July 13, 2024
By, Quincey McKeen
In their penultimate game of the regular season, the Salt Lake Shred traveled to Oregon to take on the Portland Nitro. The Shred just played the Nitro at home a week ago, so it was a quick turnaround for the rematch. Playing with looser lines, the Shred focused on the basics: fast cuts and fast clears. The Nitro continued to favor big hucks, with 20 huck attempts in this game. With their focus already turning to next week’s big game against the Seattle Cascades, the Shred got the job done, if not with the efficiency they hoped for.
The game started with the Nitro getting stalled out and a quick break for the Shred. The Nitro recovered quickly and went on a run, scoring the next three goals. The Shred got on the board again with some quick offense to bring the score to 2-3. Jonny Hoffman picked off a Nitro huck and some quick work from Justin Mecham and John Hanni earned the Shred a break and a tied game. Chad Yorgason got a hand block in the next point, earning another break for the Shred. Nitro held and got another break after a floaty Shred swing pass was D’d. Nitro ended the quarter with some fiery defense, picking off an upline throw and quickly scoring with just five seconds left. The Shred were unable to score in those five seconds and the quarter ended 5-7 for Nitro.
The Shred opened the second quarter with a hold. The Nitro answered with their own hold: a huge huck to Nitro player Josh Moore was reeled in despite tight defense from two Shred players. The Shred tied the game back after a battle of a point. First, a Nitro huck was too short. Then a Shred hammer was overthrown. The Nitro worked it to the end zone, but then threw it out of bounds in a goal attempt. Shred worked it down to their end zone but then had a dropped pass. Timeout was called. The Nitro had a dropped pass out of the timeout and Shred capitalized with a score from Ben Field to Grant Lindsley. The Shred broke in the next point after Jordan Kerr got the D on an upline pass and then hucked to Joe Merrill just outside of the end zone. He dished it to Sean Connole for the goal and the Shred took the lead for the first time since the first point of the game. The teams traded holds, mostly clean. Shout out to Nitro player Ben Thoennes for the smoothest hammer fake that he transitioned to an inside backhand for the hockey assist. Butter. Shred started to get some space, scoring two breaks in a row. In the first, Tony Mounga picked off a pass to get the turn, although possession traded a few more times before the Shred scored. In the second, the Nitro dopped a pass and the Shred worked it patiently in the red zone to score. With 50 seconds left in the half, the Nitro worked it very patiently and despite several close calls from tight Shred defense, they scored with a hammer and three seconds left. The half ended 13-11 for the Shred.
The second half of the game cleaned up considerably, with just two breaks per quarter, versus the seven breaks in the first quarter and four breaks in the second. The Shred capitalized on a dropped Nitro pass for one break and Matt Russnogle got the huck D for the second. Other highlights included a great D from Lindsley to get it back after a Shred drop. He found Nathan Huff in the end zone for the goal. Nitro player Marty Artis had some highlight moments. He had a great read on a huck right outside of the end zone and caught it despite Shred pressure. Thoennes continued to work the frisbee with speed and was not afraid to huck it. The Shred ended the third quarter with some beautiful flow. Simon Dastrup picked off the Nitro buzzer beater attempt to end the quarter 19-15 for the Shred.
The Nitro opened the fourth quarter with a break, after a Shred huck went too far. The Shred held for the next point and answered with their own break. Hanni had great defensive pressure in the end zone to get possession for the Shred. After a few more D’d hucks from both teams, Taylor Barton picked off a Nitro pass and worked the give and go for the score. The Shred had a few defensive plays that didn’t go their way: a Shred double team and a Chad Yorgason D. Chad Yorgason had a great game, with seven assists, one goal, and two blocks. The Nitro also had good defensive pressure. Their double team caused a Shred misthrow, but Russnogle got it back with a run through D and went on to score. The teams traded holds until the last point of the game. The Shred worked it patiently and decided to take a shot right in the final seconds of the game. Merrill couldn’t reel it in and went down hard, ending the game on a somber note. The Shred take the win, 24-20.
Now all sights are turned to next week’s big game against the Seattle Cascades. This game will truly be a playoff preview and the winner will go into the playoffs as the number one seed in the West Division - the Best in the West. Come catch the action on Friday, July 19, 7 pm at Zions Bank Stadium.
