The Mental Matchup

#92: In this week’s episode, Caitlin Beacom joins The Mental Matchup. Caitlin grew up in Naperville, IL and graduated from Wofford College this past May. She started playing lacrosse in third grade and medically retired from collegiate lacrosse at the beginning of her senior year. Throughout the episode, Caitlin walks us through her mental health journey and how she has learned how being compassio...

#91: In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Anna Beth Baker who is a rising senior on the Lander University Women’s Lacrosse team and also studies nursing. Throughout the episode, Anna Beth talks about the performance anxiety she experienced once getting to college, trying to overcome the overwhelming fear of perfectionism, and the importance of getting support from coa...

#90:  In this week's episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Carly Ellman, MSW, LCSW. Carly received her master’s degree in social work (MSW) from Fordham University and is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in Florida and Pennsylvania. Carly currently works in the student counseling center at Thomas Jefferson University East Falls campus and as a consultant with the United St...

This week we are welcoming Kyle Taylor to the podcast. Kyle is a Tampa native and went to The University of Tampa for undergrad and grad school. Growing up, sports played a huge role in his life and he ultimately got into Cross Country to stay in shape for soccer season which led to a collegiate career in the sport. During the episode, Kyle opens up about his experience with anxiety and disordered...

 In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Jennifer Hammel. Jenn grew up in Mountaintop, PA and attended Crestwood High School before graduating with an undergraduate degree from UConn in 1994 and a Masters of Education in Athletic Administration from Endicott College in 2018. Jenn played softball and field hockey growing up and continued her field hockey career at UConn....

#87: In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat connects with John Hutchins. John is on the football team at St. Lawrence University and grew up in Yardley, PA. John dealt with multiple setbacks including a broken leg in high school, COVID affecting his football season, and being diagnosed with a rare condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome in college. Despite all of these complications,...

#86: Today we’re sitting down with Katie Kuzma. Katie is currently a freshman at a community college in Warrenton, VA, and will be attending Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA in the fall of 2023 to play soccer. In the episode, Katie talks about her experience with her recruiting process and how she struggled throughout the process. She also touches on how she came to the decision to step away f...

#85: Today we’re sitting down with former Division 1 baseball student-athlete and professional baseball player, Dario Pizzano. Dario joins us today to discuss his experience playing professional baseball, how his transition from professional sports to a “desk job” has impacted his mental health, his ability to ask for help, and his passion project, Mission Stadiums for Multiple Sclerosis a non-pro...

In today’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat is joined by Lexi Guerin. Lexi is based out of Minnesota and plays lacrosse at Arizona State University. Throughout the episode, Lexi walks us through transferring to boarding school in high school, why she decided to play collegiate lacrosse, and her recruiting process. It’s a jam-packed, ca n’t-miss episode!

 In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Jenna Mango. Jenna is a certified personal trainer, fitness nutrition specialist and the author of the book Choose to R1se . The book focuses on striving to become the best version of yourself and ultimately getting 1% better every day. Throughout the episode, Jenna touches on her experience with bullying, therapy, and dealing wit...

 In today’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat connects with Emily Markley. Emily is a player on the Washington College women’s lacrosse team and grew up in Fauquier County, VA. During the episode Emily talks about her recruiting process, the importance of teammates and coaches having candid conversations about mental health, and being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Emily also shared a bea...

 In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Kelsey Thoensen. Kelsey is from New Holland, Pennsylvania, and played collegiate lacrosse at Slippery Rock University. During her senior year of school, she was diagnosed with Melanoma and also developed a stress fracture in her hip that prohibited her from playing lacrosse. During the episode, Kelsey shares how each difficult eve...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat and Schuyler speak with Ky Lane. Ky grew up in Maryland and fell in love with the sport of lacrosse. During the episode, Ky opens up about his intrusive thoughts, the importance of prioritizing your own happiness, and his efforts to get his friends to open up about their feelings. Ky is currently a social media influencer and pursuing his acting ca...

 In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat is joined by Kayla Mitchell. Kayla grew up in Long Island surrounded by an Italian family that sparked her interest in food. During the episode, Kayla opens up about how her knowledge of food turned into a fear of food and how diet culture impacted her early in high school. She also talks about her experience in a residential eating disorder...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat and Schuyler are joined by Jarett LoRusso. Jarett grew up in Purcellville, VA, and is currently getting his Master’s degree at the University of Richmond. Throughout the episode, Jarett walks us through his recruiting process, being injured for the majority of his career, and how his relationships benefitted when he opened up about his feelings.

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, we are kicking off Season 5 with Alex Concannon. Alex grew up in Long Island playing multiple different sports before deciding to ultimately pursue his lacrosse career. He committed to play college lacrosse at Johns Hopkins for four years and finished out his career playing at Hofstra. As a player, he dealt with having to navigate injuries and handling...

This week we have a special holiday podcast episode! Kat is joined by a close friend and mental health advocate Leeann Passaro. Leeann is the COO of The Hidden Opponent, a non-profit focused on breaking the stigma of mental health in athletics. During the episode, Kat and Leeann sit down to chat about different lessons they’ve learned throughout the past year and things they will take with them in...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat is joined by Emily Cole. Emily is a collegiate athlete on the Duke University Cross Country team. Emily is candid about her own experience with food and how seemingly “health eating” can potentially be detrimental mentally and physically. As an athlete, it’s important to recognize the importance of prioritizing your health in order to optimize perf...

 In today’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat is joined by Tori Bates. Tori grew up in Maryland and played collegiate lacrosse at the University of Florida. Throughout the episode, Tori opens up about her experience as an athlete dealing with multiple injuries and the different side effects that many people can experience, like more restricted eating and depression. Tori and Kat also discuss...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, we are joined by Kristyna Bertolone aka “Coach K”. Coach K is a former collegiate softball player and founded Game Changers, a platform that specializes in mental performance coaching. In the episode, Kat and Coach K cover many valuable topics such as controlling the controllables, reacting vs responding to a situation, and asking yourself important qu...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Jillian Schumacher. After going through the recruiting process for lacrosse, Jillian ultimately decided not to play in college and attend Ohio State. Once she got to Ohio State, Jillian realized she should’ve pursued college lacrosse and transferred to UMass Lowell. Throughout the episode, Jillian opens up about her own recruiting proce...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat is joined by Kaitlyn Coffman. Kaitlyn is from California and a senior on The Ohio State University softball team. Growing up, she dealt with softball being her entire identity, focusing on her performance over different relationships within her life. During the episode, Kaitlyn discusses her experience of finding a friend attempting suicide and als...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat connects with Maxwell Nagle. Max grew up in Northern Virginia and always had a love for sports. His love for basketball drew him to try out for the Hollins University basketball team where he earned a walk-on position to the team. Throughout the episode, Max opens up about his experience starting to use he/him pronouns at an all girls college. He a...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Casey Kroll. Casey played football at James Madison University in Virginia and is currently the CEO and co-founder of The Big Man Foundation. The organization was founded in 2021 after the passing of his former coach to help provide social, emotional, and financial support for coaches and their families who are dealing with difficult...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Audrey Stringer. Audrey played college volleyball at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and graduated in 2016. Throughout the episode, Audrey opens up about different coping mechanisms that she dealt with while dealing with anxiety and how hypnosis and meditation can be amazing tools to start healing. She is extremely open about her...