August 6, 2026
By Alex Rubin
At this stage in the season, only the best teams in the league are left and they’ve all been able to play each other before. Each coaching staff has plenty of film to study and months of experience with their own team to prepare them for what to this point will be the most important matchups of the season. While overall strategy and tactics play a factor, getting matchups right at the individual level can set up teams for success. For each division championship game, one matchup stands out that could determine which teams see their seasons end this weekend and which teams will play in Madison at the end of the month.
Carolina at Austin | Sol defenders versus Flyers playmakers in a clash between teams with rising stars
Some teams might prefer to save their best block-getters for easier targets, but so far this season the Austin Sol have been matching up George Gust and Owen Johnson on Tobias Brooks and Zeke Thoreson, respectively, and it is exciting to see two of the best players on each team go head to head. Gust leads the Sol in blocks this season (12) while Johnson did so last season (with 14). Both young talents have both the intelligence and athleticism to guard two of the most dynamic players in the league.
Brooks spends most of his time in the backfield. He averages ten more completions per game than the next closest Flyer and led the team in assists despite playing in just seven regular season games. With Gust around to push him downfield and disrupt him normal offensive flow, the Flyers might need to rely more on players like Jacob Louie or Dylan Hawkins in the backfield. Both are great players but neither has the ceiling that Brooks can offer.
Thoreson is second on the team in scores per game (behind Brooks) again, despite playing in just seven games. His ability to attack from anywhere on the field makes his a danger to defenses. Johnson is one of the few players in the league who can match him stride for stride and provide a genuine challenge to one of the most gifted playmakers in the league.
If the Sol are able to limit Carolina’s two most effective offensive players, they will have a great chance to win this game and make it back to Championship Weekend. With Allan Laviolette and Jacob Fairfax also around, Carolina has a number of options and will certainly be able to score even if Brooks and Thoreson are limited, but with those two involved in most set plays and seemingly always around the disc, the Flyers would have to adjust on the fly if Gust and Johnson do a great job slowing down their biggest offensive weapons.
New York at Boston | Both defenses tasked with trying to slow down dueling superstars
While we may not see them match up on the field too often, the biggest matchup in this game will be Boston’s Tobe Decraene and New York’s Daan De Marrée lighting up the stat sheet for their teams and trying to will their teams to victory. Both Belgian superstars are competitors who love to win more than anything else, and they will do everything they have to do in order to succeed.
Last season, Decraene threw 20 assists in his three playoff games (as many as he had thrown in the previous seven regular season games) as he carried the Glory to a title. When the lights get bright and the spotlight turns on, Decraene has been at his best.
In their most recent matchup, the Empire attacked Decraene with size, limiting the damage he can do in the deep space as a receiver but more importantly putting a big mark on his throws and deterring easier looks. Drew Schnaudigel was the primary defender on the Decraene assignment, and he will likely be tasked again with the challenge of slowing down last season’s MVP.
While De Marrée has not had the same success in the playoffs that Decraene has already achieved, his six-assist, four-goal performance in last week’s playoff game gives fans a taste of what is yet to come.
In their matchups this season, Boston has rotated defenders onto De Marrée rather than stick to a specific matchup. It will take a full team effort to slow down New York’s leading per-game scorer, and the Glory are treating the assignment as such. Different defenders bring different strengths to the table, and the rotation will force De Marrée to adjust on every single point. Boston also runs a lot of switching and zone defenses that will limit their ability to assign specific matchups, but are also designed at slowing down the highest scoring team in the league.
It would certainly be a treat to see De Marrée and Decraene match up one on one, but with both players set as fixtures of their respective O-lines, it is unlikely to actually play out that way on the field. However, the way that they elevate their teammates play and dictate the action on the field when their respective teams have the disc will go a long way to determining the outcome of this matchup. There are two many factors at play to definitively say that whichever of these two players plays better will win, but whichever plays better will certainly put their team in the best position to win.
Indianapolis at Minnesota | Hawkins and his white-hot passing meets Burnett and a deep Minnesota defense
Perhaps no newcomer has made a bigger impact of their team than Elliot Hawkins. The young AlleyCats star invigorated the team upon his mid-season arrival. In ten games so far (including the playoff opener against Madison last week), Hawkins averages more than four scores per game than his next closest teammate. He has thrown five or more assists in over half the games he played and led the league in assists through the regular season despite only playing in nine games. His addition as a connective force in the Indianapolis offense allows the team to play a more free-flowing and flexible style of offense that is harder to stop. Put it this way, the team is 0-3 without him and 7-3 with him on the field.
Naturally, the Wind Chill will want to focus their efforts on slowing down Hawkins. In their most recent matchup, Justin Burnett drew the Hawkins matchup and limited Hawkins to three goals and three assists, his lowest scoring output of the season. Even with the many strong defensive options that Minnesota has, Burnett is the best of the bunch. He’s made the UFA All-Defense each of the last three seasons and has the most selections to that list of all time. His ability to shadow Hawkins downfield and set a strong mark while Hawkins has the disc gives the Wind Chill the best chance at slowing down the AlleyCats star player. While Minnesota might choose to rotate a few of their top defenders to continue putting “fresh legs” on Hawkins, Burnett has proven to be the best of the group and will be up to the task of slowing down this season’s surprise MVP candidate.
Salt Lake at Oakland | Kerr and Yorgason lead the Shred offense against athletic Spiders coverage
Few teams are as heliocentric around two players as the Salt Lake Shred. Chad Yorgason and Jordan Kerr each have more than 50 assists while nobody else on the team has more than 17. They have each racked up more than 5700 yards this season while nobody else has hit the five thousand mark. While Oakland is already 3-0 against Salt Lake this season, they have not been able to truly slow down Salt Lake’s two All-UFA candidates. Though the Shred are still under .500 on the year, it will just take one stellar game to bring them back to Championship Weekend once again.
The Spiders put size on Kerr, and will likely ask some combination of Carter Lankford, Sean Liston, and Dylan Villeneuve to take on that matchup. With Kerr now solidly in a backfield role, being able to apply pressure on the mark and take away easier throws will limit what Salt Lake can do.
In contrast, Yorgason was paired with speed, usually in a matchup with Jason Vallee or Anton Orme. With a few injuries potentially shifting around responsibilities for the Spiders, it’s possible that Vallee gets the call to switch to offense; if so, perhaps someone like James Whealan or Evan Magsig takes on this matchup too.
This game will be a big test for the Spiders’ depth. With stars like Walker Frankenberg (who is Questionable) and Daniel Ritthaler (who is listed as Out) potentially unable to play, Oakland will have to match Salt Lake’s experience and division winning know-how with some less proven players on the field. There’s always more to a game plan than just two players, but no matter what else happens, Oakland will be setting themselves up for success if they can limit the effectiveness of Kerr and Yorgason, no matter who they end up leaving on those specific matchups.
