Colorado Springs, Colo. (May 23, 2026) – The USA Ultimate D-I College Championships in Rockford, Ill. are off to a breezy start. Top teams across both divisions put up a strong showing — despite windy conditions — with the top four seeds in both the men’s and women’s divisions going undefeated in the first round of pool play.
At the end of day one, Callahan Finalist Quincy Booth (Georgia) leads the women’s division in assists at 11, with Abigail Smith (Pennsylvania) leading goals at eight. In the men’s division, stats leaders are Owen Erdman (Brown), Axel Olson (Carleton) and Will Selfridge (Utah) with nine assists each, and Reid Duncan (Pittsburgh) with nine goals.
The biggest moments of the day in the men’s division included a first round upset by Maryland (18), who’s back in the big dance for the first time since 2018, as they defeated Brown (11) to open the day. The men’s division also saw a high-powered Pool D matchup as Massachusetts (5) defeated North Carolina (4) in a 2023 Finals rematch. Pittsburgh (9) stacked two wins to lead Pool D and Colorado (2) is the point differential leader with a strong +17 through the first day of games.
In an exciting game on the women’s side, Western Washington (11) scored two Callahans against Michigan (18), the second one to finish the game in a double game point comeback victory. Top teams Carleton (1) and British Columbia (2) were both dominant in their opening games, easily taking down the second-best team in their pools — Colorado (8) and North Carolina (7), respectively. Georgia (17) pulled off the biggest women’s division upset so far with a 15-13 win over UCLA (12) to cap the day.
Pool play continues Saturday, followed by a round of prequarters to determine the field for Sunday’s bracket. Matchups to watch include the men’s division game where 1-1 North Carolina (4) takes on 2-0 Pittsburgh (9) and top seed Oregon (1) meets Georgia Tech (13). In the women’s division key matchups include UC Santa Cruz (3) vs. Oregon (10), Washington (5) vs. Pennsylvania (9) and Stanford (4) vs. Vermont (16).
Live event coverage for Saturday will be available through USA Ultimate’s streaming partner Ultiword.
