July 18, 2025
By Alex Rubin

For the second straight week, the Salt Lake Shred will host "Friday Night Frisbee". After a thrilling win over the Colorado Summit last Friday that brought Salt Lake’s winning streak to ten games, the Shred will try to close their season with a win over the Minnesota Wind Chill, who won a title in Zion’s Bank Stadium nearly one year ago. It's also the first meeting between these two franchises since their epic, overtime game in the 2023 semifinals. 

Everything I wrote last week about the Shred’s offense is still true. They lead the league in scores, hold percent, O-line conversion percent and D-line conversion percent. In short, if they get the disc the Shred are more likely than literally anyone else to score. 

In addition to the usual contributors (Jordan Kerr, Jacob Miller, Will Selfridge, etc.), Salt Lake is getting a significant contribution from a surprising source: Matt Russnogle is currently sitting third in the league in goals scored in first season on the O-line. “Snog” played two seasons for Nashville a few years back and suited up for Salt Lake in 2024, but in all three seasons he was a defensive specialist. Given his size and athleticism, that role certainly makes sense, but after seeing him explode for 42 goals this season (he had 27 in his three previous seasons combined) his skillset certainly has a home on the O-line.

On the other hand, Minnesota is a profoundly proficient defensive team with plenty of defenders who will aim to shut down Russnogle, Kerr, Miller, and the rest of the Shred offense. Justin Burnett and Max Hanscom are among the league leaders in blocks, and James Pollard and Dylan DeClerck are not far behind. The Wind Chill sit second in the league in Scores Against and blocks per game. 

While DeClerck has been with the team since 2016, Hanscom is a rookie, and Burnett and Pollard are new to the Wind Chill. Even considering their obvious talent, to have the kind of season they’re having while also integrating so many new pieces is incredible. Minnesota is  rebuilding chemistry on a Championship team while managing a culture that knows anything is possible, but that it will take incredibly hard work to accomplish their goals. The success Minnesota has had this season is a testament to the dedicated leadership and strong buy-in among the Wind Chill. 

But, dedication and buy-in will only go so far. Minnesota will need to at least slow down Salt Lake’s offense to have a chance to win, and they have not really done that recently this season. They lost by 15 combined goals across two games to Chicago. 

While Minnesota is locked into the two-seed in the Central Division at this point, a win could mean a higher seed going into Championship Weekend when divisional winners are reseeded according to win-loss record, and point differential. 

Similarly, the Shred clinched the top seed in the division and can now focus their energy on getting ready for the playoffs. Despite neither team needing a win, both teams are bringing strong rosters and should use this out-of-division matchup as a great way to stress test playoff strategies. With a large crowd expected and the intensity of the playoffs nearing, this matchup should produce the thrilling game that was expected when it got showcased on the season schedule. While the game may not affect the playoffs, it will certainly give one team more confidence and the other some questions ahead of the most important games of the season once the playoffs begin.