Two one-point semifinals sent Philadelphia and Minnesota through to the championship, with returning finalists Minnesota flipping the script to claim gold
August 27, 2025 by Laura Osterlund in Recap
Drive and intensity were the two words that best summed up the final day of Mixed U20 action at the 2025 Youth Club Championships. After two hard-fought semifinals that both came down to hard cap, Minnesota Superior beat Philadelphia Forge to avenge their universe point loss in last year’s final.
Philly Forges Ahead
In a semifinal for the ages with tides changing like the Colorado weather, Philadelphia Forge took down Virginia Vanguard on universe point. It started out with Vanguard rattling off two breaks in a row to take an early 3-1 lead over the Philadelphians. Forge’s Rina Meschke took the helm to keep the largest gap at two points all the way through the first half, as Vanguard never let up to take an 8-6 lead.
After a quick hold to start the second, Forge forced a marathon point and, due to their defense, secured their first break of the game to tie the score up. Philly kept up the pressure, notching another break thanks to the handiwork of Lilly Hodges to take their first lead of the game, 9-8. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Virginia zone forced a few turns to once again go up 10-9.
“Once we fell back, our defensive intensity started to step up,” shared Vanguard coach Corey Furukawa. “Especially on our O-line after a turn, we kept on getting it back. That really allowed us to punch some of those points in where, if we did not mentally put ourselves back in that game, this game would have ended much sooner.”
In the nick of time, Forge scored another tying goal right before the soft cap horn blew, and at 11-11, it became a game to 13. Defense ramped up on both sides; each team was hungry to get a late-game leg up. This time, Griffin Schlabach was the hero the Pennsylvania team needed as they broke once again to get one point away from victory.
After another lengthy point, spanning long after hard cap went off, Vanguard scored to force universe point. Receiving the pull, Forge had no option but to play clean offense, working their way down the field until Ryan Markey caught the hammer with a diving grab to win the game 13-12 and secure Forge another finals berth.
“Throughout this tournament, our mantra has been trust; trust each other, trust yourself, trust what we’re trying to do together,” said Forge coach Chris Lehmann. “We believe in each other, we trust in one another. And they did. They trusted everything we were trying to do; they ran every set. The mistakes that we were making were mistakes of excitement, and we talked about how you have to trust your defenders. So that mantra all season long – trust yourself, trust your team, trust your teammates – was the whole message.”
Time is On Minnesota’s Side
On the other side of the complex, Minnesota Superior took down Oregon Wildfire 14-13, narrowly avoiding their own universe point match thanks to the hard cap.
For the first three quarters of the game, Superior were in complete control of everything that happened on the field, starting out with a 3-0 lead. Even as Wildfire’s Angus Grant scored a callahan and Oregon’s zone forced turns out of the Superior offense, they had troubles with the float caused by the elevation and light winds.
And even their zone couldn’t fully stave off the forces of Mia Fischer, Walter Hipps, Katherine Schaberg, and Danny Hobday Hobday in particular had the superhero-esque ability to catch practically anything thrown to him within a 10-yard radius. After Wildfire couldn’t connect on a scoring opportunity, the Minnesotans broke the zone by sending the disc to a deep Hobday, who eventually found Ally Adair in the end zone to break for half leading 8-4.
“Minnesota, all the other central areas, we practice in wind all the time. We are used to it. We’re not afraid of it. We’re also willing to play sloppy games, we’re willing to play slow and hit all the easy throws whenever needed,” said Superior coach Blake Krapfl. “A lot of us like zone offense even better. We’re just not worried about that, just keep playing our game.”
The Superior train kept rolling as they continued to capitalize on Wildfire errors, with a Fischer goal increasing the lead to 11-5. Both teams fought hard to make sure the margins did not sway even more out of their favor, and with several holds apiece, Superior maintained their five-point lead to pull within two points of the final at 13-8. However, while it looked like the team from Minnesota had already put the game to bed, a spark ignited in the Wildfire team.
After a Superior miscue, the Oregonians got a clean hold – their first of the game – with Taylor Melner steering the ship. Then they got a break, and then another. While Superior responded with a dirty hold as soft cap took effect at 14-10, Wildfire had all of the momentum. They interrupted every Superior attempt to end the match and brought in another break to shave the lead to two.
Even with the ball rolling, time was not on the side of the underdogs. Despite scoring the last point (and break) of the game, Oregon couldn’t get in the end zone before the hard cap horn blew and fell just short of making the comeback of the tournament. Superior had held on through the flames to punch in another trip to the final.
“The players dug deep. At halftime, it was really cool hearing them fire themselves up; that was really awesome, “ said Wildfire coach Tyler MacMaster. “At the end of the day, the kids put up a good fight. This team loves each other. And every game, they’re playing for each other. We’ve had some really really tight, close games, and have overcome adversity, but they’ve been there for each other the whole time – some serious heart. These players are no joke, they care a lot, really wanted it, and we just lost a close one by one. I wish we’d have a little bit more time; the time was against us, it was the biggest enemy in that one.”
“These teams at the top are all really close, really tight. We’re expecting a hard-fought game. We’re gonna try our best to keep playing our system,” Superior coach Krapfl said, looking forward at the final. “Play through our depth, really run the ball on offense, and make everything tight and pressured on defense. Just play in our system, and it’s been working so far.”
The Great Lake Heats Up
With both Minnesota Superior and Philadelphia Forge coming off hard-fought games that came down to the wire, the energy was brewed to create an inevitably intense final.
Starting out the game feeling hot, Forge’s Schlabach got his hands in the middle of Superior’s offensive point to break for the game’s first score. The defensive energy did not stop there, as the points that followed had multiple blocks. Minnesota persevered through the pressure, punching in a dirty hold and then a break as a Mia Fischer swat-away gained over 10 yards to give Superior a short field to go back on serve at 2-1.
But again, the lead was short-lived. After their hold, Schlabach once again made his presence known as he got a poach block on an early swing, and although both teams turned the disc over, Forge took advantage, keeping possession down near their end zone. Philadelphia reclaimed the 5-4 lead thanks to a huck sent by Lilly Hodges. However, much like the previous leads of the game, it did not last long.
“At the end of the day, our defense was getting stops,” Forge coach Lehmann said. “We were struggling to punch it in off of that. So we didn’t feel like our defense was the problem; they were making it very hard for our D-line offense to score. So we didn’t change up our defense [until later] because that wasn’t what we were focusing on.”
After Kaelani Hoyt shredded the deep space for a Superior hold, Forge dropped a half-field hammer outside of their end zone on their following offensive point, giving the Minnesotans a chance to get the break. While they wouldn’t capitalize on that possession, strong pressure defense – including a near-callahan from Joe Lodahl – kept the disc near the end zone and allowed Minnesota to capitalize. Ally Adair continued the momentum, pressuring a block on the next point, and Superior worked their way down the field to gain the biggest lead of the game thus far at 7-5.
Philly’s trio of Hodges, Andrew Mennig, and Ryan Markey made sure to stop the bleeding for the following Forge score. And again, with Schlabach’s heroic efforts, the Philadelphians tied the score to bring the game to galaxy point, next score taking half. With the cleanest of holds, Superior emerged from the first half with an 8-7 advantage.
“For our O-line, it was, ‘let’s see what they’re giving us, let’s make sure that we’re staying calm.’ I think in-game adjustments were pretty much just to calm down — we were getting a little antsy, a little stressed,” said Superior coach Eugenia Garza. “But as far as our systems, our goal was to play really suffocating person defense.”
Fischer understood the assignment, starting the second half with a bang as she got the endzone block and goal for another Superior break. Forge continued making big catches and plays to stay in the game, including a bidding score by Moira Loughrey, who had been a force to be reckoned with in the end zone the entire weekend.
But Superior’s defense was a tad stronger, and their offense moved a bit more efficiently in the end. After a layout block on a Philly miscommunication and an open deep cut by Minnesota’s Ally Adair, and another early block to a clean break, Superior increased their cushion. With a 12-8 lead, Minnesota buckled into the driver’s seat once and for all.
Despite Superior’s sizable advantage, Forge made one last attempt to gain the upper hand as time ran down. They threw a zone out that caused the Minnesota offense to struggle, throwing more passes and giving up one last break after the soft cap horn went off.
But their defensive adjustments came too late. After both teams turned the disc over, Superior sent it deep before the zone could set itself back up and punched it in to avenge their championship loss from last season, earning the gold once and for all.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Forge. What I hope more than anything else is that, for the rest of their lives, they can take this memory with them as being a part of something super special with a group of friends and spending a summer time building something wonderful and building memories,” said Lehmann.
“I told them to leave it all out there, and they did,” he continued. “They made it really close, and at the end of the day, one team wins the game, and it wasn’t us today. But they worked. I just can’t imagine a group of kids working harder; they were wonderful. What I told them was: ‘The hurt of losing in the finals will fade, and the joy of having gotten there and played together will last them a lifetime.’”
“We [Minnesota] worked so hard and we’ve had our moments of ‘trust me, this will work.’ To see it all pay off this whole weekend as a team, as a system, to all be on the same page, I’m so proud,” said Superior coach Garza. “Our whole thing this whole time has been to out-work our matchups on the field and work our sidelines. And if anything, we can work harder than the other team, give 110 percent.”
We always have the North Central chip on our shoulder, but I think it proves that we have a growing program, we have the kids that want to put in the work,” she continued. “And the U17 Girls team also got their win out, so I think it shows that we have a solid youth scene. But these kids are going to be the ones to look out for in the future.”
All Tournament Line
Elliot Brand (Wildfire)
Mia Fischer (Superior)
Danny Hobday (Superior)
Lilly Hodges (Forge)
Taylor Melner (Wildfire)
Thomas Pearson (Vanguard)
Griffin Schlabach (Forge)
