A familiar face returned to the lineup of the Indianapolis AlleyCats last weekend.
Cameron Brock came out of retirement and joined the AlleyCats just in time for their Saturday AUDL game with the Madison Radicals at the Grand Park Events Center. Brock retired last year after playing 120 games with the ‘Cats (and scoring 504 goals) and his reappearance with the AlleyCats brought some experience to this year’s very young team.
The ‘Cats started out evenly with Madison before the Radicals pulled away in the second half. Indianapolis made a comeback in the fourth quarter, but Madison held on for a 26-22 win.
The AlleyCats scored the first goal of the game, with Rick Gross collecting a 22-yard pass from Xavier Payne. The Radicals answered with back-to-back goals to go up 2-1 and would not trail again. But the ‘Cats would tie the game several times in the first half, starting with a 47-yard toss from Levi Jacobs to a diving Brock to make the score 2-2.
Madison finished the first quarter ahead 7-6, but Indianapolis quickly tied the game to start the second quarter, with Nick Hutton finding Trey Dynes on a 25-yard pass. The AlleyCats were still within 10-9 with 4:27 left, but the Radicals scored three quick goals to lead 13-9. Indianapolis did get the last word for the first half, as Brock’s 48-yard toss to Dynes cut the lead to 14-11 at the break.
Madison led 21-17 after three quarters, then dominated the first half of the fourth period, going on a 5-1 run to lead 26-18. The Radicals scored their final goal of the game with 5:58 left.
After that, the ‘Cats began a furious rally. Lucas Coniaris caught a 45-yard pass from Brock for the first goal. Indianapolis forced a throwaway, then Carter Rae blasted a 73-yard throw to Mason Zetsch, who found Cody Curran for a score.
Michael Ames made a block on the next drive, and he would later make a short pass to Joshua Venegas for the AlleyCats’ third straight goal. Another throwaway led to Indianapolis’ fourth consecutive score, after a long sequence that finished on a 14-yard throw from Jacobs to Gross. The ‘Cats were within four with 2:01 left, but Madison would let them get no further.
Dynes finished the game with five goals. Brock scored four goals in his comeback, with Jacobs also scoring four goals and handing out six assists. Travis Carpenter had four assists.
The loss dropped Indianapolis to 2-4 for the season. The AlleyCats will start a long road trip this weekend, heading to Madison for a Saturday re-match, then playing at the undefeated Chicago Union Sunday afternoon.