Author: Ryan Baker

Photos: SEDIII Productions & Daniel Cohen

For anybody waiting for the Indianapolis AlleyCats to finally hit their stride and produce the anticipated results, this weekend was it.

They opened with a historic performance, blowing the Madison Radicals out of the water Friday night at Breese Stevens Field, 31-18. Then, two days later, they beat the Chicago Union for the third time this season, 24-20.

Madison has only lost by double digits once in program history, and that loss came against the Minnesota Wind Chill by 11. Indy topped that mark, handing them their biggest loss in franchise history by 13.

“I think we finally were able to exhale,” Head Coach Nathan Bussberg said. “Finally, we hit our stride against Madison.”

The AlleyCats didn’t surrender a break the entire game, meaning their offense held 100 percent of the time except for an end-of-quarter situation they didn’t score on. It was the highest hold percentage in a single game in franchise history, the highest O-line conversion rate in franchise history, and the first time Madison did not accrue a single break throughout an entire game.

There were several historic moments in this game. William Wettengel tied a franchise single game record for blocks with teammate Jason Kempe, go on the road and score 30 points against an opponent other than Detroit, and the first time an opponent had score 30+ points at Breese Stevens Field. 

“I think offensively, never getting broken is something you can't predict, especially against Madison who is known for their defense. Defensively, we just held tight to our game plan, rotating through our X/Y D-lines, and it worked,” Bussberg said.

They were firing on all cylinders from the jump. Elliot Hawkins rattled off the first three assists, then Jack Galle produced a block to give Indy their break of the night. They followed up that first break with another one that was topped off by a Jake Felton to Sofiène Bontemps huck.

Up by three heading into the second quarter, Indy kept the pressure on. The first 10 points of the quarter went back and forth, but no point lasted longer than 40 seconds. Before long, it was 11-9 with half the quarter still to play.

In the second quarter alone, Felton had five of his eight assists. He ended the night with 581 total yards, a 7 plus/minus, and just one turnover on 29 completions.

William Wettengel then had two blocks on back-to-back points that fueled Indy’s four-point run. There were 18 combined scores in the second quarter, and the AlleyCats took a five-point lead into halftime.

The scoring didn’t stop there. Thirteen more goals were scored in the third quarter, and Indy came away with eight of them. That included two breaks and four more assists from Hawkins. He ended the night with nine assists, 749 total yards, and four goals, continuing his unbelievable season.

The fourth quarter added salt to the wound for the Radicals. Three straight breaks came right away on the backs of blocks from Avi Ghitterman and Connor Blalack. Then Kai Creed and Jeremiah Branson joined the fourth-quarter block party, giving Indy two more breaks.

“I think Friday was a peek at what’s possible with this team,” Cameron Brock stated. “That being said, we know that game is isolated to its own time. We can’t do that once and say we’ve arrived. We need to find ways to replicate the positives from that night over and over again.”

Everyone was able to get on the high-scoring affair as Brock had one assist, 6 goals, and a block. Bontemps added five goals and 332 receiving yards on top of two assists. Finally, Wettengel was a defensive nightmare, totaling seven blocks and adding four assists.

“I think when the team is playing well, anyone can have a big statistical night,” Brock said. “I’m really just concerned with helping us flow and get the disc back. I was happiest about being able to help get the disc back and grinding out the unders. When we play to open hands and open space, we are really hard to deal with.”

The masterful 13-point domination had to go into the rearview mirror immediately, as Indy needed to gear up for its game against the Union.  

In a complete opposite fashion, Indy started slowly, going down by three off the rip. They pushed through adversity and went on a four-point run after capitalizing on repeated Chicago mistakes. They took the lead and ended the first quarter up by two.

The lead continued to grow as more Union mishaps occurred, and Indy remained patient on the transition offense. They weren’t forcing as many shots and were able to walk in the disc continually. They got their lead up to five at two separate points before halftime.

Then, more adversity hit. After a couple of throwaways and drops, the Union crawled back into the game and broke the AlleyCats three times in the third quarter. The game was tied heading into the final 30 seconds, but a Hawkins-to-Bontemps score with six seconds left gave them a 17-16 lead.

“I am happy that when faced with adversity during our Chicago game, early on and in the 3rd, we were able to bounce back,” Brock recalled. “We lost those games early in the season. I thought that was a big growth point for us that we can take home from Sunday’s game.”

The final 12 minutes were eerily similar to their last game against Chicago. About halfway through the final quarter, Indy poured on the defensive pressure and rattled off four straight points. A Joel Close insane layout callahan and forced turnovers gave them a 24-19 lead with just under three minutes to play.

The same guys from the Madison game seamlessly carried over the momentum. Hawkins tallied five more assists, two more goals, and 536 more total yards. Felton added three assists and a block. Brock had two assists, three goals, and two blocks. Bontemps scored five goals, added three assists, and got a block.

Hawkins is now at 42 assists through six games, which is the sixth most this season. Meanwhile, Felton’s big weekend puts him at 35 through nine games, which is the eighth most.

The team finally showcased how dangerous they can be when they are clicking. The two wins put them at 4-5 on the season and back in third place in the Central Division. It’ll be a matter of controlling their own destiny to secure that playoff spot.

The AlleyCats have put themselves in position to clinch that playoff spot with a win over the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds next weekend in their final home game of the season.