The final action of the regular season is just around the corner.
August 23, 2018 by Tim Schoch in Coverage with 0 comments
During the 2018 summer and fall season, we will publish a bite-sized weekly recap of the action across the Club Division. This will serve as a supplement to our standard tournament reporting and will offer a high-level look at the latest happenings and the biggest stories of the week.
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At the Elite-Select Challenge, all teams were playing to win every game, but some losses may have been blessings in disguise. Because the rankings do not differentiate bracket and consolation games, losing in pool play and playing weaker teams in consolation play seemed to be an inadvertent strategy for teams looking to earn bids this weekend; winning your pool, only to lose twice and lose a bid spot seems like a losing strategy.1 The bracket results of this tournament matter far less than the bid implications for all of the teams involved.
Men’s Division
With the quarterfinals canceled due to weather at the Elite-Select Challenge, only the pool winners advanced to the semifinals. This matched SoCal Condors against Toronto GOAT and Seattle Sockeye against Madison Club. Both of the west coast squads dispatched their opponents with ease and then Sockeye emphatically slammed the door shut on Condors, winning 13-6 in the final. But as mentioned above the actual “results” are less important than the rankings outcomes.
The real winners of the men’s division are the Southeast and Southwest regions. Atlanta Chain Lightning’s 3-2 record and the Condor’s run to the final propelled them into bid earning territory while GOAT and the whole Mid-Atlantic has to feel on edge. Even with a semifinal appearance, GOAT is on the outside looking in, while Washington D.C. Truck Stop and Philadelphia Patrol sit just outside bid range. The rankings are cruel. There is some hope for the Mid-Atlantic with Pittsburgh Temper comfortably earning a bid and Truck Stop and Patrol playing at the Pro Championships on Labor Day weekend.
Check out our recap for more.
Quick Hits
- Des Moines DeMo won a 17-15 thriller of a final over Milwaukee MKE, their second win over them at the tournament to win Cooler Classic.
- At the one day round robin, Oshadega Ultimate Invite, Athens BroCats swept the field, going 5-0 to claim the tournament.
- In a showdown of two Texas squads, San Marcos Gamble took a double game point win over the other pool winner, Austin Gaucho to win Riverside Classic.
- Houston Clutch was clutch in their undefeated run at Ski Town Classic, defeating hometown Salt Lake City Powderhogs 13-10 in the final.
- In a rematch of their pool play matchup, Savannah Coastal Empire downed Tampa Bay UpRoar for the second time on the weekend to claim the Trestlemania crown.
Mixed Division
At the Elite-Select Challenge, teams battled for those precious ranking points. San Francisco Polar Bears downed Twin Cities No Touching! on double game point in one semifinal and Denver Love Tractor bested San Francisco Blackbird by two in the other. In the final, Love Tractor was too much for Polar Bears, winning in a blowout, 13-7. Unlike in the men’s division, all four of the semifinalists are now firmly within bid earning range for their regions.
For No Touching! and Blackbird, these were vital pool play and bracket wins because it pushes them off the bubble. But for teams like Lochsa and NOISE, these results could spell disaster. Both were bumped from bid territory after less than stellar weekends of competition. shame. is also in a precarious position after going 1-2 in pool play and 1-1 in consolation play. They sit at 16th, but with the Southeast and Great Lakes regions without any teams in the top 16, they are currently out of bid contention, leaving the South Central with only one bid as it stands now.
Check out our recap for more.
Quick Hits
- In a gathering of some of the country’s best Select Flight mixed teams, Seattle Birdfruit avenged a pool play loss to Boston Snake Country to win the 1st Anual Northwest Fruit Bowl.
- At Chowdafest, Burlington Heartless defeated the other pool winner, Mansfield Darkwing 13-12 to claim their first tournament win of the season.
- Omaha Woodwork and Milwaukee Northern Comfort both swept through the competition at Cooler Classic to the final where Woodwork prevailed 15-10.
- Sellout, made up of players from across Texas, downed Austin Moontower twice on the weekend, including in the final to win Riverside Classic.
- Bozos, out of Bozeman, Montana rode a 7-0 record to a tournament victory at Ski Town Classic, beating Phoenix Rubix 13-9 in the final.
- In a one day round robin, Lawn Patrol won the Mixed Summer Club Series with a 5-0 record.
Women’s Division
Raleigh Phoenix continued their impressive season with a tournament victory at the Elite-Select Challenge. They defeated Chicago Nemesis by two in the final and Columbus Rival by the same 13-11 margin in the semifinals. In the third place matchup, Rival downed Madison Heist 13-6 to send them tumbling out of bid contention, setting up the North Central region with just a single bid.
Austin Showdown, who started off 2-1 in pool play, fell twice in consolation play to knock them out of bid range. And with Denver Molly Brown sitting at the top of the region, their path to Nationals now looks far more treacherous. The same is true for two of the Northwest’s perennial contenders. Portland Schwa and Vancouver Traffic, who are both above the cutoff, but only by a few points each. Both teams are playing again this weekend and have a chance to firm up (or lose) their position in the rankings. Their bid destiny is well within their hands.
Check out our recap for more.
Quick Hits
- In a showdown of the two undefeated pool winners, hometown Salt Lake City Elevate blew out Los Angeles Rampage 11-6 at Ski Town Classic. Friends of the weekly Club Update, Oakland Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, took fifth after a heartbreaking quarters loss.
- At Cooler Classic, Chicago Dish and Minneapolis Crackle played two double game point matches, both going to Dish. That was enough to earn them the championship.
Looking Ahead
- Illinois Invite and Indy Invite Club will feature midwest action in all three divisions.
- The Incident and Vermont Round Robin play host to mixed and men’s, and mixed and women’s teams, respectively.
- The Bay Area Invite will feature seven ranked women’s teams who didn’t want to fly all the way to NYC for Pro Championships.
- Sectional Sanction Upstate NY will showcase GOAT’s last-ditch effort to earn a bid.
- The Bropen, CBR Memorial, Rush Hour Round Robin, and Rutabaga Rebellion will see men’s teams face off while Castle Rock Mixed will, as the name implies, include only mixed competition.
*cough* GOAT *cough* ↩
