Why CJ Kirst is the Best Player in Lacrosse | Freeze It Right Here, Episode 7
Pro Lacrosse Hall of Famers Ryan Boyle and Brian Dougherty break down the levels to CJ Kirst's game and how his domination on and off ball makes him the best player in lacrosse right now.
Video Transcript
We got a new name, right?
It's the leaner change-up This is him honestly embarrassing the defense.
Like, I, I mean, this isn't breaking the speed limit in a school zone.
I mean, that's like, I mean, like, like that's how slow this thing is going.
Everything I say on this, on this show the next week, all right- tends to go the opposite.
So I don't know what my opinion is worth anymore, to be honest with you.
Boyle, bang.
How about this save from Brian Dougherty?
And Dougherty's genius continues.
Stick score, Ryan Boyle.
Ryan Dougherty has made some wonderful stops in time.
Ryan Boyle, a hat trick.
Freeze it right here.
Freeze it right here.
Freeze it right here.
Welcome back to Freeze It Right Here.
I'm Kevin Boyle from the Lacrosse Network, and with me today, as always, are the two Hall of Famers, Ryan Boyle and Brian Dougherty.
On this episode, we're gonna dive into CJ Kearse.
Last year's number one pick leads the PLL with 20 goals in just four games played, including six in a 15 to 13 win over the California Redwoods last weekend in Chicago.
Ryan, there's still a lot of season left to be played, but how would you describe Kearse's position in the MVP race at this point?
I mean, he, he's obviously the, the front runner, I think, coming out of the All-Star break and given the performance and really the consistency week in and week out.
And I, I, I think what's crazy about his performance, and I, I can't remember the last time I thought about this with an offensive player, I think he's the best guy, Doc, with the ball.
A- and I also think he's the best guy off ball as well, which, which is very rare in terms of a, an offensive player kind of being able to hit both of those marks.
Yeah, I ca- I can't really think of a, of a guy either.
I mean, that's, you know, looking at his stats and doing a deep dive into his stats this week, he's got 10 goals assisted, 10 goals unassisted, so of- Yeah his 20 goals- right, he's taking the guy to the rack 10 times and he's playing off ball 10 times.
I mean, I don't know.
You know, like, guys like Tom Marechek were off-ball guys.
Guys like Gary Gait were, and John Grant Jr.
Were on-ball guys.
Paul Rabil, on ball.
You know, Rob Pannell more of an, of, of a, an assist guy, kind of a do it all, everything.
But they're, yeah, like cutting, shooting, just dominating his match-ups, and like the lacrosse IQ off the ball- Yeah where, you know, his guy leaves for a half a second, and then boom, he's, he's just, you know, having a great season so far and, and, you know, kind of an historic season.
So we'll see how it finishes up, but, as of right now, it's, it's ridiculous to watch.
Yeah, CJ is no stranger to history.
He broke the NCAA record for career goals with 247 while leading Cornell to a national championship last year.
Now in his second year as a pro, he's currently on pace to score 50 goals.
The most ever in a PLL season is 30 by Marcus Holman back in 2023.
Doc, 50 is an insane number.
Do you think he could actually get there?
I mean, everything I say on this, on this show the next week, all right- tends to go the opposite.
So I don't, I don't know what my opinion is worth anymore, to be honest with you.
I, I'm thinking he could do it just because of what we just talked about, right?
If he was just the ball carrier, then, then people would start sliding to him more and, and then he wouldn't be able to do it.
But being that his game is so well-rounded, yeah, why not?
You know?
Like, he could go out there and challenge that five goals a game.
Who knows?
Who cares, you know?
Just give it to Kearse.
With the ball, pass it to a Mikey Sowers is in a passing mood.
It's just all the things are right there for him to, to kind of get to that level, and it's gonna be interesting to watch the last five y- five weeks.
And Doc, I think you hit the nail on the head bringing up Sowers.
The, the thing is, is he's within the ecosystem of a WaterDogs offense with a lot of other offensive firepower.
So it's not like you can just focus on stopping Kearse 'cause they have so many other weapons, and that's what's crazy is he still gets all his points given all the firepower around him, Kev.
Hey, Kearse scores a lot of goals, and we wanna show you all six from last weekend.
So let's not waste any more time.
A few weeks ago, when we broke down Dylan Malloy's seven goal performance against the Archers, it was a lot of bullying to get to five and five, followed by various moves from that spot on the field.
As you're about to see, and as Boyle just mentioned, CJ Kearse has levels to his game.
He scored six goals against the Redwoods in several different ways.
Boyle, start us off with a couple clips that show us what Kearse can do as an off-ball playmaker.
Yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna show all six of them, and you're gonna see a, a lot of different variety and, and I think in some cases it's Kearse, you know, in his kind of transcendent play, and then other times he just exploits kind of a, a, a breakdown defensively and, and what I would call kind of poor decision-making.
So, you know, as we go to this first clip, you know, we've got We're setting the stage here.
We've got two face-off guys.
The face-off guys are trapped right now, so you got Erdmann and Stathakis kind of out there.
Stathakis wisely gets involved in a two-man game, and then focus on Kearse and Cullen Brown on the left side of your screen.
So Sowers a- and Stathakis, a little big-little situation.
They use this pick.
You got both players going towards Sowers.
Stathakis is open.
Cullen Brown is like, "I've gotta rotate over."
And then why?
Just like, I, I don't love that decision.
If you're gonna rotate there, you have to know that you've got a second slide or another rotation to kind of clean up behind the play.
So in terms of the decision-making, you know, I- the, the Brown rotation, like I, I get it in terms of, like, within the larger ecosystem.
I've used ecosystem twice in the first two minutes of this, you know, So in terms of your defensive rotation, I understand why you're supposed to, but to leave Kearse to get to Stathakis, Doc, why?
Just, w- just let him, let Stathakis go time and room.
Let Stathakis get- I don't, I don't think he's I don't think he realizes it, right?
Like, it's just you're so trained.
It's the correct slide.
If that was a regular offensive player, if that was Jack Hannah, right?
Yeah.
Sure, it's not- Like that would be the right move for him to do, and I think he gets two steps, and all of a sudden, you're like, somebody starts knocking on his head and is, like, whispering in his ear, and there's a little bird right on his shoulder like, "Hey, dude, that's the face-off guy.
You gotta get back."
And by that time he's just, like, three steps- You know, so he's so trained, he's like, "Oh, God, I just left CJ Kirst."
And then, you know, it's just a poor approach and it's, you know, that's a great move not to just force the one time there, catch it.
You got Dylan Ward coming all over the place.
He's outside the crease playing his high arc, right?
And he just does a little spin move and throws the ball around him.
But, you know, like, I think that's, again, like that's just the defense not realizing.
But it's also Kirst, like he leaves for a half second- Yeah and Kirst sees that right away.
He sees that before, right, that was gonna happen and puts himself in a great position, hence why he is such a great goal scorer because he can do it so many different ways.
A- and y- you pointed it out, the patience after he catches the ball on the crease.
Like, he could have forced a low angle shot there, but understanding body movement, the Brown recovery, like the ability to kind of stop and then roll back, increase his angle.
He- he's, he's playing the game at a different speed and, and I think like all the greats as we continue to roll kind of the next clips, like, he understands kind of when to go fast and when to go slow and let bodies just kind of fly around him.
So, you know, as we set up this next, you got a, a two-man game, again, a big little staple of the Waterdogs offense.
You got Tevlin on ball, Brown obviously covering Kirst.
I love how Iago a- a- and C- McCardo kind of get out of there, creating space.
You see the on ball double team go to Currier here, and then my only critique, a- a- we got to be a little critical, is like maybe, maybe Kirst could have caught this a little bit deeper so he, you know, releases this from beyond the two-point arc.
But like, you look at all that space afforded, Brown kind of hedges, helps.
There's no rotation behind it.
Brown has to recover himself and then Doc, you know, you're, you're Dylan Ward here, right?
We talked about this earlier.
What do you do on the scout?
Shoot it right at him.
Yeah.
Shoot it right at him if you got, if you got a, if you got somebody making, you know, maybe educated guesses or w- right?
We could do a little call back- to the Dylan Ward.
Like, just shoot it right at him.
But the, the off ball spacing by the Waterdogs to create all that room for Kirst and then there's just no help, and Brown is just kind of left on this island where he's got to hedge and recover all by himself.
So, so a couple things pop out to me.
So if we could, if we can run that, back right here.
It, it's not terrible defense.
Again, Brown is the hedge guy.
He's gonna, he's gonna hedge.
Kirst does a good job.
In essence, there should be a guy rolling towards him, right?
There's not.
He hedges a little bit too much right there, right?
Which frees up Kirst.
So right now, right, somebody should be running at Kirst.
Yep.
He's already committed to the dodger.
Somebody should be running to him, but nothing happens.
So, but what impresses me the most is, and you can tell this, like playing one year of box, like this is not an American shot.
Like, he catches this and shoots it to the nearer side.
All right?
99% of Americans will catch that left-handed and shoot it back across their body to Dylan Ward's offside, right?
He kind of has his whole body leaning this way, right?
And keeps the shot going that way.
It's so hard to read that, and I'm not saying that that's right at him, RB.
I don't know what you're looking at, but that, that kind of stung a corner to me.
S- silly.
Like that, that was, that- It's like- that ball lands, you know, pretty high up in the accur- that might have hit one of the accuracy targets right there.
But it's, it's really his release.
All of his body language is saying, "I'm coming back to the near side," and he shoots it far side.
You know, a- and I think that's what's taken his game to a whole nother level, is this Canadian influence into his game, and we're gonna see that in the next couple goals- Yes is, is what I'm gonna kind of to go on there.
And that's just a, that's just a quick example from the outside of deception.
Every, all the Americans, right, they try to shoot it 199 miles an hour, right, and they, and they shoot to the same spot across their body, across their body, across their body.
He gets his body going this way, he shoots it 87 miles an hour, but he's got the goalie leaning and he sticks it right into a corner.
So that's just the difference between American finishing and Canadian finishing, and that's like a 101 right there from a, from an old goalie right here, right?
That's just the complete difference of those two countries and how they finish lacrosse.
Yeah, you talk about the body language on this next goal is probably my favorite from a strategic standpoint.
But boy, I'll let you take this one away.
Yeah, th- this, he makes them silly.
He makes the defense look silly on this.
But, but, you know, early in the season, there was these opportunities that presented themselves in, in kind of the sub game, a- and I was wondering why Kirst wasn't being more aggressive a- and here he exploits it.
So, you know, a- as we kind of set this, this next clip up, you know, he's gonna identify, like you could see the subs behind the play, and he frees it, you know, right here.
This is four on four, right?
So there's just a ton of space.
Go to the rack here.
So you've got this on ball two-man game coming.
Again, big little, Sam English.
I love how Kirst carries away, and what that allows is it sets up his rollback.
And then the point of intersection there on the rollback, the, English is beat right here, right?
There's no chance.
He's gotta get up higher, force him back.
So by being kind of level with him, you could see his hips facing Kirst.
Kirst is able to turn the corner there.
You could see the two, two defenders outside the play.
Yes, the strategy is all there.
The decision making is all there.
What makes this play special is the leaner at the end.
I mean, you can see right here on the rollback, he's already got a step on Brown.
Brown would've been beat if it was one on one.
Now, Doc, this is, this is, I mean, come on.
I mean- the, the leaner into the f- the, the change up floater.
I mean- Yeah this is him honestly embarrassing the, the, the def- the defense.
Like, this is a silly, silly finish.
He gets to the spot right here, and it's the head, right?
If you could freeze it right as he's about to shoot, the head, right, tilts down, right, as, as everything's going right there.
Ward is down low.
He- and he shoots that I- I mean, that's going 30 miles an hour?
I think- What, 25 miles an hour?
Again, boom, he just has his whole body language again.
That seems to be maybe Dylan Ward's kryptonite, right?
When he's out there like that, you get the head, and he's so far out, that when he goes to the ground and drops on a low shot because of your head movement, the whole part of the upper goal just opens up and you might be able to just lob it like an alley-oop in there, you know?
Just, like, throw, like, a little punt up there.
I- I mean, this isn't breaking the speed limit in a school zone.
I mean, that's, like I mean, like, that's how slow this thing is going.
But, but the skill and technique at the end is what makes this a highlight.
W- what I love most about it is his dec- his identification and decision-making in the sub game to realize, wait a second, we've got two Redwoods defenders basically outside of the play.
I- I've got a little mini four-on-four situation, which is so advantageous to the offense in terms of there's just so much green space, and it limits where your slides can come from.
So that, that's where I love the IQ kind of combined with, with just the overall, you know, technique that he, he can that really we've only seen him do this this season.
You said it good.
Like, like, he sees that two seconds before, so it Him going right-handed to set up- Yep coming back left-handed, again, just huge IQ mu- moves right there.
That way he can kind of get right off the pick, right off the shoulder of the, of, of the offensive player, forcing a switch.
Then you got Tevlin, and it's just no match from there.
Then he gets into a spot, and then he just finishes it with just, you know, the casual 18 mile an hour floater- into the corner, right?
And that's, again, as a goalie, right, the deception, deception, deception, deception.
Everybody's trying to shoot it 200 miles an hour.
You don't need to do that.
You gotta It's, it's you versus the goalie.
Trying to score a goal, you gotta beat the goalie, right?
It has really nothing to do with you.
You, like, you have to beat the goalie.
So, so we saw him kind of win a one-on-one match up and then get involved in two-man game, right?
So he, he scores that goal, and then the very next goal, he's like, "I'm just gonna now take my guy in on the crease," you know?
"We're gonna now become the best crease attack men in, in the league."
So, you know, as we get to this next clip, again, Water Dogs, staple of their offense, two-man game.
So Kearse goes inside.
You see Witcher come over, the big little.
We've got this whole set up, big little.
Tevlin's covering Witcher.
He sets this pick.
Sowers carries up.
Witcher kind of roll- rolls off of it.
And this is back again to the decision-making of the, the Redwoods defensively.
Just don't love this slide afterwards, Doc.
So Sowers carries up.
He's gonna, he's gonna draw the double team.
He's gonna draw both defenders on this throwback.
Why go?
Why- Yeah slide here?
You've got a short stick D middie on his, quote-unquote, "wrong side," stick on the outside, Ward playing his high arc, and oh, by the way, you leave Kearse all by his lonesome.
You know, if you're gonna slide, you have to know that Hartsell is in there.
You cannot slide here unless you have this second slide.
I don't even like the first slide to begin with, but if you're gonna go, you have to know that Hartsell's down.
Yeah, I think Hartsell's thinking the same thing.
He's back there going like, "Why, why are we sliding to this?"
And then by, by the time it all kind of processes is, the ball's in the, in, in the back of the net.
But your set-up's right here.
I think this goal i- is probably a little bit like the first goal, right?
Where you saw the, the face-off guy on the field.
Now they have a D middie on the field.
Recognizing those situations, I don't think the Redwoods did a great job all, all game kind of understanding them, and not, you know Just, like, C.J.
Kearse is a problem right there.
I'm not leaving him for- a D middie with no angle.
Like, that shot's not going on, on Dylan Ward.
But again, what catches me a- is the catch.
Like- Yes.
Yes Canadian influence right now.
He catches this left-handed all the way across his body.
Right?
As Hartsell does not get down there.
He catches it as the ball gets across his body, catches it on the, the near side.
Again, another Canadian.
Look at that catch right there.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Right?
And then he just backhands it into the goal.
So, like, like, we're gonna say this a lot.
To me, his summer, or, or however long it was, the winter, all right, playing box lacrosse, I think just made him a little bit of a cheat code.
Because he was already a- an unbelievable player, and now you throw in these subtle little finishes and the c- and the hands that it takes to be successful, in the box, and I, I think the, the league has got a real problem right now.
Y- you know, Kevin, and, from an American perspective, you know, you, you throw a pass that's not right on the guy's box, so he can catch and shoot, right?
And, and in, in America, we're said, "Throw, throw a better pass.
Throw a better pass."
Right.
That's, that's what, that's what a coach would say.
"Throw a better pass."
In Canada, they just say, "Catch the ball."
You just- No, I love that.
He's bringing- Yeah, catch, catch, catch the ball the Canadian game to the field game, and then in the NLL, I see him scoring off-handed goals, so he's bringing the American influence to box.
So C.J.
Kearse breaking barriers on both sides here.
I, I'm still hung up on that third clip we showed with the body language.
I think we got another one here coming up.
So, you know, we saw him score in on the crease.
Now it's like, "Okay, let's go back to the perimeter," right?
I- I've scored on ball.
Let me go to the crease, and n- and now I'll take you back to, to time room.
So as we set up this next clip, you know, he's gonna have a little two-man game with Sowers, and you know, Sowers has already got the short stick match up.
So Kearse is in a mirror situation.
Brown's trying to help.
Sowers goes underneath.
Kearse just kind of floats to open space, gets to a nice spot.
Doc, this shot, what, what's so remarkable about this is his stick is to the outside.
There's not a ton of angle, but he goes right back to the floater.
Right back.
I mean, right now, what are how are you reading that if you're Dylan Ward in cage?
Well, so I'm sitting there looking at this and, and you know, this is, is, is, if you wanna just actually let it go for a half a more second, you can see that as he's coming there, he brings his head down again.
And it's the old John Grant Jr.
So when that head goes down, right, now I'm following that as, as, as the goalie.
So that's gonna bring me down.
And he does a great job of leaving his stick completely overhand, right?
This won- this won't work if you shoot any type of three-quarter or sidearm.
This has to be directly overhand, and the head drops the goalie to his knees, right?
And then the stick, staying completely overhand, takes the ball to the top corner.
Again, dude, that shot is going 30 miles an hour.
30 miles an hour.
It's, it's just mind-blowing.
And the- and just to get in space, so like, when Sowers has the short, right?
The whole right, Redwoods is on hyper alert.
Mm-hmm.
And, and rightfully so, right?
Mike Sowers with the sh- with the short stick, everybody's like, "Ooh, ooh, do I go?"
And, and we're all like getting ready to support that match up.
He's smart enough to just, just find a little space.
He catches a good pass, and then he's just like, "You know, I'm just gonna leaner it again.
I'm just gonna bring the head down.
He's gonna be out on his high arc.
I'm gonna drop him to his knees and just float it right over him."
So it's just i- you know, it's, it's, it's high level stuff right there.
And if you wanna know, right, from a goalie's perspective, that, that last clip right there show- shows it all, right?
It shows you the head coming down.
It brings him down to his knees, and then he just casually floats it over.
And to your point, Doc, it's the trajectory, right?
So Dylan Ward, all summer long, has been going down, but then going up with his stick.
And so he's got kind of like both areas covered.
But when you float it over the top of that stick Yeah then there is no, there is no answer.
So the, the irony of this is like, well, why isn't everybody shooting like this?
Why doesn't Right?
Like, why, why- He's expecting like an 89 mile an hour- Right you know, he gets down to his knees and he's right there.
Now all of a sudden he's down and the things go, it's a, it's, it's a very equivalent to the changeup.
It's, it's a great- So- It's a great We got a new name, right?
It's the leaner changeup.
Right?
Yeah, the leaner changeup.
Like a little, little changeup there.
The leaner changeup floater.
If you're expecting fastball, the changeup floater.
Right?
We can maybe, get a poll on what we wanna call this.
But it's, it's, it's definitely unique.
And, and Kev, like, you know, you've seen almost every goal this, this summer, right?
So- Right we showed like the Mac O'Keefe off ball stuff, right?
We showed the Dylan Ward kind of five and five.
Why we're showing all of these is right, is like, have you seen that shot, that, that Curse has now done twice, have you seen that at all anywhere else the entire summer?
No, definitely not.
Right.
And the funny thing is we've broken down Dylan Ward on the show and the way he's playing mind games with the shooters.
Curse is the first guy I'm seeing playing mind games with him.
Yeah, exactly.
And, and this is like, you don't have an answer for this.
Like, if that is gonna be Right?
So Doc like highlighted it earlier, like the styles, like, okay, that's who you are.
Like, that's what you're doing in those situations.
This is my counter, a- and Dylan Ward didn't have the counter for the counter, 'cause he's, he's just playing like his style, his technique, and, and he's just like, "All right, well, if that's what you got in your bag, like, I, I, I don't okay, like, you know, like, well done, dude."
Like The old changeup floater.
Got- Yeah got Dylan Ward.
You know?
Like, he's sitting there dominating the whole summer with his style of play, and then this dude comes out and he just throws a couple changeups, like lobs it right over your head, and you're like, you know, "What am I doing?"
But you know, will that type of shot go on Blaze, for example- Right who's more of an upright goalie that's more patient and staying there?
I don't know.
I still think it would cause him problems with, with, with the head.
I don't think he would bite that far down low.
Yeah.
But in this circumstance versus this goalie, it was the perfect shot to do.
And you know, again, that's why he's on pace to score 20 more goals than any- than, than anyone else in the history of the PLL, so.
I think the floaters were my favorite from a strategic standpoint, but the goal of the weekend was goal number six.
This one was amazing.
Low shot clock, end of game, iced the game for the Waterdogs, an awesome individual effort.
Boyle, take this one away for us.
This, this is, you know, back to the, the shut up nerd and just let me watch the highlight.
Like, this was incredible.
Th- this was the MVP moment, which I think was Drew Carter called out on the broadcast.
And, and, this is like middle school lacrosse, right, Doc?
I mean, this is like, a, a, middle school coach is like, "Don't do this."
Like don- like this is gonna give middle school coaches nightmares, 'cause it's like, yeah, I'm just gonna swim dodge the on ball defender, and then not, not gonna move the ball.
I'm gonna sli- I'm gonna dodge the slide guy as well, right?
So when you draw a slide, you're supposed to move it.
Like, this is C.J.
Curse just being Superman, being a superhero of like So he beats Colin Brown with the swim move, then head up, identifies Tevlin, and then puts him in a blender, right?
Oh.
Plan- That move right there is ridiculous.
Plans gets Tevlin- Look at Tev- and Tevlin's a good player too I mean, five seconds left, one goal game.
It's just like, yeah, I'm gonna put the team on my back and just ice this.
I'm just gonna ice this game, right?
And this is the highlight of the season as far as I'm concerned.
I, I know there's been more like wow moments, but to have the MV prever- like proverbial MVP favorite, favorite in a one goal game just be like, "No, no, no, no.
I-" I got this.
Like, everybody just stay up there.
Just don't worry.
Get out my I mean, if there was a third guy, don't you think he would just- have dodged by that guy too, right?
I mean, like- Yeah, he would've done something cool.
He would've spun or something.
Totally.
Like, if, if s- if somebody else came, he would've do- yeah, like, he would've just gotten by them too.
Here's my take.
So we, we've showed all this stuff, right?
His bag, we'll call it, right?
His bag.
He's, he's got the on-ball, the pick game bag.
He's got the off-ball bag.
He's got the shooter, leaner, floater bag, right?
He can just take it and shoot it sidearm 99, 100 and put that in the corner as well.
What you forget, right, is that this dude is 6'2", 215 pounds.
He's, he's maybe, you know, the third or fourth biggest offensive player in the league.
Yeah.
And he's fast, and I bet you if he ran the 40, he'd be in the top whatever- Yeah 20% of, of, of the, of the league i- in, in there.
So you round it out.
Now you got this 6'2", 220-pound behemoth that can just run by you.
He can, ee, put the brakes on, go around the short stick.
He can swim, right?
Yep.
Just grown-ass defenders, right, behind the goal.
That doesn't happen very often.
You don't see too many guys get- Colin Brown.
Colin Brown is like a big dude.
Yeah.
You don't see him getting, like, swum from behind, then put in a blender, right?
And then just running through there.
And then, you know, that it factor wh- where he understands on top of the whole bag, right?
You just sprinkle in the competitive, "I know the game's on the line- Mm-hmm I'm just gonna finish this myself.
Like, let's just put that..." And when you wrap it all together, it's like, it's, it's mind-blowing.
It's breathtaking out there, like, some of the stuff that he's doing.
Well, as we're on the topic of C.J.
Kearse's bag and we're kind of closing this breakdown, I wanna know, do you guys think there is an ev- an evolution of C.J.
Kearse that we haven't seen yet?
For example, only two assists, both coming in his first game of the season.
Your only critique of him in this whole breakdown, Boyle, was maybe he should've taken a step back on that one that was in two-point range.
He has no two-pointers.
Will there be an evolution in the second half of the season or beyond of C.J.
Kearse?
Well, I, I think he's a willing and able passer.
I, I think he just happens to, to play on a team with Michael Sauers on it.
So, you know, it's, it's a really a matter of, like, if, if Sauers wasn't on his team, I, or a traditional quarterback, I, I think you'd probably see a little bit more balance there.
But, but he by nature I think is a natural goal scorer, if you look back to his days at Cornell.
But again, even at Cornell, he had, you know, quarterbacks there, like, like a Goldstein, for example.
So, you know, I, I think in terms of your evolution, I would specifically look at the two-pointer, 'cause I think he has that type of range.
The one that we highlighted.
Like, if he catches that maybe two yards deeper, he can step into one.
So he has the velocity.
He has the deception.
He has the accuracy.
I, I think he can unlock that part of his game.
But, like, we're, like, nitpicking, nitpicking here.
Yeah.
You know?
And to- And why, why does he need to?
Like, he's already on pace to destroy the, the, the, the the league record, you know?
Like- No, I, I don't think he needs it more, more, Doc.
It- And he can like, w- when they, when they happen organically.
That, that's all.
I mean, when they, when that, that situation was an organic two-pointer.
Like, he didn't have to hunt that two.
It came to him.
So that, that'd be my only, that's my only, like, nitpicky, nitpicky thing.
He can pass.
He can shoot the two.
I mean, what else do you want him to do?
He's just putting up casual, you know, 20 goals, four games.
And he hasn't needed to do really any of those things yet.
And- And, and he's a great teammate.
And he's a great teammate, by the way.
Great teammate.
He's got five turnovers.
Five turnovers in four games.
Right?
So he touches the ball something like 158 times, right?
Yeah.
And he's got five turnovers, so he's not turning the ball over.
20 goals, five tur- that's a four-to-one- Yeah goal to turnover ratio, right?
Which is off the charts, right?
For as amount of times as he's touching the ball.
His shooting percentage is 57%.
All right?
57%.
The next guy in the league I think is, is at, in, in the 30s.
All right?
And then the final stat is, is he's got 27, all right, of his 35 shots on goal.
So when you you throw that all in together, like I don't know, man.
Like, he, he is running away with this.
But again, everything that I have said has completely been mushing, all right, on in the next week, so he'll probably not score a goal- Well, he's got- the next week he's got the Archers.
He's got the- Yeah Archers coming.
He's got Tony Resch's defense coming, and he's got Brennan Lavelle, and they have a history going back to Cornell-Penn, and Lavelle defended him very well.
So yeah, Doc, you might be in, you might be in trouble a week from now.
Or, or you might've just fired him up there, because you just said that- you know, Lavelle basically owns him in college.
So that's, that's all he needs right now.
When you're at such- That's right a high level, all you're looking for is extra motivation, right?
'Cause you're just dominating the league.
You're walking by people, doing everything you know.
"Oh, Boyle thinks Lavelle's gonna guard me?
All right, watch this."
Yeah.
All right?
C.J.
Kearse, huge, huge fan of the Freeze It Right Here pod.
You know he's watching this, looking for bulleting- He is board material.
He's definitely watching this.
They all are.
C.J., he is a huge LaxRat, and I know he does consume a lot of YouTube content, so I would not be surprised if he's watching.
We actually had him on Mitchell Pelkey's show, this week, and I told him that we were gonna be breaking him down, so he better be watching.
But he's running away with this MVP race.
I'm curious if you guys, let's turn the page and talk a little quickly, rapid-fire, about some awards, starting with MVP.
If there's anybody who could catch Kearse in this MVP race, who is it?
I got two guys.
You know, again, I don't, I don't know.
I think this is, you, you know, this is gonna be a long shot.
But, I think if Dobson can get, can get hot- Ooh right?
And, and the Archers kinda going there.
He's already at 60% right now in a, in a great goalie year.
All right?
He seems to be leading that goalie charge right now.
You finish over 60% and get in the playoffs, and when you might have a chance.
And I think Mackesy, right, with 20, leading the league in points, 25.
If the Cannons can kinda make a run and keep producing a lot of offensive numbers, you know, those are the only two guys I think of.
But, I think it's gonna be tough.
I'm not ruling out Brendan O'Neill.
Boyle, give me your three contenders for Rookie of the Year.
I, I think this is a three-horse race between Steins, Spallina, and Palumbo.
I think that those three guys have, have kind of emerged, at least offensively in, in terms of kind of the top guys.
So I, I would kind of put it there.
I'd, I'd probably give Spallina a little bit of the lean there, Doc, just almost, like, from a sentimental standpoint.
You know?
Like, guys are, are, are probably more familiar with him than, than kind of Steins, and then I wouldn't rule out Palumbo, kind of the summer of Chad, uh- in terms of just, like, the role that he's on, so I'm not betting against that kid.
But those- No, you don't get to get the kid named Chad for Princeton.
Hel- hell no.
I, I like Spallina in that race just because I think the Whipsnakes are gonna make a run, and I think that, that he's gonna be a big part of that.
Doc, you mentioned Dobson could get in the MVP race.
I'm assuming he's leading the Goalie of the Year race.
Give me two more guys to round out your top three.
I got Dylan Ward's having a great year, and, you know, De Luca, Blaze, McNaney are all hovering right around there.
I'm not gonna give you two.
I'm gonna give you, it's Dobson and Dylan Ward for me right now.
No Emmett Carroll, huh?
No Emmett Carroll in there?
He, he, he, he's like the forgotten guy, you know?
Like, I- That's why I bring him up I forget about Emmett Carroll out there, to be honest with you.
Yeah, so no, no.
If I'm not remembering him, I'm, I'm not gonna put him.
Okay.
I'm not saying he can't win it.
I don't- But I'm just saying he's got a lot of work to do, just because no one- His, his, the, the Emmett Carroll PR team, you know, needs, needs some juice.
Yeah.
Like everybody- Yeah else's, all the other goalies have just way better PR teams than Emmett Carroll.
I, I think I may be partially to blame for that, but hey, as much, as many times as CJ Kearse blew my mind this past weekend on the WLL side, Erin Coykendall of the New York Charging had the most jaw-dropping moment of the weekend when she hit the spinning BTB out of seemingly nowhere.
This play came in at number one on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays, has over 15 million views on the WLL Instagram account.
Guys, I don't think we've seen a clip like this since Connor Fields went between the legs in 2024.
What was your initial reaction when you saw this play, and let's take a trip down memory lane.
What are some other moments you can recall from your playing careers where you were left wondering, "What did I just witness?"
So I, I, I think when I watched it, you know, first of all, it was the, the wow factor and just kind of like the, kind of jaw-dropping.
The fact that it was on, like, her wrong side, so normally you see behind the backs on the op- opposite side to kind of increase your shooting angle, so the fact that she did it on the opposite side was, one, like, whoa.
Two was the fact that, like, from a placement standpoint, it was, like, off-side hit.
Like, you couldn't have pictured, you couldn't have selected a better spot in terms of just from an overall accuracy standpoint.
A- and then kind of the spinning, rolling back factor, I mean, credit, credit to her.
That was just a ridiculous shot.
It made me think, and I think, Doc, I'm, I pretty sure you know this one.
A- and I might misquote the year, so I might need a little help.
1996, Casey Powell- Oh Syracuse-Princeton- Oh semifinal.
I was on the sidelines for that one, dude.
I was h- that was 1997.
Was it seven?
Yeah.
Behind the b- time in room- 1997 against Maryland.
I was the graduate assistant on the sideline, coming down the alley in College Park, yes.
Time in, no, it was the time in room one.
Yeah, three.
The time in room behind the back, and the whole crowd, regardless of who you were cheering for, just kind of stopped, like, a- and was like, "I didn't know that you could do, I didn't know you could do that."
It was like the alley-oop, you know, to Andre 3000 in Semi-Pro.
It was like, you can, you can shoot time in room behind the back?
Like, like, oh, I didn't, I didn't know that was possible.
Like, I, I had never seen it.
I'd never seen anyone do it, and then the, the, the fact that he did it, it was like the fourth quarter of, like, a two-goal game.
Yeah, it was a one-goal game.
It was- It was unbelievable.
That game was like 19 to 17.
He has got completely gone off, and you're right, that is spot on what that reminded me of.
I don't think, I think that's a perfect, analogy there, and in both cases, right, what totally blew my mind was the velocity- Yes of the shot.
Yes.
Okay?
So to, to be able to shoot, right, a time in room, Casey Powell's both off-side, hit perfect placement, but those balls were moving.
Like, that girl's lacrosse, like, that's one of the fastest girl's lacrosse shots I've seen, and it was behind the back and, you know, perfectly placed.
Same thing with Casey Powell.
He just kind of stepped in, stepped in and just went whoo-whoo, right?
And just shot one, like, 79 miles an hour, right, right to the low corner.
So for both of those things, it was just the pure velocity that they got on those shots for me.
Yeah, and like Casey Powell, Erin Coykendall did it in clutch time.
That was a back- Mm-hmm and forth game.
She scored it to make 14 to 14 late in the game.
Actually, Bridget Duffy and the Charm end up winning the game on a replay review, of all things.
A little, maybe anti-climactic, but, Erin Coykendall, winner of the weekend individually.
CJ Kearse as well, he may be running away with the MVP race, but the playoff race couldn't be tighter heading into PLL week in Fairfield.
It's also Indigenous Heritage Weekend, so all eight teams will be wearing special uniforms to celebrate the origin of the game.
Before I plug those games, you know I like to shout out a YouTube commenter.
On our last episode, Olsen1974 watched our breakdown of Denver's team defense against the Whipsnakes and wrote, "This is great teaching tape.
Going to share this with my rising high school players.
Nice work, boys."
Thank you for watching and commenting, Olsen.
That's exactly what we're going for, right?
If you're a coach, youth, high school, college, let us know what you want to see Boyle and Doc break down next.
Here's what we'll be watching this weekend.
We've got a pair of ABC games, one on Saturday at 2:00 Eastern between Denver and Carolina, and another on Sunday at 3:00 between New York and Boston.
A lot of backs up against the wall in those match-ups.
We also have the Redwoods, Whipsnakes to open the weekend, an Archers-Waterdogs rematch on Saturday Night Lacrosse, and don't forget, Maryland Charm versus Boston Guard in the WLL.
Big stakes in that game, as the Charm can clinch a spot in the WLL championship with a win, and the Guard would be eliminated.
Tune into those games and keep us in mind.
Let us know which moments or performances you want us to break down.
For the Hall of Famers, Ryan Boyle and Brian Dougherty, our producers, Jake Gould and Nate Gal- Nate Allen, and the rest of the PLL production team that makes this show happen, I'm Kevin Boylert from the Lacrosse Network saying thank you for tuning in to Freeze It Right Here.
Freeze it right here.
Freeze it right here.
Freeze it right here.
