Ryan Baker
The trend of imploding later in the game continued for the Madison Radicals this past weekend.
The breakdown that occurred against the Minnesota Wind Chill was arguably their worst of the year, and it mathematically eliminated Madison from playoff contention. This past Saturday, Minnesota had traveled to Breese Stevens Field for the third game between the two.
It was an overall ugly game due to the consistent gusts of wind that gave both teams major difficulty. There were 43 combined turnovers between the teams that turned the matchup into a game of runs. The Radicals saw themselves down 4-2 at the end of the first quarter.
Then the second quarter is where Madison was looking like a powerhouse. A five point run that included four straight breaks gave head coach Tim DeByl’s team a 7-1 second quarter. Heading into half, the Radicals were up 9-5 against one of the best teams in the Central Division.
However, coming out of the half, Minnesota decided to go on a run of their own. A 5-2 third quarter in favor of the Wind Chill put them within one and they kept the momentum from there. In the final twelve minutes, Madison saw Minnesota trot into the end zone three times in a row, got one of their own, but it wasn’t enough.
“Just the usual pattern of us playing really well and then just imploding. Like we've never played ultimate before. It started with one weird mistake and it just got in everybody’s head. We’re a good team a lot of the time,” said DeByl.
Both O-line conversion rates were porous with Madison sitting at 28% and Minnesota at 37%. Victor Luo and Kai DeLorenzo had a tough time with Luo having five throwaways and DeLorenzo having four including a drop. Luo did end up having two blocks, one being a handblock in the fourth quarter.
Other than that, there wasn’t anything that was shocking during the game. Luo led the team in throwing yards and Ted Schewe was near the top in receiving yards, things that have been happening all season.
“We've kind of consistently came out with the right mentality, and at times they put on more pressure. We just kind of lose the mentality, lose the focus, and that's what we've been talking about is playing a complete game,” said Henry Goldenberg
The game ended by a score of 15-13, giving Madison their eighth loss of the season. On the other hand, Minnesota moved up to 7-2 and with a win against the AlleyCats the following day, it put Minnesota in the power position to win the division.
The next day, Madison had to travel to Detroit to play the defeated Mechanix for a matchup that a lot of people around the league thought Detroit was going to get their first win in years. However, Madison refused to let that happen with a dominating 23-14 win.
Kelsen Alexander played phenomenally having thrown four assists, scoring three times and adding on two blocks. One of those blocks resulted in a layout callahan, giving Madison their third of the year. It was a game that allowed DeByl to play 20 different players for at least twelve points over the course of the game.
DeLorenzo added on four more throwaways to his weekend during the Detroit game, but did come away with a whopping five blocks in that game as well. Jack Kelly and Anthony Gutowsky both added four goals to each other’s season totals.
With a split a weekend, Madison sits at 2-8 on the season and will see a break this upcoming weekend. They will conclude their season the following weekend on July 21 and 22 when they play the Chicago Union and Detroit once again, respectively.
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