Photography: Roxanne Duennebeil
Article: Jason Christensen
Salt Lake Shred takes down reigning champion Wind Chill 18-22
For the second year in a row, the Salt Lake Shred ends the regular season as the 1-seed in the West Division with at least ten wins. This year, they managed to secure eleven wins after taking down the Minnesota Wind Chill, the reigning champions of the 2024 season, 22-18.
More than just the wind chill in SLC
The Shred got off to a rare hot start, giving up a score on Minnesota’s opening drive but then going on to score three unanswered points in the first six minutes. The game took a pause in the first quarter for a lightning delay, pushing play back for about an hour. For another team, that could have been a momentum killer, but for the Shred?
“I think we have a mix of staying focused, staying serious, and also having a good time,” said Luke Yorgason, regarding what the team did during the delay. “I think when something like that happens, it’s totally out of your control, and so you can’t let it get to you mentally.”
“We’re all really tight. It was a bonding moment,” he said. “We were ready to come out when the rain stopped.”
Ready they were. During the rest of the first quarter, Salt Lake outscored Minnesota five to two, including three breaks. Luke Yorgason had two of his four goals of the night in the first quarter, a stellar performance.
“I don’t score all that often, so I think it was a little bit of luck and a lot of my guys helping me out,” he said. “Whoever is scoring, I think it’s a team effort and we did really well tonight.”
The Shred is home to Luke and his two brothers, McKay and Chad, and they were thrilled to see his performance.
“So proud, honestly, obviously,” said Chad Yorgason with a smile. “I’m so glad he’s back from his injury at the beginning of the year. He was playing like a beast out there with a bunch of goals, and a bunch of deep ones too, which is a little unlike him. He used to play handler and now he’s going as a deep cutter, which is great.”
A game of runs
While the first quarter ended with Salt Lake finding a quickly constructed five-point lead going into the second quarter, it did not take long for Minnesota to get right back in the race and prove why they are a playoff contender. Salt Lake’s scoring ran cold, and the Wind Chill’s D-line got four breaks of their own on several fast drives. The increased wind certainly presented new challenges, but there was more to the Shred’s slump than that.
“Sometimes it feels like our offense just gets in our own head a little bit,” said Chad Yorgason. “You love to blame things on the weather and weird conditions, but those are just things you can’t control. So we’ve got to take that in stride and not let it get to our head.”
Entering the halftime, the Shred’s five-point lead had become a one-point lead.
To the surprise of the Shred fans, the thing that seemed to open up the scoring again on offense was hucks. Salt Lake has struggled to find huck opportunities in a few games this season. Despite the challenging weather conditions, the Shred finished the game with an 80% completion percentage on hucks–and they were not just throwing a few. They completed twelve. Five of Salt Lake’s goals came from midfield or farther, and four of those came after halftime.
The confidence evident in those hucks was present everywhere else, too. The team was able to dig deep and score on two different possessions in the fourth quarter that lasted over three minutes and changed hands several times. The team showed their greatest strength was their trust in each other and their ability to step up when it mattered most.
“That third, fourth quarter was exactly what we wanted out of this,” said head coach Bryce Merrill. “As a coach, I’m thrilled. Those are the kind of reps we want going into the playoffs now.”
The Playoffs await
There was a lot to celebrate in Salt Lake’s eleventh win, but the way the season ended still stings. “You want to move past last year,” said Merrill. “We had home field advantage last year, and we lost. We did everything like we did this season to get here with good momentum, and then we lost.” So, what is the message for the Shred in 2025?
“Continue to stay focused. Continue to stay hungry. We’re going to give them a few days off to get their bodies right, and then it’s nothing but acceleration to August.”
The 11-1 Shred will face the winner of Oakland and Colorado at home the weekend of August 9.
