Cats hold off Detroit Mechanix, are 5-2 for the season
By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – One of the original AlleyCats is now the top cat for Indianapolis’ ultimate disc team.
Drew Shepherd returned to the AlleyCats this season to become head coach of the team, which is going through a pretty good season so far. Shepherd has led the ‘Cats to a 5-2 record, including a tough win 20-19 over the Detroit Mechanix last Saturday at the Grand Park Events Center.
Shepherd played on the very first AlleyCats team back in 2012, and was an assistant coach and defensive coordinator for the team from 2014 to 2016.
“I was always a role player when I played,” said Shepherd. “And I always felt like I was better at this. I have more fun doing this than I did playing.”
Of course, winning is fun. The ‘Cats struggled to start the season, dropping their first two games to Atlanta 23-14 and to Minnesota 23-21. But they got going in their third game, traveling to Chicago on May 13 and winning 19-16.
“We had a really turbulent start to our season,” said Shepherd. “And we have course corrected, and we have started playing just a little bit better every game.”
That victory began a five-game winning streak. The AlleyCats then edged out Madison 22-21 at home before beating Detroit 21-15 on the road. Indy played its last two games at Grand Park, sailing past Chicago 26-17 on June 10, then holding off Detroit, which came close to ending a long losing streak before the ‘Cats scored three goals in the last eight minutes of the game.
The AlleyCats, in fact, never trailed in the game. Fifty-seven seconds into the game, Joel Close sent a pass to Jason Kempe for the first score. The Mechanix would continue to answer each Indianapolis score throughout the first quarter, getting a goal with three seconds left in the period to tie the game at 7-7.
The ‘Cats took control in the second quarter with three straight goals. Colin Ringwood threw to Conner Henderson to put Indy up 8-7, then Ben Landry’s pass to Jacob Fella got the AlleyCats up by two. Nick Hutton made a block to give Indy the disc back, then seconds later caught a throw from Xavier Payne. Just like that, the ‘Cats led 10-7.
“We expected for our defense to get a lot of blocks,” said Travis Carpenter. The veteran AlleyCats player gave credit to Detroit, saying the Mechanix “did a really good job connecting on a lot of deep throws and a lot of difficult throws. And then whenever the deep throws weren’t there, they were really patient.”
Detroit scored the next two goals, but Indianapolis stayed ahead for the remainder of the half, leading 13-11 at the break. The AlleyCats were in control with their passing game, making deliberate and purposeful throws to get down the field.
Shepherd said one of the team’s mottos is “take the shortest, most open look. And usually when you find yourself throwing somethings really high-risk, you might have had a teammate who has more open than that, but it’s more fun to throw something really crazy or something really deep.
“So, it’s just having the discipline to say, whoever is the most open, that’s who we’re going to throw it to. Is our passing better? Probably, but I think our selection is really the difference.”
The Mechanix worked their way back into the game in the third quarter, scoring back-to-back goals to tie it up at 14-14. Just like in the first quarter, the ‘Cats would score to take a one-goal lead, then Detroit would score to even things up.
“We’ve been saying all season long: Champions hold,” said Carpenter. “Hold means that on offense, we score like we’re supposed to.” Carpenter said that the team “scored at a very high percentage tonight, and I think that really helped carry us tonight.”
Indianapolis finally broke away in the middle of the fourth quarter. Carpenter threw a goal pass to Keegan North with 7:19 left to put the ‘Cats ahead 18-17. Minutes later, Carpenter struck again, throwing to Cameron Brock for a score, and Indy led 19-17.
Keegan North handed out seven assists for the AlleyCats in their victory. (Mike Gross)
Detroit answered quickly to get within 19-18, but Payne’s pass to Jeremy Keusch with 2:48 left moved the AlleyCats ahead 20-18 and clinched the game. The Mechanix scored a goal with one second left, but all Indy had to do was put the disc in play, and it had the win.
“They really played a fantastic game, so we could make very few mistakes and survive, which is exactly what happened,” said Shepherd. “So, I think us getting tested like this is great. It forces us to cherish every opportunity and not take for granted, thinking later on we won’t want for those same opportunities back.”
Keusch led the AlleyCats in scoring with four goals, while Rick Gross had three. North, Henderson and Brock all scored two goals. North led the assists with seven, followed by Carpenter, Payne and Close with two each.
With the victory, the AlleyCats improved to 5-2. They currently are second in the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) Central Division, behind the Minnesota Wind Chill’s 6-1 record. The ‘Cats play their next game Friday at Madison.