It was never going to be easy in Jake Baumer's first year as the head coach of the Aviators, who played in the South Division for the first time in franchise history.

But Los Angeles was able to match its win total from the 2024 season, taking down the Las Vegas Bighorns 18-15 with a game that epitomized the Aviators’ entire season to cap off the year at 3-9. With the other two wins going to overtime, Sunday’s affair was Los Angeles’ only regulation victory and largest of the year, much to the liking of Kevin Goldberg.

“We had our sights set on finishing this game in regulation, and we knew that we could take it to Vegas and they were going to give us a hard game,” Goldberg said. “They were working with everything they got to come out here and get a win, and so we weren't going to take anything [lightly]. I think finishing in regulation is a good step.”

Returning to form from the early part of the season, LA struggled out of the gate. Playing in only their second Sunday game of the year, the Aviators struggled with execution errors, including a drop in the end zone on the first point, which resulted in two Bighorn breaks right out of the gate.

The quick lead was the Bighorns’ first in five games since they had a 2-1 margin over the San Diego Growlers with 5:43 left in the first quarter, meaning Las Vegas trailed or was tied with its opponent for over 234 minutes of game time. Overall, it was only the third two-goal lead of the season for the Bighorns, the first two coming in a 14-13 loss to the Oregon Steel.

Akin to both teams’ seasons, the Aviators started to get their feel while the Bighorns began to falter.

“We all just looked at each other and said, ‘They're not going to give it to us. We have to go out and earn it," Owen Shaff said. “Obviously, everyone sees their record, and, maybe the first couple of plays, we’re just thinking about that and how it was maybe going to be an easy win. And they came out and showed it wasn't going to be an easy win. And so we just turned it on.”

Along with the O-line adjustments, LA needed to get a break back and it was the rookies who commanded a break to start the claw back. 

Third-year player Isaac Hsu earned the block for the Aviators, but he was the only non-rookie to touch the disc after the turn. With the help of Hsu, Max Combs, Everett Grass, Liam Bestian and Rudra Menon moved the disc up the field as Combs found Grass in the end zone for the break.

Teammates at UC Santa Barbara, Combs and Grass each closed out strong rookie seasons with the Aviators. Along with one goal and three assists, Combs earned yet another block to put his season tally at 16, which is tied for the ninth-most in the UFA. Grass had a strong three-goal, two-block game before exiting due to an upper-body injury resulting in a liver laceration after a collision at the end of the third quarter. He was released from the hospital yesterday and is expected to make a full recovery. The team is sending their love and good energy his way. 

“Everett Grass is the embodiment of that dog fight defense we talk about,” Goldberg said “There's not any one person on the team that's more deserving of the accolades and the awards that we bestow upon him. … To see him go down is just a big emotional toll on us, because he's such a key part of our defense. And we're pulling for him. It sounds like he's doing okay.” 

The Aviators played on, delivering one of their better defensive performances of the season. In a game with a lot of wind, LA notched 12 blocks as Grass, Hsu, Cy Toriello and Dox Raskin all had multiple blocks to eclipse double digits in that category for the third time this season. Las Vegas helped the Aviators mini comeback with its 26 turnovers, tied for the most committed by an LA opponent all season.

Despite a middling D-line conversion rate, the Aviators totaled seven breaks — their third-highest total of the season — due to a season-high 18 chances for the D-line.

The offense had similar struggles with converting with a percentage below 50% for the seventh time this season, but earned itself more chances and held at a 64.7% clip, its third-best percentage of the season.

LA missed the presence of Sean McDougall and James Franklin for the third straight game, but other players like Goldberg stepped up while Jonathan Lyle continued a dominant stretch, putting up five assists. Goldberg, who had never had more than three goals in a season in the previous three years of his career, recorded a career-high four goals to lead the Aviators.

“I like to think that the results were a function of our team and not just any one individual. And so it's really just the system and the trust,” Goldberg said.

The 2025 season was one of stepping up after Los Angeles lost three of its top-five scorers from 2024. Players like Goldberg and Louis Gosart found new roles on the offense, while rookies like Nicholas Dunbar and Tyler Emig stepped in toward the end of the year to try to fill the holes left by McDougall and Franklin.

“Our system has been in place all season. Guys have been around all season, so we feel like anybody can step into the offense and do what we need them to do,” Baumer said. “That’s shown the last few games where we've needed guys to step up.”

Even though the Aviators matched their win total from 2024, the three wins felt very different for this team. Moving from a veteran squad to a rookie-led team, LA went from a disappointing 2024 season to a hope-filled, growth-focused season in 2025.

Due to the improvements throughout the season for the Aviators, they only lost by more than two goals twice across their last eight games, finishing 3-5 during that stretch. Comparatively, LA fell by two or more five times across its final eight games in 2024.

“We’re hoping that we're bringing a lot of our core back,” Goldberg said. “I'm really optimistic that next year, when we get out on the field, we can drive some really successful results. I think this year we were really focused on process and next year, it might be time for us to focus more on the results.”

After two straight 3-9 finishes, although with very different feels, the Aviators do have some momentum heading into 2026 after the worst two-year stretch in franchise history. While roster fluctuation is inevitable, LA will look to 2026 to reach the playoffs for the sixth time in what will be the team’s 11th year of existence.