Ryan Baker

Even though there are only a few weeks left in the 2026 UFA season, the Madison Radicals have just surpassed their halfway point, standing at 4-3 and in second place in the Central Division. Their season has been defined by two major changes: a new offensive set and Anthony Gutowsky’s switch to the D-line.

In years past, the Radicals had a young offense that would take shots that weren’t necessarily the best looks and played through their younger core. Now, the offense runs strictly through their handlers in a dominator set. They work it up the field through four main guys and don’t typically get their downfield cutters involved until they hit midfield.

That offense can be successful at times. It allows for domination in time of possession, easier looks on a throw-to-throw basis, and allows for a lot of space between the handlers and cutters. The downside is that it can be scouted relatively easily; you are relying on those four guys not to make a ton of mistakes, and it can tire them out. So far, we’ve seen both sides of the coin.

“We are going to continue to add more wrinkles to what we do on both sides of the ball. Five games allow a ton of fine-tuning,” Head Coach Jacob Spiro stated.

The second change came in their fifth game. Gutowsky led the league in goals last year and has gotten better every season, but he wasn’t seeing as much success this year in the new offense. Not to mention, when he got the ball in his hands, a turnover problem arose.

“I’m able to be utilized more on this D-line,” Gutowsky said. “If I’m able to get 2 plus blocks a game and have more chances to convert and go up, that’s what matters overall. I just have to keep playing my role, get blocks, and punch it in on D. That’s what’s going to win us games the rest of the year and give us a shot at Championship Weekend.”

The last three games with him on the D-line have given their defense a significant boost in downfield coverage and added explosiveness in transition offense. He still plays on offense at key points, but with the emergence of Pieran Robert as their go-to guy in the end zone, they haven’t lost a step there.

“As a team, we need to focus on competing,” Robert said. “Personal stats, team stats, conditions, matchups, film review… these are all helpful for preparation and long-term success, but when push comes to shove, we need to have the mindset that when we go out on that line.”

Robert sits at 27 goals on the season through seven games, which is sixth in the league, and is the only player in the top ten with five games remaining. There is a chance that Robert will crack the top of the list when it’s all said and done.

“The more time I’ve spent with the team, the more trust my coaches have in me,” Robert said. “I think the shift to our offense comes with my desire to learn and be adaptable. I enjoy being able to take a bigger role on the team, especially if I am able to help produce good results.”

The Radicals started the season with a major win over the Indianapolis AlleyCats, overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit to win by 1, and followed that up with a 21-17 victory over Pittsburgh. But their momentum was screeched to a halt after a hard-fought battle against Minnesota gave them their first loss of the season.

That snowballed into a horrendous game against the Union, where they went down by seven to start, but only lost by two. Another one-point win against Indy followed as they began a stretch of three games in eight days. The middle of that stretch was the first-ever Thursday night game in UFA history against a brand-new opponent, the Salt Lake Shred, which they lost by four.

“Teams are going to start throwing different looks at us, and we’ve already seen a little bit of that with Salt Lake,” Nico Ranabhat said. “Honestly, that’s something we’re excited about. You want to be challenged because that’s how you grow as a team.”

A few days later, they bounced back and got some revenge against the Union in a game where the rain never let up. The 4-3 record gives them a good shot at hosting a playoff game come July, but they do need to lock in a couple more wins, with two matchups against Indy remaining and one game against each team in their division.

“This team continues to build and grow as we play more,” Gabe Vordick said. “From where I stand, we haven’t seen the full potential of this team. There are a lot of good teams in our division, and if we keep getting better as we have been, then I think we can beat any of them.”

As for where the team sits, it is tough to compare overall totals given that 17 teams have played at least 8 games, so a per-game outlook is more appropriate at this point.  

Here is where Madison sits in terms of rankings and compared to their last two years through their first seven games for each major stat:

• Scores: 18.14 (9th fewest) - 21.43 in 2024 and 19.57 in 2025

• Scores against: 18.14 (7th fewest) – 17.14 in 2024 and 18.71 in 2025

• Turnovers: 15. 86 (7th fewest) – 15.1 in 2024 and 16.7 in 2025

• Hucks: 4.29 (fewest) – 13.14 in 2024 and 11.29 in 2025

• Holds: 12.43 (3rd fewest) – 11.57 in 2024 and 11.71 in 2025

• Blocks: 8.57 (13th most) – 14.29 in 2024 and 11.71 in 2025

• Completion percentage (not a per-game basis): 93.95 (9th highest) - 91.7 in 2024 and 90.5 in 2025

Looking at those numbers as a whole, a couple of things stand out. The offense is doing what it is supposed to do in the new system. They complete more passes at a higher clip, take fewer downfield shots, and don’t score as often.

“I don’t think any major tweaks are needed,” Vordick said. “We have a very trust-based mindset on our offense this year. I have really enjoyed the offense so far, and I can’t wait to keep playing in it. I’m not saying it will be exactly the same in the coming weeks, watch out for some new tricks up our sleeves.”

Second, offenses are improving across the league. They are up in holds, but across the league, teams are being more careful with the disc and punching in holds more often, preventing defenses from getting blocks and breaks.

One challenge that Madison has faced a ton, which isn’t shown in those statistics, is red-zone turnovers. They currently have a bottom-ten red-zone conversion rate, and if that continues, they will struggle against Indy and Minnesota down the road.

Individually, due to the new offense, there are only a few standouts across the board. We already discussed Robert’s career year, but didn’t mention that he leads the team in blocks with 11 and is on pace to set a career high of 17 in 2025.

Gutowsky still has 21 goals and 7 blocks this season, both second on the team. The three standouts come from Vordick, Ian McCosky, and Ranabhat, all of whom are in different roles than they were last year. Also, all three of them have over 230 completions, 120 more than the fourth guy on that list.

“I think the first two games I was timid and nervous to make mistakes,” McCosky said. “However, my coaches and teammates continued to believe in me and set me up for success. They are the ones that gave me the confidence to go out there and play my game, which I really think is the difference, and I’m so grateful for.”

Those three have also accounted for 22.8 percent of the team's total yards, all over 2,300, with Vordick leading the charge at 2,805. Assist-wise, the three have combined 42, with Ranabhat at the top with 17. The other guy in that dominator set, just not as much, is Eric Sjostrom, who has 14 assists and 1,573 total yards thus far.

“I’ve definitely been learning a lot in this new role,” Ranabhat stated. “I’m still working through some of the kinks and getting used to different motions, patterns, and responsibilities, but it’s been a lot of fun. I think guys like Vordick, McCosky, and I are only starting to scratch the surface of what we can do together creatively within the offense.”

The other shoutouts go to Max Sample, who has 12 goals in five games; Jack Nelson, who has 17 goals and has picked up the pace in the last few games; and Victor Luo, who continues to be one of the most dependable all-around players on the Radicals.

Madison has also been dealing with the injury bug among four key guys. The first is Sterling Knoche, who started out the season on fire, but hasn’t played in the last four games. Luke Marks is the second, who started out by missing the first two games. Third, Kainoa Chun-Moy, who has only played three games this year is an integral part of the offense. Lastly, veteran Joshua Wilson is out for the year. 

“We control our playoff destiny to try and host a playoff game, which is always a good spot to be,” Spiro said. “We are hoping to get a couple of guys back from injury so we can continue to build.”

Here’s the thing: this offensive strategy puts more pressure on the defense to punch in breaks, which they haven't been very successful at doing. They only manage 5.71 per game, which sits right in the middle, but the next mark above them is 7.14. Gutowsky’s move should help those numbers, but it can’t be a one-man show.

If those numbers rise and the red zone conversion rate improves, Madison could be a dark-horse candidate come playoff time. Those improvements will not happen overnight, but there are still five more games remaining for the Radicals this season.

The next home game is July 3rd! To buy tickets to the remaining Radicals games this year, go here!