Surprises (or Not) from Day One of the 2024 Club Championships (Mixed Div.)

The mixed division is known for its chaos, and there was plenty of that on day one, but it wasn't without its stalwarts and ol' reliables, either

October 25, 2024 by Josh Katz in Recap with 0 comments

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Few things are more synonymous than the Mixed Division at Club Nationals and chaos, and this year was no different. Through the chaos, however, there was plenty that wasn’t all that surprising to see. We’ll run through some of the things that did – or did not – come as a surprise during Pool Play.

Surprise: The South Central Struggles

#4 Fort Collins shame. are the reigning champions. #3 Austin Disco Club entered Nationals as the number two overall seed, and defeated shame. in the South Central regional final just a few weeks ago. Both occupied top line seeds in their pools. And yet, both find themselves in a prequarters matchup Friday morning, after seeing themselves upset in their last games of pool play.

We’ll start with shame., who almost seemed to be on cruise control through two rounds of pool play. They started off with a pair of four goal wins over #9 Boston Slow and #14 Nashville ‘Shine, though the path for each game was different. Against Slow, shame. took an early lead and never looked back, leading 8-6 at half. But against ‘Shine, the two teams traded holds all the way to 10-10, before shame. rattled off a 5-1 run to close the game. And yet, shame. never seemed like they got out of first gear. The core to a great performance was there, but too many simple execution errors, whether they be drops, ill-advised throw decisions, or poor throws, meant shame. were unable to put together a true blowout victory. While Slow and ‘Shine could not take advantage, the same could not be said for #12 Lexington Sprocket, who took opportunity of every extra possession shame. gifted them en route to their own four-goal win. Instead of a bye to quarters and a potential matchup against #17 Montana MOONDOG or #8 Seattle Mixtape, shame. will take on #16 Sacramento Tower for the right to play #5 Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust.

Disco Club, on the other hand, looked stuck in reverse from the very start of the morning. What should have been comfortable victories against #10 Washington DC Rally and MOONDOG were instead universe point affairs, each time Disco Club just barely surviving the upset scare. What was most concerning for Disco was the (lack of) cohesion in their play. Any semblance of a plan, on offense or defense, was non-existent, and Disco looked bereft of ideas for disrupting opposition systems. Instead, they relied on their athleticism to earn blocks on defense and get goals on offense. While that strategy worked fine against lesser teams, it left them fully exposed against fellow title contenders, #7 Ann Arbor Hybrid. In their last game of the day, Hybrid blitzed Disco, racing out to a 5-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas somewhat, and the game finished 15-12 to Hybrid. Disco also are now forced to play a prequarters matchup against #6 New York XIST, just for the privilege of taking on #1 Seattle BFG in quarters.

Not a Surprise: The Favorites Played Like Favorites