Los Angeles falls to 0-3 as temperatures sat in the high 80s at the start of the game

High temperatures and the high-flying Hustle vanquished Los Angeles’ chance at an upset. The Aviators struggled against the reigning South Division champions, falling to the Atlanta Hustle 26-18.

During the hottest day of the year to date in Los Angeles — when temperatures rose to the mid-90s before dropping to the high-80s for the first pull — the Hustle lived true to their name, scoring 40 seconds into the game. The run wouldn’t stop there as Atlanta recorded its first break on the very next point to lead 2-0 after 90 seconds, a lead it would not relinquish. 

The Aviators quickly went down 4-0 before scoring with 6:16 left in the first quarter off a 42-yard sling from Sean McDougall to Kevin Goldberg on Los Angeles’ fourth offensive point.  While the Aviators did record two clean holds in the opening period, slow starts have been a problem for LA. Across the last two games, Los Angeles has been outscored 16-6 in the first quarter.

“If you kind of look at the game, you can see that we weren't quite prepared for the intensity and the speed that a top of the team will always bring.,” McDougall said after the loss. “It's unfortunate, because it was really only one quarter, [then] we had a really hard time coming back. One of the things that we need to do is that we need to take our warm ups a little bit more seriously. … That way people kind of get that feel for the real game.”

The second quarter started out much cleaner for the Aviators, as they opened with a pair of holds to match its goal total from the first period only 2:32 into the second. Baumer’s O-line worked the disc in the second, not suffering a break after surrendering five in the first. But the Hustle continued to show their offensive dominance, scoring at will. Atlanta had eight holds in the first half and only two of them lasted longer than a minute, with the Hustle showing swift movement and nifty disc work.

Even with the traded points, the Hustle still had a six-goal lead heading into halftime. Atlanta only recorded three breaks in the second half, while LA could muster just one across the entire game, which happened with two seconds left on the clock. The Hustle offense put on a clinic, committing a mere eight turns across the entire game. 

“That's something that's happened in all three games now that whatever happens early in the game, the offense starts to figure it out,” Baumer said after the game. “Great teams [like the Hustle] still know how to do what they want to do, and they were still able to do what they wanted to do most of the game. So it's again, us just getting better every day. We are, for sure, a better team right now than we were two hours ago, than we were 10 days ago.”

The east coast squad came into the night second in the league with its 82.4% hold percentage, but Atlanta improved on that percentage against Los Angeles and held in all but three of its 20 tries, but two of those non-holds added up to a combined five seconds of game time at the end of third and fourth quarters. Karl Ekwurtzel led the way for the Hustle offense, putting up five scores. But it was the facilitator in Austin Taylor who shined the brightest. Even though he only put up four assists — which was tied for second-highest total on the team — he led the squad in both throwing and total yards.

“That's the problem, you look up and down their lineup and you go, ‘That guy's good, that guy's better, that guy's great, that guy's MVP caliber,’” Baumer said. “It's not like you can just say, ‘Okay, we're gonna let these two guys run their offense, because those two guys are the best players in their college region. Or they're still 98% completion guys, or they're still 400-yard game guys.”

Despite the loss, the Aviators still had some star performances of their own. Sean McDougall continued his strong start to the season, notching four assists which is tied with Jonathan Lyle for the team lead. While he is more known for his goal-scoring abilities, second on the Aviators with his seven goals this season, McDougall adapted his game to help lead the offense against Atlanta.

“It's one of those where you kind of have to be able to play both ways,” said McDougall. “I prefer scoring goals. Obviously it's a lot easier and a lot quicker, but when the team needs you to be a little bit more dynamic, you have to step up to that position.”

Lyle had an important role to play in Los Angeles’ fourth quarter, slinging three of his assists in the fourth quarter. The left-hander was clicking with the 6-foot-6 James Franklin, who caught all of Lyle’s fourth-quarter assists for a combined 143 yards.

Along with Franklin, rookie Max Combs took over the scoring duties for McDougall, notching five goals despite not scoring any across his first two UFA games. Combs has had a very strong start to his pro career, totaling those five goals plus two assists and five blocks through his first three games. “They've been moving me around to different roles to try and see what I'm good at,” Combs said after the game. “So I've been trying to fit in as best I can and tonight, the disc was just finding me. I’m gonna continue to adapt and continue to improve on the season so tonight was a great start for that.”

The Aviators get another crack at the San Diego Growlers, facing off against their division rivals on the road this Friday at 7 p.m. You can catch the game on https://www.watchufa.tv/