2011 Club Regionals Preview: Women's Week 2
USA Ultimate
Posted: October 7, 2011 10:05 AM
The Capitals are the favorites going into Regionals this weekend, fresh off qualifying for Worlds in Japan earlier this season. The Capitals are tasked with peaking twice in one season, and will have to do so without Alyson Walker, Danielle Fortin, and Kate Werry, who are notably absent from the Capitals’ fall roster. A last-minute drop from Virginia Fusion and no competitive games since mid-August may mean the Capitals are more vulnerable than most realize, but make no mistake, the Capitals are a deep, talented team and Anne Mercier, Malissa Lundgren, and Kaitlyn Lovatt will look to live up to expectations.
Some may label Brute Squad’s season as disappointing thus far as they have zero big wins to their name in 2011, but Boston faithfuls are hoping that it’s just a matter of time before the pieces come together, and everyone knows that it’s only the wins in October that matter. Season-ending injuries to V.Y. Chow, Stephanie Barker, and Betsy Calkins are big hits in terms of both skill and experience to an already young Brute team, but the late-season additions of Johanna Neumann and Marie-France Hivert should help significantly. Brute has a very clear system in place, and while the personnel is drastically different from years past, that system is one that they believe in, and one that they will execute once their new players have had time to find their place. If that time is now, the region is theirs for the taking. The top women’s teams in the nation will have their eyes fixed on this region—a victory for the Capitals means an almost certain 4 seed at Nationals, while a win for Brute Squad means that Deanna Ball’s job just got a whole lot harder.
The third team in the Northeast is pretty clearly Bent, who brings a 10th place finish at 2010 Nationals to the table. However, this roster is a shadow of last year’s with only a handful of returning players. The team’s success will rely heavily on the play of Holly Shapiro and Rebecca Tucker, and while the team should easily secure the 3rd bid, things will have to come together in a big way for them to challenge either of the top two teams.
The South is structured much like the Northeast, with a similar chasm between the top two teams and the rest of the field, but the third bid is very much up for grabs in the South. Showdown and Ozone have been the class of the region for the past few seasons, and this year should be no different. Heading into the season, many felt that this would be Ozone’s year to reclaim the region, as the team picked up several high-profile players in Sarah Blyth (ex-Showdown), Liz Duffy (ex-Riot), and Lauren Childs (ex-Brute Squad) in addition to nearly doubling its healthy roster size with players from Bucket and local college teams. In addition, Anna Bucher and Maggie Jackson return from injuries that prevented or limited their play at Nationals, giving some young lines additional experience. Pair that with an extremely young Showdown team (a dozen players who played college ultimate in 2010 and/or 2011), and everyone has every reason to believe that the region is Ozone’s for the taking.
Showdown’s convincing 15-8 win over Ozone in the 5th place game at Labor Day reminded everyone that no one has won the region yet. Showdown has gone an astounding 8-1 against Ozone over the past three seasons. While some of those wins have come in relatively meaningless games, Showdown also has wins over Ozone in the past two regional finals, as well as in important games at Nationals. That mental edge and confidence cannot be overestimated, and Showdown’s veterans will be determined to keep the regional title in Texas. Showdown’s youth has been a weakness at times, demonstrated by their inability to play zone offense against Phoenix at Labor Day, but one of Showdown’s strengths over the past few years has been youthful, hard-nosed man defense and this year will be no different. As Ozone continues to work out the kinks of managing a 27-person roster with many new players, the region seems to be more up in the air than many thought in July.
The allocation of wildcard bids is a breath of new life for many on-the-cusp teams that would otherwise have an extremely outside shot at Nationals at best. Mostly masters-based team, Top Shelf, is a likely candidate for the third bid with some of the savviest players in the region in Eileen Murray and Lisa Etchison on their roster. Top Shelf is the only other team in the region besides Ozone and Showdown with players who boast significant Nationals experience, and it could very well come down to their ability to play in big games, as none of the other contenders have much experience playing in games that matter. DeSoto, led by Toby Beaver and Sara Gibson, will also contend for the bid, though the loss of Alison Douglas to Ozone will impact their depth significantly. Inferno, whose roster includes former Showdown players Kim Breese and Austine Lin, will also contend for the third bid. The Houston women’s commitment to building women’s ultimate in their city is commendable, and a trip to Nationals would go a long way toward building both the club and college programs in H-Town.
Things could get exciting in Denver this weekend for the SW Women’s Regionals. Almost as if on cue, the weather forecast has temperatures dropping 20 degrees from Friday to Saturday, promising a cold and wet weekend (pack smart CA and AZ)! The weather could make for some interesting games, and with a 7-team round robin format, teams will need to be efficient in order to conserve energy for late Sunday.
If the regular season is any indication, Molly Brown 2011 is even stronger than the team who swept through SW regionals last year, not only undefeated, but lacking any close games- and now they are in their backyard. But the competition has changed as well. Knock Out and Jack Wagon, also both first year teams in 2010, have gotten another year of playing with each other under their belts. Knock Out has yet to get any wins over national-caliber teams, but you can bet they have been gearing up for this October weekend to avenge their back to back losses for nationals bids at last year’s regionals. Regionals in Colorado has helped Jack Wagon beef up their roster with savvy vets and young college players who might not have otherwise been able to travel this weekend.
If three second year teams wasn’t enough new blood (well, "new blood" might be a bit of a misnomer- all three of those teams have decades of SW regionals experience on their rosters), there are 3 brand new teams in Colorado Wildfire, Whiptail and Revolution. Look for Wildfire to come out with legs and lungs, running their opponents around the field to make up for what they may lack in game-time experience. Whiptail is the product of a Tucson-area shake-up. With Barrio no longer a mixed team, one can assume that Whiptail is benefiting from the skills of some ex-coed stars. Revolution is a group of young LA players who find their strength in their shared college playing experience.
And then there is Safari. Despite having been around much longer than any other Southwest womens team, and much longer than most women’s club teams for that matter, they enter the weekend more of a mystery than any other team. While most of the region saw each other at Colorado Cup, and Knock Out and Molly Brown faced off at Labor Day, Safari opted to travel a little further to attend Boston Invite and ECC. Looking at results between common opponents, and taking in to account Safari’s convincing win at So Cal sectionals, the top 4 very well may finish as seeded. But this is regionals- anything could happen!