Clinical offense from Wesleyan limited Haverford/Bryn Mawr's break chances and staved off a second-half comeback in the program's first-ever title
May 19, 2025 by Theresa Diffendal in Recap
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Wesleyan Vicious Circles paired pristine offensive motion with stifling defensive intensity to jump out to a 5-1 lead in the national final that proved too overwhelming for Haverford/Bryn Mawr to surmount. Even though the Sneetches racked up 16 blocks, led by ROTY candidate Rufus Helmreich, it mostly came against Wesleyan’s D-line, and Haverford/Bryn Mawr could not convert a single break in the first half. Many of the Sneetches drives were stymied by hucks that went too far or throws that were eaten up by the run-through defensive prowess of Susannah Cornell, Nat Sweet, and Maggie Brown. At halftime, though Haverford/Bryn Mawr’s turnover count stood at 19 to Wesleyan’s 15, the eye-popping stat was break chances, with Wesleyan converting four of their 14 opportunities while giving the Sneetches just five looks at a break.
After Haverford/Bryn Mawr’s resurgent second half against Middlebury in yesterday’s semifinals, it seemed fans might be in for a similar build as the Sneetches leaned into the intensity and grit of Erica Collin and Zoe Costanza, bolstered by some excellent field marshalling from Clara Morton and Eleanor Wheeler. But the Sneetches’ two breaks were matched by two of Wesleyan’s own, as even a force middle defense couldn’t fluster the throwing talents of Milo Brown and Scout Noble. The two were made for the red zone game, using their quickness to convert scores from upline give-gos and punishing the Sneetches with a cascade of around breaks when Haverford/Bryn Mawr bit on the open side in response.
At 14-11, Wesleyan threw out a kill line to secure the win. In a microcosm of the game, the handling corps of Sweet, Noble, and Milo Brown worked the disc cleanly up the field through a series of unders and early-stall resets that incorporated all seven players on the field. The ever-steady Sofia Canoutas-Nadel flipped one final pass to a slashing Sweet, and the captain’s last of 11 goals on the tournament brought with it a national championship. Wesleyan’s poise and control in the moment belied their prequarterfinal exit in 2024 and sets up a potential new dynasty, as many of Wesleyan’s biggest contributors like Brown and Noble are still underclassman. This may be the Vicious Circles’ first title, but it almost assuredly won’t be their last.
OH, HOW SWEET IT IS 🏆
Wesleyan’s captain Natalie Sweet with the title-sealing grab and the Vicious Circles are champions of the college world in 2025!#USAUCollegeChamps | #USAUltimate pic.twitter.com/oHkrkS7dJZ
— USA Ultimate (@USAUltimate) May 19, 2025
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