August 12, 2025

Article by Jason Christensen

Photo by Roxanne Duennebeil

HERRIMAN, UT – With the season on the line, the Salt Lake Shred pulled together a comeback win against the Oakland Spiders 18-17 to be named champions of the West Division.

Their victory puts the Shred in Championship Weekend for the second time in three years.

“This is everything you want from a young team,” head coach Bryce Merrill said. “Highs were high, lows were low, [we] did our best with a couple of funky plays at the end to make sure this stayed a one-point game, maybe even flirt with overtime.”

Defensive excellence

In another physical match with Oakland, the defensive performances the Shred stacked up in the regular season showed up massively in the Divisional Championship. As the season progressed, the Shred’s red zone defense became particularly potent, and that was the defense that showed up August 9. Salt Lake held Oakland to a 52% red zone conversion percentage, their worst of the season.

Those turnovers in the red zone contributed to Oakland’s most turnovers of the season with 22—more than half of which were blocks by Salt Lake.

No player’s performance encapsulated the power of the Shred’s defense more than Tony Mounga. He ended the game leading the field in plus/minus with three monstrous blocks and three assists against one turnover. His playmaking in the second half brought life to the crowd and the team when they needed it most and kickstarted the comeback victory.

“I happened to be that guy tonight,” Mounga said. “It’s definitely gonna be another guy [next time]. We’re a real deep roster, so it could be anyone.”

Perhaps the greatest testament to what Mounga said is that he was the only player that had more than one block. In a game with thirteen blocks, ten other players found a way to bat the disc away. Those defensive stops were essential in the fourth quarter after Oakland got several breaks that tilted the scales in their favor, and Salt Lake’s defense delivered down the stretch.

A Resilient Offense

Chad Yorgason has had a stellar year with his move to the offense and once again proved to be the key to Salt Lake’s offense against Oakland. Salt Lake had him running all night, leading both teams with 275 receiving yards. He was directly involved in seven of the Shred’s eighteen goals, coming away with four assists and three goals.

It was not all sunshine and rainbows on offense. As the Spiders had season-high turnovers, Salt Lake was on the verge of the same thing. Their 20 turnovers were only beaten by a windy road game in Oregon back in May. Chad Yorgason, Jordan Kerr, and Will Selfridge all had drops. Several drives were stuffed by miscommunication. With time winding down in the third quarter, Salt Lake’s four-point lead early in the game turned into a three-point deficit.

These players each found ways to bounce back and find that next gear that would get them over the hump. Yorgason went on to have a phenomenal game. Kerr followed up his drop with six assists on the night. Selfridge was a crucial piece of the Shred’s comeback in the third and fourth quarters with three goals.

“It’s just a lot of heart, and that’s what we trained this year,” said Merrill. “We trained the ability to win, and the ability to compete, and I saw that time and time again all season, and then tonight. [I’m] feeling like a very proud coach.”

A deeply personal playoff win

The eighteen points scored by the Salt Lake Shred had a particular significance to one player, No. 18 Matt Russnogle.

Russnogle’s mother tragically passed away recently. The whole team honored their teammate and his family by wearing wristbands that bore his number and a heart.

“Just a lot of joy, quite honestly, just a lot of overwhelming feelings,” Russnogle said. “It’s just a blast being here with this crew and these people. I’m just really grateful.”

It felt like this victory was dedicated to her, and it is just the beginning of what this young Shred team can accomplish these playoffs.

“I remember listening to the first broadcast, and another team’s player was calling us boys out here in Salt Lake,” said Merrill. “And so I hope the men on the other three teams are ready, because the boys from Salt Lake are coming to Championship Weekend, baby.”

The Salt Lake Shred will face the Boston Glory for a shot at the championship August 22 in Madison, WI. Boston is coming off a dominant 17-9 victory over the DC Breeze.