Ryan Baker

The roster for the 2025 Madison Radicals is here! 

The franchise looks a lot different now than it has in recent years. The Radicals were known for their defensive chemistry and had a returning core almost every year of players like Pat Shriwise, Kevin Pettit-Scantling, Brian Hart, and Andrew Meshnick. 

All four of those aforementioned players will not be joining the team for the 2025 season. Other players who will not wear the Radicals name are Avery Johnson, Victor Luo, Jacob Wham, Daniel Garlock, and Noah Nicol. 

The losses do bring a challenge to Madison this year in a revamped Central Division. With the reigning champions and the new-look Chicago Union, the Radicals are going to have the hit the ground running quickly. 

Shriwise, Hart, Pettit-Scantling, Meshnick, Johnson, and Garlock were pivotal pieces in making the franchise what it is, and are obvious hits to the team's experience. Losing Luo to Chicago is a gut punch. Luo is a jack-of-all-trades player who plays physically, now going to a division rival. 

Wham and Nicol both provided sparks on the field when needed and were incredibly familiar with the Madison system. 

This year, they look a lot younger bringing in eight new players to counteract the losses during the offseason. Along with a switch-up at coach, Tim DeByl will be giving his head coaching duties to Jacob Spiro. Meanwhile, DeByl will take the reins of the defense for the season. 

“Anytime you lose a bunch of people who've been cornerstones to the franchise for a while, that's going to look like a loss. If we can have a roster that can be more consistent game to game and get a little bit more athletic, I think that that'll help us more in the long run,” said Spiro. 

The rookies joining the UFA for the first time will be Max Junga, Donte Buckingham, and Noah Pollack. 

Junga, Buckingham, Petersen, and Pollack are all future moves for the Radicals. These guys worked their way onto the roster from tryouts and will be looking to take advantage of any opportunity they can get. 

Spiro mentioned that Pollack has looked solid bringing over his experience from the University of Colorado-Boulder, switching him between offensive and defensive lines. 

The Radicals are also bringing in four players with prior UFA experience Kainoa Chun-Moy, Eric Sjostrom, Cade White, and Ian McCosky. 

Chun-Moy brings over four years of experience in the UFA including a title in New York during his rookie year. In 2022, Chun-Moy played for Portland, then headed to Philadelphia for the last two years. Through 11 games in 2023, he posted ten goals and over 1200 total yards. 

“It’s a young team with great vibes. The guys are bought in, and want to play good frisbee. There were so many folks at practice looking to get better,” said Chun-Moy. “During our first outdoor practice at Breese, it was amazing to feel the team’s excitement to finally be outside after a long offseason.”

Chun-Moy is returning to the Wisconsin area after going to high school in Sun Prairie, WI. Things come full circle for Spiro and DeByl as they remember Chun-Moy trying out for the Radicals his senior year of high school. 

“I hope to bring a positive veteran presence to a young team. I hope that I can help this team maximize its potential and become better than the sum of its parts,” said Chun-Moy. 

Sjostrom has four years of UFA experience, but they have been over the course of the last nine years. He began in Nashville in 2016 and 2017, stopped playing until a one-year stint with Tampa Bay in 2021, then went to Atlanta in 2023. 

He is still working on a move up to Madison, but his goal is to be in the city before June. His gaps in his UFA career are due to his living situations not having a nearby team, however he has made it to a couple Radicals practices, and will be an important part of their team in 2025. 

“I’ve really enjoyed the comradery, effort, and intensity. It’s clear the coaches are all on the same page and communicate well to the team about what they want from us,” said Sjostrom. “I love how athletic we feel as a whole.”

White comes from playing with the Houston Havoc in 2023. He also captained the University of Texas team to multiple national appearances. McCosky is a familiar name to Radicals fans as he began his career with Madison in 2021, later moving to Minnesota for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. 

“We're hoping for a more consistent, athletic roster this year. Bringing a couple of guys in from outside of the team that have experience, which has been kind of a welcome surprise, is always good. It has been pretty seamless,” said Spiro.

Those eight guys join the likes of the remaining returning players for the 2025 season.  

Year 12 player: Joshua Wilson (11th year with Madison)

“My head is in a good space. I loved playing with those guys, and it will take time to create chemistry with the new additions, but we have a lot of talent that can fill the vacant roles. I have a ton of confidence in the younger players,” said Wilson. 

Year 8 players: Sterling Knoche, and Kelsen Alexander

Year 6 players: Ted Schewe, Luke Marks, and David Nester.

Year 5 players: Biz Schlaefer and John Tan

Year 4 players: Jack Nelson, Jake Carrico, Mitchell McCarthy (third year with Madison), Kai DeLorenzo and Nico Ranabhat

Year 3 players: Anthony Gutowsky, Joe Leibforth, Mac Weber, Matt Grinde, Max Sample, and Shane Otis

Year 2 players: Gabe Vordick, Pieran Robert, Charlie Benforado, and Ken Adams

Tyler Williams, Sam Pieper, Noah Petersen, and Alex Liu also join the team for another year. 

This was a team that failed to stay consistent throughout the entire game last year. Maybe having a more consistent roster each week will help that cause. However, losing the experience they have thus far has to be kept in the back of their minds this season. 

Despite the loss of experience, they still have some of the longest-tenured players in the league combined with some names that showed major flashes in 2024.  

“Most of those roles are going to be bought into people who were already on the team last year. Certainly, a couple of the transfer guys, coming from systems, will have their chance to slot in. Otherwise, we have a lot of talented players on our roster who've been eager for their shot, and this is their time to shine,” said Spiro. 

Stay tuned for a more in-depth look into the Radicals’ 2025 season!