Rain affected the marquee events this weekend, but the teams who played still put on a show!
February 16, 2026 by Alex Rubin in Preview, Recap
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2026 college season is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.
Throughout the spring season, we’ll publishing a bite-sized weekly recap of the action across the college division. This will serve as a supplement to our standard tournament reporting and offer a high-level look at the latest happenings and the biggest stories of the week.
Want your tournament listed? Submit a recap of what happened right here.
D-I Women’s
Syz Win Again
#1 Carleton Syzygy took down #4 California-Santa Cruz Sol 13-7 to win this year’s Presidents’ Day Invite. Yes, you read that right. Sol upset #2 British Colombia Thunderbirds in Saturday’s semifinal to prevent a rematch of last year’s title game and last month’s Santa Barbara Invite final. While Sol could not overcome a talented Carleton squad, they did prove that they belong among the division’s elite. Syzygy, meanwhile, now have wins in their first two tournaments of the season. Already the top team in the country, there is little left to do but fend off every challenge that awaits. Carleton will next take the field at Northwest Challenge in March.
#5 Stanford Superfly were the other semifinalists this weekend. Their 13-1 drubbing of #3 Washington Element was one of the major headlines early in the tournament.
You can read more about both teams and the rest of the field thanks to Edward Stephens’ dedicated reporting. His Day One coverage and Day Two coverage is already up, and stay tuned for a Tournament Talk update later this week. Eleven games from this tournament were filmed and are available for subscribers in Ultiworld’s video library.
Queens of the Comeback
#9 Tufts EWO overturned a 14-10 deficit to defeat #14 Pennsylvania Venus on universe in the final of Queen City Tune-Up. Despite a driving rain, Lia Schwartz and Grace Maroon led their respective offenses with poise and confidence. Throughout the weekend, both teams delivered in clutch moments. Penn overcame #8 Vermont Ruckus in a one-goal semifinal, while Tufts only had two goals to separate themselves from #7 North Carolina Pleiades on their side of the bracket.
Ultiworld has additional coverage of this event: you can read my Tournament Talk article here and subscribers can view seven games from the tournament, including the electric final, in our video library.
Around the Division
- Tennessee Big Orange Screw bulldozed their way to an undefeated tournament at the Golden Triangle Open. They blanked Vanderbilt Surge 13-0 in the tournament final and didn’t allow any opponent to score more than four goals.
- Nevada-Reno Black Ice won their first-ever sanctioned tournament at Rage 2026 Prez Day, avenging a pool play loss to California-Irvine Grass Ninjas by beating them in the final.
- UBC-B Thunderwolves went undefeated to win the D3 Grand Prix.
Looking Ahead
Regional events on next weekend’s schedule include Mardi Gras XXXVIII, Commonwealth Cup Weekend 1, The Only Tenn I See Memorial Tournament, and Dust Bowl. Bring the Huckus, a largely D-III affair in which Massachusetts Zoola and Cornell B Throny Roses are the only D-I teams in the 12-team field, has been delayed to the following weekend.
D-I Men’s
Ego Stop Colorado
#3 Oregon Ego crushed #2 Colorado Mamabird in a windy, rainy final to win Presidents’ Day Invite. While the first two days of the tournament were played in beautiful, sunny weather, Monday’s schedule needed to be amended to avoid heavy weather. The lighter weather was not much better – 15+mph winds and a steady drop of rain made the conditions tough. Oregon was better able to adapt and will fly back to Eugene with their second tournament win of the season.
Colorado overcame a tough fight from #11 California-Santa Cruz to make the final with a 13-11 semifinal win. Their offense looked stellar up until the final, buoyed by recent addition Finn McKenzie, a New Zealand U24 product.
The Slugs put together another complete weekend are looking strong enough to challenge for a bracket spot at Nationals. #18 Cal Poly SLO SLOCORE rebounded from a rough SBI with a quarterfinal appearance this weekend. Their loss to UC Santa Cruz keeps their regional pecking order the same as it was last month, but earning a revenge win over #20 Stanford Bloodthirsty and playing Colorado to double-game-point has to feel good.
In Northwest news, Oregon beat #6 Oregon State Beavers by a comfortable 13-10 score, already their third matchup this year and decidedly the closest.
Matt Fazzalaro is covering the tournament. His Day One Recap, and Day Two Recap are available to read, and stay turned for a full Tournament Talk update later this week. Ultiworld streamed nine games from the tournament, which can all be viewed in our video library.
Darkside Domination
To the great yawn of the onlooking crowd, #5 North Carolina Darkside won this year’s Queen City Tune-up. The big surprise was their opponent in the final: Chicago Fission, who overcame #24 Virginia Night Train and Davenport Panthers on their way to the final.
You can read my in-depth Tournament Talk article for more details about this tournament. Ultiworld recorded seven games from this tournament, which subscribers can watch in our video library.
Around the Division
- Miami Vice were the winners at Florida Warm Up Weekend 2, putting together an undefeated weekend with wins over Embry-Riddle Dirty Birds in both pool play and the tournament final.
- California-Irvine Nightlife took down Southern California Lockdown 13-11 to win Vice Presidents’ Day Invite, a cleverly named tournament for the Southwest teams not invited to San Diego’s main event. USC had won their matchup against UC Irvine during pool play, but could not replicate that outcome the next day.
Looking Ahead
A busy weekend ahead, there are eight tournaments to keep track of. Easterns Qualifier is the most prestigious, with a spot at Easterns in late March on the line. Mardi Gras XXXVIII, Commonwealth Cup Weekend 1, Bring the Huckus, PLU Men’s BBQ, Minnesota Dome, Dust Bowl, and Huckin in the Hills XII round out the rest of the schedule.
D-III Women’s
Let the Race Begin
The D3 Grand Prix is one of the highlight events of the season. While D-I teams UBC B and Oregon State Dinos took the top two spots in the standings, there was a lot of exciting D-III on D-III action throughout the round robin weekend. #11 Carleton Eclipse won all of their D-III games and lost to the two D-I teams by just a single goal each. Their win over #5 Whitman Sweets will certainly shake up the power rankings, though Whitman handled their other D-III opponents with ease.
#12 Lewis & Clark Artemis needed one-goal wins over #16 Colorado College Zenith and #21 Puget Sound Clearcut, but were a clear third place finisher after losses to Eclipse and Whitman. Zenith and #17 Portland UPRoar each had just two wins over lower ranked competition on the weekend.
Four games from the tournament were streamed on Lewis & Clark Bacchus’ YouTube channel. Expect a full recap on Ultiworld later this week from our D-III reporting staff.
Around the Division
- Berry Valkyries scored three wins at the D-I Golden Triangle Open. Their pool play victory over Mississippi State was enough to make the championship bracket and they added a consolation victory over Tennessee-Chattanooga.
- #15 Santa Clara Rage and #25 Occidental WAC both made the semifinals at Rage 2026 Prez Day. Santa Clara won their head-to-head matchup 10-6. The #24 Claremont Greenshirts went winless in pool play, but scored wins over two D-I B teams in consolation.
Looking Ahead
Bring the Huckus was slated to feature a power with featuring #1 Wesleyan Vicious Circles, #3 Haverford/Bryn Mawr Sneetches, #6 Mount Holyoke Daisy Chain, and Wellesley Whiptails, but has been postponed until the following weekend.
Elsewhere, D-I tournaments Commonwealth Cup Weekend 1 (Cedarville Queen Bee, Wake Forest Ruckus, and Franciscan FIRE) and Dust Bowl (no team list yet, but presumably some South Central teams will be in attendance) are both on the division’s radar.
D-III Men’s
D-III Season Shifts to High Gear
After eight rounds of match play, #4 Lewis & Clark Bacchus can claim to be the best team at the D3 Grand Prix, finishing the round robin tournament with just a single loss, which came in their first game against #15 Colorado College Wasabi. #2 Carleton CHOP finished in second place in the standings, having lost just to Lewis & Clark and #7 Whitman Sweets. Other teams with two losses included #17 Macalester Flat Earth, who played well in their first travel tournament since 2017 with a win over Whitman and losses just to Lewis & Clark and #25 Colorado School of Mines Entropy.
Whitman and Colorado College each had the most volatile weekends. Whitman lost to lower-ranked Macalester but beat higher-ranked CHOP, and all of their games were decided by four or fewer. Wasabi took down Lewis & Clark, but also lost to #20 Puget Sound Postmen–who just had two wins on the weekend.
Playing on back-to-back weekends, #10 Claremont Braineaters had a rough tournament. The Brains finished 2-4 with wins only over Puget Sound and Gonzaga, though they kept games close and competitive with their other opponents. Their two losses to CHOP and Lewis & Clark were by a combined three goals. And, Claremont have the knowledge that their regional rival Occidental Detox went winless this weekend, though they too played competitively in close losses to good teams (a two goal loss to Whitman, for example).
Four games from the tournament were streamed on Lewis & Clark Bacchus’ YouTube channel, which anyone can watch here. Expect a full recap on Ultiworld later this week from our D-III reporting staff.
Around the Division
- Embry-Riddle Dirty Birds made the final at Florida Warm Up Weekend 2, but fell once there to D-I’s Miami Vice. Ave Maria B also lost to Miami in the semifinals. The two D-III teams did not play each other unfortunately.
- Santa Clara SCAB went winless at Presidents’ Day Invite, but played Utah to universe in the ninth-place bracket.
Looking Ahead
Next week’s schedule is exciting. On the east coast, #13 Richmond Spidermonkeys wil play host for the D-III River City Showdown. Nearby, Cedarville Swarm and Wake Forest Well Oiled Machine, Baby1 will play at Commonwealth Cup Weekend 1. On the west coast, Pacific Lutheran Reign will host PLU Men’s BBQ.
Bring the Huckus–which would have featured the Swarthmore Earthworms, Colby Dazzlin’ Asses, Skidmore Wombats, Ithaca Nawshus, Vassar Swinging Monks, Rowan Ruf Riders, and Stevens Tech Ultimate–has been postponed until next weekend.
I need to know how Wake Forest came up with the best team name in the world ↩
