Brute Squad powered up their defense for a 10-4 run in the second half to reverse their 2024 fate and book a spot in the national final
October 25, 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 – Over the last twenty years, only four teams have won Nationals. All of them made it to semis this year. In the waning moments of the Fury-Molly Brown semifinal, the other two previous National champs prepared themselves for a rematch that seemed almost predestined. After seeing the results from day one of Nationals, it didn’t require a fortune teller to know that we’d see Scandal and Brute Squad square off for the fourth time this season. While DC was hoping to match their success from 2024, it was Boston who overcame a halftime deficit and stormed back to a 15-12 win.
Despite plenty of data to draw from with the regular season results, this game looked to be an oddsmaker’s nightmare. The two teams were uniquely balanced against each other, and picking a favorite seemed like a lesson in futility.
Perhaps you could give a slight edge to Scandal, as they entered the game a little healthier than their opponent. Brute Squad were missing a number of their decorated veterans at Nationals, and center handler Lia Schwartz had to bow out in the bracket thanks to a right arm injury.
That didn’t seem to stop Boston, though. They played with a “next person up” mentality that saw Grace Conerly step into the center handler role and players like Becky Malinowski and Charlotte Koerner move into larger roles for their team.
Watching Brute Squad play, you’d never have been able to tell their roster was depleted. The team played with a vehemence and aggression that outstripped the narrative built in the regular season.1 Their speed and downwind mentality were exactly what helped them earn the first break of the game.
After trading holds to start, a simple initiating pass from Kira Flores came out too low and gave Brute Squad the disc with a short field. The early turn meant Scandal had plenty of time to set up their defense, but Boston never let them get comfortable. Quick, snappy throws between Boston’s downfield receivers put Scandal on the back foot, and it quickly turned into a break when Kelly Hyland found Mangie Forero streaking across the front of the end zone.
Those are exactly the sort of turns that get the alarm bells ringing for Scandal. They’re still a relatively young team, especially with a handler core of Tyler Smith and Kira Flores. If and when those two get in their own heads, Scandal’s job becomes a lot harder.
It was early enough in the game that no one from Scandal lost their nerve. Instead, the team rallied behind their offense and started torching the Brute Squad defenders left and right.
This offensive effort was led by Kami Groom downfield. Despite seeing previous teammates like Becky Malinowski and Lien Hoffmann matched up against her, Groom proved she still had a few tricks up her sleeve to catch them off guard. Groom was responsible for the first two Scandal goals, and they wouldn’t be her last.
Down a break, Scandal had to start coming up with answers to Brute Squad’s offense, and they did. For their first break, that answer was Marge Walker. She got a huge block right when it seemed Boston’s offense was going to completely unlock the Scandal defensive set, and that set her team up to swiftly move the disc to the end zone where Allie Wallace found Amanda Murphy for the goal.
DC wasn’t satisfied with just one break. After taking a few more points to adjust to the patterns of attack that Brute Squad was revealing over time, Scandal decided that scheme was overrated and it was time to win it with athleticism. A deep huck from Conerly to Koerner looked like a free goal, only for Melissa Dang to close the distance and come up with the block. Allie Wallace would hit Ashleigh Jentilet soon after to add a little buffer in Scandal’s lead, as they went up 6-4.
It’s a HUGE break right before the half as @scandalultimate connect for a two-goal lead! 👏#USAUNats | #USAUltimate pic.twitter.com/qzvlE6GvsM
— USA Ultimate (@USAUltimate) October 25, 2025
While that play got the crowd going, the point of the game was about to occur.
Two holds later, with the score at 7-5, Scandal found another opening. Dang was let loose to hunt in the deep space once more, and she found Kelly Hyland going deep, trying to come down with a pass from Liv Player. Once again, Dang came up big for her team and turned a would-be goal into a block.
Brute Squad wouldn’t go down easy, though. With a collective effort, Boston shut down Scandal’s offense at the goal line, only for Hyland’s huck to Conerly to sail out the back of the end zone. Scandal once again worked it the full length of the field, only for Tulsa Douglas to have a highlight play of her own, getting a great block on the goal line. In no time at all, Scandal stole the disc back with a giant block from Marge Walker over Kelly Hyland.
The crowd was awash with gasps and cheers this entire point. Both teams seemed to want it desperately, neither seemingly able to take an edge.
As it often does with these marathon points, depth won out. With both teams’ stars running out of gas, it was Maddie Boyle, one of the Scandal’s “role players,” who set her team on the narrow path to success. An innocuous flair cut to the sideline got Boyle the disc and their mark didn’t respect the deep shot, which Boyle fired off with reckless abandon, only for it to crest perfectly to the intended receiver. “Boyle doesn’t get a lot of note for what they do for us,” said Claire Trop. “They were undeniably clutch for us today.” That didn’t result in the goal, but a layout catch from Marge Walker mere moments later, did. Just like that, Scandal took half 8-5.
That’s a break!! @scandalultimate takes half in the semifinal and a three goal lead! 🔥#USAUNats | #USAUltimate pic.twitter.com/ZRjiXcPOQu
— USA Ultimate (@USAUltimate) October 25, 2025
Scandal’s defense was the story of the first half. Both team were taking a lot of shots on offense, but only Scandal were able to make Boston pay for their bad decisions. That all changed very quickly in the second.
Perhaps if Scandal’s defense had been able to see the field more, it would have been able to keep the narrative going. As Trop noted, “I can’t fault our defense. I think our only fault was not getting them out there enough in the second half.”
Getting the defense more time on the field is easier said than done, but Boston certainly figured out how to do it as the game wore on.
It helped that their handler pressure ramped up considerably. Smith and Flores felt the full force of Boston’s defense in the second half. Angela Zhu, Hoffmann, and Edi Lam all took turns hounding the primary throwers on Scandal, and their collective effort started chipping away at the resilience Scandal had shown up to this point.
At 8-6, Brute Squad got their first break after forcing Smith to throw a late stall huck that Verena Woloson could not bring down. A Trop block on Walczak almost got her team the disc back, but Smith was handblocked as she was winding up for a big throw. Liv Player didn’t give Scandal another chance, scoring off a Walczak laser pass.
Even as Scandal managed to convert the next hold, it was clear that doubt was starting to creep in. The quiet whisper that haunts even the best players in the world: “what if I choke?”
The intrusive thoughts weren’t content to plague Scandal’s handlers, though. Marie Perivier, who had been having a fantastic game in the first half, was the next player to give Brute Squad a break chance. What should have been a muscle memory huck for her came out too low, and Hoffmann plucked it out of the air despite being well short of her mark. Boston gave them no quarter and made every safe pass they could before letting Walczak throw a creative low backhand to a bidding Ximena Montaña. Just like that, Brute Squad tied it up.
A tie game wasn’t enough for Boston. They’ve always been a team that breaks in sets, and it’s just a matter of how many. Scandal tried to mount an offensive stand the very next point, only for Hyland to disrupt a Groom goal with a miraculous layout block. That block set up a whirlwind of activity from both teams in the center of the field, and Boston narrowly came away with it thanks to a prayer pass from Ospina to Walczak.
KELLY HYLAND DENIES 😳
Brute Squad is flying in the semis and Hyland gives them the defensive stand!#USAUNats | #USAUltimate pic.twitter.com/CZdaOK0K9J
— USA Ultimate (@USAUltimate) October 25, 2025
The teams would trade holds, but then it was back to the Boston show. After Groom missed a sitter pass in the end zone to Flores, Boston worked the disc up the field against the wind and let Walczak fire a deep shot to Lam, who beat two Scandal defenders as they rose up to snag the disc. Lam then found Montaña, and that brought the game to 12-10.
CAUGHT BY LAM!!! 🫡
Edi Lam rips it down in traffic for @100percentBS and after the stoppage, Boston converts to take a two goal lead! Tune in for the end of this one on @Ultiworld!#USAUNats | #USAUltimate pic.twitter.com/6HIj3Q00br
— USA Ultimate (@USAUltimate) October 25, 2025
Once again, the breaks came in sets as a stallout on Wallace led to a Hyland-Malinowski connection soon after for Brute Squad to take a commanding 13-10 lead.
That was the real story of the game: defensive pressure. Scandal had it in the first half, and Brute Squad stole it in the second. They were relentless in a way that forced Scandal into thinking individual players needed heroics to help their team get a hold.
To hear Trop tell it, though, Scandal wanted their players to make big plays; their system is designed for it. “It probably was poor execution that cost us the game,” said Trop, “but I’m a pretty big believer in you take what you want, not what the opponent gives you. I believe in our offense to take those shots every game.”
Boston had their own perspective on how the second half went: “It wasn’t really about Scandal,” said Boston standout Kelly Hyland. “We knew we’d get chances, so we wanted to finish our blocks and punch in the breaks. We did that.”
Scandal would try to mount a comeback in the late stages of the game, but they didn’t have enough points for their defense to get going. Boston wasn’t settling for hucks anymore, and there weren’t many opportunities to slow their handlers when they got going.
At 14-12, the rubber hit the road for Scandal. Their offense had done its job and gotten a hold, but Boston’s offense was fresh and had a fiery purpose in their eyes. A glimmer of hope appeared when a swing pas hit the dirt and gave Scandal possession of the disc, only for a big Hyland layout to earn the block on the far sideline.
With the disc in hand, Boston set Hyland up for a deep cut that made the huck to her look easy, and a quick flip of the disc to Player ended the game before Scandal had a chance to recover.
A WIN FOR THE AGES. 🔥@100percentBS takes down Scandal as Liv Player reels in a FIFTH goal and Boston is on to the finals!#USAUNats | #USAUltimate pic.twitter.com/385c4GXVab
— USA Ultimate (@USAUltimate) October 25, 2025
This win should not be taken in a vacuum. This is a rivalry through and through between two very equally balanced teams. Either could have won it today, as it has felt with every instance of their meeting. Brute Squad may have won this round, but there will be plenty more to come.
As they often do ↩
