Plus, national champions are crowned in the UK.
September 7, 2022 by Steve Sullivan in News with 0 comments
Opening Pull is Ultiworld’s weekly wrap-up of the previous week in ultimate, available both here on the site and as an email newsletter. We’ve gathered the news you need to know and highlights you need to see. Check back weekly or subscribe now to receive Opening Pull in your inbox along with a rundown of the previous week’s content on Ultiworld.
Truck Stop, Drag’n Thrust, Molly Brown Victorious at Pro Champs
In a hot and humid weekend in Raleigh, the 2022 USAU Club regular season wrapped up with the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Pro Championships.
In Mixed, long-time division powerhouse #8 Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust mounted a furious second-half comeback to upend top-seeded #3 Ann Arbor Hybrid in the final. Minneapolis were able to turn an 8-2 halftime deficit into a stunning 12-11 universe point win.
On the Men’s side, #5 Washington DC Truck Stop continued their impressive summer, besting world champs #1 New York PoNY to capture a Pro Champs title to go along with the US Open crown, giving themselves a chance at an elusive Triple Crown.
In the Women’s division, #4 Denver Molly Brown were runaway winners, going 6-0 on the weekend and not giving up double digit goals until their 15-11 win over hosts #3 Raleigh Phoenix in the final.
Check out all of our coverage from the WRAL Soccer Park on Ultiworld.
Nationals Bid Distribution Set
With the regular season officially over, the Nationals bid allocation has been determined.
| Region | Men's | Mixed | Women's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Lakes | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Mid-Atlantic | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| North Central | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Northeast | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Northwest | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| South Central | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Southeast | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Southwest | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Consolation results from the Pro Championships ended up having an impact on the final distribution, with movement at the margins seemingly changing round by round. In the end, a Mixed bid moved from the Northeast to South Central, while in Men’s a bid swapped from the Northwest to Southwest thanks to the action in Raleigh. Things remained unchanged from last week in the Women’s division.
Clapham, SMOG, London Masters Claim UK National Titles
While the focus in North America was trained on Raleigh, across the pond club teams in all divisions were competing for national championships in the United Kingdom. Unsurprisingly, longtime Men’s champs and WUCC bronze medalists London Clapham kept their impressive title streak alive, while Durham SMOG added to their own burgeoning collection of UK Mixed golds. The real surprise came in Women’s, where London Masters emerged as first-time winners, topping Dublin Gravity in the final. Stay tuned to Ultiworld for more coverage from this event!
Ultiworld Field Pass Debuts at Pro Champs
As we continue to explore new ways to bring the ultimate community expanded video coverage of the sport, we debuted a new multi-view stream this weekend, showing up to three games simultaneously. Commentary, replays, and multiple camera angles kept these presentations at the level our viewers have come to expect. This stream was available for all Ultiworld Full and Plus subscribers.
If you have any feedback on this new streaming concept, we’d love to hear it!
Coming Up
The USAU Club Series is upon us, as all but one Sectional tournament will take place this upcoming weekend. Seasons will end and other programs will advance to Regionals for the first time, as we begin our march to crown national champions in each of the three gender divisions.
