Indy Double Header & Crossing the Border 

Author: Ryan Baker

Photos: SEDIII Productions

The end of the 2026 regular season has arrived, and it closes with an Indianapolis AlleyCat road trip doubleheader.

This weekend, Indy will do its most traveling of the season, heading to Pittsburgh for a Friday rematch with the Thunderbirds just a week after their first meeting. The second game comes quickly, with the AlleyCats crossing the border to face the Toronto Rush on Saturday night.

Indy will see a much different Pittsburgh squad than the one it faced last week in the dominant 24-14 win. That second matchup is also unfamiliar, as they have never played the Rush in franchise history.

The AlleyCats will cover over 1,200 miles over the weekend and bring a squad that is not as strong as it could be. The final week's absences include Xavier Payne, William Wettengel, Jonathan Mast, and Sofiène Bontemps. Then, the team will lose Kai Creed for the second game.

“I’m bummed that some of our teammates won’t be able to make it this weekend because we have a tight-knit team,” said Captain Seth Gudeman. “I enjoy getting to spend time with all the players on the roster. I’m excited to see some guys get meaningful reps who have not had a chance this season - our whole roster has been putting in a ton of work, and this is a great opportunity.”

Despite the long hours of travel, settling into each venue, and the grueling mental and physical battles it can take on players, Head Coach Nathan Bussberg sees travel as a strength for his team this year. They are 2-2 on the road, but their point differential away from Indianapolis is plus eight with a chance to increase that this weekend.

“Maybe it’s time together, maybe it’s just different atmospheres, but we’re just embracing the road warrior mentality,” Bussberg commented. “Getting to experience new things as a team is always exciting.”

This weekend will be more about fine-tuning for the playoffs than anything. In terms of playoff seeding, if Madison wins on Friday against Chicago, Indy will be locked into the third seed and will travel to Madison for the first round.

“I’d love to see us be successful at the few minor details we’re going to hyperfocus on,” Bussberg said. “Two wins with a shot at hosting playoffs is awesome. However, selling out to refine for playoffs is our goal.”

The major points to watch this weekend will be the team's decision-making, specifically the D-line offense, and the defensive pressure. The offense hasn’t been something to typically worry about with the AlleyCats. The combination of Gudeman, Cameron Brock, Jake Felton, and Elliot Hawkins is among the best in the league.

“All I want to see from myself is having fun and playing for my teammates,” Felton said. “I've been more consistent than in my Detroit years but still haven't shown repeatable consistency, so that's what the goal is for this doubleheader.”

While the offense had a rough outing against Pittsburgh last week, expectations are that it will bounce back against a team that has allowed more 30-point games than not this season.

“Pittsburgh will have a lot of their pieces back,” Bussberg said. “We can’t have the offensive performance we had last time around and expect a win. We have to clean our game up.”

Conversely, the defense set a franchise record for break percentage in that game against Pittsburgh, so it will be interesting to see if they can continue that momentum. There shouldn’t be any thought that they will be able to repeat that performance, but carrying it over and using it as momentum will be big for this team as they head into the playoffs.

“Our approach to these games is no different than it was at the start of the season,” Gudeman said. “We want to see our O-line and D-line consistently play at our ceiling. That may feel more important now that the playoffs are approaching, but the goal hasn’t changed.”

As for the Toronto game, on the outside, it should be a relatively easy win. However, looking a bit deeper, it really depends on which Toronto team shows up. They had a two-point win against Boston earlier in the season and put up 33 points on the Thunderbirds, but they’ve also lost to Oregon and Montreal.

“We’ll focus on the things we can control,” Gudeman said. “If we really wanted the two seed, we should have taken care of business in our earlier matchups. There’s nothing we can do about those games now, so all of our attention is on playing our best this weekend.”

Indy can’t count on this Rush team to lie down and not put up a fight, so coming out firing and focusing on defensive pressure will be a key factor in Saturday night’s game.

The excitement is there. Indy gets to play without expectations hanging over their head. Without any playoff implications, they can bring the game back down to its core: having fun. By no means does this mean they don’t have to take these matchups seriously, but they do get to let go a bit more this weekend.

“I'm super excited,” Felton said. “Everything about this trip seems like a good time. I get to go to another country and hang out with the team for two days, along with playing against one of my college teammates and friends, Rowan Jamieson, in a game that could potentially mean a home playoff game. What more could you really ask for in the last game/weekend of the season?”

“I’ve been thoroughly excited for this road trip,” Bussberg said. “Not the hours in a car per se, but just to hang out with people I enjoy being around. They’ve made this year extremely special to me, and I hope they feel the same.”

To watch the Friday night game against Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. EST, go here!

To watch the Saturday night game against Toronto at 6 p.m. EST, go here!