Seattle Cascades Fall to Toronto Rush 22-17
By Becca Weinberg
In their continued quest for an Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) playoff spot, the Seattle Cascades lost to the Toronto Rush in a close 22-17 game, but still hold a playoff position in the West Conference. A close game brought intensity throughout all four quarters, but a scoring run in the second half pushed Toronto past the Cascades. Impact players in this game include cutter Gavin Leahy with five goals and one assist, handler Ricky McLeod with three blocks, and handler Tommy Li with three assists, two blocks, and 300 throwing yards.
First quarter: 6-7
Both teams traded points to begin the game, with the Cascades utilizing their deep throws and quick cutting in the handler space to find open players in tight windows. Three goals from Leahy, two from hybrid player Zeppelin Raunig, and one from handler Spencer Lofink were assisted by cutter Nolan Stoppel, hybrid player Garrett Martin, and handler Tommy Li. While Toronto emerged with a very slim lead, the Cascades were matching up evenly.
Second quarter: 9-13
Toronto began to build their lead in the second quarter, beginning with three goals in a row. Seattle finally put an end to the Rush scoring run with a massive layout catch by cutter Jack Brown that set up a Grant Harris goal. The Rush got one back before Leahy connected with Raunig for another deep, floating throw in the endzone. Toronto scored two more goals and the Cascades got one with a Li-to-Martin connection downfield, but they entered halftime with some work to do.
Third quarter: 12-13
Although the back-and-forth scoring continued as the second half began, the Cascades were unable to dig themselves out of the hole caused by Toronto’s first half scoring run. They scored just three goals in the third quarter, with Leahy (twice) and Lofink assisted by Stoppel and Lofink (twice). Two major blocks by Li prevented additional Rush goals, but the Cascades were down by five entering the fourth quarter
Fourth quarter: 17-22
While Seattle mounted a brief comeback and did outscore Toronto in the fourth quarter, it ultimately wasn’t enough to erase their goal deficit. Their final goals of the game came from cutter Ethan Murray, cutter Langley Fitzpatrick, Martin, Raunig, and Lofink through assists by Stoppel, Brown, Lofink and Martin. A few more blocks were secured by cutter Asher Lantz, Fitzpatrick, and Murray, but the clock hit zero before Seattle could sneak a win out.
Stat of the game:
In their seventh game of the season, the Seattle Cascades recorded a 16% break percentage, which means they only turned 3 out of 19 Toronto turnovers into scoring opportunities. This percentage was Seattle’s worst since the second game of the season in their Week 3 matchup against the Oakland Spiders, and cost them what could’ve been a much closer game this week.
What’s next:
The Cascades will host the Oregon Steel this Friday, June 26th at 7pm for another edition of the Northwest Rivalry. The Steel are likely out of this year’s playoff conversation but are still looking to spoil the fun for Seattle, who are hoping to add another win to their record to help with playoff seeding.
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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 in this article by Jammie Phea, as provided by the Seattle Cascades.
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