Ryan Baker
The Madison Radicals got back on track this past Friday with a commanding 31-19 win over the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds. On top of that, the Radicals officially clinched their spot in the playoffs for the third straight season.
Pittsburgh was running with a skeleton squad, as several top players were out, but Madison still played crisp and put together four solid quarters. The O-line held at 90 percent, missing just two opportunities. The D-line conversion rate was boosted by Pittsburgh's 21 turnovers. Two of Madison's biggest numbers were going 23-for-23 in the red zone and committing only nine turnovers.
The game started strong for Madison. The first point took over two minutes off the clock, and after a Thunderbird turnover, the Radicals' D-line posted an 18-throw possession that ended in a Victor Luo to Sterling Knoche break score. The second point followed the same pattern for Pittsburgh, and Madison used the shorter field to cash in its second break to Kyle Conniff.
“It’s nice when the defense scores two breaks in a row, but I try not to get that much relief, especially during the beginning of the game,” Anthony Gutowsky said. “I want our defense to score as many as possible until the game ends, and once that final buzzer goes off, then I can be relieved.”
It was a patient quarter for the offense, and Madison took a 6-3 lead into the second. Pieran Robert and Max Sample rounded out the scoring, each with two goals.
The theme of the second quarter was short fields for the Radicals. They put up 10 goals, half of them from breaks, and Pittsburgh kept giving them less than 30 yards to score on many of those chances. The highlights came from Conniff, who had a massive layout block and added two more goals, and Max Junga, who skied two defenders and punched in the score to Conniff one throw later.
Heading into halftime, Madison led 16-8. At the break, the Radicals converted 8 of 11 break chances and committed just five turnovers. Pittsburgh had only two break chances and 12 turnovers.
The third quarter was when everyone got involved, and the wealth was shared. Sam Stark had two assists, including a gorgeous flick huck to Robert. Mitchell McCarthy joined the layout block party, then added a goal of his own. Out of Madison's eight goals in the third, seven different players scored.
The fourth quarter was the most even and cleanest of the four. Neither team had a break, and there were just five total turnovers. Eric Sjostrom threw two assists in the frame and added a beautiful huck to Jack Nelson that led to the 31st score of the night.
Overall, Robert was the headliner, grabbing seven goals, one block, and two assists for a plus/minus of 10, doubling the next Radical. Those seven goals moved Robert to second in the league in goals scored, with 40 on the season. Gabe Vordick and Conniff had four goals each, while Sample and Nelson each had three.
Nico Ranabhat led the throwing end with over 500 total yards and five assists. Sjostrom played incredibly well, finishing with four assists and 464 total yards. Kelsen Alexander also had four assists, and Stark and Luo each added three.
"We needed that bounce-back game," Ranabhat said. "Our defense found its identity again, and we reminded ourselves that we can ball. Clinching a playoff spot feels good for about five minutes. It was never a question of if, but more a question of when that clinch would come."
Defensively, Madison's 14 blocks came from 10 different players, with Gutowsky leading the way with three. Junga and Knoche were just behind with two each.
One of the underlying stats from the game was that Robert and Gutowsky led both teams in points played. Robert played 31, and Gutowsky played 32. It will be interesting to see how their usage goes the rest of the way, considering they are the team’s two biggest playmakers.
"We will have to keep an eye on that with two games this weekend," Head Coach Jacob Spiro said. "D-line played a lot this past weekend, so in a typical game, Gumby will have fewer opportunities than that. With the season winding down, we let all the work we've done for our fitness carry us through."
It was a good overall win against an underwhelming opponent. Spiro has kept the same mindset all year and has done a great job of keeping his team even-keeled after each game.
At 6-4, Madison is now one win or one Indy loss away from clinching that home playoff game. That is still in the air, but their opponent is locked in and will be the AlleyCats in two weeks. The Radicals can't quite future-pace yet, as they will wrap up their 2026 regular season with a doubleheader weekend against Chicago and Minnesota.
"Taking goals step-wise, qualifying is job one; now we turn to hosting a playoff game," Spiro said. "The process stays the same."
The Radicals can earn a home playoff game with a win Friday night at Breese Stevens Field against the Chicago Union!
