Buzzer Beater: Opening Statements [UFA Week 1, 2025]

Oakland and Philadelphia put their divisions on notice with statement wins

April 29, 2025 by Alex Rubin in Rankings, Recap

Hi everyone, welcome back to my weekly Buzzer Beater column. Here I will focus on one major storyline each week. The column will also share some news and notes beyond that big story and will be the place to share our most up-to-date power rankings. If you have questions about the UFA, you can also write in to fill up the mailbag. If you missed any UFA offseason coverage, you can catch up with my season preview here.

 

Rising from the Ashes

Entering this season, most pundits, myself included, gave Boston, New York, DC, and Toronto the best chances to make the playoffs in the East Division. With just three spots available for those four teams, the chances of Philadelphia (or Montreal) making it seemed negligible. After one game though, Philadelphia took the first step of climbing their way out of the division basement. For the first time since 2017 the Philadelphia Phoenix beat the DC Breeze, holding out in the fourth quarter to preserve a 16-15 win.

For a team named the Breeze, DC did not play particularly well given the windy conditions. The Breeze’s touch-heavy, small ball offense can get stifled with the wind acting as an additional defender. DC attempted nearly 100 more throws than Philadelphia, whose more direct attack was still suited for the conditions. The Phoenix attempted just five hucks (and only completed one of them) while DC struggled through ten such attempts (only completing two).

Scott Heyman’s five assists and Brandon Pastor’s five goals led the way for Philadelphia. DC’s Cole Jurek scored five of the team’s fifteen goals. Rowan McDonnell and Jacques Nissen combined for seven turnovers in the rough conditions.

Philadelphia scored their 16th and final goal with 5:00 showing on the game clock. Over the next five minutes, the Breeze worked their way back from a four goal deficit as Philadelphia desperately clung on to their lead. DC employed rolling pulls along the sideline and double team traps to entice quick turnovers, and Philadelphia gave the disc back to DC on all three of their O-points in the final part of the fourth quarter. Perhaps the Phoenix were not expecting to play with a lead and had not practiced getting the disc off a trapped sideline in order to keep possession, but they missed on two hammer shots to give DC short field chances on their final two points.

To counteract those miscues, Philadelphia made due with a bit of pure luck. With 20 seconds left, the Breeze were moving in the red zone. AJ Merriman squeezed a backhand into Theo Shapinsky’s path, but Shapinsky couldn’t hang on despite the disc hitting him in both hands. It was a devastating mistake for the hometown product playing in his first UFA game, and one that puts the Breeze in an unexpected early season hole. For Philadelphia, this win was not just eight years in the making, but serves as a sign that the Phoenix are still making strides in their effort to make an impact in a competitive division. Philadelphia shows a lot of promise as a gritty, gutsy team each season but has been short on actual results. When a team’s best results are close losses, the saying goes that they are not that good. When a team beats the preseason title favorite on their home field, though, the story changes, and East Division teams should no longer look at Philadelphia as an easier win.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Philadelphia’s Sean Mott said after the game. “They’re a great team. They were the favorites to win it all last year, and we came away with one today.”

 

Oaklanding a Punch

Philadelphia’s clear declaration that they should be considered among the contenders in the East was of course impressive, but in the league’s opening-night showcase, Oakland also put out a statement of intent: the Spiders are Championship Weekend contenders, too. A buzzsaw second half saw Oakland overturn a one-goal halftime deficit and crush New York 22-17, representing the most important Spiders win in recent memory and the Empire’s first loss to a West Division team ever. The game was closer than the final scoreline indicated with the Spiders scoring the final three goals of the game as New York turned to riskier strategies to try and claw back.

Walker Frankenberg’s six assists and three goals paced the Spiders’ offense, and rookie Leo Gordon’s five assists marked a stellar debut. The Spiders’ defense slowed down New York’s new look offense. Robin Vickers Batzdorf largely won the Jack Williams matchup, as Williams finished with the first six turnover game of his decade-long career. Max Sheppard scored three assists and four goals in his Empire debut, and Ben Jagt’s five goals paced the team, but the smooth-flowing offense of seasons passed looks a little choppier this time around. With rookie Jacob Cowan and Empire newcomer Everest Shapiro still getting used to the New York style of play, and Sol Rueschemeyer-Bailey stepping into an elevated role, the Empire might take a bit longer than expected to look playoff-ready.

On the other end of the rookie spectrum, Leo Gordon, Adam Rees, and Saul Wildavsky all looked in sync, and first year coach Caleb Merriam managed the second half perfectly to help Oakland secure their win. The West should also be a competitive division this season with Oakland and Colorado already looking improved from 2024 and Salt Lake and Seattle each needing to replace key contributors. While New York might need to make up ground in the East, Oakland is off to a strong start in the West and has the rest of the division on notice that the East Bay is going to be a difficult place for road teams to earn wins this season.

 

News and Notes

• New York wasted no time getting their season back on track with a 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Bighorns, who were making their debut. New York played a fairly measured offensive game, completing 97% of their passes but only taking six huck attempts (and completing five of them). Marques Brownlee led the team with six assists, playing all of his minutes on the D-line. Joel Clutton had the best game for anyone on Vegas, with two assists, three goals, two blocks, and zero turnovers.
• The Atlanta Hustle beat the Salt Lake Shred in Saturday’s game of the week. The Hustle scored buzzer-beating goals at the end of the second and third quarters to take control of the game, which was close throughout. Brett Huslmeyer’s five assists showcased his multidimensional offensive talents while Adam Miller’s team-leading 516 total yards more than justified his transition to the offense. Will Selfridge’s two assists and six goals led the way for Salt Lake, working in tandem with both Yorgasons; McKay had 758 total yards and Chad led the team with five assists.
• The Austin Sol began their season with an offensive explosion in a 30-23 win over the Houston Havoc. Houston kept the game relatively close in the first half before they ran out of steam and allowed an 11-3 run to really open up the game for Austin.
• Boston started off their season with a 26-18 win over Montreal. Former Royal star Tobe Decreane had four goals and four assists in his Glory debut.
• Colorado passed their first test of the season with a 24-12 doubling up of Oregon. Playing on the D-line, Alex Atkins recorded four blocks and three assists. Quinn Finer paced the offense with three assists and a goal.

 

Mailbag

Have a question about the UFA? Send it in to [email protected] with UFA Mailbag in the subject line. Subscribers can also DM me in the Ultiworld Discord or post questions in the UFA channel so others can chime in.

 

• DC’s loss drops them down a tier in the Power Rankings, while Philadelphia rises from near the bottom quadrant to near the top 10.
• Oakland’s win over New York raises their ceiling significantly, vaulting up the Spiders as the top team in the West so far.