Scandal Takes Home Their First Title
Brady Winsten
Posted: October 21, 2013 09:03 AM
Finals
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San Francisco
Fury |
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Washington, D.C.
Scandal |
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Scandal and Fury have met previously twice this season, Fury coming out on top both times. On Sunday, Scandal was riding the high of besting Riot in the semifinals and winning their first-ever trip to the finals. Fury was looking to follow up with an eight consecutive national title. The question of the day: can Fury’s disciplined offense and deep roster keep their cool against Scandal’s defensive firepower? Both teams had strong coaching support, for Fury from Matty Tsang and for Scandal from Mike LoPresti and Alex Ghesquiere to help them adjust throughout the match.
The conditions in Frisco for the finals were sunny and a bit windy, which should be expected by now for Club Championships. The game started out messily, with drops and throwaways for both teams. Scandal worked the disc up-field, and a Mercier flip to Alika Johnston in the end zone gave them the first point. Then, Scandal’s famous D line took the field, and much like in their semifinal game against Riot, obliterated their opponents point by point. Allison Maddux distributed the disc, and Sandy Jorgensen gave an easy target in the deep field. Fury continued to use their dangerous inside breaks, but as much not as they had in previous games. Alex Snyder was the biggest presence for Fury on both sides of the disc, throwing precisely to small spaces and coming up with big defensive blocks. After a huge Anne Mercier huck to Alicia White for the 3-2 score, Scandal scored two more breaks. One was off a huge Jorgensen block on Fury’s end zone and one a layout score by Jessie O’Connor to bring the score to 5-2. Scandal’s four-man cup forced turns, but possession changed many times as neither team could find an open look to score. Fury’s poachy end-zone defense seemed to stall Scandal, but Fury continued to commit unforced errors and failed to capitalize on the turns. The half ended with an easy throw to Opi Payne from Alicia White and an obvious advantage to Scandal, up 8-3.
The second half started with Fury looking for a deep shot to gain momentum, but it was easily batted down by Scandal’s Allison Maddux. Kimberly Beach held on to the disc when being knocked around by her defender multiple times and showed the grit and toughness of their Scandal’s D-line receivers. The handlers had obvious trust in their cutters, as they continued to put up 50/50 discs that Jorgensen and the like came down with. Fury’s Alex Synder carried her team with multiple defensive blocks before finding Lisa Pitcaithley in the end zone at 4-9 and Liz Penny at 5-10 for Fury scores.
Fury’s junk defense pressured Scandal’s handlers and took away their looks to the middle, forcing receivers to the sidelines. On the other side, Scandal’s four-man cup slowed Fury down and would have contained them if not for Snyder’s threading throws through multiple defenders. Cath Ratcliff and Anne Mercier worked the disc for Scandal, contributing heavily to their scores at 11-7 and 12-7. At this point, the game was capped at 14, and Scandal scored the last two breaks on open looks from Maddux to Jorgensen and then Jorgensen to Farenwald for the final score of 14-7.
Overall, Fury didn’t play like the seven-time reigning champions, and Scandal had the firepower to knock them from the number one spot. Fans in the stands joked that this game was "The Sandy Show," and Scandal’s Sandy Jorgensen proved them right. For the D line, Payne and Maddux controlled the disc, and new faces like Jessie O’Connor and Lauren Sadler provided additional firepower. Former Capitals player Anne Mercier was an important pickup and touched the disc more than anyone on the Scandal O line. For Fury, it was all about Alex Snyder. We didn’t see enough of Nancy Sun or much energy from Fury’s list of stars. This game marks a turning point for the top tier of women’s teams and shows that a quick ascent of the women’s division is possible in only a couple years’ time with the correct personnel, coaching and team culture.
Third Place: Worlds Bid Allocation
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Seattle
Riot |
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Austin
Showdown |
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This game offered a bid to the 2014 World Ultimate Club Championships for the winner and a fourth-place finish for the loser. Riot was playing to salvage their championship performance, and Showdown was playing to see just how far they could take their unexpected bracket run.
Riot dropped a pull early in the game, and Showdown was buoyed by the energy from their Texas crowd. Both teams seemed to have regained their enthusiasm from their semifinals losses, when they had both looked a little shaken. The two teams played evenly until 3-3, when Rachel Bradshaw out-read the Showdown defense and caught the score for 4-3. Riot’s throws fared well in the wind, and Gwen Ambler nimbly threw through every defensive look Showdown set. At 5-3, Showdown dropped a pull of their own, but Christina Contreras saved the point with her speedy defense in the end zone. Showdown used their cross-field dump swing to put the disc in for 5-4. The wind assisted Riot with their pulls, sending one to the back line of the end zone. Shereen Rabie led her line to work the disc out of dangerous territory, but they end up turning the disc, and Riot ran off the next few points. A Showdown drop gave Riot the field positioning to put in an easy open-side pass to win half at 8-5.
At the start of the second half, Cara Crouch threw a low zinger to Sarah Levinn through the Riot cup, showcasing Crouch’s strength for the Showdown offense. However, Showdown continued to make unforced errors, and Riot used their superior receivers like Calise Cardenas to run down sailing long throws. Gwen Ambler continued to save the Riot offense as she found Angelica Boyden through the cup, who threw to Hana Kawai for the 11-9 score. Energy in the stadium ramped up as the Texas crowd tried to encourage their team on to victory. Showdown caught their enthusiasm and played shutdown defense all over the field to take away Riot’s options, but the soft cap horn blew, putting added pressure on Showdown to catch up. They brought the game to 12-12, when a bad Showdown pull gave Riot excellent field position which they used to take the lead at 13-12, game to 14. During game point, both teams had drops, and Showdown’s Bex Forth was making plays all over the field to keep her team in the game. However, Shira Stern’s hand-block set up Riot, and after a timeout, they scored easily and took the game and the bid to Worlds 14-12.
Photos
Day 4 - Highlights - Images by CBMT creative
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