Photo by Ed Thompson
Written By: Ryan Baker, Journalist
It’s safe to say the Minnesota Wind Chill are back on the right track after handily defeating the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds 31-14.
After losing their home opener to Chicago, Minnesota had to travel to Pittsburgh in hopes of ironing out some kinks. The kinks were surely ironed out after sporting an 81% hold rate, 18 breaks, and a seven-point run in the second quarter. Those are stellar numbers, however, there is still more to improve upon if the Wind Chill want a shot at repeating.
“Certainly, the numbers look better on paper, but there’s still a lot of opportunity for us to improve,” said head coach Ben Feldman. “That’s something we’re taking away from every day. How do we get better and better?”
The impact of the Wind Chill’s offseason additions was felt on the first point with James Pollard reaching up and snatching an around throw that got bounced up in the wind. A couple of throws into their first break chance, Justin Burnett rifled it into Max Hanscom for their first break of the night.
Photo by Ed Thompson
It was more of the same for the rest of the first quarter. Minnesota was able to apply heavy pressure on Pittsburgh’s quarterback, Will Hoffenkamp, with their occasional double team and tightness on the downfield cutters. Heading into the second quarter, the Wind Chill built up an 8-2 lead.
If the game wasn’t already out of hand, the beginning of the second quarter blew it out of the water. The O-line opened up with a fairly easy score from Paul Krenik to Greg Cousins after a foul call put Krenik in the middle of the field on the goal line.
On the next point, a Hoffenkamp turn resulted in a Tristan Van de Moortele to Becker Mathie break score. It was Mathie’s first goal of 2025 and third of his career. Becker also added two blocks and one more goal to his resume for 2025 in his first action of the year.
Photo by Ed Thompson
Pittsburgh struggled to get the disc to midfield, putting a lot of weight on the shoulders of their handlers, leading to a lot of execution mistakes. Minnesota made sure to cash in on those mistakes.
“I think the mentality and attitude going into the game was that we are going to score. The focus is exclusively on the game at hand, and not worrying about the conditions or other uncontrollables. It also helps that we barely played O-line all game,” said Van de Moortele.
What was an 8-2 lead at the end of the first grew to a 15-3 lead by halftime. Six straight breaks included two more Hanscom goals, bringing his total to four on the game, and ended with a Mickey Walsh to Blake Krapfl score.
In Walsh’s first contest of 2025, he ended with two assists, one goal, one block, and four hockey assists on just eight completions.
“I think every time I caught the disc, there was just an immediate good option to hit. I never held the disc longer than three seconds. We’ve been working hard at practice to be efficient as a D-line offense. It’s nice to see my effort reflected on the stat sheet, but the win is what matters most,” said Walsh.
Everyone was getting in on the action. Peter Mans and Charlie Schuweiler both saw their first touches in 2025. Both ended with two assists on the day.
Photo by Ed Thompson
The second half was a bit more back and forth, given that Pittsburgh got their first break of the day with four minutes left in the third quarter. Each time, Minnesota’s offense came out swinging.
One more three-point run in the fourth quarter put the Wind Chill up 27-10. At no point was Pittsburgh going to threaten that lead.
It would’ve been hard for the T-Birds to close that gap, considering the Wind Chill were 18/20 in the red zone and also had more blocks than turnovers.
Minnesota finally returned back to form. After a rough Chicago game where they were antsy on transitions and the offense struggled to hit a stride, they were able to improve on both sides.
“It’s a good reminder about how good we can be when we bring our best to the field, but it doesn't mean anything when compared to the Chicago game. We don't want to be a bounce-back team. None of our failures magically happen against Chicago. None of our failures are undone after the Pittsburgh game. We still have a long way to go if we want to be in a position to win the division,” said Van de Moortele.
Photo by Ed Thompson
Van de Moortele led the team with five assists, meanwhile, Will Brandt added four assists and over 500 total yards to his stellar 2025.
It was a much-needed dominant win for Minnesota, especially with their upcoming game against the undefeated Atlanta Hustle.
“We signed up for a difficult schedule intentionally this season. To be the best, you have to play against the best. We haven’t won at TCO Stadium yet. At that venue against a really talented team, it’s going to be a challenge. I know our guys are hungry,” said Feldman.
To get tickets to this Friday night’s exclusive game at TCO Stadium against the Atlanta Hustle, click here!
