Raleigh Flyers (AUDL)

The Raleigh Flyers are a professional ultimate team from Raleigh, North Carolina playing in the Atlantic Division of the American Ultimate Disc League. The team was founded in 2015. From 2015 through 2018, the Flyers played most of their home games at Crusader Stadium on the campus of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, with some home games at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. In 2019, the team has played home games at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, and other venues.

Raleigh Flyers
Founded2015
DivisionAtlantic
StadiumWakeMed Soccer Park
Based inRaleigh, North Carolina
Owner(s)Mike Denardis[1]
Sean Degnan
Head CoachMike Denardis[2]
Websitetheaudl.com/flyers/

History

2015

The Flyers won the South Division in their inaugural season, with a record of 11–3. They earned a #1 seed in the AUDL South Division. In the Divisional Finals, they beat the Jacksonville Cannons 28–27 in double overtime to advance to nationals, where they were defeated 22–19 in the semifinals by the Madison Radicals. The Flyers signed the first-ever female professional ultimate player, Jessi Jones, to play in their game against the Nashville Nightwatch in May 2015. Jones, who was a team USA U-23 player in 2013, was signed as part of "Women's Ultimate Day".[3]

2016

In 2016, the Flyers finished 9-5, which secured a #2 spot in the AUDL South Division, but were upset in the first round by the visiting #3 seed Atlanta Hustle, 23-25.

2017

With the folding of the Charlotte Express after the 2016 season, the Flyers signed eleven of Charlotte's former players (Matt Bode, Clint McSherry, Jesse Lieberman, Micah Hood, Jeff Nordgren, Taylor Minch, Nate Goff, Shane Sisco, Evan Howey, Jacob Fairfax, Charlie Muniz) as well as AUDL veterans Jonathan "Goose" Helton (Indianapolis AlleyCats, Chicago Wildfire, DC Breeze), Brett Matzuka (Chicago Wildfire, DC Breeze), and Mike Pannone (Rochester Dragons, Pittsburgh Riverhounds) for the 2017 season. The Flyers won the AUDL's first ever regular season cross-divisional match against the DC Breeze 23-21 in overtime on April 22, 2017 as part of the league's "Cross Coast Challenge". The Raleigh Flyers won the South Division with a 13–1 regular season record, but fell to the Dallas Roughnecks in the first round.

At the end of the 2017 season, the AUDL voted unanimously to recognize Jonathan Nethercutt as the League's Most Valuable Player.[4]

2018

With the addition of Jakeem Polk, Andrew McKelvey, and Mischa Freystaetter, all previously of the Jacksonville Cannons to their roster, Raleigh was considered a strong pre-season contender. In addition to 12 divisional games, Raleigh played 2 cross-divisional games against the DC Breeze and Madison Radicals. In the game against Madison, Raleigh gave Madison only its 2nd ever loss at home and Madison's largest margin of defeat ever (8 points). Raleigh was the only team to defeat Madison during their run to become the 2018 AUDL Championship. Raleigh finished the regular season as the #2 seed in the South Division with 10 wins and 4 losses. After defeating the Austin Sol in the divisional play-off game 26–23, they lost to the Dallas Roughnecks 19–20 in the divisional championship game after being up 6 goals just after halftime.

Season by Season

YearRegular SeasonPlayoffs
2015 11-31-1 (National semifinalist)
2016 9-50-1 (Division semifinalist)
2017 13-1 0-1 (Division finalist)
2018 10-41-1 (Division finalist)

All-Time Record by Opponent

This table reflects games through the end of the 2018 season.

OpponentRegular SeasonPlayoffs
Nashville Nightwatch 12-0
Charlotte Express (now defunct) 7-0
Madison Radicals 1-0 0-1
Jacksonville /Tampa Bay Cannons 11-2 1-0
Austin Sol 4-2 1-0
Atlanta Hustle 5-4 0-1
DC Breeze 1-1
Dallas Roughnecks 2-4 0-2

References

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