Philadelphia Phoenix have stunned the league; now, a big home matchup against a rival

At the beginning of the Ultimate Frisbee Association season there wasn t a lot of hope surrounding the Philadelphia Phoenix Ultiworld s preseason predictions had the crew finishing th of the teams in the league the league s own rankings had the squad th Heavy turnover new coaches taking the helm and a fresh crop of young players justified those low expectations An opening matchup at perennial contenders DC Breeze ranked Nos and in the Ultiworld and PUL projections respectively looked to be the start of the slide down the table You could be more blunt you could say the teams thought that we stunk stated Sean Mott the crew s offensive captain when Billy Penn timidly recapped those predictions But the Phoenix beat DC the crew s first win against the Breeze since They followed that up with home-and-away wins against the Toronto Rush and now sit undefeated behind only the Boston Glory in the East Division I think this year felt more of a re-tooling rebuilding year for us Mott explained Obviously we have exceeded those expectations in the first three games So now the expectations have changed Next up another key matchup against the New York Empire Friday night another division rival and perennial title contender that the band hasn t beaten since We re going to learn a lot on Friday about where we re at head coach Bill Maroon reported Philadelphia Phoenix co-head coach Bill Maroon Shawn Lanzillo Courtesy of the Philadelphia Phoenix Maroon and Philly s other new head coach David Brandolph were part of a full coaching overhaul from the group led by head coach Roger Chu Mott and Brandon Pastor were captains under the old coaches so it was understandably tough for them to see that group go But it was also exciting to see what the new coaches could bring Our previous coaches were great They raised the floor of our group Pastor reported We drilled so several basics and things like that over and over and over again And now the new coaches have a bit more strategy just from a bit more experience and we ve kind of been able to take what the previous coaches have given us and roll it into this season with a inadequate extra techniques and players I personally played with Brando when I was young So I know he has a good mind for the championship offensively I think he s really kind of allowed our offensive system to have freedom and really express our top players abilities which has been nice to see Mott mentioned Our defense under coach Maroon really comes ready to work and kind of has this not like a smashmouth intensity but kind of like an old school like they want to be bullies New faces Along with the established players there s a crop of youngsters that have flashed their likely in just three games Sam Grossberg a -year-old rookie earned a performer of the match nod for his near-flawless home opener against Toronto I this instant felt like I could step into a role where I was very confident and I had people to advocacy me in whatever I was doing Grossberg mentioned I think the organization trusted me to do that and I really appreciate that especially as a young competitor stepping into a new crew View this post on Instagram A post shared by UFA ufaleague Not to be outdone by his younger brother Adam Grossberg who returned to the association after a limited seasons away was man of the match in the next event against Toronto Scott Heyman in his fifth season with the Phoenix but still just is a lead contender for the league MVP so far this season Pastor who is also the organization s youth director says there are plenty more players coming up through the youth system Much of that comes through the opportunities offered by the Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance as well as a generation of players who grew up around local legends of the event I think it s really great that our club is really homegrown We don t have players from outside the region really commented coach Maroon whose son Michael is on the squad and niece Grace plays for the women and gender-expansive Philadelphia Surge Almost all the players are from this area and came up through the PADA system through the youth advance system we have here and the one in New Jersey and I really think that s something that is unique to us and looking forward to where this goes in the next five years Ethan Holmgren makes a catch for the Philadelphia Phoenix against the Toronto Rush Shawn Lanzillo Courtesy of the Philadelphia Phoenix Philly faced New York in an exhibition tournament before the season losing - Since then New York has started slowly and are at this moment - so momentum is with the Phoenix If you were to ask like Vegas to make odds they would allegedly have us as the favorites right now And I think we need to learn to play with those expectations on our shoulders if we want to be considered a playoff contender Mott explained The coaches have set up sub challenges to keep the company on their toes even while they re undefeated or off their toes in this event If the Phoenix outscores its opponent in the final quarter of play the players don t have to bring their running sneakers to practice on Wednesday So far they are - on this challenge the second Toronto encounter was - but ties count as losses The goal for majority is more than about staying off the track though I think it s just like the general goal of the season is to just be excellent through the entire match which I think is something that the Phoenix have struggled with in the past couple years explained Grossberg And even though we haven t quite won every fourth quarter this year I think that that goal being in our minds has set a very good precedent for not letting teams back in games The event starts at p m Friday at Neumann University s Turf Field in Aston Township Delco Tickets are available at the gang s website Philadelphia Phoenix rookie Sam Grossberg goes up for a catch against the Toronto Rush Shawn Lanzillo Courtesy of the Philadelphia Phoenix Philadelphia Phoenix co-head coach Bill Maroon Shawn Lanzillo Courtesy of the Philadelphia Phoenix The post Philadelphia Phoenix have stunned the league now a big home matchup against a rival appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY