October 1, 2015 by Daniel Prentice in Coverage with 0 comments
Pool A:
San Francisco Nightlock 15-7 Madison Heist
Nightlock (#8, seeded A2) performed in the second round much as in the first, this time against Heist (#12, seeded A3). Using tight defensive play and short field conversions, San Francisco jumped all over their lower seeded opposition, with a 5-1 lead featuring just two turnovers. Emily Prader tallied a pair of goals and a pair of assists as Nightlock took an 8-3 lead into half.
Heist did respond with a run, with excellent plays from Jasmine Draper and Becky Ledonne. A string of two breaks brought them with three scores at 10-7. But Nightlock refused to let Heist seize the initiative, coming up with some key red zone conversions to push the lead out of reach. They scored the games final five goals – concluding with a powerful rip on a goal line blade by Claire Sharman – to claim the W. They have a chance to win the Pool A if they can pull a shocking upset over the Boston buzz saw at the top of the pool.
Boston Brute Squad 15-7 Toronto Capitals
The momentum from the first round propelled Brute Squad (#1, seeded A1) to a huge first half against in-region opponent, Capitals (#13, seeded A4). Boston had just four turnovers in the first half, despite the building rains that overtook the skies, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. With their largest margin of eight, as late as 11-3, the outcome was never in question for the overall seed, who advances to 2-0.
Pool D:
Denver Molly Brown 15-4 Chicago Nemesis
Molly Brown (overall #4, seeded D1) continued its domination of Pool D with an easy victory over the bottom seed of the pool, and indeed, the whole field, Nemesis (overall #16, seeded D4). The two teams traded clean points to start the game at 1-1, with Molly Brown starting the game on offense. The Denver squad then went on a seven point run to take half, turning it over just twice (both times coming on the same point) with their D-line offense. The run continued after the half, as Molly took the first two points out of the break to make it 10-1, ending any chance of a Nemesis revival for good. Nemesis scored a few more down the stretch, but were broken twice more, including on the final point of the game.
It was a full-team effort for the pool favorite, with no player recording more than two goals nor more than two assists in the win. The dominating victory comes on the back of a similar effort in round one for the Molly, in which they defeated Iris 15-3. By scorelines, Denver has easily been the most dominant team in the field thus far, and look to continue that with their final pool play game against the other undefeated team in the pool, Vancouver Traffic.
Vancouver Traffic 14-10 Quebec Iris
Perhaps the most entertaining game of the day so far, Traffic (overall #5, seeded D2) topped Iris (overall #9, seeded D3) in a well-played and well-spirited affair. The battle between the two Canadian teams exhibited the best duel of offense to this point, anyway. The difference between the two was Traffic’s defense, which demonstrated a much better ability to generate turnovers. Iris struggled to generate pressure on Traffic’s handlers and take away much in the way of cutting space, while Traffic did a nice job stopping Iris’ swing opportunities and taking away easy unders. That said, Iris has been perhaps the most fun offense to watch at this tournament. Laden with impressive athletes, the Quebec ladies worked hard for unders in an offense that was impressively smooth in spurts. The most impressive player on the field was 17-year-old Anoushka Beadry. Late in the game, she effortless quarterbacked the Iris offense and D-line offense in the effort to get back in the game. With a far cooler head than one would expect from a player of her age, she did not force any throws, picking her spots and, when available, dishing out some gorgeous flick puts for scores. Reanne Bowlby and Laura Mason were the statistical stars for Traffic, combining for two scores and five assists.
The game felt much much closer in the last few points than the final score would indicate, as both teams dug deep in the game’s waning moments. The final surge from the two clubs culminated in a final point with 23 changes of possession. Both teams were visibly exhausted around half-way through the point, with countless unforced turnovers. A particularly heartbreaking moment for Iris came after a Sandra Williams foot block. Williams cut deep and got the throw late after starting her cut back in, unable to hit top speed by that time in the point, she made a massive layout and caught the disc, but the impact of landing knocked the disc from her possession for the turn. The play would have put Iris in good position for the hold, but as it was, Williams came out for an injury and Traffic were the better team for the rest of the point, finally ending the game a few moments later. After the heard-earned victory, Traffic takes on Molly Brown, the winner of which will win the pool, while Iris and Nemesis will go head to head for third.
Note: Pools B and C in the Women’s Division had a bye for Round 2.
