June 27, 2025
By Alex Rubin

The top two teams in the South Division meet this weekend for their only matchup of the regular season. Each sitting with seven wins atop the South Division standings, the 7-0 Austin Sol travel to Atlanta to face off against the 7-3 Hustle with the hopes of extending their undefeated season. 

The Sol stormed to the division lead out of the game this season. Unlike years past when they could rely on less taxing games against a weaker Dallas team, Austin had to face multiple teams currently in playoff positions and has passed every test with wins over Madison, San Diego, and Colorado.

One key to Austin’s success so far has been the team’s trust of players stepping into new roles. Jackson Potts is nearing his career high in goals and already surpassed his highest assist total in a season and it’s only been seven games. His ascendancy into a primary playmaking role takes some of the creative burden off of Kyle Henke and allows Joey Wylie to spend more of his time on the defensive side of the disc where he really shines.

Myles (formerly of Dallas) and Carson (a rookie) Armstrong have been revelations for the Sol O-line, each showing off their well rounded skillet (they both have the same number of goals and assists) and finding ways to fit in to a team that had built up lots of chemistry over multiple seasons playing together. Unfortunately, Myles suffered an injury at practice earlier this week, and is doubtful to suit up this weekend; he is currently listed as “dressed” on the team’s injury report. 

However, the Hustle have their own breakout player in Adam Miller alongside their own newcomer in Alec Wilson Holliday, and that duo are two of the biggest reasons why Atlanta’s offense is among the league’s best. 

The Hustle have the second highest completion percentage (95.45 percent) in the league while averaging the fewest turnovers per game, which is especially impressive because they also lead the league in hucks thrown (81). In other words, they attempt some of the hardest passes in the game more often than anyone else and they’re still completing them more than most and more often than not. With a thrower of Miller’s caliber joining Austin Taylor in the backfield, and a receiver with Wilson Holliday’s range and speed joining Hayden Austin-Knab and Brett Hulsmeyer downfield, any defense is going to have a long day. 

This game is crucial for home field status in the playoffs. Though Atlanta is three losses behind Austin in the loss column, they could still catch the Sol for first place in the division, and the head-to-head tiebreaker could come into play since the margin is slim and there are but a few more games left to play. While Austin still has two more games against Carolina and matchups that were tight earlier this year against Houston and LA, this is their only shot at Atlanta. A Sol win basically wraps up the regular season title for Austin while a Hustle win could make for a nervy few weeks in South Texas. 

While the Hustle can see this game as something of a closing argument (they’ll have just one more game remaining in the regular season after this week), they also will need to prepare to potentially face Austin again in the playoffs. Likewise, the Sol have a strong division lead, and it might be worth it for them to play their cards close to their chest in anticipation of a more important rematch in a few weeks’ time. We’ll need to tune in to find out if both teams are going all out to improve their playoff seeding or maybe hiding some of their trickier defensive sets or go-to set plays for now. While nobody will be trying to lose, it’s possible that both teams will want to keep a trick or two up their sleeve in case these teams find themselves in a playoff rematch.

There is also the element of history at play. Though it was two seasons ago, these Hustle players certainly are not forgetting the 2023 playoffs when Austin went into Atlanta and stole a trip to Championship Weekend on the Hustle’s home field. While the stakes are a bit lower in a regular season game and time is known to heal many wounds, Atlanta will want to put themselves in the best possible position for the playoffs this season, and they’ll view this game as a must-win if they are to have any hope of home field advantage throughout the playoffs.