By Noam Gumerman
For the first time in the 2025 UFA season, the Carolina Flyers found themselves in the win column. And not just once, but the Flyers swept a back-to-back set of games against the Pennsylvania teams, beating the Philadelphia Phoenix 18-15 on Saturday in Philly, and then the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds on Sunday in Pittsburgh 24-12.
After picking up a knock late last week, the availability of Allan Laviolette was key for the Flyers’ O-line, as he paced them in assists for both games with nine(!) against the Phoenix, and five against Pittsburgh (in addition to a game-high four goals too). But the biggest game changer for the Flyers this week as opposed to the previous month was their improved defense. In their Saturday game against Philadelphia, they recorded a season-high ten blocks to help them down the path to victory, before the next day doing one better with 11 in Pittsburgh. Key opportunities went by the wayside through four games due to the Flyers inability to force a key turnover to give their offense a chance to close the gap. Not a problem this weekend.
In their first game, clean offense and open deep looks for the Flyers marked most of the first quarter, before a Flyers turnover gave Phoenix a short field and chance to break for a two point lead with under two minutes to go. But the Carolina defense held, and Laviolette got the disc back with a layout poach D with just over a minute to go and then found Jacob Fairfax on a crossfield score with under ten seconds left. Philadelphia was then careless in possession trying to set up a last-second huck, allowing Cooper Williams to intercept a pass with under two seconds remaining, and float the disc to the end zone to allow Suraj Madiraju to sky his defender for a thrilling break. The Flyers rode that momentum into the second quarter, using a 4-1 quarter to take a 10-6 halftime lead, and were able to ride out the second half mostly comfortably to take their first win of the season.
The second game against Pittsburgh was wire-to-wire dominance. The Flyers converted their first two break opportunities to go up 2-0, before Pittsburgh held with 9:13 to go in the first quarter. But the Flyers did not let them back into the game. In fact, they held the Thunderbirds scoreless until 7:23 in the second quarter, roughly 14 scoreless minutes of complete Flyers dominance. The Thunderbirds made too many unforced errors, and the Flyers suffocating defense took care of everything else, building a 13-3 halftime lead that was far too much to overcome. The Flyers roll into some more divisional matchups with momentum and a chance to make up some ground on their rivals, and to fight back into playoff position.
The Flyers will have a chance to avenge their early season losses in Atlanta to the Hustle at home this weekend, June 7, at 7 p.m. EDT as a part of a double header with the PUL’s Raleigh Radiance. Come support North Carolina pro ultimate this weekend!
