Will Carleton repeat, or will Massachusetts' golden generation finally get their title?
May 25, 2026 by Alex Rubin and Aidan Thomas in Preview
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2026 college ultimate 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.
ROCKFORD, IL — It’ll be the quest for a repeat versus the quest for a drought-snapping title as #2 Carleton CUT and #7 Massachusetts Zoodisc will face off in the 2026 Men’s National Championship. This game will be a rematch of the 2025 men’s semifinal between the two programs, which CUT won, 15-10.
While CUT will seek its second-straight championship, Zoodisc eye a chance at ending a 40-year title drought. They last won a title in 1986, when they beat Stanford, and they’ve appeared in just one championship since then, losing to North Carolina in 2023. Carleton, meanwhile, has won five titles and appeared in three more championship games since that last Zoodisc title.
Let’s take a look at the paths of these two dominant teams, who will both enter Monday’s titanic title clash with sparkling 6-0 records at Nationals.
Massachusetts Zoodisc
How They Got Here
- Def. Western Washington 15 – 10
- Def. UNC 15 – 10
- Def. Yale 15 – 6
- Def. Pittsburgh 15 – 9
- Def. Cal Poly-SLO in quarters 15 – 8
- Def. Oregon in semis 15 – 10
Statistical Leaders
- Ethan Lieman – 18 Goals, 8 Assists, 6 Turnovers
- Wyatt Kellman – 7 Goals, 14 Assists, 5 Blocks, 5 Turnovers
- Mason Stone – 8 Goals, 10 Assists, 3 Blocks, 5 Turnovers
- Caelan McSweeney – 3 Goals, 18 Assists, 7 Turnovers
UMass entered last year’s tournament as the top seed but faltered in semifinals, a stage that has frequently stumped Zoodisc. Lieman credited a calmer approach from the veterans in this year’s tournament as keeping the team level-headed against Oregon Ego in semifinals, while lower pre-tournament expectations likely helped as well.
“We were in the same position last year, and we were a little frantic, had a little bit of nervous energy,” Lieman said after their semifinal win. “From the returners that were there last year, it feels like a much calmer energy, and we just spread that to the whole team.”
While Lieman continues to star in the Zoodisc offense, the UMass team has added more depth, plus a return to health for Caelan McSweeney and Jonah Stang-Osborne is certainly an added asset. After injuries plagued his 2025 season and led to limited contributions at Nationals (two goals, four assists), McSweeney is back in full force as Zoodisc’s center handler. His 18 assists lead the team, and McSweeney has kept the turnover count (seven) low despite his high touch volume.
His effectiveness distributing from the backfield has allowed Wyatt Kellman to continue to not only be a big-time contributor on offense (seven goals, 14 assists), but also cross over to the D-line frequently, and Kellman has responded with five blocks, taking top opposing matchups like Anton Orme and Mica Glass in Sunday’s bracket play.
However, Kellman also doesn’t need to always cross over, because they have their D-line quarterback in Stang-Osborne back for the first time since 2023. After Stang-Osborne starred in Zoodisc’s 2023 run to the title game, he took a year away to study abroad, and then he tore his ACL almost immediately upon his return.
Now Stang-Osborne, armed with arguably the most powerful flick in the college division, is back, and he’s been a star. He has seven goals, two assists and five blocks through the semifinal round. Against Oregon, Stang-Osborne scored the first break of the game, winning an isolation matchup with Oregon’s breakout star, Reggie Masket.
On that defensive side, UMass’ depth has shown. Rookie Cameron Levine leads the team with six blocks and then a whopping five players are tied for second with five blocks. Last year, Zoodisc had one player with more than five blocks (Mason Stone), two more players with four blocks and nobody else with more than two. This year, Levine has six, and Kellman, Nima Lhamo, Stang-Osborne, Samuel McCrory, and Gavin Abrahamsson have posted five blocks each. Last year’s defensive leader Stone has three blocks, as does Roan Dunkerley.
And it’s not just the credited blocks for the UMass defense. Lhamo has some great blocks, including a layout to spark a break that put UMass up 11-8 against Ego. But he’s also displayed stifling defense that, combined with blanketing downfield defense, has resulted in what Lhamo called “coverage sacks.”
Roan Dunkerley is a frequent O-line contributor, but his defense on a turn can make breaking the Zoodisc O-line a brutally difficult task. Up 3-2 against Oregon, UMass turned it and Dunkerley had Ego D-line handler Max Massey in jail trying to wiggle free in the reset space.
Nobody has touched Zoodisc at this Nationals, but nobody’s touched Carleton at Nationals since 2024.
Carleton CUT
How They Got Here
- Def. Washington 15 – 10
- Def. Cal Poly-SLO 15 – 10
- Def. Penn State 15 – 7
- Def. McGill 15 – 12
- Def. Pittsburgh in quarters 15 – 10
- Def. Colorado in semis 15 – 14
Statistical Leaders
- Declan Miller – 4 Goals, 11 Assists, 1 Block
- Axel Olson – 1 Goal, 19 Assists, 1 Block
- Nathan De Morgan – 8 Goals, 11 Assists, 4 Blocks
- Ellis Newhouse – 11 Goal, 8 Assists
- Sarek Mallareddy – 15 Goals, 4 Assists, 4 Blocks
Carleton’s path, until the semifinal, was a bit easier and more predictable than UMass’ march. Having only lost twice all season, both times to Colorado, the smart money was on CUT to sweep their pool. That became even easier when SLOCORE rested Anton Orme, and Penn State rested a litany of starters, electing to essentially forfeit the pool to CUT. However, Carleton did have two tough bracket tests on Sunday, first trading blows with #9 Pittsburgh En Sabah Nur before pulling away, and then battling it out in an instant-classic with #1 Colorado Mamabird in their semifinal.
The CUT show starts with two players – senior Declan Miller and sophomore Nathan De Morgan. Miller is the undisputed leader of this CUT squad and the 2025 Ultiworld Player of the Year, but De Morgan, who broke out in a big way at 2025 Nationals, has firmly planted himself into conversations for the best player in college ultimate moving forward. His five-goal, three-assist effort in Sunday’s semifinal included some moments of pure electricity, and on college ultimate’s biggest stage, De Morgan simply refuses to lose. He’s 13-0 all-time at the event, and he’ll do what it takes to win, even if that’s to throw an off-hand flick for an assist and key break in a national semifinal.
Miller has helped the Carleton program bounce back to the top of rankings. After winning it all in 2017, CUT reached semis in 2018 and then did not earn a bracket play victory until last season’s title run, missing Nationals in 2019 and 2022. Miller burst onto the scene in 2023 and brought Carleton back to the College Championships, and then back to the top by 2025. He drew the Sam Kilgore matchup against Colorado, and Mamabird’s D-line stalwart had no answer for him. Miller’s legs never seemed to fail him, despite playing the majority of points under the lights.
The next key piece to the CUT puzzle is sophomore handler Axel Olson, who is, along with Miller, first to cross over to D-line with break chances. He anchors the CUT backfield and can run dominator sets with the best of them. His quick break release was the hockey assist to set up the game-winner from Miller to De Morgan against Colorado.
Beyond that big trio, Carleton is powered by plenty of other contributors, including Fin Fuhrmann, Ellis Newhouse, and Sarek Mallareddy, all part of the universe point line for Carleton. Ryan duSuaire was not, but he’s Carleton’s best defender and guarded both Zeke Thoreson and Tobias Brooks at times on Sunday evening. He officially has been credited with only three blocks at Nationals, but that does little to no justice to showcase the impact duSuaire has on a game by blanketing opponents’ best weapons.
Three Keys To Tomorrow’s Final
The Ethan Lieman vs. Ryan duSuaire battle
Last year, in this semifinal, Ethan Lieman and duSuaire dueled, and there’s little reason to believe that will change. The CUT coaching staff has opted to use their DPOTY candidate largely to guard top cutting threats who can throw, such as Ezra Beidler-Shenk of Pitt and Zeke Thoreson of Colorado. Lieman certainly fits that mold, and we should be in for a treat to see that matchup once more.
Wyatt Kellman + Nate De Morgan
Kellman was UMass’ best player in this matchup a year ago. He notched five assists and a block in the loss. He’ll need to be at his best again, and perhaps more important is Kellman on defense. On the more-than-occasional crossover point, Kellman has generally taken the best player on the opposing line, and it seems likely he’ll work on Miller when he makes his D-line appearances, although how UMass chooses to allocate resources to the dual challenge of Miller and De Morgan will be a key point to watch. Kellman has been elite on both sides of the disc, but Carleton will be a new challenge. How often does UMass send Kellman out in order to try and slow down the CUT offense?
De Morgan continues to be an X-facor in big moments. You already saw the righty flick, but how about this visionary dot of a huck to Thomas Shope? That one put Carleton up two for much-needed breathing room. Just absurd execution by a guy who is not at all scared on this stage.
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UMass’ Defensive Strengths Against CUT’s Offense
Perhaps the biggest year-to-year difference here is the Zoodisc defensive depth. Against a Carleton offense that can be so lethal and so clean, how does UMass rotate through matchups?
Nima Lhamo has risen to new heights for UMass now and took on the Anton Orme matchup, but we also saw him drop in to defend hybrid cutters as well as spending time on both Mica Glass and Raekwon Adkins. UMass also utilized a rotational defensive system to keep matchups changing and offer opposing stars different looks, so expect UMass to send a few different looks at the Carleton captain.
After that, UMass has decisions to make. Carleton doesn’t necessarily win with a big cutter (at least by size), and so much of their flow comes from Miller, Olson, De Morgan, and occasionally Newhouse dishing out to open cutters and getting the disc back in flow. Gavin Abrahamsson has been one of Zoo’s best defenders but largely taking a lot of bigger cutter matchups. Does he work on Mallareddy, or more likely the more imposing Newhouse?
UMass also can work with rookie Cam Levine, who leads the team in blocks this year, Tomo Liou, who spent time on Anton Orme, and Charlie Norris, who’s been a rock for the Zoodisc D-line. Stang-Osborne has been a great downfield defender, but again, does UMass want to sit its best defenders downfield when CUT have shown to be so dangerous attacking from behind the disc? This is a Zoodisc defensive unit that feels like they could slow down the CUT offense, but how the UMass coaching staff gameplans and utilizes their talent against that of Carleton could be a major factor, particularly with early-game momentum.
No matter what happens on the field, fans are in for a treat. The last two undefeated teams at the tournament will battle to cement their legacies. Either we will see the start of the next ultimate dynasty if CUT are to win their second title in a row, or we could see history if UMass breaks a title drought that goes back almost as far as the founding of the college division.
You can watch the final at 2:30 p.m. Central Time on ESPNU. Subscribers can follow along to the Ultiworld Discord for live thoughts and analysis from the reporters on scene.
