Middlebury slayed a dragon to make their way make to the national final, while Lewis & Clark are now hoping to do the same in a rematch of Pool D's top seeds
May 19, 2025 by Josh Katz in Preview
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2025 college ultimate season 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.
After a thrilling semifinal round, we have our finalists. In the first semifinal, Davenport continued the dominance they’ve displayed all season, dispatching Middlebury in a game that didn’t seem as close as the scoreline indicates. The pre-tournament favorites have looked exactly as expected all weekend, and they’ll be heavy favorites again tomorrow against [Carleton-CHOP/Lewis & Clark], who won the later semifinal.
Thanks for making me rewrite this preview, Middlebury. The Pranksters pulled off one of the most shocking upsets in D-III history in semis, taking down Davenport 15-11 and putting an end to the Panthers’ coronation. After using an incredibly balanced approach throughout pool play,1 the stars for Middlebury stepped into high usage roles. Peter Mans (1G/4A/3D) and Louis Douville Beaudoin (4G/5A) were the known quantities heading into the weekend; it’s no surprise to see them shining. On the other hand, Oscar de Swaan Arons has come out of absolutely nowhere to be an impact player for the Pranksters. His 3G/3A against Davenport was the cherry on top of a breakout weekend for a player who spent last year on the Branksters, Middlebury’s B team. Those three have plenty of help, with a large second tier of players supporting them, includeing the likes of Geir Hartl, Gavin Rice, and Max Rogers, plus Jasper Pearcy-Kahn, another former Brankster.
The rest of Middlebury’s weekend has been just as, if not more, dominant. Davenport was the first team to put up double digits on the Pranksters, after they conceded five, nine, nine, and six in pool play and quarters. Middlebury haven’t been truly challenged in a game since the front door semifinals at New England Regionals, where they defeated Bates by two, and haven’t lost since quarters at D-III Easterns. This is a team that is peaking at just the right time, and has all the pieces in place necessary to win their third national championship, and their first since 2019.
Their opponent will be Lewis & Clark Bacchus, who earned the program’s first ever championship appearance in a thrilling 15-13 win over Carleton CHOP. Bacchus led by as much as five in the second half before watching that lead slowly melt away into a 13-13 tie. But Max Zwerin refused to let the comeback go any further, scoring back-to-back goals to clinch the win for Bacchus.
Like Middlebury, Bacchus have a three person top tier of Zwerin, Leo Farley, and Charlie Wagner. Zwerin and Farley score lots of goals (21 and 17 respectively, good for second and third overall at the tournament) and Wagner has plenty of assists (16, most on the team). They also have a very solid supporting cast made up of Orlando Impas, and Sam London, who earn plenty of assists each for their throws, and Toby Rivera, who makes his presence felt with tight defense. William Ahlstrom and Jericho Stern have also popped up on occasion with a timely block or two.
Lewis & Clark’s road to the final was nowhere near as smooth as Middlebury. Bacchus went 2-1 in pool play, defeating Wesleyan by three and Hillsdale by nine before dropping their last game on Saturday to these very Pranksters, 15-9. They rebounded well on Sunday, blowing out Missouri S&T 15-8 in prequarters, getting revenge for last year’s heartbreaking loss by eliminating Whitman, 12-9, and winning the aforementioned semifinal. That Sunday bounce back was buoyed by some timely strategy adjustments and key coaching moves; while no coach wants to put strategy on the record, I did learn that Bacchus have spent all season emphasizing the importance of staying grounded and playing within one’s role. Team leadership spent much of Sunday reaffirming those principles, and it’s paid off with the team’s best ever Nationals finish.
In addition to their pool play game on Saturday, these two teams met in pool play in 2024 and 2023; all those meetings ended in Middlebury wins. Lewis & Clark has already slayed one dragon this weekend, who says they can’t do it one more time and win their first championship? Tune in at 4:00 PM ET on Ultiworld to see which team will end the year on the highest note.
Every single player on Middlebury’s roster has registered a stat ↩
