July 14, 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. Austin Sneaks Past Atlanta
After the Sol stumbled in the closing seconds on Friday night, they needed a road win over Atlanta on Saturday to stay atop the South. Personally, heading into the game, I was super skeptical that Austin would bounce back.
But after falling flat at the finish line against the Flyers, the Sol came through in the clutch against the Hustle, using a 5-1 run early in the fourth quarter to transform a one-goal deficit into a three-goal lead.
“Everyone knows that the second night of a back-to-back is an absolute slog,” said Sol Co-Coach Casey Hogg. “Each time, when Atlanta looked like they were pushing to put us away, our team responded. And then, in our eighth quarter of the weekend our defense broke Atlanta twice and our offense didn’t give up a break, including battling through a nearly four-minute long point to make the score 22-19.”
Kyle Henke endured the key throwaway late in Friday’s loss to shine again on Saturday, leading the Hustle with six assists, 58 completions, and nearly 600 total yards.
“That’s just Kyle being Kyle,” said Hogg. “There was too much going on for me to sit back and enjoy that performance in the moment, but watching the film—he’s just remarkable. We’re fortunate to have him.”
Buoyed by the belief from his teammates, Henke acknowledged that he embraced a short memory and turned the page quickly.
“I love doubleheaders because you can channel whatever energy you have directly into the next day instead of letting it fade over the course of a week,” said Henke. “So I took the good, the bad, and the ugly and went into Atlanta feeling very clear on how we needed to execute.”
Austin’s D-line, after converting six breaks in seven chances on Friday at Carolina, produced eight breaks in 11 opportunities in Atlanta. It was a true team effort, with players like Connor DeLuna, Brandon Dial, George Gust, and Owen Johnson all coming up huge over the course of the weekend. Atlanta-native Cole Chanler also had four goals and three blocks for the Sol on the weekend, with three goals coming in Saturday’s sweet victory against his hometown team.
And for the Hustle, it was another disappointing night in a season of narrow setbacks.
“Credit to the Sol,” said Atlanta veteran Austin Taylor. “It was a hard-fought, back-and-forth game, and even on the second night of their road trip, they wanted it more, executed better, and made the bigger plays down the stretch.”
2. New York Surging Toward a Pair of Epic East Division Blockbusters
The Empire methodically made mincemeat of their two overmatched Week 12 opponents, scoring 61 goals in New York’s pair of road wins at Chicago and Toronto. On Friday, Ben Jagt dazzled with five goals and assists in the Empire’s 31-18 rout over the Union. And two days later, Daan De Marrée carved up the Rush for eight assists and four goals in New York’s 30-24 victory over Toronto. Although the final margin was just six against the Rush, Toronto was never closer than four goals down over the game’s final 32 minutes.
“This was an awesome weekend, both for our offense and for the unsung heroes of our defense,” said Empire Co-Coach Anthony Nuñez. “All year, our defense has been punishing teams after turnovers…One game, JR [John Randolph] will have a ton of blocks, assists, and goals. The next it might be Ben Simmons, Charlie [Panarella], Axel [Agami Contreras] or Sam Jonas. It’s been a lot of fun watching this group develop and learn how to play together.”
New York rookie Nick Whitlock also produced multiple blocks in both games, as the Empire punched in 25 breaks in 33 chances across the two-game trip. And Jagt, whose Friday performance was the 18th time in his career that he delivered at least 10 scores in a game, added seven more scores on Sunday, all while playing the whole weekend without a throwaway.
“As Benny gets older, his game continues to evolve,” said Nuñez. “He’s still scoring goals and doing things downfield, but now he’s also throwing a lot more while posting a career-high completion percentage. Over the last two seasons, he’s racked up a ton of hockey assists and has done exactly what the team has needed from him.”
The Empire offense converted 15-of-19 hucks on the weekend and averaged just 10.5 turns per game. For the season, New York’s 11 turnovers per game are two full turnovers per game less than Boston, who’s second in the league averaging 13.1 turns per contest.
“I think we’re getting to full strength on our offense,” said Alex Atkins, who had a modest two goals and three assists—along with eight hockey assists and over 1,100 total yards across the two-win weekend. “You know the UFA season can be funny with the interchanging pieces sometimes, but with Sol [Rueschemeyer-Bailey] coming back, we had AD [Alex Davis], obviously now Daan is here. I think this is the final form of our offense, and it just felt really smooth and very dynamic and talented. And honestly, I don’t even think we’re close to what we can reach.”
Perhaps what’s most scary is that De Marrée, who played his fifth and sixth games with the Empire this past weekend, is just starting to get comfortable with his new team.
“Daan continues to grow with this team, and honestly, he makes everything look so effortless that his stat lines surprise me,” said Nuñez. “It is clear he has acclimated really well. He reminds me a lot of Jack [Williams] when Jack first started with Empire.”
Despite their two wins this weekend, the Empire are still likely destined to finish second place in the East, assuming Boston beats Montreal on Saturday.
“If we end with the two-seed, I actually like the challenge of playing DC first, because I think it helps prepare us for a potential matchup with Boston,” Nuñez added. “We would never look past DC—they’re an extremely talented team from top to bottom—but if we can earn the opportunity to play Boston after that, we’ll be battle-tested.”
3. Brock’s 1,000th Score and Indy’s Third Straight Win
The new-look AlleyCats are now 5-5 and officially in the playoffs following their third consecutive win, but the team’s OG cutter stole the headlines after reaching a new, unprecedented milestone midway through the third quarter on Saturday night.
For Cameron Brock, the hammer he hauled in from Elliot Hawkins represented his 1,000th career score. He finished the night with 1,002 scores, including 686 goals and 316 assists across his 14 UFA seasons.
“It’s honestly a bit surreal,” said Brock. “It’s not something I ever really tracked or aimed for when I started playing in this league. I was just hoping I could make the back end of the ‘Cats roster in 2012. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d be a central piece to the team that season or any season after that.”
Brock recorded 119 scores in the 2013 campaign, the most he’s had in any of his years in the UFA, and he actually announced his retirement from the UFA with 734 total scores prior to the start of the 2021 season. But after some life circumstances shifted, he changed his mind and returned to the field for four games by the end of that ’21 season. He then had 79 scores in 2022, 55 more in 2023, and continues to be a productive player at 38 years old in 2026.
“Looking back at the longevity and the different teammates and systems I’ve been a part of, it’s pretty special,” said Brock. “To be a part of the history of the UFA is humbling, though I’m mostly just glad it happened in a game where we secured a playoff berth.”
Indeed, Indy’s third straight victory felt significant too, and the ‘Cats hope to extend their winning streak heading into the playoffs, with games at Pittsburgh and at Toronto during the upcoming final weekend of the regular season.
“I think the biggest change has been our defensive consistency and our mental approach,” said Brock. “We’ve stopped beating ourselves. Early in the season, we were playing too much ‘backyard’ ultimate and leaving points on the table, but the last three games have shown a much more disciplined, professional approach. While outside voices may attribute it to chemistry, I think it’s really more about the discipline.”
Obviously, the ‘Cats are hopeful that they can keep trending upward into the postseason.
“We know the playoffs are a different beast, but having this momentum feels significant,” said Brock. “We’re building trust in one another and playing with a sense of urgency that we were missing before. It’s been a fun stretch, and we’re all really hungry to see how far we can take this.”
4. Madison’s Emotional Response
One week after getting walloped by 13 goals at home—one Radical said that the 31-18 loss to Indianapolis felt like a ‘fever dream’—Madison bounced back impressively with a cathartic 31-19 victory over Pittsburgh on Friday night at Breese Stevens Field. Even if the Thunderbirds arrived shorthanded and didn’t put up too much of a fight, the Radicals response, with 12 breaks of Pittsburgh’s offense and just nine total turnovers on the evening, was reassuring for a team that still holds a dream of competing at Championship Weekend on its home field next month.
“This week showcased our resiliency as a team,” said Pieran Robert, who led the Rads with seven goals and two assists. “It’s not fun to get crushed in front of your home crowd on a beautiful night like we did against Indy. We did not execute our game plan and came out flat [...] We played our game against Pittsburgh with much more confidence and passion. Our O-line was able to play smooth and steady, bolstered up by our D being able to create turnovers and punch in breaks. We know that we have two more games to ramp up into the postseason. If we can approach this next week with the same intentionality and attitude of this past week, this team will only continue to grow.”
The Radicals host Chicago on Friday before traveling to Minnesota on Sunday.
5. Pittsburgh’s Painful Journey
As for the Thunderbirds, it was a disappointing weekend, to say the least. Pittsburgh was broken on its first two points, trailed 16-8 at halftime, and never really had a chance on Friday in Madison. One night later, after scoring the opening point at Indy, the Thunderbirds surrendered the next eight goals in a row. Midway through the second quarter, the T-Birds trailed 12-2.
Pathetic with a capital P.
“The weekend was a letdown, and we know we are capable of playing better than we showed,” admitted Pittsburgh Coach David Berg. “There will be plenty of time to reflect, but for now the focus is on playing a final weekend of games at a higher level.”
After only leading for a grand total of 25 seconds across two games this past weekend, we shall see if Pittsburgh can be a tad more competitive when they face Indy and Chicago to cap their 2026 season this coming weekend.
6. Seattle’s Rivalry Road Result
Let’s set aside the fact that Seattle hasn’t defeated a team with a winning record all season. All the Cascades can do is attack the teams in front of them, and they handled their business at Oregon on Friday, prevailing 23-18 to improve to 8-3 on the season. One more home victory over the Steel would lift the ‘Scades to 9-3, matching the team’s regular season record from two years ago, when the franchise stunned Salt Lake in the West final and advanced to Championship Weekend.
“Our offense was clicking and was able to consistently hold throughout the game, so we were confident that our D would be able to convert on some break chances,” said Spencer Lofink, who orchestrated the Seattle offense with five assists, 37 completions, and no turnovers. “In the middle two quarters that happened and we were able to open up a lead with some big plays from our depth.”
Garrett Martin and Gavin Leahy combined for nine goals, while Seattle finished the night 15-for-16 in the red zone. Overall, the Cascades had just 12 turnovers, the team’s fewest in a game this season.
Lofink believes that the team’s collective buy-in and depth have enabled them to return to the postseason one year after a disappointing 4-8 journey.
“Coach [Casey] Ikeda and the rest of the leadership group have done an awesome job fostering an environment in Seattle where players are truly having fun and want to come play for the Cascades to be a part of it,” said Lofink. “Last year, this team dealt with a few unfortunate injuries—myself included—and some one-goal games didn’t go our way, but this year we have been able to come away with some tight games and get back on track for the playoffs. I’d say that this team is a lot different from 2024, but we do play with a lot of grit and have an absolute blast playing for each other like that team did.”
7. One Year after Champ Weekend, Hustle Eliminated from Playoff Contention
After averaging over nine regular season wins per season through the first half of the decade, the 2026 Atlanta Hustle fell to 5-6 with Saturday’s home loss against Austin. Consequently, even if Atlanta beats DC this weekend and San Diego somehow lost against winless Vegas, it would still be the Growlers dancing into the playoffs and the Hustle watching from home.
One year after winning the South Division title for the first time, it’s easy to view the Hustle’s season as a disappointing disaster. But realistically, Atlanta could easily have still been postseason-bound if just a few points went differently. Atlanta lost two games to Austin by a total of three scores and dropped the only meeting against San Diego by a single goal.
“Coming off Championship Weekend last year and winning the South, missing the playoffs obviously stings,” said Austin Taylor. “I think part of it is that we’re an old group now. That’s a strength in a lot of ways—experience, leadership—but it also means guys are carrying more responsibility outside of ultimate. Careers, families, life. And I think you could feel that the commitment level just wasn’t quite where it was last year. Not a knock on anybody; it’s a natural thing for a veteran team. But it’s real, and I think it showed up in the margins.”
Powerful words from one of the team’s long-time leaders and one of the league’s premier throwers. Taylor reiterated that while he was disappointed with the outcome, he was proud of the team’s effort, noting how just a couple plays could have dramatically changed the team’s path.
But in a division with four very good teams, one always was going to miss the playoffs. Last year, it was Carolina, who was one year removed from a trip all the way to the title game. Now, it’s Atlanta, who probably has a very interesting offseason ahead. It will certainly be fascinating to see how much the Hustle retool, reload, and re-motivate ahead of next season.
The Hammer
After the Week 12 action, here’s where the 12 playoff teams stand from a Championship Weekend seeding standpoint:
- Minnesota 10-1, +75
- Boston 10-1, +60
- Oakland 9-1, +87
- Austin 9-1, +57
- Carolina 10-2, +90
- New York 9-2, +88
- DC 8-3, +29
- Seattle 8-3, +26
- Madison 6-4, +3
- San Diego 6-5, +14
- Indianapolis 5-5, +17
- Salt Lake 5-6, +29
But these numbers might look very different at this time next week.
Firstly, if Oakland can stack two more wins on its résumé at Salt Lake and Colorado, it seems exceedingly likely that the Spiders would rise into the number one position. Similarly, it feels inevitable that New York, who closes the season at home against 1-10 Philadelphia, will pass Carolina in point-differential.
As a reminder, these standings only matter once there are four teams left. After the Division Championship games, the semifinal seeding is determined based upon regular season records and point-differential for those four teams.
But if there’s an upset—imagine Indy shocking Minnesota, for example—then these seedings could be very relevant. If you’re Oakland, would you rather play Indy, Boston/New York, or Austin/Carolina?
With all due respect to the AlleyCats, that would be an easy choice, and the Spiders would have a huge advantage by earning the number one seed.
Of course, there’s no way to forecast what will happen. So we shall see how these numbers shake out across the last weekend of the regular season journey.
We’re now just 45 days away from the 2026 UFA Championship Game, and it’s anyone’s guess which two teams will still be alive and competing for the crown six weeks from Friday in Madison.
