April 29, 2025
By Evan Lepler

Sincere condolences to anyone participating in a 2025 UFA season “Survivor Pool”.

For the uninformed, a “Survivor Pool” is where you pick a single winner each week, but you cannot pick the same team multiple times during a season. If that team wins, you survive. If it loses, you’re out of the contest. 

Sure, if you took Boston over Montreal, Colorado over Oregon, or New York over Vegas, you’re still safe following the seven-game opening weekend. 

But you still ought to be rattled by what the Philly Phoenix pulled off against DC on Saturday night. After having only beaten the Breeze once in their previous 28 meetings over the last 11 years, the Phoenix not only won their season opener, but they led almost wire-to-wire. Despite nearly coughing up their four-goal fourth quarter lead in the closing minutes, they ultimately prevailed by one. At least one Philly veteran seemingly collapsed to the turf, flabbergasted and overjoyed, while many others leapt in the air as the entire team euphorically stormed the field, cherishing the magical moment and their unlikely accomplishment. 

The end result, along with the way the game transpired, sent shockwaves throughout the entire league as news gradually spread. I personally passed the information along to several players on the field in Atlanta after the Hustle’s narrow victory over Salt Lake, and the reactions were universally wide-eyed and brimming with disbelief. 

The historic upset sets a tone of unpredictability for the season ahead. If Philly can suddenly beat DC on the road, that puts every other perennial playoff team on blast. It’s a thoroughly riveting dynamic to have in place for the next 12 weeks, and a reminder that the Ultimate Frisbee Association, competitively, is healthier than ever as we dive deeper into our 13th season.

The Full Field Layout

Over the past half-decade, the Philadelphia Phoenix have consistently challenged the top teams in their division. Time and time again, they take DC or New York to the brink of regulation or overtime. But the Breeze and the Empire, who have gone a combined 81-15 over the past four regular seasons, including 18-0 against Philly in that span, always found a way to devastate the HotBirds by the final buzzer.

Every time, though, the Phoenix would rise from the ashes of another painful loss and attempt to learn from their mistakes. And the franchise, reborn with a new coaching staff in 2025, finally dodged the similar Groundhog Day script that plagued them in the past. 

“We did everything to lose that game, except we didn’t,” said new Philadelphia Head Coach David Brandolph. “DC kind of pulled a Philly by having a costly turnover at the end of the game which clinched the win for us [...] Watching the players storm the field after we won was a storybook moment. We’ve had this elephant resting on our shoulders for almost 10 years now. It’s no longer there.” 

Indeed, a massive weight has been lifted off the entire franchise after their 16-15 victory. “It’s been a long time coming,” Phoenix veteran Sean Mott remarked to Will Smolinski in their postgame interview. 

The Phoenix registered their first break five minutes into the contest, creating a 3-2 lead that boosted their collective confidence. Another break with 36 seconds left in the first quarter made the score 6-4, and, amazingly, the Phoenix never trailed again.

That’s not to say the Breeze didn’t have their chances in the extremely windy conditions. In fact, DC held the disc with the chance to tie at various points in the second, third, and fourth quarters. But poor execution in the most clutch moments cost them, and the Phoenix kept on coming. 

Once again, the Breeze struggled in the breeze. 

“The unpredictable wind was the factor that changed the game the most,” said DC handler Andrew Roy. “It was consistent in speed and direction, very swirly, not even consistent on all parts of the field.”

The two teams combined for 13 drops and 54 total turnovers, with eight different DC players suffering through one missed catch apiece, a reality that Breeze Coach Lauren Boyle had little explanation for. 

“Most surprising: our drops,” she said. “Been reflecting on that for how to improve.”

Despite the many sloppy sequences, the Breeze still pressured Philly into several late-game giveaways and had possession down by just one goal in the closing seconds. It was a painful microcosm of the entire game, though, when AJ Merriman’s backhand clanged off the hands of Breeze rookie Theo Shapinsky in the end zone with just 18 seconds left. 

Two short completions later, the Phoenix victory was secured, and the celebration commenced. 

“Our defensive strategy worked out exactly how we wanted,” said Brandolph. “We wanted DC to have to throw between their handlers over and over again. We wanted them to continually make ‘empty’ cuts. It results in them trying to make difficult hucks and throw almost 100 more passes than us.” 

Mott led the Phoenix with 568 total yards, while Scott Heyman’s elite speed and downfield instincts helped create another 526 total yards. Combined, Heyman and Mott finished with nine assists, three goals, three blocks, and five more hockey assists on 76 completions. 

“Mott was the leader I’ve been asking him to be,” said Brandolph. “He took control of the offense by his play, but more importantly by his demeanor and ability to keep us calm if things weren’t going our way. His other handler, Nate Long, stepped into an enormous role that not everyone was sure he was ready for, [but] he was more than ready. He was incredibly consistent and strong with the disc. Scott Heyman, maybe the fastest player on the field at all times, was relentless with his cutting and was able to show off his throwing arsenal in that wind. He also had one of the best second effort Ds I’ve ever seen.”

Brandolph also praised Nate Little and Eric Witmer for their efforts leading the Phoenix D-line. In particular, Little’s skying interception on a Breeze deep shot intended for standout cutter Cole Jurek was a memorable play early in the game that helped the Phoenix create their lead. 

“Philly is a great competitor, and they played a great game,” said Boyle. “Yes, it would be nice to start with a win. Our season isn’t defined by how we start.” 

Roy added that while the Breeze were not stunned by the circumstances, there was definitely growing frustration throughout the game.

“I definitely commend them for continuing to be steady and productive despite losing some significant pieces,” he said. “They really played next person up and slotted some guys into bigger roles who delivered steady performances. We were frustrated in the huddle. It feels terrible to lose that one knowing we had opportunities and execution errors let a winnable game get away from us, and that level of play isn’t going to cut it with all the talented opponents we have on our schedule. I don’t think we were stunned as much as upset that we put ourselves in a bad situation.”

No doubt the Phoenix were thrilled following their one-goal road win, but there’s not a lot of time to bask in the success with the rebooted Rush arriving to Philly this coming weekend. 

“We have a lot to improve on,” said Brandolph. “The beauty of the Phoenix roster is that we are young and still not our best, meaning we’re only going to get better as the season continues; that’s the plan and hope. This was a big win for us, but we are going to use it as fuel and energy for preparing this week against Toronto. Me, personally, have never beaten Toronto, so I would like for that to change.”

*****

If not for Saturday’s stunner, the Oakland Spiders’ performance against New York on Thursday night could have easily been the top story of the weekend. In the season-opening interdivisional showdown between two teams that both finished third in their divisions a year ago, the Spiders used suffocating defense and downfield athleticism to pull away from the Empire and prevail 22-17. 

“I think we’re putting the league on notice,” said Oakland rookie Leo Gordon, following his dazzling five-assist debut. “We want to win. We want to win the division. We want to win a chip.”

Early in the game, it was unclear whether the young Spiders would be fully ready for this opportunity. They were down 2-0 before they completed a pass, and the Empire appeared locked in at the outset. But the Spiders’ stabilized quickly and found their top form. Oakland took their first lead at 9-8 and then used a 5-2 surge early in the second-half to create their first multi-goal advantage. Even though the Empire had the disc with a chance to inch within one with about three and a half minutes left, the Spiders stingy defense finished the night with eight breaks in 16 chances. New York’s D-line totaled only four breaks in 12 tries. 

“Honestly, I think that going down 2-0 was good for us,” said Gordon, “in that I think, at least for me personally, it helped me flip the switch and it’s like, ok, we have to take it up a notch, we have to play better than this. Cut harder. Throw more crisply in the wind. And we really bounced back strong.”

Spiders Captain Robin Vickers Batzdorf led Oakland’s D-line with three blocks, while Seamus Robinson and Carter Lankford each tallied two blocks apiece, part of the defensive effort that stymied New York’s offensive rhythm for much of the night.

“Something we really buy into is this idea of grit,” said Vickers Batzdorf, who grew up in Brooklyn and attended his first UFA game in New York as a 13-year-old boy back in 2016. “When we get punched, we’re ready to punch right back. And I think that’s really, really special with this team. We are prepared to get punched in the face. We are prepared to stick with ourselves and just keep going and trusting each other. That belief in our teammates is just really, really special.”

Vickers Batzdorf spent much of the night chasing around New York superstar Jack Williams, who finished the game with six throwaways, more than any other game in his standout UFA career. 

“It’s cliché, but did we play our best game [on Thursday in Oakland]? The answer’s obviously not,” said Empire Coach Matt Stevens. ‘We had a lot of new pieces in a lot of new places…I don’t think we played poorly; I thought it was a really good game. I thought Oakland played really well. We had been talking about it for the last two weeks or so that we thought Oakland was the frontrunner right now to win the West, and we weren’t surprised; it’s not like they caught us off guard. They just played a really good game, and we didn’t play our best. They played really good defense on our downfield cutters and we got jammed up a lot in the backfield and they generated a lot of pressure and a lot of turns back there.”

Walker Frankenberg also had a huge night for the Spiders’ offense, producing six assists, three goals, and a game-high 503 yards. Max Sheppard, in his New York debut, impressed with eight scores and 400 total yards for New York, but the Empire still started 0-1 for the first time since 2018. 

“A couple weird discs didn’t go our way,” said Stevens. “They bounced off someone, they bounced off our hands. But that’s part of the game. That happens, and you gotta play through those things. Kudos to Oakland for playing a really good game.”

*****

Speaking of really good games, the highest level of offense we witnessed in Week 1—by far—came during the Salt Lake-Atlanta clash on Saturday night. The Shred and Hustle both completed better than 96 percent of their passes and finished with single-digit turnovers, putting on a brilliant showcase of elite disc movement against ferocious defense. It was truly a joy to watch.

“That was an excellent game,” said Atlanta’s Brett Hulsmeyer. “We were expecting a first game of the season, and we got a near playoff-level game. The craziest thing is, we ended up with two blocks only. We got some stalls, but that means they were playing very accurately. I was very impressed with the way they played. It just felt like a high level game.”

The Hustle ultimately prevailed 23-21, recording two of their four breaks on back-to-back points early in the second half. Still, the relentless Shred tied it late in the third, only to get burned by Jeremy Langdon’s buzzer-beating snag that gave Atlanta the 17-16 edge heading to the fourth. Atlanta also closed the first half with Dean Ramsey skying a crowd for a game-tying goal right before halftime.

In retrospect, those two last second scores were basically the difference in the game. 

The final frame began with a successful 55-yard huck from Hayden Austin-Knab to Hulsmeyer, doubling the Hustle lead and putting them in the driver’s seat the rest of the way. But even though Salt Lake couldn’t find a way in the fourth, most of the Shred were still smiling postgame, pleased with the high level they produced for most of the night. 

“I think a lot of the Shred guys are leaving heads high, with things to work on, but Atlanta’s an incredible team and the fact that we hung with them and were punching nonstop, I think we’re leaving in a really good place,” said Salt Lake’s Jordan Kerr. “We know what to work on. It feels really good [...] Single digit [turnovers] for both teams. For a game one where we have five or six rookies playing, it’s hard to complain about that.”

Will Selfridge and Chad Yorgason both were spectacular for the Shred, combining for eight goals, seven assists, two blocks, and over 1,000 total yards between them, with just one turn on 51 completions. Matt Russnogle added five goals and McKay Yorgason tossed five assists and churned for a game-high 758 total yards. Despite all these notable numbers, Kerr mentioned that Braden Eberhard was the O-line unsung hero. 

“The Yorgasons and Will are gonna get a lot of credit, but Braden is probably the biggest game-changer,” said Kerr, after Eberhard went 35-for-35 anchoring the Shred backfield. “He is our voice on O-line. He is quarterbacking everything, and there’s a sense of calmness that he brings that wasn’t there last year.”

Down the stretch, with Salt Lake trying to claw back into the game, the Hustle harkened back to the ‘pressure-cooker’ drill they often did during training camp, recognizing that every single possession felt critical.

“We said, ‘hey, we’re in pressure cooker,’” said Atlanta Coach Tuba Benson-Jaja. “Defense, we’re down by two. Offense, we’re up by one. Offense, play like we’re up, nice and comfortable. Defense, go out and try to get us one more D. I’ll take a two-point win. I know we got a lot of work to do, but for a base, playing a championship contending team that makes it to the playoffs every year, that made it to Championship Weekend two years ago, [Salt Lake Coach] Bryce [Merrill] has one of the best programs in the country. I’ll take this dub.”

Cameron Brock, Sean Connole, and Alec Wilson Holliday all had strong debuts with the Hustle O-line, while Austin Taylor went 48-for-48 with five assists and Hulsmeyer finished 33-for-33 with five assists, one goal, and one block. But during the postgame locker room celebration, Atlanta awarded player of the game honors to Austin-Knab.

“Those early [highlight-reel] grabs, the skies that he had early to save a few points [were huge],” said Benson-Jaja, reflecting on Austin-Knab’s superb possession-saving plays. “Grinding all day, solid throws, played defense, positive attitude the whole game. Solid, solid, solid player.”

And while they fully understand that it was just one game, the Hustle still wanted to cherish the moment with their teammates.

“We went in the locker room and we celebrated like we just won a championship,” said Benson-Jaja. “We’re pushing celebration all season long. I was dancing. Everybody was dancing. There’s probably gonna be some videos.”

Coming up later today in “Seven On The Line”, New York bounces back in Vegas, Austin, Boston, and Colorado all roll to easy Week 1 wins, my unforgettable weekend of UFA travel, and a glimpse at the spicy Week 2 slate that’s now just three days away.