A sweeping look at the top stories from all over the country as teams qualified (or failed to qualify) for Nationals.
September 26, 2024 by Alex Rubin in Opinion with 0 comments
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Welcome to Clubhouse Chatter, where the Ultiworld staff keep you caught up on the major events of the club season.
Though most of the favorites clinched their spots at Nationals – only two bids changed hands across the three divisions – Super Sunday was full of tight matchups, near upsets, and the thrill of celebration. 48 teams earned their way to the Club Championships which will take place on October 24 – 27 in San Diego, California.
Power Outage
#11 Washington DC Rally scored the most consequential upset of the weekend, plugging in a supercharged performance to take down #13 Philadelphia AMP, who had been to every Club Championships since 2006.1 Rally were hardly challenged throughout the weekend, with their closest win the 15-12 margin in the regional final. Alan Kolick managed multiple first half blocks to give Rally some breathing room in the final, and a cool offense led by Sami Smalling and Jenny Fey never let AMP back into the game.
There is much to process about a team with AMP’s legacy missing Nationals for the first time in most fans’ ultimate lifetimes, but this game also announces Rally as a legit bracket contender just a year after their Nationals debut. Combined with Truck Stop’s and Scandal’s top-tier status in their respective divisions, it seems like there’s something in the water in DC.
Mischief Managed
The only other bid stolen in the division took place out west. #23 Arizona Lawless and #15 Sacramento Tower claimed the two Southwest bids to Nationals, with Lawless’ place coming at the expense of #8 San Francisco Mischief, who fell to Bay Area Donuts in the second-place bracket’s prequarters round. Many members of Mischief were reportedly battling norovirus, but the result is still shocking to see. Donuts’ three-goal margin paints the picture of a dominant game rather than a fluky upset.
Bay Area Polar Bears upset Mischief a round earlier in the first place quarterfinal to knock Mischief down to the backdoor bracket. PBR then could not complete their upset bid, as Lawless obliterated them 15-7 in the regional semifinal, and Tower held on for a 10-8 win in a heat-shortened2 second-place game.
No shame. in Beating the Champs
#5 Austin Disco Club initially announced their Nationals-caliber credibility with a 12-6 beatdown of AMP way back in July at PEC East. They announced their national championship-caliber credibility (yes, you read that right) with a 15-14 upset over defending national champions #3 Fort Collins shame. in the South Central Regional final. With the win, Disco Club earned the #2 ranking in the USA Ultimate algorithm and will be the top seed in Pool B at their first Nationals. shame. meanwhile essentially played their first game of Nationals a month early. While the result is surprising, it speaks higher of Austin Disco Club’s ceiling than it does anything about shame., who fought hard against a very good team. There’s no need to panic in Fort Collins, but every reason to be excited in Austin.
DiGging Up Old Rivalries
Switching over to the Men’s Division, #5 Boston DiG won the Northeast Region for the first time since 2019, taking down #7 New York PoNY 15-11. These two teams have met in each of the last five regional title games, but PoNY won the previous three. In fact, the 2019 Regional championship game was the last time DiG beat PoNY in all sanctioned competitions. Coupled with the Boston Glory’s takedown of the New York Empire in the UFA, it seems we might be witnessing the balance of power in the classic Boston/New York rivalry mid-pendulum swing. DiG made it through Regionals without much of a scare, while PoNY scraped by with a 15-14 win over Montreal Mephisto in the crossover round on their way to the championship game. The win earned DiG the #2 overall ranking and a spot atop Pool B at next month’s Club Championships, while PoNY slot in at #10 and will be a very scary 3rd seed in one of the pools.
Mighty Ducks Win Twin Cities Derby
Ever since the names Ryan Osgar and Josh Klane names appeared on the #17 Minneapolis Mallard roster, it was clear they could take down #16 Minneapolis Sub Zero as the top team in the North Central. On Sunday, that possibility became a reality as Mallard earned their first trip to Nationals with a 15-12 win over Sub Zero. Mallard squeaked by #24 Madison Mad Men on universe point just to make the final, but made no mistakes once there. Mallard’s arrival in San Diego could signal a power shift in Minnesota akin to DiG’s takeover of Boston from perennial powerhouse Ironside half a decade ago. Just as DiG started as a young, up-and-coming team filled with college stars and a few veteran additions, Mallard come to Nationals with star power, promise, and the potential to punch above their proverbial weight class as the sole representatives of the North Central.
Utah’s Shrimpact
Mallard will not be the only first timer in the men’s division – #21 Salt Lake Shrimp held on to close out a 15-10 win over in-state rivals Bonneville Flatball Club and claim the fourth bid out of the Northwest. Avenging an earlier loss to #18 Eugene Dark Star along the way, Shrimp crawled through the backdoor bracket and will continue all the way to San Diego. The win represents a massive rise from Salt Lake, who played in the 9th place consolation pool at Regionals just last season. With over a starting line of current University of Utah and Utah Valley University players, Shrimp are set up to become a Nationals contender for years to come if they stay together. College ultimate fans take note: this kind of Nationals experience can do wonders for budding teams in that division.
Welcome Returns
#13 Toronto GOAT and #10 Seattle Sockeye each earned their return tickets to Nationals after a year away. Out in the Northeast, GOAT needed double-game-point victories over #20 Ottawa Phoenix in the third-place semifinal and #23 Amherst Sprout in the third-place final to qualify. Sockeye had a slightly less nervy time with the Northwest, qualifying with a 15-5 win over Dark Star in the semifinals. Though Sockeye lost the regional final game to Portland Rhino Slam!, they bounced back with a second-place win over #12 Vancouver Furious George to enter Nationals with positive momentum. Seattle have undergone a facelift since their last appearance in San Diego, bringing back just nine returners from their 2022 team, but their strong season earned them the #8 ranking in USA Ultimate’s algorithm and a 2nd-seed spot in Nationals pools, a position that should help them advance to the bracket.
Southwest Showdown
Flipping to the Women’s Division, the most exciting game of the weekend took place in Temecula, a fitting setting since the city’s motto is “Old Traditions, New Opportunities.” #7 San Diego Flipside pushed #1 San Francisco Fury to the brink in the Southwest regional final, but the now 13-time defending regional champion held on for an exciting 15-14 win. Fury expect to compete against the likes of #2 Boston Brute Squad and #4 Washington DC Scandal for a title this season, and winning the region is just a step along the way. Flipside have yet to break into that true contender tier, suffering quarterfinal losses each of the last two seasons, but they can take a positive outlook into another home-turf Nationals knowing they can hang with one of the best teams in the division.
Bend it Like BENT
Like Flipside, #6 New York BENT lost in the quarterfinal round last season, but have higher expectations this year with some key additions to their roster. Genny De Jesus, Cassie Brown, and Emma Taylor-Soiles join 2023 additions Abby Hecko and Ella Juengst as players who raise BENT’s ceiling significantly. Two wins over #9 Toronto 6ixers and a close game with Brute Squad at NOrtheast Regionals prove last year’s win over 6ixers was no fluke.3 BENT enter Nationals a bit under the radar, but they are a team the favorites will not want to see in their pool.
Only Boston Slow (19 active) have a longer qualifying streak in mixed history than AMP (17). ↩
Though air temperatures were in the low 90s, the game was played under Heat Level II restrictions, including additional time between points, additional heat breaks, and a 70 minute soft cap. The halftime cap remained unchanged and the two teams played less than 10 minutes of the second half before the cap came on, greatly benefiting Tower who held an early lead and rode their momentum to Nationals without needing to survive a sustained comeback effort ↩
Before 2023, BENT had never beat 6ixers ↩
