July 7, 2026
By Evan Lepler

“Seven On The Line” is part two of The Tuesday Toss, highlighting seven more important storylines around the UFA. Read part one here.

1. Two More Wins for the 10-0 Wind Chill

Following a nine-goal victory over Chicago on Friday and a seven-goal win at Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Wind Chill are 10-0 for the first time in franchise history heading into this Saturday’s showdown against Boston, who happen to be the last team to beat Minnesota. 

“We’ve had this Boston game circled on the calendar all year, knowing it would be an amazing opportunity to test ourselves against one of the league’s best teams so close to making our final playoff push,” said Wind Chill defender Noah Hanson, who had four assists and three blocks in Minnesota’s pair of Week 11 Ws. “While I do think there is some element of wanting a bit of revenge from the championship game last year, there’s nothing we can do now that will change last year’s result, and I think that is important for that to not take up very much space in our heads.” 

Meanwhile, the Wind Chill were certainly pretty sharp in both of their Week 11 tune-ups, winning seven of their eight quarters against the Union and Thunderbirds. Minnesota endured just 12 turnovers on Friday and then had only 10 on Sunday. 

“It was a fun weekend and great to see a bunch of guys in new spots,” said Gordon Larson, who led the Wind Chill with 967 throwing yards on the weekend. “Zach Morton played offense both games and had an undeniable nose for the end zone. His buzzer-beater sky to send it to halftime vs. Chicago was insane. He goes up with authority and is a huge deep threat while still being great with the disc. Peter Mans and Ellis Newhouse got some offensive reps this weekend as well and both killed it. Being on this team with so much dynamic depth is pretty special.”

Morton finished with six goals in each game, while Mans and Newhouse combined to add another seven goals for the Wind Chill offense. In both games, Minnesota outscored its overmatched opponent by three goals in the fourth quarter to ensure there wouldn’t be any late comeback. 

“I am generally happy with the professionalism that we approached this doubleheader weekend with,” said Hanson. “Games we perceive as easier and with little meaning to come from them in the standings are always traps. The challenge was how do we execute our own systems and use these reps to improve. We had to operate with the intensity and decision-making standards that we hold ourselves to, and admittedly there were some falters along the way, but I was really happy with how we course-corrected and always found our way back to our core standards throughout the weekend.”

The Wind Chill are now two home wins away from a perfect regular season, but before a Week 13 date against Madison, Minnesota first faces Boston, who hasn’t lost a road game all season.

“I expect both teams will attack this game with hunger and championship level intensity,” said Hanson. “I’m really looking forward to leveling up and entering that intensified mental game state that only comes with pressure and being challenged.” 

2. What Happened to Madison?

In their first 190 games as a franchise, the Madison Radicals only lost by double digits once. That was a 22-11 result at Minnesota during a forgettable 2022 season. They had never lost by 10 or more at home.

Until Friday.

Part I of the Tuesday Toss highlighted Indianapolis’ 31-18 destruction in decent detail from the AlleyCats’ perspective, but basically ignored the Radicals’ embarrassing effort. Consequently, I’m sharing a few thoughts here. 

Back in 2018, I remember being in Madison when the Flyers walloped the Radicals 24-16 in late May. A few days later, I wrote in the Tuesday Toss that “1,200 of the best fans in ultimate were dealt a powerful punch in the gut, and the hometown team they cheered for was left looking for answers, humbled by the speed, precision, and overall brilliance of a dynamic opponent finally hitting its stride.”

It’s amusing to go back and look at this column, which bluntly pointed out the Radicals’ numerous shortcomings and questioned whether they could turn things around. “Maybe this is exactly the humbling experience that the Radicals need to take a hard, honest look at everything they are doing,” I wrote. 

Of course, a few months later, I was writing another emotional story about the team’s first championship. So improbable turnarounds are entirely possible. Heck, think about what we saw from Minnesota last season, losing by double digits in a non-competitive Fourth of July performance at Chicago. Five weeks later, the Wind Chill were Championship Weekend-bound. 

After Friday’s misery in Madison, one Radical told me that their brutal 13-goal loss counted the exact same as if they had lost by one. And maybe that’s true. Maybe it was just one really bad night. 

But I also wonder whether this past Friday’s debacle might mean more than just a single setback. When a team gets so thoroughly pounded, it can be hard to mentally regroup and rediscover the positive feelings that led to the team’s 5-3 start. 

The Radicals have winnable home games against Pittsburgh and Chicago on each of the next couple Fridays, and Madison needs these to be get-right games of the highest order. But rediscovering their collective confidence may not be a simple thing.

A little over a month ago, Madison played Minnesota within three goals in a game that felt tight and competitive the whole way. The Radicals’ offense was generally efficient, and aside from a couple awful red-zone giveaways, they played the Wind Chill tough. There was a genuine feeling that the Radicals might actually have the firepower to prevent the Central final from simply feeling like the Wind Chill Invitational. 

But now the Rads are reeling, searching for answers, and hoping their entire season doesn’t completely crumble. 

3. Pittsburgh’s Path Forward

Could the Thunderbirds replicate the AlleyCats’ pristine performance in Madison this coming Friday night? It’s hard to envision Pittsburgh producing that caliber of ultimate on the road against the Radicals, but the Thunderbirds don’t need to win by double digits. They just desperately need to win.

Pittsburgh is at Madison and Indy this weekend, then hosts Indy and travels to Chicago next weekend. At 2-6, with just a single win in regulation and hold and break rates that rank in the bottom five in the league, the Thunderbirds don't exactly look like a sleeping giant. But if they could somehow send Madison deeper into a spiral this Friday night and then outplay Indianapolis the very next night, they would suddenly be right there in the playoff mix. 

“We definitely have an uphill battle,” said Pittsburgh handler Will Hoffenkamp. “We’re going into a bunch of tough, in-division games against teams that also can’t afford to lose. Every one of these games is potentially make or break for the season, and so we need to find a way to be at our best from the first pull to the final buzzer.” 

The Thunderbirds have not won at Madison ever and haven’t earned a victory at Indy since 2019, but they are undeniably motivated, knowing exactly what they have to play for over the season’s last two weekends.

“One big thing we continue to push and need to find now is that we can hang with any team in the league,” said Hoffenkamp. “We’ve had moments of good in all our games, but have struggled to put together full games of consistency. If we can find form and keep it going for four quarters, I like our chances in all the games we have left.”

4. San Diego’s Nervy 10-Goal Victory over Vegas

It was wild to see the San Diego Growlers—with their season on the line—trailing the 0-22 Vegas Bighorns by two goals at the end of the first quarter on Saturday. Even after turning things around a bit in the second quarter, the Growlers were only leading 11-10 at halftime. 

“We’ve been struggling with starting fast all season, and clearly we didn’t just start slow, we weren’t ready to play at all,” said Growlers veteran Kyle Rubin. “I hate to make excuses, but I think in this case it was just a combo of it being July 4th, an unusual 4 PM start time, a stadium we don’t typically play in, and some wind that was a bit stronger and more unpredictable than expected.”

In the second half, however, San Diego finally came alive, outscoring Vegas 8-2 in the third and 9-6 in the fourth en route to a 28-18 victory. The Growlers improved to 6-5 and moved within one more victory over Vegas to clinching the third and final playoff spot in the South. Meanwhile, the Bighorns dipped to 0-23 all-time, with 16 of their losses coming by double-digit margins.

Khalif El-Salaam matched a career-high with eight assists to lead the San Diego attack, while Jonathan Lyle chipped in with four goals, four assists, and two blocks.

“Khalif has been rolling all season,” said Rubin. “With John, obviously he missed the majority of the regular season with an injury, but games like Saturday show the impact he can make and his versatility with playing both ways.”

Assuming the Growlers can beat the Bighorns again on July 18, San Diego will finish third in the South for the second straight season. 

5. New York Overcomes Slow Start in Philly

When the Empire took the field for a rare Wednesday night contest at Philly last week, it had been 19 days since New York had last played. Back on June 12, the Empire had bolted to a quick 4-1 lead over Boston, but then saw their offense falter significantly late, as the Glory prevailed 17-15 in overtime. But in the team’s return to the field, New York got some early struggles out of their system before rolling over the Phoenix 28-17.

“It was nice to be able to find a rhythm as an O-line,” said New York’s Braden Eberhard. “It had been a minute since our last game, so it took us a few possessions to settle in. But after that first little stretch, things started to flow with easy swings, continuations, and a lot of trust in the system, which hopefully bodes well for the future.”

Daan De Marrée led the Empire with six goals, while Alex Atkins chipped in three goals, three assists, and two blocks. New York’s offense was broken on its first possession of the night, but then only once more the rest of the night. 

“Overall, I’d just say this is the type of frisbee I absolutely love,” said Eberhard. “No one needs to make a big play. Everyone gets to play selflessly, do what they’re elite at, and then you just wait for a gap to exploit and walk it up the field. When I get to play and watch that type of frisbee, it feels like art.”

Making his UFA debut, UMass-product Nima Lhamo tallied two assists, two blocks, and one goal to help lead the Empire D-line, which converted 13 breaks in 16 chances. 

“One thing that really jumps out to me is just how hard our D-lines are willing to grind,” said Eberhard. “In this game especially, they took very few hucks and just ran people into the ground. Lots of give-and-gos, lots of churning until someone popped open. When they can do that and still score, they’re able to pile on breaks pretty quickly. 

The 7-2 Empire travel to Chicago this Friday and then visit Toronto on Sunday, before hosting Philly in their regular season finale on July 17. Heading into the last two weeks, New York knows it could still be the top seed in the East, if they win out and Boston slips up in either of its last two games. 

6. DC Clinches 10th Straight Playoff Berth

Just like New York on Wednesday, the DC Breeze used a big second-quarter spurt to create some separation against Philadelphia on Friday. In fact, the Phoenix played the Breeze completely even in the first, third, and fourth quarters, but the difference in the game came from DC’s 6-1 run to close out the second, as the Breeze prevailed 24-20.

“The story for us was a question of if our energy and commitment to details could shine through the heat,” said AJ Merriman, who had seven scores in his first game back from an ankle injury that kept him out the previous three games. “We had plenty of people missing and still felt we had one of our strongest rosters yet. That’s a testament to how much work everyone on the roster is putting in.” 

The Friday night victory—combined with Toronto’s Sunday afternoon loss at Montreal—extended DC’s string of consecutive playoff appearances to 10 in a row. They are the first team in UFA history to go a full decade without ever missing the playoffs. 

“Clinching a playoff berth is beautiful and an important step along the way,” said Merriman, “but we still need to treat these next two games as playoff games so that we are ready when the time comes.”

7. Montreal Effectively Eliminates Toronto From Playoff Contention

While the Rush are still mathematically alive, Sunday’s one-goal loss at Montreal doomed Toronto’s hopes of catching DC. Now, the Rush’s only path to the playoffs involves overtaking the Empire, and that only happens if Toronto beats New York by 10 on Sunday. The Rush would also need the Empire to lose their other remaining games against Chicago and Philly while Toronto would need to beat Indianapolis. 

In other words, not even Lloyd and Harry from “Dumb and Dumber” think the Rush have much of a chance. 

On Sunday against the Royal, neither side ever led by more than two, and the Rush had the disc in the final minutes with a chance to retake the lead, but Montreal refused to wilt, scoring twice in a 21-second span to lead 18-16 with 1:19 left. Toronto scored to inch within one with five seconds remaining, but the Royal used one final completion on the ensuing possession to cap their 18-17 victory.

“More than anything, I’m really proud of our players’ attitude, composure, and character,” said Montreal Coach Jean-Levy Champagne. “It was a close game throughout, but our group stayed calm in the important moments. In the fourth quarter, I thought our defensive discipline and our patience with the disc were the difference. We didn’t try to force plays, we managed the clock well, and our players executed in the biggest moments.” 

Both teams finished the day with exactly five breaks, but Montreal scored the final goal in each of the first three quarters, crucial scores that helped the Royal earn their third win of the season.

The Hammer

It was four years ago that I first wrote about “The Secret Storyline.” 

That was heading into the final weekend of the regular season, when New York was undefeated and three other division leaders had just one loss. And in retrospect, it seemed like the battle for Championship Weekend seeding—impacted significantly by some big point differentials in the final weeks of the season—did not matter too much. The 2022 Empire were too good, and they rolled over their overmatched Champ Weekend opponents by a combined 14 goals.

In the present, however, I’m not sure we have a singular dominant team in 2026. And with a bunch of elite contenders, Championship Weekend seeding will be an important if not subtle storyline to follow in the weeks ahead.

As a reminder, semifinal matchups at Champ Weekend are dictated based upon regular season records and a team’s accompanying season-long point-differential. For better or worse, head-to-head results are not a factor in these tiebreakers.

Here’s where the projected playoff teams stand heading into Week 12:

1) Minnesota 10-0, +76
2) Austin 8-0, +56
3) Oakland 9-1, +87
4) Boston 9-1, +59
5) Carolina 9-2, +89
6) New York 7-2, +69
7) Seattle 7-3, +21
8) DC 7-3, +18
9) Madison 5-4, -9
10) San Diego 6-5, +14
11) Salt Lake 5-6, +29
12) Indianapolis 4-5, +7

To be clear, these current standings are not particularly meaningful. Almost every year, we see postseason upsets. And after a team clinches its spot at Championship Weekend, who they face in the semifinals often feels like a secondary concern. 

But there’s certainly a world—say if Boston beats Minnesota this weekend and Austin splits its southeast road trip—that all four division leaders could finish the season with one loss apiece. If these precise circumstances come to fruition—and those top teams all make it to Madison—the final point-differentials will matter. 

With only 25 regular season games left, we’re closing in quickly on the playoffs. Even with a decent understanding of the postseason landscape, there’s still plenty of intrigue coming down the pike in these next couple weekends. 

The journey toward Championship Weekend continues, and the finish line—though still in the distance—is seemingly within sight.