Honor Roll: Week 6


June 5, 2023
By Evan Lepler

Throughout the 2023 season, the AUDL’s weekly honor roll will be revealed each Monday, honoring seven players whose individual exploits merit recognition. The players are listed alphabetically by last name.

Jeff Babbitt, New York Empire

Six goals, five blocks, no turns, and two wins surge Jeff Babbitt onto the AUDL Honor Roll again, his third appearance in six weeks. He currently shares the league lead in goals with Austin’s Evan Swiatek and is tied-for-second in blocks, with a plus-minus that trails only Swiatek and Salt Lake’s Jordan Kerr. If he maintains his current pace, he’ll be just the second player since the start of the 2019 season to produce at least 50 goals and 20 blocks in the same campaign; the first was Ben Jagt, who won his second straight MVP in 2021 with 63 goals, 55 assists, and 20 blocks. 

Khalif El-Salaam, Seattle Cascades

On Friday night in Portland, Khalif El-Salaam helped the Cascades earn the franchise’s first road win since June 15, 2019, snapping a string of 17 consecutive losses outside of Seattle. He played 23 points and was involved in 11 scores, finishing with eight assists, three goals, one block, and 39 completions, the second-most in his 39-game AUDL career. El-Salaam presently ranks fourth in the league with 23 assists and is tied-for-eighth with 10 completed hucks. 

Quinn Finer, Colorado Summit

The Summit were missing Jonathan Nethercutt on Sunday against the Spiders, but Quinn Finer seized the offensive controls and churned for over 800 yards in Colorado’s five-goal win. He completed 34-of-35 throws, accumulating 432 yards passing and another 382 receiving, along with six assists, four hockey assists, and four goals, as the Summit compiled their finest offensive performance of the season by scoring on 76 percent of their O-line possessions.

Jordan Kerr, Salt Lake Shred (Pictured)

Following a First-Team All-AUDL performance in 2022, Jordan Kerr’s all-around production has continued humming along through the first half of the 2023 campaign. On Saturday against Oakland, Kerr tallied five goals and five assists, just the second time in his 31-game career he’s registered at least five of each. He also completed 29-of-30 throws as the Shred rallied back from a 12-10 halftime deficit to win 21-17 over the Spiders. 

Max Trifillis, Philadelphia Phoenix

The AUDL’s leader in blocks through six weeks, Max Trifillis produced four in the first half against the Flyers on Saturday night and then added a key goal and nifty assist during Philly’s 4-0 run in the fourth quarter en route to the Phoenix’s 20-17 landmark victory over Carolina. He led all competitors with 25 points played and helped his team orchestrate nine breaks in 14 chances against an offense that hadn’t been broken that many times in a game in almost five years, since June 23, 2018.

Tristan Van de Moortele, Minnesota Wind Chill

One week after losing by four and only scoring 12 goals at Chicago, the Wind Chill countered with a 20-18 home win over the Union, in large part due to Tristan Van de Moortele’s pristine 76-for-76 throwing performance. Along with two goals and four assists, Van de Moortele had no turns while completing the second-most throws we’ve seen in the league in a single game all season. No one else in the game completed more than 38 passes, and while he averaged less than two and a half yards per throw, the ability to maintain possession was paramount for a Wind Chill team that had its lowest outdoor turnover total of the season. 

Joe White, Carolina Flyers

In a way, Joe White’s dazzling display in DC made me feel vindicated for how much I hyped his initial AUDL signing back in 2021. Mostly due to injury, White went nearly a year and a half without playing for Chicago before he made his debut late in the 2022 season. He played five solid games for the Union during the team’s run to the championship game, but never quite dominated the way he orchestrated everything for the Flyers on Friday against the Breeze, when he tossed 10 assists, scoring three goals, and produced 784 total yards. Through six weeks, his 472 receiving yards against DC are the third highest total in the 62 games that’ve been played so far across the league. On Saturday in Philly, the production was slightly more modest, but he still racked up three more goals, three more assists, and 489 more yards. 

2023 Weekly Honor Roll