Ryan Baker

Friday night is one Madison fans will want to forget. The Radicals hosted the Indianapolis AlleyCats for the fourth meeting between the two teams this season, and the Radicals lost 31-18.

For the first time in team history, the defense failed to convert on any of its break chances. The loss was also the largest in franchise history, marking just the second time the Radicals lost by double digits.

All 20 break opportunities were failed; their 92 percent completion rate was the lowest all season; they produced only 4 blocks; and they committed 22 turnovers. Even tougher, Kainoa Chun-Moy, Sterling Knoche, and Mac Weber were all returning from injury, so the team was theoretically stronger than in previous games.

“Sometimes when your collapse is as total as that was, it’s easier to just move on from it,” Head Coach Jacob Spiro said. “That said, there are always teaching moments that come from every game, and a game with zero breaks is unacceptable and should hopefully serve as a motivating factor moving forward.”

It was a normal first few points for the Radicals. Nico Ranabhat connected with Gabe Vordick for Madison’s first score of the game, and Mitchell McCarthy then made a massive layout block in the end zone on the next point. However, turns by Jake Carrico and Donte Buckingham gave Indy a dirty hold.

That’s when the cut got formed. Two huck turnovers and a drop led to Indy’s three-point run, and the Radicals were down by as much coming out of the first quarter.

The second quarter was a shootout, with 18 combined goals and 14 points in under a minute, skyrocketing both teams’ scores. Sam Stark had three assists in the quarter, and Max Sample and Pieran Robert both scored twice.

Madison began to lose its grip on the game in the back half of the quarter. A block by Indy on a Vordick huck, a hammer from Victor Luo that was blocked in their own end zone, and a drop by Eric Sjostrom in their own end zone all led to AlleyCat break scores. All of that added up to a five-point deficit heading into halftime.

The second half picked up where the first half left off. On the second point, Sjostrom turned the disc over in the red zone, and Indy’s lead grew to seven. Madison did string together some good points, though, as Stark added two goals and another assist, while Ian McCosky threw two assists, one to Stark and one to Sample.

As time expired, Indy was able to sneak in a laser shot to the back of the end zone, putting the Radicals down 16-24. Things kept snowballing into the fourth, with the first three points containing four total turnovers for Madison, and the gap grew to eleven.

The Radicals managed to score only twice in the last 12 minutes, by way of an Anthony Gutowsky sky and a Ranabhat-to-Robert goal.

Still, there were some players with nice stat lines. Ranabhat and Sjostrom walked away with four assists apiece and combined for more than 1,000 total yards. Stark had three assists, two goals, and 422 total yards. Robert and Sample combined for seven goals.

With this big of a gut punch, Madison is going to need to put the game behind them immediately. They still hold the tiebreaker over Indy and control their own destiny to clinch a home playoff berth. A win this Friday night at Breese against Pittsburgh would officially clinch a playoff berth for them, and from there, another win or an Indy loss would secure them the two seed.

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