Podcast: Former BC High star Carter Rice on life in the PLL

Carter Rice (Milton, Mass.) joined "Chasing The Goal" to talk about life in the PLL. (PLL photo)

On this episode of New England Lacrosse Journal’s “Chasing The Goal” podcast, hosts Kyle Devitte and Owen Hart are joined by PLL player Carter Rice.

BC High (Mass.) fans will have fond memories of Rice (Milton, Mass.). He was the backbone of the Golden Eagles’ team for multiple seasons before his time at Syracuse the past four seasons. He was deployed primarily as an offensive midfielder, but transitioned to becoming a short-stick defensive midfielder in college.

As a key member of the Orange, Rice finished his career with multiple accolades. In his senior year, he was named a third-team All-American. His career stats at Syracuse include 11 points, 63 groundballs and 22 caused turnovers, while anchoring a Syracuse defensive unit that gave up 10.37 goals per game.

After his college season concluded, Rice was selected with the 29th pick in the PLL draft by the California Redwoods. He has played in the same SSDM role for that team through its playoff run. The Redwoods were eliminated in the semifinals on Labor Day following a 12-7 loss to the Denver Outlaws.

Watch the full podcast below on YouTube. It’s also available on all major podcast platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review. Watch more episodes on the Chasing the Goal podcast channel.

Owen Hart: Kyle mentioned that he was not watching a lot of PLL this year, but I have. I think many people just don’t know how it works. In general, you guys are touring all the time. What do people not know about when you get drafted, when you get signed? What are the next steps, and how do you go from Syracuse to signing for the Redwoods?

Carter Rice: I got drafted like a week before the NCAA tournament, and we made it to the final four. Literally, two days after that, I was back at ‘Cuse hanging with my friends and (Redwoods GM) Joe Spallina was like, “You have to come to training camp tomorrow.” So, it was a pretty quick turnaround. But I was excited for it. I went to Albany to start training camp and it was great. I loved it. 

Kyle Devitte: In the PLL, you have to be not just an SSDM, you have to be able to be a transition guy. You have to be able to handle the ball. You have to be able to kick-start offense and not be a liability on a clear at any point. So I would think that really translates well to your skill-set.

Carter Rice: Yeah, a hundred percent. I think it’s knowing that I have to clear the ball every time and (play) some offense in between the lines and pick up (groundballs). I just think that offensive background at BC High or even just playing box up at Syracuse in the winters has been great for me.

You can’t be a liability at all in the PLL because you’re running 3D mids; you’re in for like almost 80 percent of the possessions of the game. You need to have your stickwork dialed. And I think my offensive background definitely helps with that.

@TheKyleDevitte
kyle.devitte@laxjournal.com

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