Buzzer Beater: Divisions Decided [UFA Divisional Championships 2026]

Eight teams entered, but just four remain as the UFA concluded their divisional playoffs.

August 10, 2026 by Alex Rubin in Recap

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Typically in this column, I try to find one exciting thing about which to focus my writing. But, this week all four division championship games were full of intrigue and deserved a little more attention. There will be time in the next two weeks for a more complete Championship Weekend preview, but for now here are some thoughts about this weekend’s games.

Deep in the Sol of Texas

The Austin Sol will compete at Championship Weekend for the second time in franchise history, as they gritted out a comeback 24-23 win over the Carolina Flyers on Friday night.

Throughout the second half, the Sol poached in and around the Flyers handler set, generating game-changing blocks and frustrating the Flyers offense. Carolina had a lot of success in the deep game, converting 14 of their 17 hucks, including a few dimes from Tobias Brooks to Zeke Thoreson as the team furiously mounted a late game comeback, but Austin was content to give up quick scores and trade holds given how much pressure the Sol was able to generate on the Flyers backfield. Joey Wylie, George Gust, and Owen Johnson stood out in particular for their defense, limiting Brooks (1A/3G/4T) and Thoreson (2A/1G).

On the Sol’s offense, the Henke brothers truly shined. Mark Henke was the game’s leading goalscorer, finishing with seven goals. Kyle Henke led the team with four assists and several clutch plays down the stretch. Jackson Potts’ four assists and a goal were particularly impressive given that he slotted onto the O-line in his season debut. A knee injury prevented Potts from playing during the regular season, but his debut was one to remember. Among his assists was the winning goal with 30 seconds left in the game.

The Sol get to extend their season one more weekend and will be gearing up to compete as the underdog at Championship Weekend. They will face Minnesota in the semifinals in what will likely be the Thursday night showcase.

The Flyers will fly back to Carolina knowing that this was a solid bounce back season after their playoff miss last year, but per pre-2020 tradition, it ended once again in the playoffs in Texas.

The Empire Strikes Back

Avenging last season’s playoff loss, the New York Empire knocked off the Boston Glory 24-21 to return to Championship Weekend for the first time since 2023, when they won their last title.

Though the Glory lost, the story of the game was Tobe Decraene’s stellar performance. Without always-available reset Jeff Babbitt, Decraene took over in the backfield to the tune of nine assists, four goals, and 725 total yards.

While the Boston offense was lighting up the scoresheet, their defense struggled to take the disc away from the Empire. With Ben Jagt pulling in five goals including a toe-tapping buzzer beater, Alex Atkins ripping 603 throwing yards, and Daan De Marrée activating as a midfield wizard by combining 526 receiving yards with six assists, the Empire had assets on all levels of the field.

New York returns to Championship Weekend looking like the best team in the league. Even after a few years away from the tippy top of the league, nobody knows how to win in crunch time like the Empire, and it seems like they’ve put together the right combinations to push for a record setting fourth title.

Minnesota Class of the Central Again

The Minnesota Wind Chill jumped out to a five goal lead midway through the first quarter and held on through a furious fourth quarter comeback to defeat the Indianapolis AlleyCats 22-20 and advance to their fourth straight Championship Weekend.

Throughout the entire game, Minnesota kept control even as Indy found their footing and began to make the scoreline more respectable. This version of the Wind Chill might be their most complete yet. With Nate De Morgan and Noah Coolman stepping into important two-way roles in their first year on the team, the Wind Chill suddenly look significantly more dynamic on offense while keeping their reputation for stellar defense, led by Justin Burnett and Cameron Lacy, who has really blossomed from a great puller into a great player.

As Minnesota continues to unleash their stingy defense and build a high level roster around helpful role players (shout out Zach Morton for a game leading six goals), they are once again pushing for a championship after making the last two finals.

For the AlleyCats, losing by two goals in the division final to the team that made the UFA championship game each of the last two seasons cannot be seen as anything but a success. Sure, the players wanted to win and probably could have won had they not coughed up a five goal lead to start the game, but for a team with many out-of-town players who needed to build chemistry quickly in order to compete, the AlleyCats played an excellent season and should be proud of their progress.

Webbed and Winning

For the first time in over a decade, the Oakland Spiders will compete at Championship Weekend. The Spiders clinched their spot with a 20-16 win over the Salt Lake Shred. A 4-0 run to start the second quarter proved to be the difference in an offensive showcase that was otherwise a fairly back-and-forth game.

The young duo of Raekwon Adkins (3A/4G) and Stef McCall (5A/3G/2B) led the way for the division favorites, who will come into Championship Weekend expecting to compete for the title, especially given that their club counterpart (San Francisco Revolver) just won a title in their division.

This Championship Weekend appearance is a long time coming for the Spiders, who have improved in each of the last few seasons without earning a trip to the final four. Even with a lot of talent on the roster, before this year Oakland always found a way to fall short. Now that the core of this Spiders team has been playing together for a few seasons, the puzzle pieces are starting to fall into place. Oakland last won a title in 2015, and it’s very possible that they will set a new record this season for years between titles. Now that they’ve gotten over the division hump, anything is possible.

UFA Power Rankings

• New York takes over first place in the power rankings given their fairly dominant win over previous #1 Boston.
• Austin jumps ahead of Carolina following their head-to-head playoff win.