June 11, 2026
By Sam Weiger

Rivalry Weekend left playoff races razor-thin across every division, setting the stage for a high-stakes Week 8 where nearly half the league is fighting for postseason positioning. The schedule is headlined by four UFA heavyweights in two marquee matchups: a highly anticipated Friday Night Frisbee clash between two of the league's final three undefeated squads and a mouthwatering Game of the Week rematch.  

New York Empire at Boston Glory | Game of the Week
Friday, June 12 - 7:00 PM/ET - Watch link

On the heels of last week's decisive four-goal victory against the Glory, New York enters tonight's matchup with a major opportunity. Because they already hold the head-to-head advantage over DC, a win against Boston tonight means the Empire control their own destiny in the race for the East's number one seed.

After Friday’s game, New York’s schedule sets up favorably. They close the season with four winnable games against sub-.500 opponents: Philly twice, Toronto, and Chicago. 

And it’s looking like New York will avoid Jeff Babbitt for the second consecutive week. Boston’s reset struggles were evident from the jump against the Empire last week, underscoring just how much they miss Babbitt’s presence in that area.

However, the roster issues run deeper. Boston is also expected to be without Tannor Johnson-Go, Ben Sadok, Ned Dick, and Tyler Chan. While losing all four hurts, the defensive void left by Johnson-Go, Babbitt, and Chan is especially critical. The Glory face a monumental task on Friday as they line up against arguably the league's top offense, spearheaded by the lethal combination of Daan De Marrée and Alex Atkins. 

De Marrée shredded Boston’s elite defense for over 300 receiving yards, even while matched up against top-tier defenders like Lander Decraene. With De Marrée on the field and Atkins playing at an MVP caliber, it is difficult to envision Boston winning this matchup while missing three of their premier defensive anchors.

Consequently, the spotlight shifts to a Boston offense that suffered arguably its worst outing of the season against New York last week. The Glory posted season lows in goals (17), huck rate (55 percent), and hold rate (52 percent). Key O-line contributors Simon Carapella and Orion Cable were largely neutralized in the loss, a performance that reflects quieter-than-expected seasons for both standouts so far.

One Big Number:
2 - Both Cable and Carapella are projected to finish the season with a lower plus/minus total than they recorded last year.
6 - If Atkins outplays Decraene on Friday, can he make a legitimate case to pass him in the MVP race? Atkins currently holds the edge in six crucial categories: total adjusted expected Contribution (Tot-aEC), Thrower-aEC, lag contribution, completion percentage, player impact (possession), and offensive efficiency. 

Minnesota Wind Chill at Oakland Spiders | Friday Night Frisbee
Friday, June 12 - 10:00 PM/ET - Watch link

Nobody expected both Minnesota and Oakland to still be undefeated through a combined 12 games, but both teams have exceeded expectations. Two of the deepest rosters in the league collide in what is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated matchups of the season.

Oakland's leap this year has been well-documented, while Minnesota's has flown a bit more under the radar. The Wind Chill have long drawn criticism for leaning too heavily on their elite defense, with an offense that looked shaky for a team that reached Championship Weekend three years running. Their completion rate from 2023 to 2025 was 92.44 percent. In 2026, it's 96.05 percent, the highest in the league.

Gordon Larson, the most underrated player in Minnesota’s lineup, is the biggest reason the Wind Chill offense has improved so much. After a six-assist performance against Chicago in Week 4, Head Coach Ben Feldman handed Larson the QB1 keys, and he hasn’t looked back. He’s on pace to shatter career-highs across completions, plus/minus, assists, and throwing yards, and he’s the player I’m most excited to watch on Friday. If this keeps up, Minnesota may have finally found another star O-line handler they’ve been needing.

Oakland’s newest star handler is Daniel Ritthaler. The Spiders handler has blown past expectations and shot himself straight into the MVP conversation. His biggest impact has come in the red zone, where Oakland needed to improve, and did. The matchup sets up well for him, too, as Minnesota has struggled to get stops when opponents reach the red zone this season.

On the defensive side, the matchup within the matchup is Carter Lankford vs. Justin Burnett, two of the best defenders in the league. On paper, Lankford has been the better defender, but Burnett is Mr. Primetime for a reason. With this being Minnesota’s first Friday Night Frisbee game of the year, don’t be surprised if Burnett is the louder presence. He tallied six blocks across three Friday night showcases last year, including a three-block performance against his former Hustle squad. Against Oakland’s fast-paced offense, he could find himself in isolation matchups against top scorers, exactly the kind of spot where he’s made his name.

Still, Lankford’s consistency is hard to ignore. Averaging three blocks per game this season, he’s become one of the most disruptive defenders in the league, with the size and athleticism to make any opposing O-line miserable. Whether he can outshine Mr. Primetime on the biggest stage is one of the most compelling questions of the week.

The four-player subplot is fascinating, but the bigger draw is the matchup itself. Neither team has been tested like this yet this year, but Oakland’s 10-goal win over Salt Lake is the most impressive result either side can point to. The Spiders have blown out opponents regularly and they’re at home, where they’ve dropped just one game in the past two years. They look like slight favorites in this marquee matchup.

One Big Number:
97.52 - Larson is completing 97.52 percent of his throws this season, way up from a 93.57 career average entering the year.
83.23 - Oakland’s red zone conversion rate is 83.23 percent, a jump of nearly five percent from last season.

San Diego Growlers at Colorado Apex
Saturday, June 13 - 7:00 PM/ET - Watch link

Of all the Week 8 matchups, this one arguably carries the highest stakes. Both San Diego and Colorado are currently on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, with a legitimate path in, but virtually no margin for error. 

The trajectory of these two teams couldn't look more different right now. Colorado is trending up; San Diego is trending down.

The Apex have won two of their last three games, headlined by last week’s massive, season-defining upset over the Shred. 

Handlers Quinn Finer and Nanda-Min Fink have driven Colorado’s resurgence, but their downfield cutters are equally critical in this one. Hunter May and Benen Shea have combined for 26 huck receptions, the most of any two-player tandem on a single roster, so they could be a nightmare matchup for a Growlers defense that has been beaten deep all season.

The good news for San Diego is that their biggest offseason addition, Jonathan Lyle, appears ready to make his long-awaited debut. Lyle ranked second in the league in player impact (team) PI-T and 14th in player impact (possession) PI-P last season, while tying for 18th in hucks caught. Even while suiting up for one of the league's worst teams, his value rivaled that of established stars like Brett Hulsmeyer and Travis Dunn.

Speaking of Dunn, the UFA legend has been inconsistent this season, and he's coming off his worst performance yet: a season-low 0.5 Tot-aEC, an 86.7 percent completion rate, and four turnovers. He’s due for a big game, and with Colorado's defense struggling, this matchup could be the perfect opportunity for Dunn to bounce back.

One Big Number:
68 - San Diego is surrendering a 68 percent huck completion rate to opponents, seventh-highest rate in the league.
25 - The Apex have allowed 25 goals per game this season, third-most in the UFA.

Boston Glory at DC Breeze
Saturday, June 13 - 7:00 PM/ET - Watch link

Since 2024, no team has drawn a tougher doubleheader slate than Boston, and no team has handled it better. The Glory are 4-0 across two seasons of facing New York and DC in a single weekend, winning each one by an average of just 1.75 goals. Whether that continues this weekend is the big question.

For DC, the motivation isn’t subtle. The Breeze have dropped their last two matchups with Boston by a combined 13 goals, but they’re coming in with real momentum: consecutive strong outings capped by an impressive comeback win over Carolina. Jacques Nissen and Sean Mott are connecting with receivers at a high clip downfield, players like Weibe van den Brink and Micah Wagner are applying excellent defensive pressure, and plenty of other jcontributors are making their impact. The pieces are in place, but the Decraene problem looms large. 

After a stretch that had some wondering if the reigning MVP was hitting a mid-season lull, Decraene answered emphatically with 61 completions and 465 throwing yards, a performance that felt like a replay of his dominant showing against DC earlier this year. 

The Breeze, however, did just lock down an elite offensive player. They held Jacob Fairfax to three scores and 183 receiving yards, both season lows, but whether or not they can stifle the best player in the league remains to be seen.

But what about Rowan McDonnell and Thomas Edmonds? Both are returning to Carlini Field for the first time, so they’re worth watching in their own right, especially Edmonds. Edmonds went 106-of-106 passing with 11 total scores over his last two games, a stretch that underscores just how much his role on the O-line is expanding.

One Big Number:
8 - The Breeze generated just eight turns against Boston earlier this season, finishing well below their season average of 19.13 opponent turns per game. 
76 - Edmonds’ 76 throws last week against Philadelphia were his most in a single game since 2021.

Salt Lake Shred at Seattle Cascades
Saturday, June 13 - 8:00 PM/ET - Watch link

What looked early on like a clear-cut West Division top three (Oakland, Salt Lake, and Seattle) is suddenly murkier with Colorado back in the mix. Salt Lake and Seattle, both 3-2, meet for the first time in what will be a two-game regular season series. For the Shred, Week 8 marks the start of a critical stretch.

Beginning June 12, Salt Lake faces four games in a single week, a rare and physically demanding stretch for a team locked in a three-way battle for a West playoff spot. They'll open with the Oregon Steel on Friday before this high-stakes Saturday matchup with Seattle closes out Week 8. Then, after just a four-day breather, they head north for back-to-back games against Central Division playoff contenders: the Madison Radicals and Minnesota Wind Chill.

Seattle may be the fresher team heading into this one, but they're not the favorite. The Cascades have shown potential this year, averaging 21 goals per game and holding opponents to 18, but they've been outclassed against the toughest competition this year. They lost to Oakland and Austin by an average of 7.5 goals, surrendering 25.5 per game in those matchups, and one defensive vulnerability stands out: defending the huck. Seattle is allowing a 71.47 percent completion rate on deep shots, tied for third-highest in the league, and that rate gets notably worse against elite competition. 

That makes this a perfect bounce-back spot for Salt Lake, who managed just five huck completions in their last outing, a season low. The Shred average 8.8 hucks per game, third-most in the league, but couldn't sustain that attack against Colorado in a surprising loss. Turnovers remain Salt Lake's biggest concern and the clearest explanation for their struggles this year. A team that averaged just 15.09 turns per game from 2023 to 2025 is now coughing it up 17.4 times per game this season.

The absences of Will Selfridge, Nate De Morgan, and Braden Eberhard have taken a clear offensive toll. The players expected to fill that void simply haven't. Jordan Kerr, for the third straight year, hasn't recaptured the MVP form he showed in 2022 and 2023, and McKay Yorgason hasn't been the playmaker he was a season ago. That's pushed Ben Ashton and Carson Armstrong into larger roles than they've handled before, and they’ve been inefficient with their opportunities.

That's what makes Seattle's defense worth watching closely. The Cascades should get plenty of production from offensive weapons like Garrett Martin, Zeppelin Raunig, and Spencer Lofink, but their defense needs to hold up its end. Riley McLeod could be an underappreciated difference-maker here—he's been quietly excellent against playoff contenders, averaging 3.33 blocks per game against Colorado, Oakland, and Austin. Asher Lantz is another name to watch, bringing the kind of relentless, aggressive defense that has been effective all season.

One Big Number:
91.27 - Ashton and Armstrong own the two lowest completion rates among Shred players with at least 70 completions, combining for a 91.27 percent mark.
90.5 - The Cascades have given up a 90.5 percent completion rate on deep shots this season against elite opponents (Oakland and Austin). 

Indianapolis AlleyCats at Madison Radicals 
Sunday, June 14 - 6:00 PM/ET - Watch link

The tension is mounting for the second game of this pivotal four-part season series between long-time rivals Indianapolis and Madison, the biggest matchup in the Central Division this week.

The Chicago Union threw a massive wrench into the standings by taking down Madison last week. Now, we’re back to a chaotic three-team scramble for the division's final two playoff seeds.

Radicals Handler Eric Sjostrom struggled with decision-making early in the loss, throwing costly turnovers that put his team in a hole they never climbed out of. Against an offense as potent as Indy's, he'll need to be sharper; he’s been one of Madison’s most accurate throwers over the past two seasons. Which version shows up Saturday night is worth watching closely.

The other potential game-breaker is the obvious one: Anthony Gutowsky. The matchup sets up perfectly for him: he averages 4.63 goals per game against Indy, and playing at Breese Stevens Field in front of a home crowd always seems to amplify his game. After back-to-back quiet outings, regression toward the mean suggests a big performance is due from the face of the Rads.

Even if Gutowsky and Sjostrom perform, the Rads defense will have their hands full, as they will face an Indy team that has a scary trio that we haven’t yet seen. If the roster report holds up, this will be the first time Elliot Hawkins has the receiving duo of Will Wettengel and Sofiène Bontemps at his disposal. Bontemps looked excellent in his season debut last week, and we witnessed the lethal Hawkins-Wettengel connection against Chicago a couple weeks ago, so the sky is the limit for this AlleyCats offense on Saturday.  

One Big Number:
13 - Jake Felton's ability to raise Indy's ceiling deserves recognition too. His completion percentage over expected (CPOE) last week was a career-best 13. 
69 - Gutowsky’s red zone impact would be a big help for the Rads offense, who posted their lowest red zone conversion rate of the season in their loss to Chicago last week (69 percent).