By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – The Indianapolis AlleyCats dropped their first game of the season Saturday, as their rival, the Madison Radicals, made a second-half comeback to win the AUDL game 23-22 at Grand Park Events Center.
The Radicals trailed 18-14 with 5:40 left in the third quarter, but then scored eight of the next 10 goals to lead 23-21 at the 2:52 mark of the fourth period – Madison’s first lead of the game. The AlleyCats got the game’s final goal, on a pass from Rick Gross to Levi Jacobs, with 1:41 left, but were unable to get the tying score.
“It just seemed like the longer the game went on, they were able to be a little more patient on offense and take better looks,” said Cameron Brock, the longtime AlleyCats player. “And then as you saw, just offensively throughout the game, we just slipped a little bit at a time, a little bit at a time, and then there in the fourth quarter, we had those back-to-back points where we got broken and that was the game right there.”
The ‘Cats got off to a great start in the first quarter, at one point leading 5-1. The team was dealt a blow during that run when Trey Dynes was injured after scoring a goal that put Indianapolis up 2-1 just 81 seconds into the game. Dynes did not play for the remainder of the contest, although he was seen walking after the game with tape on his leg.
“I thought we did a good job after Trey got hurt, just making sure we stayed focused,” said Brock. He got the team together for a quick talk after Dynes was injured, saying “Trey wouldn’t want us over here hanging our heads and feeling sorry for him. He would probably take our concern, but he wants us to be focusing, wants us to win this game.”
Once play resumed, the AlleyCats scored three consecutive goals. Jacob Fella picked up two scores, then Dan Cunningham’s goal put the ‘Cats up 5-1.
Indianapolis’ lead would stay around three or four goals throughout the first and second quarters, and most of the third. The AlleyCats led 7-3 once the first period was done. Colin Ringwood made the score 8-3 with a goal; Luke Huffman had the assist. Gross and Brock each scored twice in the second period. Madison made a three-goal run to get within 12-10; Carter Rae scored from Keegan North with 17 seconds left, but the Radicals answered at the end of the half, and the score was 13-11.
Gross sent a pass to Jacobs to open the second half, and it seemed like the AlleyCats’ offense was clicking again. Jacobs and Fella scored back-to-back goals, and the Indy lead was 18-14 with 5:40 left. Madison scored, but Ben Landry answered by catching a Jacobs pass, and that made the score 19-15.
But the Radicals got the next three goals, and were within 19-18 at the end of the third. Fletcher Hare got the first goal of the fourth quarter, and the ‘Cats led 20-18. Madison pushed back to tie the game at 20-20. The familiar duo of Brock and Jacobs got Indianapolis back up 21-20, with Jacobs throwing and Brock catching. The Radicals took over after that, with another three-goal streak.
“It really just came down to our offensive execution,” said Brock. “We just didn’t do a good enough job of taking the easy things on offense and we allowed them to get back into the game, basically because of our decision making and our missed execution. I got no real complaints about our defense and I thought they played a heck of a game. I think this one’s definitely on the O-line. We just got to figure some things out.”
Gross and Brock both scored four goals, with Hare and Jacobs getting three each. North handed out six assists and also made two blocks, while Jacobs dished out four assists.
The AlleyCats are 1-1 for the season and play their first road game next Saturday at Pittsburgh, the start of a three-game road trip.