June 16, 2026
By Evan Lepler
“Seven On The Line” is part two of The Tuesday Toss, highlighting seven more important storylines around the UFA. Read part one here.
1. A Gutsy Growlers Comeback in Colorado
For the first 47 minutes and 57 seconds on Saturday night in Golden, the visiting San Diego Growlers never led. Colorado jumped in front 8-4 and led by as many as five in the first half, and even after San Diego fought back to level ground early in the fourth, the Apex never relinquished the lead.
But with three seconds left, after Seth Faris’ huck for Benen Shea ticked off the receiver’s outstretched fingertips, the Growlers finally took their first, last, and only lead of the night. Colin Sunde, who started the season as one of San Diego’s practice players, tossed a floater toward the end zone, and Max Gibson capped his big game by skying for the go-ahead grab. Suddenly, San Diego had prevailed 22-21, stunning the hometown fans in a game with huge postseason ramifications for both sides.
“Yes of course the game plan all along was to wait till the very last second to get a lead,” said Growlers Co-Head Coach Kevin Stuart, oozing with sarcasm. “Sheesh. We really try to make things as exciting as possible. We weren’t as crisp as we can be, but we dug deep for that win.”
Gibson’s game-winning snag—along with his must-see postgame interview on WatchUFA.tv—capped a huge performance from the 23-year-old cutter.
“[Gibson] laid it all on the line,” said Stuart. “He was gassed at the end there and made a well-timed deep cut to end things. His energy can really get us going, and we are going to need it as we head into our Texas road trip.”
In serious danger of slipping to 2-5, the Growlers instead rose to 3-4 ahead of this coming weekend’s Texas Two-Step. While San Diego technically cannot clinch a playoff spot, the Growlers head to Austin and Houston fully understanding that they can basically assure themselves a playoff berth by sweeping the weekend and rising to 5-4. But after losing on their home field against Austin back on June 5, absolutely nothing is guaranteed, and they know that a daunting weekend awaits.
“I hope we can bring it in Austin,” said KJ Koo, who erupted for six goals and two assists on Saturday at Colorado. “We know what we can do. We just have to be confident and focused enough to take it.”
As for Colorado, the Apex’s inability to hang on against the Growlers was crippling to the team’s fading playoff chances. At 3-6—and knowing that they don’t have the head-to-head tiebreaker against Salt Lake, who’s currently in third place at 4-3—the Apex basically need to win out and hope the Shred finish 1-4. Or the Apex could go 2-1 and make the playoffs if the Shred lost all five of their remaining games.
Salt Lake’s schedule—starting with an interdivisional road trip to Madison and Minnesota this Thursday and Friday—is daunting, but so is Colorado’s, as the Apex have the Cascades once and Spiders twice down the stretch.
“San Diego came out with a lot more desire than us in the second and made adjustments that we didn’t respond to,” said Colorado’s Quinn Finer, reflecting on the disappointing one-goal loss. “Top to bottom, we have to be more detail-oriented and do the little things right. Whether it’s decision making on offense, execution of defensive principles on defense, or making adjustments, we simply just didn’t do it in the second half.”
2. Madison Rallies For Their Second One-Goal Victory Over Indy This Season
Like the Apex, little mistakes plagued the AlleyCats, too, on Sunday evening in Madison.
Twice in the second half, Indianapolis attempted to roll a pull out of bounds, but the disc crossed the sideline shy of midfield, enabling Madison to initiate possession from the center of the field. Both times, the Radicals capitalized on the advantageous position and punched in goals, the latter of which gave Madison a 17-16 lead with just three and a half minutes remaining. The AlleyCats responded with a quick hold, but Gabe Vordick’s short throw to Ian McCosky with 1:10 left proved to be the game-winner, as the Radicals hung on for the narrow 18-17 victory.
“During the game, and even before the game, we made a lot of mistakes,” said Indy Head Coach Nathan Bussberg. “Really minor, seemingly inconsequential mistakes. However, every tiny mistake adds up, and in a one-point game, the weight of even the smallest mistake feels insurmountable.”
Considering Madison also edged the AlleyCats 19-18 in overtime in both teams’ season opener on May 9, the Radicals have now won the first two games of the four-game season series against Indianapolis. The remaining meetings are scheduled for Saturday, June 27 in Indy and Friday, July 3 in Madison.
“Our D-line got back on track a bit,” said Radicals Head Coach Jacob Spiro, pleased with how his team registered 11 blocks and converted six breaks in 11 chances. “D-line offense struggled some. O-line, after some initial hiccups, figured it out. We just need to figure out that first quarter. It’s been a bit of a bugaboo for us the past couple games.”
But despite getting broken on back-to-back points at the start of the game and twice more early in the second quarter, the Radicals never fell behind by more than two. While the AlleyCats caught a halftime buzzer-beater—Cam Brock connecting with Sofiene Bontemps to give Indy an 8-7 lead at the break—the Radicals scored the final goal in each of the other three quarters.
Down the stretch, Madison big man Max Sample carried the load, scoring three of his five goals in the fourth quarter, including a couple contested grabs against Indy’s premier defender William Wettengel. Elliot Hawkins caught a bunch of deep shots and totaled over 800 yards for Indy, but he also finished the game with seven turnovers along with his six scores.
“We as a group have to learn how to win in close games,” said Bussberg. “I think the biggest takeaway is that learning how to win is a long process and journey. Madison has had that stress test for years [...] We don’t have the absence of talent or tools, so that’s super encouraging. Our real potential shows when we learn when, where, and how to use the tools we all collectively have.”
The 3-2 Radicals host Salt Lake in a special interdivisional showcase this Thursday evening—just two days away—and then travel to Chicago on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the AlleyCats, after slipping to 1-4, know that the sense of urgency is rising as they host Chicago this Saturday.
“I’m encouraged by many things we can do,” added Bussberg. “I think we still need to put together a complete game.”
3. Seattle Seizes Second Place From Salt Lake Out West
Back-to-back breaks midway through the fourth quarter proved to be absolutely massive for Seattle on Saturday night, as the Cascades built a 19-15 lead before narrowly hanging on to prevail 20-19 against the visiting Shred.
“Obviously, this was a big win for us,” said Seattle’s Spencer Lofink, who led the way with five assists and 47 completions. “We are happy to be sitting in second place, but know we still have a lot of work to do.”
Connor Belfield also had a huge game, finishing with eight scores and over 600 total yards, while Garrett Martin added five goals and a block for the Cascades, who improved to 4-2 and moved ahead of Salt Lake in the West Division standings. Seattle also matched its win total from 2025, when the team finished a disappointing 4-8.
“I don’t think anyone we play can get a good matchup on every single one of our O-line guys,” said Caleb Campbell, who added three goals and two blocks for the Cascades. “We’ve just got such good depth. I think it was smart for Shred to come with team defenses, but our O-line just played with so much patience and trust.”
As for Salt Lake, the Shred find themselves in a position they’ve never been in before. Since joining the league in 2022, they had never lost more than twice during any of the previous four regular seasons. Now sitting at 4-3 after another 1-1 weekend—the Shred rallied in the fourth to defeat Oregon 25-18 on Friday—Salt Lake’s leaders are definitely sensing that things feel different. But collectively, they believe they can still turn it around.
“I look back on our first year when we averaged close to 20 turns a game, but it didn’t matter because we were still getting the wins,” said Jordan Kerr. “I guess my point in saying that is I think we’re rediscovering a little bit just exactly how to win. You change a few decisions in our Seattle game and in our Colorado game from last week and we’re sitting at 6-1 instead of 4-3. Each player on our team is learning the importance of every decision and play that happens in the game, and how the more little decisions and executions we can get right, the better chance we have at winning these close games.”
Salt Lake’s Chad Yorgason echoed Kerr’s sentiments, suggesting that the accumulation of small mistakes have led to the team’s current predicament.
“Props to Seattle’s defense being super physical and effective,” said Yorgason. “They seemed to take away a lot of what we wanted, and it threw us off our groove. We gave up way too many breaks to be able to expect to win [...] We’ve definitely voiced the looming possibility of a couple more losses this year. We’ve never really been in this situation before, and it’s a real test of our resiliency to see how we’ll respond to this kind of strain of our confidence. We’d love to have the Colorado and Seattle games back, but the reality right now is that we have to focus on controlling what comes next, and we’re taking that one step at a time. Madison and Minnesota are gonna be some tough games to continue our gauntlet, but we’ve been really emphasizing how we take care of our legs and recovery so we can be ready for each game as they come. Get ready for some good games.”
4. Phoenix Survive Fierce Royal Rally, Earn First Win Of 2026
Philadelphia built a 14-8 halftime lead and were up by as many as seven scores on Saturday against Montreal before the tide began to turn. The Royal registered seven breaks over the game’s final 16 minutes, but still trailed by one as time ticked down, when Simon Ruelle’s forehand dove into the ground just before reaching its intended target. Instead of overtime, the Phoenix prevailed 22-21, narrowly hanging on for their first win of the season.
“The final sequences were a mix of emotions,” said Philly’s Ezra Beidler-Shenk, who produced over 800 total yards for the second time in three games. “We felt in control the entire game, and it was about to slip through our fingers. We had a couple turnovers late, but still had the lead and knew we had to have a goal-line stand if we wanted to avoid overtime. Seeing that disc hit the turf was a mix of relief and excitement, knowing that while it might not have been pretty, we got the job done and got the first win of the season out of the way.”
Beidler-Shenk, who’s still just 19 years old, has put up some eye-popping numbers in his first three UFA games, including 58 completions and an average of 772.7 total yards per contest. He acknowledges that the journey to this point has been a wildly educational ride.
“This season so far has been a big learning experience for me,” Beidler-Shenk said. “Adjusting to the disc, the field, and the different style of play that the UFA requires has been difficult but really exciting at the same time. It’s an opportunity to learn a completely different type of game. I love the way this disc moves, especially for hucks, but it definitely took making some silly mistakes to actually get the hang of it. Playing against all these great teams in the East is super exciting; I’ve known about a lot of these guys in Boston, DC, and New York for a while, but getting to match up against them in this whole new style is super fun. We’re lucky we get to go head-to-head against great competition every week, and it should only make us better down the road.”
5. Pittsburgh’s Peculiar Yet Potent 1-1 Weekend
For the second time this season, the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds managed to bounce back from a very lopsided loss the very next day.
On Saturday in Toronto, the Thunderbirds trailed 5-0, 9-1, 21-4, and ultimately were crushed 33-11. But back in Pittsburgh on Sunday, despite trailing 11-8 at halftime, the T-Birds rallied to a 22-18 victory over Chicago, stunningly surging into third place in the Central.
The wide spectrum of Pittsburgh performances compels some to wonder whether the T-Birds might be playing possum on day one of these two-game weekends, though several members of the team insist this is not the case.
“We absolutely were trying our best and put our best available roster forward in Toronto, but just could not get it together,” said Pittsburgh veteran Anson Reppermund. “Almost every single player had a bad or not good game. Drops, throwaways, miscommunications. Horrible frisbee.”
This may be true, though one also wonders how seeing Pittsburgh getting completely pummeled might have impacted Chicago’s focus heading into Sunday? Union Captain Andrew Sjogren indicated that they were keeping tabs on the Thunderbirds-Rush result on Saturday night.
“I think seeing that lopsided score may have affected our players’ mentality going into the game Sunday,” admitted Sjogren. “However, I think we did a good job of acknowledging the situation in pregame. In our locker room before warmups, Coach [Charlie Furse] talked about how Pitt would likely be angry and come out with something to prove in our game.”
With the way Chicago jumped in front in the first half, it’s hard to accuse the Union of not being mentally ready. But Pittsburgh’s dominant 14-7 second half served as a potential turning point for both teams heading into the final month of the season.
“We were much better defensively and our offense found a rhythm when it mattered late in the game against Chicago,” said Pittsburgh’s Jimmy Towle, “It was a huge result for us. Looking ahead, the rest of our games are in division and Chicago and Indy have shared rough starts to the season. We’ve been talking about not letting our opponents determine how we show up, but instead playing our own style with more grit. If we continue to do that down the stretch, we’ll bring the franchise back to the playoffs.”
The Thunderbirds made the playoffs in four of the team’s first five seasons from 2015 to 2019, but Pittsburgh has not participated in the postseason in any of the last five years. Meanwhile, Chicago, one season after going 12-0, now sits tied with Indy at 1-4 heading into Saturday’s pivotal contest against the AlleyCats. The Union also host Madison on Sunday.
“This weekend is do-or-die time,” said Sjogren. “We know that we dug ourselves a big hole. Now it’s time to start crawling out, but it happens one game at a time. As a captain, I am making sure we are prepared for both opponents. But realistically, if we don’t beat Indy on Saturday, it probably doesn’t matter what happens on Sunday [...] Last time we played Indy, we saw an otherworldly performance from Hawkins. Watching that game back, there are certainly things we could have done differently and will change for this matchup. But at the end of the day, we were still in that game until the fourth quarter. We know we can compete with this team because we’ve done it already.”
6. The Rising Rush Heading Into Another Huge Weekend
Toronto’s 22-goal win over Pittsburgh was the Rush’s biggest win in a decade and tied for the franchise’s third largest margin of victory in the team’s history. Although the conditions were windy, Toronto handled the blustery circumstances far better than the Thunderbirds.
“It was probably twice as windy as we had seen at any game or practice all season,” said Pittsburgh’s Anson Reppermund. “Toronto is used to that wind in that stadium. We were not, and we handled it very poorly.”
But the Thunderbirds’ pain was the Rush’s gain, as 17 of Toronto’s 20 active players scored at least one goal, and all 20 active players had at least one goal or assist.
“It was nice to be a part of that win,” said Luc Comire, who went 25-for-25 with two goals and two assists. “Definitely the biggest Rush win since the first few years of the league. We just wanted to prove we’re a playoff team. That was our only focus.”
While the 22-point victory was presumably a nice confidence booster—four different Toronto defenders registered three blocks apiece—it still only counted for a single victory in the standings. At 4-3 heading into a Week 9 road trip to Seattle and Oregon, the Rush understand that this Pacific Northwest doubleheader is critically important to the team’s playoff chances.
“We’re super excited for this road trip,” said Comire. “A good opportunity to test our skills and play some new faces.”
7. Atlanta and Carolina Hammer Houston
Sure, they were two separate games, with the Hustle hustling 29-14 and the Flyers flying 32-11, but overall it was a tough weekend through the southeast for the Houston Havoc.
Individually, the highlight for Atlanta was Alec Wilson Holliday erupting for 11 goals, the most for any UFA player this decade.
“I didn’t go into the game expecting to score 11 goals,” said Wilson Holliday. “I’ve had some big games in my career, but nights like that don’t happen without great teammates. Our handlers did a great job putting the disc where it needed to be, and the offense was clicking.”
While Wilson Holliday only scored one goal in the opening quarter, he heated up in the second with five more goals before halftime.
“My mindset going in was just to do my job and take what the defense gave me,” he said. “As the game went on, people started telling me where I was at statistically, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t keeping track. The Havoc have a lot of guys I’ve played with or against for years, so it was a lot of fun competing against familiar faces.”
With just over three minutes left, Wilson Holliday caught his 10th goal of the game, breaking the Hustle’s franchise record, previously held by Matt Smith since the team’s inaugural season. In the final minute of regulation, Wilson Holliday snagged his 11th and final goal of the night, becoming the first UFA player since Quentin Bonnaud in 2019 to catch at least 11 goals in a game.
“Once I heard I was tied for the record, I knew I wanted to break it,” said Wilson Holliday, whose big game propelled him to the top of the season-long goals leaderboard, with 32. “I’m a competitor, so at that point I was definitely aware of it and hoping I’d get one more opportunity. Catching that 11th goal was pretty surreal. You don’t really think about records when the game starts, but once it’s within reach, of course you want it. Looking back, I’m just grateful for each of my teammates putting me in positions to succeed and for a night I’ll remember for a long time.”
Unfortunately for the Hustle, they are still in danger of missing the playoffs. Currently, they have four losses, just like the Growlers, in pursuit of the final spot in the South. And remember, San Diego has the tiebreaker over Atlanta, courtesy of the Growlers one-goal win over the Hustle back in May. Consequently, the Hustle really need Austin or Houston to beat San Diego this coming weekend. Even if that happens, Atlanta will still likely need to win out, which is possible but far from probable, considering the Hustle still have games at Carolina and vs. DC.
At 7-2, the Flyers will officially clinch a playoff spot if they can figure out a way to beat Vegas at home this Saturday night.
The Hammer
The Flyers aren’t the only team that can officially punch their ticket to the playoffs in Week 9.
The 7-0 Minnesota Wind Chill will lock up their postseason berth with a win over Salt Lake on Friday, and the 8-1 Boston Glory can guarantee themselves a chance to defend their title by taking care of business at home against Philadelphia on Saturday. Elsewhere, Austin will clinch a playoff spot with another win against San Diego.
Beyond the postseason scenarios, the ultimate weekend that’s on tap is another doozy. It’s the first four-day frisbee weekend of the season, with Salt Lake and Madison launching the four days of frisbee on Thursday night at Breese Stevens Field. The Radicals also bookend the weekend with a Sunday showdown at Chicago.
In between those two tilts, there are 10 other games—five on Friday and five more on Saturday—a couple tantalizing days that’ll include three additional interdivisional matchups. The first ever meeting between Toronto and Seattle should be particularly compelling. Those two franchises have appeared at the same Championship Weekend—10 years ago in Madison—but they’ve never gone head-to-head, a fact that’ll change on Saturday night.
Each week, we’re seeing records get smashed amid a smorgasbord of surprising results. Here’s hoping Week 9 delivers another delectable portion of coast-to-coast frisbee fun.
