A clash between a storied program and a first-ever finalist
October 27, 2024 by Edward Stephens in Preview with 0 comments
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2024 Club 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’s sure to be a high-flying affair as #9 Portland Rhino Slam! face off against #8 New York PoNY for the Men’s Division Championship Game on Sunday. Both clubs are athletic, focused, and – through five rounds of play – undefeated at 2024 Nationals.
Both are also familiar presences deep in the bracket in recent years. PoNY have been among the division’s best since 2018, when they won the program’s only title. Including that championship year, they reached the semifinal round or better five of the last six years. They bullied their competition throughout pool play, and then again in a 15-8 win over #7 Raleigh Ring of Fire. PoNY’s semifinal against #5 San Francisco Revolver was a much closer 15-13 margin, although they never trailed in the game. Sunday marks their third ever appearance in the final.
Rhino, on the other hand, reached a new program-best result when they throttled #2 Chicago Machine 15-9 in semis. It will be the 35-year old club’s first ever championship game. They have made semifinals or better in three of the last four years. Rhino’s path to the final was less dominant: they needed universe point to hold on in their first two pool play games. They dethroned both of the two most recent champions, dispatching #1 Denver Johnny Bravo in pool play and #4 Washington DC Truck Stop in quarters.
PoNY and Rhino beat their only common opponent this weekend, Machine, by the same six-goal margin.
While the two teams’ relatively low seeds – Rhino finished the season ranked 7th in USAU’s algorithm, and PoNY 10th – reflect uneven regular seasons, both are loaded with superstar players who have stepped up in a big way. Sam Little (5G, 8A), Ben Jagt (10G), and permanent All-Club 1st Team resident1 Chris Kocher (2G, 13A) have paced the PoNY offense. Cam Wariner, Jibran Mieser, and Conrad Schlör are among the cohort of WUC stars on their D-lines.
Rhino feature Worlds stars Jack Hatchett (5G, 15A), Raphy Hayes (11G, 6A), and newcomer Henry Ing (6G, 4A) on offense. The leading edge of their attack at this tournament, however, is third-year Rhinocerous and 2023 D-1 Men’s Rookie of the Year Mica Glass (9G, 12A). David Sealand and Daniel Lee have meanwhile burnished their reputations as two of the stingiest defenders in the country.
The championship game will also see a reunion of some of ultimate’s first media stars. PoNY’s Kocher and Jimmy Mickle and Rhino’s Matt Rehder and Dylan Freechild all toured the country as part of the NexGen in the early 2010s. That quartet share five Club Player of the Year honors, five National Championships, and two Callahan awards between them.
Watch all the action beginning at 10 am PT on Sunday exclusively on Ultiworld with an Ultiworld subscription.
Kocher, the 2021 Player of the Year, has made every All Club 1st Team since 2017 ↩
