If you look at the facilities, we, uh, you know, we have a soccer specific stadium with one of the best grass pitches in the Northeast. Uh, compare it with anyone built in sprinklers. So there’s no just men’s and women’s soccer. There’s no lacrosse lines on it or American football or any of that. And the training grounds, same thing.
We’ve got two beautiful grass pitches dedicated to ourselves. Plus a turf that we can use indoor facility, the sport science facilities and the strength and conditioning. So we’re running a high level program that you feel, you know, when you’re coming, I am coming to something that’s a higher level and, and, uh, and all of that.
I like to think if we can run it like an under 21 team at a Premier League club. You know, and I knew when I came back here, um, uh, I was with Portland timbers and then came here in 2015, I’d been here in the nineties and early two [00:16:30] thousands with Bob brochure that I was gonna, you know, you’re gonna have great training grounds, all the portable goals, all the things you need to, to feel that you’re in a, in a higher level environment.
And, uh, I think that’s what a lot of the players, when they come on their visit. That impresses and then the piece we talked about before the culture piece, most of them the next day talk about, wow, I can’t believe how tight the team is together and and that takes a lot of work and you got to be very careful about it.
And, you know, I try to give my players as much autonomy as I can as many things to decide on. So they have ownership of it and buy in as well. So I would think those are the main things Mattifies to. To cross them off there.
Matt: All right. Sounds good. Well, let’s fast forward, uh, you know, where it’s the, the end of August right now, let’s say we’re in mid October, you know, the heart of that conference season, walk, walk me through what a typical week’s going to be like for a player in terms of practice times, class times, meals, game cadence, all the things that they’re going to deal with in a normal week.
Coach: Yeah, we’re really lucky that, you know, we have 35 sports here at St. Lawrence, which is huge. And, you know, it’s 48, almost half of the student body of RC athletes. So the cooperation between academics and athletics is excellent. We don’t have any classes between four and seven, generally, so that people can train and you’re not rushing to eat [00:18:00] and do all those things.
So, so the cooperation there is huge. There’s minimal missed class time, Matt. Um, there are some midweek games where we will have to go, but the cooperation, here’s another example. If you have a quiz that day, the professor will give the quiz to us and they can take that. We can proctor it, them taking it to keep them on the same schedule.
So, that kind of cooperation and value that’s seen, you know, in athletics is, is huge what a week will look like if it’s a Saturday to Saturday deal, which is most. Um, you know, Sunday’s the day off that they have Monday reentry day where they’ll come in, you know, not too much where you have to think, you know, just a lot of things to get you back on the ball and back playing and doing all those things.
People that maybe didn’t get as many minutes. You know, we’ll, we’ll actually play with them to get them some of the things that they need to keep their fitness levels and then depending, you know, using the heart rate monitors and all the things that we do, if some people are still up high, they’ll be on a different program to recover and try and get that.
Tuesday is where we’ll get into it. Pretty good. Uh, you know, a lot of work Wednesday. Another day, that’s a little bit heavier and then Thursday, we start to taper down a bit, maybe a bit more into the opponent and how we’re going to play on that weekend. And then with Friday being, uh, you know, [00:19:30] your set pieces and all your things that very, um, smaller session and just things on your shape and all of that, what I would say a constant that runs through is game pace.
Thanks. Everything at game pace, but the minutes change the size of the pitches change based on what day it is and what the demands are. But that runs through it. Everything that we do to get our fitness, um, to develop is with the ball and how we want to play. Um, so it’s very much based around that, uh, which is fun if you’re a player, uh, because it’s around the ball and you are playing a lot and with the way the season goes, um, it’s, it is a sprint, but, uh, with our strength and conditioning with people, we want to go this way and not just we’re breaking down, can we manage it?
Can we go this way and keep rising with our fitness levels and strength? If I was to ask someone now, like. Okay. In October 7th or whatever, what did we do that day? They, they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you, but if I were to say, how did you feel physically or mentally, you know, in the first part of October and things, they’d be able to tell you, you know, I felt strong.
I felt, you know, I was getting, uh, you know, really good with my fitness. So I felt really good meant they could tell you how they felt, which I think is really, really important. Okay.
Matt: Excuse me. Um, let’s talk a [00:21:00] little bit more about the soccer side. You mentioned the size of your roster about where you’re at with players, but what about the other side of the roster besides yourself?
What other coaches are on staff? Maybe what other support staff help out with the team? What does that look like?
Coach: Uh, I have an assistant this year. He was an all American goalkeeper, Oniata, his name’s Nate Hanna. And, uh, he’s come in, which is great because, you know, he’s, he’s young, we have graduate assistants here.
GAs, not full time assistant coaches, they get their master’s degree and work towards that. Um, but I’ll tell you what, great qualities as a young coach, but what I say to our players here is, uh, Nate has played in some games that we want to play in this year with Orianta. You know, he’s played in big NCAA games and tournament games and things like that.
So that gives you some credibility along with his ability, which is great. I have another volunteer assistant who has a big job here actually in the financial side of St. Lawrence. He played college soccer. His name is Eric Shinnick. And so he’s sort of been a constant for me, which is kind of nice. You’re always able to talk and as things come and go, so I appreciate his time.
We also have an academic person who has hours here at the facility that the guys can go to if they have questions or feel that it’s troubling in a certain area. Um, a lot of attention is given to you here. So that kind of staff is excellent. [00:22:30] Really important is the sports science side. When, uh, when I came from the timbers, I was like, Oh, Please have someone here.
That’s not just ankle taper that knows the sports science side of things. And we’re very, very lucky. Uh, Nikki Williams is her name. She’s she’s superb and, uh, and is very big with what we do for training for the week and where the players are at. So we talk about that and how it will look. So she’s an important piece to what we do.
Very important. And we’ve just added this year. And he’s hit a home run and it’s been the final piece for us is a strength and conditioning coach at St. Lawrence who understands our game and last January set up an unbelievable buy in from our players and I noticed a difference in the spring mat right away in strength, endurance, all those things.
So that’s been a final piece that goes together. conditioning along with our sports science piece and everything, the academic piece where we get the help, um, all of it really fits nicely together. So I, I feel really lucky that way. Awesome.
Matt: Well, coach, you’ve given us a lot of info. Really appreciate it.
Going to leave you with, with one last question, uh, as someone who’s been in the college game for, for a few years, if you had one piece of advice or one nugget of information, you think. Parents, players, families going through the college recruitment process [00:24:00] should know. What would that be?
Coach: Yeah, you know what?
I think this one. You never know who’s watching. When and where, and, you know, don’t make it difficult for yourself, you know, you know, how you speak to referees, you know, how you do things really represent yourself well, and do all the little things well, not just on the ball. You’re on the ball of very little time, you know, really that those things like work ethic.
And I know things are cliche, but they’re cliche for a reason because they’re true, right? So really represent yourself and you never know who’s watching and where and eyes are everywhere. Take advantage. Everywhere is an opportunity. Right. I would say that, but I’d also say to, you know, do your, do your homework, go see places, right?
Um, try to get, you know, if a coach officially wants to have you come on an official visit, those are the ones that are seriously after you and want you and don’t be too concerned if you’re not getting recruited by a million people. Like I said, I found excellent players who are top players. Who, for one other reason, maybe they grew a lot in their junior year and they’re a bit awkward and then grew into their body.
Don’t worry about that. Stay, stay persistent, but also remember who is reaching out back. Who’s answering you? Who is showing an interest? And narrow it down to that. I would say. [00:25:30]
Matt: Awesome. Well, coach, I really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck this season. Hopefully, uh, if we talk in the near future, you’ll be hanging a conference banner and, uh, maybe you’ll, I think, I think my Catholic university, uh, Cardinals played, played either Courtland or Oney on them in the tournament recently.
So hopefully you can. Maybe it’ll be St. Lawrence this year. Let’s hope
Coach: we’d love that. That’d be great. You know, we want to, that’s our goal every year, Liberty league championship, then getting the tournament. So we’ve won two of the last three years and we’re hoping to get, uh, get back in there again.
Matt: Awesome. Well, best of luck coach. Thanks again. Thank you.
