As the hurricane continued to blow 20-30mph winds across the fields, the quarterfinalists fought to break through to the top four and secure a spot at next year’s U.S. Open.
Showdown knocked out Nemesis with a definitive 15-7 score, with exciting plays such as a first-throw Callahan from Showdown’s Diana Charrier, pulling the score to game point at 14-6. Showdown then capitalized on the wind and Captain Cara Crouch put a beautiful backhand out to space for Katey Forth to snag for the win.
15-10 seemed to be the score of the day for the rest of the quarterfinals with Fury, Riot, and Scandal all holding seed with that score. Fury vs. Caps was neck and neck in the beginning until Fury pulled away in the second half thanks to the confident throws of Fury’s handlers Alex Snyder and Ness Fajardo. The Caps kept it close in the first half as the teams traded, but Fury pulled away in the second half. The final score featured Fury’s Alicia Dantzker getting a clutch layout D near the endzone, followed by a quick throw from Fajardo to Genevieve Laroche wide open in the endzone.
Riot and Ozone battled through this quarterfinal’s long points, but Riot’s first half upwind breaks helped by Riot Nora Carr’s layout Ds, took them to half 8-6. A great play occurred in the last point of the second half when Ozone Anna Hare got a footblock near the endzone, preventing Riot from getting a quick score to end the game. But Riot got the disc back quickly, and Alyssa Weatherford found her target #6 Sarah Griffith in the endzone to secure the win for Riot.
Scandal took down Molly Brown thanks to the great defense of Opi Payne and strong throws of Jenny Fey, although Molly Brown did a great job of fighting for upwind breaks thanks to the pretty hucks of Sally Lambert. Scandal took a solid lead in the first half, which gave them enough cushion to ride out Molly Brown’s second half resurgence, led by #39 Tina McDowell’s scores to bring Molly Brown within two. But Scandal’s Sarah Itoh and Kirsten Unfriend were all over the field for Scandal, helping secure the win for the ladies from D.C.
Semifinals - Scandal vs. Riot
The first semifinal was exciting, featuring a U.S. Open final rematch of Riot vs. Scandal. The game started out with a quick break by Riot, and then the teams traded scores – Riot’s Katy Craley had a spectacular layout score and Scandal’s Jenny Fey was on fire, catching Scandal’s first three scores. Riot grabbed two breaks to take half 8-5, but the Scandal took the momentum coming out of the half, with Alicia White finding Sarah Itoh on a downwind huck to get the first of Scandal’s two breaks.
Riot answered with two scores of their own, and the teams continued to trade points in this exciting second half. The best plays included Riot’s Gwen Ambler rising above a crowd to grab a floaty throw to make it 12-11, and in the next point Scandal’s Charlie Mercer had a layout block on the mark followed by a quick Scandal score to make it 12-12. At 13-13, Riot’s Alyssa Weatherford connected with a diving Heidi-Marie Clemens to give Riot game point. The teams traded possessions in the next point, trying to get field position to set their team up for a score. Riot was able to stop Scandal on their own endzone line and get a quick score, Kate Kingery connecting with Hana Kawai to win the game, securing Riot’s spot in the finals.
After the game, Scandal captain Molly Roy had nothing but pride for her team’s performance in the last game and throughout the season. "If there’s any way to go out before the finals, I guess that’s it. Everybody really stepped up and kept us in that game."
Semifinals - Fury vs. Showdown
Showdown started this game strong, taking the first point on a layout score from Sarah Levinn. Fury answered back with four points, but Showdown got two more of their own, with Cara Crouch sending beautiful throws downwind, connecting with Sara Blyth in the endzone to make it 4-3. But Fury was just getting warmed up, and with the precise throws of Kaela Jorgensen and smart cutting of Liz Penny, Fury walked away with the rest of the game, finishing Showdown off 15-4.
But Showdown truly put on a show this weekend – they came in ranked 12th and third in their pool, and secured a spot in the semifinals by dominating pool play and pulling off a definitive quarterfinal win over Nemesis, a team they lost to earlier in the season. After the Fury game, Showdown captain Holly Greunke said, "It wasn’t how we wanted the tournament to end, but we’re really proud of the way we stepped up in big games this weekend and pulled out wins that we might not have earlier in the season."