Pro-Elite Challenge West 2024: Tournament Recap (Men’s Division)

Two of the west's best clashed in a tight tournament final.

July 18, 2024 by Emmet Holton in Recap with 0 comments

Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2024 club ultimate season is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.

As many expected, two of the division’s heavy hitters met in the PEC West final after (mostly) flying past the rest of the field. Consider it the first volley of what figures to be a season-long battle for an edge at the crowded championship contention field. Several West Coast teams jockeyed for bid-earning position behind the top-level fray, and a few teams from much farther east attempted to sow rankings chaos, with mixed results.

• Schedules & Results
• Event Page

Execution and Intensity Carry Rhino Slam! to a Tournament Title

In a final played in sweltering weather (though not quite as oppressively hot as its eastern counterpart), pre-tournament co-favorites #6 Portland Rhino Slam! and #5 San Francisco Revolver squared off in an early season matchup for the title of Best of the West Coast.

Both teams’ rosters were incomplete, as Rhino Slam! regained Jack Hatchett and Felix Moren after Saturday’s absences, but remained without Matt Rehder, Henry Ing, Chris Strub, as well as Dylan Freechild, Ben Liu-May, and Aaron Kaplan, who were present but not cleated up. On the Revolver side, notable absences included team rookie Leo Gordon, Kyle Lew, and last year’s statistical leader Adam Rees. Another effect of the early season matchup was wildly different approaches to line calling. Portland has already established O- and D-line rotations (pending the arrival of the noted absences), with Raphy Hayes and Mica Glass anchoring a veteran-heavy offense. Revolver continued what had been their approach throughout the weekend, cycling through handler and cutter pod pairings, with everyone having chances on O and D.

Both teams arrived at the final fairly comfortably, with only one real test between them as Revolver had to pull away late against Seattle Sockeye in the semis, breaking twice late to win 14-11 from a 10-10 tie. Some of the mistakes marring that semifinal made an appearance on the first point of the final, as multiple short field execution errors (and a pair on Portland’s part as well), gave Rhino Slam! the game’s first break. Revolver then evened the score at ones after a sky from one of their big offseason additions, Jason Vallee. After a quick hold, Rhino added another break, as the Ego quartet of Chander Boyd-Fliegel, Glass (who had come in on an injury substitution), Max Massey, and Adam McNichols showed off their collegiate chemistry, working 70 yards in three throws and taking a 3-1 lead.

From there, the teams traded, consistently finding separation deep. The next break came at 6-5, as an overthrown Trevor Smith huck to Mica Glass gave Revolver the disc on their own goal line. Three throws later the Bay Area squad had tied the game up, as Vallee found Byron Liu deep to tie the game at sixes. After a patient redzone set from Rhino and a rare Mac Hecht deep goal from Simon Higgins, the halftime lead was on the line. Rhino quickly worked the disc up the field, but as the red zone possession dragged on, a tight around flick from Smith snuck out of the hand of a bidding Will Lohre. Revolver picked up quickly, but the Rhino defense was staunch, ceding very little in the way of positive yardage. After a number of swings and still no downfield options to speak of, Revolver took the first midpoint timeout of the half. They made the most of the brief respite, as Liu and Vallee put their stamp on the half, connecting in the reverse order of their previous break, taking momentum and an 8-7 lead into the break.

Throughout the half, both teams looked their best when moving the disc early and often. This was especially true for Revolver, as many of their short field struggles stemmed from strong dead-disc defensive sets from Rhino. When Revolver’s first downfield looks were stymied, they seemed much more prone to forcing tight throws, rather than finding easy release valves and shifting the field with small ball sets. Rhino, for their part, looked great in the first three-quarters of the field, but struggled on a few occasions in the red zone, as the double cutting and some stack confusion made finding those last few yards unnecessarily difficult.

To begin the second half, Rhino Slam! continued their poised offensive showing, finding soft spots in a switch-heavy Revolver defense and a tidy hold. After once again shutting down the Revolver pull play, a pack of Portland defenders did enough to break up a floaty huck from Anton Orme. After giving the disc back on a bad huck of their own, a miscue between Nathan Kwon and Mac Hecht gave Rhino’s Owen Murphy the disc at half field. Another string of quick throws later and the Oregon squad had a third break. On the ensuing two points, a pair of execution errors on behalf of Revolver were all that Rhino needed to take an 11-8 lead. Revolver would get one final break back, as an overzealous Joe Marmerstein blade led to a picture-perfect huck from Dillon Whited to Mario Ambrose, bringing Revolver back within one: 12-11. That was all the Bay Area squad would muster, however, as cap went on during the break and Rhino’s offense proved too much, punching in the goal for the tournament title.

Capping off an undefeated weekend with a convincing win, Mica Glass noted, “It was a successful weekend all around. We were a little short handed… and it didn’t feel that way at all.” Indeed, Rhino looked composed up and down the roster, as a number of young new additions made their mark in the bracket while the team veterans led with aplomb.

With sights set on bigger season-long goals, Glass added, “The buy-in has been all you could hope for so far and this weekend was a great building block. I’m looking forward to getting back at it in a couple weeks and I couldn’t be more excited to keep competing with 26 of my closest friends.” His final sentiment rings true, as Rhino appeared to be having the most fun of anyone at the fields, and this consistent energy proved critical in their second-half showing in the finals.

Revolver were similarly pleased with the camaraderie and weekend-long improvement. Captain Nate Prior pointed out that, in many ways, the team achieved what it had set out to on the weekend: “One of our goals this season is growth, both individually and collectively, and this particular tournament always provides a lot of opportunity to grow.”

Of course, going into the weekend the team surely hoped to come away with a tournament win, but the final gave them a healthy heat check. Prior expanded, “Rhino came out firing and the whole game it felt like we were trying to match their intensity and sense of urgency.”

It may be that Revolver’s decision to treat the tournament largely as an opportunity for the bevy of new teammates to feel out their chemistry contributed to a slightly less results-focused mindset coming into the toughest test of the weekend. Regardless, the talent of the team is obvious, and once lines and offensive defensive sets are established, they promise to be contending right at the top of the division. With the US Open fast approaching, both teams will get to test their mettle against a deeper field in Colorado in just over two weeks, and the rare opportunity to get the high-pressure reps of a tournament final may prove immediately impactful against the geographically diverse field.

A Pair of Nationals Hopefuls Fall in Semis

Both coming off of Nationals-less postseasons, this weekend was a chance for #11 Seattle Sockeye and #19 SoCal Condors to begin their quests for spots at the big dance on the right foot. Making semis is a good start, but their paths there and subsequent showings tell a slightly different story.

Subscribers read on for more on Sockeye and Condors, the messy East-West connectivity picture, and the All-Tournament Line.