AUDL Honor Roll: Week 13

July 1, 2019
By Evan Lepler

Throughout the 2019 season, the AUDL’s weekly honor roll will be revealed each Monday, honoring seven players whose individual exploits merit recognition. The players are listed alphabetically by last name.

  1. Nick Hutton, Indianapolis AlleyCats — Several teammates pointed to Nick Hutton as the key performer in the Indianapolis AlleyCats’ playoff clinching road win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. The sixth-year Indy defender registered three clutch blocks in the third quarter alone, dramatically swinging the momentum as the AlleyCats transformed an 11-10 halftime deficit into an 18-15 lead heading into the fourth, an advantage Indy preserved in the 23-20 triumph. With 108 blocks in his career, Hutton is one of 17 players in AUDL history with at least 100 Ds and currently ranks 14th on the all-time list.
     
  2. Elijah Jaime, Atlanta Hustle —With 11 goals, three assists, and two blocks on the weekend, Eli Jaime paced the Atlanta Hustle in plus/minus in both games of its Texas trip, keeping Atlanta close with Dallas and helping his team surge past the Sol on Sunday to earn the split. All season long, the Hustle have been a different team offensively with Jaime on the field, evidenced by the reality that Atlanta has averaged 21.6 goals per game in the nine contests he’s played and just 14.5 goals per game in the two he has not. For the full season, Jaime’s 46 strikes are third in the league, behind only Montreal’s Quentin Bonnaud (66), DC’s Rowan McDonnell (51), and New York’s Ben Jagt (49).
     
  3. Jimmy Kittlesen, Minnesota Wind Chill — The league’s leader in blocks for the 2019 season delivered a career-high six of them in the Minnesota Wind Chill’s 27-12 rout over Detroit on Saturday. For Jimmy Kittlesen, it was the eighth time this year and 32nd time in his 63 career games that he had recorded multiple blocks in a game. The 26-year-old now ranks 10th on the all-time blocks chart, though he’s third all-time in blocks per game among player who have played at least 50 games, trailing only Madison’s Peter Graffy and Pittsburgh’s Anson Reppermund.
     
  4. Bobby Ley, Raleigh Flyers — In his first game going against his old team, the former Cannon completed 42 of 43 throws and collected five assists, two goals, and two blocks for a team-high +8 in the Raleigh Flyers’ hard-fought 22-20 victory down in Florida. In just four games as a Flyer, Bobby Ley has accumulated nine goals and 18 assists while completing 98 percent of his throws. More important than the numbers is the responsibility that has been immediately thrust upon his shoulders to help anchor the offense in the backfield, a burden that brings another big test this weekend with a showdown against Dallas that will determine the location of the South Division championship game.
     
  5. Steven Milardovich, San Diego Growlers — Playing his 60th game for the San Diego Growlers franchise, Steven Milardovich caught the dramatic buzzer-beater to bring San Diego its first regular season West Division title, capped by Saturday’s 26-25 nail-biting victory over Seattle. Beyond the dramatic finish, Milardovich delivered a standout performance for the entire game, scoring six goals and dishing five assists to help lead the San Diego offense that was missing a couple typical anchors in Travis Dunn and Dom Leggio. The game-clinching grab boosted Milardovich’s plus/minus to +9 for the game, the highest of any game in his career.
     
  6. Andrew Roney, Tampa Bay Cannons — Despite the Tampa Bay Cannons coming up short on the scoreboard for the firth time in their last six games, Andrew Roney added to his All-AUDL candidacy by dishing a career-high 11 assists and completing 70 of his 71 throws on Saturday against the Flyers. He now has 63 assists on the season and moved past Chicago’s Pawel Janas into the league lead with two weekends remaining in the regular season.
     
  7. Ryan Weaver, Philadelphia Phoenix — Entering the matchup against Toronto owning a negative career plus/minus (-1), the 25-year-old Ryan Weaver delivered far and away the best game of his 12-game AUDL career to help the Phoenix record the upset of the weekend, a 26-24 stunner over the Rush. He finished +6 with six assists, one goal, and 30 completions in 31 throws, helping to anchor the O-line that was missing Ethan Fortin, Billy Sickles, and Himalaya Mehta, all of whom are among the Philadelphia Phoenix’s top scorers throughout the season. Along with other Philly stalwarts like Mike Arcata, Zac Sands, Sean Mott, and Dustin Damiano, Weaver helped keep the Phoenix’s playoff hopes alive by winning in Toronto for the first time.