The Lion Around Podcast

The College of New Jersey Athletics

Join host - and head men's basketball coach - Matt Goldsmith on The Lion Around Podcast, the official podcast of TCNJ Athletics. Each month, coach Goldsmith will interview a coach, student-athlete, staff member or friend of the athletics department. New episodes are posted on the site every month, and you can catch up on past episodes here!

SEPTEMBER 2021: Matt Goldsmith gets us ready for football season with head coach Casey Goff and senior running back Mark Pacini on the eve of the season. The pair talks about missing football during the pandemic, the attitude heading into the 2021 season and some meaty choices for a favorite diner meal.

AUGUST 2021: Matt Goldsmith opens the 2021-22 academic year with the newest member of the TCNJ Athletics staff, Associate AD Miles Smith, Jr. Miles will be responsible for managing the department's compliance and eligibility processes and ensuring the department's adherence to all NCAA, NJAC and TCNJ rules and regulations. He will also work to develop educational, leadership and support programming for student-athletes and as the advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and other development programs, such as Lions Leading Lions. Miles will also be the department's Diversity & Inclusion Designee.

MAY 2021: Head men's basketball coach Matt Goldsmith welcomes freshman baseball catcher Ryan Goodall to the podcast. Ryan made conference history by becoming the first freshman baseball player to win both the NJAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Ryan also talks about his journey to TCNJ and goes a little off the board with his favorite Springsteen song.

APRIL 2021: Liz Shatkus, TCNJ's senior associate director of athletics for facilities and operations & Senior Woman Administrator, joins the podcast this month to talk about the recent athletics facilities renovations, helping the campus through COVID supply distributions, and the high school state championship victory in her past.

MARCH 2021: A student-athlete roundtable! Coach Goldsmith is joined by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) officers. Victoria Vricella (President), Annette Wanjiku (Vice President) and David Rodriguez (Secretary) talk about their favorite classes, what other sport they would like to try, and the benefits of SAAC on TCNJ's campus.

FEBRUARY 2021: Legendary field hockey and lacrosse coach Sharon Pfluger joins the podcast and talks about how she became the head coach of two programs, the most important attribute she looks for in a recruit, and her favorite part of working and coaching at TCNJ.

JANUARY 2021: TCNJ head men's basketball coach Matt Goldsmith premieres The Lion Around Podcast with an interview of TCNJ's executive director of athletics, Amanda DeMartino.