Seattle Cascades Trample Vegas Bighorns, 23-12
By Becca Weinberg, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - In their first win in almost a month and second victory overall on the season, the Seattle Cascades got back into the win column with a dominant defeat of the Vegas Bighorns 23-12. A very complete team effort was highlighted by quick-moving offense off of fast breaks and important defensive blocks to force turnovers. Impact players in this game included cutter Langley Fitzpatrick with two blocks, three assists, and four goals, handler Marc Munoz with five assists and one goal, and hybrid player Garrett Martin with two assists and five goals.
Photo by Jonathan Red Photography, provided by the Seattle Cascades
First quarter: 5-3
After a quick Vegas goal to begin the game, the Cascades capitalized on the Bighorns’ throwing mistakes and scored three straight. The first coming from a solid endzone set from handler Derek Mourad to handler Tony Goss, the second from a connection between cutter Jack Brown and cutter Aage Bonnell for his first goal of the season, and the third from Fitzpatrick to handler Aaron Wolf in the front corner of the endzone. With a response by Vegas, the Cascades scored another set of two goals in a row. Blocks by hybrid player Zeppelin Raunig and cutter Mikey O’Brien set up offensive possessions for the team, with goals from Martin and Goss through assists from Raunig and Fitzpatrick. A block by cutter Dom Jacobs in the endzone wasn’t enough to stop another Vegas goal, but Seattle responded with an assist from cutter Gavin Leahy to Martin. A block by hybrid player Ian Sweeney ended the quarter with a two-goal lead.
Photo by Jonathan Red Photography, provided by the Seattle Cascades
Second quarter: 10-7
Both teams continued trading points, with quick handler movement and heads-up defense leading the Cascades. Goals from Martin, Goss, Fitzpatrick, and handler Tommy Li were assisted by Munoz, Martin, and handler Conor Belfield. With Fitzpatrick’s first block of the game, the Seattle lead was extended to three to end the first half.
Third quarter: 15-9
The Cascades began the second half with a block party, with Belfield, Fitzpatrick, Brown, and cutter Ryan Liao coming up with four consecutive defensive stops. Goals from Fitzpatrick, Goss, and cutter Asher Lantz were secured off assists by Wolf, Brown, and cutter Chris Roach. The Bighorns scored two more goals by utilizing their deep options, and the Cascades responded with two of their own through goals by Munoz and handler Emmet Shipway and assists by Leahy and Mourad. Seattle entered the fourth quarter with a six-goal lead.
Photo by Jonathan Red Photography, provided by the Seattle Cascades
Fourth quarter: 23-12
Seattle’s eight goals in the fourth quarter would be no match for Vegas’ three as their lead extended even further. Martin and Wolf opened the scoring through assists from Munoz and Fizpatrick. After a quick Bighorns goal, the Cascades scored four straight. The first through an almost full-field throw from Munoz to Belfield, the second resulting from multiple turnovers to find Fitzpatrick from Wolf, the third through a massive catch by Martin over two defenders who found Li for the goal, and the fourth another Fitzpatrick and Wolf connection. The Bighorns finally got one back, and Seattle responded with two more from Li and Martin after assists by Raunig and Munoz. Blocks by Wolf and handler Tommy Lin retained possession, and after one more Vegas goal, the Cascades secured an important home win.
Photo by Jonathan Red Photography, provided by the Seattle Cascades
Stat of the game:
In their seventh game of the season, the Cascades recorded 16 blocks, the most since their first matchup with the Bighorns on May 10th. With the Seattle defense largely determining the outcome of this game, their ability to capitalize on the turnovers generated by blocks helped create a large margin of victory.
What’s next?
Following this home victory over the Vegas Bighorns, our Seattle Cascades will enter a bye week before facing an opponent from the South Division, the Los Angeles Aviators, on June 21st at 5PM PDT. Of note, although this is another home game, it will be played in Interbay Stadium as Memorial Stadium will begin undergoing renovations. Seattle will look to bring momentum from their win this week into their matchup against the 1-5 Aviators.
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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 and photos in this article by Jonathan Red Photography, provided by the Seattle Cascades
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