Buzzer Beater: Delayed First Impressions [UFA Week 3, 2026]

DC’s upset of New York headlines an exciting week in the UFA.

May 11, 2026 by Alex Rubin in Rankings, Recap

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Though it is already Week 3, about a quarter of the way through the season, a few teams made their debuts this week, and several players started writing their stories by playing in their first games of the year. While a bit delayed from Opening Week, there are plenty of positive first impressions across the league as the standings start to take shape now that every team has played at least one game.

First Impressions

1. All offseason, the question lingered: what would the Indianapolis AlleyCats look like after their roster full of offseason additions? For much of their game against Madison, the ‘Cats looked like a team still building chemistry, but they led at halftime and had a legitimate chance to win their first game of the year. While some acquisitions like James Pollard and Jon Mast had quieter impacts than expected, plenty of players stood out. Rookie Kai Creed was a notable spark on the D-line and as a distributor on the counterattack. His athleticism is undeniable, but his game sense and throwing ability are quickly improving; he proved that he belongs on the pro field this weekend. William Wettengel meanwhile made his O-line debut. The 2025 UFA All Defense First Teamer threw seven assists in his first game playing primarily offense. As the AlleyCats figure out where to best deploy their new bounty of talent, more breakouts like his could emerge as Indy pushes for a return to the playoffs.
2. It felt like a playoff game in New York on Sunday afternoon. There were not too many first impressions when the Breeze faced off against the Empire – those teams know each other very well – but the concept of Friday Night Frisbee appearing on Sunday made an excellent first impression. Credit goes to the league in deciding that getting the best matchups matters more than sticking to the FNF moniker. The Breeze pulled off a major upset by winning small moments at the margins, including Wiebe van den Brink’s block and flip to Luke Rehfuss for the walk-off game winner at the end of overtime. Though it was not their literal first game, this was the biggest game for new DC O-liners Graham Turner and Gabe Dowd. Dowd led the game with five goals and was a constant presence on the DC O-line along fellow DC youth products AJ Merriman, Jacques Nissen, and Andrew Roy. We are still awaiting the Empire debut of Daan De Marrée, and I’m sure that he’s itching to see the field after watching the Empire take their first loss of the year.

    

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3. Two Atlanta Hustle players made their team debuts. Eighteen year old Grady Richman made his UFA debut on Friday against Las Vegas. With a five assist, one goal, zero turnover performance, he led the team in plus/minus and notched over 100 yards each throwing and receiving. Will Selfridge also made his team debut this weekend. With several key plays in the deep space, Selfridge made it clear that his talents will be well used on the Hustle offense. After falling short at Championship Weekend last season, Atlanta entered the offseason with key areas in which to find improvement. With two hybrids with star potential joining the team, this weekend’s play certainly has to feel encouraging as the team is now embroiled in what is becoming a very competitive South Division race.
4. Helping Toronto to their first win of the season, Max Pettenuzzo made his UFA debut and made an instant impact for the Toronto Rush. Playing nearly equal minutes on both lines, Pettenuzzo’s four assists and 394 total yards led the team. As the Rush reconfigure their team around the current roster, Pettenuzzo’s versatility and overall effectiveness gives coach Jamie Millage plenty of good options.

News and Notes

• As mentioned above, the DC Breeze upset the New York Empire 26-25 in overtime in a special Sunday edition of Friday Night Frisbee. A few moments stand out for the Breeze including Sean Mott’s quick strike to Jeff Wodatch to close the first quarter, Christian Boxley’s catch to maintain possession just before it, and Kevin Healey’s layout block at the beginning of the fourth quarter. But it was Wiebe van den Brink’s block and flip to Luke Rehfuss at the end of overtime that will live on as the lasting memory of the game.
  New York had control of the game early, building a three-goal lead through the second and third quarter. But DC managed to string together several solid offensive possessions in a row, won the end-of-quarter situations more often than not, and managed to escape several tricky situations backed up against their own goal line over the course of the game. In overtime as New York received with the game tied, the Empire had a 94.7% chance of winning the game, according to Shown Space’s new analytics. In the moment, the Breeze might not have felt like that tiny 5.3% chance was enough, but they managed to pull off the stunner. Jack Williams and John Randolph are two of the best give-and-go players in the league, but ven den Brink stepped in front of a soft backhand between the two and immediately tossed the disc ahead to Rehfuss who boxed out Randolph to secure DC’s stunning walk-off score.
• The San Diego Growlers got their playoff hopes back on track with a 16-15 upset over the Atlanta Hustle. With the Hustle on the second game of a back-to-back, the Growlers got off to a 3-0 start (all breaks) and never trailed in the game. By controlling their offense (only 11 turnovers and a small-ball-esque mere six huck attempts), and with some timely Max Gibson blocks, the Growlers maintained the run of play in the game and earned a key divisional win.
• The Madison Radicals used a late fourth quarter comeback to take down the Indianapolis AlleyCats 19-18. Both teams were installing new offensive units and the beginning of the game was fairly sloppy. But, by the end of the game, this contest settled into a tight affair with everything you want in a game: highlight grabs, momentum swings, and two teams who were doing everything they could to win. These teams are scheduled for three more matchups this season and will probably see each other one more time in the playoffs. If all of those games are this close, fans are in for a treat.
• The Atlanta Hustle crushed the Vegas Bighorns 30-12 in their first-ever matchup. Rookie Grady Richman made the most of his first start, tying Alec Wilson Holiday for the the team lead in +/-.
• The Salt Lake Shred got back on a winning track with a 26-16 win over the Colorado Apex. Simon Dastrup’s all-around game(2A/3G/3B) led the way for Salt Lake.
• The Toronto Rush also rebounded after their rough weekend last week. With a 18-17 win over the Montreal Royal, Toronto stands out as the top Canadian team in the league. The Rush held the Royal to 2/10 hucking.
• Montreal rebounded themselves with their first win of the season, 32-24 over Pittsburgh in an offensive showcase: the Royal only gave up eight turnovers. Malik Auger-Semmar showed his versatility with six assists and five goals, while Simon Ruelle’s three assists and seven goals also offered significant impact in Ruelle’s first weekend on the Royal O-line.
• The Carolina Flyers did not give up a single break and scored on half of their D-line points to crush Philadelphia 31-14. Allan Laviolette (5G) and Jacob Fairfax (5G) paced the Flyers offense.
• The Oakland Spiders continued their strong start to the season, with their fourth straight 10+ goal win. Oakland beat Seattle 26-16 and took down Oregon 24-13 this week as Jason Vallee threw his 100th career assist. Carter Lankford had five blocks in the Oregon game alone to lead a strong defensive effort.
• After last week’s overtime thriller, the Austin Sol more comfortably dispatched the Houston Havoc this time, using a 7-1 run encompassing the entire third quarter to build a big lead on their way to a 28-15 win.

UFA Power Rankings

• New York drops following their loss to DC, but remains ahead of the Breeze overall based on their collective previous results.
• Toronto flips with Montreal following their matchup this week.
• Likewise, Madison moves up over Indianapolis.
• San Diego jumps into the Top 10 after upsetting Atlanta. The Hustle sit right behind the Growlers and the Sol, the two teams who beat them by one goal apiece. The Hustle now have three games in a row against the 3-0 Flyers, so they’ll have plenty of chances to move back up soon.