Tuesday Toss: Week 2 Stunners

June 15, 2021
By Evan Lepler

Any other weekend, a former AUDL MVP coming out of retirement and throwing the go-ahead goal late in the fourth would be the moment to remember. But at this point, it honestly feels like Dylan Tunnell’s return and Atlanta’s thrilling comeback in Boston on Friday night occurred months ago. 


Atlanta's Dylan Tunnell launching a pull in Boston on June 11.

Any other weekend, a team like Raleigh coughing up a multi-goal second half lead and dropping to 0-2 for the first time in franchise history would easily be the top story. But the fact is DC’s dramatic one-goal win over the Flyers was probably the third craziest one-goal game just on Saturday alone.

Any other weekend, a breathtaking 7-1 fourth-quarter rally to narrowly win by one in a home opener and avoid an 0-2 start would certainly be the headline. Of course, those developments happened in San Jose in Week 2, and they feel almost like a bullet point.

This was not any other weekend, though.

If Atlanta-Boston and DC-Raleigh were the initial tremors, with Seattle-San Jose and Los Angeles-San Diego as the powerful aftershocks, the AUDL’s most substantial landscape-shattering earthquake in some time—maybe ever—was the tectonic tilt in Texas, where the Austin Sol not only beat the Dallas Roughnecks, but looked like the better team most of the night. The Sol were crisp, confident, energized, and understandably fired up by their epic result, which registered a ginormous number on the ultimate Richter scale for a multitude of reasons.


Elliott Moore celebrates with Austin fans following Saturday's win.

Firstly, there’s the traditional dominance in the rivalry. Since 2016, Dallas had won 15 of 16 matchups, with Austin’s only win coming on a viciously windy day in overtime.

Perhaps even more notably, the defections from Austin to Dallas in recent years were numerous and significant, sending a not-so-subtle message that any talented Sol star would inevitably leave in favor of the bigger, better, perennial Championship Weekend participant Roughnecks. On Saturday night, seven of the 20 active ‘Necks had previously played for the Sol, while a handful of others had tried out for both franchises, been given the option to sign with either, and chosen to play for Dallas. As much as anything, this dynamic fed into the narrative that the Sol were the little brother—cute and pesky and full of potential. But always on the verge of being put in their place by big bro out on the field. 

Between the respective histories—Dallas entered 2021 with a 54-11 all-time record compared to Austin’s 21-34 ledger—and the diverging preseason buzz, the Roughnecks-Sol rivalry looked as lopsided as ever. Whispers out of Dallas were that the Roughnecks had two warm-up games against Austin before preparing for their new challenge of venturing to the west coast for the first time. 

Of course, every year is a new opportunity, and Austin’s new Head Coach Steven Naji did not accept the job on the premise or unwritten understanding that he would always be battling for, at best, second place in Texas. To the contrary, he wanted to build a team of local talent that would grow together, compete relentlessly, and within a year or two be ready to contend for a championship. It’s a nice vision that many coaches can plan, but few can execute. 

Their exhilarating 24-23 victory over the Roughnecks was just one game, but it certainly looked like Naji and the Sol are well ahead of schedule. 

“The game was won in the preseason,” said Austin Captain Mick Walter. “No Sol team I have ever been a part of has practiced, conditioned, or hung out together as much as we have. Once we were safely able to start practices in April, we went all out. Practices on Tuesdays, conditioning on Thursdays, scrimmages/minicamps on almost every weekend. This team has brought into the culture we are trying to build in Austin and embraced each other as family. Everyone knows that Dallas and the rest of the West has talented players, but nobody [knew] how hard this team has worked this preseason, until this past Saturday night.”

It was tough to put much stock into last weekend’s two points played prior to the extreme weather that halted opening night in Dallas, but the Sol did score the first two points in that suspended game. On Saturday in Austin, the Roughnecks struck first on a huge huck from Abe Coffin to Jay Froude, but after that Dallas went nearly eight minutes without scoring again, while the Sol used a 3-0 burst to seize control. Evan Swiatek, in his first game suiting up for Austin, caught a pair of hucks in this sequence, scoring one goal, dishing one assist, and generally setting the tone for the Sol’s dangerous offense.

After the game, the Roughnecks acknowledge Swiatek’s significant impact, early and often.


Evan Swiatek

“I think Evan Swiatek is going to be huge for the Sol this season,” said Dallas veteran Matt Jackson. “He’s athletic and hungry to win every point.”

Current Roughnecks Captain Kaplan Maurer agreed.

“I thought he was just a really gritty hybrid,” said Maurer. “He could handle, he could go downfield and get yards, I personally thought he was their best player.”

There’s no question that Swiatek, who Naji actually compared to US National Team and former New York Empire star Grant Lindsley during a preseason chat, made a significant impact; he led Austin with 259 receiving yards, while snagging four goals and tossing three assists. But he was far from the only member of the Sol who shined brightly in his 2021 debut. The roster was filled with guys who made crazy plays to help Austin build and maintain a lead for much of the night. 

Vinay Valsaraj, a 24-year-old University of Texas alum, made a couple insane layout grabs, including a two-handed full-extension snag of Joe Sefton’s floating huck to put Austin back on top in the fourth. “Never a doubt that Vinay would track down that throw,” said Sefton, “even if it almost killed him.”

Elliott Moore, only 22 but beginning his fourth season on the Sol, delivered the best game of his career, tabulating one goal, six assists, and two blocks. Of course, his biggest play might have been a game-sealing sky of a hovering cross-field reset that could have easily been intercepted near the goal-line when Dallas trailed by one in the final seconds. 

“Won’t show up on the stat sheet,” said Walter, “but great body on a floaty swing to secure the win.”


Elliott Moore

Moore’s final sky came with about 15 seconds left, and three throws later, the final seconds expired and the entire Sol sideline stormed the field with a wild and unrestrained enthusiasm that reflected the magnitude of the moment. 

“I think the raw amount of effort and time the young guys put in over the past couple of months came through for us,” said Sefton, the former Seattle and Team USA member who threw for 231 yards, second-most on the team, in his Sol debut. “And we needed every last rep to get us that one point victory. I am glad the Sol fans got to see the mental load carried by Jake Sames, the gritty defense of Joey Wylie, and the start of what I think will be a tremendous career for Hayden Stone.”

Sames led the Sol with 256 throwing yards while completing all 29 of his throws, Wylie finished with a game-high three blocks, and Stone scored three goals, including a rare sky of Roughnecks veteran Dan Emmons an unforgettable toe-tap sideline snag off a deflected disc, a play that in some ways was a microcosm of the entire game. For the full 48 minutes, Austin’s relentless hustle and effort willed the Sol to maintain possession on several tipped passes that otherwise could have been turns. 


Austin celebrating their win against Dallas.

The Roughnecks, meanwhile, collectively recognized that they were outplayed and tipped their hats with respect for the Sol’s effort. 

“The Sol had great chemistry, timing, and execution on offense, and they had the legs to last the entire game,” said former Austin star and current Roughneck Chase Cunningham. “They had some great takeaways on D, and did not give it back easily…On our side, we gave the disc away too easily on poor execution, and I felt we lacked the endurance to make it through the entire game at the level we wanted to play at. I think everyone on our team can point to two or three instances where they could have done better, and for us it’s just about recognizing those and making sure we don’t make the same mistakes. We could easily make some excuse about limited practice time in the preseason, or that we were missing some key players, but the fact is that we’ve had these game dates on the calendar for months now; they didn’t sneak up on us, and we were not as prepared as we could have been.”

To the contrary, the Sol could not have felt more prepared.

“Nobody has watched more game film in this league than Coach Naji,” said Walter. “The defensive game-planning was incredible. I don’t want to give away too much with what were are trying to accomplish with our defensive sets, but we were able to make them uncomfortable, took away their first looks, and capitalized on the opportunities they gave us.”

The underlying message from most of the postgame chatter was the following: both teams agreed that this was not a fluke. While AUDL.tv onlookers—myself included—may have been stunned by Saturday’s result, the competitors between the lines were not. 

Like absolutely none of us predicted, the Austin Sol are 1-0, one of the five remaining undefeated teams in the league, while the Dallas Roughnecks are 0-1 and in last place in their new division. Each team still has 11 games to go, including three more against each other, but the landscape is far more competitive and riveting than most anyone could have imagined.

The Full Field Layout

Obviously, the Sol were not the only team to pull off something magical this past weekend.

Staying in the West Division, the San Jose Spiders were trailing 18-13 at home against the Seattle Cascades, 12 minutes away from an excruciating 0-2 start to their season, when suddenly, the script flipped. The Spiders ran off five straight breaks to begin the final quarter, fell behind 19-18 with 2:49 left, and then scored twice more, culminating with a short dish from Andrew Moore to Justin Norden to give San Jose a 20-19 lead, their first advantage of the entire game, with just three seconds left. Shane Earley blocked the Cascades’ final prayer, and the comeback was complete.

“Not how we drew it up,” said Norden. “In fact, this has to be one of the most unique games I’ve been a part of in a long career of ultimate. Our D-line scored more than our offense. Our offense basically didn’t have to play at all in the fourth quarter as the D-line kept scoring. It is good that we were able to do one thing right coming on for the game-winner, but the game was won by the defense.”

For most of the night, and basically the first seven quarters of their two-game home-and-home to begin the season, the Seattle Cascades looked like the superior team. Seattle led 4-0 in the opening quarter on Saturday night, held a 12-8 edge at halftime, and increased their lead to five by the end of the third. With every great comeback, there’s also an epic collapse, and it’s the view of the beholder which perspective is more prominent. 

“Was there a particular catalyst?” asked Spiders Coach Dan Silverstein rhetorically. “I think that in the fourth quarter of the second game, the difference in fitness became apparent and that gave our players the final boost of confidence to make it happen. Having a strong home crowd, the so called ‘eighth leg,’ helped to support the players as well.”

Silverstein continued by praising his young defenders who were ‘absolutely key in overpowering the Cascades offense in the fourth quarter,’ specifically mentioning Jace Bruner, Jake Thorne, Max Williams, Kevin Tien, and Ben Petrowski, three of whom were playing in their very first AUDL game. 

“The atmosphere in that fourth quarter was electric,” said San Jose Captain Keenan Laurence. “Seattle called a timeout at 18-16 once we secured three consecutive breaks. In the huddle, I remember looking around at each of my teammates and asking them, ‘do you believe in what we are doing right now?’ The overwhelming answer was, hell yea!’”

Meanwhile, after Austin and San Jose both secured unlikely one-goal wins on Saturday night, San Diego hosted Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, trying to avoid a similar surprise. Having won in the Aviators’ home digs eight days earlier, the Growlers were well-positioned to improve to 2-0 and seize control atop the West Division. But Los Angeles did not cooperate with that agenda. 

“These games with LA are always crazy since there is so much familiarity between us,” said San Diego’s Travis Dunn.

The Aviators jumped to a 2-0 lead and, amazingly, never ever trailed. The Growlers did tie the game at 2s, 3s, and 4s in the first, but LA got another break late in the first, scored a buzzer-beater to close the opening quarter, and led the rest of the way. 

“One of the main stories was our 20-year-old rookie Seamus Robinson,” said Aviators Head Coach Jeff Landesman, who earned his first career AUDL victory on Sunday in San Diego. “This kid just finished his sophomore year at Cal Poly-SLO and had never played ultimate before his freshman year, which was cut short by the pandemic. I really loved what I saw from him at our practices and decided to take a chance with a roster spot. In his first point [on Sunday], he had a great read and run-through block. He set the tone for the day.”

Calvin Brown’s throws, Sam Cook’s catches, and Sean McDougall chewing up massive amounts of yards were the other premises behind Los Angeles’ excellent first three quarters. The Aviators held a 20-14 lead heading into the fourth, poised for a resounding result on the road. 

As for the final 12 minutes, well, it was more than a tad ugly, as the Aviators failed to score a single goal in the fourth quarter. But the good news for LA’s upset bid was that the Growlers offense was sloppy too. Ultimately, San Diego’s comeback fell short, as Los Angeles prevailed by two, 20-18. 

“It may not have been pretty, but we won the game!” said Landesman. 

“Winning always feels nice, whether it’s home or away, and this one was especially monumental because it was Coach Landesman’s first pro win,” said McDougall, who gobbled up a game-high 348 receiving yards, more than 100 beyond anyone else in the contest. “By now, everyone should know about the wild, wild West, and that any team can beat any other on any given day.”

So where do all these surprises leave the West Division? Will Dallas and San Diego reestablish their preseason stature in the coming months or will one of the other four hungry and capable challengers rise all the way to the top?

This weekend, with Los Angeles traveling to Dallas and Austin, while San Diego visits San Jose and Seattle, will begin to reveal some answers. 

“We had everything in front of us after that Saturday slate,” said Dunn. “The Texas game was crazy, but the fourth quarter of that game in San Jose was just as hard to believe. I guess we’re in for a wild season if things keep up like this weekend.”

Seven On The Line

  1. Much like Austin’s expected first-place perch atop the West, few if any would have forecasted Atlanta sitting by itself above seven other teams in the Atlantic. Following their Friday night comeback win over Boston, the Hustle are the only 2-0 team in their division.

    “We scored more goals, we finished in regulation, and we didn’t stray from the game plan,” said Atlanta Head Coach Miranda Knowles. “We just had to go deeper into the game plan than we did against Raleigh, which is a huge compliment to Boston. It was better than last week, but it’s still not good enough, not up to my standards.” Atlanta trailed Boston 17-14 with three minutes left in the third prior to scoring seven of the game’s final nine goals over the last 15 minutes. Consequently, the Hustle prevailed 21-19, spoiling the Glory’s first home game. “It was hype,” said Atlanta Captain Austin Taylor. “We weren’t sure exactly what to expect, but they showed out, had a great crowd, and it was a lot of fun to play in front of.” Taylor paced the Hustle with six assists, Eli Jaime scored seven goals, and Parker Bray led everyone in the game in both throwing yards and receiving yards, becoming the first player in the league this season to record over 300 yards of each against an opponent other than Detroit. Bray was not perfect, but his ability to put mistakes behind him and make the next play especially impressed his coach. “[Parker] has the hardest job, and he did a really good job, and it takes so much to make errors and go back out there and do it again, to walk 80 yards and go try again,” said Knowles. “I’m so proud of him, especially because he hasn’t played ultimate since 2018 because of injuries. He got back out there the next point and just did it.”
     

  2. Dylan Tunnell’s appearance for the Hustle was far from the most important factor in the game, but the 2016 AUDL MVP coming out of retirement to play in his first game since 2017 was a super fun subplot to Friday night’s festivities. The 37-year-old Tunnell played 13 points, recording two assists and one block. “It was great, it was so much fun,” exclaimed a still-giddy Tunnell, postgame. “I thought I was done with this, and getting to play with these guys, they’re good, they are awesome, they’re so young and fast, and Miranda’s a fantastic coach. I was just happy to be able to be a part of this. The Boston team looked really good too. It was exciting.” With less than five minutes left and the game tied at 18, Atlanta’s Michael Fairley made an acrobatic leaping grab and was shaken up in the process. Knowles told Tunnell, in so many words, to go get the disc, and the former MVP initiated possession when play resumed, pump-faking a hammer and then launching a perfectly angled flick to Brett Hulsmeyer, squeezing it in between a pair of Boston defenders in the back corner of the end zone. It was the type of trust throw that you would expect Tunnell to make to a receiver he’s played with for years, however this was his first time ever playing with Hulsmeyer. Fortunately, the 23-year-old deep cutter from Louisville bares a slight resemblance to another one of Tunnell’s former teammates. “He looks exactly like Sam Gainer,” said Tunnell. “So it was kind of easy, just pretending I was throwing to Sam.
     

  3. Boston sliced and diced through the Atlanta zone early in the game, but once the Hustle defense settled in, the Glory’s offense began to struggle. “Atlanta’s zone was really well executed,” said Glory handler Henry Babcock. “It felt like they achieved a really challenging medium for a zone defense where they were putting pressure on backfield throws without losing containment on the back side. Didn’t feel like we had any totally free swings/resets that you usually have against zone looks; rather we were always throwing over/around a member of their front four on any swings or stuff in the middle…For most of the game, I thought we executed pretty well, but obviously three or four lapses in focus over the course of the game, especially in the fourth quarter when guys are getting tired, is just three or four too many.” Boston’s offense, which scored 18 goals in the first 34 minutes of the game, mustered just one in the last 14, as the Glory dipped to 1-1 on the year heading into their doubleheader road trip to DC and Raleigh this weekend. “The fact that we weren’t able to come away from the game with a 2-0 record is absolutely crushing to someone like me who absolutely hates to lose, however games like [Friday night’s] are exactly why we play and love the sport of ultimate,” said Boston’s Tanner Halkyard, who led the Glory in plus/minus at +7. “Chances to fight and to be punched in the gut, to punch back and sometimes go blow for blow, and to realize that strategy plays more of a role in this than we could have imagined; that makes the Atlanta game one we’ve learned a heck of a lot from, and one that won’t happen twice. Our next two games are going to be exciting matchups, and the on-the-road doubleheader will allow us to use some of the takeaways on endurance and consistency we learned through the game vs. Atlanta.”
     

  4. Speaking of DC and Raleigh, as brilliant as Jonny Malks performed for the Breeze, the top story from this game was certainly the Flyers dropping to 0-2 for the first time in franchise history.

    While Raleigh’s two losses, both by a single goal, are far from disqualifying, they are certainly a surprising development for a team that entered the year with lofty Championship Weekend ambitions. “Through these first two games, we haven’t been the best team we can be,” said Flyers Captain Josh Hartzog. “Our commitment is going back to work, and we’re gonna get back on the grind and put in the work in practice.” Raleigh led 16-13 with 8:50 left in the third, and the Flyers offense had been almost immaculate to that point before stumbling a few too many times down the stretch. Eric Taylor’s red-zone scoober was intercepted by DC’s Kris Harrison, leading to the first break of the second half. Later in the third, Breeze deep threat Joe Richards skied over Flyers defensive stalwart David Richardson for a thrilling goal that gave the Breeze an 18-17 lead, their first advantage since the score was 1-0 at the outset. “[DC] did a good job staying focused as a D-line, and our mistakes came in bunches which helped give them confidence to keep it up,” said Taylor, who paced Raleigh with six assists in defeat. “The primary message from leadership was focused on the future, as it should be. We really want to make sure that we take charge of our actions moving forward and make the individual and collective efforts to grow in the ways that make us better. Noah [Saul] of course in the huddle had a lot of passionate words that definitely helped us keep believing that we have the stuff of greatness on this team, and our goals for the season are definitely achievable.”

  5. Through two weeks, 30 players in the league have averaged at least 35 completions per game, but DC’s Jonny Malks has separated himself with his steadiness and precision.

    In fact, he’s the only member of that group with a completion rate better than 99 percent. He went 55-for-55 on Saturday night in Raleigh, improving his season clip to 99.3 percent, 141 completions in 142 throws. Perfection against the Flyers certainly would not have been possible without his downfield Joes, not to imply that his deep cutters were ordinary. “Once the field opens up, we have a couple different roofing companies within the team, and J&J Roofing had the contract for Saturday’s game,” said teammate AJ Merriman. Joe Richards and Joe Merrill both made several extraordinary grabs in critical moments to help Malks pad his stats and, more importantly, help the Breeze come from three goals down in the second half to win the game. Merrill scored six times, Richards found the end zone on four occasions, and the Breeze only turned over the disc four times after halftime, matching Raleigh’s mistake-free level from the first half. Whereas DC could have fallen to 1-2 without too many around the league batting an eye, the Breeze instead return home with a 2-1 mark, the lone blemish being their one-goal buzzer-beating setback against New York. In other words, 22-year-old Malks, former MVP Rowan McDonnell (57-for-57, 254 throwing yards, and three assists against the Flyers), and the rest of the Breeze are absolutely still in the playoff conversation. “As soon as we got back on the bus, we were watching film from around the league and chatting about Boston matchups,” added Merriman. “Coach [Darryl Stanley] is holding us down and stressing the details; his game-planning puts us in position to win every week. The Breeze are still a young team, and we’re hungry for more big games.” Frankly, it’s hard to believe that at least one of Atlanta, New York, DC, Boston, and Raleigh will miss the playoffs, and that’s before even mentioning the still unbeaten Philly Phoenix, who had their Week 2 tilt with the Empire postponed. There’s still a lot of frisbee left, but at the moment, the Flyers are the team on the outside looking in.

  6. Any other weekend, the Chicago Union would have received more attention for their undeniably impressive 2-0 start to the season. Quite simply, the Union have not been seriously challenged yet, a tribute to their pair of first-quarter performances against both Indianapolis and Minnesota. In Week 1 against the AlleyCats, Chicago led 9-2 en route to a 20-12 victory. This past Saturday, the Union led 10-4 and cruised to a 23-18 triumph over the Minnesota Wind Chill. “They’re a good team, and you can’t play a B-minus game and expect to beat them,” said Wind Chill Captain Bryan Vohnoutka. “Chicago played to their strengths. They played a rangey defense with calculated gambles. On offense, they also isolated cutters in space and we had trouble with our downfield communication and switching. They also took high percentage shots when hucking and it seemed when they needed a play they got a layout or sky. As advertised, the Union are the team to beat in the Central.” Notably, Pat Shriwise and Keegan North each delivered their own highlight reel layout moment for Chicago’s balanced offense. Shriwise, North, Nate Goff, and Ross Barker all shared the team-lead with three goals apiece.

    The Union never trailed, storming to a 3-0 lead in part courtesy of Drew Swanson’s layout block on the game’s very first point. “Nothing gets these old veteran players more excited than a big layout block on the first point of the game,” said Swanson, half-joking. “I think it helps remind them of their younger, more springy days.” Swanson led Chicago with three blocks and was quick to point out that some of his elder teammates could make hugely athletic plays too. “Look at Pat, he had a massive layout goal, and Keegan, boy that man can fly. But seriously, we are having fun and setting the tone early with a big block and breaking out the BlockChain, it gets these guys fired up…I think I speak for the team in saying, we definitely feel the target on our back. The great thing about this team, though, is that there is so much high level experience between our veteran players that most of us don’t seem phased by it. Maybe, actually inspired by it. The crazy thing about Union 2021 is that we haven’t even scratched our potential.” Chicago’s Peter Graffy, who threw the goal on the Union’s first break and played turnover-free in 22 points, agreed. “At this point, we are winning games on the back of our talent as opposed to chemistry,” said Graffy. “When we get more reps as a squad and finally face some heat from other teams is when I think things will click synergistically for our team, and we will push to that next level.” Week 3 is likely not the time we will see Chicago get pushed, considering the Union’s lone contest this weekend is a Saturday matchup against the Mechanix in Detroit. The Mechanix, after their 28-16 loss to Indianapolis this past weekend, have now lost their last 41 games, a staggering streak that seemingly cannot be stopped even when we’re seeing craziness almost everywhere else in the league.

  7. While the Tampa Bay Cannons did not make a great impression during their Week 1 doubleheader, losing a pair in Philly and DC, the Cannons did bounce back in Week 2, handling the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds down the stretch to prevail 18-15.

    It’s certainly not a fluke that Tampa’s triumph coincided with the return of All-Star Andrew Roney, who led all throwers with 619 passing yards this past weekend. “The main stories were the wind in the first half and our defense closing the door in the fourth quarter for us,” said Roney, who finished the game with 64 completions, including nine assists, both game-highs. “As far as big moments, Billy O'Bryan had a huge block on the goal line to prevent Pittsburgh from getting a break and going up by one in the middle of the fourth. One of our younger defenders, Michael Arbutine, had a big sky block on the next point, which we took a timeout on and broke right after to go up by two. And our North Carolina transplants, Matt Bode and Stephen Poulos, connected on an upwind scoober break to increase our lead to three.” Cannons veteran Ryan Chard compiled impressive receiving numbers, accumulating 289 yards downfield along with his six goals, both of which topped the team. At 1-2, the Cannons upcoming schedule looks daunting—their final nine games include two apiece against Atlanta, Boston, Raleigh, and New York, along with one other with DC—but Tampa still seemingly has the potential to be a very tough trip for visiting opponents. “It absolutely feels great to get that first win under our belts,” said Roney.

    “The first 25 percent of the season has been crazy for all divisions. We’re hoping to shock some more people next week against Atlanta, but know that it will take a full consistent team effort to beat them this year.”

The Hammer

It feels farfetched to imagine even how Week 3’s craziness could possibly surpass the chaos from the past few days, however there will absolutely be plenty of opportunities for more madness. In particular, we’re on the verge of the busiest Friday night of the entire season, with five games on the slate to launch the weekend, all of which are super intriguing. 


Orion Cable elevating for the Boston Glory score.

Two contests we’ve never seen before commence at 7:00 PM Eastern, as Boston visits DC and New York travels to Pittsburgh. At 8:00 PM Eastern, Madison and Minnesota meet again, just two weeks after one of the most stunning conclusions to a game in AUDL history. At 8:30 PM Eastern, Los Angeles and Dallas will square off in Texas, and an hour after that, San Diego will meet San Jose in Oakland. All five of those Friday showcases have the potential to become the marquee contest of the weekend, and then you remember that there are five more games on Saturday and two others on Sunday. 

As the dust still settles from the recent action, more drama and surprises are inevitable. Tell your friends, fire up that AUDL.tv subscription, and enjoy it. 

After 21 months without frisbee, the grind is back, and it’s marvelous.