By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – It only took one quarter for the Indianapolis AlleyCats to set the tone for the season – especially on the defensive side.
The AlleyCats began their 2022 campaign in the American Ultimate Disc League with a convincing win Saturday over the Detroit Mechanix, 33-22 at the Grand Park Events Center. The ‘Cats jumped out to a 10-4 lead after the first quarter and stayed comfortably ahead for the next three periods.
“From day one of our work as a team, our defense is wanting to make a statement,” said AlleyCats coach Will Drumright. The coach said his team’s goal entering the game “was to play defense often, which means that we’re scoring a lot and I feel like we did a good job of accomplishing that.”
The AlleyCats never trailed in the game. Leading 5-3 in the first quarter, the ‘Cats then scored four consecutive goals. The second of those goals was created after Mason Zetsch made a block. Xavier Payne passed the disc to Nick Hutton, who flung it 78 yards back to Payne in the end zone.
Detroit scored to start the second quarter, but the AlleyCats answered right away. Levi Jacobs threw a 57-yard pass to Keegan North, and the ‘Cats led 11-5. It was one of five goals for North during the game; he is making a return to Indianapolis after playing on year at Chicago.
“I really enjoy playing with these guys. Every game, you show up and you grind, and I really enjoy that about this team,” said North.
The AlleyCats led 18-10 at halftime. The team then led 23-15 late in the third quarter, then scored three more goals in the final two minutes to take a 26-15 advantage. The last two goals of that run started with blocks, from Drew Happe and Jacob Fella. The ‘Cats never allowed the Mechanix to score consecutive goals during the entire game.
“We could’ve traded offensive points the whole game and it would’ve been a one-point difference,” said North. Instead, the AlleyCats’ defense helped turn that into 11 points.
“So I think that shows to their ability to force turns and execute on the turn,” said North.
The veterans led the way in scoring for the ‘Cats. Cameron Brock, a mainstay since 2012, led the way with seven goals, while North dished out nine assists and scored five goals. Rick Gross had four goals and Trey Dynes made three. Payne and Jacobs both handed out five assists, while Carter Rae had four.
The AlleyCats will be back at Grand Park next Saturday to take on the Madison Radicals, and that will be a big game.
“Madison is a long-time rival of us, and so we have to come in and be very, very fundamental,” said Drumright. “This will fire us up to make sure that we do our fundamentals of what we do as a team and what we do well, to focus on that this week to get ready for Madison.”
Goals (33): Cameron Brock 7, Keegan North 5, Rick Gross 4, Trey Dynes 3, Luke Huffman 2, Lucas Coniaris 2, Colin Ringwood 2, Jeffrey Burris 2, Fletcher Hare 1, Xavier Payne 1, Jacob Fella 1, Andrew Geisel 1, Carter Rae 1, Levi Jacobs 1.
Assits: North 9, Payne 5, Jacobs 5, Rae 4, Gross 3, Jacob Flowers 2, Nick Hutton 2, Brock 2, Hare 1.