Gold Rush - It's a Boston Sweep!

[00:00:12] What is up guys, welcome to the final episode of Gold Rush. It is just me once again. Jackson wanted to be here. I promise he isn't ducking out on the show or anything after the archers performance today in the championship. He was trying to get back and we were going to record when he got back to South Carolina at home and he ended up sitting on the tarmac in DC for about four hours.

[00:00:41] And when he got home, he was like, I, he just didn't have it in him. So it is just me recording the final episode of Gold Rush by myself. But Jackson is here in spirit for sure. So I hate that we're going to miss out on his commentary. I would like to know what it was like, you know, being there, but we are just going to truck on without him and hope that he gets some rest and recovers well.

[00:01:11] Over the next couple of days from what was undoubtedly a whirlwind weekend for him. With that being said, let's jump right into the action with the WLL championship. Before we get started, I have to say what an incredible atmosphere at the St. James today.

[00:01:28] I don't know that you could have asked for anything better. The place was packed. People were into it. A lot of times I feel like people go to games, just sporting events in general, and are only kind of half paying attention a lot of time.

[00:01:44] But this crowd was not that they were into it. They were up for it. They were screaming and yelling. There were tons and tons of kids. It was a really cool thing to see. And I'm sure it's an incredible thing to experience.

[00:02:00] So once again, just an incredible atmosphere that even came through on TV and clearly looked to be absolutely one of the coolest things to be at. And I'm a little jealous of Jackson and everyone else who got to take part in it. But as for the game itself, Boston came in. They looked exactly like what we talked about expecting them to look at.

[00:02:30] Look like they looked rested and focused and they jumped on charging really early and just never looked back. It was 5-1 by the middle of the first quarter. And while charging never quite fully went away, it never really got out of hand. They kept hanging around. They also never really felt like a serious threat.

[00:02:54] I think only once after kind of the start of the game, I think only once were they even within a goal. They just weren't a serious threat in this game specifically. Charlotte North was kind of kind of the headline of of the game.

[00:03:15] She had five points on four goals and an assist, including an 89 mile an hour rip that you've probably by now seen all over social media. But holy cow, it was moving. And I genuinely think there are there are several players who could probably lay claim to this.

[00:03:39] But Charlotte North is is in the conversation for one of the best just pure shooters in the game of of any kind. Men's, women's box field sixes doesn't matter. She is in the conversation, if not at the top of the list of just pure shooters in the game right now. Rachel Hall and in goal for the guard was incredible.

[00:04:08] 17 saves made some some big saves, especially early. I think a lot of I think a lot of what happened with with this game was was Boston came out and jumped on charging and it just kind of deflated them. And they just, you know, having played, I believe I believe it was four games in four days. It just wasn't they just didn't have that energy reserve to tap into and and ended up kind of kind of crashing.

[00:04:36] So she was really, really important in in this game. Again, the 17 saves was incredible. A lot of those were like I said, especially early. A lot of those were were stealing points off the board. So an incredible game from her. And then Cassidy Weeks sort of sort of under the radar had seven points. She had five goals and two assists.

[00:05:01] She had again on kind of under the radar of this insane game that we I don't think we talked about enough is probably part of the reason why it went under the radar. She was doing everything scoring big goals at the right time. But but just kind of part I guess it's part of the nature of six is that, you know, you score a goal and you run back to the other end.

[00:05:29] And there's not a whole lot of time to process it. Some there's usually not enough time to process it. Sometimes you score a big goal and then there's a timeout. And, you know, the announcers get to talk about it. They get to show replays and stuff. Cassidy Weeks seemed to be doing the the the goal scoring in in the back and forth moments. And it and it just wasn't as noticeable, I guess. Or or maybe I just didn't notice it. You guys tell me if if you guys saw it and were like really impressed.

[00:05:59] I just I missed it when I looked up the stats. I was like, oh, what? It's seven points. That's crazy. I remember her scoring a few goals, but I just didn't think it was that big of a deal. Conversely, Andy Aldave finished on four points out of four goals. And I thought she was immense. If you had told me those two stat lines were reversed, I'd have believed it because, again, it's kind of about timing and when you're scoring goals and where you're scoring goals.

[00:06:26] And I just like with with Cassidy Weeks, I was surprised when I looked up the stats and saw that Andy Aldave had only had four goals because I thought she was everywhere. And I compared her on Twitter to Xander Dixon. She's she's always in that crease area. She's so good at just finding the the right lane to get a pass. And then she can score so many different ways.

[00:06:54] If her back's to goal, you know, she can she can shovel shot or underhand or something. She can score, you know, kind of laser shots. She can she can do off speed kind of things like she can she can do everything. She reminded me a lot of Xander Dixon and just his ability to score goals from all over the place,

[00:07:15] as well as his ability to just kind of slip away from his man and find a short little window to get the ball fed to him. And Andy Aldave was right there for the charging. Izzy Skane led the the scores for the charging. She had seven points on six goals and an assist.

[00:07:37] But apart from her, not not a ton to talk about with the charging in terms of individual performances. Emily Harris Chuck was kept pretty silent. I think it was a big point of emphasis for the guard was to try and put Emily Harris Chuck off of her game. She finished the game with just two points on on two goals. She scored one somewhere in the middle of the the second period, second quarter, I think it was.

[00:08:07] And then one right at the end of the third. And and that was it from her. She wasn't doing a lot. And then Madison Doucette ended the game with only eight saves on 27 percent. I feel that that stat line isn't super reflective of the game that she had. And the eight saves that she made, I think, were very, very good. It's just the guard were shooting the lights out. There wasn't much she could do.

[00:08:34] You know, yeah, maybe you hope that she she steals a few of them. But so many of those shots were just they were either in close one on one with her or they were just absolute rockets. And there just wasn't too much that you can really hold her accountable for in this game.

[00:08:54] It just kind of felt like one of those games we've talked about a few times where just nothing went right for Atlas. And we talked all the time about making your own luck. And the guard absolutely did that. They controlled the game. They pushed what they wanted to do and kept the charging from doing what what they wanted to do.

[00:09:19] But the flip side of that with as with everything is that, you know, the charging just couldn't get anything going again other than Izzy Skane. And there just wasn't a whole lot working for the charging. So the charging, I don't think I've even discussed the score or anything. The charging took home the victory 22 to 17.

[00:09:46] Despite the relatively quiet game, Emily Harris Chuck did grab the golden stick award in the end. I think I think that was pretty much sealed when she dropped seven in the semifinal. I think that put it out of reach for for just about anyone, again, especially with with Charlotte and worth missing a game, not having that extra game that Emily Harris Chuck had. It pretty much sealed the deal. So we knew that even even with a slightly underwhelming performance from Emily Harris Chuck.

[00:10:16] Absolutely deserving. She was incredible all tournament. You can't take that away from her. I know it's little solace. She would probably trade that golden stick award for the championship. But she was very gracious in her speech when they gave her the trophy and, you know, congratulated the guard and talked about how how good they were and how tough they had been.

[00:10:39] And just an incredible performance from her deserving of the golden stick award. But in the end, the guard did take home the inaugural WLL championship series championship.

[00:10:56] And I hesitate to say this because I don't want to give the many, many, many lacrosse social media conspiracy theorists ammo. Because I'm not someone who believes generally that sports are rigged or, you know, Paul is some puppet master pulling the strings of the league.

[00:11:23] So I don't want to say this and sound like that. Like I'm I'm not I'm not suggesting any influence or, you know, pulling of strings or whatever to make this happen. But as the WLL, I having the biggest star in your sport when your inaugural championship has to be an absolute dream for the league.

[00:11:49] Charlotte North was is the biggest star definitely in women's game. She is arguably the biggest star in lacrosse period. I think there was evidence of that this weekend. If you were paying attention to social media channels, I'm sure you saw the huge lines of of kids waiting for autographs from Charlotte North.

[00:12:17] There were some just beautiful, beautiful photos of Charlotte North with like Beatlemania level hysteria of just like swarms of crowds gathering around her. She's truly a star in the way I think we we hammer the the Caitlin Clark comparison a bit too much at times. But in a lot of ways, it does make sense.

[00:12:46] And the eyeballs that she brought to the WLL this week, it is just like it just can't be oversold or overstated in any way. She was incredible. And the impact that she's having on this league and women's lacrosse in general, again, just just can't be overstated it.

[00:13:11] And part of me hates to say that because there are so many incredible players in this league. But I do think that a rising tide lifts all boats. And there are now many people who, like me, haven't really invested time and energy into the women's lacrosse before.

[00:13:36] Who now know who Taylor Moreno is and Emily Harris Chuck and Sidney Black and, you know, just player after player. Rachel Hall, you know, we talked about him. Rachel Hall, Izzy Skane, Andy Aldama, all of these players. And and not only do we now know them, we are actively looking forward to when we will be able to see them take the field again.

[00:14:01] And this this isn't even exclusive to the WLL. Many of the women involved in this championship series played with the U.S. Women's box lacrosse team at the World Championships last year. And we're going to want to see that now, too. We're going to want to see this team take the field in the World Lacrosse Championships. I believe the next women's one is in 2026.

[00:14:30] I think I'm right on that. We're going to want to see that now. Like, again, the the idea of a rising tide lifting all boats, you know, as much as I sometimes hate to single out Charlotte North because of of the eyes that she's bringing,

[00:14:48] because there are so many other talented players who are deserving the fact of the matter is that we now get to see those players because of the eyes that Charlotte North brings. And and I think that is just such a huge thing.

[00:15:09] And all of this is to say that this was an incredible tournament and probably for a multitude of reasons that we can try to discuss in another episode, probably of the run out.

[00:15:27] But women's lacrosse felt like it had arrived in a way that it hadn't with previous professional leagues, the UWL X, the WPLL Athletes Unlimited. They just didn't grab us the way that the WLL did this week.

[00:15:48] So I think it's unquestionable the the way that this tournament was handled and its effect and the effect that it will have on women's lacrosse in the future is going to be immeasurable.

[00:16:06] And I'm so, so impressed by the women involved in this league, the way that they carry themselves, the what the the many, many stories of struggle and perseverance and and or adaptation, the way they talk about the game, the way they talk about their coaches, their teammates, even the way they talk about their opponents are all incredible.

[00:16:32] And I found myself, you know, moved, inspired and otherwise affected by something from one of these women's at least daily throughout this tournament from Kylie Ollmiller talking about the game being available to anyone, even if it like in her case, it's a different version of yourself after her knee injuries.

[00:17:00] And having to kind of having to kind of reinvent her game and her play that she was still able to be out there to Kaylee Waters making arguably the the statement of the tournament, saying that she would rather have the opportunity to lose than to not play at all.

[00:17:19] That just, you know, seeing, you know, seeing, seeing, seeing these ladies out there spending hours making sure that every single fan that was there who wanted an autograph, who wanted a picture, who just wanted to spend a moment and have an exchange with their heroes.

[00:17:46] Through all of that, these women showed us all what sports is at its best and really what what sports should be just across the board. I cannot say enough about the women involved in this league from players to coaches to executives, training staff. All of it was so, so impressive.

[00:18:12] And I really, really kind of fell in love with this league. Looking forward as anyone who's listened to me on the run out before, you will have heard me say repeatedly, I want to see more of this league and these teams and these players. And I hope that we don't have to wait until next year's championship series to see them again.

[00:18:39] Like I have said, I am fully expecting there to be something at the all star game, some version of game. Maybe, maybe it's an all star game. Maybe it's a little kind of mini tournament with the four teams again. I don't know. So I'm also kind of thinking that, or at least I'm hopeful that the WLL teams will be involved in at least their kind of home cities.

[00:19:07] You know, when the PLL comes to Boston at the end of the summer in August, that the Boston Guard will be there. They will have a presence there. Same thing in, obviously in New York and Maryland and in California that, that they will be involved. But I, I'm pretty sure that the WLL was banking on a, you existing this summer. So they were, they were kind of going to do this championship series.

[00:19:35] And then still, like I said, still maybe have something at the all star game, have the teams involved in their home markets, but they weren't planning on having a season this summer. So I don't know how feasible it is to get a season spun up on such short notice, especially a full season. Maybe something like this tournament that is smaller in scale than a full season could happen.

[00:20:00] Even if, even if they kind of spread it out and, you know, they did, you know, every two weeks they had a WLL game or something so that, so that it kind of took all summer, but it still was technically a smaller scale. Or maybe there's one WLL game every other weekend that, that ultimately ends up with them kind of paring down into a tournament or something. I don't know what the way to go is.

[00:20:27] The one thing I will say in opposition to that is that I don't want them to sacrifice the long-term health of this league for the sake of putting something on the field right now. I would rather wait until the championship series next year than have them overextend themselves to make up for the absence of AU and have the WLL fold after two seasons.

[00:20:53] The other thing that I am a little bit unsure of with this whole thing is a lot of what I have seen in, in terms of, you know, Paul, the PLL, even, you know, WLL sources. Is leading me to believe that the WLL is going to be a sixes league, at least in the immediate future.

[00:21:20] I'm still not entirely sure that after the 2028 Olympics, sixes will be too much of a thing. Um, if sixes doesn't go off like gangbusters at the Olympics and the Olympics decides to drop it for 2032, then there's not really a reason for us to play sixes.

[00:21:43] And so if that happens, obviously all bets are off, but at least in the immediate future, a lot of what they have been saying seems to intimate that. Sixes is, is what the future of the WLL is.

[00:22:00] And so with that kind of in mind, you know, maybe it's a little bit easier to get something put together or, or maybe it's a little bit harder because now if you're going to have something at a PLL event, you have to paint a second set of field lines. You know, you, you, you gotta have movable nets. Like maybe, maybe that makes it harder.

[00:22:26] Oh, that's all I'm really trying to get at is, is just because you'd be playing two different games. Maybe that makes it harder. Um, another option would be potentially, I guess that they could, they could have a second venue in the same city, I guess is possible. Um, but again, you know, you're dividing resources and stuff. So, so again, how much easier that makes it? I don't know.

[00:22:49] And again, I would rather as, as much as I don't want to wait until the next championship series, I would rather do that than overextend ourselves. Financially, you know, viewership wise, all that, all that kind of stuff and end up costing ourselves in the long run and having the WLL fold. So again, we don't, we don't really know what exactly is going to happen.

[00:23:17] Uh, Paul in his little halftime segment with a niche and Ryan Boyle of the PLL game, uh, said a few, a few things, not super cryptic or revealing or anything, but said a few things that led me to believe that there might be some announcements coming soon about what, what's in store for both the PLL and WLL.

[00:23:45] So hopefully we get some kind of clarification in, you know, the next few weeks or month or so. But until then, I guess we will all be kind of waiting for anything that we can get moving on to the PLL game. The Boston cannons shocked everyone and ran away with the championship 21 to 14 over the Utah archers. I don't even know that the game was 21 to 14.

[00:24:14] That was so deflating of a game. The archers looked like the team that were playing their third game and three days, whereas the cannons looked fresh and sharp and focused. And to borrow a term from soccer, they were on the front foot the entire time. Colin curse picked up exactly where he left off in overtime of the semifinal game against Atlas. And was an absolute wall at the back of the cannon sea fins.

[00:24:44] Finishing the game with 15 saves on 56%. As we've talked about, the PLL average for the championship series is about 40%. So 56% in a game and in a championship game at that is just insane. I saw somebody tweet out that the brighter the lights, the better Cole Colin cursed, excuse me, is. And he certainly proved that he started with kind of rough.

[00:25:13] His first two games, he was between 30 and 35% in net, not looking great. And then he picked it up in the next two games. And then obviously in overtime against Atlas, he was a brick wall. And even more so today in the championship game. Matt Campbell was another just absolute star. He was running the show on offense, scoring eight points on seven goals and one assist.

[00:25:43] Marcus Holman also stepped back into the lineup and scored five goals, giving the cannons a huge boost after missing semifinals with a lower body injury. With that in mind, though, it has to be said that the archers did themselves absolutely no favors. Everything they had done so well in the round robin portion of the tournament, they completely abandoned about three minutes into this game.

[00:26:11] The defense was porous. The shot selection was horrible and it got worse the more and more the game got out of hand and they went searching for two bombs. And then their top performers went missing at the worst time that they could have. You know, Mack O'Keefe, I believe. Let's check real quick. Mack O'Keefe and Matt Moore combined for one goal and one assist.

[00:26:43] Bo Pedersen was the leading point scorer with four on two goals and one two-point goal. And as good as Bo Pedersen has been in this tournament, and he's certainly capable of putting up some numbers, he is not the guy that is going to carry your team offensively. He should be more of kind of a secondary option.

[00:27:05] So when he is your leading scorer and you are getting nothing out of Mack O'Keefe and Matt Moore and some of these bigger name offensive players for you, it's going to be a long, long day. Anyway, the Canons came into the game with a clear game plan to press out on the archers offense, picking up matchups well outside of the two-point arc.

[00:27:30] Sometimes even going so far as to pick up a ball carrier on the other side of the field, something I don't know that we've really seen too much of in sixes in the last three years. They also seem to take a page from the Asher Nolting rules. For anyone who is a basketball aficionado, you'll know that the Detroit Pistons in the late 80s and early 90s had the Michael Jordan rules.

[00:27:57] And it was essentially that every time he had the ball, they were going to be fast and physical and just try and maybe try and hurt them is a little bit too harsh of a word. It probably depends on who you ask, but they were going to try to make him think twice about driving to the rim. And I think that's kind of been some of the Asher Nolting rules in the championship series. Maybe not quite so much being physical.

[00:28:26] He is a big body. But the idea of, we've all talked about it for two years now, the idea of make Asher a shooter and not a facilitator. Make him beat you individually and not get anyone else involved. Somewhat similarly, but a little bit different. The Canons seem to want to say that we're going to take Mac O'Keefe out of the game and dare everyone else to beat us.

[00:28:55] So a similar kind of thought process, but slightly different. And it absolutely worked. The archers had no answer for that. They could not make any adjustments and instead just seemed to hunt twos. If I was to put on an analytical hat and try to break down why perhaps that could have been.

[00:29:26] Where a team that was so good and efficient on offense in the round robin play was able to draw, you know, slides and move the ball and find often even guys on the inside.

[00:29:42] I think perhaps a lot of that had to do with the Canons taking away your dodging options and and especially your initiators like Mac O'Keefe and Matt Moore, as we talked about. And the guys that were left were kind of the guys that were finishing and they didn't really know how to initiate. I haven't broke down film or anything.

[00:30:10] I haven't even rewatched the game at this point. But off the top of my head, that's just kind of what I'm thinking. Bo Pettersson, Connor Marr and Piper Bond and the names like that. A lot of those guys were used to someone else kind of initiating and then beating them the ball on the backside.

[00:30:35] And even if they had to, you know, make one move and go or whatever, that was a lot easier to kind of re-dodge essentially. It's probably not the right term for that, but essentially to have to make one guy move than to be the primary initiator of a settled offense. So whatever, whatever the case was, the Archers had just absolutely no answer for the Canons.

[00:31:02] And so this is the third straight season that the number one seed in the championship series has lost in the final. If you remember in 2023, Atlas basically did what the Archers did. They ran through everybody in the round robin play. Back then you didn't get a buy. So semifinal absolutely blew through, looked a surefire path to becoming the champion.

[00:31:29] And then the Chrome popped up in the final, popped him in the mouth and ran out with the trophy last year. Somewhat similarly, perhaps not quite to the heights of either 2023 Atlas or 2025 Archers. Waterdogs were the number one seed. They were two and one. So again, not quite to the level of the other two teams, but still the number one seed overall made it to the championship.

[00:31:58] And Canons popped up and again, popped him in the mouth and ran out with the trophy. So kind of a weird thing. We've talked about how the golden stick winner has previously always come from the losing team. Another one of those annual traditions. Annual traditions. Now it seems is that the number one seed from the round robin play will end up losing in the championship.

[00:32:23] Speaking of the golden stick award, after his seven goals in the championship series, Matt Campbell was just able to hold off Asher Nolting and pick up the golden stick award, becoming the first player from the championship winning side to win the golden stick.

[00:32:45] Now in four tries, including the WLL, which Emily Harris Chuck on the losing side of the charging walked away with earlier in the day. Matt Campbell becomes the first from the championship winning side to also win the golden stick award. And thus Boston made it a sweep just like I knew they would check the tape. I'm serious. Check the tape.

[00:33:14] Honestly, I legitimately can't remember what I said about the PLL championship. I know in my notes, I wrote down archers, but I think I switched it when we actually recorded. I think I, I went with Canons either way. Some, someone can correct me if I'm wrong. I know I had at some point during kind of the, the week leading up to, uh, shooting that first episode and me having to actually say it.

[00:33:41] I know at one point I had each team and it was kind of going back and forth. I, I feel like I, I switched it, but one way or another, I don't know. And, and with the guard that we all know I, I blindly picked the guard and just kind of dumb lucked my way into that championship next year. I will think I am smarter than I am.

[00:34:07] And I will definitely be 100% incorrect, but it was a fun thing to do to kind of pick teams and see who ultimately won out. And I got lucky with the guard and whether I called the cannons or not, again, that one would, that one's just dumb luck too. I didn't have too strong of a feeling because I was really waffling back and forth between the two.

[00:34:33] So with that in mind, the championship series has come to a close and I just want to say if you don't like sixes, I get it. It's probably my least favorite version of the game. I, I don't even think I want lacrosse in the Olympics, which is in and of itself a whole different discussion, but the championship series continues to be just a fantastic event every year.

[00:35:03] The games are fast and fun and usually close and very competitive. And while not exactly the same, this version of the championship series does a fairly decent job of recapturing the magic of the original championship series during the pandemic in 2020 for one week. All of the eyes of the lacrosse world are on one thing.

[00:35:32] The, the major difference being that during the championship series, obviously the entire world was shut down and there was absolutely nothing else going on. Whereas now during the championship series, especially when it gets to the weekend, you still have NCAA and NLL lacrosse that, that does pull some focus away, but there is still

[00:35:58] a feeling of kind of going all in on something every single day for a week that just makes everything magical and fun. And I, I really, really do, regardless of what my feelings or your feelings or, or whatever about sixes are, the event is, is truly a great one. And I, I really do look forward to the championship series every year.

[00:36:28] It's kind of even the premise of this show that for a week, we all go in on something together and have this incredible shared experience. I mean, that's really honestly what sports just in general are about is, is this shared experience of, of following a team and, and living and dying on what takes place on the

[00:36:57] field and the lessons that you learn and the way it makes you feel and all that stuff. And, and I, I just really can't think of something more enjoyable right now in the middle of winter. There's right outside this window, there are about three feet of snow. Nobody's going anywhere. It's just kind of a perfect time for this kind of event.

[00:37:27] And, you know, I really can't say enough about it. I really do really enjoy it. And I hope that you guys do too. So with that thought, we have come to the end of gold rush. I worked really, really hard on this. I spent a lot, a lot of late nights working on it. And honestly, kind of burn myself out a bit.

[00:37:56] But I also had a blast. This has been a dream. This whole podcast, the run out and, and gold rush has been a dream. I would like to thank my co-hosts, Jackson VanVlake and Casey Small, without whom I, I really don't know that I would have made it through this entire week. I also want to thank you for listening.

[00:38:23] I hope that you guys have had as much fun as I did. If, if I do this again next year, it was a lot. But if I do it again next year, I want to make it more interactive and get you guys more involved with the show. I have thought about doing some live podcast streaming, whatever, and also maybe even doing them from the championship series. I would love to get down there.

[00:38:53] You know, I'm sure I won't have field access like the Mitchell Pelkey show or anything, but something where I can be present in the arena, the stadium, wherever they choose to do it next year and experience it firsthand and really see what it is all about and what it's like to actually be there on the ground, as well as hopefully, you know, have some, some guests that are often there.

[00:39:23] I would love to, to, to do that and just generally kind of get you guys more involved in the show as exhausting as this whole thing has been. I have learned a lot and I do have some ideas on how to improve if I do it again. But for now, once again, thank you for tuning in this week.

[00:39:49] We are back to regularly scheduled podcasts with the run out next week when I am joined by Greg beast Gerenlian. So definitely subscribe to the channel and follow the run out on social media so that you don't miss that episode. I am going to go take a nap now, but I will see you guys next week on the run out with Greg Gerenlian until then. I'll see you guys later.