Kimberly Winheim
The Radicals’ head coach Tim DeByl (foreground) has kept the team looking forward.
After suffering the worst loss in the team’s five-year history on June 3 — a 23-17 clunker at Breese Stevens Field against the defending American Ultimate Disc League Champion Dallas Roughnecks, the Madison Radicals were 5-2 and bore little resemblance to the team that went undefeated in 2016.
The following week, though, the Radicals pulled out a 23-22 overtime win on the road against a hot Minnesota Wind Chill team, and they haven’t lost since.
Now atop the AUDL’s Midwest Division, the 12-2 Radicals are preparing to host the Midwest Championship game on Aug. 12, facing either Minnesota or the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds. These two teams meet in a playoff game on Aug. 4.
If the Radicals win the Midwest Championship, they’ll make their fifth straight Championship Weekend appearance. The league’s top four teams gathered in Madison last year; this year’s Championship Weekend will be in Montreal on Aug. 26-27.
A shot at Madison’s first AUDL title is something Radicals head coach Tim DeByl struggled to envision a couple months ago. “The team really bonded over that victory [at Minnesota],” he says. “It also feels like since that game we’ve been looking forward instead of back to last season. We really like our chances to make it back to the AUDL Championship Weekend but know this will be the most difficult year yet.”
Indeed, the league’s Midwest Division is stronger than ever, with only one game separating the Radicals from the 11-3 Wind Chill in the final regular-season standings, and the Thunderbirds were just three games back, at 9-5. Plus, a series of injuries and player retirements set Madison back further than expected this season.
Despite the slow start, the Radicals’ fan base keeps expanding quickly. The July 1 home game against Minnesota drew 1,423 fans — setting a new regular-season attendance record at Breese Stevens — and the Radicals averaged at least 1,000 fans for each of their seven home games.
“We are so lucky to have the most amazing fan base in the AUDL,” DeByl says. “This was the first time an AUDL team has averaged 1,000 fans a game in the league’s six-year history. We still have a lot of work to do to make the franchise stable, but we really feel like the team has become part of Madison and hope we can keep doing this for a long time.”
Tickets ($7) for the Midwest Championship are available online from radicalsultimate.com or at Breese Stevens Field on game day.
