May 7, 2026
By Charlie Hoppes
The start of the 2026 UFA season has been deeply fascinating, even only three weeks in. We have had Championship Weekend hopefuls suffer blowouts, new rosters both surge and struggle to find their footing, and the reigning MVP somehow take another giant leap forward. We are only 16 games into the season, and the storylines continue to build each week.
You would have been forgiven if you had seen the Austin Sol visiting the lowly Houston Havoc and decided to give it a miss. After all, the Havoc are coming off a two-win season in 2025, with a shocking upset of Colorado coupled with a victory over the now-defunct Los Angeles Aviators, and then an opening night 29-13 shellacking at the hands of the Atlanta Hustle a week ago. And their visiting opponents, virtual playoff locks out of the South Division, had outlasted the Hustle in overtime the very next day in an early game-of-the-year contender. Coming into the week, Adam Ruffner slotted the Havoc at number 21 in the weekly "Power Rankings" just ahead of the Bighorns in the basement, and Austin up at seven alongside teams chasing a championship. Houston entered Saturday’s contest 0-11 all-time against their Texan big brother, losing by an average of nearly seven goals a game.
Now they are 0-12, and the Sol move to 2-0 on the season, with a rematch scheduled for this coming Saturday. But despite the familiar result, an argument could be made that Houston’s very real upset attempt will stand as one of the most entertaining games we will see this year.
The Sol would be short two critical O-line players, with Duncan Fitzgerald and Evan Swiatek unavailable. Both players sparkled in their return to the Austin lineup in Week 1–Fitzgerald went for 602 total yards, including 50-51 passing, with five assists and seven more hockey assists, and Swiatek put up 556 yards with no turns on 28 completions, throwing 2 assists and scoring nine goals, including the walk-off winner in double overtime. Any team would feel that lack of production in their lineup, but they were only broken once in the first quarter, a score their D-line recovered with a break of their own.
The true story of the first quarter was the efficiency of the Havoc O-line. A week before, Atlanta had broken them 16 times. Here in the first, the Havoc punched in five of their six offensive points, four of those scores coming on clean holds.
The second quarter belonged firmly to the Houston D-line. Against the Hustle in Week 1, the Havoc D-line did not force a single turnover. Here, they forced turn after turn out of the Sol O-line, punching in three breaks to go with a hold to Austin’s single score of the frame to take a stunning 10-6 lead into halftime.
How does a team punch this far above their weight? In building their first half lead, Houston forced the Sol to cover every inch of the field in both vertical and horizontal space. Until the second quarter buzzer, the Havoc missed on only one huck, and sent many more away shots downfield for major chunk yardage or goals. With the Austin defense bearing down when the disc got forced to a sideline, the Havoc took a page from perhaps Austin’s best strategy: reversing the wide UFA with blades, hammers and scoobers, all of which with velocity. For years, the Sol have maximized their athleticism by aggressively sending the disc from one sideline to the other in one throw, then running free as opposing teams tried to recover. While Houston lacks Austin’s speed, they certainly have the aggressive and skilled throwers to make these tactics work. Matt Bennett has been one of the most celebrated creative throwers of the last decade, and veteran anchor Jimmy Zuraw will attack space with blades and inverted throws, including an off-hand (righty, for the lefty Zuraw) hammer. But leading the charge was Mark Turner, who rocketed hammer after hammer across the field to set up scores. The Havoc went 9-for-11 on inverted throws in the first half, and Austin had absolutely no answer.
Further, Houston gambled a bit on defense and pushed the Sol out once they reached the sideline. Rather than working through their typical horizontal attack, the Sol took the bait and took seemingly endless away shots. They started only 3-of-8 from deep in the half, and missed on numerous other shots down the line. By shrinking the field for Austin and shooting to every corner themselves, the Havoc found a formula to play well above what we’ve seen them play in the past.
It wasn’t to last. Houston held out of halftime to stretch the lead to 11-6. But with 5:14 left in the third quarter, the Sol had tied it at 12-12. What happened? All of the things that built the lead for the Havoc completely dried up. Offensively, the Havoc threw only one hammer and one huck in that stretch, while turning the disc over four times in their half of the field, with three of those right in the shadow of their own end zone. And on the defensive side, with such a short field to defend so often, Austin did not have a turnover until Frankie Gomez swatted down a Hail Mary at the end of the quarter.
Usually, after an upstart gives back a five-goal lead in less than seven minutes of game time, the air goes out of the balloon and the favorite cruises the rest of the way. But the Havoc righted the ship and traded for the rest of regulation. They never quite got their way back to the recipe of their blistering 2nd quarter, but even as the Sol started settling into their usual horizontal movement, the Houston defense on all lines showed tremendous resolve, winning the disc back numerous times in major stands. With 22 seconds left, one more huge hammer from Turner gave the Havoc a 19-18 lead. But a giant crossfield blade–long an Austin specialty–from Kyle Henke to his younger brother Mark tied the score with a second left. And after the Sol opened overtime with a hold and a break, at long last Houston was put down.
Did Houston catch lightning in a bottle during a magical second quarter? Or is there something to build on from this performance? There is no question this kind of high-variance offense could work for them, particularly if they can grind on defense when the hucks and hammers stop hitting. As an underdog, the Havoc are not beholden to playing clean ultimate. They can throw haymakers, and if they continue to aim some of those haymakers to the opposite sideline, this will not be the only game we see their offense catch fire. Whether their D-line–excellent in the second quarter of this game, and otherwise pretty punchless the rest of the season–can keep up is another story. But funneling to a sideline and inviting shots is a game plan that worked for many teams in the past.
We shouldn’t expect a close game this Saturday in the rematch. The Sol will roll with a full roster at home, and should flatten a Houston team without Bennett. Then again, that’s what should have happened last week. Here’s hoping Turner and company can hammer their way into another close game.
ABOUT CHARLIE HOPPES
Charlie Hoppes has coached ultimate for 20 years, including several stints in the UFA. He was co-head coach of the New York Empire–helping to lead them to undefeated championship seasons in 2022 and 2023–and is currently a coaching consultant for the Indianapolis Alleycats. Hoppes provides individualized coaching services to players, coaches, and teams at all levels through Charlie Hoppes Ultimate Coaching & Consulting (CHUCC). Learn more at charliehoppes.com
