June 25, 2026
By Sam Weiger
Week 10 puts the spotlight squarely on the Oakland Spiders, who are set to clash with two division rivals eager to get back on track. The excitement continues with two other marquee matchups, both representing the only big rivalry matchups to meet four times this season, and both promising to replicate the thrilling action they've already delivered.
Atlanta Hustle at Carolina Flyers
Friday, June 12 - 7:00 PM/ET - Watch link
One of those two marquee matchups is Friday's Atlanta vs. Carolina matchup, where both squads enter fresh off consecutive easy wins. This is the final chapter of their four-game regular-season series.
Carolina currently holds a 2-1 edge and has the home-crowd advantage, but for them, the implications of this game stretch way beyond the season series.
Carolina still has a legitimate shot at claiming the South Division’s top seed for the first time since 2022. They’ll need some help to get there, but Friday’s game feels like a must-win in order for them to finish atop the South. A Flyers loss would put the math squarely in Austin’s hands: two wins over Houston, and they clinch the top seed.
The Flyers’ most lopsided win over Atlanta this season came at Durham County Memorial Stadium, an 18-12 final that looked nothing like the tight battles these two typically produce. That game now feels like a turning point, the moment just before Carolina’s offense truly ignited. The arrivals of Tobias Brooks and Zeke Thoreson have been transformational, helping push the Flyers to the league’s highest scoring rate at 25.7 goals per game.
While Carolina has enjoyed massive contributions from their newcomers and unexpected surges from various other players, Atlanta hasn't shared that same luxury. Their marquee offseason acquisition, Will Selfridge, has been limited to just four games this year and has yet to suit up against Carolina. But Selfridge has been active the past couple of weeks, though, and should be suiting up Friday. His presence against Carolina will be a big thing to watch, especially with the Hustle needing someone to rise against Carolina’s offense, which is as deep and dangerous as any unit in the league right now.
One candidate worth watching is Brett Hulsmeyer, whose history against the Flyers is notable. In each season since 2023, he’s posted at least seven total scores against Carolina in at least one matchup. This year, those numbers have gone quiet. He’s settled into a more defensive role overall, but his offensive output specifically against the Flyers looks unusually low even accounting for that shift. Does the regression suggest a big game is brewing?
Whether it’s Selfridge, Hulsmeyer, or someone else entirely, Atlanta needs a spark in this game. Their playoff hopes are in genuine danger. The Hustle must finish with a better record than San Diego to punch their ticket, and the remaining schedules couldn’t be more unfavorable for the Hustle. Atlanta still has Carolina, Austin, and DC on the docket. San Diego closes with Houston, Houston, and Vegas. For a team nobody penciled in as a group that would be fighting for their playoffs lives this late into the season, the urgency couldn’t be more real for the Hustle.
One Big Number:
27.6 - The Flyers have scored 27.6 goals per game since Brooks and Thoreson made their season debuts.
1 - Hulsmeyer has just one score against the Flyers in two games this year.
Oakland Spiders at Colorado Apex | Friday Night Frisbee
Friday, June 12 - 10:00 PM/ET - Watch link
Oakland first leg of their intermountain doubleheader begins against a Colorado team in must-win mode. The combination of Colorado desperate for a win and Oakland looking to bounce back after their first loss of the season could make for a much better game than expected.
The Spiders clobbered the Apex when the teams last met, and Colorado didn’t have their most valuable weapon in Quinn Finer. His presence on the field playing so many major roles, including playmaking, facilitating, receiving, and veteran leader has absolutely transformed Colorado. All three of Colorado’s results have been strong with Finer in the lineup: a blowout win against Oregon, the biggest win of the year against Salt Lake, and most recently coming up just short against the Growlers in overtime. But as of right now, Finer is listed as out, immediately making Colorado the heavy underdog in this critical game.
Oakland opens their intermountain doubleheader against a Colorado team with their backs against the wall. The Apex are desperate for a win, while the Spiders are hungry to rebound from their first loss of the season, setting the stage for a must-see game.
The Spiders had little trouble with Colorado when these teams last met, and that game came without Finer, Colorado's most irreplaceable piece. His impact spans every layer of the game: playmaking, facilitating, receiving, and providing the kind of veteran leadership that changes a team's identity. With Finer active, Colorado has been a different unit entirely. The Apex defeated Oregon, scored their biggest win of the year against Salt Lake, and fell just short in a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Growlers that they nearly stole. As of now, Finer is listed as out, and that single injury report entry is enough to immediately make Colorado a heavy underdog.
Colorado's defense has struggled with and without in the lineup. The Apex are conceding 24.67 goals per game while forcing just 16.33 turns, surrendering an opponent red zone conversion rate of 85.31 percent, and a league-worst opponent huck completion rate of 73.47 percent. The picture those numbers paint is hard to ignore—Colorado's offense clearly needs to match Oakland's point for point, and that's a tall order against a Spiders offense that is expected to be fully loaded.
Colorado will have their hands full with a group of six Spiders that we’ve seen just once this season: Walker Frankenberg, Dexter Clyburn, Adam Rees, Leo Gordon, Jason Vallee, and Raekwon Adkins.
Oakland will be without Daniel Ritthaler, though, and he has been arguably the Spiders' most valuable player; his absence was felt immediately in their loss to the Wind Chill. Despite missing a game, he still leads the team in completions, goals, and plus/minus. He’ll miss this game with a lingering hamstring issue.
One Big Number:
4.83 - Colorado's team Tot-aEC score drops to just 4.83 per game without Finer, compared to 16.89 per game with him in the lineup, an absolutely massive gap.
93.2 - Ritthaler's offensive involvement percentage (OI) ranks second among all UFA players, meaning he registers at least one throw or catch on 93.2 percent of Oakland's possessions, an extraordinary rate of engagement.
Madison Radicals at Indianapolis AlleyCats
Saturday, June 13 - 7:00 PM/ET - Watch link
The last time these two met, Madison and Indy had arguably the most physical and heated Central Division battle of the year thus far. Is this rivalry turning into a first round playoff preview?
I think so. While Pittsburgh and Chicago are very much still in the playoff race, Madison and Indy have scored the most divisional wins, putting them in control of their own destiny as they look to snatch the final two playoff spots. The AlleyCats might be able to decide their fate, but their brutal 2026 schedule doesn’t let up all that much in their final six games of the season. The pressure is on, as they entire the back half of their season at 2-4 with Pittsburgh and Chicago breathing down their necks.
But for Indy, this isn’t just a high stakes divisional battle, it’s a game that they’ll want badly after their gutting loss to Madison in Week 8. We saw plenty of lead changes, playoff-level intensity, back-and-forth chess-like mind games, and player matchups that really added to the excitement.
The AlleyCats arriving Saturday will be a shell of their usual roster, though. A significant portion of Indy’s 2026 core is off competing at the USA Ultimate Pro-Elite Challenge (PEC): Elliot Hawkins, Will Wettengel, Nate Little, Xavier Payne, Jonathan Mast, and Kai Creed.
Hawkins, who was the engine behind both of Indy’s wins this season, will be the most significant absence. He struggled as a thrower in Week 8 against the Rads but was virtually unguardable downfield, hauling in five hucks and posting a career-high Receiver Adjusted Expected Contribution score of 6.1.
Without Hawkins, all signs point to Jake Felton stepping into the primary facilitator role Saturday. His completion rate, a recurring concern in past seasons, remains shaky. After a rough start to 2026, Felton showed real promise in Weeks 6 and 7, looking like he was finally settling into his new team's system. The last two games, though, have pulled him back down to earth, with an 86.11 percent completion rate. Which version shows up in Week 10?
Felton's connection with Seth Gudeman will be worth watching. Gudeman came up with several key receptions late against Madison in Week 8 and is averaging 4.5 goals over his last two games. Sofiène Bontemps is another O-liner who looks primed to break out, he's already set single-game career highs in receiving yards, throwing yards, completions, and hockey assists in each of his first two appearances this year. That includes 288 receiving yards against Minnesota's top tier defense in Week 7, which suggests he could give Madison's D-line real problems.
On the other side, Gabe Vordick continues to ascend as a passer, and while he hasn’t been perfect this year, he had his best game of the year against the ‘Cats in Week 8 with season highs in assists, plus/minus, completions, yards, and hockey assists, and offensive efficiency.
One Big Number:
8.2 - Hawkins has the highest Total Adjusted Expected Contribution (how valuable a player is when per game of any player (8.2)
1,305 - Vordick’s 1,305 throwing yards are nearly double his total throwing yards from all of the 2025 regular season, and the Radicals still have five games left to play.
Oakland Spiders at Salt Lake Shred | Game of the Week
Saturday, June 13 - 7:00 PM/ET - Watch link
Time is running out for the Salt Lake Shred to score a statement win this season. They've dropped every matchup against elite competition so far, but two more chances remain, both against Oakland, starting Saturday night.
It's a strange reversal of fortune: Salt Lake is now the team fighting to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Spiders, after sweeping Oakland in each season from 2022 to 2025. The Shred are the clear underdog in both games, though circumstance offers a glimmer of hope; the Spiders will face them on the back end of their tough intermountain doubleheader.
Oakland's offense might have been held under 20 goals for the first time all year in their last outing, but they still posted a 75 percent hold rate in the loss to a stingy Wind Chill defense. So Oakland’s dependable offense is about to collide with a Salt Lake O-line that's starting to get more production from their top players, with Chad Yorgason, Jordan Kerr, and Matt Russnogle among those heating up at the right time.
Kerr will be my primary watch for the Shred, with his usage climbing noticeably over the past two games. He hadn’t topped 32 completions in a single outing until Week 9, when he posted 47 against Madison and 56 against Minnesota, hitting new season-high yardage totals in both and peaking at his highest offensive involvement (OI) percentage in Salt Lake’s most recent game against the Wind Chill.
The rising OI percentage is an encouraging sign for a player as talented as Kerr, but the O-line’s ongoing turnover problem casts a shadow over the optimism. Salt Lake is committing 17.11 turns per game this season, up from 14.71 a year ago, and those numbers get uglier against elite defenses. In their two losses to Oakland and Minnesota, they’ve averaged 20.5 turns per game.
Even if Salt Lake cuts down on their turnovers, there could be too much pressure on the unit to operate at that peak level we know they’re capable of, as they continue to absorb the absence of defensive standouts Kyle Weinberg, Sam Pew, Jonny Hoffman, and others. So the contrast in defensive reinforcements could be a difference-maker. Oakland gets a major boost with Anton Orme returning after more than a month away, joined by Seamus Robinson in just his second appearance of the season. An already-elite Spiders defense is getting even more dangerous this weekend.
The Spiders forced Salt Lake into high stall counts early and often in their only prior meeting this year, racing to a 5-1 lead the Shred never recovered from. It's the "swarming" quality that defines Oakland's defense, with the entire D-line playing with such collective intensity that it visibly created great stress on the Shred O-line, making each of their O points feel like a grind. The question now is whether that defense can sustain that level away from home after playing Colorado the night before. Home advantage has historically affected Oakland's intensity, so the environment matters here.
Salt Lake, meanwhile, returns home after four straight road games crammed into a single week. Does that brutal stretch leave them running on fumes, or does stepping back onto home turf spark something?
One Big Number:
4 - The four games Salt Lake has turned the frisbee over most this season are also their four losses.
65.5 - Oakland’s defense is the most efficient in the league, with 65.5 percent of their defensive possessions ending without surrendering a goal.
