July 15, 2025
By Evan Lepler
Tuesday Toss: Week 12 | Part 1
1. Merrill's halftime message, exquisite execution propels Shred past Summit
Perhaps spurred by Bryce Merrill’s riveting message at the midway point, the Salt Lake Shred managed to have just one turnover in the second half of Friday’s 21-18 victory over Colorado. The Summit were up 9-8 at halftime, and the Shred had 10 turns in the opening two quarters, but Salt Lake got the break train out of the station in the third with a 7-2 surge, an onslaught that arrived after Merrill’s stirring halftime speech.
“You are worried about the wrong things right now from a performance perspective,” said Merrill, speaking passionately to his team in a video immortalized on the Shred’s Instagram. “This is playoff physicality. I’ll do my job and bark at the refs [...] But if they respond with that kind of physicality, I need dogs. Understood?”
“Yessir,” his players responded in unison.
“This is the first chance we’ve had this kind of pressure in a long time,” continued Merrill. “And I want a second half that reflects our excitement about their level of physicality, that they would be so foolish as to be that close in the stack. Separate, and cut hard, clear hard. Do we understand?”
“Yessir,” they replied again.
“We’ve wanted these reps,” he went on. “We wanted this challenge. And it is hard. It is hard to do what you’re doing, when you want to play confident, when the little things are setting us off, but we are here to do hard things. That is why we play these games. That is why we play at this level. This quarter right now, for these three lines, is about establishing our trajectory for the rest of this season. We are dogs and we are winners, and we are good at doing hard things. So when we step out of this locker room, when we step out of this locker room, it is looking forward and it is looking physical and it is looking fast. Understood?
“Let’s get to it!”
It’s hard to watch this video and not feel inspired and invigorated by his words, tone, and energy. At the very least, it’s super cool to get a glimpse at what things are like inside the Salt Lake locker room.
The way he accents the word ‘foolish’ is particularly brilliant, laced with meaning and self-assured swagger.
And according to Jordan Kerr, who’s perhaps heard more fiery speeches from Merrill than any other player, there was nothing extraordinary about this particular speech. It was just another passionate message delivered by his long-time coach.
“I’ve heard a lot of speeches from Bryce through the years, both in college and pro, and I can’t emphasize enough how normal that halftime speech was for him,” said Kerr. “I speak for myself and the Shred team that we’re extremely grateful for Bryce and the coaching and work he does for the Shred. It feels like he always knows exactly what to say. On Friday against Colorado, his words were more motivational and focused more on our team’s effort, focus, and intensity. Other times, it’s more strategic and focused on particular adjustments that need to be made. He is so good at what he does, I’m glad that others got to experience just a glimpse of his passion for ultimate and for the Shred. We wouldn’t be who we are without him.”
2. Outrageous buzzer beater helps Boston clinch the East’s top seed
The clock was winding down and the Philadelphia Phoenix were on the verge of a two-goal lead, miraculously marching toward a critical break in the final seconds of the third. But as we’ve seen so many times in UFA history, a massive and stunning swing of momentum just before the fourth can have lasting, meaningful consequences.
Philly’s Drew Loughnane, playing just his third UFA game, crazily caught Paul Owens’ deflected high-stall deep shot with 17 seconds left, just shy of the attacking end zone. Loughnane, with zero career completions to his name, fired a lefty backhand toward teammate Brandon Pastor, but Boston’s Ben Sadok had the right angle for a dramatic layout catch-block.
With the clock still ticking, Sadok acrobatically popped up, sprinted to the front goal line, and lofted a half-field forehand toward a wide open Tobe Decraene. From there, Decraene launched a laser flick toward the end zone. It might have reached Topher Davis for the score even without Ryan Dinger’s help, but the latter made a leaping in-field greatest, gently flipping it to Davis at the buzzer for the unreal equalizer.
Boston proceeded to score the first three goals in the fourth, building a 15-12 lead with just under four minutes remaining. Philly got one break back with five seconds left, but it was far too little, too late, as the Glory edged the Phoenix 15-14.
Jeff Babbitt led Boston with four more blocks, giving him 21 on the season, second-most in the league. Sadok, whose interception was not credited properly in the stats, also finished 46-for-46 with 585 total yards and six scores.
Philly played a pretty clean game, with just 11 turnovers, but more than half of those giveaways came in the huck department, where the Phoenix went just 5-for-11, putting the Hotbirds on the brink of elimination heading into their Sunday matinee at New York.
3. Breeze ensure home playoff game with second win versus Boston
Despite sitting some of their stars after clinching the top seed in the East the night before, the Glory still led the Breeze 6-4 after one quarter of play on Saturday night in DC. But the Breeze D-line changed the game in the second, producing three breaks to lift DC to an 11-9 halftime lead.
Andrew Roy finished 46-for-46 for 485 yards, four DC defenders tallied two blocks apiece, and the Breeze maintained their lead for the entirety of the second half in their 20-16 victory, which officially punched their ticket to the postseason.
Combined with Philly’s losses over the weekend, the Breeze were also guaranteed a home playoff game as the two-seed in the East.
“It is relieving to have the opportunity to extend our season and also bring the playoff energy home to DC,” said Breeze Coach Lauren Boyle. “I was really proud of the patience the team exhibited. We started a bit slow defensively, allowing the Glory to attack spaces they want. As the game progressed, we were able to make adjustments and organize the field for how we wanted to see pressure applied. I am really proud of our offense being steady throughout the game.”
The Breeze O-line was broken just once, as the Glory defense, playing without key D-liners like Jeff Babbitt, Tannor Johnson-Go, and Tyler Chan, went 1-for-6 on their break chances.
4. Empire halt Philly’s playoff hopes, punch their postseason ticket
The Phoenix came out firing and created the first two break opportunities on Sunday in New York, but Philadelphia failed to cash in those early chances and paid a steep price for those missed connections. They were only down 6-5 when Pastor found Colin White for the opening score of the second, but the Empire D-line took over the game from there, as New York stampeded for seven straight goals in less than seven minutes. The Empire led 14-6 at halftime, 21-11 through three, and ultimately prevailed 24-16 to secure their postseason berth and eliminate the feisty Phoenix.
“You could see our D-line really starting to feel comfortable transitioning to offense after a turnover,” said Empire Coach Anthony Nuñez, commenting on his team’s 8-for-13 performance on converting breaks. “It was refreshing to only need one timeout the entire game and to trust the D-line to just go out there and cook.”
Oliver Fay led the Empire D-line with three assists, two blocks, and a goal, while Arthur Aucoin’s third UFA game included his first career Callahan, part of his three-goal, one assist, one-block afternoon.
“Artie has been an absolute gem at practices,” said Nuñez. “He pushes every player he matches up against, making them better. His performance against Philly wasn’t surprising; it was just Artie settling into his role and doing what he does best.
The Empire will host Boston on Saturday before beginning a daunting postseason road with a trip to DC on July 26, but New York certainly has the ‘peaking at the right time’ look.
“The energy in the huddle at the end of the game was electric,” said Nuñez. “We’ve been building momentum with each week. Our O-line has been consistent and is finding the right chemistry. Our D-lines are starting to click. And while we know the playoff path ahead won’t be easy, we’re just excited to keep playing frisbee together.”
Meanwhile, the Phoenix were left licking their wounds, wondering what could have been.
“What sticks out most to me is the mental aspect of the game, that it seems we have just not put together yet,” said Philly veteran Brandon Pastor. “I believe we have talent, but we need to get everything right mentally as well to be able to put it all together and show the league what we are really capable of. We have had mental lapses in nearly every game that sometimes only last as long as four minutes, but that is enough time to cost us the game.”
5. Minnesota locks up two-seed, race past Radicals
Another record crowd at Sea Foam Stadium, and another win for Minnesota over Madison. That’s now 13 wins for the Chill in their last 14 games against the Rads, including eight straight in St. Paul.
But it wasn’t like the Wind Chill completely erased all doubts about their scuffling offense. Minnesota mustered only five goals in the first half and trailed by one at the break. But the Chill outscored Madison 6-3 in the third, en route to the 16-13 victory. Josh Klane and Tristan Van de Moortele led the way with four assists apiece for Minnesota.
“Coming out of half, we really were just focused on executing and making plays for our fans,” remembered James Pollard, who also produced a block and an assist in the Wind Chill win. “The wind was going to get a little calmer, so we knew hucks were going to fly from Madison even more. What really got us in the game was Justin [Burnett’s] sideline toe tap for a break to go up one goal. That play got the fans going. The next point, I was able to get a nice sky block off a huck, then our offense punched in that break with Greg Cousins skying his defender to put us up two. When we can get the fans going crazy with a nice play, it makes it easier to go make the next play and seize the momentum.”
Minnesota’s triumph locked up the two-seed in the Central, meaning that the Wind Chill will host Madison again in the opening round of the playoffs, with the winner traveling to Chicago to battle for a spot at Championship Weekend.
6. Sizzling second half surges Sol to 9-2
The Austin Sol were neck-and-neck with the Los Angeles Aviators through the first couple quarters on Saturday night, but the South’s first-place squad came alive in the third quarter, outscoring LA 6-0 in the pivotal period.
The Aviators scored their eighth goal of the night with 1:03 left in the first half, while their ninth came with just 8:23 remaining in the game. In between, the Sol ran off eight straight, on their way to a 20-13 victory.
“Our defense was shot out of a rocket in the second half,” said Austin’s Mark Henke. “They really stepped up and put it to LA. Owen Johnson had three blocks, Connor DeLuna made plays in his first game back, and Alex Janelle led the D-line down the field after turnovers.”
Meanwhile, the Henke brothers led the Austin offense, combining for eight goals, five assists, and over 850 total yards. Joey Wylie, unrelated but also effective, added four assists and a game-high 469 total yards for the Sol.
Austin knows that a win over Carolina in its regular season finale will earn them the top seed in the South. But the Sol also are preparing for a fight this Friday night against the Flyers.
“I am really excited to play a meaningful game at home,” said the younger Henke. “The Flyers are out of the playoffs, but I would assume they would love to play spoiler [...] Key to the game is to play our brand of frisbee and keep energy high on the sideline. We have a good team with a good game plan. Nobody has to do anything differently than what we have been doing all year.”
As for the Aviators, following Friday night’s overtime loss in Houston and Saturday’s rough second half in Austin, LA sits at 2-9 heading into their Week 13 finale against winless Vegas.
“We’re a young team, and when we have problems, they happen in groups,” said Aviators veteran Michael Kiyoi. “If you look at our season, we could realistically have finished 5-7 or 6-6. With all our young talent and new pieces, I think we will be in the mix next year.”
7. Detroit remains winless all-time at Indy
The league’s two remaining original franchises have now faced each other 37 times since the inception of professional ultimate back in 2012. On 20 different occasions, the Detroit Mechanix have traveled to Indianapolis. All 20 times, they’ve driven home defeated.
The AlleyCats improved to 3-0 this season and 36-1 all-time against the Mechanix, winning their 20th straight home game against Detroit in the process of their 23-15 victory on Saturday. Cole Hyzer led the Cats with a career-high five goals along with three assists.
“Our best offensive performance to date,” said Indy Coach Drew Shepherd. “And not a fluke. It did feel like the guys finally putting enough pieces together in an intentional and repeatable way.”
Both the AlleyCats and Thunderbirds sit at 3-8 ahead of Saturday’s showdown for fourth place at Kuntz Stadium in Indy.
“It’s poetic that we started and end the season with Pittsburgh,” said Shepherd. “It gives us a barometer as to our development this season and gives the game a bit of meaning.”
The Hammer
When my broadcast buddy Ian Toner told the world during our pregame show that Friday night was my 200th UFA broadcast, I had no clue if that number was real.
I’ve thought about going back through the past 11 years and cataloguing the journey into a spreadsheet, but had yet to actually embark on that process.
This kind recognition by the UFA was all the motivation I needed.
Including a Seattle-San Francisco radio broadcast in 2015 and a pair of exhilarating exhibition games in Medellin, Colombia in 2022, Friday night’s Colorado-Salt Lake game—which also happened to fall on my 40th birthday—was actually my 204th UFA game broadcast, dating back to my debut on April 12, 2014.
Over the past 11 and a half years, I’ve called UFA games with 20 different analysts at 58 different venues, led by 30 shows at Breese Stevens Field in Madison, where I’ll be heading again for my 11th Championship Weekend in just over a month. Friday night in Salt Lake was my 45th UFA broadcast with Ian Toner, making him my second most frequent partner, behind Megan Tormey, who called 55 games by my side from 2014 to 2023.
I’m truly grateful for all of the people I’ve collaborated with through the years, not to mention the dozens of production folks and hundreds of camera operators who’ve helped share the stories of our league. The journey has truly been a labor of love, and I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been able to travel the world broadcasting frisbee.
The journey continues on Friday night, back in Salt Lake City, for UFA broadcast number 205.
But who’s counting?
Thanks to everyone who shared warm wishes about my recent milestones, and here’s to another epic weekend of ultimate to cap this wild 2025 campaign!
I genuinely believe the best is still ahead.
