The Slugs continue their dominant march through the season with their first tournament win.
March 15, 2026 by Alex Rubin in News
Ultiworld’s 2026 college coverage 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.
#5 California-Santa Cruz Slugs and #19 British Columbia Thunderbirds met in a Southwest versus Northwest clash in the final of this season’s Stanford Invite. UC Santa Cruz won 13-10, leaving the tournament undefeated and cementing their status as one of the division’s top teams.
The Slugs got a break to go up 4-3 and flip the on-serve advantage midway through the first half. Prior to that point, both offenses were operating comfortably. UCSC’s Toby Warren and Cole Mires were trading midfield OIIOs to the soft space in their split stack offense while UBC’s Rex Yuen was putting up huck bombs to Miles Wong for the Thunderbirds.
Eventually the hucks stopped falling; UCSC broke to take half after a deep look to Justin Podnar drifted too far. Mires crossed over and paddled the counterattack all the way up the field for the score to make it 7-5.
With a multi-goal cushion, Mires and Warren were able to direct the Slugs offense to the end zone time and time again. Warren laid out to reel in a huck from Gabe Schwartz-Ketchner to end the game.
Even without center handler Selim Jones (elbow injury) or initiating cutter Milan Moslehi (knee injury), the Slugs offense did not look even a step behind. Several players stepped up, none more than Nirel Barthelom whose growth this season should put him in our conversation for Breakout Player of the Year.
The Slugs were not troubled before the final, with their closest wins matching 13-8 victories over Illinois and San Diego State. After runs to the semifinals of Santa Barbara Invite, Presidents’ Day Invite, and Smoky Mountain Invite, the Slugs not only made their first tournament final of the season, but won the whole thing.
With #6 Cal Poly SLO winning Northwest Challenge last week, and generally looking more competitive than they did in the early part of the season, the Slugs now have their own tournament win to boost their confidence ahead of a Regionals showdown next month.
Ultiworld filmed seven games from the tournament; check out our event page below to rewatch all the weekend’s action.
