USA Ultimate

Follow Along: Event page Mixed Division Schedule #NationalsIL @USAUltimateLive @TripleCrownTour    Get up-to-date scores and brackets in the USA Ultimate mobile app - free from the App Store and Google Play.

Slow White Wins Their First-Ever National Championship

Slow White met regional rival Metro North this morning in grey and breezy weather, similar to the conditions during yesterday’s semifinals. Slow White and Metro North competed several times in the regular season, with Slow White emerging victorious in all but their regionals match up, which Metro won to take the first Nationals bid from the Northeast. The teams know each other well, allowing them both to maximize their efforts on defense with smart match ups and strategy. 

This final was decided with defense, but both teams also had trouble maintaining possession on offense, with several unforced turns providing ample break opportunities. Slow White converted the first three points of the game to jump out to an early lead, but Metro North stayed patient under Slow White’s defensive pressure and made up the difference by ratcheting up their defense and making Slow White look uncomfortable. Metro capitalized on Slow’s errors and fought back. Chris Mazur found yards in the end zone to catch an easy point for an 8-6 lead at halftime. 

Coming out of halftime, Slow White’s Ben Katz made a giant defensive play to convert a break chance. Slow had a few organizational issues on the field but straightened things out and tied up the game at 8s, 9s and 10s. Boston’s defensive pressure took away Metro’s first looks and made them think twice about throwing to tight spaces. Metro still found points, with lots of work by Andrew Bosco and Kendra Frederick Bosco. 

Slow White broke to go up 11-10 and punished Metro for some execution errors. With the help of standout defensive plays from Annie Fischer, Slow went on a 4-1 run to finish 15-11 and secure the first national championship title in their history. 

Slow White is the 2016 mixed division champion!

Both Metro North and Slow White applied massive amounts of pressure to challenge each other, with Metro showing a number of different defensive looks, including a 1-3-3 and junky zone looks, lady poaches and tight handler defense. While they did ruffle Slow White’s feathers heading into halftime, Slow made adjustments, pushed through and didn’t get down on themselves after their execution errors. Slow White’s tight handler defense kept Metro North from getting comfortable and finding their first looks, which challenged Metro’s regular flow. At 12-11, several key Metro errors helped Slow White widen their lead and win out. 

Have any questions or comments? We welcome community feedback and discussion made in a respectful manner. Please refrain from profanity or personal attacks, as such public comments negatively reflect on our sport and community.