Ryan Baker
The Madison Radicals’ season ended this past Sunday night when the Indianapolis AlleyCats visited. It was a tough loss, with the team struggling to keep possession, especially near the end zone.
Before this game, the Radicals had beaten Indy three times by a total of six goals, but lost badly in their last meeting. Many thought that if Madison could slow down Indy’s offense, they would control the game. They managed to do that on Sunday, but their own offense let them down.
“We didn’t take care of the ball. We controlled the pacing of the game and put ourselves in positions to succeed but made mistakes with the disc,” said Head Coach Jacob Spiro.
The game opened up patiently for Madison’s O-line, taking just over 60 seconds to punch in the first goal of the game by way of a rifle from Eric Sjostrom to Jack Nelson. The success continued on the next point when Victor Luo jumped the lane of a swing pass, knocking it to the turf, fueling the first break of the game.
The Radicals were feeling the momentum and followed the 2-0 lead with an Anthony Gutowsky layout block in the end zone, but a couple throws later he floated a flick huck that the AlleyCat defender boxed out Kyle Conniff to get the disc back. Indy ended up scoring their first goal on that point.
The fourth point of the game took over a fourth of the quarter, lasting four minutes and nine seconds. Ian McCosky had a red zone turnover that went right over the fingertips of Sam Stark; Sjostrom also had a red zone turnover, and then Mitchell McCarthy turned over the third chance the Radicals had to score on the point. Indy tied up the game, breaking the Madison offense.
By the end of the first quarter, the score was tied at three and momentum was at a stalemate. But the first point of the second quarter gave a swing of momentum towards the Radicals after Pieran Robert got a block, setting up a great box-out goal from Sterling Knoche on a Mac Weber huck.
The rest of the first half was back and forth, trading the next seven points, but during a grueling point that lasted nearly two minutes, Max Sample had a turnover that was easily blocked by Indy, and gave Indy a break to take a one-score lead heading into halftime.
Even though Madison had multiple chances on the last point of the half, and over a minute to do so, they failed to convert. Going into halftime down 7-8, Madison dug themselves into a hole they tried to climb out of all game.
“As a whole we just had too many unforced errors,” Sjostrom said. “Indy played tough defense, and as the pressure ratcheted up we had too many instances of throws being just a bit too far or high or behind, and it bit us in the butt.”
A miscommunication between McCosky and Nico Ranabhat led to getting broken, pushing Madison down 7-9 and ground to make up the rest of the way. The teams went back to trading points for a few, but it was evident that Madison was lucking out on some possessions, especially after a tipped pass from Kainoa Chun-Moy found the hands of Sjostrom for a score.
Down 9-11, Gabe Vordick was struggling to find someone open in the red zone, tossed up a hammer on a late stall count that was snatched by an AlleyCat defender, leading to another break for Indy. Madison was able to throw a punch right back when Kelsen Alexander perfectly floated a huck that Knoche ran down in the end zone.
With less than a minute left, Madison had to score the final goal of the third quarter to make their lives easier in the fourth. Sjostrom’s prayer was answered by Robert, who caught the huck after it went through multiple defenders’ hands.
The Radicals were in this same spot in the first game of this season, against Indy. 12 minutes left and down by two. However, this time Madison was unable to take the lead at any point. They were able to tie up the game but couldn’t close it out.
There was hope after two straight breaks in just over two minutes right out the gate. Luo and Weber connected on the first break, and Sjsotrom and Ranabhat connected on the second. The nail in the coffin was another long point that stretched nearly four minutes. It was another red zone turnover on a very athletic play by the Indy defender and a poach block on the long point that Madison was broken on.
With just over two minutes left, Madison had too little time to get a hold and a break to tie it up. That was the last score of the game because the final point took up the rest of the clock after Indy held the possession after a throwaway from Vordick.
It was a very anticlimactic finish on an up-and-down season for the Radicals. Madison threw the long ball well, held just below the rate they normally do, and failed to convert on 13 break opportunities. The biggest difference maker was the six red zone turnovers, an area where they’ve struggled for a majority of the season.
“Their offense wasn’t really the issue,” Spiro said. “It was another dead wind game, and we handled their offense pretty well. If we make a couple different choices near the end zone, we win that game.”
Sjostrom had the best game in the last one of the season, accruing four assists, one goal, and over 300 total yards with just one turn. Nelson was next in line on the throwing end, piling up two assists, two goals, and 231 total yards.
“Having as many red zone turns as we did makes it hard to succeed in any game, but especially one that was as tight as last night,” Sjostrom said. “Hats off to the physicality and effort from Indy, but I think we’ll feel like this loss came from our own mistakes more than anything.”
McCosky, Robert, and Knoche were the other players with two goals. The biggest players for Madison didn’t produce in the way they normally would. McCosky, Robert, Ranabhat, Gutowsky, and Vordick all had relatively quiet games.
It’s a tough way to see the season close out. After going 7-5, having some hard-fought losses, and beating Indy three times during the regular season, Madison suffered its first-ever loss at home in the playoffs. Now, the team will have to regroup this offseason and figure out how to handle some impending losses.
