Would the global All-Star team with little cohesion be able to defeat the strongest French mixed side we've ever seen?
June 20, 2024 by Felix Soedira in Recap with 0 comments
In yet another rematch, Tokay SuperTeam faced up against the skilled France Mixed team that took them to universe point in the final round of Swiss draw on Saturday. Both teams had been exuding one thing all weekend – confidence. But how would the teams cope on the showcase fields with the crowds watching? The all-star squad proved more ready for the moment with a 15-11 win.
Tokay SuperTeam got the first break on the first point as France tried to hit an under with a misthrown scoober. Despite a big layout block in the endzone, the disc ended up in the hands of SuperTeam captain Tom Tulett. Jimmy Mickle popped it back to Tulett for the SuperTeam goal. France responded well, even under the pressure of the SuperTeam. An easy upline from Gaël Ancelin got France ton the board, but it would stay as their first point for a while as the SuperTeam clutched another two breaks to take the game to 4-1. France seemed hesitant to hit open unders, leading to some high stall options. France recovered slightly from there and showcased the patient, fast offense that we saw throughout the weekend and a dominator outside the end zone between Ancelin and Sacha Poitte-Sokolsky was good enough to bring the score to 4-2 to the SuperTeam.
France weren’t ready to give up. They stole a break back after a tremendous layout D from Enzo Forget on an around backhand from Tulett. After another chest-high layout block from Camille Blanc was called as an uncontested foul, Levke Walczak got stalled out as France continued piling on the pressure. A big huck and grab later and France had suddenly tied it up, 6-6. The best teams always punch back, though, and the SuperTeam notched another break to go into half up 8-6.
France continued to play conservatively with the disc, often looking off some open options which led them into some high stall situations. Once they started to trust their cutters to get free, their offense was essentially unstoppable. Nasser Mbae Vogel had some gorgeous hucks late in the game and the French women often found each other on big gainers. If we saw that style of offense in the first half, it’s likely the score would have been much different. Their defense, however, was always brilliant, with Blanc and Ancelin as clear standouts for France Mixed.
On the Tokay SuperTeam’s side, Jakob Tamm had a good game, showing off his ability to dominate the deep space with his stature and Tobe Decraene continued to sky his defenders on some high hanging hucks. He got a run through D out of half to grab another break for the SuperTeam, extending the lead to 9-6. On disc, Valeria Cardenas flaunted her rapid give-go movement, often working with Mickle or Tulett to keep them in flow. While the SuperTeam weren’t perfect either, the difference was their confidence on offense to keep punching in the scores. Spirits were high throughout the game from the SuperTeam and the entire team continued to exude trust for each other, even after miscommunications or poor execution on throws.
The game ended 15-11 to Tokay SuperTeam as they went undefeated all weekend. They had been tested by France and Italy Mixed but had the talent to close out the wins. Reflecting on France’s performance in the final and the tournament, French captain Ancelin was very happy with the way France played this weekend, crediting their defensive pressure and confidence. Ancelin said that the final was “the best preparation for WUC” they could ask for and were grateful for the opportunity to play “a team of such a high caliber” especially as this is just the second time the squad is playing together. He looked back on France’s success at EUC last year and believes that France can now match up against any team. It appears as though he wasn’t wrong. The loss doesn’t faze them and when asked what the next steps for France are, Ancelin simply said, “We are hungry for more.” It’s back to work for France, but expect to see them dominate the fields in Australia in September.
Everyone was intrigued about how well a team of star players with no chemistry could do together and we got our answer – pretty well! “It was a little messy on O but we powered through it,” said SuperTeam’s Anouchka Beaudry. She also called the team “absolutely phenomenal [with] such powerful players” that had grown from “not knowing each other’s names […] to playing for each other.” Beaudry, however, spoke that some of these players “really lead in these moments […] and I think it really showed and we could come back and stay on top of it.” The SuperTeam proved to us that with the best in the game, a team can connect with each other pretty quickly. And what a beautiful sight it was to witness over the course of the weekend.
Italy Take Home Bronze
The bronze medal game between Italy Mixed and New York XIST was incredibly tight with Italy going up a couple breaks and managing to hold this small lead for much of the game. XIST managed to get within one one point near the end of the game but it wasn’t enough to take the medal and Italy managed to hold after several turns to clutch the win 12-11.
Champagne Moment
Camille Blanc’s defense was truly a delight to watch. She was step for step with all of her cutters and managed to shut down every endzone isolation matchup. Her layout Ds were a big part of France’s incredible defensive game and she’s only 20. I’m so excited to see how she does at WUC.
