July 1, 2025
By Evan Lepler

Tuesday Toss: Week 10 | Part 1

1. Are Atlanta and Carolina on another collision course?

Overshadowed a bit by the bizarre circumstances, the Hustle and the Flyers both outplayed the shorthanded Sol to bring Austin back to the pack in the still uncertain South Division. The Sol were a perfect 7-0 entering the weekend, but fell by identical five-goal margins both nights in Week 10. 

Neither game felt like an upset, and the Sol were still impressively competitive for stretches in both games despite missing several key contributors. The biggest upset, in my mind, at least, was the fact that we still played a game after the flooding, power outage, and damage to the primary field. 

But players from both teams looked ready to go. 

“For me personally, I always thought we were going to play the game,” said Atlanta’s Kenni Taylor. “Once the field started bubbling and we didn’t get sent home, I knew I just needed to stay ready for whenever the game time was.”

The opening pull finally arrived just after 11:00 PM/ET, and Austin’s offense was crisp in the opening quarter, as the Sol mostly traded holds back and forth. But the Hustle D-line capitalized quickly on Kyle Henke’s errant launch of a sideline double team in the closing seconds of the first, a sequence that seemingly—no pun intended—opened the floodgates for Atlanta’s D-line to stack up a slew of second quarter breaks.

“The end of first quarter break by Atlanta was killer,” said Austin veteran Mick Walter. “If we hold there for a lead, I like our chances.” 

But Taylor produced one of his three blocks that directly led to Atlanta retaking the lead, part of the Hustle’s 9-2 run that transformed a 6-5 deficit into a 14-8 lead. The Sol scored the final goal of the night, but the game was declared complete a couple minutes shy of midnight, with Atlanta prevailing 14-9. 

“Ever since the Chicago/Minnesota trip, I have not been satisfied with how little blocks we have been getting as a team—We were 24th, last in the league,” said Taylor. “I took that very personal. I challenged the team and most importantly myself to step up and make plays instead of waiting for teams to give up the disc [...] I came out with a chip on my shoulder knowing that my boy Lukas [McClamrock] was out, and someone needed to step up, so why not me!”

As a team, the Hustle recorded nine of the 10 blocks in the single half of frisbee on Friday night. Taylor led the way with three, while Michael Fairley and Brett Hulsmeyer each tallied two.

“We were determined to prove that we are the class of the South,” said Cameron Brock, who caught his 659th goal and tossed his 300th assist in Friday’s abbreviated affair. “I know we’re still in second, but we feel good about where we’re at.”

At 8-3, the Hustle have just one game remaining, another road test against the Flyers on Saturday, July 12. 

As for the Flyers, their two biggest superstars, Allan Laviolette and Jacob Fairfax, helped carry Carolina to a 26-21 triumph, the team’s fifth consecutive win. Laviolette tossed nine assists for the third time in his last five games, while Fairfax scored eight goals in a game for the first time since March 31, 2018. Five of these scores were Laviolette-to-Fairfax, including a 70-yarder in the first quarter, a 49-yarder in the second quarter, and a 52-yarder in the fourth. 

“I can’t say enough good things about Allan, and it’s awesome to see him perform at such a high level,” said Fairfax. “He is obviously the best thrower in the league right now, and it makes cutting really easy when you can just run to the open space and know he’s gonna serve it on a platter for you. He has also been phenomenal on a turn and made some great plays for us to get the disc back.” 

As good as Laviolette and Fairfax were together, arguably the greatest individual performance came from Austin’s Mark Henke, who produced career highs in goals (six), assists (two), and receiving yards (385) while making several highlight reel plays for the Sol. 

“It was Mark’s day to step up, and he did everything we asked of him and more,” said Sol Captain Eric Brodbeck. “He brings a relentless energy on both sides of the disc, and he is a problem for any matchup.” 

Ultimately, however, he did not get enough help, as the Austin D-line—conspicuously missing a playmaker like Henke, who had shifted over to O-line—could not convert a break in the second half.

Despite the pair of Week 10 setbacks, though, Austin still was proud of its effort, particularly with how many different players stepped up. 

“I liked what I saw,” said Walter. “When we’ve been down this season, we’ve fought back, and we did that again. Down an early break to Atlanta, [we] got it back [...] Down by three to Carolina and able to tie that up at half. I like it. Everyone got better this weekend. The first timers, players who filled bigger roles, we all got better from it.”

The Sol—and perhaps the Growlers too—will still have something to say about how the South is ultimately settled, but after their Week 10 wins, it’s certainly easy to envision this division again coming down to another final showdown between the Flyers and the Hustle. 

“All focus is on Carolina for now,” said Brock. “It’s a prove it game. Beating Carolina on their own turf would really send a message to everyone in the league, but most importantly ourselves, of where we are. I think the adversity of the Austin game and how we rose to the occasion is a testament to where this team is at. The growth mindset of our team was on full display.”

2. Salt Lake sweeps season series with Oakland

After falling behind 5-2 in the opening 10 minutes, Salt Lake outscored Oakland 12-6 in the next 18 to build a 14-11 lead early in the third. From there, the Shred never relinquished their lead, foiling enough Spider break chances in Friday’s 25-21 victory. 

Over the course of the night, the break chances were almost identical, but Salt Lake converted 8-of-11, while Oakland went just 4-for-10 in a four-goal loss. 

“This past Friday was a win realized by the D-line offense and O-line defense,” said Shred Coach Bryce Merrill. “You don’t want to have to over rely on those secondary phases of the game, but it’s good to know we’ve got it.” 

Winners of seven straight since their season opening loss, the Shred have been evolving and improving throughout the year, trending upward heading into their upcoming home-and-home showdowns against the Summit. 

“Jace Duennebeil and Luke Yorgason—in his return after missing the last four weeks of the 2024 season with a broken toe and the first nine weeks of 2025 with a broken arm—primarily played D-2 all night, and they were electric,” said Merrill. “Each of them had a clutch poach block and helped lead the line to a 100 percent conversion rate on the evening. Combined with a couple massive bids from Kyle Weinberg and Ben Ashton that prevented Oakland from seizing momentum in the second half, it was a really complete game from all of our guys on the defensive side of the disc.” 

Merrill also mentioned a pair of key blocks from a couple Salt Lake O-liners—Will Selfridge and Jordan Kerr—that helped keep Oakland out of the end zone and swing momentum back in the Shred’s favor. 

It was undeniably a disappointing result for the Spiders, who bemoaned their missed opportunities to pick up a marquee road result.

“On offense, a few mental lapses and execution errors and not being prepared enough for defending the fast break on the turn,” said Oakland’s Walker Frankenberg, whose huge individual stat line still was not enough to propel the Spiders to victory. “On the defensive side, the break opportunities were there, but we couldn’t convert them into scores. If we are going to win the championship, that needs to change.”

As the Spiders dropped into third place out West, the Shred remained at the top of the table, though the Summit could surpass them in the ever-evolving standings if Salt Lake can’t keep it rolling at Colorado this Friday night. 

“Ultimately, we know who we’re playing in the playoffs,” said Merrill. “And I know each team thinks they’ll be the ones representing the West in Madison come August 22—regardless of who ends up with home field advantage or who wins these final regular season games. We know both Oakland and Colorado have some major firepower joining their ranks ahead of the playoff push. Frankenberg just torched us for over 1,000 yards and 12 scores; we’ve seen Tobi [Brooks] do the same. So getting a couple more wins the next three weeks would be nice, but our focus has to stay on fundamentals—get the ball out of opponents’ hands and score efficiently.”

3. One day later, Oakland overwhelms San Diego

Despite Friday’s disappointment, the Spiders did not look demoralized on Saturday in San Diego. Although they fell behind 3-1, they emphatically responded with a 5-0 run that surged them into the lead for the rest of the night, as Oakland led by as many as seven before winning 21-16 over the Growlers. 

“Saturday felt good,” said Frankenberg, who added nine more scores in the Spiders’ second game of the weekend. “We focused on [Friday’s shortcomings], notably improved on our break conversion, and anecdotally, our offensive flow on a turn looked a lot better.”

Leo Gordon led the Spiders with 585 total yards in San Diego, while Evan Magsig went 73-for-75 passing, with four assists and four hockey assists. Defensively, four different Spiders—led by Carter Lankford’s three blocks—finished the night with multiple Ds. 

The Growlers were hampered by going just 3-for-9 on break chances, while the Spiders converted 7-of-10. 

“I think the main story of the night was that we didn’t execute well enough,” said Growlers Coach Kevin Stuart. “When two good teams get together, it comes down to execution, and we didn’t perform well enough to get the win. Oakland had a good defensive game plan, and windows that had been there for us throughout the season were tighter and/or not there, causing our offense to stall…As the coach, I’ll wear that loss and take responsibility for not getting the team ready.” 

At 6-4, the Growlers close the season with two tough road games, at Los Angeles this Saturday and a rematch with the Spiders in Oakland on July 19.

“In our minds, the playoffs have already started,” said Stuart.

4. Colorado works overtime for two tight road wins

On Friday in Seattle, the Colorado Summit held a two-goal lead with 2:36 left. One night later in Oregon, they also were up by a couple midway through the fourth. 

Ultimately, the Summit faltered down the stretch in each game, yet still somehow recovered in time to prevail in overtime. Living dangerously on both nights, the Summit survived all the peaks and valleys to earn their first two road wins of the season. 

“Peaks and valleys is a good way to put it,” said Colorado’s Connor Olson. “I think, more than anything, it shows a ton of resilience. For O-line, it’s so difficult to drop the ball a few times to start a game and bounce back with any momentum. We have showed this year that we aren’t a first quarter team, and so we make a lot of games difficult right off the bat. But it has been really empowering at the same time to see us fight back and cash in when it really matters.”

After surrendering a 4-1 run to relinquish a three-goal lead late against the Cascades, the Summit outscored Seattle 3-1 in the overtime period to earn the 24-22 victory. 

“It felt like a combination of us just beating ourselves and their superstars proving they can shoulder the burden,” said Cascades Captain Jack Brown. “Quinn [Finer] was extremely impressive [...] It felt very similar to a lot of our other close losses, where we just couldn’t deliver in the most important moments.” 

Along with Finer’s nine scores against Seattle, the Summit were also inspired by Noah Coolman’s impact on the D-line, where he finished with two blocks in each of Colorado’s Week 10 victories. 

“Noah Coolman’s been a hugely important part of this team for years, but his willingness to just put everything out there all game really captured the energy we needed to come away with a win,” said Summit Coach Tim Kefalas. “He had a couple awesome blocks, but he also had probably four or five monstrous bids that he just missed, and I know that presence and pressure was felt by Seattle, and Noah’s teammates reciprocated that energy as well.”

On Saturday, the Summit fell behind 4-0 in the opening eight and a half minutes, but Colorado rallied back with a 6-1 surge to take their first lead midway through the second quarter against the Steel. From there, the game stayed super tight all the way to the end. 

“Honestly, we had several moments to start running away with the game, and they responded each time,” said Kefalas. “We had three straight drops in the last 1:20 of the fourth quarter, and I think there are Summit teams of the past that would have allowed that to hamstring our focus going into OT, but props to the team for shaking them off and coming out strong in the extra quarter.”

Appropriately, it was a Coolman block in the closing seconds that helped the Summit officially slam the door on their 19-18 victory over the Steel, improving Colorado to 6-2.

One of the underrated stories of the weekend was the continued emergence of Elliot Hawkins, the 19-year-old former AlleyCat who snagged six goals, dished four assists, and recorded three blocks in Colorado’s two wins. 

“Elliot Hawkins being undeniable as a cutter stood out to me,” said Olson. “He was just everywhere on the field, not to mention his hucking ability too.” 

After an exciting road trip, the surging Summit are ready for their upcoming tests against Salt Lake.

“The division is largely going to come down to these two games with the Shred, and you couldn’t ask for better television,” said Kefalas. “Shred/Summit is always must-watch. I’m excited to get Tobi and Zeke [Thoreson] back from [U-24] Worlds, and I know they’re both pumped up to take the field for the Summit. We got a glimpse of what the final form of this team looks like when we played Oakland, but we know the Shred are an incredible team, with awesome coaching, and they’ll be ready.”

5. A disappointing weekend for the Royal

DC and Philly combined to basically extinguish Montreal’s playoff hopes, dealing the Royal a pair of tough road losses in Week 10. On both days, Montreal was plagued by painfully slow starts. The Breeze led 8-1 after a dominant opening quarter on Friday, while the Phoenix jumped ahead 5-1 on Saturday.

“On Friday, we got surprised by the amount of pressure that DC put on us,” said Royal handler Jakob Brissette, “and I don’t think we were ready for it. I felt like we played scared because of the pressure and couldn’t play our usual style of defense.” 

After falling behind 8-1, Montreal did throw a counterpunch, using a 5-1 push to get back within three midway through the second quarter, but DC led by five at the half and used another 5-1 run in the third quarter to completely break it open, prevailing 26-14. 

Jasper Tom, Micah Wagner, and Jeff Wodatch all finished the game with three scores and two blocks apiece to lead the Breeze.

On Saturday, Philadelphia held a six-goal lead with four minutes left in the third, but Montreal fought all the way back to tie the score at 19-all with 1:17 left. The Phoenix O-line, flustered a bit after getting broken five times in the previous 12 minutes, stabilized enough to calmly march down the game-winning score with eight seconds remaining, as Ethan Holmgren connected with Nate Little to boost Philly to the dramatic 20-19 victory. 

“In that moment, I knew we were going to score,” said Little, who led the Phoenix with three assists, two goals, and two blocks. “Majority of my cuts that game were getting switched or helped, allowing cuts for my teammates. I think that concept occurred in the final moments of the game.”

At 5-4, the Phoenix are still in playoff position, with challenging matchups against their fellow contenders— vs. Boston, at New York, and vs. DC—to finish their season. 

“I feel like [Montreal was] our last regular season game,” said Little. “Every game after Saturday’s is going to feel like a playoff game. We can play with everyone. We know what their play style is, and we just gotta dominate."

6. A clear Central Division divide

Chicago and Madison both won comfortably in Week 10 against Indianapolis and Detroit, with the Union outscoring the AlleyCats and Mechanix by the combined score of 50-22. The Radicals handled those same foes by the aggregate count of 53-38. 

“I think the storyline for the weekend was two-fold,” said Chicago’s Xavier Payne, who produced nine blocks and six assists in the Union’s two double-digit triumphs. “One, be the best version of our team, which means respecting the opponent we have in front of us, but also playing our best frisbee and not playing down to whomever we are playing. Two, get our newer/younger players reps and let them feel the game. This helps Union long term to foster relationships and teammateness.”

Even in defeat, Detroit’s Jake Felton merits a mention, as the Mechanix’s gunslinger tossed five assists, scored four goals, and threw for 825 yards, more than anyone else in a single game this season. He also went 8-for-9 on his hucks, but the Mechanix still lost by 10 at Breese Stevens Field. 

One day later, Felton was held to just three assists and only one huck completion against the Union. 

“We knew Felton was hot,” said Payne. “He has been playing good ball, so the goal was for me to be on him and make him less impactful. As a more physical player, I was able to use my size to stop him from getting the ball and forced him out. Then, when we made him and [Joe] Cubitt pick up on the sideline, they pretty much got smothered.” 

The Radicals were anchored, as usual, by standout cutter Anthony Gutowsky, who totaled 11 goals, three assists, and five blocks in Madison’s pair of Week 10 victories. Jake Carrico also made history by becoming the first player in UFA history to record four Callahans in his career.

More on Carrico, the UFA’s Callahan King, coming up in “The Hammer.”

7. Thunderbirds snap seven-game skid, stun the Rush

But before today’s closing salvo, a shout-out to the Thunderbirds for bouncing back from their painful home loss to Detroit and earning a comeback victory on the road over Toronto. The Rush led 15-11 with 2:33 remaining in the third, but Pittsburgh rampaged on a sizzling 8-2 run to lead 19-17 with 1:26 left in the fourth. 

Toronto inched back within one in the final minute, but the T-Birds successfully ran out the clock to finish the cathartic 19-18 victory, Pittsburgh’s first win since May 11. 

“It was the first time we have beaten them in our franchise history,” said Thunderbirds Coach Max Barowski, “so just another chapter in the weird past two seasons for us, as far as highs and lows go. Fortunately, we have had really good buy-in and culture all season from everyone on our roster, and it doesn’t take any motivating from me to keep everyone engaged and pushing each other at every practice and game to get better.”

Will Hoffenkamp and John McMonigal each were involved in eight scores for Pittsburgh, while Aiden Landis had three blocks and three assists on the D-line. 

“It felt really good when the buzzer went off and I knew they had earned a really hard-fought win,” said Barowski. “It has been tough after some of the games this season to see how disappointed these guys have been in themselves for not getting the desired results.”

The Hammer

In the history of the UFA, 3,503 players have suited up for at least one game. Among that group, just 82 players, or 2.3 percent of everyone who’s seen action in this league, have caught at least one Callahan. 

Among those 82 individuals who know what it feels like to register a rare defensive score at the pro level, only 25 have done it more than once. And 24 of those 25 players have only done it twice. 

But, amazingly and astonishingly, Madison’s Jake Carrico caught his fourth career Callahan on Friday night against Detroit. The 27-year-old fourth-year Radical has recorded four Callahans in just 34 UFA games, a rate that is almost impossible to comprehend.

“If you would have told my college coach, Michael Harr, at the University of Kentucky, that one day I was going to lead the UFA in career Callahans, he would have laughed you off campus,” said Carrico. “I was—and still am to an extent—a very offensive-first minded player. I would get yelled at for playing ‘lazy defense’ or ‘poaching too much,’ which, to be fair, was all valid all the time and can still even be the case today. But what I have grown to absolutely love with this Radicals team and coaching staff is their ability to find unique strengths in each player and fit into their defensive schemes. I will always make the claim that if I was playing on any other UFA defense, especially one outside of the Central, I’d almost assuredly not have the four Callahans I have today.”

So how exactly has he become ‘Callahan Carrico,’ as his teammates were calling him on Friday night?

“[Madison Coaches] Tim [DeByl] and [Jacob] Spiro over the years have really instilled a lot of confidence into taking risks on defense and recognizing when the other team is in a particularly rough situation in order to exploit it,” he explained. “Rather than just simply ‘playing lockdown defense’ or solely trying to ‘clamp down your matchup,’ we really preach team-oriented defense, fundamentally dependent on helping each other on the field. This style is very unique and takes a lot of getting used to, which is why it’s difficult for rookies and even some UFA veterans to come to Madison and pick up with the D-line quickly. But it’s by far the most important piece to my success in terms of Callahans and as a defensive contributor in general.”

Friday was especially meaningful, Carrico said, because his aforementioned college coach, Michael Harr, was in attendance for his first-ever Radicals game as a fan. 

“We allow our players to play aggressive off their players when there is potential for big plays,” said DeByl. “Jake excels when the other team is under pressure in its own end zone.”

Carrico recorded his first Callahan at Indianapolis in the Radicals’ 2023 season opener, the start of his second year in the league. He snagged two Callahans in 2024, catching defensive scores in both of Madison’s wins over Pittsburgh. And after playing 11 straight games without a Callahan, the longest streak of his career, he delivered the fourth of his career late in the second quarter against Detroit on Friday. 

“I tend to always get the break-side handler matchup going into games, which allows me a bit more freedom to roam around and see a potential vulnerability to exploit without conceding too much in return,” he explained. “Being the only player in UFA history to have four career Callahans is obviously pretty special and something to be proud of, but now that it’s not just a lucky fluke, I’ll actually start to consider it a failure if I don’t continue to maintain my approximately one per 10 games pace throughout the rest of my career. The name ‘Callahan Carrico’ has caught on pretty quickly amongst my teammates and the Radicals fans, but don’t you worry, the team still likes to give me some friendly flack for poaching a bit too much and getting too greedy every now and then.”