USA Ultimate

Women's Division Northeast Regionals Recap

In an unexpected upset, Boston's Brute Squad won a tight game over Canada's Capitals at the 2011 Northeast Women's Regionals last weekend, taking the top spot out of the Northeast for the second year in a row. 

In Sunday's championship game, it was the Capitals who established the pace early, moving the disc quickly between handlers and utilizing their offense's quick throw-and-go motion to take it to the defense. After an initial trade of offense points, the Capitals defense scored two breaks in a row to go up 4-1 against Brute Squad. In the first half, Brute took back one break, but the Capitals won the half 8-6. In the second half, both offenses stayed on serve until Brute broke again to tie the game up at 10s. At 11-11, Brute broke once again to go up by one, and working a three-cup zone defense with an unpredictable transition to man, broke again on game point to win the game 15-13.

Standout players for the Capitals were Anne Mercier, who stretched the game deep with both backhand and forehand hucks, and came up with a huge layout block for the Caps when the game was tied at 12s. Handler Kristin Laurin and kept the offensive flow strong for the Capitals with quick disc movement and solid break throws.

For Brute Squad, cutters Dominique Fontenette and Jess Blanton set the pace of the offense, each scoring several goals a piece, and captain Christie Kim and rookie Laura Bitterman punished unwise throws with layout and run-through Ds.

The second-third place game, between the Capitals and the New York City's Bent was not played, with Bent taking the third spot to nationals, their second trip to the Club Championships in the team's short history.

With all regional championship tournaments completed, Brute Squad's regionals win should make seeding somewhat interesting this year, as the team comes into the series with few quality wins over other nationals competitors during the pre-season.