Lansing, MI - The Pittsburgh Thunderbirds (2-0) defeated the Detroit Mechanix (0-1) on Sunday, May 11th by a score of 22-17 in what was a high-intensity, physical game.

The League has seen many games impacted by inclement weather, but Sunday's affair saw sunny conditions with a temperature hovering around 71 degrees with minimal wind. The responsibility to jump out ahead and make a play would lie on the defenses, and the Mechanix successfully put pressure on the Thunderbirds offense in the 1st quarter. 

Rookie Darren Dyer, playing in his first ever UFA game for the Mechanix, recorded 2 blocks in the 1st quarter. The Mechanix would force 7 total turnovers in the 1st quarter alone (4 from the offense and 3 from the defense). The Thunderbirds would only turn the Frisbee over 7 more times the rest of the game. 

Down 5-4 with 0:09 left in the 1st quarter, the Thunderbirds would capture some momentum back as Jojah McMonigal (who was awarded the Flock-Star Player of the Game) would launch a 33-yard forehand into the end-zone to a contested Charlie Vukovic. Vukovic proceeded to emphatically sky both his defenders as time expired to tie the game at 5's. 

The momentum completely shifted at a critical juncture with 1:33 left in the 2nd quarter. With the Thunderbirds up 10-9 after scoring on a 55-yard huck from Jon Mast to Marcel Oliart, the coaching staff decided to double-shift both McMonigal and Oliart to play the very next defensive point. This move immediately paid dividends as McMonigal would notch a run-through block on a pass from Mechanix rookie David Zoldan. 

After a Thunderbirds timeout, the Thunderbirds offense would convert the break chance opportunity by completing 22 total passes and bleeding the clock down to 0:11 to make it an 11-9 lead. The lead would never be relinquished for the rest of the game.

Starting the 2nd half, the Thunderbirds o-line would hold again, growing the lead to 3. All 7 players on the o-line finished with at least 1 goal, and 6 of the 7 o-line players finished with at least 1 assist.

The next time the Thunderbirds will face the Mechanix will be Sunday, June 22nd at 4PM in Pittsburgh at Highmark Stadium. It will be the final time the two teams face off in the 2025 UFA regular season. 

Next-Up: The Thunderbirds travel to Madison, Wisconsin to take on the Madison Radicals. The storyline: the Thunderbirds are 0-11 all-time in Madison at Breese Stevens Field. Due to the the fact this will be the only time these two teams meet in 2025, the winner will have a massive leg-up in the Central Division play-off race. Watch of WatchUFA-tv

Next Home Game: The Thunderbirds host the Minnesota Wind Chill on Saturday, Mat 24th at 6PM at Highmark Stadium. Tickets can be purchased here. Flex plans can be purchased here and will save fans money.