AUDL

With the Indianapolis AlleyCats and Dallas Roughnecks winning their respective divisional championship games this past weekend, the field is set for AUDL Championship Weekend 8. The champions of the Midwest and South will join the New York Empire and San Diego Growlers in San Jose on August 10-11 weekend. The teams have been re-seeded as follows: New York Empire (1), San Diego Growlers (2), Dallas Roughnecks (3), Indianapolis AlleyCats (4).

The Empire and AlleyCats will go head to head in the first semifinal game on Saturday, August 10 at 4:00 PM/PT. Then the Roughnecks will take on the Growlers immediately following the first game at 7:00 PM/PT. The championship game will be played by the two semifinal winners on Sunday, August 11 at 12:00 PM/PT.

After the first weekend of playoffs, the San Diego Growlers and New York Empire emerged as the respective division champions in the West and East, becoming the first two teams to earn spots at Championship Weekend 8. The Growlers defeated the Los Angeles Aviators 25-21 in the West Division Championship Game, while the Empire defeated the Toronto Rush 19-16.

Championship Weekend 8 will officially play host to the only two-time AUDL MVPs in league history: Jonathan "Goose" Helton of the Growlers and Beau Kittredge of the Empire. Helton, in his first year with the Growlers, returns to Championship Weekend for the first time since 2013. Kittredge makes his return to San Jose after leading the Spiders to back-to-back AUDL titles in 2014 and 2015. 

Finishing the season with a 10-goal game against the Philadelphia Phoenix, Quentin Bonnaud of the Montreal Royal set a new league record, averaging 6.9 goals per game in 2019. The previous record was held by Mischa Freystaetter, who in 2016 scored 95 goals in 14 games (6.8 goals per game). Freystaetter holds the AUDL record for most goals in a single season, however Bonnaud may have broken it this year if not for the shortened 12-game season.

Bonnaud finishes 2019 with 83 goals, 24 more than the next closest player. His plus/minus of +101 also led the league, and he set career highs in completions (208) and completion percentage (96.3 percent). Bonnaud was responsible for (scored or assisted) 41.2 percent of Royal points this season.

After starting the season 0-3, the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds went 8-1 over the remainder of the season to finish with the second seed in the Midwest. They head into the playoffs after defeating the Chicago Wildfire and Indianapolis AlleyCats by a combined 21 points this past weekend to close out the regular season.

Pittsburgh missed the playoffs in 2018 for the first time in franchise history after finishing 4-10 on the year. The team this season has been led by the play of MVP candidate Max Sheppard who this past weekend became the fifth player in AUDL history to join the 50/50 club by finishing a season with 50 assists and 50 goals. The Thunderbirds will take on the Chicago Wildfire in round one of the playoffs at home this Saturday, July 20. A win puts them in the Midwest Divisional Championship Game, where they would play the AlleyCats in Indianapolis.

The San Diego Growlers (8-2) can clinch a home playoff spot with a win over the Seattle Cascades (2-7) this Saturday. The Growlers have just a +3 goal differential on the Cascades this season, and suffered one of their two losses to the Cascades back in Week 5. The teams met last week in Seattle where the Growlers pulled out a 30-25 win. 

After missing the playoffs each of their first three seasons in the league, 2019 is the second straight season the Growlers have made the playoffs and the first season in which they've finished with a winning record. Last season they met the Los Angeles Aviators in the West Division championship game in LA, losing 26-22 to end their season. With a Growlers win this week, the two teams will meet again in the West Division championship but this time in San Diego, as the Growlers look to push for their first ever AUDL Championship Weekend appearance. The West has sent a different team to Championship Weekend each of the last four seasons.

Coming off back-to-back wins last weekend against the Toronto Rush and Philadelphia Phoenix, the DC Breeze (6-4) host the Phoenix (2-5) at home in Week 12 as they look to secure a playoff spot for the fourth straight season. The Breeze enter the week as the number four power-ranked team in the league, their highest ranking to date.

In two previous meetings against the Phoenix this season, the Breeze have won by scores of 20-18 and 21-16. As evidenced by the team's Week 7 win over Toronto, the Phoenix are not to be taken lightly; Philly held an 11-9 lead on the Breeze at halftime in last Sunday's game before the Breeze went on a third quarter run. Tickets to tomorrow's game are available on the breeze website.

Full Preview

This past Saturday, the best players in the league gathered in Madison, WI for the inaugural AUDL All-Star Game. The game went to a sudden-death double overtime, and Team KPS was able to pull out the one-goal win over Team Rowan. Following the game, Max Sheppard of the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds was named All-Star MVP. Sheppard, who played on Team KPS, finished with a game-high +8 plus/minus in 29 points played. His five assists also tied for a game-high. 

The Thunderbirds captain leads his team in goals this year with 26, and ranks second on the Thunderbirds in assists (21) and blocks (6). Last season Sheppard finished with 95 total scores (goals plus assists), sixth most in the leauge. His average of 6.7 scores per game in 2019 ranks seventh in the league and is just under his 6.8 scores per game average from a season ago.

The San Diego Growlers (7-1) defeated the Los Angeles Aviators (5-3) 20-18 on Saturday to clinch a playoff spot in the West for the second straight season. The Growlers made the playoffs for the first time last year after finishing 7-7 in the regular season — now with seven wins, they are a lock to finish over .500 for the first time in team history. Saturday's win was their third win in as many games against the Aviators, and the two teams will have their final regular season meeting when the league resumes play post-all-star break on June 15.

The Growlers have been led this year by all-star selections Travis Dunn and Jonathan "Goose" Helton, who have combined for 58 assists, 40 goals, and 12 blocks through the first eight games of the season. Dunn and Helton will face off in the inaugural AUDL All-Star Game this Saturday, June 8 at 7:00pm.

Growlers at Aviators Recap

The AUDL will hold it's first ever live captains draft for the inaugural AUDL All-Star Game tonight at 8pm ET. 2019 All-Star Captains Kevin Pettit-Scantling of the Madison Radicals and Rowan McDonnell of the DC Breeze will draft the two all-star teams from a pool of 30 players. Click here for the full list of 2019 all-star selections.

The draft will be livestreamed on Facebook and hosted by the "Voice of Ultimate," Evan Lepler.

After not losing a home game to a division opponent since their inaugural 2013 season, the Madison Radicals dropped their second home game of the year to the Indianapolis AlleyCats on Saturday. The game marked the first time in franchise history the AlleyCats won on the road in Madison. Last season, the AlleyCats got their first win against the Radicals at home in Indianapolis, ending a six-year drought against their division rivals. The team was led by the play of Travis Carpenter, who led the AlleyCats in assists (3), blocks (3), completions (37), points played (22), and plus/minus (+5). The AlleyCats improved to 5-3 on the year, while the Radicals dropped to 4-3.

With the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds winning their fourth straight and the Minnesota Wind Chill defeating the Chicago Wildfire in the Week 9 Game of the Week this past weekend, the final standings of the Midwest Division continue to be anyone's guess with five weeks remaining in the season.

In a highly anticipated rematch, the DC Breeze take on the New York Empire at home tomorrow for the first time this season after playing in New York each of the first two meetings. While the Empire remain undefeated through six games, the Breeze have by far been their toughest competition. In two games against DC, the Empire have averaged a margin of victory of just 2.0 goals. Against all other teams this season, the Empire have won by an average of 5.75 goals. Tomorrow's game will be the first meeting since the Empire's controversial 26-25 double-overtime win over the Breeze in Week 6, and it will be the final regular season matchup between the two teams.

Preview: Breeze Host 6-0 Empire Saturday

Through eight weeks, the Toronto Rush have averaged the second-most blocks per game (12.2) and are allowing the fewest points per game (18.0). A large part of their defensive success this season has been second-year player Phil Turner. After playing just four games as a rookie in 2018, Turner has quickly established himself as one of the premier defenders in the league this season. Turner has 13 blocks this season, tied for third most in the AUDL, and he is on pace for a 30-block season. His +16 plus/minus ranks third on the Rush, an impressive feat for a player who has played 82.9 percent of his points on the D-line.

Turner is getting league-wide recognition, earning a spot on Matt Rezin's weekly Players to Watch article in Week 8. He is this week's Rush Player to Watch, as he comes off a solid two-goal, two-block game against the Madison Radicals in the Week 8 Game of the Week. He'll look to limit the second-leading goal scorer in the league, Quentin Bonnaud, in a matchup against the Montréal Royal this Sunday.

The Atlanta Hustle defeated the Tampa Bay Cannons 23-14 on Saturday, successfully getting revenge on a team that opened the season with two-straight home wins against Atlanta. The Cannons were without 2019 All-Star selection Andrew Roney for the first time this season, and his absence was certainly felt; with just 14 points, Cannons produced their lowest scoring output of the season. Roney has 30 assists on the season, and he has accounted for 36.1 percent of all Cannons scores (goals plus assists) in the games he has played.

The Hustle have now won three of their last four games, and they have brought their record to a respectable 3-5 after dropping their first four games to start the season. Four-year Hustle veteran Daniel Sperling had seven assists against the Cannons and finished with a game-high +9 plus/minus. Sperling made his 2019 debut in Week 7 against the Flyers, and he now has nine assists and three goals in his first two games. 2019 All-Star selection Matt Smith added three goals and two assists against the Cannons, bringing his plus/minus to +37 on the year, tied for fourth highest in the league.