All the favorites, contenders, and sleepers as the regional championships begin!
September 24, 2026 by Graham Gerhart, Zack Davis, Rhea Patney and Edward Stephens in Preview
Ultiworld’s 2026 coverage of the club division 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.
The club 2026 postseason is here! After teams battled all summer to earn bids for their regions, it’s time to figure who gets to go to the Big Show and try to win it all. We’ve got you covered with the favorites, challengers, and top storylines of every region.
Mixed Division Preview | Men’s Division Preview
Great Lakes
Competition Schedule
Dates: September 26-27
Location: Lebanon, OH
Number of Bids: 1
Favorites: #7 Toronto 6ixers
Challengers: #16 Chicago Nemesis, Indy Rogue
Excitement Level: 🔥
Any drama that surrounded this year’s Great Lakes tournament likely ended on August 23rd, the Sunday of Elite-Select Challenge, when Chicago Nemesis took big losses to both Philadelphia Flight and Minneapolis Pop. Those losses sank their rating a combined 60 points and officially put them out of contention for one of the last remaining strength bids. It’s a shame because they are essentially a Nationals-level team, as wins over Traffic and Flight and a close loss to Flipside would suggest.
As astute readers will remember, however, USAU made the (objectively correct) decision to redraw Toronto into the Great Lakes, destroying Nemesis’ former head honcho status. Underrate 6ixers at your own peril. They used a couple of USAU tournaments this summer essentially as glorified practice for WUCC. Then, in Ireland, they unleashed something like a full press against the world, with stars Alyssa Mason and Molly Wedge playing up to the moment and Britt Dos Santos looking highly effective in her first tournament back after suffering an injury at last year’s World Games. Joely Valencerina looks handier than ever for them, as well.
And, at the final moments before the roster deadline, it would appear they had a surprise recruitment: All-Everything young superstar Mika Kurahashi. 6ixers are perhaps not only in the driver’s seat in the region; they could be poised for their best Nationals finish since 2019.
There is a world in which Nemesis take 6ixers’ spot at Nationals, though. Let’s not call for miracles, but it would take an awful lot going right. They’ll probably need some roster help from 6ixers in terms of who actually shows up. A generational pop-off from Jacqueline Jarik – who, let’s be real, is definitely capable of it – playing both ways could get the job done. Throw in lockdown defense from Kailyn Lowder and big numbers out of Claire Schmitt? It’s conceivable.
Conceivable is as far as we’re willing to go. Likelihood doesn’t even come into it. Indy Rogue don’t appear to have the juice in 2026 to put up much of a resistance; they’re more likely to duke it out with Cincinnati Sureshot and Chicago Dish for Select Flight ordering.
Postseason X-Factors
Jacqueline Jarik (Chicago Nemesis) – Jarek has always been a gamer, but over the years she has added more and more skill and finesse to her game, to the point that she is the primary matchup in any Nemesis game: she takes on the opponent’s main target, attracts the opponent’s best defender, and leads from everywhere on the field.
Joely Valencerina (Toronto 6ixers) – A Swiss Army knife of a player, Valencerina has spent the last few years playing every sort of role for 6ixers. This has come in particularly handy in 2026, since she has had to slot in for so many others throughout the season. No matter where you put her, she’s a bucket, generating goals and possessions at a ridiculous rate.
Britt Dos Santos (Toronto 6ixers) – Dos Santos is hardly an unknown at this point, having played on the biggest stages in the world and garnered plenty of accolades. But her exact place on the recovery journey is an open question. What kind of a role is she capable of taking on a year after major injury? Is she limited to throwing duty, or will she be able to make sharp cuts into long strides the way she has so often during her downfield-centric career?
Mid-Atlantic
Competition Schedule
Dates: September 26-27
Location: Frederica, DE
Number of Bids: 3
Favorites: #1 Washington DC Scandal, #9 Philadelphia Flight, #13 Pittsburgh Parcha
Challengers: Washington DC Grit, Washington DC Agency
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
If you’re a Scandal fan, you’ve had a great year. There’s enough top-end talent that I could make a line of just Scandal All-Americans and wouldn’t be immediately laughed out of the room.1 As favorites to win the National Championship, they’re far and away favorites to win the region.
And that’s considering we’re unlikely to see serious minutes from Kami Groom and Claire Trop, as Kami was in an auxiliary role at Pro Champs, and Trop, who has battled an injury all season, wasn’t even there. Scandal won the final 15-3 anyway, thanks to Kira Flores and Anna Cauchy leading the charge on offense and Ashleigh Jentilet and Jordan Sorensen putting in work on the D-line. It’s likely Scandal will continue to let their incredibly talented young stars lead them to the promised land and still double up everyone. The only way Scandal lose the top seed is if they get caught snoozing, but a bid to Nationals is all but guaranteed.
The real battle of this region is for silver, and the race is tight between intra-state rivals Philadelphia Flight and Pittsburgh Parcha. Parcha went into bid-earning mode in their last two appearances of the season and managed to do enough to get the region a third ticket to Nationals at Pro Champs by playing the top three teams close and winning by wide margins against the lower three teams, highlighted by a 15-3 ethering of Agency. Linn Bjanes, Miya Liang, Carolyn Normile, Sara Liang, and Taylor Conroy have been instrumental in Parcha’s success this season.
Flight’s stalwart on-field leadership of Quincy Booth and Abigail Smith has led them to a top 10 spot in our Power Rankings, earned through solid finishes at PEC East and ESC and culminating in an easy breezy Sectionals. They’ve posted wins over Pop, Traffic, Phoenix, and, maybe most importantly to their immediate futurem Parcha. That 15-12 result was way back in June at PEC East, but it has to be a confidence booster for Flight. It’s far from a lock for Flight to repeat, especially since Parcha are a noticeably different team than they were at the beginning of the season, but to Flight’s credit they did out-perform Parcha at ESC, the most recent tournament featuring both teams.
Although there isn’t a bid on the line between second and third, there’s still plenty to play for, the first and most obvious being better seeding at Nationals. Any team’s run can be ended by facing a juggernaut sooner than intended, and seeding can be the difference between a quarterfinal game and flaming out in pools.
Moreover, neither of these teams want to be in a game-to-go situation where anything can happen. It doesn’t matter how many times these two teams have trounced Agency and Grit, the pressure of the season on the line battling against an underdog mentality can alchemically turn into a Nationals appearance slipping away from the favorite. Neither Parcha nor Flight — who have yet to win a game-to-go — want to end up in a “must win” situation if they can avoid it.
As for Grit and Agency, though either team could in the right set of circumstances snag a win from Parcha or Flight, Grit are the team that is far more likely to achieve this. They have the head-to-head win over Agency at Pro Champs in a game that wasn’t particularly close and have also taken wins over more competitive opponents, like an 11-9 dub over Siege at ESC. Further, Grit held their own against Traffic, finishing 11-8 against the Vancouver team. This is notable since Traffic were in direct competition with Parcha over the final strength bid, with the algorithm delta being less than a single point before Pro Champs. Results could definitely swing Grit’s way in a game with a lot of pressure and nothing to lose.
Postseason X-Factors
Quincy Booth (Philadelphia Flight) – As the catalyst for Flight, Booth has to be on her absolute A-game if Flight want to upset the natural order of things and make their first Nationals appearance. Booth has been spectacular, but the postseason always asks for a little bit more.
Miya Liang (Pittsburgh Parcha) – Fast and explosive, Liang’s ability to generate space makes her a headache for any defender. She’s either going to draw extra defenders or get open.
Kira Flores (Washington DC Scandal) – Flores seems like the bridge between the old guard and the new. She’s put her time in and is finally reaching the upper echelon of talent. Though anyone will be overshadowed on Scandal so long as Groom and Trop are on the roster, Flores seems like next in line.
North Central
Competition Schedule
Dates: September 26-27
Location: Des Moines, IA
Number of Bids: 1
Favorites: #14 Minneapolis Pop, #23 Madison Heist
Challengers: St. Louis Stellar
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
Last year, this region came down to a single point, as Madison Heist upset Minneapolis Pop 15-14 to secure the one Nationals bid. This year, the race for the bid will likely come down to the same two teams, who are neck and neck as ever.
Pop won their Sectionals in two blowouts and have put together a solid 9-4 season. They have good wins against Siege, Kelp, and Phoenix, with losses to fellow Nationals contenders Flight, Parcha, Nightlock and Scandal (but who doesn’t). Minneapolis also had a really good Elite-Select Challenge to round out the regular season, going 4-2 at the tournament.
Heist, meanwhile, are 9-9 this season and had a much rougher ESC than Pop, winning just two games, and both against non-bid earning teams. Though they’ve earned wins over Ozone, Siege, Grit, Stella, and Vengeance this season, Heist have yet to claim a victory over a team ranked in the top 20, and Pop currently sit 14th in the projected rankings.
The main challenger is St. Louis Stellar, who won Heavyweights this year and boast a 10-3 record. The team is made up largely of WashU and St. Louis University players and grads in St. Louis, so they have a lot of youth and a lot of energy. Their one real blemish is a 15-6 loss to 6ixers at SFI, which was their only game against national-level competition, but they have otherwise put together a very strong season and could absolutely compete for a top spot in the region.
But, at the end of the day, it’s probably going to be Pop and Heist. They haven’t played each other yet this year, and after 2025’s one-point game, it should be a fun one.
Postseason X-Factors
Nina “Doc” Laser (St. Louis Stellar) – Doc is a rising talent in the Midwest and a big reason Stellar could make some noise in this region. She captains WashU Iron Horse and helped take them to the game-to-go for Nationals in their college region, including an upset over Texas. This year, she made the deep PUL Indy Red roster as a junior in college and recently earned an invite to U24 trials. She is super athletic, a great cutter, and clearly has a bright future in frisbee. If Stellar are going to challenge Pop and Heist, Doc will likely be right in the middle of it.
Mia Beeman-Weber (Minneapolis Pop) – This is Beeman-Weber’s first year with Pop, and they have already become a big piece of the team. At 6’2”, they can put a pull on a platter in the back of the end zone, right on the line, and they have hucks for days. Their mark is scary as ever, too, giving Pop a player who can make an impact on both sides of the disc. If Pop want to secure the Nationals berth, they will need Beeman-Weber to continue being excellent.
Erynn Schroeder (Madison Heist) – Schroeder is a dynamic handler and a staple of Wisconsin ultimate. Between their killer backhand huck, quick-trigger inside flicks, and dynamic handler movement, they are a very difficult player to contain and a critical piece of Heist. If this bid comes down to another tight game against Pop, Heist will need Schroeder to keep creating offense and finding ways to break open the defense.
Northeast
Competition Schedule
Dates: September 26-27
Location: Batavia, NY
Number of Bids: 3
Favorites: #3 Boston Brute Squad, #8 New York BENT, #12 Quebec Iris
Challengers: #17 Northampton Starling, #18 Ottawa Stella
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Boston Brute Squad might win the whole thing. Actually, the only teams they’ve lost to in sanctioned US play this year are Molly Brown, Fury, and Scandal, with all three losses coming at the U.S. Open. Scandal beat them 15-11 in a seeding crossover, and Fury got the better of them in the semifinal 15-12. Then, to be frank, Molly dunked on Brute Squad 15-6, but honestly who wants to wake up to play for a bronze medal at 8:30? The reigning national champs also had a great WUCC showing, nearly knocking off and enacting their revenge against eventual champs Scandal, but were thwarted on universe in quarters.
Despite maybe not as many big wins this year, they are still arguably the best team in the nation, and certainly a top three team. By now they’ve got a whole starting line and then some of household names: Levke Walczak, Kelly Hyland, Laura Ospina Gomez, Angela Zhu, Liv Player, Mangie Forero, Annabel White, Lia Schwartz, Grace Conerly, and Tulsa Douglas, just to get started. What makes Brute so effective is their “down roster” names could be top players on quarterfinal teams, and they can spread the load quite effectively. Boston should take this down and should have no problem securing a bid, especially since they are 2-0 against BENT, with their most recent win a 15-10 game at the U.S. Open.
New York BENT aren’t just going to roll over though, and have shown they can hang in games with the best of the best, both in their first showing in June at PEC East, and their most recent outing at Pro Championships. BENT nearly took down Brute Squad at PEC E but fell just short, 12-10. At Pro Champs they played two close games against Molly Brown, losing 15-14 then 15-13. Despite a plethora of close games against elite teams, they haven’t shown they have what it takes to get a big win.
History isn’t quite in their favor either, as their all-time record against Brute Squad is 1-19, with the one coming ten years ago at 2016 Northeast Regionals. Sage McGinley-Smith, Abby Hecko, Ella Juengst, Genny De Jesus, and the rest of BENT will be looking to change that. The BENT roster is impressive, and continues to improve, highlighted by the addition of Jessica McDonnell who has been a key component for BENT this season, especially in the assist column. Key for BENT too, is that they already logged a win over the third Northeast bid earners Quebec Iris, a close thing at 12-11. But if anyone knows the difference between a close loss and a close win, it’s BENT.
For Iris’ part, they could probably list you a hundred small things that could have gone the other way that game. They had a really good showing at SFI East, only dropping a single game, and that to the 6ixers. They struggled a bit more at U.S. Open, even though they played 6ixers a bit closer and were a point away from a win over both BENT and Flipside. They did manage to get a solid win over Colorado Kelp and Schwa in consolation play. Iris have been led by Maude Samson, Florence Dionne, and Maélys Lechasseur this season. Lechasseur is the real deal, and in case you need reminding, made the final for catch of the year in 2024 for this excellent grab while representing Canada at U20 worlds.
Also worth noting for Iris: they are a lot closer to BENT than either of the contenders are to them. Notably, they beat Starling 15-10 at SFI East. While they shouldn’t quite count their chickens, they can focus on trying to bump up to the second seed out of Northeast rather than trying to just hold on for the bid.
Starling are perhaps the most interesting team in the region in terms of potential. They have a big roster and a lot of talent, capstoned by Paige Howell and Gigi Downey. Starling went toe-to-toe with Nightlock at ESC, then lost to Kelp. Similarly, earlier in the season, they lost to a rebuilding Phoenix, then got trounced by Scandal, but rallied back the next game to beat Flight. They also took care of business at Sectionals, their closest game coming against Brooklyn Book Club at 13-5. While Starling’s floor is certainly lower than Iris and BENT, don’t be surprised if they take a game off of either of them — or both.
Stella’s only point of direct connectivity to these teams was way back in July at SFI East, where they lost to Starling 15-11. The very next weekend they smashed their way through the Lehigh Valley Invite, where their closest game was a double up over Calypso. At Sectionals they gave up only a single point over their two games. It’s an outside chance that they could jump up and win away their first bid to Nationals, but a chance nonetheless.
Postseason X-Factors
Maélys Lechasseur (Quebec Iris) – Lechasseur has incredible range, and potential to make huge plays. Her willingness to take huge swings and not worry about missing has paid dividends already. and may be the difference for Iris.
Abby Hecko (New York BENT) – Hecko, in her element, is unstoppable. Unflinching, no fear, all gas, no breaks. If Hecko can find a way to uncork the bottle and make a big time play in a key moment, BENT could win the region.
Gigi Downey (Northampton Starling) – Downey can make big plays, both with her legs and her throws. If she can leverage that to catch some teams off guard then Starling might be able to chain together some wins and earn their first bid to Nationals.
Northwest
Competition Schedule
Dates: September 26-27
Location: Burlington, WA
Number of Bids: 2
Favorites: #5 Seattle Riot, #10 Portland Schwa
Challengers: #20 Vancouver Traffic
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
It was not too long ago that the Northwest was the most compelling region in the women’s division. In 2024, they had the highest excitement level of any Regionals. A lot can change in two years. Where once the tournament had three bids up for grabs and a plethora of teams that seemed primed to claim them, now there are only two bids, and clear echelons between the teams — if the regular season is to be believed.
Reigning atop the Northwest are Seattle Riot. After taking a few years to rebuild, the team seems to be hitting their stride. Yes, they didn’t quite live up to the expectations set upon them in the preseason, but they’re still the team with the highest potential outside of the division’s Top Four. Riot seem entirely capable of beating any team seeded above them, but equally capable of losing in a close game to teams seeded below them. That’s a problem at Regionals, as there’s no team seeded above them to upset. Instead, they’ll have to maintain their poise against Portland Schwa, Vancouver Traffic, and Utah Dark Sky as they attempt to cement their status as the best team in the region once more. As long as Chloe Hakimi, Kate Lanier, Emily Decker, and Carly Campana are healthy and dialed in, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
If Seattle is playing at its best, all the pressure at Regionals shifts to Portland Schwa. The Oregon squad did their job in the regular season, winning the games they were supposed to and playing tight against high-quality opponents. A one-point loss against Quebec Iris is the lone blot on their record, and will be what other teams point to as proof that Schwa’s position is not secure. Schwa, for their part, shouldn’t be too concerned. They’re a talented, deep team with a lot of institutional knowledge and promising rookies on the roster. They are starting to lean a little on veteran players, but it’s hard to find an issue with this when those players are Brenna Bailey, Anna Reed, and Jesse Shofner. You’d be hard-pressed to find a weak point in their roster, even outside of their veterans, so seeing this team miss Nationals would be shocking, to say the least. It makes the tournament less exciting to say that they’re a lock, so we won’t. Good luck finding a team that can take them down, though.
Upon learning they wouldn’t be earning a bid for the Region, Vancouver Traffic started picking four-leaf clovers to earn all the luck possible for their squad. Joking aside, it’s been a rough stretch for Traffic since losing to Seacows at CUC last year, and they’re eager to prove the haters wrong at Regionals. They were the first team out of a strength bid, so they’re clearly good enough to be at Nationals, they just have to make it past one of two teams that are equally worthy.
Assuming Marie-Ève Beauchemin, Sarah Norton, and Catherine Menzies are healthy, they’ll likely be the focal points of Traffic’s offense, and it’ll largely be up to them to carry the team in tight games. Neither Riot nor Schwa are giving up their bid without a fight, so close games are going to be the expectation in the bracket at Regionals.
It’s not only a three-horse race, as Utah Dark Sky will be doing everything in their power to put themselves back into the national conversation at this tournament. They were poised to be a bid contender early, only for weird losses at SFI West to crater their season, which was further cratered at Ski Town with more losses to lower-seeded teams. Dark Sky don’t have a statement win on their resume and don’t have a great track record against the teams seeded above them, but they do have a lot of tenacity and young stars like Lily Terpstra and Samantha Jensen who could be taking the leap this year.
Postseason X-Factors
Anna Reed (Portland Schwa) – Reed’s return to Schwa looks about as natural as one would hope. The team’s empowered her to make plays at every position on the field and she has taken advantage of that by carving up her defenders and making plays no one else can. With how much Schwa rely on their veterans for offensive momentum, expect a lot from Reed this weekend.
Sarah Norton (Vancouver Traffic) – Few teams have a player that can match up well against Norton. A rare blend of size and speed makes her a mismatch in favor of Vancouver, and the team’s not afraid to use that whenever they can. If Norton catches fire at Regionals, there’s not going to be a lot teams can do to stop her.
Chloe Hakimi (Seattle Riot) – When Philadelphia coined the phrase “trust the process” all those years ago, no one realized it was meant to describe Hakimi. Seattle’s young star is the blueprint for the next generation of ultimate player, a do-it-all offensive machine with good instincts and zero hesitation. Thanks to the prowess of Hakimi, Riot’s got a player who can plug into any line and make them better just by being on the field.
South Central
Competition Schedule
Dates: September 26-27
Location: Arvada, CO
Number of Bids: 2
Favorites: #6 Denver Molly Brown, #22 Dallas Dimes
Challengers: #15 Colorado Kelp, #24 Austin Vengeance
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
It’s been too long since the South Central has had true competition in the women’s division. The reign of terror that Denver Molly Brown has held over the region isn’t exactly crumbling, but Texas has finally centralized enough talent for two truly competitive teams to strengthen the region’s power ratings and shoot the Dallas Dimes into the bid picture. With the path to Nationals no longer requiring the upset of a championship contender, there are plenty of branching paths for how this tournament in Arvada could go.
While an upset is unlikely, it’s still worth examining Molly Brown’s role in the region. They’re the final boss of the South Central and have generally treated Regionals as a warm-up tournament on their way to Nationals. That statement might be a little unfair to the rest of the teams in the region, but the fact stands that they have only been challenged once at this tournament since before the pandemic. This year’s Molly Brown roster is as strong as ever, especially with the introduction of two European stars in Aurora Lesnik and Carmen La gala. Even if those two do not join the team in Arvada, Molly Brown have more than enough tools to take down the competition.
If one were to find any nits to pick for Molly Brown, it comes down to two potential issues. The first is that they haven’t played the two Texas contenders headed to this tournament in Dallas and Austin, and could be caught a little flat-footed. These aren’t the same teams that Molly Brown faced in past Regionals. They’re more disciplined, more focused, and a little deeper than years’ past. Molly Brown also have to contend with the slightly puzzling loss to Seattle Riot that the team suffered earlier this month. Riot are not a weak team by any means, but they had been comfortably dispatched at the US Open, so the closer game as the season wore on could be worth monitoring, especially since Molly Brown had a number of close games against other teams around the same ranking as Dallas. After starting the year so hot, no one wants to see Denver regressing.
To immediately contradict what was just said, there might be a few people interested in seeing Molly Brown regress, and they all are rostered on teams who’d love nothing more than to steal Denver’s bid to Nationals. While that may be somewhat of a pipe dream, the addition of another strength bid in the region has taken the bullseye off of Denver’s back and placed it squarely on the Dallas Dimes. The women from DTX have been developing a program that’s borne fruit this season exactly as one would hope. They’re the formula to follow for any team trying to build to Nationals. After years of nurturing their talent, the team is primed to harvest the bid that they rightfully earned.
It’s not going to be easy, though. Both Austin Vengeance and Colorado Kelp are hot on their heels, doing everything in their power to book a flight to San Diego in Dallas’ stead. Colorado Kelp have prepared themselves for this moment by playing every difficult tournament they could attend. The team did not shy away from tough battles against Nationals-caliber teams, so they know what is required of them. While their record against the field is only 7-14, all of their losses were to teams seeded higher than Dallas. Even better than that, they have a win over Dimes under their belt already. There’s no one at the tournament more certain they can steal this bid than Kennedy McCarthy, Maggie O’Connor, and the rest of the Kelp roster.
Just behind Kelp are Austin Vengeance, the team that came the closest to beating Molly Brown in the last five years. Vengeance have the pieces to be a Nationals-level threat, but their results haven’t quite matched the talent on their roster. Granted, the team lost a large portion of their handler core from 2025, so they’ve been building back into contention, and this tournament could be where they put it all together. The likes of Meg Duffy, Olympia Walker, and Mindy Radike are the mainstays that help pull this team together, and they’ll be relied upon to give the team a chance at winning that second bid.
Postseason X-Factors
Alyssa Perez (Denver Molly Brown) – With so much attention on Molly Brown’s international players, their other stars can get overlooked. That’s been the case with Perez for most of their career on Denver, but this year they have risen a level and must be treated as one of the team’s biggest threats. Most other standouts on their team are being game-planned around, so Perez slipping under the radar might just give their team the edge it needs in close games.
Kennedy McCarthy (Colorado Kelp) – While Kelp’s most dire need is capable handlers, if they’re to make it to Nationals, it’ll come from McCarthy having a phenomenal tournament. The team relies on her for initiating cuts and goal scoring in equal measure, giving her the most gravity on the team by a mile.
Megan Tormey (Dallas Dimes) – On a team trying to make Nationals for the first time, it pays to have a player that’s been there before. While most of Tormey’s impact is on the field as a D-line handler, it’s also her veteran experience that stands out. Tormey looks in control when she’s on the field for Dallas. She knows what it takes to be a Nationals-caliber player and elevates her team with her play.
Southeast
Competition Schedule
Dates: September 26-27
Location: Bermuda Run, NC
Number of Bids: 1
Favorites: #21 Raleigh Phoenix
Challengers: #25 Atlanta Ozone, Knoxville Dolly for President
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
Raleigh Phoenix had a good thing going. For six seasons, from 2019 to 2025, they never failed to reach quarters (or better – looking at you, 2021 semis run), a feat matched only by the divisional overlords Brute Squad, Fury, and Molly Brown. With the strongest college pipeline, one of the most active and reliable youth development scenes, and a status as a destination that lured luminaries such as Kami Groom and Sarah Meckstroth, Phoenix were a program both on the rise and built for sustainability. Hand in hand with that national success went an unchallenged run through Southeast Regionals, where they handily put away either Ozone or Tabby Rosa in the final every year. Their closest margin of victory in that run was five goals, and twice in that span they allowed only a single goal – including just last year.
Suddenly, though, they look vulnerable. The reason? Roster turnover. Only five players carry over from their 2024 season (the rest of their 14 returners were rookies last season). Only one – the estimable Bridget Mizener – was around for their dream 2021. They’ve also lost coach David Allison. It almost goes without saying that making quarters for a seventh consecutive season is difficult to foresee. The more urgent question is whether they can make it back to San Diego.
Let’s take a quick peek at Phoenix. They aren’t in as bad a shape as the above paragraphs would have you believe: the youth scene remains vibrant, and while UNC Pleiades aren’t any longer the worldbeaters of recent vintage, they’re still a talented college program with plenty of resources to fill into the club game. Catie Fradenburg, Elle Christakos, Lily Brooks, Megan Buchsbaum, and Caroleen DeWolf are all legitimate prospects. The only trouble is that they’re still pretty green at the club level. Have they developed enough in their short Phoenix careers that veterans like Mizener, Sarah McKee, and Emily Przykucki can guide them to the team’s familiar position among the 16 clubs at Nationals?
The smart money says yes, if only because no indisputable challenger has arisen. The venerated Atalanta Ozone have, as usual, some flashes of Atlanta-area talent – Martha Wilber, Dani Ortiz, Katie Sanders, Lizzie Madden, Jemia Johnson – but have not managed to consolidate most of the local elites for the last decade. While there is a puncher’s chance for them to get back ahead of Phoenix, the drubbing Phoenix gave them way back at PEC East is not a good sign. The other potential challengers are 2026 Knoxville (k)newcomers who take their name – poignantly, as they would not have known at the start of the season – from a Tennessee icon: Dolly for President. Dolly have a smattering of underrated recent college players – Emma Patterson, Rebecca Fagan, Madi Oakman – from both sides of the mountains. Universal love for their late namesake aside, it’s a long shot: they’ve played Ozone close in two contests, but only mustered two points against Phoenix back in June.
Postseason X-Factors
Martha Wilber (Atlanta Ozone) – One of Ozone’s most versatile tools over the weekend is sure to be Wilber. She has always been a downfield threat, but the throwing bag she has developed over the past two years makes her even more of a matchup problem. Look for her to be an integral part of Ozone’s upset bid.
Lily Brooks (Raleigh Phoenix) – Phoenix have lost enough talent that they need to dig deep into the farm system to replace it. Luckily, Brooks is one of the most productive youth players in the country. If she can bring even a fraction of that verve to the prime age club game, it will give Phoenix a massive lift in their quest to return to Nationals.
Emma Patterson (Knoxville Dolly For President) – Patterson has a lot of experience playing a high amount of points for a team that, on paper at least, is the underdog. That’s just how it went for Tennessee BOS in college. She has a little more firepower around her with the new Knoxville club outfit, but count on her to draw deep on those hard-earned resources of her earlier playing career should Dolly find themselves in the game-to-go.
Southwest
Competition Schedule
Dates: September 26-27
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Number of Bids: 3
Favorites: #2 San Francisco Fury, #4 San Francisco Nightlock, #11 San Diego Flipside
Challengers: Oakland LOL
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
It’s tough sledding for the Southwest if your team isn’t named Fury, Nightlock, or Flipside. The top three teams in the region all earned a bid, indicating that there is enough room for a stolen bid or two. Don’t bet on it, though. Historically, this just isn’t a region where “anything” can happen.
Not much needs to be said about the first bid. It’s going to San Francisco Fury. Since what feels like time immemorial, it has gone to Fury. This team doesn’t just win, they set the standard for winning. They wrote the playbook on winning. Every year, the other Southwest teams spend their season auditioning for a second-place finish, and 2026 is no different. Barring health complications, the core of Shayla Harris, Julianna Werffeli, Anna Thompson, and Kirstin Johnson is just too experienced and too capable to give away a game for free, and that’s not even mentioning the true vets of the team that still are competing at the highest level. The only team that has proven they can beat Fury is playing a tournament 2,741 miles away; don’t start betting on the upset.
Past Fury, the narrative isn’t completely the same as years past, thanks to the rise of San Francisco Nightlock. The other Bay Area team has long been living in the shadow of Fury, only to emerge this year as one of the most interesting teams in the division. After retooling in the offseason, Nightlock powered through the three tournaments they attended, posting great wins over teams like Riot, BENT, and Flipside. For the first time in almost a decade, Nightlock ended their season inside the top eight and seem to be a lock for quarters at Nationals. Sure, they have to make it to the big dance first, but there’s good reason to be optimistic about this team. Never before have they had such a strong set of handlers, and it’s made life for their cutting core remarkably easy. The throwing prowess of Thalia Ward and Zane Bird Smith has unlocked Nightlock’s offense in a way that has forced opponents to respect cutters at every position on the field. Their defense is equally stifling and they now have matchups for even the highest caliber opponents that they face. Fury might be a lock for Nationals, but Nightlock aren’t far behind.
It feels wrong to discount Flipside’s potential, so we won’t. The team has struggled with injuries and consistent tournament play over the course of their season, making it difficult to determine their true peak as a program. That may play into their favor at Regionals. Missing a few X-factors in regular-season games doesn’t have to be a bad thing, especially if they’re healthy when there’s a bid to Nationals on the line. It’s meant a lot of player development for the San Diego squad and there’s been a lot to like from their lesser-known athletes. While Flipside are still the most huck-happy team in the division, they’ve shown a lot more small ball this season, especially with their D-line offense. For a team with such stiff competition at Regionals this year, having multiple styles of play in their bag will be crucial if they’re looking for an upset.
Speaking of upsets, the only team with an outside shot at making Nationals outside of the top three is Oakland LOL. After years of wondering whether the leopard would change its spots, LOL positively answered no. They’ve leaned even farther into the identity of the veteran team filled with last decade’s best players, and it continues to get them just shy of really competing to earn a bid to Nationals. It’s hard to deny the talent on the team — Paige Applegate, Jessie O’Connor, Lexi Stambaugh, and Meeri Chang are all familiar names to fans of the division and just a drop in the bucket for LOL’s full roster. If bids could be earned on star power alone, LOL might be going to Nationals. Unfortunately, the realistic path for them involves beating Nightlock or Flipside to earn a bid, and that’s a tall task. Neither team barely snuck into the bid-earning picture, and both are expected to make the bracket at Nationals. For LOL to beat them, they’ll need more than experience and depth on their side, they’ll need a little bit of luck, too.
Postseason X-Factors
Kai Agueros (San Francisco Nightlock) – With the depth of offensive talent that Nightlock has developed this season, what will make or break the team at Regionals will be their defense. Agueros frequently is assigned the toughest matchups and delivers shutdown defense in those instances. That’s not even mentioning how much the team relies on their explosiveness after the turn.
Kaitlyn Weaver (San Diego Flipside) – San Diego has slowly handed off the reins of their offense from Helton to Weaver, and that’s been clear with how much the disc has channeled through Weaver’s hands this year. She’s the fulcrum of the offense and is one of a handful of players that can seemingly generate offensive magic from complete stagnation.
Dawn Culton (San Francisco Fury) – The level of expectation around Fury demands a lot from the players, but Culton is no stranger to high expectations. While so much of Fury’s roster are known elements on the team, Culton spent the season defining her role, and taking steps further and further into the spotlight. Expect even more from her at Regionals.
For argument’s sake – First Team: Trop, Groom, Dang, Murphy, Smalling, Flores, Perivier; Second Team: Cauchy, Birdsong, McGuire, Rippe, Wallace, Jentilet, Sorensen ↩
