On Sunday afternoon in Berkeley, California, the Portland Stags bested the San Francisco Dogfish 15-12 to begin their season with a 2-0 record.
The Stags scored the first two points and never trailed, but the Dogfish remained in close contention throughout the contest.
The Dogfish were positioned to steal the lead at several points in the game, but the Stags walked into the locker room at halftime having just extended their lead to two goals after a six-and-a-half minute, twelve turnover rally.
The third quarter began with a 4-1 run by the Stags, who looked to be pulling away for another blowout victory as they were up 10-5. However, the Dogfish resiliently answered back by scoring the next four points to enter the final quarter trailing by only one point.
After each team had their turn at a scoring streak, the Stags began to pull away in the fourth and sealed the victory. Peter Woodside was a clutch player for the Stags down the stretch, assisting on one goal and scoring another.
The infamous wind in Yellowjacket Stadium kept both teams guessing as throws sailed over their targets or suddenly dropped to the turf. The Dogfish consistently applied defensive pressure and forced the Stags to attempt longer, riskier passes but were unable to capitalize on offense as they dropped a few passes and had several errant throws.
Although the Dogfish defense was suffocating, handlers Dan Suppnick (3 assists), Matt Melius (2 assists) and Tyler Cable (2 assists) and cutters Peter Woodside (1 assist, 5 goals), Timmy Perston (2 assists, 2 goals), Cody Bjorklund (1 goal) and Raphy Hayes (1 goal) were able to keep the disc moving downfield and complete difficult passes.
“I think we have a solid roster from top to bottom,” said Stags defensive cutter Brian Penner. “We figured out guys in their roles and just learned how to execute our positions well. It was a definitely defensive based team and we’ve got a good top 11 guys we can throw on and be sure they were going to get a turn, force them to make throws they don’t want to throw. Take away their first and second [options].”
The Stags will look to improve their record to 3-0 on Sunday, May 3 on the road against the Vancouver Nighthawks (1-1), who beat the Stags in the Western Conference Finals last year.
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