Riding a string of breaks, Rhino reach their first championship game
October 30, 2024 by Edward Stephens in Recap with 0 comments
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If there were any remaining questions about #9 Portland Rhino Slam!’s championship potential, they have been answered by a thunderous 15-9 semifinal victory over #2 Chicago Machine. They dominated both sides of the disc and stifled every attempt Machine made at comeback en route to the 35-year old program’s first ever appearance in a national championship game.
Rhino took command of the game as soon as the opening pull went up, bounding to a 4-0 lead.
The hold that began the run was somewhat speculative, with the Rhino O-line committed to teasing out Machine’s defensive priorities and taking what became available. Then the D-line began their onslaught. Vinh Bui knocked away a floating huck to start the pile-on. The 70-yard counterattack was poised and restrained. Rhino paused every few throws, making sure to survey the field and retain possession, until Daniel Lee found a free look to David Sealand. A leading pass intended for Pawel Janas carried just out of bounds – although Janas, to his credit, did everything possible to keep a toe inside the line – to give Rhino an opportunity for a second break, which they cashed in as assuredly as the first one.
“We were a little rushed,” said Machine’s Jack Shanahan. “Nothing was off with us, we just missed a few connections that we wished we could have had back.”
Then, crossing over Henry Ing from the O-line, Rhino bared their fangs in a way that showed everyone the true measure of their ferocity. Nate Goff threw a longball to Malik Auger-Semmar, one of Machine’s best deep targets. It hung a little to allow Ing to enter what might have been, with a different defender, a 50/50 prospect that Machine could hope to convert in spite of the slightly suboptimal execution. Instead, they got an eyeful of Ing going up early and high to eclipse Auger-Semmar completely. The one-sidedness of the catch-block set an unmistakable tone for the game.
Ing wasn’t done yet. He finished the point by blasting a huck past Machine’s deepest defenders. After a momentary tug-of-war with teammate Josh Moore, Ben Thoennes hauled in the catch to give Rhino a third consecutive break.
“Rhino plays loose. Rhino has always had a brand,” said Freechild. “Getting those first few breaks means that we can play that Rhino brand… and that’s really scary for other teams to play against.”
Machine were reeling. At least some of their early game woes are attributable to the team’s significant absences. Machine have been on the receiving end of a run of rotten luck. In the weeks leading into Nationals, longtime Machinist Walden Nelson and first-year O-line player John Lithio suffered season-ending knee injuries in the weeks preceding the tournament. Superstar Joe White then severely injured his knee in the first round on Thursday and would not return to play this weekend.
“Those are our guys,” said Shanahan. “Walden [Nelson] is the heart and soul of the team, he’s been here the longest. A lot of the motivation this year was to win it for Walden in his last season.”
“Losing Joe White and John Lithio, two big, athletic playmakers and big game-changers, is tough,” he added.
Already hobbled by injury, Machine also lost their newest all-around playmaker Daan De Marrée to an ejection in the second half of their gritty quarterfinal win against DiG. The double-yellow card he received carried an additional penalty: he also had to sit out the first half of the semifinal. During Machine’s game-opening skid, he could be seen three fields away, a red speck in the distance running through a lonely active warm up routine.
Machine got a point on the board – and then they promptly gave up another break to fall behind 6-1. Paul Arters, reaching out for a one-handed claw catch, dropped a short pass to bring what had been a solid possession to an end. The counteroffensive showcased a blast from Rhino’s past: Dylan Freechild dancing wherever he wanted to collect every other pass. It would not be the last break he orchestrated against Machine. Nationals 2024 has seen a return to form for one of the sport’s legends after a couple of seasons that did not live up to the high standards of his illustrious past.
“I feel as good as ever,” said Freechild. “I feel like I’m seeing the field really well. My knees feel better than they have the last couple of years, and I feel really confident.”
“And it’s just been fun to be on D and get to play with a passion and a joy that really is what defines me and suits me,” he added. “Playing intuitively, playing confidently, and just knowing that I get to play free. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
A Sealand block on the next point nearly put Machine even deeper in the hole, but Rhino failed to convert to break. At long last, Machine started to get their act together. Goff found his footing as a thrower and a receiver, cementing a pair of crucial holds with a tight window inside forehand and a deep dash to reel in a booming Arters huck.
Machine managed to earn back one of the breaks before half when Rhino’s offense finally showed some strain. Jack Hatchett – one of the players with strong argument for Rhino tournament MVP heading into the final – failed to read Ben Preiss’s help defense positioning for Machine to give up their first possession, and Joe Marmerstein sent a low forehand straight into Machine’s defense to lose a second. The Rhino O-line flashed their considerable defensive skills after both turnovers. Mica Glass batted away a dump to earn the disc back once. On the second chance, Raphy Hayes thought he regained possession with a layout block – only to see Machine’s Jake Steslicki make a phenomenal effort to track down the tipped disc and keep the possession alive. Steslicki’s play and the break it set up offered a glimmer of hope for Machine.
“One break is enough to put a spark in a team, especially starting down 0-4,” said Shanahan. “Once we got that one break, some of the lights started to turn on again.”
Even though Rhino closed out the half in grand fashion – an Ing huck to Hayes to set up a creative goal line toss – on the next point, the late break ensured that Machine, trailing 8-4, would at least have a chance to come back when De Marrée rejoined them for the game’s second half.
De Marrée made his presence felt immediately. Arters powered up another flat, fast huck. De Marrée, who entered the game tied for the tournament lead in goals scored, found a footspeed gear most players can only dream of, tore through the yardage to get position for the reception, and layout clap-caught the goal.
Rhino teetered on their first offensive possession of the second half. The load-bearing Ing nearly turned the disc over on a centering reset that Machine defender Will Wettengel got a finger on – but not enough to knock the disc off course. A few passes later, Ing got free upline for a score but dropped the disc. Reacting almost unconsciously, he reached down with one hand to collect his own bobble an inch from the grass to save the hold.
The potential inflection points weren’t limited to Ing’s near-turns. Machine made Rhino uncomfortable at several points in the second half. When Rhino worked the disc to within a yard of the backhand front cone on their next offensive point, Jeff Gao completely shut down Ing’s reset cutting, and Hayes only managed to dash into the picture at the last second. A few points later Machine eliminated all reasonable options for a completion, prompting Glass to force a hammer for Hayes. Auger-Semmar and De Marrée pinched the throw from both sides to get a block. Glass jumped a lane to (once again) get the disc back for Rhino.
Those three resolute offensive points were a testament to Rhino’s considerable mettle; the one that ended with their thirteenth score was a monument to it. Joe Marmerstein mishandled a rolling pull, and as a result Rhino had to start their possession from the back line. They didn’t appear the least bit fazed by their predicament. In a few seconds, Ing steamed into the open space for a 10-yard pass from Marmerstein. From the middle of his own endzone, Ing fired behind the entire Machine defense for Hayes. Going from the back line to a clean hold in four throws was a remarkable accomplishment.
In the points between these O-line tests, Rhino had tacked on another break when Lee’s pressure kept Goff from being able to corral a tough throw. It was a disappointment for an offense that had started to show its dangerous side in the second half. Kyle Rutledge, Johnny Bansfield, Arters, Goff, and De Marrée all had banner moments. Despite the clear improvement from the first half, though, they only fell further behind.
With a 14-9 lead, there was one final break in the cards for Rhino. It came courtesy of a spectacular point from Dylan Freechild. The 2019 Player of the Year was as spry and aggressive as ever. Following a miscommunication between Janas and De Marrée, he ran Rhino’s final possession. Rhino advanced a few yards on the force sideline before Freechild unlocked the field, firing a torpedo of a forehand crossfield through a gap. It was 15 yards downfield and 30 yards to the break side before Machine had time to register what happened. A few throws later, he found Sealand for the game winner.
It was a vintage performance from Freechild, whose 2024 renaissance has been a major factor in Rhino’s success this weekend. It’s a symbiotic relationship: Freechild gives Rhino energy because they have re-energized him.
While Freechild took the final turn in the spotlight, the win saw a dozen or more Rhino players take starring roles throughout the game. They continued to find ways to elevate each other, emphasizing one another’s strengths depending on the game situation. It’s hard not to connect the club’s visible mutual reinforcement with their all-time best result to date.
“It’s really special. I think Vinh [Bui] and Trevor [Smith] and Daniel [Lee] and Sealand, our captains, as well as some of the other leaders who have been around… I was gone for six years, and they manned the ship admirably and built something incredible,” said Freechild.
That quality will serve them in Sunday’s final, where they have a date with #8 New York PoNY.
Machine will no doubt wonder what might have gone differently had they been able to field a full complement of players for the entire game. It’s a fair question. As it stood, though, Rhino were simply the better team in the semifinal.
“Unfortunate the way it ended. I wish we could have gone and done it,” said Shanahan. “But this team battled through a lot of adversity. I’m very proud of us.”
