Photo by Daniel Cohen
Written By: Ryan Baker, Journalist
The 2025 UFA season came to a close this past Saturday night with the Minnesota Wind Chill falling just short of a back-to-back title. The loss came at the hands of the Boston Glory by a score of 17-15.
This game was a battle of mind and body. Both teams were coming off their hardest-played games of the year just a night prior; players were worn down and dinged up. Both coaching staffs were on little to no sleep, prepping and game planning for the title game. All the effort and every ounce of sweat was left on that field at Breese Stevens Field by both sides.
“So much goes into what we’re building here. I always say we’re in the entertainment business. We love winning. We got competitors. These guys leave it on the field and care so much. All the people that came here, that showed out, back home at the watch party, none of this exists without them,” said head coach Ben Feldman.
The game started with a Boston break that came after a mistimed Thomas Shope jump turned the disc over, but Minnesota wasn’t going to let the first point get them down. Right out of the gate, you could tell each team had their advantages.
Minnesota was rotating defenders on Boston’s big three of Jeff Babbitt, Tobe Decraene, and Orion Cable. It was evident early that Cable’s size advantage was going to be an issue after he snatched three jump balls in the first quarter. Then, Decraene’s throwing ability was on full display all night, which Minnesota had a tough time guarding.
After the first 12 minutes, the Wind Chill were down 4-5. On the first point of the second quarter, Boston mishandled a beautiful pull by Cameron Lacy that stuck them in the back of the endzone, leading to a drop, and a Minnesota break from Tristan Van de Moortele to Paul Krenik.
Photo by Daniel Cohen
Fast-forwarding a few points, Minnesota began to shoot roller pulls to trap Boston on the sideline. It gave Boston fits as they dropped the disc, giving the Wind Chill a Gordon Larson to Will Brandt break score to tie the game at nine.
The Minnesota magic began to take shape towards the end of the half when Josh Klane was fooled by the crowd’s early countdown of the half and let go of a huck a few seconds early. However, the early release didn’t matter when Van de Moortele came down with the tipped goal to tie the game at 11 going into half.
This is where the wear and tear from the weekend started to play a factor. Boston’s physicality on defense was forcing Minnesota to run more than normal. In turn, it also forced the Wind Chill to take these cross-field shots that the gusty wind would, at times, dip the disc down, making it even harder to read.
“I think it was a bit of falling into our bad habits. Part of it was Boston’s structure. They were doing a good job of being physical with us, and we ended up disconnecting a couple of times. A lot of our turns were shots of 25-30 yards, away leading passes. Credit to them on the physicality and preparation,” said Bryan Vohnoutka.
The first two points of the second half combined for nearly half the quarter in terms of time. After two bad huck attempts by the Wind Chill on back-to-back points that Boston turned into breaks, they were down 11-15 with three minutes left in the quarter. A trade-off on the last two points of the third set the scene of a four-point deficit Minnesota would have to close in the last 12 minutes of the season.
“All the pressure is on us at that point, because we’re down. Boston had all the time in the world. They’re just trying to waste clock. We had to sell out,” said James Pollard.
Photo by Meghan White
Behind the energy from their fans, the Minnesota magic came back to play. It was déjà vu from the night prior. A four-point deficit with the clock as their enemy didn’t stop the Wind Chill. A layout Bret Bergmeier block turned into a Van de Moortele to Krenik break score.
Following that, a few turns by both teams ended with another break for Minnesota, coming at the hands of a Josh Klane to Vohnoutka score. All of a sudden, it was 14-16 with six and a half minutes remaining. At this point, both teams were run down. Both teams were making execution errors, but the Wind Chill made a few more that allowed Boston to waste time.
In a span of just two minutes, the Glory had three drops, but Minnesota was unable to convert a single one into a break. With less than 70 seconds left on the clock, a prayer was sent by Brandt downfield to Greg Cousins in hopes of snatching a quick score. Reaching over the Boston defender with his off-hand, Cousins came down with a miraculous grab just short of the endzone. However, a Brandt cross-field attempt to a diving Quinn Snider hit the ground just before the fingertips of Snider took away any hope for the Wind Chill.
“We just had to be a little bit cleaner. When you fall behind against a really good team that is the best at possession and can kill the clock, it’s tough. They had great pressure defensively, disconnecting us a little bit. It was a long weekend. Both teams were worn down, so hats off to them,” said Feldman.
Photo by Daniel Cohen
We did see Minnesota’s offense play well for most of the game. The O-line converted half of their chances and debunked a lot of people’s thoughts of their lackluster offense this weekend. The downfall was the huck percentage, break percentage, and redzone conversion rate.
The Wind Chill attempted nearly double the number of hucks Boston did, but completed just one more than the Glory. Out of 17 break chances, Minnesota only cashed in five of those, compared to Boston’s 8/19 stat line on break chances. Finally, a team we watched punch in red zone scores consistently all year, only went 11/15 on the night, while Boston went 13/15.
“We’re not going to win every game. It’s an extremely good team over there with two of the best players in the world. We had some magic tonight with some inconsistencies, and it just wasn’t quite enough,” said Feldman.
This game was about physicality, controlling the disc, and mitigating execution mistakes. The stat book doesn’t pop off the page. Van de Moortele led the team in assists with three. Snider corralled in three goals on the night, also a team-high. Meanwhile, Bergmeier and Noah Hanson both had two blocks apiece. Finally, we saw seven players amass at least 200 total yards.
The scene after was heartbreaking for Minnesota fans and the players. After shaking hands with Boston, a wave of emotions covered the Wind Chill squad. As players and coaches were hugging with tears running down each face, you could tell that this team had put in so much hard work and effort.
Photo by Daniel Cohen
“It was fun. We did almost exactly what we talked about. It was always going to be a year for me, but the plan was to come and learn and get another championship. Justin [Burnett] and I brought the energy of having not won anything, so we really wanted that,” said Pollard.
A second-place finish for Minnesota is surely going to be the biggest fuel to the fire when it comes to the 2026 season. We will have to see how the roster changes as the offseason progresses, but look for this team to be back next year.
“Emotionally, this team is super resilient. This team’s got a lot of fight. When our fans are here and cheering us on, we’re believing in each other. We’re always in it. The first half was probably one of our best offensive performances of the year. I’m super proud of these guys. It was a tough loss, but Boston’s a good team. We’ll be ready to reload and come back next year,” said Vohnoutka.
