August 24, 2024
By Adam Ruffner
The Minnesota Wind Chill defeated the Carolina Flyers 17-16 in the championship game to win their first UFA title. The Wind Chill entered the final four weekend as the last seed, but prevailed over two favored contenders thanks to a true team effort and a defensive intensity that limited opponents to just 29 goals combined.
Minnesota jumped to an 8-2 lead to begin the game against Carolina, and led by the same six-goal margin at halftime. But South Division champions did not go down easily, and tied the game at 14 by the midway point of the fourth quarter. But a late Bryan Vohnoutka to Will Brandt scoring connection re-established the Wind Chill lead, and they held on for the one-goal win.
Brandt claimed Championship Weekend MVP honors thanks to his superb passing and offensive quarterbacking in the title game against Carolina. Brandt's break throws continually put the Wind Chill offense into favorable positions against a tough Flyers defense, and seemed almost impervious from the heavy wind conditions that tortured passes all weekend. He finished with a game highs in completions (39) and throwing yards (379).
Minnesota becomes just the second team from the Central Division to win the UFA championship in league history, joining the 2018 Madison Radicals.
Full list of UFA champions:
- 2012 - Philadelphia
- 2013 - Toronto
- 2014 - Oakland
- 2015 - Oakland
- 2016 - Dallas
- 2017 - San Francisco
- 2018 - Madison
- 2019 - New York
- 2021 - Carolina
- 2022 - New York
- 2023 - New York
- 2024 - Minnesota
