The rest of Spring Break will feel so much better.
 
After a mild upset at the hands of 4^th-seeded Claremont Colleges detoured Grand Canyon University Men's Ultimate's collision course with top-seeded UC San Diego in a possible finals rematch, the Lopes rebounded to top UCLA, 11-7, in the 3^rd-place finals of USA Ultimate Southwest Showdown 2026 in Los Angeles, California, Sunday afternoon.
 
The 3^rd-seeded Lopes seemed destined for a finals berth after winning two of their first three pool-play matches rather easily on Saturday, putting up 13 points on both 8^th-seeded UC Santa Barbara (13-5) and 9^th-seeded Long Beach State University (13-2). Sandwiched in between the two matches was a foreshadowing of things to come: a close 8-7 win the Lopes eked out over UCLA, who came in seeded 6^th in the 10-team tournament. That set up a battle of unbeatens to finish out pool play between the Lopes and the No. 1 seed from UCSD, but the war was a lopsided one for the Tritons in a 13-5 Lopes' loss.
 
That gave the automatic berth in Sunday's semifinal round to the Tritons and forced the Lopes to a quarterfinal-round matchup against UC Irvine, who underachieved as the tournament's 2^nd seed, splitting its four pool-play games and proving little match for the Lopes in a 13-7 GCU rout. That sent the Lopes to the semifinal round against the upstarts of the tournament: Claremont. The Stags breezed through the other pool Saturday, scoring no less than a dozen points in each of their four wins over UCSD's 'B' team, Cal Poly Pomona, San Diego State University and UCI. They narrowly missed hitting that plateau in the semis, but still maintained a steady lead over the Lopes for an 11-7 victory that sent CC to an eventual finals loss to UCSD, and dispatched the Lopes to the 3^rd-place finals. Awaiting them were the revenge-minded Bruins, who saw that possibility dissipate as the Lopes stayed ahead in the weekend's second meeting to finish 3^rd.
 
The Lopes (9-4 overall) now have a full month to prepare for the 2026 Desert D-I Conference Championships, which will be held in Tempe.