Chip and Chirp: Week 4 at The Drew

Chip and Chirp: Week 4 at The Drew

Two lax dads. One golden goal. One fallen giant. One full-field diving save we will describe at weddings.

Folks, we have been doing this a long time, and we want to be very careful not to overstate things, so we will simply say that Wednesday night was the single greatest regular season night of youth lacrosse either of us has ever personally witnessed, and we once watched a game in Duxbury decided by a snowplow.

The Braveheart delivered everything. The undefeated Buffalos are undefeated no more. A goalie ran the full length of the field to make a diving save ON ANOTHER GOALIE. Three different kids scored their first career goals. A set of twins joined the league on OPPOSITE TEAMS, because apparently that is just what twins do at The Drew now. And through all of it, the biggest star in the league stood on the sideline on a broken ankle, cheering for his boys.

We have a lot to get to. Deep breaths. Here we go.

THE BRAVEHEART: Eagles Take It

It went exactly like you thought it would, which is to say: wild, breathless drama from the moment the whistle blew.

Bears. Eagles. One faceoff, next goal wins, the 5-5 tie from two weeks ago hanging in the evening air, and every family at The Drew ringed around the field like it was a heavyweight title fight, because it was.

And when it ended, it was Nathan Harrell, the Eagles' do-everything heartbeat, burying the golden goal.

The Eagles' sideline detonated. The Bears' sideline, and we want to be clear about this, has NOTHING to hang their heads about. You do not lose a Braveheart. You participate in one, and everybody who was there carries it forever. The Cardiac Bears added another impossibly close chapter to their season, and their day is coming. More on them below, because a Bear did something Wednesday night that deserves its own shrine.

(Chirp here. I called drama and drama arrived. I was at the fence at 6:10 as promised, both chairs deployed. The chair for my emotions did not survive. Back to you, Chip.)

Get Well Soon, Number One

Before we get to the games, the league got hard news this week: Noah Parker, MVP front-runner, league points leader, owner of a hat trick in every game he ever played at The Drew, broke his ankle in a football drill and is expected to miss ten-plus weeks.

And here is everything you need to know about that kid: he broke his ankle this week, and then he SHOWED UP WEDNESDAY NIGHT to stand on the sideline and cheer for his Eagles.

That is a leader. That is a teammate. Sixteen goals in five games is a superstar's stat line, but showing up hurt to support your squad, that is a superstar's character, and character is the part that lasts. The Eagles clearly felt it, because they played inspired all night with Number 99 watching.

Noah, from the entire Drew League family and from two old lax dads specifically: heal up, take your time, and know that the points record you built is sitting right there waiting for you to come defend it. The kiss-blowing lessons will resume upon your return. We cannot wait.

Turtles: THE GIANTS FALL, AND THE PLAY OF THE YEAR

Somebody finally did it. The Turtles took down the previously undefeated Buffalos, 9-7, and then beat the Wolves 7-3 in a game far more entertaining than the score suggests, and Coach DJ Mathews and Chevy Peake were cooking ALL NIGHT LONG.

Beckett Scoggins picked the biggest stage of the season to have another monster night: 6 goals and 3 assists, including multiple behind-the-back finishes of the saucy variety, and, because the stat sheet was not enough, he threw his body in front of a shot while a man down. The fast lefty now leads the entire league in points with 29, and the MVP conversation has a new front-runner. He is something special, and Wednesday everybody saw it.

But the play of the year, and the notes we received said "not even close" and we agree, belongs to William McVey.

Set the scene. Second half against the Wolves, McVey doing his Swiss Army knife routine, taking a turn in the pipes after contributing all over the field. At some point he ventures out of his cage, as adventurous goalies do. And Nixon Paylor, the Wolves' superstar keeper, sees the empty Turtles net from HIS OWN END and lets a full-field shot fly.

William McVey turned. Ran. The full length of the field. And made a DIVING SAVE on the doorstep of his own crease, robbing a fellow goalie of the most audacious goal this league would ever have seen.

Goalie-on-goalie crime, folks. A keeper sprinting ninety yards to deny another keeper. We have watched this sport for a combined 80 years and we have never seen anything like it, and we suspect we never will again. William McVey: field player, faceoff man, defender, second-half wall, and now the author of the Play of the Year. Big, big fans.

The rest of the shell squad delivered too. William Bauer buried a few more and remains one of the most underrated players in the league, quietly stacking goals every single week. Martin Fine put up 4 points on the night. Colt King stayed steady with a goal. Baker Klein, the brand-new TYLA twin arrival, announced himself with 3 goals and an assist in his debut, and the entire sideline spent the night asking the correct question: WHERE did this kid come from, and is he exactly what the Turtles needed? (Answer: apparently, and apparently.)

And a very important, very official shoutout, delivered with full formality: Ricky Gunther, 3 saves, 2 goals, and an assist on the night. Tremendous two-way performance from Ricky G, well played!

The Turtles are 4-2, they own the win everybody wanted, and their mad-scientist coaching staff just got deeper. Look out.

Snipes: The Team To Beat?

After Wednesday, that is not a question mark anymore so much as a dare. The Snipes went 2-0 on the night, survived a 14-13 all-timer against the Bears, gutted out an 8-7 win over the Eagles, and now sit at 4-2 with the most firepower in the league and a brand-new weapon.

Because yes, the Snipes ALSO got a Klein twin. Henry Klein, TYLA product, made an immediate statement with a few goals and relentless, night-long hustle that stood out to everyone at the field. His twin brother Baker debuted for the Turtles the same night. Two twins, two teams, one league, and a Klein Bowl now circled on every calendar at The Drew. This league's twin content is unmatched in organized sports.

Dean Terrell just keeps ascending. Seven more goals on the day for the rookie sensation, who has climbed to third in the league points race in his FIRST YEAR of organized lacrosse. Wylie Paylor turned in one of the great two-way lines you will ever see: 5 goals AND 9 saves in the same day, and his MVP case now includes the phrase "did both jobs." Gunnar Lyon has flat-out become one of the league's best goalies, the steady lefty leading this team every time it is his turn in the cage, and, in keeping with league tradition, he scored another goal himself.

Holden Roberts was a man on fire: 7 caused turnovers and 5 ground balls, a genuine All-Star campaign building by the week. And here is the story behind the story: Coach Marshall Welch has taken Holden under his wing all season, and this week he GIFTED HOLDEN HIS OLD WAND. His own long pole, passed down, veteran to apprentice. If that does not put a lump in your throat, we cannot help you, and Holden has been an X factor ever since the d-pole found his hands.

Beck Clemmons stayed steady with a goal. Graham Carson had his breakout party with FOUR goals on the night, remember that name. Malachi Thompson added another to his growing collection. And Coach Bryce Craig and his staff deserve a paragraph of their own: calm, composed, in control all season, and you can watch the kids absorb that energy in real time. It is paying off in one-goal wins, which are exactly the games calm teams win.

One more thing, and Chirp has already underlined it three times: Sylvester Boafo has been quiet, with no goals yet on the season. The Snipes are 4-2 and rolling WITHOUT their superstar's breakout. When those floodgates open, and they will, this team goes to another level entirely.

Golden Eagles: A Golden Goal, A Classic, and a Cornerstone Arrives

What a night for the Eagles: a Braveheart victory on Nathan Harrell's golden goal, then maybe the game of the year, a 12-11 win over the White Wolves that had both sidelines hoarse, before a gutsy comeback attempt fell one goal short against the Snipes, 8-7, after digging out of a 6-1 hole.

Playing with Noah Parker watching from the sideline, this team clearly decided to give Number One a show.

Landon Long, The Ice Man, was simply too much for the Wolves. Save after save after save, the kind of performance where the other sideline starts groaning before the shot is even released. He now sits second in the league with 37 saves on the season and has personally kept the Eagles in every game they have played. Nathan Harrell followed his Braveheart heroics with 3 goals and an assist and was the leader on the field all night, the beating heart of this team.

And then, the arrival. ELI HUNT IS HERE. The cornerstone product finally made his season debut and immediately dropped 4 goals with nonstop effort. We have been telling you for weeks that the Eagles were contenders without him. The full-strength version of this team is now everyone else's problem.

Nicholas Santomieri has been turning it on for weeks and it fully clicked Wednesday: FOUR goals in the huge win over the Wolves, and a genuine All-Star push is now underway. Sawyer Munsey did the most Sawyer Munsey thing imaginable: took a tough hit, got right up, and scored a goal, because he is tough as a two-dollar steak and a better teammate than he is tough, which is saying something. And Briggs Clemmons was steady as ever, another goal, another assist, solid defense, and a kid whose answer to every single thing a coach asks is "yes sir." Coaches would take twenty of him.

Eagles sit at 3-2, cornerstone installed, Ice Man in form. The East race just got interesting.

Buffalos: The Streak Ends, The Grit Shows

On Wednesday the Buffalos split the week 1-1, and even in the loss there was plenty to be proud of. The record now sits at a rock-solid 5-1 heading into the back half of the season, still the best in the league.

Davis Hays kept doing Davis Hays things, leading the attack with a goal-heavy performance and adding ground balls and a faceoff win to go with it, the kind of complete stat line that makes him the engine of this team every single week. He is now second in the league in points with 22. Ethan Hays matched his brother's energy on the defensive end, racking up ground balls and caused turnovers all over the field, while Trent Bezeredi continued his knack for finding the back of the net.

Evan Marsh and Isaac Carter were everywhere, Evan chipping in with an assist, ground balls, and caused turnovers to pad his league-leading takeaway total, and Isaac doing the dirty work with ground balls and a big day in net. Easton Cope and Oliver Chessell both made their presence felt too, and the Toppings brothers, Rieker and Karsten, continue to be steady, reliable pieces of this rotation.

But the story of the week belongs to Leighvi Hill. Down by more than five goals at the half against a Turtles team finding its rhythm early, Leighvi took over in net and turned the second half into a completely different game. Save after save, she kept chipping away at that deficit and nearly dragged the Buffalos all the way back. It came up just short, but it was the kind of gutsy, never-quit performance that changes how a team believes in itself down the stretch.

Five wins, one tough loss, and a locker room that just watched their goalie almost single-handedly steal a game out of nowhere. The Buffalos are not just winning. They are building the kind of grit that shows up in late August, and the rest of this league knows the rematch is coming.

White Wolves: 0-2 On Paper, Nowhere Close On Tape

Do not let the record fool you. The Wolves went 0-2 Wednesday, missing Ben Brewer, Connley Bowen, AND Wade Swanson, and STILL took the Eagles to the wire in a one-goal, 12-11 heartbreaker before falling to the Turtles in a game much closer than the 7-3 score suggests.

And before we go one word further, this column owes somebody something.

A formal correction from the Chip and Chirp desk: last week, in our Week 3 coverage, Wade Swanson scored FOUR GOALS in the Wolves' one-goal, first-win-in-franchise-history victory over the Bears, and we did not give him anywhere near the love that performance deserved. That is on us. Wade, who also happens to co-lead this league in ground balls, we apologize without reservation, we have docked Chirp one week of gloating privileges as penance, and when you are back on that field we intend to make it up to you in print. Consider this your IOU.

(Chirp here. The gloating dock is real and I accept it. Four goals in a franchise-history game. We are professionals and we missed it. Never again. Back to you, Chip.)

Now, Wednesday. Leo Gilfillan was a MAN POSSESSED: 7 goals and 10 ground balls on the night, including 5 against the Eagles alone, scoring from deep, in tight, from behind the goal, from everywhere. There are people around the league, serious people, starting to say he might be the best overall player at The Drew, and after Wednesday we understand the argument. He has officially entered the MVP race through the front door.

Nixon Paylor put on ANOTHER show: save after save, plus 2 goals and an assist, all of it from the cage, and he now leads the league with 41 saves while ranking among the top scorers ON HIS OWN TEAM. One of us said out loud, and stands by it, that he is the most entertaining player we have watched in thirty years. When he decides to cross midfield, there is simply no stopping him, and Wednesday he nearly authored the most outrageous goal in league history before a certain Turtle intervened. The Play of the Year required the Player of the Chaos, and Nixon was the chaos.

The newcomers flipped the switch. Jace Lucas, Landon Easter, and Hutson Harper are starting to genuinely understand the game, and here is the honest read from the sideline: the Wolves will go as far as their new guys can take them, and Wednesday those guys looked locked in. Harris Scott uncorked another rocket of a shot. And Jay Palmer-Bowyer, the captain, was tough as nails all night long on both ends. That is my captain, said every Wolves parent at once, and they are right.

But the story of the night, the one that had the whole sideline roaring: JOSH CLOER, everywhere on defense all game, playing like a natural-born defender, scored his FIRST OFFICIAL CAREER GOAL, and he buried it against the top team in the West. And he was not alone. LIAM BELL broke the ice with TWO goals of his own. Two true first-time goal scorers in one night, both of them absolutely levitating afterward, and honestly, so were we. The First Career Goal Club has never had a bigger induction night. Gentlemen, welcome. Dues are one celebration per goal, and you have both already overpaid.

Bears: The Legend of Lennon, and the Floodgates Open

The Cardiac Bears did Cardiac Bears things: a Braveheart golden-goal heartbreak, a 14-13 back-and-forth thriller against the Snipes that people will talk about all season, and a tough one against the Buffalos to close the night. Still winless on paper. Still nobody's easy out, and everybody in this league knows it, especially with Nolan Roach set to return.

But the story of the Bears' night, and honestly one of the stories of the SEASON, gets its own section down below in Chip's Corner, because what Lennon Winegarner did Wednesday deserves more than a paragraph.

Here is what else happened, and it was a lot. Connor Benjamin had his full coming-out party: SIX goals on the night from the speedy TYLA product, and the All-Star push is officially on. The Kemp brothers did damage all over the field, and the moment the whole sideline had been waiting for finally arrived: LOUIE KEMP SCORED HIS FIRST CAREER GOAL. And then, as if the ice breaking freed something, the floodgates opened and the youngster started rolling. Slone Kemp, meanwhile, was the setup artist of the night with FIVE assists, spraying passes all over the field. The best passing team in the league lived up to its reputation.

Cullan Bogacki kept stacking goals and assists, and here is the part that should scare the entire league: the kid is only going into THIRD GRADE. A special, special player, years ahead of schedule. Nolan Moberg chipped in a few goals of his own, because of course he did, the man does everything this team asks.

The record says 0-5. The tape says one-goal games, golden goals, and a roster full of brothers coming into their own. The first win is coming, and when it lands, this column publishes the commemorative edition. That remains a threat and a promise.

Chip's Corner

One moment. Every week. Straight from the heart.

Lennon Winegarner, stand up. Actually, no. Stay in the crease. You have earned the rest.

Here is what happened Wednesday night. The Bears showed up without Nolan Roach, their goalie. And their leading scorer, their All-Star-track attackman, the kid who has filled the net for this team all season long, looked at the situation, picked up the goalie stick, and played the ENTIRE NIGHT in the cage. Both games. A Braveheart, a 14-13 war, and a date with the best team in the league.

He never complained. Not once. He strapped up, he stood in against some of the hardest shooters at The Drew, and he gave his team the chance to play lacrosse on a Wednesday night.

Folks, we talk a lot in this column about goals and saves and stat lines, and we love all of it. But there is no statistic for what Lennon did. Giving up the thing you are best at, the thing that gets your name in the recap, so that your teammates can have a game at all? That is the single most team-first act we have covered in four weeks of this league, and it comes from a kid who could have spent the night padding his scoring totals instead.

Lennon, the fence club has taken a vote and the results were unanimous: you are a legend. The goals will always be there for you. Wednesday night you were something better than a scorer. You were the reason there was a game.

(Chirp here. Nothing to add. Some weeks the Corner writes itself and I just sit here and nod. Back to you, Chip.)

Chirp's Calls

The scorecard, the honors, and an entire department dedicated to twins.

First, the Bold Call Scorecard:

1. "The Braveheart is decided quickly and the roar is heard in the parking lot." The drama was total, the roar was seismic, and Nathan Harrell's golden goal will be discussed for years. HIT.
2. "The Clemmons Bowl produces a moment involving both twins." Beck scored for the Snipes. Briggs scored for the Eagles. Same game, one-goal thriller. The twins COMBINED to nearly decide it themselves. HIT.
3. "The MVP race stays within two points." Beckett Scoggins went supernova and blew the doors off the thing, and the race was further reshaped by injury news nobody wanted. A miss on the number, and the only miss I have ever been happy to take, because the race itself just got wilder. MISS.
4. "A goalie records a point tonight." Nixon Paylor: two goals and an assist. Gunnar Lyon: a goal. Wylie Paylor: five goals AND nine saves. Ricky Gunther: two goals and an assist. William McVey: everything. The goalies of this league have unionized against the concept of staying home, and I love them for it. HIT, times five.
5. "The Cardiac Bears play at least one more one-goal game." A GOLDEN GOAL LOSS and a 14-13 thriller. The most reliable prediction in sports. HIT.

The Players of the Week, as selected:

White Wolves: Josh Cloer and Leo Gilfillan. A first career goal and a 7-goal, 10-ground-ball rampage. Golden Eagles: Nicholas Santomieri and Sawyer Munsey. Four goals, and one get-up-and-score that summed up a whole kid. Buffalos: Leighvi Hill. A second-half wall that nearly stole back a lost game. Bears: Lennon Winegarner and Connor Benjamin. A legend in the cage and six goals on the wing. Snipes: Henry Klein and Graham Carson. A statement debut and a four-goal breakout. Turtles: William McVey and Baker Klein. The Play of the Year and a three-goal arrival.

The Twin Department, which is now a permanent department:

The Klein twins have entered the league, Henry to the Snipes and Baker to the Turtles, on the SAME NIGHT, on OPPOSITE TEAMS, and both immediately went off. The Klein Bowl joins the Clemmons Bowl on the calendar of civilization-pausing events. And the biggest one of all is finally here: NEXT WEEK, the Wolves play the Snipes, which means Nixon Paylor versus Wylie Paylor. The Paylor Bowl. Brother versus brother, the league's saves leader against the league's most terrifying two-way weapon. We have waited all season. Prepare the family group chat. Warn the grandparents.

The MVP Race, fully scrambled:

Beckett Scoggins leads the league with 29 points and just beat the unbeaten team while eating a shot man-down. Davis Hays sits at 22 and drives the league's best record. Dean Terrell, a first-year player, is at 20. Leo Gilfillan just kicked the door off its hinges. Wylie Paylor is doing two jobs at once. Nathan Harrell has a golden goal on his resume. And Noah Parker's 19 points and perfect hat-trick record wait for his return like a challenge flag planted at midfield. This race has more lead changes left in it. I can feel it.

And my one Bold Call for next week: the Paylor Bowl produces a moment between the brothers, a save, a goal, or a full-field staredown, that instantly enters Drew League lore, and at least one Paylor parent watches the whole game through their fingers.

(Chip here. See you Wednesday at Smith Turf Fields. Bring water, bring your loudest positive cheering, and hug your kid after the game no matter what the scoreboard says. That is the Drew way. Back to you, nobody. That is the end of the article.)

Chip and Chirp are two former New England lax rats who followed the sun south and never left. Their opinions are their own, their memories of their playing days are heavily exaggerated, and their love for the kids of The Drew League is one hundred percent verified. Get well soon, Noah. See you at the fields.