June 23, 2026
By Evan Lepler
With just four weekends and 40 matchups remaining in the 2026 regular season, every team has between two and six games left. And in the aftermath of four frenetic days of frisbee, the postseason landscape is starting to find its focus.
Five playoff berths have already been punched, while seven positions remain up for grabs. And it’s certainly possible that races for the tournament won’t be decided until the very last weekend of the regular season.
Before diving into all the details from this past weekend’s compelling collection of results, let’s first evaluate where each division stands.
Central Division
Clinched: Minnesota 8-0
Looking Likely: Madison 4-3
Clinging to Hope: Indianapolis 2-4, Pittsburgh 2-5, Chicago 1-6
The Skinny: Suffice to say, it feels like there’s a huge gap between Minnesota and the other four teams. However, we felt similarly last year about Chicago, who went undefeated during the regular season and then was stunned in the Central final. So who knows what might happen? The Radicals should be in decent shape if they can simply win home games against the bottom three hopefuls, but it’s hard to feel certain about Madison considering both of the previous meetings against Indy felt like they were true toss-ups. The Rads are truly just a couple points away from being 3-5 instead of 4-3. But even if the AlleyCats go winless in their four meetings against Madison, they can still likely finish third if they can sweep their two meetings against Pittsburgh. And as for Chicago, the Union are still mathematically alive, but with games left against both Minnesota and New York, they will need to upset one of the league’s best to still have a chance at the dance.
Three Key Matchups Down the Stretch: Indy and Madison play twice (June 27 and July 3), Indy and Pittsburgh play twice (July 11 and July 17), and Indy travels to Toronto on July 18 (The Rush may be eliminated by then, but could still potentially play spoiler).
East Division
Clinched: Boston 9-1
Looking Likely: New York 6-2, DC 6-3
Clinging to Hope: Toronto 5-4
The Skinny: New York has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Boston, but that only matters if the Glory suffer another loss and the Empire run the table. Boston’s next game—July 11 at undefeated Minnesota—will be a huge challenge, so New York should be motivated to handle its business and keep the pressure on the reigning champs. And since the Empire also have the head-to-head tiebreaker over DC, New York would need to lose at least twice in its final four games to slip below the Breeze. Meanwhile, DC has the tiebreaker on Toronto, so the Rush’s fading postseason hopes are counting on Philly to upset DC at least once. While the Phoenix did get the better of the Breeze twice in 2025, it would be stunning to see DC—the team with the longest active postseason streak in the league—stumble against a one-win Philly team with everything at stake.
Three Key Matchups Down the Stretch: Boston at Minnesota on July 11, New York at Toronto on July 12, and DC at Atlanta on July 18.
South Division
Clinched: Austin 8-0, Carolina 8-2
Clinging to Hope: Atlanta 5-4, San Diego 4-5
The Skinny: The South circumstances are quite fascinating. The Sol can clinch the top seed by winning three of their final four games, but they will also be underdogs on the road twice in Week 12, when they travel to Carolina and Atlanta for a huge doubleheader. The Hustle finish with their own three-game gauntlet, understanding they very likely need to beat Carolina, Austin, and DC down the stretch to earn their way into the postseason. And the Growlers—assuming they take care of business against Houston and Vegas—are poised to wait and see if Atlanta slips up. With just one more Hustle blemish, San Diego will be poised to steal that third and final playoff slot.
Three Key Matchups Down the Stretch: Atlanta at Carolina on June 26, Austin at Carolina on July 10, Austin at Atlanta on July 11.
West Division
Clinched: Oakland 7-1
Looking Likely: Seattle 4-3, Salt Lake 5-4
Clinging to Hope: Colorado 3-6
The Skinny: The first-place Spiders have their final four games on the road, but it still seems mighty unlikely that Oakland loses three times in the next four weeks, which is what would be required for either the Cascades or Shred to surprisingly snag the top seed. Meanwhile, the Apex need to win all three of their remaining games to have any chance at catching the Shred. Theoretically, a 2-1 finish that included a double-digit victory over Seattle could give Colorado a chance too, but that’s putting a lot of faith in the 1-8 Steel’s ability to win multiple games down the stretch against their Pacific Northwest rival. Even after the Rush’s bizarre split against the Steel and ‘Scades this past weekend, that feels like a farfetched scenario.
Three Key Matchups Down the Stretch: Oakland at Salt Lake twice (June 27 and July 18), Seattle at Colorado on July 3, and Seattle at Salt Lake on July 4.
Overall, there are a couple dozen huge games left over the course of the next four weekends, matchups that will shape the playoff picture and inevitably leave some talented teams on the outside looking in. As we witnessed this past weekend, margins are small, results can swing on a key call, and every game matters.
The Full Field Layout
Before diving into Toronto’s wild weekend out in Oregon and Seattle, we gotta begin with the latest chapter between San Diego and Austin, who ventured into overtime for the second time in three weeks. Frankly, it’s hard to believe what the Growlers have gotten themselves into over their past three games.
One week after taking their first lead after 47 minutes and 57 seconds of game action in Colorado, the San Diego Growlers needed 50 minutes and 38 seconds before surging in front for the first time in Austin. With 2:22 left in overtime, after the Growlers gave away a goal-line opportunity to win the game in the final seconds of regulation, San Diego’s Travis Dunn connected with Brandon Van Deusen to put the Growlers up 20-19.
The lead lasted 27 seconds.
Kyle Henke launched a forehand missile, compelling Reese Bowman to make a spectacular full-speed layout for the 20-all equalizer with 1:55 left in OT.
Then, on the final point of overtime, after a lengthy possession, Dunn fired a cross-field forehand that Eric Brodbeck blocked as time expired, and double overtime beckoned.
Another missed opportunity for the Growlers, yet San Diego knew it would be receiving to start double OT.
Unfortunately, everyone looked gassed. As the untimed point progressed, the Growlers offense became more and more stagnant. San Diego Coach Kevin Stuart went to signal a timeout, but the request appeared to arrive a millisecond after Van Deusen’s throw toward the sideline became the game’s 40th and final turnover, as Dunn’s greatest attempt landed incomplete.
Henke picked up the disc and called timeout, as almost everyone on both sides showed signs of exhaustion, hunched over, gasping for air.
With a chance to breathe and diagram a plan, Duncan Fitzgerald hit Henke, who then connected with an open Matt Armour in the end zone for the game-sealing score, capping the Sol’s unbelievable fourth overtime victory of the season.
“I’m not sure how we keep doing it,” said Henke. “We just keep doing it.”
It’s getting borderline ridiculous.
In Week 1 against Atlanta, Evan Swiatek—who probably should have been ejected for a bad bid midway through the fourth quarter—caught a miraculously floaty game-winner in double overtime. In Week 2 against Houston, after trailing for basically the entire game, the Henke brothers connected on the last-second equalizer and the Sol finally seized control in overtime, surviving the Havoc’s upset bid. Fast forward to June 5, when Austin outlasted San Diego for another breathtaking OT triumph. And then this past Friday, when the Growlers had the disc on the goal-line with a chance to win at the end of regulation and again at the end of overtime, and then received to start double OT.
They could easily be 4-4, fighting for the playoff lives. Instead, they’re 8-0, still sitting atop the South as one of the two remaining undefeated teams in the entire league.
Still, the Sol found a way to win, becoming the 15th team in UFA history to start a season 8-0. They are the first team ever to have four overtime victories in a single season.
“The regulation stand was kind of a fluke,” admitted Armour. “They got a foul call with about 18 seconds left to center the disc on our end zone, so I just poached off my guy thinking that the worst case would be they find him in the corner first throw and we still have some time for our offense to play with and tie the game. But we end up with the best case and [KJ Koo] sails it over [Max Gibson’s] head.”
They may have been lucky at the end of regulation, but the Sol were thrilled with their defensive presence in the overtimes.
“The OT stand was awesome,” said Armour. “Eric Brodbeck comes up with that clutch block on the far side swing after one minute and 50 seconds of defense. It really was a total team effort. So many great reps of cutter D and handler D stacked together by our D-line to keep them out that point. Guys like Jake Worthington, George Gust, Noah Powell, and Owen Johnson have been so huge for us this year. All of them are athletic block getters, but they apply just so much pressure to their matchups that it makes everyone else’s job so much easier.”
And in double overtime, it was clear which team had more energy in the game’s final moments.
“I sometimes feel like too much is made of the Austin summer weather advantage, but we just had more in the tank,” said Armour. “Another long 90-plus second stretch of defense, and I don’t think we even let them get to half-field before we got them to cough up the coverage sack.”
So it’s clear the Sol have guts and depth and know how to survive late-game pressure-cookers to emerge victorious, but just how good are the Sol? Are they even the favorites to win the South, considering the level we’ve seen pretty consistently from Carolina?
Historically, 13 UFA teams had started seasons 8-0 before Minnesota and Austin joined that club on Friday night. Ten of those 13 teams advanced to Championship Weekend, and six of them won the title.
The Sol know they aren’t invincible, but they also have given themselves plenty of reasons to believe that they can indeed make a big run.
“Something I’ve been preaching to myself at the start of each game is that we either win, or we learn,” said Henke, echoing a phrase that tennis phenom Carlos Alcaraz has popularized in recent years. “And while there is something real and valuable about finding ways to close out games, it also feels like we’ve escaped a few learning moments in these last three overtime wins. I know it sounds strange to say it might have been good for us to take an L at some point, but in the long run, it probably would be. Maybe we’ll pick one up in a couple weeks!”
If the Hustle beat Carolina this Friday, then Austin could even absorb two losses and still finish first in the South. The Flyers and Hustle both have reasons to feel confident when they face the Sol, but they also should understand that Austin’s clearly developed a knack for winning close games.
“My expectation is that this upcoming road trip to Carolina and Atlanta gives us either a reality check that forces us to figure things out before the postseason or a surge of confidence and momentum as we head toward it,” said Henke. “That is a win either way, as long as we play two games that actually reflect everything we’ve practiced up to this point.”
*****
I’m not sure what happened with Toronto this past weekend will ever truly make sense. But that’s also the beauty of sports, as unexpected outcomes often defy explanation.
On Friday night, the Rush went up against the 0-8 Oregon Steel and lost by a whisker in overtime. One day later, Toronto faced the 4-2 Seattle Cascades on the second night of a tough back-to-back and won relatively comfortably.
One might immediately look at these results and presume that Toronto simply did not take the Steel seriously, but everyone with the Rush insist they were not taking Oregon lightly.
“We saw the pieces Oregon was putting together for the first time this year and knew Tuesday morning [when gameday rosters were posted] that it wasn’t going to be the same 0-8 Oregon team we were playing,” said Toronto Coach Jamie Millage. “And we knew Oregon liked to huck. We were well prepped for that, but any team willing to roll the dice on a lot of deep shots is a team that can catch a hot hand too.”
The Steel went 12-for-14 on their hucks, got a combined 19 total scores from Felix Moren and Ben Thoennes, and scored on their final throw of overtime, as Sam Anderson’s only goal of the night proved to be the difference in Oregon’s 22-21 overtime victory.
Like San Diego, Toronto also missed chances at the end of regulation to seal the victory. And while a controversial foul call against the Rush set up Oregon’s game winner, Millage was not keen to dwell on that tough break.
“The external noise since that game has been around a lot of controversial calls—viewers may notice the final huck of overtime is strangely missing from the highlight reels that have been posted—but we had too many decision-making errors throughout the game,” said Millage.
Even some members of the Steel acknowledged that game’s final moments were a bit bizarre.
“The last sequence felt quite anticlimactic since it came out of a call,” said Thoennes. “That felt like kind of a bummer for me, but it’s the way the game goes when you have refs.”
Despite the way it ended, it was still a satisfying victory, one that Oregon hopes to build on.
“The message I’d like this win to send is that Steel is a strong team with talented players, and when we commit to playing through our young/college players, we can challenge any team in the league,” said Thoennes. “I hope we will be able to bring as strong of a team and performance to all three of our remaining Seattle games and leave them hurting with three Ls to end their season.”
It remains to be seen whether the Steel can outplay the ‘Scades—something they’ve only done once in the teams’ last eight meetings—but there’s no doubt that Saturday’s home loss was a demoralizing beat for Seattle.
“Definitely not the result we wanted,” said Cascades Captain Garrett Martin. “I don’t think we took Toronto lightly, but we just weren’t sharp enough. We had a solid first quarter, but just weren’t able to find our flow for most of the game. Toronto played very well and hit an extremely high-percentage on their hucks, while we pretty much struggled in every significant stat.”
After going 10-for-18 on hucks in Oregon, the Rush lit up Seattle’s deep defenders to the tune of 16-for-22, becoming the first team in the league this season to complete more than 15 hucks in a single game.
“We never seemed to lose focus and knew we wanted to come away with a win after the loss the night before,” said Toronto’s Ryan Poloz. “Keith McRae returned to the lineup after missing a few with injury, and he played amazing and was a key piece to driving the cutting lanes for our offense. Max Pettenuzzo was also a huge piece of our offense. Not to mention our D-lines getting seven breaks, with Evan [Bembenista] putting up three blocks and [Gagan] Chatha and [Justin] Podnar on the score sheet for the D-line’s offense.”
The Rush won each of the first three quarters on Saturday, building a 20-12 lead before the Cascades crawled back with a meaningless 5-2 push in the final 10 minutes.
“Mathematically, we’re still alive, but we all know that requires some underdogs punching above expectations,” said Millage, speaking about the team’s outlook heading into the final four weeks of the season. “Whether there are formal playoff implications or not, I have no doubt that we’re showing up to each game eager to prove we’re one of the very best teams in the UFA.”
As far as I can tell, Toronto’s quirky Pacific Northwest split was the first time this decade that a UFA team lost the first game of a doubleheader weekend and then avenged that result against a team with a superior record the very next day. Since 2021, there’s only one other instance of a team going 1-1 on a weekend with a win over the team that entered with a superior record. Two years ago, Indianapolis edged 3-4 Chicago on June 1 before losing to 1-5 Pittsburgh the next day, but that’s the only comp to what Toronto encountered this past weekend.
“We obviously hoped to finish 2-0 and thought it was very attainable, but finishing 1-1 and beating the team that was better in the standings can make it feel harder to process the first loss,” said Poloz. “But sometimes that’s just sports, and there can be so many factors that go into winning or losing. We have three more games and are still in the hunt for playoffs. We need a few things to happen to make that a reality, but we just need to focus on the things we can control and take it one game at a time.”
Meanwhile, the Cascades are still firmly in playoff position out West despite Saturday’s setback, but everyone with Seattle knows that they will need to rediscover their best selves ahead of this Friday’s game against the emboldened Steel.
“We’re focusing on getting back to our team identity before Oregon this weekend,” said Martin. “They’re definitely going to be fired up after watching that game, and we know we’re playing a different Oregon team than we played in May. I’m looking forward to the elevated play we’ve seen recently from Oregon and Colorado. I want to earn our spot in the playoffs and not just get in by default.”
Coming up later today in “Seven On The Line”, Salt Lake’s Central Split, Chicago’s Journey from First to Worst, and Home Favorites Cruising in Atlanta, Boston, and Carolina.
