Boston Slow White Wins the U.S. Open Mixed Championship
Jared DiMascio
Posted: July 4, 2016 05:39 PM
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Boston Slow White earns their program's first-ever major championship title at the U.S. Open Championships in Kingston, R.I.
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Slow White 15-10 Seattle Mixtape
After three days of intense games in the brutal winds and blistering sun, the mixed division at the U.S. Open in Kingston, R.I., had the stage set for the championship finals. Boston’s Slow White played as the "home" team against the visiting Seattle Mixtape, in a battle of the two coasts.
Seattle was coming off a 5-0 performance in pool play, including besting the Boston team 15-12 on Friday afternoon before taking an exciting double-game-point win away from Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust in Sunday’s semifinals.
Slow White entered the game hoping to get revenge on the west coast team after getting a solid win over Connecticut’s Metro North in their semifinal bout.
Both teams relied heavily on their playmakers – for Boston, players like Tannor Johnson and Jeff Smith, and for Seattle, players like Khalif El-Salaam and Brad Houser. Johnson and El-Salaam were given a lot of playing time in today’s final, and their impact was definitely felt. Slow White opened up the game with a break after an end zone turnover from Mixtape and finished with a floaty huck for a score.
Seattle looked to try their deep game early and kept throwing the disc deep, which worked early on, getting their break back and tying the game at 3-3. However, it was noticeable how Slow White used their women handlers like Lexi Zalk, Vicki Chang and Rosie Ano while Seattle focused the disc around their male players.
Slow White jumped out to a 6-3 lead with a huge layout in the end zone from Annie Fisher on a huck for a break. Mixtape looked to answer with deep looks to and from El-Salaam, involving Dominic Cavalero, Cam Bailey and Brad Houser. However, Slow White proved their deep game was better with repeated hucks from Jeff Smith to either Dan Patistas or Tannor Johnson.
After taking an 8-5 halftime lead, Slow White didn’t take their foot off the pedal, keeping the offense easy and putting tight pressure on Mixtape’s deep looks.
Despite playing a majority of points today, El-Salaam still managed to make highly athletic plays with skies over some of Slow White’s best defenders and some great deep looks to streaking cutters. However, fatigue seemed to set in for Mixtape, who played very tight lines all game, and their miscues, drops and throwaways piled up.
Seattle players Lucy Williams and Claire Revere did step up late in the game, with a big layout score and solid reset handling, respectively.
With the score getting out of reach, Seattle again tried to test their deep game, but with defensive plays from Miles Montgomery-Butler, Davis Whitehead and a box-out by Mary Ready, Boston’s plan to stifle the Seattle deep game was going well.
After a few hucks from Slow White and Mixtape, Boston began to run away with the game after an overthrow couldn’t be saved with a greatest attempt from El-Salaam near his own goal line. Slow White was able to score easily and take a 13-9 lead.
A blown coverage from Seattle led to a Todd Herman score when Mixtape had needed a break most. On the following point, a Mixtape overthrow got Boston the disc and led to a point-saving play from Annie Fisher. An inside flick near the goal line from Shaun Doherty sealed the 15-10 win.
This is the first major championship win for Boston Slow White, and they walk away with $2,000 in prize money for their efforts. Mixtape left with $1,000 for their second-place finish but had to wait and cheer on their fellow Seattle teams in the other divisions’ finals, hoping for a gold medal to return Seattle.
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