AlleyCats finish regular season with victory

By RICHIE HALL
The defense dominated, and the offense eventually caught up.
That was the tale of the game for the Indianapolis AlleyCats on Saturday. The AlleyCats had a subpar offensive effort in the first half of their regular-season finale, but turned it up in the second half to beat the Minnesota Chill 27-16 at Grand Park Events Center.
With the win, the AlleyCats finished the regular season 11-3. They also got some momentum in the second half of the game, which is actually a preview for Indy’s first-round contest in the American Ultimate Disc League playoffs, which begin next week. The AlleyCats will again host Minnesota at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Westfield High School.
The Chill scored the first point of the game, but Indy went up 2-1 in quick fashion as Kyle Cox threw to Rick Gross for the AlleyCats’ first point, then Keenan Plew assisted Kip Curtis to get Indy ahead.
Indy led 4-2 after the first quarter. Minnesota tied things up at 7-7 late in the second period before two goals pushed the AlleyCats ahead 9-7.
Indy led 10-8 at halftime. AlleyCats coach Eric Leonard said his team “played pretty undisciplined” in that first half.
“Frankly really terrible in the first half,” said Leonard. “Second half we tightened up offensively and ran a little harder, made smart choices. That’s the difference.”
Indy led 15-12 late in the third quarter before scoring four consecutive goals. The AlleyCats outscored the Chill 10-4 in the fourth period, including three goals from Levi Jacobs, who would wind up the leading scorer with five goals. Gross added four goals and Connor Henderson had three.
Gross, Cameron Brock, Curtis and Cox all had three assists for the game. The defensive played well, with 16 total “D’s,” or defensive plays. Aaron Schwartz and Keegan North both had three D’s.
The AlleyCats will now turn their attention towards the playoffs, where they will have to beat the same team for the second week in a row. Leonard is hoping that his offense continues its second-half momentum.
“They had a great second half, so we’re hoping we can keep that rolling into next week,” said Leonard. “We do have some defensive strategies that we reserved today, to show next week.”

Connor Henderson scored three goals for the Indianapolis AlleyCats in their 27-16 victory over the Minnesota Chill on Saturday at Grand Park Events Center. The AlleyCats will play the Chill again next Saturday at Westfield High School in the opening round of the AUDL playoffs. (Mike Gross)