Photo by Daniel Cohen
Written By: Ryan Baker, Journalist
Minnesota Wind Chill Head Coach Ben Feldman said last week, before their road trip, that the games against the Indianapolis AlleyCats and Chicago Union would be one of the toughest weekends the team has seen in the past few years.
The Wind Chill walked out of the weekend with two wins, allowing just 28 goals through two games. The first matchup ended 21-13 against the AlleyCats. The Union game the next day was closer at 20-15.
“I’m happy with the outcome from the weekend,” Feldman said. “I thought we performed pretty well across the two games. There are a lot of things we want to work on, but taking two wins is really important as we have a difficult schedule in the coming months.”
The Friday night game against Indy started under challenging conditions, with winds gusting to 20 mph. Still, the Wind Chill were unfazed. The teams traded off the first six points. If it weren’t for Josh Klane slipping on a throw from Will Brandt, it would’ve been seven. The Wind Chill got broken on that point. That was the last time they trailed in the game.
A 4-0 run closed the first quarter and fueled another 4-0 run to start the second. With 4 minutes left in the first half, the Wind Chill were up 11-4. The run began with a layout block from Paul Krenik. It led to a Noah Hanson-to-Zach Morton break to take the lead.
On the next point, Justin Burnett raced downfield after a pull by Kristian Johnson forced Indy to work from their end zone. Burnett got a massive layout block, creating a short field on the turn. He then snatched the bookends goal from Noah Coolman, which surged Minnesota’s energy.
Photo by Daniel Cohen
From there, the Wind Chill smelled blood in the water. Layout blocks, catches over seas of bodies, and smooth offense allowed Minnesota to run away with the game. The team was firing on all cylinders, completing their first five hucks of the game.
“We're going to continue to get more comfortable taking those shots,” Feldman said. “[Noah] Coolman has done a nice job executing his hucks and has been extremely efficient with those early on in the season. We want to continue to threaten vertically and have a diversified attack.”
The Wind Chill held a seven-point lead at halftime. They saw a dip in production in the third quarter, getting outscored by three. Within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, each team scored twice. A four-minute point ended with a Sebastian Brauer huck to Burnett, eating up most of the clock.
Minnesota’s offense was the bright spot in this one. A 73 percent hold rate and just 13 turnovers gave the Wind Chill an eight-point win. This game also showed their unmatched depth. Veteran Greg Cousins walked away with three goals in his 2026 debut. Morton matched Cousins’ total in just his second career game and added an assist and a block.
“The offense definitely felt good this weekend overall,” Larson stated. “I was really happy with how in control we were the whole time. We used a lot of handler motion to settle the offense and get into a rhythm instead of forcing things downfield.”
Burnett and Brandt also had three goals apiece, with Burnett snatching three blocks while Brandt tallied three assists. After closing out the win in Indianapolis, the Wind Chill carried their offensive rhythm into the next game, facing Chicago.
Photo by Daniel Cohen
“Numbers aside, it felt like our offense was moving a bit smoother this weekend,” Brandt remarked. “We’re learning and improving every game. For me, it’s just about getting that confidence going. I’m looking to build on that.”
Despite playing back-to-back games, the Wind Chill maintained their energy. By contrast, Chicago, which only had one game this weekend, appeared more fatigued as the match progressed.
A 23-throw point opened the game in Chicago for Minnesota’s O-line. Bryan Vohnoutka capped it with a score to Brandt. With key players returning for Chicago, they didn’t let up as easily as in the first matchup between the teams. At the end of the first quarter, it was tied at five.
That changed quickly. The Wind Chill took advantage of mistakes by the Union and made a 3-0 run. After a last-second goal by the Union, Minnesota led 11-8 at halftime.
Photo by Daniel Cohen
At that point, the Wind Chill had just five turns. They were perfect in the red zone and went 5/8 on O-line conversions. Chicago posted similar numbers, but their O-line went just 6/14 in the first half, which was the difference.
The third quarter was more even, but Morton skied a sea of bodies on a Blake Krapfl huck that left just a second left on the clock and expanded their lead to four.
“Zach [Morton] had an impressive performance across the two games,” Feldman said. “He gives us an element of size that we need. Those types of performances are certainly going to earn him some continued opportunities with the team.”
The final quarter was a bit more grueling with three points that lasted more than two minutes apiece, but as mentioned earlier, the Wind Chill never ran out of gas. Jordan Taylor was the beneficiary of the hard-fought points, catching three goals in the fourth quarter alone.
Again, the offense shone in this one. A 63 percent hold rate led to a near-perfect (14/15) red-zone conversion rate. Gordon Larson led the offense against Chicago. He notched six assists and tossed for nearly 300 yards.
Photo by Daniel Cohen
“We were playing super unselfishly, and people were making a ton of space out there, so it was honestly really easy as a thrower,” said Larson.
Krenik and Taylor scored four goals each, and Max Hanscom scored three. The weekend showed that anyone can have a big game, and opponents need to worry about everyone on Minnesota’s roster.
“It was a huge weekend for those guys,” Brandt said. “Zach [Morton] made some sick plays. It’s great to see [Jordan] Taylor and Max [Hanscom] playing really well in their roles. They are unselfish and reliable players. They’re cooking.”
Other notable weekend stat lines:
- Morton: 5 goals, 354 total yards
- Coolman: 4 assists, 437 throwing yards
- Lukas Ambrose: 3 blocks, 2 assists, and 1 goal
- Vohnoutka: 3 assists, 3 goals, and 338 receiving yards
It’s a good sign for the Wind Chill that its offense looks comfortable and isn’t forcing unnecessary looks. They didn’t have to lean on the defense for goals. The team did get 10 breaks in each game. However, the offense was much improved from their first game, which is crucial given Minnesota’s upcoming stretch.
“We have to continue to learn how to play together,” Feldman said. “There are a lot of things we're taking away from each of these games, and practice over the next two weeks is going to be really important for us to refine our game. A strong performance at Breese Stevens at the end of this month against the Radicals is going to be important to put ourselves in the position we want to be with playoff seeding.”
