June 3, 2024
By Evan Lepler
Lukas Ambrose, Seattle Cascades
The top two spots on the Week 6 Honor Roll—alphabetically, and perhaps even overall—go to a pair of high-flying disc-hunters who switched teams this past offseason and earned some of the sweetest non-championship victories any player can ever achieve this past weekend. Lukas Ambrose produced five blocks, four goals, and three assists in Seattle’s pair of one-goal wins on the road, lifting the Cascades to a 5-2 record and second place out West. On Sunday afternoon against his former team, the 25-year-old delivered a clutch goal-line interception in the closing moments to thwart LA’s late comeback bid, his UFA-leading 12th block of the season. Consequently, Seattle swept its annual SoCal doubleheader trip for the first time since 2016, which also happens to be the last year the ‘Scades made the playoffs.
Jeff Babbitt, Boston Glory
The East is certainly evolving into a pretty epic soap opera, eh? Jeff Babbitt sure had a satisfied grin on his face during Friday’s postgame interview on WatchUFA.tv, as he basked in the glory of helping Boston beat New York—his old team, of course—for the first time ever. Watching that game, along with the Glory’s similarly meaningful one-goal victory over DC on Sunday, and you notice Babbitt’s monumental influence on his team. Obviously, he can still use his incomparable turbo button to generate ridiculous, pivotal blocks, but beyond the mind-boggling moments of pure athletic brilliance, there are so many other smaller, not insignificant shifts in Boston’s overall mentality that subtly are blanketed in Babbitt’s fingerprints. Friday and Sunday were the first and second times in Boston’s franchise history that the Glory had 10 or fewer turnovers in a game against a team with a winning record. In a related story, Babbitt went 51-for-51 on the weekend and has just one throwaway in seven games played this season, and the Glory, a franchise that’s never previously won a playoff game, sits in first place atop the league’s deepest division heading into Week 7.
Christian Belus, Carolina Flyers
Flyers leadership has raved about this young phenom throughout the past few months, and Christian Belus, who just finished his sophomore year of college at UNC-Wilmington, is now giving the entire UFA world a glimpse into his massive potential. Belus helped Carolina stay undefeated by producing a pair of road wins over Austin and Dallas in Week 6, collecting four blocks, four goals, and one assist as a powerful D-line presence. “Christian Belus was s-tier all weekend,” raved Flyers Coach Mike DeNardis. On Friday against the Sol, he only played eight points, all on D, but he still scored three goals and tallied one block, with the Flyers breaking Austin’s O-line four times when Belus was on the field.
Dex Dremann, Chicago Union
The 25-year-old Michigan State product put together a throwing performance that, even in defeat, lifted him onto the weekly scintillating seven for the first time in his career. While acknowledging that Indy’s defense has, to put it mildly, struggled to create turnovers this season, Dex Dremann’s offensive output against the AlleyCats was one of the finest we’ve witnessed across the entire league all year. Dremann tossed 50 completions with no throwaways, dealing eight assists and catching three goals along the way. From a yardage standpoint, his 675 total yards almost doubled the next best performance in his career, and his plus-11 from the Indy game sits second amongst all plus/minuses in a single game across the league this season. Not meant to be an afterthought, Dremann also went 36-for-37 and threw for 335 yards in Chicago’s Friday night win over Madison.
Brett Hulsmeyer, Atlanta Hustle
To put it simply, very few if any players in the UFA have had a better first half of the season than Atlanta’s Brett Hulsmeyer. Against Colorado this past Friday evening, the Hustle big man led his team in goals, assists, completions, throwing yards, and receiving yards. Other than that, he was pretty mediocre. But seriously, his 582 total yards, 42 completions, four goals, and three assists still don’t fully describe how dominant Hulsmeyer was at times, completely in control of the game and confidently capable of the spectacular sky when his team needed it. We’re still a week or two away from midseason awards, but it’s hard to fathom how Hulsmeyer won’t be on the short list for MVP consideration, leading the way for an Atlanta team that has produced two of the most impressive wins of the season.
Will Hoffenkamp, Pittsburgh Thunderbirds
In just his third ever UFA game, Will Hoffenkamp helped anchor the Pittsburgh offense to one of the finest possession preserving performances in league history. The 25-year-old Pitt product completed 59 passes with just one throwaway, tossing eight assists and accumulating 661 total yards in the Thunderbirds’ rout over the AlleyCats. As a team, the T-Birds navigated four quarters against Indy with just five turnovers, the fewest turns ever for any UFA team in a regular season game that went the full 48 minutes. It remains to be seen whether this otherworldly afternoon is an outlier, Pittsburgh’s new norm, or just vastly enhanced numbers against an ineffective Indy D-line, but Hoffenkamp’s emergence is undoubtedly a positive development for a Thunderbirds team that has really needed to find more punch and size amongst its handlers, both things that Hoffenkamp provided aplenty in Sunday’s victory.
Ben Sadok, Boston Glory
Sometimes, a team puts together a weekend so special that perhaps a dozen dudes could make the Honor Roll. But with all due respect to Peter Boerth, Tanner Johnson-Go, Jonah Stang-Osborne, and several other key contributors, Ben Sadok earned the acclaim with his steady handling, squirrelly resets, creative playmaking, and all-around dedication as the Glory player who’s worn the jersey more than anyone else. He’s missed just three games in three and a half seasons, and his supporting cast is now better suited than ever to complement and highlight his tremendous talents. Overall, Sadok delivered 114 completions in Boston’s pair of signature Week 6 wins, with just two throwaways. Add in seven assists, three goals, four hockey assists, and nearly 750 total yards, and it’s easy to understand how Sadok’s stability has perhaps never been more important for a Glory team that suddenly has the inside track to host the East Division title game this August.
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