2014 Nationals - Women's Division Day 2 Recap
Leah Brown
Posted: October 17, 2014 08:45 PM
Leah Brown recaps Friday's action in the women's division at the 2014 National Championships in Frisco, Texas.
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2014 Nationals Women's Division:
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The top four lived up to their reputations: Brute Squad, Riot, Fury and Scandal again went undefeated on the day.
Each team was hungry to have a chance at knocking out the top seeds of the tournament, but things fell in textbook fashion during the pre-quarterfinal round. Brute Squad steamrolled Tabby Rosa 15-4; Showdown took the win over Heist 15-10; Scandal defeated the Capitals 15-7; Traffic edged out Nightlock 14-10; Riot rolled to an easy 15-4 victory over Underground; Ozone topped Nemesis 15-10; Fury flew by Green Means Go 15-7; and Molly Brown just squeaked by Schwa at 12-10.
Riot, Fury and Scandal each made easy work of Ozone, Molly Brown and Traffic, respectively, in quarterfinal play. But Brute Squad had a slight scare in their comeback win over Showdown.
In what was the most exciting game of the day, Showdown broke early to take the lead and pushed the game to half relatively quickly at 8-7. It seemed like the Texans were finally able to find a hole in Brute Squad’s airtight defense, and they went up a pair of breaks after the half. Boston changed up their offense, and great results followed. Instead of the traditional horizontal stack, Brute lined up their cutters on the sidelines in a split stack to open the field. The new offense took advantage of Showdown’s poachy man defense and allowed them to battle back.
In the end, Brute Squad closed out the match 16-14 on double-game point to move forward into tomorrow’s semifinal round where they will face off against Scandal.
During Riot’s contest with Ozone, both teams looked to capitalize on deep looks, but only Riot connected consistently enough to pull out the win. In the first half, Seattle traded points with Ozone. Atlanta was slow starting and showed some nerves. That didn’t stop them from recognizing Riot’s zone and adjusting accordingly. But eventually Riot’s defense, which was loose on the handlers and favored cutting off up-field gains instead of lateral passes, was able to shut down Ozone’s scoring possibilities, and they pulled away to complete a 14-9 win. Of course, it helped that Riot had the speed and deep roster to keep up their intensity.
Photo credit: Tino Tran Photography
Fury maintained their fast and furious pace in their quarterfinal match up against Molly Brown. The Coloradans, who were hoping to continue the success of their pre-quarters game, couldn’t keep up the intensity and fell 11-15. Both teams started the match looking to strike deep and capitalize on power plays. Since there was no wind to speak of, both teams had a reasonable chance of connecting on deep looks, which would help keep morale high. After tying at five a piece, Fury threw a zone defense that forced Molly into some mistakes, which San Francisco capitalized on to take the half 8-5. Molly was competitive in the second half, but Fury kept the pedal to the floor and eventually finished out the win 15-11.
Scandal’s match against Traffic was high scoring, but the quickest game of pool play. Both teams’ offenses were clicking and each was scoring largely at will, but Scandal’s tight man defense shut down Traffic just enough to grab the win, 15-12. Scandal utilized their long game in the windless weather, while Traffic settled for plenty of passes underneath. As the game progressed, Washington, D.C. kicked up the intensity on defense and managed to stop Traffic both under and deep.
In the third round of play, teams battled for Pro Flight status and placement. After the re-seed, Molly Brown (5) and Showdown (8), and Ozone (7) and Traffic (6) played for a chance at fifth place.
Showdown took the game against Molly 15-8, and Ozone squeaked out a win against Traffic 15-12. The game for fifth place will take place Saturday morning.
Photo credit: Tino Tran Photography
Nightlock (9), Tabby Rosa (16), Heist (13), the Capitals (12), Schwa (11), Green Means Go (14), Underground (15) and Nemesis (10) all shot for a chance at seventh. Nightlock came out swinging against Tabby and took half 8-3. Part of their success came from their ability to score quickly, and the other came from being able to keep Tabby’s up-line gains to a minimum. Nightlock closed out the game 15-7.
Heist and the Capitals had a close game where the Canadians trailed for the first half, but later tied it at nines. The Caps utilized a zone defense that, despite the calmer conditions, was extremely effective. Heist stuck to man defense, and it eventually paid off, allowing them to take the win as captain Robyn Wiseman came up huge with a layout D and score in the opposite end zone. Heist took the game 14-12.
Photo credit: Daniel Thai, UltiPhotos
Schwa squared off with Green Means Go and made quick work of the game, finishing 15-8 thanks to precise throws and quick offense.
Despite going down a break in the first half, Underground battled back in their game against Nemesis to take the game 15-12.
A final round of play tomorrow morning will see Molly Brown square off against Nightlock, and Schwa match up against Traffic for chances at seventh place. Heist and Underground will play for 11th, the Capitals and Nemesis will vie for 13th, and Tabby and GMG will fight for 15th.
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