Photo credit: Norman Timonera
July 22, 2024
By Grant Loehrke
As the 2024 regular season draws to a close, the Chicago Union ended their schedule with a capstone repeat game against the Detroit Mechanix, whom the Union defeated in their very first game of the year back in May. On top of a commanding final score of 24-14, some other positive Union news came out of this past weekend: with the Madison Radicals’ victory over the Indianapolis AlleyCats to cap their season, the Union have now officially clinched a playoff berth in the UFA Central Division, and enter the first round of playoffs next weekend.
A complete pivot from last week’s performance in Madison, the Union led in almost every UFA metric against Detroit on Sunday afternoon. Blocks were key to Chicago’s defense (the team tallied 19), five of which were produced by Lane Tech Ultimate product Nate Astrom (who also led the team in plus/minus). Detroit’s 27 turnovers were enough for the Union to capitalize on, many being worked back downfield and received in the end zone by Wilson Matthews, who recorded 5 goals on the afternoon.
Photo credit: Norman Timonera
Union captain Sam Kaminsky kept his trademark consistency alive with 35 completions while on offense. The basic skills of throwing and catching has been Chicago’s forte throughout the season, and Kaminsky has excelled in those fundamentals. Break percentage, D-line conversion, and O-line conversion were all dominated by the Union, with margins between the two teams over 20% in all three stat lines. While Jake Felton of Detroit led his squad in four of the UFA’s big-6 categories, this one-man show was not enough to get the entire team over the hump. Yet again, the Union seemed to have a height advantage, and 6’ 6” Redhawk Ultimate coach Joe Cercello is no exception. Chicago used Cercello as a monster in zone coverage, while also having him pull on defensive points so he could prepare his deep threat strategy. The Union will likely need to keep capitalizing on their height moving into the playoffs, as many teams outside the region have loads of deep threats that past champions have not been afraid to use.
Photo credit: Norman Timonera
The Union will lay out head-first into the postseason, with a quick turnaround rematch against the division rival Madison Radicals next Sunday, July 28, at 5:00pm at Breese Stevens Field. Building off of the regular season finale victory and many lessons learned from the teams’ previous matchup with the Radicals, the Union now enter win-or-go-home territory, where each play becomes all the more critical. Chicago will need to focus on the fundamentals to keep their playoff run alive.