Canada and the USA were the best teams all week and met in a hugely anticipated finals rematch
July 31, 2024 by Benjamin Rees in Recap with 0 comments
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2024 World Junior Ultimate Championships 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.
It was a wonderful week at another WJUC, with stories wherever you cared to canter and some of the world’s best youth players strutting their stuff on the lush Birmingham grass. Players are heading home with memories they’ll cherish of intense matches, new-found friendships, and voracious support from families, friends, and even passers-by they’ve never met before and may never meet again. For many this was a first taste of international competition, and in future campaigns many of those in attendance will cast their minds back to this tournament when the nascent careers of some of the game’s best were just beginning to flicker into life, recognizing they were there at the start of something special. I know I will.
For all but a privileged few, the games had wrapped up by Sunday and athletes could kick back, relax and enjoy the spectacle. Finals day always brims with an effervescent anxiety, with all three divisions playing their gold medal games. The Mixed, Open, and Women’s divisions1 would decide their champions.
The Mixed final was the first to get underway, with two finalists whose places had seemed inevitable from very early on in the week. USA and Canada were both making their first appearance in this division at this age group, and were thus underseeded at 5th and 6th respectively before the tournament, but as soon as the games started their quality was obvious and the thrilling 15-13 power pool matchup between the two sides that went in the USA’s favor was a titillating teaser for the action to come.
Despite that victory, the manner of each side’s progression through the brackets raised questions about which team would be fancied in the rematch. Canada’s last two games had been relatively serene, with a commanding 15-2 win over Austria in quarters before another standout performance in their 15-7 victory over Singapore in the semi-final. It had been tougher going for the USA, who were down in the first half against Italy in their quarter-final, before storming through to win 15-8, and the 15-12 semi-final win over Hungary was far from convincing, with the running theme through both games the Americans’ struggles offensively at decrypting zone defenses.
Canada’s Dominique Weatherup sent the first pull into the sky, with the US receiving to get the game underway. The Americans, cognizant of their lack of tempo at times, moved the disc quickly to start, advancing rapidly into the redzone before Canadian defenders could get into position. The clamps came on to push the US back, but a smooth transition into an endzone set cleared space for Sam Grossberg to power his way upline and collect a leading flick from Sanam Rozycki-Shah for the 1-0 lead. Canada’s first O point was similarly smooth, attacking inside lanes against the backhand force, and although Griffin McCullagh asked a lot of Kai O’Donnell on the scoring pass he was able to produce the layout required to put the Canadians on the board.
Canada earned themselves the game’s first turn by snaffling up a floated deep shot for Milo Brown, but the US earned it back when Sarek Mallareddy returned the favor, flashing across to intercept in the American endzone, and the Americans were able to get the job done on the next possession. Canada’s O line also surrendered the disc on their next appearance, with two receivers attacking the same space at the front cone and cutting each other up, but good defensive pressure gave them a second opportunity which they converted in style thanks to a wonderful Bryelle Wong layout.
After a clean USA hold (although Sam Grossberg had to grab his goal at the second attempt), the next point had an entirely different feel to it. While offenses were on top early, the sixth point had more grind than a New York coffee house. The Americans switched their defensive game plan, employing a zone to take some of the wind out of the Canadian sails, and although they seemed unflustered, Roth Mohring was over-eager in his shot for goal and Will Basden came across to get the block. From there chaos ensued. A mix of defensive acumen and offensive errors caused turnovers aplenty, with both sides opting to take timeouts to try and grasp control, but neither were able to convert afterwards. By the time Kyler Wieties found Luke Norby to give the Americans the game’s first break, the point had seen thirteen total turnovers and lasted the best part of fifteen minutes.
It was amusingly inevitable that both sides immediately cleaned things up afterward. Both teams put a clean hold on the board, before the US extended their lead with a flawless defensive conversion, as Chris LoFrese produced an immaculate layout block and Basden was able to bisect Canadian defenders to an isolated Norby to establish a 6-3 advantage, with the teams trading out to half with the USA sitting comfortably at 8-5 up.
Canada had been 8-6 down at half-time in the power pool matchup, but scored four of the next five to take the lead, and they would have been keen to emulate that performance in the rematch. They managed to achieve the first part of the bargain with a hold out of half, but the American O line was now looking imperious. Canada would have noted the US offense having their struggles against zone this week, and pulled their own zone out of the playbook, but the Americans were in a good rhythm by now, and Canada’s set was not as finely-tuned as others we have seen this week with less opportunity to polish it both in practice beforehand and in games during the week, with their match defense for the most part proving fearsome.
With Canada 11-8 down, time was running out to generate the breaks they would need to power a comeback, and their offense could scarcely afford to put a footstep out of place lest the US escape out of arm’s reach. Rex Yuen and Kai O’Donnell had been masterful all week with telepathic play at times, but Yuen forced one throw too many with a deep shot to O’Donnell overthrown, and the US were clinical on the turn. A big deep shot was expertly brought down by Audrey Selfridge, and though her pass into the endzone was not the smoothest of throws Ashimi Gandhi produced the layout required for what would prove to be the game’s final break.
The USA had given themselves a comfortable cushion, and while Canada’s offense would not give up possession again, their D line was unable to profit whenever they gained the disc, the US playing gritty defense on the turn to regain possession at every opportunity. Rex Yuen was able to get a block on the huck that would have given the USA gold, but the first pass after the turn was low and ricocheted off Yuen’s hand to give the US a redzone possession to take the game. Ella Widmyer was in a perfect position to pounce, and Stefan McCall raced across the front of the endzone to catch the final score and claim the first gold medal of the day by a 15-11 margin.
Sam Grossberg was on fire all game, contributing to nine scores in total with four goals and five assists, with McCall registering a block, two assists, and three goals including the gold-medal sealing grab. For the offense to never get broken against a team of Canada’s quality speaks to the ability to not get overawed by the occasion and to step up when the spotlight shines brightest.
While Canada would be frustrated to fall at the final hurdle, a silver medal is no small feat, especially with the nation’s first entry to the U20 Mixed division, and on their day this matchup might well have gone in their favor. In the end the US were an unstoppable force, and although it had not always been smooth sailing they navigated through choppier tides to arrive into port with gold around their necks.
In that order. ↩
