Perhaps the Game of the Year!
June 15, 2026 by TJ Lee in Recap
In an epic rematch of Spaghetti Westerns semifinals, Albany (CA) faced Green Canyon (UT) in another universe point showdown. While both teams gained possession on the final point and had chances to score, it was Albany who found the end zone to win 13-12.
The game started off similarly to the teams’ prior matchup. As the sun started setting and the temperature cooled down, Green Canyon came out hot. Blake Holt went on a tear, throwing assist after assist. From big around shots to cross field scoobers, there was no shot he would look off, and very few he missed. Holt’s offensive efforts were easy to see, as Holt was involved in all of Green Canyon’s first five scores. The junior on the U20 National Team had been carrying a serious workload through the tournament, and in the first half of the championship Holt was putting his team on his back.
Both teams worked out of primarily a vertical stack, although some split stack looks off initiation. On defense there were some switches and brackets, but both teams were looking to match up in person defense and create advantages off pitting their best defenders to answer their opponent’s offensive threats.
During the second point of the game, Joshua Caleb Patigdas went down with an injury following a bidding effort to save a low pass. This was the first of multiple occasions where an Albany player called for a substitution following an injury, with an unfortunate consequence of allowing Holt to sub on for Green Canyon. Green Canyon took this opportunity to put up the first break of the first half. After a trading holds both clean and dirty, bookends from Jacob Hoffmann took half with another break for Green Canyon, 8-5.
Holt’s stellar performance in the first half featured six assists, a goal, and a block, driving the Utah state champions to another halftime lead. Riley Hamilton had been taking several top matchups, Oscar Saldivar was working alongside Holt in the handler space, and Jacob Hoffman was stacked against Albany’s Jasper Graf and finding success.
“We felt a little deja vu,” Graf said. “But because we had done it before, we knew that we could do it again.”
Graf’s 1G/1A/2B helped keep Albany in the game during the first half, but plenty of turns kept his plus/minus and Albany’s break percentage low. Albany star Muhammad Awais’ 2G/1A/1B was keeping the flow, and Hugo Tsai (1G/4A/1B) was keeping the offense flowing.
Coming out of halftime, the stands became so packed that teams were taking to the sideline on the field to find a space to watch. The crowd was fired watching the top two teams in the nation duke it out in the final. The increased volume from the sideline energized Albany, as the Bay Area school rattled off their first break after holding out of half. Following some more holds, Graf revealed Albany’s secret weapon: the connection between Graf and Awais.
“I know that if Muhammad’s in front of the cutter, no single person in high school frisbee will get it,” Graf said. “Whether it’s a hammer, a high release flick, whatever. I just gotta put it in front of him and he’ll get it.”
Albany used the momentum of this score to finally capitalize off of one of Holt’s nine turns. This time, Awais’ breakside flick shot was the assist, and a wide open Graf in the break side caught the goal. For the first time since the second point of the game, the two teams were on serve.
After Green Canyon righted the ship by crossing Cody Edelmayer to the O-line, Albany responded with a hold of their own. Then came what could be the biggest point of the game. A huck from Holt to Edelmayer was misread. A few swings later, Tsai looked for a backhand of his own towards Graf. Despite a successful boxout to keep Edelmayer from blocking the disc, Graf doinked the disc. Once again, Green Canyon looked to survive with a dirty hold. But Graf recovered at a vital moment.
“I knew with that drop, I wouldn’t be able to live with that,” Graf said. “Especially if me dropping that disc cost us the game. When [Edelmayer] cut under, I thought ‘If I got beat, what am I even playing for?’ I had to get that disc so I caught it.”
With Albany claiming the lead for the first time, up 12-11, Green Canyon used the heat timeout to go back to the drawing board. The result was returning to plan A: having the offense run by Holt. After swinging the disc back and forth, soft cap hit and Holt found Hoffman. It was 12-12, in a game to 13.
While Holt’s offense was on fire all game, his defense (despite a few blocks) was a little more focused on playing passively and conserving energy. But Holt chose a good time to turn on the defensive intensity.
Coming out of the timeout, Albany tightened up their already compressing defense by trapping Green Canyon on the sideline the entire possession. After one throw, an upline to Holt was too far. Hoffmann responded by blocking a huck aimed for Graf. Now Holt used his offensive prowess to lead Green Canyon, connecting with Myles Phillips on a huck. That’s when disaster happened.
With four turnovers on the point, Albany looked to find a more secure shot. A swing to Graf was the cue for Awais to time his deep cut.
“That’s my boy bro,” Awais said. “He throws that throw to me every single time in practice. I knew he was gonna throw it, because Jasper’s a dog.”
In only their second ever appearance in the High School National Invite, Albany walk away as champions. While the loss of seniors limits the potential of a repeat, fans of this team can expect to see this team back in the dance next year, and will be content seeing the seniors take their talents to the college scene, including Muhammad Awais and Jasper Graf heading to UC Santa Cruz.
