May 6, 2025
By Evan Lepler
Five goal leads aren’t what they used to be.
In rapid succession on Saturday night, the DC Breeze and Oakland Spiders each saw their five-goal advantages disappear. Both ultimately recovered to narrowly win by one, but the victories were anything but easy.
Welcome to modern day life in the Ultimate Frisbee Association.
What’s the lesson here? Honestly, I think it speaks to the growing parity and competitiveness amongst the top half of the league, featuring (at least) a dozen teams who genuinely take the field expecting to win every night. The talent level, along with the widespread feeling of confidence and belief, has risen. Consequently, even if a team is obviously outplayed for a quarter or a half, there’s still the internal feeling that they’re clearly capable of a comeback.
There’s also the reality that UFA games are long battles of attrition, and psychologically, the challenge of fully sustaining the mentality that built the early edge is real. It’s completely natural to relax a little bit and let the intensity slip. Before you even realize it, momentum can shift, and it can be very tricky trying to get it back.
The Breeze and Spiders were both fortunate to regroup and survive their pair of thrilling finishes against the Rush and Cascades, respectively. The immediate aftermath of these particular results creates an interesting dichotomy of emotions: for the victor, no doubt there is joy, but also undoubtedly a sense of relief. And even in defeat, amidst the disappointment, a legitimate belief certainly exists, perhaps the latter being an even stronger vibe than the former.
It’s also noteworthy that for the teams that fell short, juicy rematches are beckoning later this month. The Rush, who also lost a tight back-and-forth contest at Philly on Sunday, have the Phoenix and Breeze at home in their next two games, starting this Saturday. Even sooner, the Spiders will face the feisty Cascades three days from now on Friday Night Frisbee.
Between the varying momentum and moody Mother Nature, Week 2 in the UFA featured no shortage of storylines and lightning bolts. In fact, more than half of the 11 games were disrupted by weather, either via delays or just unfavorable conditions for crisp ultimate. One marquee matchup—the South Division showdown between Carolina and Atlanta—started at 7:30 PM on Saturday night and still isn’t over.
But the biggest story in the league right now is the emergence of a contender that no one saw coming. The Philadelphia Phoenix are 2-0 and sitting in first place in the East Division, a scenario I never envisioned two weeks ago.
And while there’s a very long way to go, I must admit, after watching them knock off DC and Toronto in successive weeks, I’m beginning to believe.
The Full Field Layout
The Phoenix went 5-7 last year and haven’t finished above .500 since going 9-7 way back in 2013. Heading into 2025, they also lost their top three goal scorers, top two block-getters, and team leader in completions from the 2024 squad.
So, how is this happening? What are the biggest differences for the 2025 Phoenix?
“There are too many differences to name,” said veteran Brandon Pastor, who’s been grinding with Philly since 2018.
Obviously, there are two new coaches, with David Brandolph and Billy Maroon replacing Roger Chu and Tom Glass. There are also some new players, but it’s not like it’s a completely reshaped roster. Of the 16 players who have been active for both games so far this season, only three were not on the squad a year ago.
“Last year, Roger and Tom raised the floor of our team with their extreme attention to detail on the field,” said Pastor. “When we combine what we learned in previous years with some new techniques from Brandolph and Billy, it really seems to click.”
Pastor added that the team, pushed by Brandolph and Maroon, has also gotten in far better physical condition than previous years with track workouts becoming a staple of normal practice sessions.
“They have gotten us in shape, and I think it shows,” he said.
On Saturday against Toronto, the Phoenix had just 11 turnovers in their 19-16 victory, tied for the fourth-best possession-preserving performance in team history. Sean Mott went 57-for-57 orchestrating the offense, while Scott Heyman produced 10 scores and 19-year-old rookie Sam Grossberg, making his UFA debut, was ridiculously poised, polished, and productive. Veteran defender Paul Owens set the tone with an immediate block that led to a break on the game’s opening point. Another guy playing in his first pro game, 23-year-old Jack Wisner, produced a pair of blocks after getting pulled up from the practice squad.
Collectively, the Phoenix have found a way make plays, stay calm, and embrace the theme that their new coach instilled throughout the preseason.
“It’s about creating and recognizing moments,” said Brandolph. “Then, attacking those moments head-on. Our mentality is really to just attach each moment with what is needed. This can mean winning a one versus one matchup for a single point to create a D, like Nate Little did on [Arvids] Karklins in the first quarter. It can also mean having the offense play mistake-free ultimate for the last eight or nine minutes of the game [...] I’ve also been telling the guys that we can have all the right strategies in place, but what truly wins games is if we win our one versus one matchups more consistently than our opponents. That’s what we did against DC, and I wanted to see if we could win our one versus one matchups against an all-star roster of Toronto. Toronto played great, but we just made a few more plays.”
Perhaps the most amazing part of Sunday’s game were the Phoenix relying on a 19-year-old kid who’d never previously played in the league to carry such a huge load for the offense. Grossberg, who just finished his freshman year at Georgia Tech, went 45-for-45 with five assists and three goals. He says he felt some pressure to perform heading into his first game, but almost immediately found a rhythm and fit in seamlessly.
“Since I hadn’t been with the team very much, I felt the need to prove myself,” said Grossberg. “I will say that once the game started and I touched the disc for the first time, the pressure washed away.”
Both of Grossberg’s parents played high-level ultimate. His older brother, Adam, made his UFA debut in 2022, playing five games for the Phoenix, and he’s expected to return to the lineup and suit up alongside Sam this weekend in Toronto. As the younger Grossberg has grown up, he’s long been regarded as a future star in the Philly frisbee scene.
It might be time to remove the word “future” from that last sentence.
“I played against Sam a few years ago when he was in high school and we scrimmaged the YCC team in a club round robin,” remembered Brandolph. “He guarded me. It was not fun. It was one of the first moments that I realized I should retire soon [...] He is a player with poise and calmness well above his age. I felt confident putting him on offense because he is a student of the game. He knows the sport really well. He is adaptable. He is a player who can thrive in any system and with any group of players.”
Despite all this, Brandolph was unsure about whether he should add Grossberg to the active roster since he had been focused on his college season and had not been to a Phoenix practice yet. Ultimately, after meeting with the talented teen and explaining the offensive game-plan a couple days before the game, he felt confident he could throw Grossberg into the fire and take the chance of adding him to the O-line.
“It clearly worked out,” said Brandolph. “He is that talented a player. Nothing really surprised me; we all know he can be that good, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say he had one throw that even knowing how good he is still surprised me. He had a low-release backhand break out to space to Mott for a score that he threw so early during Mott’s cut that was truly visionary and special.”
It was obviously just one game, but everything about the way Grossberg played suggests he can be a special and foundational player for the Phoenix as they continue to build.
“I’ve always taken pride in my poise on the field,” said Grossberg. “So I was super happy I was able to carry it in a new, high-pressure environment. Overall, it was just a lot of fun. It’s a great team to be a part of and it’s always nice to win.”
Can the Phoenix keep it going?
It’s definitely not going to be easy. After traveling to Toronto this Saturday, Philly will host New York and Carolina in their last two contests of the month. They then start June with three straight road games. But after what we’ve witnessed through the first two weeks, I’m definitely closer to viewing the Phoenix as a legit contender rather than believing their dream start is just a mirage.
Entering the season, the HotBirds were basically East Division afterthoughts. Now, they have to be taken at least semi-seriously. Heading into Week 3 and another showdown against a desperate 0-2 Toronto team, the Phoenix are bracing for another huge test.
“Playing the same team back-to-back is definitely interesting,” said Pastor. “We have seen each other’s tricks; it is like two magicians trying to impress each other…We need to stay focused on the next game regardless of our record. There is still a long road ahead of us, and it starts with Toronto.”
Time will tell whether the Phoenix can actually keep it up, but through two weeks, they are right in the thick of the conversation and the feel good story of the frisbee universe. It’s as surprising an early-season plot-line as I can remember in my 11 years covering this league, and the next chapter is just four days away.
Coming up later today in “Seven On The Line”, DC gets back on track, the Rush learn in defeat, the Spiders impressively improve to 3-0, and everything else from the wacky Week 2 slate across the UFA.
