A Spectator’s Notes on the Team USA v. shame. Scrimmage

Observations from Team USA 2025's first friendly.

June 12, 2025 by Anna Browne in Analysis, Recap

The 2025 United States World Games team had their first organized game of the cycle against 2023 USAU National Champions Fort Collins shame. With their full roster present, we finally got to see how this Team USA iteration would perform as they warm up for the World Games tournament this August in Chengdu, China. In a high-flying game where defense made the difference, the World Games squad was tested against a team with arguably the most chemistry in the mixed division.

Game Recap

Both teams started out on serve, before a layout block on a strike cut by Team USA’s Liv Player resulted in the first break of the game. USA would continue their break run, jumping out to a 5-2 lead they carried into halftime. With USA leading 8-5 and receiving out of half, they faced a shame. team that finally hit its stride, securing their first break of the game on the backs of impressive defensive intensity across the entire squad. USA would, however, break twice more en route to a 15-10 victory.

Both teams ran open lines, cycling through all of their players relatively evenly. For the USA, they split into two lines of around 10¹ with alternates evenly mixed in. The shame. offensive line saw the field the most, but several players cycled through who likely would not be on Fort Collins’ starting O-lines.

Defense Wins Championships

With the offensive strength USA and shame. brought to the game, there were minimal unforced errors on the day. What really made the difference was the defensive prowess of both squads.

As mentioned, Liv Player secured the first break of the game and set the World Games squad’s defensive machine into motion. In person defense, Marques Brownlee came up with a few blocks of his own, including a handblock, while lockdown defense was the norm from Kami Groom, Grant Lindsley, and Anna Thompson. For shame., their defensive efforts came from suffocating handler guards, as well as strong individual contributions from Megan Jameson’s lockdown defense and first-year shame. player Eddie Finley’s impressive sky of Brett Hulsmeyer.

While the World Games squad mostly stuck to person defense, they did show a few junk sets. The first was clearly a zone look, with the handlers set up in a sag while the middle tier of defenders featured rails focused downfield and a roaming center defender. This defense was effective at slowing down the shame. offense, but it did not generate the level of turns USA was hoping for. In the second half, they shifted to using a handler sag more frequently, especially on the open side man-matching handler. With the downfield defenders backing shame. cutters, forcing them into the poach, this defensive scheme generated a few more turns than their previous junk zones. While this may not work against squads more comfortable playing small ball like Colombia, this could be a welcome addition to the team’s defensive looks for World Games.

MMP Dominance

It is no secret that shame. have one of the strongest groups of women-matching players in the entire mixed division. With almost their entire squad consisting of Colorado Alpenglow players – a team with an undefeated streak that spanned eight games across the 2024 and 2025 seasons and includes a Western Ultimate League Championship – Fort Collins leans into the “iron sharpens iron” adage. This dominance was particularly notable when watching Kaela Helton’s impact for Team USA. As shame.’s WMPs who play Alpenglow usually see San Diego Super Bloom twice a year, almost all of shame.’s players have had the opportunity to match up against Kaela Helton and gameplan to minimize her role on the field. While Helton was no pushover, it was clear that USA’s tallest rostered WMP was negated by her shame. counterparts.

As great teams do, the World Games squad adjusted, identifying specific matchups to exploit, especially among MMPs. In particular, Marques Brownlee was the team’s standout player. He was essentially unguardable on offense and was able to generate several blocks. As in the last World Games cycle, Dylan Freechild found himself in the handler space frequently, but didn’t have as outstanding of a performance as expected, mostly due to reset miscommunications.

In the cutter space, Raphy Hayes, Christian Boxley, and Chris Kocher had very little difficulty finding separation in the open field. Hayes and Boxley in particular were frequently isolation cutters in pull plays, helping their offense get into flow early on. On defense, Lindsley excelled, minimizing the influence his matchup had on the game.

Contributions for All, Exceptional Effort from a Few

Every USA player had an outspoken impact at some point throughout the contest, whether is was blocks from alternates, hucks from cutters, or shutdown defense following an O-line turn. It was particularly notable how every player looked comfortable playing in any position, including in a dominator set. While the squad was figuring out the most efficient way to run their systems, particularly the defensive zone look, the team is already showing high levels of chemistry.

I would be remiss not to mention a few players who dominated every point they were on the field – Claire Trop and Marques Brownlee. Trop was a matchup nightmare, slicing up the opposing defense in the cutter space like they weren’t even there. Oftentimes, she would catch the disc with at least three steps of separation. Her throwing prowess was on display too, as she was frequently the initiation cutter who would then catch the score a few throws later. When Trop wasn’t running the offense, Brownlee was. With exceptional handler movements, Brownlee didn’t take what was given to him by the defense, he took what he wanted, which was frequently an upline to gain power position. He was a very high-use player throughout the scrimmage, and I don’t recall seeing him make a single error.

 

shame. Standouts

Playing against the star-studded roster of the World Games squad, shame. avoided falling into the trap of giving up before the game started. They began with two clean holds and while they found themselves down at halftime, shame. had complete belief in their team’s ability to crawl back. And indeed they did so, notching the first break of the second half.

If I had to pick just two players who played an exceptional game, maybe even better than their World Games counterparts, that would be Sam Goldstein and Megan Jameson. Working on opposite sides of the disc, Goldstein was surgical for shame. in the handler space. He was able to recognize what the defense was giving him and exploit it, ejecting from the backfield when his defender was poaching off for an easy score more than once. When a turn happened, he grinded to get the disc back, forcing miscues from the World Games team’s D-line offense. Jameson, a fresh face to the shame. roster, was one of the few players able to slow down Trop’s movements in the cutting space. As a D-line cutter, Jameson made her mark by playing shutdown defense on most of Team USA, utilizing orbiting and heads-up defending very effectively. She was no slouch on offense either, making decisive cuts when her squad needed them.

What to Watch For at London Invite

Injuries galore! Henry Ing was still playing gingerly in this game, but he was able to get to his top speed when he wanted to. He looked particularly impacted while playing defense. Chastain is another player to watch regarding injuries, as she sat out the entire game. It is unclear whether or not we will see them on the field at London Invite.

Will they tighten up lines or keep everything open and fluid? I anticipate that in a tournament format as opposed to a one-off game, Team USA will continue to utilize their depth to conserve legs and minimize injury risk. Of course, there could be specific game situations where they tighten up lines.

Watch out for what defensive sets the USA squad runs, and how effective they look against non-USAU teams. In particular, the junk zone they ran against shame. could be especially effective against a team that struggles with quick disc movement.

We’ll next see Team USA in action at the London Invite this coming weekend, June 14-15, where they’ll get a chance to prove their mettle against the four other World Games teams in attendance.

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1. Claire Chastain was out for the game with plantar fasciitis. This is unlikely to impact her ability to play in Chengdu, but is limiting her reps with the squad ↩