By Nate Church
An intense battle of wills ensued on Saturday evening between the Salt Lake Shred and the Seattle Cascades that ultimately fell in Seattle’s favor 20-19.
The feeling of intensity and physicality could be felt from the opening pull. Both teams were facing a must-win situation, fighting for a West division spot in the playoffs. Coming off a win the night before in Portland, Salt Lake seemingly had the energy they needed to pull out a win.
After receiving the opening pull, Seattle didn’t get very far before Shred’s Reed Browning dashed their opening drive momentum with a layout block, giving Salt Lake an early opportunity to draw first blood. After a few quick passes, they did just that, with Anthony Mounga playing through contact and scoring in the front corner of the endzone.
“Reed Browning had a great weekend,” said coach Bryce Merrill. “[He had] a couple of key blocks to establish our pace and tone early.”
Matching Shred’s energy, the Cascades quickly worked their way down the field. After a few decisive passes, Conor Belfield ripped the disc towards the endzone. Turning on the jets, Marc Munoz put his body on the line, laying out full extension and catching the disc in his left hand.
Tied at 1-1, it became clear that both teams were willing to pay whatever price to walk away with a win.
The energy heightened even more later in the first quarter when Seattle’s Jack Brown rose above Salt Lake’s Kimball Pew, snatching the contested disc. In defiant celebration, Brown stood over Pew and spiked the disc, almost striking Pew in the head. Jumping up, Pew shoved Brown who fell dramatically to the ground.
The scuffle resolved quickly, with Brown receiving a penalty. Any momentum the Shred could have gained from the penalty was snuffed by a last-second score by Seattle, putting them ahead 5-3 to end the first.
The second quarter saw some victories for Salt Lake, including a takeaway that led to a deep throw that was caught by Simon Dastrup in the endzone. The Shred won the quarter 6 goals to 5. The third quarter saw much of the same but Seattle ultimately won the quarter.
The fourth quarter brought the best out of both teams. Salt Lake came out swinging with a quick score by Dastrup, putting his team within one. The two teams kept trading blows through the first minutes of the quarter but Seattle remained on top.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the Cascades had a string of plays and turnovers go their way and pulled ahead 19-15.
In the final six minutes, Salt Lake crawled their way back with a series of break points that saw a critical goal by Ben Ashton at the two-minute mark. However, just 30 seconds later, Seattle ripped the disc the majority of the field and scored. With a minute and a half left, the Cascades led 20-18.
Working their way quickly down the field, Salt Lake sliced through the Seattle defense. A smooth downfield throw caught by Chad Yorgason was quickly side-armed to a sprinting Matt Russnogle. Catching up to the frisbee, Russnogle dove forward and caught the disc.
The quick score put the Shred within one with less than 45 seconds left. The following pull put Seattle deep into their own territory. But despite all the drama of the evening, Seattle simply ran out the clock and secured the victory, 20-19.
The Salt Lake Shred travel across the country to take on the Madison Rascals next Thursday, June 18. The following night the Shred heads to Minnesota for a matchup against the Central division powerhouse Minnesota Wind Chill.
