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.
A battle of two of the country’s elite programs is in the offing for the women’s division championship game. #1 San Francisco Fury and #4 Washington DC Scandal will take the field for a titanic contest.
Fury are the most successful club of all time in any division. Since they first qualified for Nationals in 1999, they have only failed to reach semis once in 25 seasons, and that one blip happened twenty years ago. Fury’s 12 championships are by far the most in history. Each of the past two years, though – since their most recent title in 2021 – their bid for a baker’s dozen has fallen short. Will 2024 be the year they make it lucky 13?
Standing in their way are Scandal, who put an end to Fury’s streak of seven straight club titles when they won the program’s first championship in 2013. They backed it up with another in 2014, but they have been looking without success for the third entry in the trilogy for the last decade. Their best chance was a year ago, when they reached the final but could not finish the weekend with a win.
It’s anyone’s guess which of these two heavyweights will prevail on Sunday in the national final. Fury, as always, carry with them the aura of their decorated foremothers. Scandal are at least as strong in 2024 as they were in 2023. A possible preview might be found in Fury’s pair of wins over Scandal at the US Open – 14-12 and 15-11.1 However, because of the way this summer’s World Ultimate Championships warped the shape of the regular season, those results should be regarded with a healthy suspicion.
Both teams bring a 5-0 Nationals record into the final. Scandal faced two difficult tests: a 15-14 nailbiter over #7 New York BENT in the last round of pool play, and a spectacular 15-13 win against #2 Boston Brute Squad in their semifinal. The Brute win was not only a statement in and of itself, but also a kind of catharsis for last year’s frustrating end: it was Brute who stymied Scandal in the 2023 final.
Fury have not been tested yet in the same way this weekend. Their closest game was the 15-12 semifinal win over #5 Denver Molly Brown. That three-goal margin is something of a mirage though, since Fury had the game in hand with a 14-9 win before a small run at the end tightened the line for Molly. The read on those results can cut one of two ways: either Fury are so great no one can get within arm’s reach of them, or they have not experienced the sort of pressure this tournament that would both test and improve their mettle.
Fury have, as always, an army of stars at hand. This season’s O-line’s constellation features 2018 Player of the Year Carolyn Finney (3G, 8A), Italian sensation Irene Scazzieri (11G, 2A), and Kirstin Johnson (6G, 10A). The defensive charge is led by a quartet of team USA Worlds standouts: Anna Thompson (5G, 8A, 4D), Anna Nazarov (2G, 8A, 2D), Dena Elimelech (4G, 6A, 7D), and Shayla Harris (6G, 8A, 5D). Beyond the top line, the program has been the flag bearer of team depth for decades.
Scandal’s collection of talent compares favorably with Fury. The lodestar is, of course, reigning Player of the Year and three-time All Club 1st Team member Claire Trop (16G, 10A). Her most effective partner in scoring on the O-line this season has been team newcomer Marie Périvier (6G, 9A). The leaders of the D-line are 2016 Player of the Year and eight-time All Club 1st Teamer Kami Groom (6G, 6A, 5D), Ashleigh Jentilet (5G, 4A, 3D), and Amanda Murphy (5G, 4A, 4D).
With so much combined history, elite talent, and hope colliding on the field, the women’s division final figures to be a perfect capstone to the weekend. You can watch the action unfold live on October 27 at 3:00 PM PT with an Ultiworld Subscription or free on YouTube.
Check out our video recap of their final matchup ↩
