The game did not matter from a seeding standpoint, but much like Carolina and Atlanta, the AlleyCats and Thunderbirds put on a show for a lively crowd at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh. The AlleyCats 17-14 lead late in the third quarter vanished courtesy of a 4-0 Thunderbirds run, but Indy answered with their own 4-1 spurt, surging back ahead by two at 21-19 with 1:48 remaining.
Pittsburgh inched within one again 22 seconds later, but the AlleyCats offense successfully closed out their 21-20 win by completing short passes and letting the seconds run all the way down to zero. “I’m just really proud of the team for winning both of these Pittsburgh games,” said Indy’s Cameron Brock. “We were missing a lot of players last week and even more this week. That could have been an easy excuse for a loss or lower effort, especially after the lackluster performance in Minnesota. We didn’t buy into any of that and held the expectation that we were gonna win those games. I’m not sure that would happen in many, if any, other seasons for this team.” Indy closed its regular season by winning nine of 10, finishing 9-3 and earning the two-seed in the Central. They’ll host Chicago this Saturday, determined to advance and get another crack at Minnesota two weeks later. “As much as we’d like to look ahead to a rematch with Minnesota, we still have to earn our right to play in that game,” said Brock. “I’m really chomping at the bit to play them given I had to miss our road trip this year, but we’re all keeping our focus on Chicago for now. That’s the only opponent on our schedule for the rest of this season at this point.”
As for the Union’s level of confidence heading into the playoffs following three losses in their last four games, Chicago is hopeful that this new season will give the team new life. But even as the two-time reigning Central Division champs, they enter as sizable underdogs. “I don’t think many outside of the Chicago Union believe we can pull off an upset,” said Union Captain Sam Kaminsky. “And truthfully, I don’t blame them based on our play as of late. But Chicago Union believes. And that’s all that matters.”
Originally posted on theaudl.com