Fury wins the Women's Division at the 2013 U.S. Open
Erin Wiltgen
Posted: July 9, 2013 10:22 AM
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Women's Division:
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Though the end result came as everyone expected, Scandal sure made the journey interesting.
Fury began the final match up in the women’s division at the 2013 U.S. Open Championships against the Washington, D.C., squad with their typical poise, using speed on defense to generate turns and patience on offense to punch in two breaks. Settling down a bit, Scandal’s cutters fell into a rhythm, moving the disc quickly through easy resets and dishes to the handlers to march up the field and secure their first score to put the count at 2-1.
Tough defense on both sides, especially on players behind the disc to prevent the handler weave, forced turnovers for both teams. Scandal managed an easy score for a break off a Fury dump throw away, tying the match at twos. After trading to threes, the D.C. contingent stepped up their defense. Using a deep pull from Octavia Payne to pin the Fury handlers in the back corner of their end zone, Scandal used tight defense to force a turn and sink another easy break score. One more uncharacteristic turn from Fury gave Scandal yet another opportunity, and the underdogs capitalized; Christie Lawry found Jenny Fey, who out-read her defender for a completed huck in the end zone.
The Scandal athletes – finding themselves up 5-3, ahead one break and on a three-point run – discovered renewed momentum. Though Fury found the end zone on the next possession, the D.C. club managed several Ds before their opponents could convert. Scandal turned right around and marched the disc up the open side through handler cuts up the line for the score.
But Fury wouldn’t go away. After putting in a goal for the offensive line, the San Francisco squad took advantage of a Scandal turn, using lateral movement to spread the field and secure a break for the equalizer.
The squads traded into the break with Scandal taking half 8-7. Both teams played fairly conservatively in the first part of the match, using shorter throws to move the disc, working out the kinks and finding a rhythm.
Fury scored quickly out of the half to tie the game at eight, then threw their loose, zone-like poach defense, using five players in a circle to guard the middle of the field and two hanging out deep. The zone forced a turnover, but Fury had one of their own, and Scandal’s Kath Ratcliff found Molly Roy in the end zone on a traditional cut to the front cone.
Fury found their deep game in the next point, connecting for the first time on a huck when Maggie Ruden caught the disc in the power position and found Julia Sherwood for the score and the equalizer at 9-9.
Scandal came out with good separation down field, the cutters getting wide open on the under runs. But Fury’s Claire Sharman put on the pressure in the end zone to force a drop, and her team capitalized, earning the break and taking the lead 10-9.
The two clubs traded until 12-11, when Fury’s Loryn Kanemaru intercepted a bad throw. The team swung the disc patiently on the end zone line until Kanemaru found Claire Desmond on a cut away from the disc, who finished off the point with a floaty throw out to Lakshmi Narayan in the back of the end zone for another break.
Riding on that momentum, Fury brought pressure defense to earn a turn and breaking the mark on the transition offense, setting up an easy score to bring them to game point. Though Scandal came out strong on offense to make the game 14-12 and forced a bad throw on the next point, the D.C. team couldn’t hold on. Fury fell back on their fast break offense; Kaela Jorgenson found a wide-open Cree Howard streaking deep, and the California squad came up with the easy score and the 15-11 victory.
Fury finished the weekend with a perfect 9-0 record and the 2013 U.S. Open Championship.
Photos by UltiPhotos.com (Extended highlights)
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