Photo By: Daniel Cohen
Written By: Ryan Baker, Journalist
For the first time since 1991, a men’s professional sports title returns to the state of Minnesota, courtesy of the Minnesota Wind Chill.
This past weekend, the Wind Chill traveled out to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a shot at the 2024 UFA title. Their first challenge wasn’t their first matchup. Rather, it was adjusting to the massive winds that were going to plague Zions Bank Stadium all weekend. With 20+ mph winds anticipated, and gusts much beyond that, every team knew that they were going to be going for a ride.
From the jump, there was an understanding that head coach Ben Feldman was going to need to make lineup adjustments throughout the weekend. That included putting top handlers on to defensive lines in anticipation of a turn by the Breeze. Also, taking into consideration upwind and downwind points, there was more of a need for players that draw size mismatches to be on those downwind points.
Well, thanks to the wind that Minnesota has to deal with in their own stadium, and going to lakefront stadiums multiple times a year in Madison and Chicago; they have much more experience in those intense weather games than most teams around the league. That experience showed throughout the whole weekend.
“The mantra all weekend was to “embrace the weird.” We knew with our experience at Sea Foam and with many of us coming from the North Central college region, we were going to be prepared to stomach the conditions better than all three other teams there. We wanted to recognize and be okay with not playing a perfect game and really just focus on earning as many turns as we could. Our guys were swarming every sloppy pass all weekend. Kudos to the offensive guys too. Many of them stepped up in defensive roles they haven’t had to all year, and their mentality shift to a defensive grind was also crucial to helping us secure two dubs,” said Brandon Matis.
The defensive grind was definitely there as in the semifinals matchup between Minnesota and the D.C. Breeze saw a total of 74 turnovers. Not to mention, completion percentage saw season lows for both teams with 82% from Minnesota and 86% from D.C. The Wind Chill were able to jump out to a 4-2 lead to conclude the first quarter, and kept that momentum into the second.
The third quarter is where things got scary for Minnesota fans. D.C. was able to put together a four-point run right out of halftime, and were able to tie up the game heading into the final quarter of the semifinal matchup. This is where the defensive grind came into effect. Minnesota grabbed four straight breaks to open up the fourth quarter.
With the score 15-12 and just over six minutes left in the game, Minnesota forced a long fought point that didn’t end up in their favor, but ate up over three minutes of clock. Then, a score from Bryan Vohnoutka to Paul Krenik sealed the game.
“I think we utilized the wind aspect of the game a lot better than D.C. did. It definitely played into our hand, getting lots of windy games at Sea Foam. It allowed us to work the field position game and play a grindy style of play that D.C. isn’t really used to,” said Quinn Snider.
That last score was Krenik’s third goal of the game, and Vohnoutka added that assist to a statline of three goals and one block. Snider, also, added on three goals, while Matt Rehder had four blocks and Thomas Shope had three blocks himself.
The semifinal win set up a championship game against the Carolina Flyers the next night. The wind hadn’t changed, and both teams knew it was going to be another dogfight. While both teams seemingly adjusted slightly to the barbaric winds, it was still a low-scoring, rather sloppy game.
“I was thinking a lot about my grandpa, actually. He passed Wednesday night and was a large part of my athletic journey when I was younger. Throwing in wind of that magnitude can often make you feel like you’re losing control, and I guess my mind being on my grandpa help bring me to the present state,” said Rehder.
We saw a total of 52 turnovers, however, and both completion percentages sat at 90%. The game started out all Minnesota, but not in a dominating way. Carolina had four straight uncovered drops that resulted in four straight breaks for the Wind Chill to open up the game.
“I think the self-inflicted mistakes made over the weekend by our opponents were shocking because it’s not what you expect from the best of the best. Especially in both games where your season is on the line. Their turns quickly led to us scoring multiple goals early on in both games. Everyone counted us out, including our opponents. When we took early leads it put a lot of pressure on the other team to execute in rough conditions and allowed us to loosen up and just play our game,” said Anthony Jirele.
The second quarter was much of the same, in terms of Minnesota taking care of business. Up 10-6 with under a minute left in the half, Josh Klane saw the disc in his hands in 100th career UFA game, made eye contact with Snider and put up a flick huck. Snider managed to snatch the disc over the Carolina defender to put Minnesota up 11-6. Then, in a matter of 30 seconds, Cameron Lacy served up one of his patented pulls, followed by a Krenik block – led to a Krenik to Noah Hanson goal.
“For some reason I found myself with a defender that wouldn’t normally be on me. As you can see in the video, I got the look and nod from Klane that I’ve gotten many times before, and he saw my eyes widen and get pretty excited, so we both knew we were on the same page. Klane threw it up immediately after it got whistled in, and I just relied on my instinct to go up and get it and avoid contact. I honestly blacked out after catching it but felt in the moment that it was a big play that we needed and it translated to another break for us right before the half the following point. I normally don’t show a ton of emotion in my celebrations so I was hoping the guys would see that fire and keep turning it up,” said Snider.
This is where the dogfight gets inserted. In the third quarter, Carolina was able to trim the deficit from six to four, and continued to do so when the fourth quarter began. Four straight breaks four Carolina tied up the game with just over six minutes remaining in the game.
“All weekend we said that good teams get theirs. We knew Carolina was going to punch back. They made the title game with us for a reason. I’m sure Max and Will had some Xs and Os changes for the O-line, but I think there was just extra intentionality around risk tolerance. Hitting open hands and taking smart shots (even punts at times) goes a long way when you’re playing with a lead and the clock advantage. The nice thing about the other team going run when you have the lead is that you always get to put the offense back out there to steady the ship. Their poise down the stretch was inspiring—and they came in clutch at the end,” said Matis.
A smooth O-line point with no turns, ended with a Vohnoutka to Will Brandt huck score. The very next point was a similar scene but flipped. After a turn by D.C., Minnesota took some time off the clock and punched a score in the endzone from Brandt to Vohnoutka. Up two with about three minutes left, the Wind Chill just needed to hang on. They did just that. The game ended in the hands of Vohnoutka, and just like that the Minnesota Wind Chill were the 2024 UFA champions.
In the championship game, Klane threw four assists, with Gordon Larson, Tristan Van de Moortele, and Vohnoutka following him with three apiece. Hanson grabbed four goals, with Snider adding three more on to his totals for the weekend. On top of that, Lacy controlled the game with his masterful pulls, but also added three blocks in the process.
Someone who hasn’t been mentioned as much in this recap was the championship weekend MVP, Will Brandt. Brandt was consistent all weekend and made big plays when it mattered most. In the championship game alone, Brandt posted 651 total yards, just three turnovers, two assists, two goals, and one block.
Here are some comments from various Wind Chill players on what bringing the first UFA title to Minnesota meant to them:
“It's so rewarding. Adding a new kind of championship to the trophy is always a sweet feeling and to do so as the four seed that almost no one gave a chance is extra sweet,” said Van de Moortele.
“It means everything. The work that has gone into this team and organization since its inception is remarkable. This has always been the ultimate goal of our team and it really feels like we went through all the heartache and growing pains to get here to achieve our goal and it all paid off this weekend. It’s truly a remarkable feeling, to be able to get this done for guys like Klane, B-Von, Colin, Matis, Feldman, all the vets. It’s truly a very very special feeling. Since joining this group in 2019, it’s felt like a family and the amount of work the leadership group puts in every year, to be able to accomplish this is something I can’t put into words honestly,” said Snider.
“I’ve been trying to find the right words since Saturday and really haven’t yet. A lot of literal blood, sweat, and tears has gone into building this thing. We’ve grown tremendously as an organization and team over these 11 seasons. It takes a village to do that, and I’m thankful and proud that the hard work and sacrifice of so many of us has culminated in a title at least once. And look, I might have seemed crazy buying into this thing called Pro Frisbee from the jump, but most of my best memories and experiences have come from being part of this—and a Championship is the pinnacle. Grateful. Eternally grateful. We’re the champions of the first season of a new era of Pro Frisbee, and that’s etched in history and our hearts forever,” said Matis.
Overall, in the words of Snider, “Like it or not, the Minnesota Wind Chill are your 2024 UFA champions and you can never take that away.”
