Everything you need to know about Thursday’s Pool Play
October 24, 2025 by Graham Gerhart in Recap
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2025 Club National Championships 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.
SAN DIEGO – It was a beautiful day at the Surf Sports Park as 48 teams across three divisions gathered to showcase the best the sport has to offer.
Just 12 teams remain in contention for a title after an exciting day of pool play. Pool C lived up to the hype from the jump and produced two universe point games between the division’s most storied teams. Meanwhile, Pool D revealed itself to be the true pool of death, providing fans with three upset games and leaving questions about who would advance until the very last score.
Riot Riccochets From Top Spot
- Traffic 15-13 Riot ⎸ Game Recap | Stream
- BENT 15-9 Riot | Stream
- Riot 15-4 Grit
One of the best storylines of the season has been the resurgence of #5 Seattle Riot. After a few rebuilding years, the remaining veterans and a host of exciting young players had Riot ranked as high as #2 for most of the year. Riot’s regular season success earned the team a top pool seed, but their play on Thursday betrayed that prestige.
The handful of fans who ventured to the far side of the complex were treated to a round one upset as #12 Vancouver Traffic took down regional rival Riot 15-13. Traffic rode an early string of breaks to a 6-2 lead and held on as Seattle chipped away in the second half. Riot relied heavily on a zone defense that may have given other teams trouble in the past, but was no match for a practiced Traffic team. This is Riot’s second straight loss to a regional rival going back to their Northwest Regionals final loss to #8 Portland Schwa.
The midday 15-4 win over bottom seed #14 Washington DC Grit followed the set script, but #6 New York BENT took a page out of Traffic’s playbook and upset Riot to close out pool play. BENT were not phased by the Riot zone and took advantage of Riot’s throwing mistakes. Riot will have their chance tomorrow to prove their abilities in the championship bracket, but they’ll need to fight through the prequarterfinal round first against #10 Pittsburgh Parcha.
On their side of things, Traffic could not keep their run alive, falling to BENT, who thus secured the top spot in the pool and a bye to the quarterfinal round, and then to pool fourth seed #14 Washington DC Grit in the last round of play. Riot, Traffic, and Grit all finished pool play with 1-2 records, with Riot and Traffic advancing based on point differential.
Pool C Stands for Chaos
When the pool draw was revealed, it was clear that Pool C would be a challenge. An underseeded #9 Denver Molly Brown team, a #2 Washington DC Scandal team eager to prove their title-seeking bona fides, and a #4 Raleigh Phoenix team filled with players used to success at the college and semi-pro levels all squeezed together (and poor #22 Madison Heist who had to deal with all of them in their return trip to Nationals after years away).
Well, the pool delivered. The day started with a universe-point thriller as Molly Brown beat Scandal on the showcase field. Then, Phoenix turned around the result and took down Molly Brown on universe. To close out the 1-1 circle of success, Scandal handled a tired Phoenix squad 15-9 to keep DC atop the group with a positive point differential and send Phoenix to the third-place spot–good enough to make the bracket, but low enough that they’ll face a good #7 San Diego Flipside team in prequarters.
If you’re looking for highlights, Molly Brown’s Manuela Cárdenas delivered several layout blocks including this shoulder-high deflection that rivals the best defensive plays seen in recent memory.
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Quick Hits
- #1 San Francisco Fury completed their habitual dominant pool play appearance (3-0, +32 point differential). Their closest game was a ten goal win over #10 Pittsburgh Parcha (Game Recap)
- #3 Boston Brute Squad similarly dispatched all challengers, finishing +19 across their three games to win Pool B.
- Portland Schwa continued their strong season with wins over Nightlock and Parcha as they’ll move into the bracket.
- Parcha, meanwhile, did just enough against #13 San Francisco Nightlock to secure their spot in the bracket.
That’s all for today’s pool play games, but there’s more on deck. Be sure to catch the game recaps as they’re posted on tomorrow’s live blog, and follow along with the action first-hand by watching tomorrow’s streamed games!
