May 5, 2026
By Evan Lepler
In every division across the UFA, statements were made in Week 2.
In the Central and West, rematches of last year’s division title games—which were both decided by the slimmest of margins last August—became convincing double-digit blowouts.
In the East, Boston and New York were the only two teams in the UFA with single-digit turnovers on the weekend, vanquishing their pesky but overmatched Canadian opponents in comfortable home wins.
And in the South, the Austin Sol, one week after a thrilling double overtime victory over Atlanta, were extraordinarily fortunate to survive another OT barn burner against Houston. Even after the triumph, it was a result that suggested the Sol still may not be ready to be a true championship contender quite yet.
Across the 10 contests in Week 2, teams created countless highlights, endured some frustrating injuries, and produced plenty of data, which all coaches and captains have spent the past few days processing as quickly as possible. Every team envisions ascending toward June and July, raising their collective levels and reaching all their internal growth goals.
Of course, in a short 12-game season, the reality is that early progress reports can count for a lot. Every result carries weight and ripples through a team’s psyche in ways they may not even fully realize. Breaking through with legitimate disproportionate improvement—a necessary mission for many teams with Championship Weekend dreams—is often tougher than they realize.
Consequently, the lessons from Week 2’s 10-game slate—even though it’s still early for everyone—may actually be more lasting than you might expect for early May in the UFA. Perceptions can be hard to change, and internally, unwavering belief without any self-doubt seeping in is exceptionally rare.
The Full Field Layout
Before diving into the pair of division title rematches, we must begin with the wildly entertaining Texas tussle that very nearly blossomed into the biggest surprise of the weekend.
Back on opening weekend, Houston lost to Atlanta by 16, while Austin prevailed over Atlanta by one in double overtime. Even though Evan Swiatek was suspended one game for his bad bid into Lukas McClamrock, few if any could’ve imagined the Havoc having a chance to hand the Sol their first loss of the season, especially considering that Houston entered Saturday night 0-11 all-time against Austin.
But every game is a new opportunity, and in these big brother/little brother type matchups, eventually there will be a shift in power. We saw it with Dallas and Austin last decade, when the former beat the latter 12 consecutive times before the Sol got a win in the series. For most of Saturday’s matchup, it felt like the Havoc’s frustrating streak against Austin would end at 11.
“We made great progress as a team this preseason and again between game one and two,” said Houston Coach Sean McCall. “Tons of credit to the players for their mindset and belief in the strategy.”
The Havoc only allowed one goal in the second quarter and led 10-6 at halftime. The Sol made a push in the third to tie the game at 12-all, but Austin could never overtake the Havoc through the end of regulation, as Mark Turner helped the Houston offense find a way to deliver one clutch hold after another.
“Mark Turner is a massively talented player, capable of delivering the disc to anywhere on the field and works hard to get open and create cuts that are easy to hit,” said McCall. “He sees the field so expansively and our system affords him freedom to express that creativity.”
The best game of Turner’s UFA career included seven assists, four goals, 333 throwing yards, and 376 receiving yards, yet the Havoc still only had a one-goal lead late in the fourth, when Austin’s last-second hero struck again.
For the second week in a row, Kyle Henke uncorked a perfect buzzer-beating put to tie the score late. And the Sol, who are truly a couple throws away from being 0-2, found a way to prevail in overtime again, hightailing out of Houston with a 2-0 record after a 22-20 overtime victory.
“It was almost all relief and very little joy,” said Henke. “We definitely snuck away with that one. Any single moment in the fourth quarter going the other way and we’re staring at a 1-1 record, which would have basically erased the leg up we gave ourselves in Week 1. Credit to Houston for pulling us out of our system. They threw everything at us. Double team off the rip, roller pulls, switching the force midfield, physical defense, they had it all. It’s still hard for me to fully appreciate the win because we didn’t play well for long stretches. But if I’ve got to pull something positive from the game, it’s that we found a way to keep fighting. That’s not necessarily an identity I had already pegged for this team, but facing that much adversity this early in the season should be good for us long term.”
Henke finished 39-for-40 with four goals, four assists, and a team-high 542 yards, while Trenton Hebert, who had only produced two blocks in his first seven UFA games, erupted for four blocks on Saturday against the Havoc.
“My biggest takeaway is that our roster is deep, and we have a lot of guys who can step up,” said Henke. “Trenton Hebert and George Gust both had huge nights, and it says a lot that different players can carry us in different moments. We’ve got some gamers.”
As for the Havoc, even after Saturday’s setback, there’s a sense of an upward trajectory in Houston.
“This was an incredibly positive game for the Havoc,” said Turner. “It’s a reminder that we are a capable team and when we put the pieces together, we have the potential to cause some upsets. If we create a scenario where a buzzer-beater is required to beat us, I think we’ve done a pretty good job. We’ll continue to keep a growth mindset and stay connected as a team.”
*****
Chicago and Minnesota have a complicated and fascinating rivalry. They’ve played against each other more times than any other pair of teams in the UFA, and their joint history is full of shocking surprises.
Last summer, the Union went 12-0 in the regular season, smashing the Wind Chill in both regular season meetings, only to see Minnesota prevail in stunning fashion in the Central Division title game. Heading into 2026, general consensus was that the Wind Chill had the stronger squad, but that preseason vibe guaranteed nothing in terms of bankable results.
When the Union bolted to a quick 3-0 lead on Saturday at Sea Foam Stadium, the hometown Wind Chill crowd was understandably stunned. But then Minnesota found its mojo, and the floodgates quickly opened to unleash a gigantic wave of cold water on Chicago’s upset chances.
“It was an awesome feeling because top to bottom, the whole defensive unit was hungry,” said Justin Burnett, who led the Wind Chill with four blocks. “Different people getting blocks and scoring each point, and even more turnovers that were forced due to a complete lack of options for throwers. Despite all of that, it felt like we were only scratching our potential.”
By the end of the first quarter, the Wind Chill led 9-3. By halftime, it was 15-5. And at the end of the night, Minnesota had rolled to a 22-12 victory behind the team’s dynamic defense.
“What impressed me the most was our immediate resiliency and trust for each other,” said Wind Chill veteran Brandon Matis, who recorded one of Minnesota’s 16 blocks in his first game back on the field after missing all of 2025 with an injury. “We went down early, and a lot of teams don’t scrap back from that, but we responded in such a massive way and never doubted things.”
Collectively, Minnesota broke Chicago’s O-line 15 times in 20 opportunities, while the Union offense held just seven times in the double-digit beatdown. Along with Burnett’s four blocks, five other Minnesota defenders had two blocks apiece, all of which helped energize the raucous crowd of nearly 2,000 fans.
“The crowd was electric,” said Burnett. “Once we got past the rocky start, they exploded and never came back down. The fans at Sea Foam are always great, and we couldn’t have asked for a better environment to start the season in.”
The Union certainly showed that—outside of the 9-0 avalanche that closed the first quarter—they could make plays and compete with the three-time defending division champs. But the gap between the two teams, at least at this early stage, is obvious.
“The Wind Chill looked very polished for early May,” said Chicago’s Jeff Weis. “Their defensive unit helped each other by leaving assignments who weren’t in threatening areas, and they counterattacked swiftly. We’re going to have to shake off some of the college/club format rust to outwit consistent poaching and double-teaming, although that alone won’t make up the 10-point margin we left on the table.”
*****
Speaking of defense, the Oakland Spiders embarrassed the Salt Lake Shred with a suffocating performance on Saturday night too, matching the Wind Chill’s 10-point margin in their 25-15 rout.
And to be clear, ‘embarrassed’ and ‘suffocating’ were the words used by Salt Lake’s Jordan Kerr, who did not sugarcoat the tough night for the Shred, who had previously been 8-0 all-time against the Spiders.
“Saturday was tough and, frankly, embarrassing,” said Kerr. “Losing is tough, but getting blown out is another thing. Props to Oakland for the game they played. The intensity and pressure they applied throughout the game felt much like that of a championship-level team. Their handler pressure was suffocating. You can tell they had done their research, prepared, and executed their game plan well.”
In two games to start their season, the 2-0 Spiders have produced 34 breaks and only been broken twice. James Whealan snagged a first-quarter Callahan, while Itay Chang had two blocks and four assists. Anton Orme, making his UFA debut, added two blocks, two assists, and one goal, while completing all 26 of his throws.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of a debut,” said Orme. “Getting our first ever win against the Shred was fun to be a part of. I haven’t been on [Spiders] teams of past years, but I know about the rivalry and to come out with a statement win against the team that ended the Spiders’ season last year felt great.”
While the Shred stabilized a bit in the second half, this one felt over by halftime, as Oakland outscored Salt Lake 8-2 in the second to lead 14-5 at halftime.
“We have a really deep team this year, and I think that has shown in the first couple games of our season,” said Orme. “Defensively, we just tried to make their first options difficult and play to our individual matchups. They have pretty specific positional players and love to attack with hard upline cuts, which we really tried to limit [...] Beating the Shred and starting the season 2-0 is great, but we have high standards for ourselves and what the Spiders can accomplish this year.”
Despite Salt Lake being on the second night of a back-to-back, the Shred knew that they had been exposed by this result. Obviously, they understand that something significant will need to change if they are going to be more competitive in the two other remaining meetings with the Spiders later this season.
“I think we had a few big takeaways from the game,” said Kerr. “First was simply the measuring point of where we’re at compared to where we will need to be in order to beat Oakland. All of us left realizing just how much more work we’re going to need to do in order to beat these guys [...] Our second takeaway was the need to improve our offensive motion through earlier resets and breaking the mark with pace. Just some simple things to make our lives easier. I don’t think we need to blow everything up by any means.”
Kerr might be right, but it sure felt like the Spiders blew up Salt Lake’s status as the defending division champ and presumptive favorite out West. While Oakland’s early progress report has revealed defensive dominance, Salt Lake appeared incomplete and inferior.
At the same time, the Shred have plenty of time to regroup, as the next meeting against the Spiders isn’t until June 27. And both of the remaining matchups—they also meet July 17 on "Friday Night Frisbee"—will be at Zions Bank Stadium in Utah, where Salt Lake has only lost four times in the past four seasons.
“I think we had forgotten how physical Oakland plays and how intense their defense is,” said Chad Yorgason, who had three goals and three assists, but also three throwaways. “We were definitely not ready for all the points we felt stuck in our own end zone unable to move [...] I’m really glad that we have the chance to play them two more times at least this season, and we definitely feel the sting of loss driving us forward. I think we’ll find a new sense of urgency and physicality that we’re going to incorporate into every practice. The season is far from over, so we’ve got some work to do.”
Coming up later today in "Seven On The Line", historic excellence from Tobe Decraene, a splendid New York debut for Alex Atkins, bounce-back wins for Toronto and Colorado, Montreal’s inexplicably cursed weekend, and all the rest of the Week 2 details.
