Ryan Baker
While it may be early in the season, the Madison Radicals won a game against the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds that could have major playoff implications down the line.
This is the only matchup between the two this season, and Madison has the tiebreaker after making quick work of the T-birds. The Rads sent fans home happy from Breese Stevens Field with a 20-14 win in the home opener.
The game was full of storylines. The 2025 home opener brought in a packed crowd. Kainoa Chun-Moy was making his Breese Stevens Field debut as a Radical. Jacob Spiro was making his home head coaching debut. Finally, Anthony Gutowksy graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater earlier in the day as he was introduced in his cap and gown.
The game was all Madison from the start. Pittsburgh dropped an easy dump that resulted in a Mitchell McCarthy to Mac Weber break score on the first point of the game. It was back and forth the next three points, but then Madison floored the pedal with five straight breaks.
The six-point stretch included a layout block that Gabe Vordick got chest-high on, a Gutowsky layout goal, a Kai DeLorenzo huck score, and multiple Pittsburgh mistakes. The energy was at an all-time high for the home faithful seeing their team up 8-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The rest of the game was even-keeled between the two in terms of scoring, but Madison had control the entire time. The second quarter gave us Chun-Moy’s first goal in front of the home crowd, and more Gutowsky highlights. A layout block, a goal, and an assist gave Gutowsky a stat line of five goals, two blocks, and one assist at halftime.
“It’s surreal. When I was younger, I thought the wind was more of a big deal, but everyone can just move the disc so well. It's been awesome. McCarthy, Carrico, and myself, all played lower-level college ultimate, and we had to do it all for our teams. I think we see the field similarly, and know the spaces that each other wants. We want to play fast and I think that helps with the chemistry and cohesion,” said Chun-Moy.
With the 13-7 lead heading into the second half, you could see the Radicals relax a bit. Easy drops started to happen, but it was on both sides, which protected the massive Madison lead. The final quarter put a small hiccup into the atmosphere as Pittsburgh rattled off three straight points, bringing the game within four. However, Madison was able to punch in a hold, and then break Pittsburgh after a nearly five-minute point.
“Every win feels great. Any win at home always feels extra special. In Austin, we were a little bit disappointed in ourselves, because we got away from our game plan and played a little bit intimidated. We consistently executed the game plan and the results showed that,” said Spiro.
Looking at the game on paper, the Radicals torched the Thunderbirds. The Rads completed seven of their eight hucks, as opposed to the 2/6 line from Pittsburgh. Madison also had ten breaks versus Pittsburgh's four. Finally, Madison produced 15 blocks with 19 of their own turnovers, meanwhile, the Thunderbirds only had five blocks but 25 turnovers.
Gutwosky ended the game with seven goals, four blocks, and one assist in arguably the best performance of his career thus far.
“It is unbelievable. There are so many great things that happened today, and this is the icing on the cake. I could not have asked for a better day. I could not have asked for a better performance from my team. I think this is one of the best games we've played. I know we slowed down a little bit in the third quarter, but we were just playing lazy. If we keep playing 100% throughout the whole game, I believe that we will be able to win some big games this season and make it far,” said Gutowsky.
Jake Carrico led the team in assists with four. Pieran Robert and Mitchell McCarthy both added two blocks to their 2025 campaigns. Nico Ranabhat also had a stellar 2025 debut leading the team in yards with 301, while adding one assist, three goals, and one block.
“A veteran like Noa [Chun-Moy] coming over from Philly, we knew he was going to be a good player. But it's astonishing how quickly he slotted right into our system. It feels like I've been playing with him for ten years. He just always has the right instincts. I love playing with that guy,” said Carrico.
Madison’s coaching staff will have a lot to take away from the film on this one. You can look at the first half, and see exactly how Madison needs to play to compete with the likes of Chicago and Minnesota. On the other side of the coin with the second half being rather sloppy and too relaxed, seeing most of their ten drops on the night happen.
The Radicals will have a lot of time to review the film as they will try to build on this momentum in two weeks when they host the Indianapolis AlleyCats.
“Nothing beats winning at Breese, especially the home opener. It's something that you look forward to all off-season. It's just the best feeling in the world,” said Carrico.
The Radicals return to Breese Stevens Field on Friday May 30th vs the Indianapolis Alleycats.
