Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at RV/#19 Fairfield on March 1, 2025 , Loss , 7, to, 15
Men's Lacrosse
at RV/#19 Fairfield
Final
7
-
15
Providence College Athletics
Players Mentioned
Goalie
/ Men's Lacrosse
Goalie
/ Men's Lacrosse
Defense
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Inside Friartown: Q&A With Men's Lacrosse Standouts Tate Boyce '19 And Current Friar Goaltender Toby Burgdorf
4/3/2020 9:59:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Fans can also listen to the Inside Friartown Podcast interview with Toby Burgdorf on Spotify, Apple Music & Google Play.
On March 24, Friars.com correspondent Jen Rynearson sat down with current men's lacrosse goaltender Toby Burgdorf and former Friar goaltender Tate Boyce '19. Boyce was a four-time All-BIG EAST First-Team honoree, two-time BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year and two-time USILA All-American at Providence College.
Just a week later [April 1], Burgdorf was named Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media All-American (honorable mention). The following Q&A session talks about their relationship as teammates, and how that relationship has evolved as Boyce currently serves as a graduate assistant with the program and Burgdorf has assumed the role of starting goalie.
Burgdorf also talks about how he was introduced to the game of lacrosse by his older brother, Christian, who was a four-time All-American at Denver. He also discusses the Friars' abbreviated season, and how he and his teammates plan to use it as motivation when they return to the field.
*In addition to this Q&A, please check out the latest edition of the Inside Friartown podcast, which features a one-on-one interview with Burgdorf, conducted by Mike DeMars. The podcast is available on Apple Music, Spotify and Google Play.
A direct link to the podcast also is available by clicking on the following link: Inside Friartown Podcast: Toby Burgdorf
Q: Tate, as an upperclassman on the team, what was your initial impression of Toby as a freshman teammate, and how did your relationship develop over time?
Tate Boyce:
Initially, right away the first thing I saw was what everyone has had the opportunity to see this season. The guy is really, really good. When he came in, he was very talented, eager to learn and ready to get after it. So, it was a really good first impression there.
I got to know him through the semester and got to know his personality. He's a really laid-back guy and we became pretty good friends because I'm pretty laid back. We would take the game seriously but try not to carry that over too much [off the field]. He's a really funny guy, likes to make jokes. So, first impression was he was just a young freshman who was really talented and was eager to learn and get after it.
Q: Were you nervous about how talented he was?
Tate Boyce:
Honestly, I felt confident. I was confident in my abilities and I had been a multi-year starter, so I felt confident that my position was secure, but him coming in definitely pushed me, no doubt. Competition is certainly healthy, and it was in this case. He came in and I knew he was really good.
I used to tell friends all the time that we have the best kept secret in college lacrosse. And I kept saying that for a year and a half, two years.
We would be doing first team stuff at practice and Toby would be on our black team, which was the scout team, and our first team guys couldn't score on him. We have this drill, and it's a game to 1. We would play this game, and it would end up being a goalie battle. We couldn't score on this guy [Toby].
Q: When making the decision to come to Providence College, how much did you know about Tate and how did you feel about coming to a program where you potentially going to sit the first two years of your college career?
Toby Burgdorf:
Obviously, before arriving I watched quite a few Providence games on my own and Tate was the guy and I understood that. I was ready to get in there and learn from him, and I did in those first two years. And even in this third year, I've learned the most honestly, while getting to work one-on-one with him in the in his role as a graduate assistant with the team.
When I arrived at Providence, I was looking up to him, almost how I look up to my older brother.
I want to learn as much as possible because everyone else is trying to do the same and they're not even in his position.
Every single time we would be in a drill together, I would be listening to what he was saying on the field and watching what he was doing because whatever he was doing was making him one of the most successful, and in my opinion, the best goalie in college lacrosse at the time.
I was just really eager and excited and the idea of having to sit out for a couple years wasn't necessarily a bad thing in my mind. I feel like that transition from high school to college is a big step for goalies, specifically, and getting the opportunity to sit behind someone like Tate who is such a leader and a star player on our team, I was just very eager to take in as much from him as possible.
Q: Tate, for you, talk about that relationship on the flip side as someone who has already had two years of college lacrosse experience under their belt. How were you trying to bring Toby along as the new kid on the block, while also competing with him at the same position?
Tate Boyce:
Right away, Toby didn't need much coaching or help in stopping the ball. When people talk about goalies in college lacrosse, they have a lot of different roles as quarterback of the defense, but first and foremost you've got to stop the ball. You're there to make saves, and he already strong there in his own right.
So, when he came in, something I had learned a lot about in being a young guy on the team and with Jarrod Neumann being there. I was a freshman and Jarrod was in his junior year and his second year as a captain. He was a really vocal leader, and I was more of a 'lead by example guy', and then came into a more vocal leadership role learning from Jarrod and learning from, at the time, John Galloway, who was our assistant coach and learning a lot from him as a legendary goalie. So, that's where I tried to help Toby, and continue to help. That's what most of our conversations are about. There are certainly the technique aspects and intricacies of the game, but a lot of it has to do with the leadership aspect of the position. That can help a team defense, a really strong collective unit, that we've trademarked the last couple years at Providence College.
His first two years, I tried to help him get comfortable with that knowing that once I was gone, he was going to be the guy. So, helping him into that was going to make that transition easier.
Q: How has your leadership style been influenced by Tate?
Toby Burgdorf:
A lot of my growth over the past three years as a leader; much of that credit can be attributed to what Tate has taught me.
Q: Now, Toby is the starting goaltender and played all six games in an abbreviated season, going 5-1. How would you assess his play in his first year as a full-time starter?
Tate Boyce:
I'm not surprised at all. I'll go back to what I've been saying all along, that Toby Burgdorf is the best kept secret in college lacrosse. Now people know. Now people can see it and he's not a secret anymore.
His numbers speak for themselves. Ranked second in the country in save percentage, and certainly we had a lot of lacrosse left, but I've got to think he's only going to get better and our team defense was only going to get better. I would expect those numbers to continue. Let's call a spade a spade… he was on his way to an All-American year. Those numbers don't lie.
For two years I saw this guy continuously work, while others might say 'I've got time, I've got time to get ready'. Toby was always working and always preparing and now this year it's come to fruition.
I'm not really surprised. Not a ton of people within our program are surprised. Now the college lacrosse landscape sees it because he's had the chance to be out there. But we knew what we had in Toby, for sure.
Q: Toby, how would you assess your play in your first season as a starting goaltender.
Toby Burgdorf:
I've really been able to learn from my experience. I remember going to that first game, and even in Utah [scrimmage], I was so nervous and I wasn't necessarily enjoying the game because of it. I needed to enjoy the game, and I started developing on that message. A lot of the seniors had written letters to us heading into the BU game [season opener] and I remember one, specifically, from Tyler Wilks '…at the end of the day, it's a game and you're having fun out there…'. And that's a message that Tate talks about with me before every game; to just enjoy it.
As the season progressed, I was starting to enjoy the actual atmosphere of playing in games more and more and the nerves were kind of non-existent. Toward that sixth game, it's obviously still there [the nerves] because it's important to me and I care, but I would say my development as a player over the season really coincided with the message that Tate and others were trying to instill in me.
Q: With the abrupt ending to this year's season, how will that affect you and your team the next time you step on the field?
Toby Burgdorf:
It really puts everything into perspective and it makes you realize you have to cherish every single moment you have out there. When you're in the moment, you never think to yourself 'ok, this is going to be the last time'. You want the last time to be the last game of the season, and you want that to be in the NCAA Championship, obviously. I think now going into next season, this will be a huge motivation for us. In my mind, going out to every practice I'm going to be thinking about what was taken away from us and everything that we left on the table. I don't want to leave anything on the table. And that's probably the hardest part about the season ending. It was because of all the potential that we had. We had something great going and it's hard to see that end, without any real warning, but at the same time I'm very appreciative for everything we did go through together. I wouldn't have wanted to do it with any other group of guys.
That will be on my mind every day during practice, and every lift, and every film session. Just taking it all in.
Q: How old were you when you started playing lacrosse?
Toby Burgdorf:
I was in fifth grade, so around 10 or 11. My brother started playing lacrosse before me, and we have this thing in my town called junk day, where people can put old stuff out on the curb. And of course, my brother [Christian] and his friend come home and they brought home old goalie gear and were like 'Here you go, Toby. Get in the net'.
They were in eighth grade and I was in fifth grade, and I remember them saying 'Hey mom, he's actually pretty good'. And from that point, I think I got shot on every single day in my back yard. The whole summer.
Q: So, it's clear you didn't choose to be a goalie in that moment. It kind of just happened. Was there ever a time you played another position on the field?
Toby Burgdorf:
Yeah, my brother had tortured me enough to the point that I said I wasn't doing this anymore. So, I had switched over to midfield, but I am not a good runner at all, let me tell you. I would come off the field after games and my mom would say 'Toby, you have to run out there'. And I'd tell her 'I am running'.
I guess I was destined to be a goalie at heart. I didn't really have much of a path in any other position.
- GO FRIARS! -
Just a week later [April 1], Burgdorf was named Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media All-American (honorable mention). The following Q&A session talks about their relationship as teammates, and how that relationship has evolved as Boyce currently serves as a graduate assistant with the program and Burgdorf has assumed the role of starting goalie.
Burgdorf also talks about how he was introduced to the game of lacrosse by his older brother, Christian, who was a four-time All-American at Denver. He also discusses the Friars' abbreviated season, and how he and his teammates plan to use it as motivation when they return to the field.
*In addition to this Q&A, please check out the latest edition of the Inside Friartown podcast, which features a one-on-one interview with Burgdorf, conducted by Mike DeMars. The podcast is available on Apple Music, Spotify and Google Play.
A direct link to the podcast also is available by clicking on the following link: Inside Friartown Podcast: Toby Burgdorf
Q: Tate, as an upperclassman on the team, what was your initial impression of Toby as a freshman teammate, and how did your relationship develop over time?
Tate Boyce:
Initially, right away the first thing I saw was what everyone has had the opportunity to see this season. The guy is really, really good. When he came in, he was very talented, eager to learn and ready to get after it. So, it was a really good first impression there.
I got to know him through the semester and got to know his personality. He's a really laid-back guy and we became pretty good friends because I'm pretty laid back. We would take the game seriously but try not to carry that over too much [off the field]. He's a really funny guy, likes to make jokes. So, first impression was he was just a young freshman who was really talented and was eager to learn and get after it.
Q: Were you nervous about how talented he was?
Tate Boyce:
Honestly, I felt confident. I was confident in my abilities and I had been a multi-year starter, so I felt confident that my position was secure, but him coming in definitely pushed me, no doubt. Competition is certainly healthy, and it was in this case. He came in and I knew he was really good.
I used to tell friends all the time that we have the best kept secret in college lacrosse. And I kept saying that for a year and a half, two years.
We would be doing first team stuff at practice and Toby would be on our black team, which was the scout team, and our first team guys couldn't score on him. We have this drill, and it's a game to 1. We would play this game, and it would end up being a goalie battle. We couldn't score on this guy [Toby].
Q: When making the decision to come to Providence College, how much did you know about Tate and how did you feel about coming to a program where you potentially going to sit the first two years of your college career?
Toby Burgdorf:
Obviously, before arriving I watched quite a few Providence games on my own and Tate was the guy and I understood that. I was ready to get in there and learn from him, and I did in those first two years. And even in this third year, I've learned the most honestly, while getting to work one-on-one with him in the in his role as a graduate assistant with the team.
When I arrived at Providence, I was looking up to him, almost how I look up to my older brother.
I want to learn as much as possible because everyone else is trying to do the same and they're not even in his position.
Every single time we would be in a drill together, I would be listening to what he was saying on the field and watching what he was doing because whatever he was doing was making him one of the most successful, and in my opinion, the best goalie in college lacrosse at the time.
I was just really eager and excited and the idea of having to sit out for a couple years wasn't necessarily a bad thing in my mind. I feel like that transition from high school to college is a big step for goalies, specifically, and getting the opportunity to sit behind someone like Tate who is such a leader and a star player on our team, I was just very eager to take in as much from him as possible.
Q: Tate, for you, talk about that relationship on the flip side as someone who has already had two years of college lacrosse experience under their belt. How were you trying to bring Toby along as the new kid on the block, while also competing with him at the same position?
Tate Boyce:
Right away, Toby didn't need much coaching or help in stopping the ball. When people talk about goalies in college lacrosse, they have a lot of different roles as quarterback of the defense, but first and foremost you've got to stop the ball. You're there to make saves, and he already strong there in his own right.
So, when he came in, something I had learned a lot about in being a young guy on the team and with Jarrod Neumann being there. I was a freshman and Jarrod was in his junior year and his second year as a captain. He was a really vocal leader, and I was more of a 'lead by example guy', and then came into a more vocal leadership role learning from Jarrod and learning from, at the time, John Galloway, who was our assistant coach and learning a lot from him as a legendary goalie. So, that's where I tried to help Toby, and continue to help. That's what most of our conversations are about. There are certainly the technique aspects and intricacies of the game, but a lot of it has to do with the leadership aspect of the position. That can help a team defense, a really strong collective unit, that we've trademarked the last couple years at Providence College.
His first two years, I tried to help him get comfortable with that knowing that once I was gone, he was going to be the guy. So, helping him into that was going to make that transition easier.
Q: How has your leadership style been influenced by Tate?
Toby Burgdorf:
A lot of my growth over the past three years as a leader; much of that credit can be attributed to what Tate has taught me.
Q: Now, Toby is the starting goaltender and played all six games in an abbreviated season, going 5-1. How would you assess his play in his first year as a full-time starter?
Tate Boyce:
I'm not surprised at all. I'll go back to what I've been saying all along, that Toby Burgdorf is the best kept secret in college lacrosse. Now people know. Now people can see it and he's not a secret anymore.
His numbers speak for themselves. Ranked second in the country in save percentage, and certainly we had a lot of lacrosse left, but I've got to think he's only going to get better and our team defense was only going to get better. I would expect those numbers to continue. Let's call a spade a spade… he was on his way to an All-American year. Those numbers don't lie.
For two years I saw this guy continuously work, while others might say 'I've got time, I've got time to get ready'. Toby was always working and always preparing and now this year it's come to fruition.
I'm not really surprised. Not a ton of people within our program are surprised. Now the college lacrosse landscape sees it because he's had the chance to be out there. But we knew what we had in Toby, for sure.
Q: Toby, how would you assess your play in your first season as a starting goaltender.
Toby Burgdorf:
I've really been able to learn from my experience. I remember going to that first game, and even in Utah [scrimmage], I was so nervous and I wasn't necessarily enjoying the game because of it. I needed to enjoy the game, and I started developing on that message. A lot of the seniors had written letters to us heading into the BU game [season opener] and I remember one, specifically, from Tyler Wilks '…at the end of the day, it's a game and you're having fun out there…'. And that's a message that Tate talks about with me before every game; to just enjoy it.
As the season progressed, I was starting to enjoy the actual atmosphere of playing in games more and more and the nerves were kind of non-existent. Toward that sixth game, it's obviously still there [the nerves] because it's important to me and I care, but I would say my development as a player over the season really coincided with the message that Tate and others were trying to instill in me.
Q: With the abrupt ending to this year's season, how will that affect you and your team the next time you step on the field?
Toby Burgdorf:
It really puts everything into perspective and it makes you realize you have to cherish every single moment you have out there. When you're in the moment, you never think to yourself 'ok, this is going to be the last time'. You want the last time to be the last game of the season, and you want that to be in the NCAA Championship, obviously. I think now going into next season, this will be a huge motivation for us. In my mind, going out to every practice I'm going to be thinking about what was taken away from us and everything that we left on the table. I don't want to leave anything on the table. And that's probably the hardest part about the season ending. It was because of all the potential that we had. We had something great going and it's hard to see that end, without any real warning, but at the same time I'm very appreciative for everything we did go through together. I wouldn't have wanted to do it with any other group of guys.
That will be on my mind every day during practice, and every lift, and every film session. Just taking it all in.
Q: How old were you when you started playing lacrosse?
Toby Burgdorf:
I was in fifth grade, so around 10 or 11. My brother started playing lacrosse before me, and we have this thing in my town called junk day, where people can put old stuff out on the curb. And of course, my brother [Christian] and his friend come home and they brought home old goalie gear and were like 'Here you go, Toby. Get in the net'.
They were in eighth grade and I was in fifth grade, and I remember them saying 'Hey mom, he's actually pretty good'. And from that point, I think I got shot on every single day in my back yard. The whole summer.
Q: So, it's clear you didn't choose to be a goalie in that moment. It kind of just happened. Was there ever a time you played another position on the field?
Toby Burgdorf:
Yeah, my brother had tortured me enough to the point that I said I wasn't doing this anymore. So, I had switched over to midfield, but I am not a good runner at all, let me tell you. I would come off the field after games and my mom would say 'Toby, you have to run out there'. And I'd tell her 'I am running'.
I guess I was destined to be a goalie at heart. I didn't really have much of a path in any other position.
- GO FRIARS! -
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