Nearly 16 weeks ago, the Minnesota Wind Chill kicked off their 10th AUDL season with one goal in mind: to compete at Championship Weekend in front of their home crowd at the end of August. And now, in a few days, they’ll do just that.
After coming full circle and ending their season the same way they started it — beating the Indianapolis AlleyCats — the Wind Chill are gearing up to face the Salt Lake Shred and hopefully the winner of the Empire/Sol semifinal. This will be by far the biggest game the Chill have ever played up to this point, and there are a lot of factors at play here that can change the tides of the game. Between a new stadium (but a familiar crowd), new teams and a pretty rigorous schedule, the Wind Chill will need to be firing on all cylinders if they want to come out on top at the end of the weekend.
Home Field Advantage
“Home field advantage” is, in a way, not totally true for the host team this year. While the Wind Chill have played at TCO Stadium in the past, their regular home venue is Sea Foam Stadium in St. Paul. So, do they really get “home field advantage” during Championship Weekend?
To an extent, yes. Firstly, the Wind Chill will certainly have home crowd advantage, expecting their loyal fans to show up in large numbers ready to back their efforts. Of course, this is the AUDL’s biggest weekend of the year, and many fans will fly in from out of state to watch the final four, so Minnesota will not be in 100% friendly confines. So the Wind Chill can’t totally chalk up the venue to their success or failure this weekend.
The wind at Sea Foam has undoubtedly been a talking point among media for quite some time — ourselves included. External conditions make it difficult for visiting teams to fully function when they take on the Wind Chill in St. Paul, and it does pose the question: is Minnesota only successful because they play in wind?
The answer is: of course not. And you’re ridiculous to think so.
It helps, we won’t lie. But if it were the case that they relied on the wind to be successful, then they wouldn’t overcome a four-point deficit indoors, or beat a longstanding rival in one of the rowdiest venues in the league. It will still be interesting, however, to see how the Chill fare in a relatively unfamiliar environment. Luckily, they do have the advantage of being just down the road from the venue this year.
The Wind Chill were able to get onto the field a few days early to throw around and stretch their legs. There is a strange mix of familiarity and newness that the players are experiencing ahead of the game.
Colin Berry doesn’t think the alternate location will affect their game planning at all. Will Brandt thinks a few hours on the field ahead of time will be all they need:
“It’s definitely helpful to have the home field advantage, even if it isn’t Sea Foam,” he said. “I think [practicing on the field] will be super helpful to become a bit more comfortable in that space. Being comfortable on that field will help us feel more ‘at home’ this weekend.”
It is also worth noting that Minnesota does have some exposure to pretty big and rowdy crowds. Even if it wasn’t technically competitive ultimate, they did play the Empire at U.S. Bank Stadium last December, and they regularly play halftime exhibitions at Vikings games. This may not be the biggest factor, but it could definitely be an underrated aspect of what was essentially just an offseason marketing tactic.
Facing the Salt Lake Shred
Before the Wind Chill can dream of etching their name on the Championship trophy, they first need to take down the formidable Salt Lake Shred.
Without getting too much into the nitty gritty of this matchup, I’ll say this: the Shred are good. They are better than any Central Division opponent the Chill have faced this year, objectively so. They are better than the Summit, who spanked Minnesota during their road trip to Colorado. The Shred have faced the Empire, and despite losing, they gained incredible experience and actually kept up for a good portion of that game.
Minnesota will need to play the cleanest ultimate of their season if they want to beat the Shred.
The Chill’s offense has notoriously been lacking and inconsistent this year, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been bad. In fact, they’ve been downright impressive given their challenges and their schedule. Players have come out of the woodwork and helped the team tread throughout the season, putting up incredible numbers while doing so. (See: Tristan Van de Moortele’s 76/76 completions against the Chicago Union.)
But against Jordan Kerr’s undeniably strong offense, the Chill won’t be able to afford much in the way of errors on either side of the disc. This won’t be an ordinary “tough” schedule for the Wind Chill. This will be the toughest schedule they’ll see probably ever.
Double Header Weekend
Speaking of which, assuming the Wind Chill do beat the Shred on Friday, they’ll have to hit the hay immediately and prepare to face either the Empire or the Sol on Saturday. It is going to be a grueling schedule that is definitely aided by the home field advantage and a nice night’s rest in their own bed. But mom’s cooking isn’t going to be enough to beat the best teams in the AUDL.
However, the Wind Chill can’t risk conserving energy and preparing for a Saturday matchup. In a win-or-go-home tournament, Friday’s game will be equally as important as Saturday’s championship.
“I think we have to go all out against Salt Lake,” said Brandt. “It’ll be a very fast and competitive game, and we’re going to need to play at our top level to advance. At this point in the season, our players are pretty in shape and should be able to manage a doubleheader weekend. Salt Lake is a very talented team and if we play well and can win, I believe we will be able to recover well to be ready for the final.”
This balance of conserving some energy and maintaining endurance for Saturday while putting out strong matchups on Friday is a non-question. Minnesota will need to be as competitive as possible on Friday if they even want a chance to play for the Championship.
So, the key is going to be playing to everyone’s strengths throughout the weekend, and utilizing the depth of their roster like they have been all season long. Minnesota is going to continue to look for a few specific anchors to ground the team and drive them forward, like Brandt, Klane, and Snider. But what will really be the difference maker in the outcome of the weekend will be how the supports do.
Abe Coffin, who was the team’s All-Star representative in 2022 has had a quieter season but a huge opportunity to return to his full form this weekend and fill in as a big handler support. Defensive cutters like Marty Adams and Tanner Barcus will also be big names to watch, as they historically have played supporter roles but in ways that can really impact the direction of the game.
It will be very interesting to watch these under-the-radar players as they fill in and provide invaluable support to the team. Minnesota has done a great job calling on everyone, playing unselfish ultimate, and using the entire lineup to their strengths when they need it. I think more so than the star power driving the team to a win, it’ll be the entire system, comprised of unsung support and key gap-filling abilities that will help the Chill win the weekend.
Root For the Underdawgs
Excited. Amped. Underdogs. Those three words seem to be surrounding everyone I talked to ahead of this weekend. That is certainly the vibe among the team as they gear up to face the Salt Lake Shred for the first time ever. At multiple points throughout the season, this team has described themselves as “dawgs.” Now, they’re calling themselves the underdogs headed into Championship Weekend. But they are dawgs, nonetheless. Regardless of the outcome of this weekend, it is fair to say that this year’s Wind Chill team has been successful — perhaps more so than usual and more so than expected.
Navigating uncertainty amongst their lineup, demanding schedules, tough opponents, and the added pressure of hosting the AUDL’s Championship event could have easily crumpled this team and seen them drop in the rankings, electing to undergo a quick rebuild before competing next season. Instead, they fought week in and week out, asking everyone to contribute when they could and relying on a strong foundation and a deep pool of talent to row the team forward.
And now they have made it to Eagan, a short drive from home but a long way from the last few seasons. When they get to the field on Friday night, they’ll be able to say this season was a success, while still hungry for that chance to finish it on top.
And fans and players alike agree: there is reason to believe.
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