Photo by Rich Moll
Written By: Ryan Baker, Journalist
This past Saturday, the Minnesota Wind Chill kicked off the back half of their season by hosting the Indianapolis AlleyCats, and it was a bloodbath.
The final score was 31-14, but what was more shocking was the score at halftime. The Wind Chill were up 17-2 coming out of the second quarter, not letting up a single break. While that may seem shocking to some, the real headline comes from the community that showed up at Sea Foam Stadium.
The Wind Chill broke their attendance record with 1,515 fans in the stands, beer garden, and around the field. Despite the 100+ feels-like temperatures, the fans still came to support.
Photo by Rich Moll
“It was amazing seeing the Ultimate community coming out for youth night and helping raise money for our newly launched foundation. I’d like to thank Steve Sabes, Dylan [DeClerck], and Dylan's family for planning an incredible evening. It's awesome. We’re hoping to grow this thing, and keep adding value, not just on the field. Getting more people playing and exposed to the sport. It's rewarding. I'm glad people turned out in the heat, and nice to get the win, too,” said head coach Ben Feldman.
The game started great for Minnesota as they rattled off six straight breaks to open up Youth Night. That led to them closing out the quarter up 8-1 and they never looked back. The second quarter held the same theme when the Wind Chill scored five straight times, including four more breaks. One score by Indy, then four more straight by the home team put up that crooked number on the scoreboard.
Indy was just 2/26 on O-line conversions and had 24 turnovers at halftime. On the flip side, Minnesota accumulated 14 breaks and converted on all three of their O-line chances. The second half was a bit more even-keeled given that Minnesota outscored Indy by just two scores in the second half.
Indy struggled with the massive pulls by Minnesota that pinned them in their own endzone. With the wind switching from its normal direction, the AlleyCats couldn’t seem to catch a break trying to work it up the field.
Photo by Meghan White
The Wind Chill also had a focus on keeping their O-line steady with the changes to the roster for this game. Without Will Brandt, Quinn Snider, and Paul Krenik, the team didn’t have some of their heavyweights on the offensive side. That proved to be not an issue, at all. Furthermore, it was probably the crispest we’ve seen this Minnesota offense play all year.
“We worked through some structural things and did a nice job implementing it this week in practice. It was not only better tonight, but we have the biggest test this season in two weeks. We have to take these next two weeks with our practice reps and film and study to be prepared to play our best game,” said Feldman.
The offense had a 73% hold rate, only missed three opportunities in the red zone, and had just 18 turnovers, a lot of those coming in the fourth quarter.
Individually, it seemed as if everyone boosted their stats for the season in this one. The Combat Candy Flexecutioner of the Game was awarded to Dylan DeClerck given his six-goal, two block, and one assist performance. DeClerck’s itch for the end zone in this one gave him the team lead for goals so far in 2025.
The stats didn’t stop there. Tristan Van de Moortele had four goals with three assists, while Gordon Larson put up four goals and two assists. We also saw Bret Bergmeier, Colin Berry, and Bryan Vohnoutka all throw three assists in the rout. Not to mention, Gabe Jagt had a killer game in the deep space, reaching 268 receiving yards which was the highest mark by either team.
Photo by Rich Moll
“We’ve known all year that we haven’t been performing to our standards. I think because they were gone, we all knew we also had to focus a little bit more in their absence. At practice and preparing for this game, we were much more intentional with the offense. I think our spacing was great today, and we were hitting a ton of big gainers. That was one of the points of emphasis,” said Larson.
On the defensive side, six players had multi-block games. The aforementioned DeClerck, Thomas Shope, and Noah Hanson had two blocks apiece, but James Pollard, Matthew Johnson, and Blake Krapfl had three each.
The win built on the momentum Minnesota had going, puts them at 6-1, and gives them more confidence heading into their bye week. The team will be able to rest up and prepare for a rematch with the Union on the Fourth of July. That game will be one to watch, and the Wind Chill will need to come away as the winner if they want to keep their hopes alive of claiming the one seed and hosting the central division championship game in August.
