Can Deep Space defend their title against the big contenders from Munich and Strasbourg?
September 27, 2024 by Benjamin Rees in Preview with 0 comments
With the World Ultimate Championships now firmly in the rear-view mirror, attention returns to home shores for the climax of the European club season – EUCF. Before the drama Down Under interrupted the continental calendar, 16 teams in each division qualified for the main event in the first year under the new EUF qualification system, with qualifiers decided by a ranking algorithm (plus the wildcard tournament winners). How will it all shake out on the fields of Oostende? We won’t find out until after the weekend, but there’s no harm in taking a closer look in advance to make some more educated guesses – the mixed division usually has plenty of surprises in store, although things seemed more stratified this time.
Tournament Profile
- Location: Oostende, Belgium
- Dates: September 27-29
- Weather: Cloudy and windy and a chance of showers all weekend. Highs of 16C/60F
- Watch: Four games are broadcast each round on SolidSport, two with Ulti.TV production and two via the AI Veo cameras, with pool play on Friday, crossovers, quarter-finals, and semi-finals on Saturday, with the bronze medal games and the finals on Sunday.
- Schedule: Games between 8:00 and 19:30 on Friday, 09:00 to 21:00 on Saturday and 09:00 to 16:00 on Sunday
Pool A
Tiefseetaucher (Munich) have had a dream debut season in the EUCS, posting a 14-0 regular season record, winning the wildcard from the Summer Tour in Freiburg, winning the Spring Tour in Padova, and claiming a comfortable top spot in the ranking algorithm. Included in those results are victories over Deep Space and Sesquidistus, as well as a trio of victories over compatriots Disconnection. Munich have had plenty of European representation in the past, both in open as MUC and Woodchicas in the women’s division, but their first real tilt at a mixed title is a genuine contender in year one, and it’s easy to see why when you look at the roster. Torben Hörnschemeyer is a threat in whichever role he plays, Linnea Seibert is a tough matchup for anyone in the division, and there’s even a sneaky Lorenzo Pavan sighting on the teamsheet, bolstering their ranks even further. The only question may be how they can deal with the pressure in knockout play. With tournament wins under their belt you’d feel like that shouldn’t be an issue, but EUCF is a different intensity level entirely from the Spring and Summer Tours, and it’s happened to veteran campaigners before. Anything less than a deep run would be considered a disappointing end to a fine season.
Reading Ultimate (Reading) are a formidable two seed in any pool, finishing fifth in the rankings with an 8-6 record. Their continued presence at the top end of the division is remarkable, with roster churn throughout the years not resulting in a drop in standards or expectations. Andy Lewis has been almost ever present throughout the years, and adding Hannah Brew to power the handling core and CJ Colicchio to churn up yardage downfield can hardly be a bad thing. It’s been a while since they captured European gold, having come agonizingly close in 2022, and the season as a whole has been a little up and down, but the possibility of peaking at the right time and finding themselves at least on the podium, if not more, is a very real prospect.
PUC (Paris) take up the third spot in Pool A, posting a 7-3 record en route to a twelfth place finish in the rankings. All seven of their victories came against teams who did not qualify for EUCF, the most impressive of those a 14-10 win over BN1, the first team out in seventeenth spot, back at Spring Tour Padova. All three defeats were to other EUCF qualifiers – 13-12 to CUS Padova Rangers, 14-10 to Sesquidistus, and 15-6 against pool mates Tiefseetaucher. Key players, such as Manon Coyne and Roger Michael, will have to deliver close to their best if the Parisians are to advance deep into the weekend.
Savage Ultimate (Poznan) round out the pool, grabbing the sixteenth and final ranking spot with a 6-6 regular season record. While they had some wiggle room to the teams below them in the algorithm, they have the same problem as PUC in that they have so far failed to register a victory over an EUCF opponent this season. For the Poles to snap that streak, Jakub Kaczmarek and Anna Mączkowska will have to continue their goal scoring form from Warsaw’s Summer Tour. Being the lowest ranked qualifier might help alleviate the tension and allow the Poznan side to play with a certain freedom, but they face a tough task at the weekend, especially with Reading and Tiefseetaucher in their first two games, so they can ill afford a slow start.
Pool B
The reigning champions sit at the top of pool B, with Deep Space (London) placing second in the rankings with a bumper 18-3 record. Everyone loves a fighting champion, and the Londoners are exactly that – no team in the mixed division played as many ranking games. There’s good quality results in there, with big wins over Sesquidistus, Disconnection, and Nullacht!, with the trio of losses coming to Mosquitos and Tiefseetaucher and Spring Invite Padova, and to compatriots Lemmings at Elite Invite. Having the experience of winning it all last campaign will really help in bracket play, as will the additions of World Games player Rachel Naden, a skyscraper of a target in Ian Tait, and both Jack and Sarah Halkyard who bring bags of big play potential. What else has changed is the pressure and expectation that comes with defending your title. If Deep Space can feed into that, they’ve got a good shot of winning it all again.
Disconnection (Freiburg) qualified in eighth place, with an underwhelming 4-10 record. That disparity should tell you that they’ve played high quality competition, and played it close, without being on the winning side more often than not. Joana Erdmann is one of the toughest covers in the division, Pia Bankwitz proved at Under-24s last year that she’s a natural field stretcher and finisher, and Daniel Türk was slicing teams apart all season with his throws. They should make it into the bracket without issue, but when they get there the big question is obvious – do they have enough to flip those defeats from the regular season in their favor?
PELT (Limerick) ended the regular season in eleventh position, with a 7-4 record from their two ranking tournaments. It’s a little tricky to truly gauge Limerick’s finest, with good quality wins over higher ranking opposition like Nullacht!, a universe point loss to Tartu Turbulence, but also defeat to Sky This and a hefty early season loss to Glasgow. Lotte Inkenhaag showed her reliability at EUC last year, and Christy McAllister is a very capable fulcrum for their offense, while the inclement weather forecast for Friday could well help them scrap through some surprise pool play victories with a gritty defense. With things set fairer for Saturday and Sunday, however, they’ll have to go it alone against tougher competition in the bracket.
Heck (Edinburgh) ended their debut season in fourteenth, boasting a 6-5 record. An unknown quantity to many, the Edinburgh outfit only appeared in the rankings in June after a universe point win over rivals Glasgow at UKU Regionals that catapulted them straight into a second place ranking. While that came down as the season progressed, a solid performance at Summer Tour Freiburg solidified their spot. Look for captains Cameron Dick and Alexandra Hiley to lead from the front, with Katie Trim a key downfield option for them. The showdown with PELT on Friday afternoon could well decide who takes the final pre-quarters spot in a cracking Celtic clash.
Pool C
Sesquidistus (Strasbourg) are back at the big show with plenty of room to spare, finishing in third spot after an 11-3 regular season. It’s the sort of season you would expect of a team of their quality, with their only losses coming against Tiefseetaucher, Deep Space, and Lemmings, the other top four seeds, while beating everyone else, often handily. It has however been a long season for many of their top players like Gaël Ancelin, Maëlle Barentin, and Justine Bru, all of whom won bronze with France Mixed at WUC, and their depth players will need to help share the load. A cloud hangs over Strasbourg, however, about their ability to win the big games, given their loss in the Elite Invite final to Guayota in 2022, a universe point loss in the EUCR South final to Monkey last year, followed by a universe point loss to Manchots in the game-to-go to miss out on EUCF entirely, plus a universe point loss to Lemmings in this year’s Elite Invite final, as well as a universe point loss to Tiefseetaucher in the final of the Freiburg Summer Invite. That’s a lot of baggage they’ll have to carry if things get tight in bracket play, though victory would be all the sweeter if they could rewrite the narrative on the biggest stage possible.
Tartu Turbulence (Tartu) come into EUCF on an upward trajectory, ranked seventh at season’s end with a 6-5 record and victory at the Warsaw Summer Invite. The season started in an inauspicious fashion for them, picking up just one victory at Elite Invite before they righted the ship in Poland with an undefeated weekend. Jakob Tamm is now a household name after playing with Mooncatchers at Tom’s Tourney and looking right at home during Tokay SuperTeam’s Windmill win, Helen Tera is still a cheat code, and nineteen-year-old Marin Raba has enormous breakout potential. The Estonians can be streaky at times, as their campaign so far will attest to, but if they’re on song in Oostende, it could be a turbulent time for some of the division’s other big hitters. Whatever happens, it’ll be very fun to watch.
Nullacht! Ultimate (Münster) ended the regular season with a ninth place ranking and a 10-8 record. Slightly lost in the rankings drama at the end of the regular season was how close they finished to Disconnection in eighth, a team they split results with – a point here or there, especially in those head-to-heads, could well have seen the two flip places. Gideon Schenk provides a dual threat as a thrower and receiver, and Lena Schäfer was very impressive at the Freiburg Summer Tour. They may well fancy their chances against Tartu, having triumphed on universe point when the two met at Elite Invite, but if things don’t go their way and seedings hold, then it sets up a mouthwatering pre-quarter against Disconnection with bragging rights and a quarter-final spot in play.
The final spot in Pool C is occupied by Sky This Warszawa (Warsaw), who qualified in thirteenth with a 10-2 record. The Poles mainly faced teams around the bubble, with the losses being one-sided defeats to PELT and Mosquitos, but with good wins over pool mates Nullacht! at Spring Tour Malmö and vengeance over the Irish at their home Summer Tour. Zuzanna Madej led the stat sheet at Summer Tour Warsaw, with Krzysztof Litwiński also influential throughout the season, but in what is arguably the toughest group this weekend they’ll need contributions from the entire squad if they are to upset the apple cart and make the bracket.
Pool D
Leamington Lemmings (Leamington) take the top seed in Pool D by virtue of their fourth place finish at season’s end, achieved with a 9-5 record, and most impressively victory at Elite Invite. After losing to Nullacht! in their second game of the season, they stormed through the rest of the weekend in taking a surprise crown that sealed their EUCF spot nice and early. They only played UK competition from that point forward, not needing to leave home soil, finishing third at UKU Nationals and second at Summer Tour Birmingham. How well that has prepared them for their return to the continent remains to be seen. Ryan Kapma will continue to be a key initiator for them, and the Rosies, Bailey and Coward, can be matchup nightmares. Lemmings have a lot to live up to given their early season success, but for a program that only qualified for EUCF for the first time two years ago, to be a top seed is already an enormous achievement, even if they’re hungry for more.
Mosquitos (Klosterneuburg) qualified in sixth on the back of a 10-2 regular season. Another club that has shown incredible growth over the past couple of campaigns, the Mosquitos side that will take the field in Belgium now has its fair share of stars. Jakob Dunshirn has moved back from GRUT, the Angetter brothers bring an absurd throwing arsenal, and Nikola Hübl can be an endzone menace. Having only dropped games to Tiefseetaucher and Tartu Turbulence this season, and with a win over Deep Space under their belts as well, they could certainly leapfrog Lemmings to top Pool D. The face-off between the two on Friday afternoon should decide who gets the bye into the quarter-finals, and who has to slug it out on Saturday morning.
Glasgow Ultimate (Glasgow) finished the regular season in tenth, with a 6-5 record that somewhat hides the full story. It’s been a season of two distinct halves for the Scots. They started in superb fashion, winning all six games en route to victory at Malmö’s Spring Invite, before losing all five ranking games from that point forward, including a universe point loss to Heck at UKU Regionals and dropping a 10-7 loss to BN1 at Summer Tour Birmingham, not including their disappointing results at UKU Nationals which they opted not to use before the tournament. As well as the seemingly ageless Webb brothers leading the line, getting Audrey Melancon-Fournier back for EUCF is a huge boost to give their offense some more potency. It’s all about which version of Glasgow arrives in Oostende – if it’s the late season version, they could be headed for an early exit.
CUS Padova Rangers (Padova) round out the list, qualifying in fifteenth having posted a 7-5 record. They’ve tended to play teams around the bid cut-off, beating those outside the qualifying places, save a 9-8 loss to Zoom Ultimate at Windmill, while losing to other EUCF attendees, the exception being a 13-12 win over PUC. There’s some stellar talent on show, headlined by the ambidextrous Alberto Girotto, fresh off Italy Mixed’s exploits in Australia, with Chiara Varotto another who made the long trip down under. Padova have plenty of potential to do damage if things go well, but given the results so far this season it might be a tough weekend for them.
