Syzygy gritted out a high-flying win over Washington in a semifinal under the lights that featured fewer than 10 turnovers from Carleton
May 27, 2025 by Kiana Hu in Recap
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BURLINGTON, WA — After a one-sided semifinal performance earlier in the day, the matchup of two storied teams, both imbued with Seattle talent, promised to be a rousing performance for their home crowd. Under the bright lights, the stars were clearly aligned for #2 Carleton Syzygy as they overcame the surprise semifinalists #5 Washington Element in a classic nighttime stadium showdown.
The opening points of the contest immediately established the top-notch caliber of play. Syzygy came out ready to run, and worked through several open side yard-gainers before Chagall Gelfand connected with Eliza Barton on a short backhand toss, 1-0. Element answered with a clean hold of their own to tie it up, after a second-effort layout grab from Lucy Tanner saved possession early in the point.
Both teams looked remarkably unfazed by the demands of the semifinal match, clearly able to play up to the occasion. An impressive layout tip from Rowan Lymp wasn’t enough to stop Carleton’s Naomi Fina from bidding for the score in the back of the end zone to go up 2-1.
Not to be outdone, Savanna Tucker went airborne on the following Washington possession to reel in a deep look from Tanner. Tied again with the audience fired up, the game was ON.
Washington struck first when a backfield drop gave them the disc just 15 yards out of their attacking end zone. Carleton gave their best effort to regain control, but even a coverage sack and a mack from Gelfand on Isabella Pharr’s bailout huck wasn’t enough to stop Lymp from snagging the break. Continuing the back-and-forth tempo of the game, Carleton responded with an immediate break of their own to bring the game back on serve, 5-4.
The momentum pendulum continued to swing between Carleton and Washington, as neither team was able to fully stymie the other’s rhythm. As the sun started to set in the stadium, Syzygy built a comfortable lead coming out of half with another fast-paced defensive attack—once again, ruthlessly efficient—that stretched out a three-point margin they maintained through the end of the game. However, even the stifling reset defense from Eva Fischer and Audrey Parrott was unable to unsettle the Element offense, which crossed over their D-line core of Lymp, Pharr, and Goddu, versatile role players who were able to get it done on offense just as easily.
The takeaway from the rest of the matchup was the efficiency of Carleton’s D-line offense. Their statline of 80% break conversions is even more impressive considering Element only gave them five total chances. Once Syzygy dislodged the disc from Element’s hands, they only gave it back up once. They were extremely stingy with the disc, choosing safe looks and letting their cutters go to work to gain quick yards and taking the deep shots when they were open. Downfield mainstays Fina and Barton smoothly integrated into the backfield at will, allowing Gelfand to push deep to take her defender—often Lauren Goddu—out of play. “Throughout this season, we’ve built up just a lot of chemistry together at practices. And so we’re able to use that in a lot of different situations,” said rookie phenom Barton.
POTY frontrunner Gelfand (2G/7A/1D) had a tremendous performance for Syzygy, executing at an extremely high level even while drawing a variety of personnel matchups that Element tried to limit her. Her standstill flick huck is one of—if not the most—potent in the division, and in the windless conditions her abilities were on full display. At 13-10, Gelfand was the focal point of a flawlessly executed isolation pull play that Washington was helpless to prevent.
Washington Element has had nothing short of an inspirational season, steadily playing their way upwards all season long. “At the top of our ‘triangle of genuinity’ was to win Nationals,” said coach Jillian Goodreau. “Our values are centered around grit and passion, and the team really embodies both of those aspects.” Element’s initial postseason success was a noticeable improvement from their respectable, but lackluster, regular season. They continued that upward trend in the Nationals bracket, and showed laudable tenacity in a challenging contest with an untested and well-rested Carleton team.
In the final moments of the game, Washington continued to trust in themselves. On the brink of elimination and at the behest of the crowd chanting “one more break!”, the Element D-line showed signs of life when Pharr knocked away an upline pass from Syzygy. Lymp’s perfect inside flick bomb to Anna Pettis put the pressure back on Carleton to remain measured. Washington almost had another opportunity after their shutdown defense downfield forced a punt from Gelfand—but a saved disc by Element’s Sola Truong was ruled down by the observers, who were making an active call that only upon reviewing footage was determined to be incorrect.
“We’ve been able to prove in a lot of games, even going down a break or two, right, that we’ve been able to come back. And even this one, we’re down multiple and we’re still fighting to the end,” remarked Goodreau.
Syzygy did not open the door again for Element. A high-release backhand from Parrott to Fina put the budding comeback hopes to rest, and brought to a close an evening of extraordinarily elite-level competition. For Carleton, the semifinal victory will send them to their first final appearance since 2013, where they will take on Canadian juggernauts UBC in a classic 1v2 face-off. They’ll look to continue their unparalleled efficiency and utilize their well-rounded depth to challenge a similarly capable UBC side.
