Buzzer Beater: We Need More Rivalry Games [UFA Week 8, 2025]

Another classic New York-DC showdown and a trophy on the line in Pennsylvania highlighted Week 8 action.

June 16, 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 [email protected] to fill up the mailbag.

We Need More Rivalry Games

For the past few years, the Philadelphia Phoenix and Pittsburgh Thunderbirds have competed in an out-of-division game for the rights to retain the Commonwealth Cup trophy. It’s one of my favorite traditions in the league. No matter how good either team is or how close they are to their respective playoff races (this year Philadelphia is sitting in second place in the East 👀), the players care about this game and they put on a good show. This week, Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh to retain the Commonwealth Cup.

Sean Mott led the way with seven assists while rookie Michael Maroon put out a 2A/3G/1 SCTop10 game. The Phoenix owned the deep space, completing nine of their 11 hucks while Pittsburgh managed to complete just 50% of their long throws. Philadelphia’s 7-1 run midway through the third quarter really broke the game open.

I wish the UFA had more games like this. Why don’t San Diego and Los Angeles have a trophy? How about Houston and Austin or Seattle and Oregon, just to pick on some geographic rivalries? Rivalries as old as the teams themselves deserve some special shine too. Carolina-Atlanta and New York-DC are both consistently good matchups that almost always get Game of the Week or Friday Night Frisbee showcases–wouldn’t it be able to show off a trophy celebration too?

As a growing league, the UFA should be looking for ways to make more games matter. It’s clear that the players of the two teams in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania care about their matchup, and I’d expect the players in these other hypothetical games to care too. Heck, with all of the offseason chatter between Chicago and Minnesota, the games between them matter to their players almost as much as the Wind Chill’s 2024 title!

It’s too late for this season, but I hope that other franchises take a page out of Philadelphia’s and Pittsburgh’s book and add a little college football-style flair to their big rivalry games. I think it will make a more fun, more marketable, and more meaningful product.

News and Notes

• In a throwback classic, the New York Empire got their season back on track with a 19-18 double overtime victory over the DC Breeze. Both teams struggled to convert breaks (neither team had more than a 20% break percentage). John Randolph threw the game-winning assist as part of a stellar all-around performance. In addition to his 6A/3G statline with over 500 total yards, Randolph did not throw a single turnover.
• In the weekly Friday Night Frisbee game, the Minnesota Wind Chill handled the Madison Radicals 22-16. Brian Vohnoutka (2A/5G/1D) led the charge for the defending champions. Minnesota won despite going 4/14 on hucks.
• Madison then turned around to beat Detroit 31-20. Noa Chun-Moy (5A/4G) and Anthony Gutowsky (3A/5G) were standout performers for the Rads.
• MVP candidate Jordan Kerr led the way (5A/3G) as Salt Lake crushed Oregon 31-19.
• Oregon’s rough weekend continued, as they fell to Oakland 25-9 in their second game. Carter Lankford’s four blocks set the tone defensively for the Spiders.
• Tobe Decraene led the game in both assists (3) and goals (5) as Boston took down Montreal in double overtime, 16-15. Strangely, neither team scored in overtime, but Boston held in one possession in sudden death.
• Daan De Marrée (2A/5G/1D) led the Chicago Union to a comfortable victory over the Indianapolis AlleyCats. Ben Preiss added five goals while Nate Goff tallied six assists.
• Houston made a late push to make the score close, but Austin’s 20-18 win keeps them undefeated on the season.
• On the other end of that spectrum, Vegas has yet to win a game. The San Diego Growlers beat them 23-16 behind five assists and two goals from Travis Dunn to keep the Growlers in playoff position in the South.
• A 5-0 run at the end of the third quarter helped Boston edge Toronto 26-23 to stay in first place in the East Division. Orion Cable tallied nine goals on 528 receiving yards while Tobe Decraene added 567 of his own along with five goals and five assists. In his return to the D-line, Jeff Babbitt had four blocks. These two teams face off again next week.

UFA Power Rankings Week 8