Colorado Apex Bets Its Future on Building Structure
(Golden, CO = Won Jeong) Colorado Apex hosted the Oakland Spiders on July 18 in the final game of its 2026 season.
Colorado sought to vary its tactics by alternating between vertical and horizontal stacks. Oakland, meanwhile, opened the game in a side stack, with two handlers and five cutters positioned three on the left and two on the right.
The teams traded points throughout a tightly contested opening quarter, which ended in a 7-7 tie. Oakland began to take control in the second quarter, outscoring Colorado 8-4.
The Spiders extended their advantage with a 7-3 third quarter. Oakland then edged Colorado 7-6 in the fourth to secure a 29-20 victory.
Oakland produced several impressive tactical sequences during the game. Starting with a side stack as its primary setup, the team also used variations of the side stack, a vertical stack and modified versions of the vertical stack to create space.
When Oakland needed a score, it often changed its offensive structure to disrupt Colorado’s defensive assignments and create openings for its cutters.
One of Oakland’s most notable formations was a modified vertical stack. Three cutters were positioned in the middle, while two additional cutters lined up across the field in deeper positions. From that formation, the cutter on the deep right side attacked the end zone and connected on a huck for a relatively easy score.
Oakland was equally impressive on defense. When Colorado was forced toward the sideline, Oakland conceded some space on the open side while forming a wall between the handlers and cutters. The positioning disrupted Colorado’s passing lanes and made it difficult for the Apex to advance the disc.
A similar spatial concept was evident in Oakland’s offense. When the disc moved toward the sideline, the Spiders worked it back toward the middle and used the open side to continue their attack.
Oakland also drew Colorado’s defense toward the left sideline before gradually opening space on the right side of the field and taking advantage of it to score.
After the game, Oakland coach Liam Kreiss said the matchup gave his team an opportunity to test different structures ahead of the playoffs.
“It was a chance for us to try several different structures before the playoffs,” Kreiss said. “Just like in soccer, we use different formations, and each formation has a different purpose.”
Colorado coach Joe Durst said in an informal interview that his team devotes much of its practice time to developing structures that can be used in games.
“We spend most of our practice time building structures and preparing to apply them in actual games,” Durst said. “We only have about 10 team practices during a season, and that is not enough time to fully develop our formations.”
The game was Colorado’s final contest of the season. The Apex finished the year with a 3-9 record.
