Sixty-five seconds.
With only 1:05 remaining on the clock in first overtime, the Oregon Steel collected the pull from Dox Raskin with a prime hold opportunity to seal the win. The Aviators only had 65 seconds remaining to try and earn their second win of the year.
After securing a break on the first point of overtime, head coach Jake Baumer and assistant coach Linda "Skipper" Hamon trotted out the same break-earning line, hoping for a repeat of history.
When the lights shined the brightest, the Aviators got it done.
Los Angeles showed stifling defense downfield and, after confusion about a no call, rookie Max Combs came through for his squad on a late upline throw and earned the block.
Six throws went off before the disc found the hands of Combs yet again as the team’s leader in the blocks stood on the doorstep of a go-ahead score. With a nifty backhand, Combs found veteran Andrew Padula to put the Aviators up by one with only seven seconds remaining.
Oregon threw a desperation huck as time expired, but the Aviators staved off the Steel comeback bid, winning the first leg of their road trip 20-19.
The defense shined for LA, earning a season-high nine breaks on a season-best D-line conversion percentage, hitting at a 69% rate.
Combs was a major force for the Aviators throughout the game, notching four more blocks to his season tally and converting the forced turnovers with three assists. The UCSB alum, one of six Aviators to play in all eight games, has been a force all season and started off the road trip with career highs in both blocks and assists.
The second leg of the trip was not as clean for the Aviators.
After entering halftime with a tie against the Seattle Cascades, the plans quickly unraveled for Los Angeles in the third quarter. Seattle held to start the frame and quickly earned its third break of the game after a block by rookie Langley Fitzpatrick.
Even though the Aviators broke back to tie the game late in the third, the Cascades went on a 5-0 run to close out the third and start the fourth quarter. The margin ended at five, with Los Angeles falling 20-15 despite keeping it tight much of the game.
The Aviator offense even outperformed itself in the second game of the trip, holding at a 55% clip after a 52% rate against the Steel. But the defense could only secure seven blocks, converting three of those opportunities.
The Cascades, now fourth in the UFA in blocks with 96 on the season, bested their opponents with 10 blocks, converting on 58% of their D-line chances. Fitzpatrick, taking a page out of Combs’ book, now leads Seattle with 13 blocks after putting up three against LA.
While the Aviator defense put up fantastic numbers in the two games right before the Seattle matchup — its combined 41.5% break percentage in those two games would sit at third in the UFA across the entire season — the unit’s regression to the mean spelled doom for the team’s chances at a sweep.
Ever since Los Angeles won its first game against Houston, the team’s offense has struggled to hold at a consistent enough rate. Across their last three games, the Aviators have not held at a rate better than 55%, a mark they had hit in their previous four games heading into this stretch.
Despite turning it over a season-low 16 times in each of the Seattle and Oregon games, the last three games have been relatively low scoring compared to the beginning of the season, meaning every possession matters and every turnover hurts that much more.
The defense is the reason why Los Angeles has two wins right now. In both overtime wins, the game-winning score was a break. For the first win, the LA O-line came on after a timeout, but it was the defense who got the block to set the team up for a win.
At the beginning of the season, the Aviator offense was the team’s leader and the defense struggled to force turnovers and convert those chances. Now, the defense has proven its potential and has won two games for LA. If the Aviators can start to play complementary frisbee, the sky's the limit with four games left on the schedule.
Still, even with the offense’s struggles, the star of the weekend was O-line staple Jonathan Lyle, who has been a model of consistency throughout the season. Lyle, the team leader in assists, has put up at least six scores, which count both goals and assists, in five of his eight games. His efforts have him tied for 16th in the UFA in assists as a rookie.
Lyle and the offense will look to clean up their mistakes as the defense has made these games tighter and tighter. The squad’s next opportunity will be against the San Diego Growlers on July 5 at Great Park Championship Stadium. Fans can buy tickets here: https://laaviators.com/event/2025-game-9/.
