Seattle Cascades Lose Fourth Straight UFA Game to Salt Lake Shred, 20-25
By Becca Weinberg, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Still searching to get back into the win column, our Seattle Cascades fell to the Salt Lake Shred by a final score of 20-25 in another close matchup. Salt Lake’s quick-moving offense led to a frozen Cascades defense that was unable to force turnovers and close the gap in goals scored. Seattle remains in second-to-last place in the West Division. Impact players in this game included handler Conor Belfield with five goals and five assists, hybrid player Garrett Martin with five goals and three assists, and hybrid player Zeppelin Raunig with three goals and one assist.
Photo by Jonathan Red, provided by the Seattle Cascades
First quarter: 5-8
While Salt Lake recorded the first goal of the game, Seattle’s first goal came right after from a smooth offensive set that resulted in handler Aaron Wolf connecting with handler Conor Belfield for the goal. The Shred responded with two goals in a row, and prevented the Cascades from scoring again until over four minutes after their first goal. Raunig and handler Christian Foster got the Cascades back on the board with a floating, cross-field connection. The teams traded points for the rest of the quarter, with goals from handler Marc Munoz, Raunig, and Martin through two assists from handler Tommy Li and one from Belfield. The Shred continued utilizing their quick handler movement to work though the Cascades’ defense and engage their cutters downfield. With the Cascades unable to force turnovers, they faced a three-goal deficit at the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter: 9-13
With their defense still unable to shut down the Salt Lake offense, the Cascades’ goal deficit grew to four by the end of the first half. Three goals from Belfield and one by Li kept the Cascades within striking distance, with assists from Raunig, Belfield, and Martin. Blocks by cutters Langley Fitzpatrick, Asher Lantz, and Dom Jacobs generated much-needed turnovers for Seattle, but the team still had work to do in the second half.
Third quarter: 14-18
Both teams were able to force more turnovers in the third quarter, but continued trading points. Goals from Belfield, Wolf, Raunig, cutter Jack Brown, and handler Tommy Lin came from assists by Foster, Belfield, Martin, handler Tony Goss, and cutter Mikey O’Brien. Both defenses forced throwing mistakes but were able to recover shortly after. Similar to many of their recent games, the Cascades entered the fourth quarter forced to make a comeback attempt.
Fourth quarter: 20-25
The close matchup continued up until time expired, but Salt Lake was able to extend their lead to five goals by the end of the game. Four goals in the fourth quarter were scored by Martin, and one each by Mourad and Jacbos, through assists from Foster, Belfield, Goss, and O’Brien. Goss came up with a big block towards the end of the quarter to retain Seattle possession, but the Cascades once again lost from an early goal deficit.
Photo by Jonathan Red, provided by the Seattle Cascades
Stat of the game:
In their sixth game of the season, the Cascades recorded a 94% completion percentage, with 268 out of their 286 total throws completed. In a game largely determined by offense, the team’s high completion percentage was key in keeping the game close throughout all four quarters.
What’s next?
Following a fourth straight loss, our Seattle Cascades will continue their homestand on Friday, June 6th, with a start time of 7PM PDT against the Vegas Bighorns. With Seattle’s only win coming against the 0-4 Bighorns this season, the Cascades will look to build on their success from their first matchup and get back into the win column this weekend. Fans looking to catch the action can stream the game live on Watch UFA TV, or purchase tickets to the game at Memorial Stadium through the Seattle Cascades’ website.
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Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports BlueSky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social 〰️
Check out our previous Seattle Cascades articles here.
Check out our previous articles with writing for CSS by Becca Weinberg here, and her work with Lookout Landing here.
Cover photo by Jonathan Red, provided by the Seattle Cascades.
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