2015 National Championships: Women's Day Two Recap
Alyssa Kelly
Posted: October 3, 2015 01:26 AM
Pre-Quarterfinals
The short story of pre-quarters at the 2015 National Championships is that they all ended up finishing according to seed, with the top eight teams moving on to quarterfinals, but the road to get there was more treacherous than anticipated.
Boston Brute Squad came into the tournament the overall number one seed and came out of pool play as A1. They faced off against D4, Montreal Iris, who lost to the original 16 seed of the tournament. Brute came out strong with a 3-0 lead. Iris took back a break in the first half, but for the most part, the teams traded to 8-6, with Brute up. Out of halftime, they continued to trade points until 13-11 (with Brute still up). At that point, Leila Tunnell sparked the Boston side with an impressive backhand huck, and they maintained that fire with earn two breaks to finish out the game 15-11. After the game, Iris coach Mathieu Bordeleau said that they tried a variety of defenses against Brute Squad. His hope is that their game against Iris is able to help Brute in their journey for success through the rest of the tournament.
Atlanta Ozone met Portland Schwa in the live-streamed game. Ozone picked up a break and took the first half 8-7. They received out of half and held, even notching another break a couple points later to make the score 11-8. Then Schwa turned it on, scoring five of the next seven points to tie the game at 13-13. Although there were multiple chances to bring it to double-game point, Ozone scored the next two points to close out the game 15-13.
Denver Molly Brown continued their trend of keeping teams from the bottom eight to low scores. They faced the Capitals and won 15-5, exhibiting some very smooth offensive flow.
D.C. Scandal faced New York BENT this morning. BENT came out of the gate with a break and maintained it for nine points before Scandal returned the favor for the 5-4 lead. After that, Scandal only allowed BENT four more points in the rest of the game; final score 15-8.
San Francisco Fury found a similar situation to Scandal, with Raleigh Phoenix securing a break on the first point. Phoenix did it again to make it 4-2, but they also woke the beast. Fury turned the advantage around to take half 8-6 and went on a five-point run to make it 12-7. The teams then traded until the game was capped at 14-9.
Vancouver Traffic played Madison Heist in an intense game. Traffic started out up 3-1 and took half 6-5, but Heist turned it on and fought back. Late in the game, Heist came within one point of Traffic at 10-11. They played with a lot of heart and effort throughout the game, highlighted by an attempted layout D on Traffic’s game-winning score. Final score 15-12.
San Francisco Nightlock played Chicago Nemesis in a turnover-ridden game that Nightlock won 15-9.
Seattle Riot had another quick game against Texas Showdown, 15-7.
Ninth-Place Quarters
Portland Schwa came out hard against Texas Showdown and immediately got two breaks. Showdown brought the score back on serve, but Schwa went to work with more breaks to take half 8-5. After getting broken out of half, Schwa scored seven of the next eight points to win 15-7. During Schwa’s big run at the end, Showdown players were talking to each other about getting the energy up, but unfortunately it seemed too late. They had just come from a loss to Riot and seemed down from that, whereas Schwa was still hyped up from a near-comeback against Ozone.
Raleigh Phoenix started out their game against the Capitals with a break and never let it go. Although they had a couple sloppy points, with three turnovers leading to scores by the Capitals, Phoenix was in control of the game and won solidly 15-10.
Madison Heist and New York BENT faced off with a lot of fire. It was a low-scoring game with a lot of turnovers – many being Ds. Early in the game, Heist was down a break to BENT, but tied the score at 4-4 on a particularly long point. They secured a two-point lead at 7-5, but BENT scored three in a row to take half 8-7. Heist held to tie the game at 8-8, and then it was double-game point. Both teams battled hard in a very physical game, but Heist came out on top 9-8.
Iris and Chicago Nemesis played again today after a double-game-point game in pool play. Yesterday, Nemesis came out on top, but today Iris got revenge. Iris maintained a two- or three-point lead for most of the game and looked far more confident than they did yesterday. They won with a score of 15-12.
Quarterfinals
Brute Squad v. Ozone
Boston Brute Squad started out their game with a break on Atlanta Ozone. The teams traded for a while before Brute notched two more breaks to take half 8-5. Out of half, Brute held on O to start a five-point run, allowing Ozone only one more score before the final of 15-7.
Molly Brown v. Scandal
This game was nuts. It turns out the stadium is gustier than the other fields. Scandal started out on offense up-wind, but a D by Tania Reitz catalyzed a break for Molly Brown. For the most of the first half, the teams were trading goals, with the score tied or within one. Scandal did take half 8-7. Out of half, Molly Brown played an up-wind, no-turn offensive point and threw a cup zone on Scandal. Scandal dished the disc up the field among the handlers all along the trap side, with only one attempt at swinging the disc around. They worked it up the entire field, but an IO flick on the end-zone line led to an easy D for Molly Brown, who immediately hucked downwind. At this point, the teams exchanged seven turnovers. Scandal ended up with possession 20 yards out of their end zone and called a time out. After a call and many passes, Scandal finally scored their up-wind O point. The next point featured a similar turnover story. Molly Brown worked the disc up-wind well with Slattery as the main reset and eventually scored to tie the game at 9-9. The next point saw Octavia "Ope" Payne shutting down Alika Johnston as a reset and Scandal turning the disc up-wind. On the transition, Kath Ratcliff got a run-through D on a swing pass from Payne, but Scandal couldn’t hold the possession, and Molly Brown broke downwind for 10-9. Scandal received downwind and played a rare no-turn O point with Fey touching the disc on every other to tie it again at 10-10. The teams continued to trade this way for the remainder of the game, with the advantage in Molly Brown’s favor. For the most part, both teams had multiple possessions per point, including on double-game point which resulted in Molly Brown winning 13-12.
Riot v. Traffic
Seattle Riot and Vancouver Traffic matched up in a Northwest Regionals rematch. In the first half, it appeared that there were a couple close moments but that Riot was going to take the game. They took it to half 8-4 and extended their lead to 11-5. Coach Andy Lovseth remembers having mentioned the score here, because Traffic then scored six of the next seven points to close the gap to one. Riot received the disc ahead at 12-11 in a game to 14. They held and traded with Traffic to close out the win 14-12.
Fury v. Nightlock
In another regionals rematch, San Francisco Fury played crosstown rivals San Francisco Nightlock. Fury started the game with a 3-0 run. Anna Nazarov got a layout D on an under cut, but many times, Fury got possession from a Nightlock turn on an overthrown downwind huck. The wind did factor in more this game, popping up-wind throws from both teams high in the air when the throwers weren’t careful. Nightlock went on a run of their own, one that included an upwind break featuring a huck and a blade to the end zone, to tie the game at 3-3. They were loud, and the excitement was palpable, but from here, Fury took off. They scored five in a row to bring the game to 8-3, starting off with a classic no-turn offensive point. Nancy Sun and Sabrina Fong were cogs for the Fury offense, with break throws galore. In the second half, they continued their control of the game and won with a final score of 15-8.
Fifth-Place Semifinals
Scandal v. Ozone
Scandal and Ozone played a very close game until a score of 10-8 with Scandal up. At that point, Scandal rattled off five goals to win 15-8.
Traffic v. Nightlock
Traffic went up 2-0 right away, but Nightlock cleaned it up with an up-wind break and tied the game. The teams traded upwind points, with Nightlock making some big defensive plays that still managed to work out for Traffic, including a disc that was footblocked and still caught through two bidding defenders. Traffic took it to half on serve, 8-7. To start the second half, the teams exchanged breaks and continued to trade points. Traffic got the final goal on double-game point to win 12-11.
Ninth-Place Semifinals
Iris v. Heist
Although Iris came out with a break to start against Heist, the game quickly skewed in favor of their opponent. Heist appeared to be the stronger team throughout the game, taking half 8-4 and finishing 15-11.
Schwa v. Phoenix
Phoenix began to pull away toward the end of the first half to take it 8-4. Although Schwa did get a couple breaks back later in the game, Phoenix went on another three-point run in the second half, and the game ended with a score of 15-10.
13th-Place Semifinals
Capitals v. Showdown
This was an immensely turnover-ridden game, leading to a capped score. The score at half was 8-6 in favor of Showdown. After half, they received and held to make it 9-6, but that was the last score of the day for Showdown. The Capitals scored five in a row for an 11-9 victory.
Nemesis v. BENT
This was a tight game, reminiscent of the Nemesis-Iris match up from pool play yesterday. After a zone helped BENT go up a break, Nemesis broke back for 7-7. The next two points were extremely long, and both ended in favor of BENT. The teams traded until the time cap for a BENT victory of 11-9.
Saturday Games to Watch
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Riot v. Fury Semifinal: (Live-streamed at 5:30pm on ESPN3) A rematch of last year’s semifinal; Fury won that game 12-10.
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Brute Squad v. Molly Brown Semifinal
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Phoenix v. Ozone Pro Flight Play-In: Regional rivals with a lot on the line! Ozone has gotten the best of Phoenix in most of their match ups this season, but Phoenix has a lot to prove after not qualifying for Nationals last year.
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Traffic v. Scandal Fifth-Place Game
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