May 13, 2025
By Evan Lepler
1. Oakland becomes first team to four wins
One week after nearly falling apart in the fourth quarter against the Cascades, the Spiders delivered a full four-quarter performance this past Friday night, en route to a 26-21 victory. Oakland’s O-line precision limited Seattle to just two blocks and one break for the game, outscoring the ‘Scades 14-8 in the middle portion of the game to break it open.
“The main difference between Week 2 and Week 3 is that we’ve had more time to play together,” said Oakland’s Jason Vallee, who finished Friday with nine total scores, 41 completions, and zero throwaways. “This iteration of the squad is still new and this is the first time a lot of our players have played together, so every rep we get together, hopefully the better we will be.”
Evan Magsig handled flawlessly, going 60-for-60 in the Seattle rematch, while Walker Frankenberg, Leo Gordon, and Adam Rees combined for 13 goals and nine assists.
“The last game felt very special for our O-line,” added Vallee. “Feels like we are all getting on the same page in knowing when to attack, defer, or clear.”
Defensively, the Spiders recorded their best conversion rate of the season, breaking the Cascades seven times in 11 tries. Nick Tolfa led the D-line with three goals and two blocks, while Eli Kerns tallied four assists and a block.
The Spiders are off to their best start since 2014, when the franchise debuted with six consecutive wins.
2. DC's offense dazzles in Carolina
Like the Spiders, the DC Breeze offense found its top form in Week 3. Whereas the Spiders offense endured five total turnovers in four quarters against Seattle, the Breeze O-line only had three. Carolina did go 3-for-3 on break chances to keep the game close, but the Breeze never trailed in their 20-18 triumph.
“I think the handlers deserve a lot of credit,” said DC’s Tyler Monroe. “Jacques [Nissen] and Andrew [Roy] get a lot of credit, but I cannot stress enough how important Gus Norrbom is to what we do. I think this is the best he has looked physically, and he does as much as anyone to keep the ball moving, attack horizontally, and get open late in stalls.”
It also felt like many of the Breeze cutters, particularly Monroe, Cole Jurek, and Christian Boxley, were reliably open and ready to make plays downfield throughout the game on Saturday night.
“I think any cutter in the world would want to play with Box and Cole,” added Monroe. “They are two of the best two-way cutters in the world. This group has had thousands of reps through the years, so I think in general we all know what spaces we want to attack. Their strengths let me attack the spaces I want to, connecting the handlers and cutters and looking to get them the ball quickly downfield. I think each of us can operate in the backfield, mid, and deep space well, but what is great is we can all rotate and don’t feel like we have to force ourselves into any of those [roles].”
DC finished the night with just eight total turnovers as a team, the fewest for any team across the first 28 games in the UFA through three weeks. The Flyers only had 11 turnovers as a team, far from an ugly number, yet never were able to take a lead all night long. In the second half, Carolina always trailed by multiple goals.
“We had goals as a team to limit the number of turnovers we threw and be smart about our time management throughout the game,” said Flyers veteran Trevor Lynch. “It’s hard to accomplish our time management goals when you’re playing from behind, but I was generally happy that we were able to limit our turnovers. We were just not able to generate enough blocks to keep up after going down a few breaks early.”
While the Flyers remain winless as they head to Atlanta with a pair of results up for grabs this weekend, Carolina is confident that they can battle amongst the best.
“We’re never going to be shaken by tough results early in the year, and we’re looking forward to the challenges that the next few weeks will have in store for us,” said Lynch. “The team has bought into constant improvement one day at a time, and if that doesn’t translate to the results we want immediately, then we’re ok with that. There were a lot of encouraging things from our first half against Atlanta [before the game was suspended on May 3], especially offensively, so looking forward to getting tested against them!”
3. Empire and Glory rally past the Royal
Montreal brought formidable energy throughout their two-game trip through New York and Boston, offering substantial evidence that they could potentially pull off some East Division upsets of their own in the coming months. But despite the many encouraging moments, the Royal could not overcome their more experienced opponents in Week 3.
On Friday, while the game was tied 18-all with seven minutes left, New York still prevailed 22-20. One day later, the Royal generated 11 break chances against Boston, but converted just one of them. Meanwhile, the Glory went 6-for-12 en route to their 17-11 victory.
“I said this at practice before last weekend, but our biggest opponent is ourselves,” said Montreal veteran Kevin Quinlan, who tossed five assists in the pair of road losses. “We can punch with the best of them. A lot of our team isn’t new to the UFA or new to being overlooked by the media. I am super proud of the steps the team took this past weekend.”
Playing in a steady rain for much of Friday’s contest, New York’s Ben Jagt turned back the clock with six goals and three assists.
“I love playing in the rain,” said Jagt. “Some of the biggest games I’ve ever played in were in the rain.”
While the Empire weren’t thrilled with their performance overall, they were relieved to escape with a win.
“While this year’s team might not always deliver the most polished performances, the foundation is strong,” said New York Head Coach Anthony Nuñez. “We’re determined to scrape and claw our way to success, taking each win as it comes.”
Added Jagt, “there’s always pressure, no matter when you’re playing, where you’re playing, there’s always pressure because all these teams are good. It sounds trite, but everyone wants to win and winning is really freaking hard. So it’s hyper competitive, we have to play an A-game if we want to come out of the East, and everyone else will too, so we’re not alone in that.”
The 2-1 Empire travel to 2-0 Boston in three days on Friday Night Frisbee. It’s the first meeting between the teams since last year’s playoff game that eliminated New York from the postseason. It was also the first time New York exited the playoffs before Championship Weekend since 2017.
“Boston consistently presents a tough challenge,” said Nuñez, “and with key additions like Tobe [Decraene], Calvin [Stoughton], and Ryan Dinger on offense, we’ll need to prepare for a battle.”
4. Sol look superb at home versus Havoc
Austin won all four quarters of their Saturday soiree, jumping ahead 7-3 after one and 15-8 by halftime before cruising to a 28-19 victory over Houston. The Sol improved to 3-0 this season and 9-0 all-time against the Havoc, with six of the nine wins over Houston coming by at least six scores.
Perhaps the most notable storyline involved Elliott Moore, who’s played the vast majority of his career on the Austin D-line, shifting to offense and compiling career highs in completions (58) and throwing yards (586).
“I had a blast playing some O on Saturday,” said Moore. “Since the departure of [Jake] Radack, Duncan [Fitzgerald], and Mark Evans, I’ve been pretty vocal on the team about wanting to play O and using my disc skills on offense as opposed to on the turn as I have usually played [...] I feel like I’m in an excellent headspace to play offense this year [...] I think I’ll be the 8th guy on the O-line for most of the season, so whenever we’re missing pieces, I hope to slot in.”
Jackson Potts also continued his tremendous start to the season with eight assists and almost 500 total yards, while Austin’s D-line delivered 11 breaks in 16 chances. The Sol had just 13 total turns as a team and are tied for fifth in the league with 15 turnovers per game through three weeks.
The Sol and Havoc both host Colorado this weekend, with the Summit hitting Houston on Friday and Austin on Saturday. One fun storyline is the handful of former Texas talent now playing for the Summit.
“Lots of Texan boys who moved to Colorado,” said Moore. “So it will be a cool homecoming for [Zach] Slayton, Connor Olson, and Kai Marshall, to name a few.”
5. Minnesota and Pittsburgh both roll on the road
The Minnesota Wind Chill opened their title defense with five straight scores on Saturday at Indy, building a 17-7 halftime lead that only continued to grow in the last two quarters. Ultimately, the 32-17 victory tied Minnesota’s biggest previous margin of victory over the AlleyCats, on par with a 28-13 win back in 2022.
“Glad we got separation early,” said Wind Chill Coach Ben Feldman.
Minnesota’s two high-profile offseason additions, Justin Burnett and James Pollard, each caught three goals in their Wind Chill debuts, with Burnett also producing four blocks. Matt Rehder caught five goals and Gordon Larson dished six assists, while Will Brandt enjoyed his first career 300/300 game, with 330 passing yards and 392 receiving yards.
The degree of difficulty should raise several notches this Saturday against Chicago.
“Saturday against Chicago will be a great test for our team,” said Feldman, “and there is no shortage of excitement from our group. We dropped too many games at home in 2024, and our incredible fans deserve better. The guys are ready to go.”
Elsewhere in the Central, Pittsburgh powered past Detroit 22-17 on Sunday afternoon, spoiling the Mechanix’s home opener. The Thunderbirds trailed by one late in the first quarter, but never again over the final 36 minutes, leading 11-9 at half and 17-13 through three en route to the five-goal victory.
“Our offense was committed to patience and being relatively conservative,” said Pittsburgh’s Anson Reppermund, “and because we were powered by two stoic and talented break throwers in Hoff [Will Hoffenkamp] and [Jonathan] Mast, we were pretty stingy with the disc.”
Detroit broke the Thunderbirds just twice, while Pittsburgh registered six breaks in 19 tries. The outcome might have been different if the T-Birds hadn’t gone a perfect 16-for-16 in the red zone, while the Mechanix endured five red-zone giveaways, going 10-for-15.
“We had some execution errors and fell a bit away from our strategy as the game progressed,” said Mechanix Coach Brent Steepe. “Intentionality and resilience will allow us to prevail in future contests.”
Despite lost 86 of their last 87 games, the Mechanix are very optimistic that they can taste victory again soon. They travel to winless Indianapolis on May 24 and then host the AlleyCats on June 7.
“Mechanix and Indy could be interesting this year,” said Reppermund. “I think it might come down to the veterans on Indy believing and asserting that they are the Mechanic’s big brother and willing themselves to a win.”
6. Aviators overwhelmed early against the Hustle
Atlanta did not require another dramatic finish on Saturday in Los Angeles. To the contrary, the Hustle broke it open early, leading 4-0 at the start and 8-2 by the end of the first quarter. The Aviators never got closer than five on the scoreboard the rest of the way, as Atlanta prevailed 26-18. In fact, the Hustle, with just eight total turnovers, matched the Breeze for the fewest by a team in a game so far this season.
“Atlanta has always been a team that I have wanted to play,” said veteran Aviator Sean McDougall. “Everything from their work ethic to their coaching staff, it always seemed like it would be fun to go against them, especially since they are a top tier caliber team. As for actually playing against them, it honestly wasn’t much different than playing Colorado or Salt Lake. Sure, they were athletic, but their biggest strengths were just how efficient and in shape they were. I think they only had a handful of turnovers [...] Further, there were a few points where they were running our team ragged, despite playing on the second day of a back-to-back.”
After jumping to an early lead, the Hustle actively experimented with different things defensively over the last three quarters.
“We had the opportunities to be creative and practice new looks, rather than having the pressure of needing to secure a block and break every point,” said Atlanta’s Dean Ramsey. “Overall, the California trip was one for the books. Unfortunate we’ll have to wait for 2027 to go back.”
Christian Olsen finished 52-for-52 on Saturday and 104-for-105 on the Hustle’s two-game trip. Austin Taylor went 4-for-5 on his hucks against the Aviators, churning for a game-high 657 total yards. James Franklin led LA with six goals and three assists, finishing a game-best plus-nine.
7. Seattle earns split on Week 3 sojourn
Up just 9-8 at halftime, the Seattle Cascades broke it open in the second half against Vegas, prevailing 23-13 in the second game of their doubleheader weekend. Lukas Ambrose, after tallying just one block in the first two contests against the Spiders, erupted for five Ds and four goals against the Bighorns.
It was an important get-right game for the Cascades, who now sit at 1-2 heading into a Week 4 trip to Oregon. The Seattle schedule ramps up again in Week 5, when the ‘Scades travel to Salt Lake and Oakland on back-to-back nights.
Asher Lantz added four blocks for the Cascades on Saturday night, while Christian Foster tossed five assists and completed 38 of his 39 throws. Stephen Poulos led the Bighorns with three assists, but also had seven throwaways, highlighting the team’s overall offensive struggles. As a team, Vegas had 32 turnovers, tying the most any team has had all season.
The Hammer
Get your popcorn ready, frisbee fans!
Week 4 has arguably the most jam-packed, compelling schedule of the entire season.
The Friday headliner is clearly New York-Boston, as two-time reigning MVP Jeff Babbitt looks for his third straight win over his old team. If the Empire cannot find a way to win on the Glory’s home turf, they’ll be just 2-2 heading to Montreal for a quick turnaround on Saturday, facing a Royal team that will certainly approach the Empire with a considerable amount of confidence based upon the nail biter they played this past weekend. It’s a really important stretch for New York, as they begin this daunting journey of five consecutive road games, with trips to Philly, Toronto, and DC beckoning after this weekend.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Saturday slate features Chicago at Minnesota and Pittsburgh at Madison in two pivotal showdowns in the Central, a pair of Carolina-Atlanta results to be determined in the South, and the aforementioned interdivisional duel between Colorado and Austin.
And on Sunday, Boston retakes the field at DC in another really important East Division clash.
Whatever happens, I have a hunch we’ll look back at Week 4 as a monumentally important weekend in deciphering the playoff picture around the league. Right now, there are so many questions and loads of uncertainty, but we’ll finally get some answers and the accompanying clarity in the very near future.
