June 17, 2025
By Evan Lepler

Every team across the UFA endures its share of drama— clutch points, chaotic games, and roller-coaster seasons—but what we’re witnessing within the East Division, and especially with the New York Empire, is jaw-droppingly different. 

Five of New York’s last six games have been decided by two scores or less, and the team has experienced an unbelievable five overtime periods in the span of a month. In games this close, it’s easy to look back at dozens of plays and think: ‘if this one thing had gone differently; if the tuft of wind had not affected the disc in that single moment; if that crazy deflection hadn’t gone against us; if that freak injury didn’t happen in practice…’ You get the idea. 

With their season very much on the line on Saturday night against rival DC, the Empire encountered perhaps their wildest circumstances of the year. Two of their starting D-liners were scratched after pregame warmups. The Breeze broke New York and led 2-0 before the Empire registered a single completion. When DC broke again to start the second quarter, the Breeze had, in that moment, outscored the Empire 29-18 in their five-plus quarters of action in the span of a week. Meanwhile, two-time MVP Ben Jagt, who turned the disc over just five times in the team’s first eight games, battled through six turnovers and was eventually ejected for a bad bid and second flagrant foul.

“DC and New York have had some epic battles in the past and are a rivalry unlike any other in the league,” said second-year Empire defender Sam Jonas. “But from last year to this year, all I had known was losing to DC, and after getting crushed by them last week, the stakes were as high as they could be for us.”

Somehow, despite this avalanche of adversity, the Empire stayed in the game, keeping it close at halftime and taking their first lead with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter. But the improbable  journey took so many more confounding twists and turns before the night was done. 

“That [was] the craziest Breeze/Empire game I’ve been a part of,” said DC veteran Tyler Monroe. “And that is saying something, given some of the previous games.”

It’s a game worth reliving, so here’s a retro-diary of my re-watch, starting at the end of the third quarter. 

The Full Field Layout

0:00 left in the third — After Cole Jurek saved possession following an errant overthrow, Rowan McDonnell’s uncontested buzzer-beater ties it up. 13-all. An emphatic spike from Rowan. As WatchUFA.tv play-by-play voice Dan Hilton declares, “It wasn’t pretty, but the DC Breeze offense, cool, calm, collected enough.”

The Breeze were certainly shorthanded on Saturday, missing two cornerstone connectors in Thomas Edmonds and Christian Boxley, arguably the team’s most dynamic defender, Miles Grovic, and also being without Head Coach Lauren Boyle, but it still felt like DC’s depth had a little bit more polish and would ultimately prevail.

At the same time, New York’s offense had seemingly started to click in a significant way.

11:33 left in the fourth — Stone-cold drop from Jagt. His first drop in a UFA game since the 2024 season opener, 20 games ago. I probably jinxed him by recently declaring that he was the “Best Receiver” in the league.

But 30 seconds later, AJ Merriman “turns it over on a routine swing,” as WatchUFA.tv analyst Bryan Jones described it. Careless mistake on the break chance. In a related story, the Breeze D-line hasn’t broken New York since the first point of the second quarter.

10:19 left in the fourth — Unfortunately, the referees could not avoid the spotlight in several big moments, starting here. They call a travel on Jack Williams when he was clearly pushed from behind by DC’s Jace Dean. Nothing malicious with the contact, but just an absurd travel call. Immediately, Dean utilized the integrity rule, and Williams classily also rejected the free 10 yards from the would-be foul. Well handled by both guys.

9:28 left in the fourth — Matt Labar, with the stall count rising, makes one of the underrated crazy clutch throws of the night, falling over and throwing a short backhand to Williams, who makes a phenomenal layout catch near the sideline right next to a bidding Breeze defender. Just an unreal play by both guys.

Also, not to pour cold water on this truly remarkable sequence, but the refs probably should have called stall on Labar. He had the disc for at least 7.5 seconds.

Yes, I timed it. This won’t be the last time the stopwatch comes in handy during this review. 

By the way, this is still the first point of the fourth quarter. 

8:01 left in the fourth — Finally, the first goal of the quarter, as Williams’ backhand break connects with John Randolph. Empire lead 14-13. 

5:42 left in the fourth — Culminating a 30-throw, turnover-free possession, the Breeze tie it again as Andrew Roy hits Jurek for the equalizer. Textbook DC offense, with no pass longer than 16 yards during the entire sequence. 

Jones astutely comments, “The conditioning of this DC team is incredible. They have to be patient and well-conditioned, and at some point the defense gets tired. They can’t cover all the cuts that DC is making.”

4:39 left in the fourth — After two really long points to begin the period, both offenses strike pretty quickly with hucks. Calvin Brown to a triple-covered Williams, who skies the crowd to make it 15-14 with 4:50 remaining. Then Roy launches a 70-yard backhand bomb to Aidan Downey 11 seconds later. 

15-all, but don’t get lulled to sleep. The insanity is coming. 

3:14 left in the fourth — The Breeze defense is creating pressure, bidding on everything and getting super close to a bunch of blocks. But the Empire still convert, Labar to Williams.

New York back up one. Jack’s hamstring looking healthy. 

2:27 left in the fourth — Uh-oh. Jurek takes an injury. He’s been plagued by cramps in the second half of games throughout the season. Tough break for the Breeze. 

1:25 left in the fourth — After the Breeze took a timeout in the red zone, Jeff Wodatch, who replaced Jurek when he needed a sub, lofts a hammer over the traffic towards a wide open Gus Norrbom. This should work to tie the game. Except…

THERE’S TOO MUCH ON THE THROW AND IT SAILS OVER NORRBOM’S HEAD OUT OF BOUNDS!

The Empire have the disc, up one, with just over a minute left. 

Alright, now this should be fairly straightforward possession preservation and New York will easily finish off this gigantic victory.

If only it had been that simple.

1:00 left in the fourth — Maybe the craziest moment of the night. Empire Coach Matt Stevens appears to tell the sideline referee that he’s going to take a timeout. But the timeout is never granted. 

Apparently, he told the ref that he wanted a timeout at stall six. But that’s not the same as actually calling a timeout, and the officials stunningly signal a stall that will turn possession back over to the Breeze. 

I don’t believe we’ve ever seen something like this before. A few thoughts: firstly, in basketball, it’s super common for the coach to tell an official, “timeout on a make,” meaning that after a made free throw, they want the timeout. But in frisbee, this is way less common, and there’s nothing in the rulebook that says a coach can tell a ref that they want a timeout after a certain amount of time elapses. Apparently, the coach still needs to call it. 

At the same time, the official could have definitely chosen to heed Stevens’ message and given the timeout. Undoubtedly, that has happened many times in the past, where a coach has said he’s going to take a timeout if something happens.

Ultimately, though, this is on the Empire. They were trying to bleed clock, but the clock had stopped with one minute remaining as Shashank Alladi held the disc, not really even looking to throw because he expected the timeout call. 

Wild sequence. But arguably even more absurdity coming. 

0:41 left in the fourth — Downey’s hammer connects with Jacques Nissen, as the Breeze capitalize on New York’s egregious error to tie the game at 16 apiece. 

DC’s D-line then lines up to pull from midfield. Unclear exactly who it was called on, but looks like it was a technical foul on the Empire for understandably arguing about what had just transpired. 

Despite everything, the Empire still have the game in their hands with plenty of time to find a game-winner. 

0:02 left in the fourth — Jagt makes a nice sliding grab on an under with about five seconds left, 15 yards shy of the attacking end zone. But when he looks up, there’s no obvious open target. Instead of throwing a jump-ball to the end zone, he launches a cross-field backhand that never had a chance.

Time expires, and overtime beckons. 

Not the finest night for Jagt, as Hilton states, “He’s been the MVP for New York this season, but he has just a goal and five turnovers today…Kinda the reverse of last week when it was Jagt who kept them in it.”

Very true. 

5:00 left in overtime — The Empire make a surprising but not unprecedented decision, declining to receive after winning the overtime coin toss. This choice means that New York would receive to start a potential universe point double OT, but there’s no guarantee that the game will get that far. 

Truly a fascinating decision. Goes against what we’ve seen from roughly 80-90 percent of OT coin tosses that I can remember. 

3:52 left in overtime — Breeze rookie Coby Loveranes scores the first goal of OT, capping a 17-throw small-ball possession where no pass went more than 23 yards. For the first time since they were up 11-10 midway through the third quarter, DC leads again, 17-16. 

3:35 left in overtime — The decision to not take the disc at the start of OT looks super dicey now, as Brown throws it away. Dean’s interception gives the Breeze a chance to take a commanding multi-score lead. 

3:30 left in overtime — Jagt’s first flagrant foul, as he steamrolls Jasper Tom from behind. Tom understandably takes exception. Easy call. 

Timeout DC, with the disc on the goal-line after the 20-yard penalty. 

Bizarrely, it takes the refs nearly three minutes to finish conferring before they clearly signal the flagrant and take the disc to the new spot.

3:09 left in overtime — Historically, DC’s red zone offense is as reliable as any team in the league. But not here. McDonnell attempts to squeeze a short flip to Wodatch, and New York’s Tristan Yarter soars in for the block. Huge play from Yarter, and the Empire again have life. 

2:07 left in overtime — I guess it had been a while since the refs called a travel on Jack Williams. That drought ended here. 

“It is interesting the decisions being made to let certain things go with the physicality, and then these rash of travel calls late in the game,” comments Jones. 

About 10 seconds later, another travel is called on Randolph. He walks back 10 yards and takes timeout.

We have officially reached our travel quota for the night. 

0:42 left in overtime — Empire punch it in, relying on their handler dominator set to maintain possession near the goal-line before Randolph finds Brown for the 17-all equalizer. 

Clairvoyant comment from Jones just before DC’s ensuing O-point, mentioning that the Empire have been forcing the Breeze out most of the night and this might be the moment to take a deep shot.

0:16 left in overtime — And that’s exactly what happened! 

Nissen to McDonnell for 47 yards into the red zone, and then a scoober to Monroe for the go-ahead goal. 

Breeze feeling good. One more stop, and the road win is theirs. 

0:00 left in overtime — Woo boy! The Empire use ever millisecond—and then some—as Williams finds Jagt at the buzzer to tie the game! 

Acting Breeze Coach Thomas Owen runs onto the field screaming, “He didn’t get it off!” 

But the officials signal that the score is good, and we’re headed to double overtime. 

“The scoreboard is behind us, so I’m not able to see the clock at zeroes as Jack’s got it, but I’m very confident in the moment that time had expired with the disc comfortably still in his hand, given how little [time] was left when Jagt had it [before dishing to Williams,]” said Owen. 

For a bit of additional context: there’s no buzzer in the Empire’s stadium when the scoreboard expires, so it’s up to the officials to see the clock and the disc simultaneously, which obviously is somewhere between very hard and impossible. Consequently, the mechanic of this is similar to an NFL referee judging the play clock and whether a team got the snap off in time. I know I’ve been angry when it seemed clear that the clock was at zero when the snap occurred, but then former referee Gene Steratore tells Jim Nantz and Tony Romo that the official’s job is to see the clock hit zero, then look to see if the ball’s been snapped. There’s basically a half-second grace period given. 

Should that be the way it’s handled? No, I don’t think so. 

But that’s how they do it.

So here in the UFA, it’s similar. The ref sees the clock expire and then looks to see where the disc is. Clearly, they thought the disc was in the air. Still images indicate that the clock was clearly at triple zeroes and Williams still had possession, but that also doesn’t mean that the refs got this one wrong. They followed their protocol to the T. 

Of course, don’t tell that to the Breeze. 

“They pretty clearly missed that call,” said Owen. “It’s very unfortunate.” 

Excruciating for the Breeze, who have to immediately regroup and play D again at the start of double overtime.

One final point will decide this monstrosity of an outcome, once and for all. 

Double overtime — If the previous 17 minutes weren’t crazy enough, here’s where the ultimate chaos truly occurred.

“Double overtime was absolutely insane,” said New York’s Jacob Cowan. “Really no other way to put it.” 

First, Brown launched a booming backhand huck that sailed over multiple cutters. Incomplete. DC disc. Timeout, Breeze. 

Desperate to make a play, Jagt lays out toward Monroe and absolutely decks him. He got the disc, but he also injured Monroe in the process. Another obvious flagrant foul, though it took the officials a full minute to make the signal that Jagt had been ejected for his second unsportsmanlike. Jagt seems to understand and jogs toward the locker room without much argument.

We still got three more turnovers coming. Watching this live on Saturday night, the tension was extraordinary.

DC’s Andrew Roy, as reliable with the disc as any handler in the league, throws an errant swing, easily intercepted by Williams. Rather than seek a fast break, the Empire use their double OT timeout. 

After a foul, Williams has the disc centered on the goal-line. Generally, teams probably convert around 95 percent of the time when someone has the disc centered on the goal-line. At least!

But not here!

Labar’s short throw is batted down by Tom, and the Breeze have the disc again! 

Unreal.

No more timeouts for either side. David Bloodgood with a great high-stall throw to gain some yards. The Breeze work it across midfield. They’re taking their time. 

Hey, it’s another travel! This time it’s on DC’s Kevin Healey. 

The right call. And also, ugh, so many travels. 

To be clear, I’m not even saying that these were the wrong calls. They marred the rhythm, but also increased the tension. 

Suddenly, Downey’s got it at the edge of the red-zone, but he’s got nowhere to go! Desperation scoober goes right to New York’s Jacob Cowan, who throws a reset and starts sprinting deep. 

“I honestly was shocked when Aidan threw the turn right to me,” said Cowan. “The second I saw [Randolph] throw the disc to Calvin, I knew to just take off.”

Calvin Brown won’t huck it again in overtime, would he? YES HE WILL!

“I knew Calvin would throw it,” said Cowan. “And that I was going to chase it down.”

Cowan makes a ridiculous leaping one-handed catch, and the Empire are again 10 yards away from the game-winner.

Reset to Randolph. Low forehand toward the end zone. It looks like JR turfed it!

But no!

It hangs up long enough, and Sam Jonas, sprawling near the pylon, keeps the disc above ground for the incredible game-winner—sealing a 19-18 Empire victory that defied explanation!

“I remember seeing Calvin’s ball go up to Jacob and thinking, ‘this might be our last shot,’” said Jonas. “And Jacob goes up and just makes an epic season-defining grab. I didn’t expect JR to make that [final] throw to me, but once I saw it up, it was basically, just make sure I get my hands under this. And boom, game over.” 

“The Empire rescue their season,” shouts Hilton.

“I’ve been a part of some wacky games,” said Jones. “We watched all the buzzer beaters. I thought we’d seen every single permutation of DC versus New York, and this somehow, I think, tops all of them.” 

After throwing the game winning assist, Randolph still looked stunned in disbelief as he donned the headset for the postgame interview. 

“I feel total, total elation cause that was a very, very hard game,” said Randolph. “We knew coming into the game after getting crushed last week that it was gonna be a mountain to climb, and just that feeling of climbing the mountain and knowing there are more mountains ahead. I feel total elation and gratitude for how our team pulled together and won that game, and to know that we’re still ramping up and we still have more to come.”

The postgame perspectives from this game were immense. 

“It was one of the wildest and most enjoyable ultimate games I’ve been a part of,” said Monroe, even in defeat. “They really raised their level back to where it should be to pull back and put away the game.”

While appreciating the spectacle, everyone on DC also felt a tough dose of heartbreak, considering how close they were finishing off the season sweep over New York.

“The biggest thing that sticks with me is how many opportunities we had to close it, how minuscule those margins are, and if we’d gotten one more inch in one place or another, we would’ve had it,” said Roy, who finished with a game-high 86 completions. “Every turn feels magnified and like it could’ve shifted the outcome.”

For the Empire, one of the special aspects of the result was how many of their young players made significant impacts. It’s something New York’s been waiting for and banking on throughout the season. Sam Alston had a huge block during the third quarter run, and Yarter, Cowan, and Jonas all came up huge in overtime.

“It was such an incredible feeling to win in that way and to contribute with such a clutch play,” said Cowan, talking about his great grab on universe point. “The team totally swarmed me and Calvin and it was incredible to feel the relief of beating DC and getting back on track not only with the win, but with the joy and focus that we need to really turn our season around.” 

Precariously close to 3-6, the Empire instead rose to 4-5 and presently sit in fourth place, though just a half-game out of second in the ever-confounding East Division race. With three home games remaining, including this Friday against Toronto, the Empire fully control their destiny in terms of trying to make it back to the playoffs. 

“The vibes of the team are good,” said New York Co-Coach Matt Stevens. “We just have to get to the playoffs. If we get there, we have as good of a shot as anyone.”

Everyone involved definitely realized they had experienced an all-time UFA event, while also understanding that even bigger games were ahead.

“The win was special and it feels good to be on the winning side of a legendary UFA moment,” said Jonas. “But now, all focus is on Toronto.”

 

Coming up later today in “Seven On The Line,” the full story of Boston’s epic doubleheader weekend north of the border, while Minnesota and Chicago remain on a collision course in the Central, and all the rest of the Week 8 action across the UFA.