By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
Indianapolis AlleyCats coach Will Drumright admitted that he didn’t have much of a voice after his team took the AUDL Central Division leader Chicago to the wire Saturday night.
The Alleycats’ game with the Union was indeed a screamer. Chicago came into the Grand Park Events Center with a perfect record, and kept that mark intact after holding off the ‘Cats 24-23. Indianapolis traded the lead with the Union for most of the game before Chicago made a late surge during the final six minutes of the fourth quarter to clinch the victory.
“We were supposed to get blown out,” said Drumright. “Moral victories don’t county in the stat column, but this very much was a moral victory for us because we took them toe to toe.”
The AlleyCats came ready to play, bolting out to a 6-2 lead during the first quarter. Six different players scored for the ‘Cats during that run; Xavier Payne dished out two assists to go along with one goal.
The Union slowly came back throughout the second quarter, and used three consecutive goals to go up 11-10 with 1:34 left in the half. Indianapolis tied it up with three seconds to go on a score from Payne to Jacob Fella, and the halftime total was 11-11.
The third quarter was tight, with neither team leading by more than one goal throughout the period. Chicago scored first, then back-to-back goals by Keegan North and Mason Zetsch (on a long throw from Fella) pushed the AlleyCats ahead 13-12. Payne and Carter Rae both delivered two assists during the quarter; Rae threw one in at the buzzer to Cameron Brock to keep the score tied, this time at 18-18.
Both teams kept exchanging goals to start the fourth quarter, and it appeared that Indianapolis had the upper hand when it got consecutive scores during a 72-second span during the middle part of the period. Rick Gross assisted on both goals, first to Brock, then to Rae – the latter goal gave the AlleyCats a 22-20 lead with 6:40 left.
But Chicago quickly scored to cut the Indianapolis advantage to one, and that started a run of four straight goals. The Union played solid defense during the last six minutes of the game, including an interception with around two minutes left.
Chicago led 23-22 before that interception, and scored after it for a two-goal lead with 1:09 left. The ‘Cats got a fast goal, with Rae throwing to Brock for the score, with 51 seconds left, but the Union ran out the clock from there.
The AlleyCats, in celebration of their 10th anniversary, honored former team players during halftime of their Saturday game with Chicago. (Richie Hall)
Indianapolis had balanced scoring, with four players (Brock, Rae, North and Lucas Coniaris) all getting three goals. Payne led the assists with five, while Brock and Rae dished out four, and North and Gross handed out three.
Drumright called his team’s effort “one of the most complete games we can play. For a team that has championship ambitions like Chicago with what they’re trying to build up there, we did a dang good job.”
While the Union are unbeaten at 6-0, the AlleyCats are third in the Central Division with a 4-3 record. Indianapolis went on a three-game road trip early in the season after playing its first two games at home. First, the ‘Cats won 20-16 on May 21 at Pittsburgh, then took care of Detroit 23-19 in a May 28 away game.
The AlleyCats lost 28-13 on June 4 at Minnesota, which is currently second in the division at 5-1. Indianapolis came back home to Grand Park on June 11, and beat Detroit 28-13 to sweep the season series.
Next week will be another game at Grand Park, and the ‘Cats host Pittsburgh to complete that season series. The Thunderbirds will come in to the game with a 3-5 record.
“We know what Pittsburgh is going to want to do against us,” said Drumright. The coach said “some of the principles of what we used tonight” will apply to what the team wants to do against the Thunderbirds.
“It’s tough to move on right now, but we will,” said Drumright. “We’ll be ready.”