Seattle Cascades Rout Vegas Bighorns 23-13 in First Win of 2025 Season
By Becca Weinberg, edited by Charles Hamaker
Las Vegas, NV - Our Seattle Cascades toppled West Division opponent Vegas Bighorns in a commanding 23-13 victory, their first of the 2025 season. In a battle between two teams looking for their first win, the Cascades came out on top with a comfortable offense in the second half to take control over the game. Seattle was consistently first to the disc on 50/50 passes, and came up with big blocks on defense to retain possession. Impact players in this game include hybrid player Lukas Ambrose with three goals, one assist, and five blocks, cutter Phillip Korolog with three assists and one goal, and handler Christian Foster with four assists and one block.
(Photo by Ron Sellers, provided by the Seattle Cascades)
First quarter: 6-5
A back-and-forth opening to the game caused by multiple turnovers from both teams led to a slim Cascades lead at the end of the first quarter. One goal each was scored by handler Tommy Li, handler Marc Munoz, hybrid player Emmet Shipway, hybrid player Zeppelin Raunig, cutter Asher Lantz, and Korolog, and assists from hybrid player Brandon Li, Foster, and Korolog kept Seattle’s offense moving. The Bighorns were able to match the Cascades’ tempo to begin the game, and scored five goals in the first quarter to keep the matchup close.
Second quarter: 9-8
A long, four-minute point to begin the second quarter resulted in Foster finding a wide-open Raunig in the back of the endzone for the goal. The following point began with a huge block on the endzone line by Lantz, and two amazing, possession-saving catches by cutter Dom Jacobs, who dove next to both sidelines of the field to secure the catches. After an unfortunate turnover following Jacobs’ second grab, the Bighorns stormed back to score three goals in a row. The Cascades’ response featured an easy upline throw from Jacobs to Shipway to tie the game back up at 8-8. In the last point of the first half, a patient endzone set from the Cascades created an open handler space for hybrid player Garret Martin and Li to pass back and forth before Li scored to put Seattle up one at half. Although leaving at halftime with the lead, the Cascades would be tasked with significantly cleaning up their offense in order to break away from the tight score.
(Photo by Ron Sellers, provided by the Seattle Cascades)
Third quarter: 15-11
After another long point to begin the second half, the Cascades came out with renewed energy and confidence in running their own systems. Early goals from Jacobs, Raunig, and a highlight-reel grab by Munoz through assists from Lin, Foster, and Lantz set up a 3-0 run to begin the half. After a quick response from Vegas, the Cascades came right back with a Munoz to Ambrose connection. Just a few passes into the next point, a huge layout block on the endzone line by Li led to cutter Spencer Land finding a wide open Lin for the goal. The Bighorns continued to stay in the game with another quick deep look, but Korolog found Li in the corner of the endzone to extend the Seattle lead. At the end of the quarter, the Bighorns got one more goal back to cut the lead to four.
Fourth quarter: 23-13
The Bighorns would only score two more points in the fourth quarter compared to the Cascades’ eight, with big defensive stops carrying Seattle to victory. With goals from Martin, Ambrose, Jacobs, cutter Bailey Wu, handler Tony Goss,and hybrid player Derek Mourad, complete with assists from Ambrose, Goss, Foster, Martin, Munoz, and handler Louie Bertoncin, many different players stepped up to extend the team’s lead. On defense, two blocks from both Ambrose and Land retained possession for the Cascades and set up easy scoring chances. As the Cascades found their groove and utilized team playmaking, they secured themselves an important win against a division rival.
(Photo by Ron Sellers, provided by the Seattle Cascades)
Stat of the game:
In the team’s third game of the season, Cascades player Lukas Ambrose leads the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) in block-per-game with five, which he recorded in Seattle’s win over the Bighorns. As the reigning, unanimous UFA Defensive Player of the Year in 2024, Ambrose is on the hunt to reclaim his title for 2025.
What’s next?
Following this big time victory, our Seattle Cascades will travel to face another division rival in the Oregon Steel on Friday, May 17th at 6PM PDT. The 0-2 Steel have started the season with a few difficult games, and will be looking to bounce back against the Cascades after a bye week. Seattle will need to use the momentum from their win this week and carry it into their Week 4 matchup to remain in an optimal place in the West Division.
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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 Ron Sellers, provided by the Seattle Cascades.
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