Buzzer Beater: Shining Stars [UFA Week 10, 2025]

The UFA playoff picture comes into focus with just a few weeks left in the regular season

July 1, 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.

Shining Stars

As the season drags on and teams become accustomed to each other’s playing styles, team defenses can really clue in on team-wide strategies and slow down even well-coordinated attacks. As pull plays get clogged and deep help settles in, it is up to star players to take the reins and will their teams to victory. A few standouts:

Oakland’s Walker Frankenberg (6G/6A/4HA) totaled 1,008 total yards against the first place Salt Lake Shred with just a single throwaway. That means he directly contributed to 76% of team scores while leading the game in points played. In his second game on the weekend, Frankenberg totaled 6A/3G/2B and another single throwaway as Oakland defeated San Diego. Going +21 over a weekend is truly incredible, especially against two strong teams in playoff position.

Chicago played against two bottom-feeding teams in the Central this weekend, which should have been a great opportunity to showcase their depth and spread out the statistical influence among the team. Xavier Payne was having none of that and decided to put on an impromptu one-person show. His five blocks against the AlleyCats and four more against Detroit would place him in the top 30 of block getters in the league just based on this weekend (with all of the other games added, he is fourth). He added six assists against Detroit to round out a balanced weekend.

Allan Laviolette is carrying the Flyers back into playoff contention. He finished his third nine-assist game of the season this weekend (he leads the league in assists) while adding three goals and over 700 yards. Carolina needs to be nearly perfect to get back to the playoffs, but the way Laviolette is playing it seems more likely than not they’ll find their way there.

Teams can clearly win without their headline players totally dominating, but when push comes to shove, the stars who come to play can really influence a game. As the top teams lock into their strategies and refine their game plans ahead of the most important games of the season, star players’ ability to carry their team could seriously influence the final weeks of the season.

News and Notes

• The Chicago Union stayed undefeated with a 10-point win over the Indianapolis AlleyCats. Chicago’s Xavier Payne led a strong defensive effort with five blocks.
• The DC Breeze continued their push for the playoffs with a 26-14 win over Montreal. The Royal had a few standout individual performers (Christophe Tremblay-Joncas had five assists and Quentin Bonnaud scored six goals), but DC’s stronger depth powered the Breeze to a win.
• Despite five assists, four goals, and over 1,000 total yards from Jacob Felton, the Detroit Mechanix could not extend last week’s win into a streak as they fell to the Madison Radicals 29-19.
• Like Felton, Walker Frankenberg managed over 1,000 total yards alongside six assists and six goals in a losing effort for Oakland. The Salt Lake Shred went down early, but powered back and came away with a solid 25-21 win to remain in first place in the division.
• In a rain-shortened affair, the Atlanta Hustle earned a clutch win over the division-leading Austin Sol. Only the first half of the game could be played due to a hard stop at midnight, so the score finished 14-9 after a long weather delay that left the main field flooded.
• Nanda Min-Fink (five assists) and Quinn Finer (three assists and six goals) were the downfield engines that lifted Colorado to a 24-22 win over Seattle. Finer was involved in all three overtime scores to close out the game.
• The Colorado Summit moved into second place in the West Division with a tight 19-18 win over Oregon the next night. The Steel scored the first four points of the game, but Colorado clawed back to avoid what would have been a monumental upset.
• The Chicago Union went up 10-1 in the first quarter on the way to a 28-10 romp over Detroit. Like he did a day earlier, Xavier Payne led the way with six assists and four blocks. The Union’s Gabe Schoepke tallied seven goals.
• Philadelphia kept their spot as the second best team in the East Division with a 20-19 win over Montreal. The Phoenix maintained an early advantage throughout much of the game, but needed to weather a furious Montreal comeback in the fourth quarter.
• For the first time in franchise history, the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds beat the Toronto Rush. The T-Birds were down after three quarters, but punched in four breaks in the final frame to come away with a meaningful late season victory.
• Anthony Gutowsky’s 2A/5G/3B game helped the Madison Radicals beat Indianapolis 24-19 and clinch a playoff spot.
• The Carolina Flyers kept their playoff hopes alive with a 26-21 win over Austin. Allan Laviolette continued his MVP caliber season with nine assists and three goals.
• Oakland kept pace with Colorado in the west with a 21-16 win over the San Diego Growlers. Walker Frankenberg led the way with a six assist/three goal combo.

UFA Power Rankings Week 10

• Toronto’s loss drops them a bit in the rankings, behind a Madison team that just clinched a playoff spot.