Everything you need to know about the prequarter and quarterfinal rounds
October 25, 2025 by Graham Gerhart and Alex Rubin 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 –Twelve teams competed in arguably the most exciting round of prequarters we’ve ever seen in club ultimate, followed by one of the more ho-hum set of quarters. The women’s division alone saw three universe point games to go alongside the biggest quarterfinal blowout in modern ultimate. Catch up with our recap of all the day’s big events before semifinals start tomorrow!
The Actually Unsinkable Molly Brown
- Molly Brown 15-14 BENT | Game Recap | Stream
- Molly Brown 15-14 6ixers
#9 Denver Molly Brown improbably advanced to the semifinal round with back-to-back double-game-point wins in the championship bracket.
BENT’s discipline was the name of the game for the first half of their quarterfinal game. They made one good play after another, even when Molly Brown’s pressure was relentless. It’s how they climbed to an 8-6 score at half. Even as the second half began, it seemed as if all of BENT’s roster understood their assignment and wasn’t going to stray from the formula. Where Molly Brown’s wheels were starting to fall off, BENT looked like they were fresh off an oil change.
The thing with Denver is that they don’t really need wheels. The team is a rocket ship, not a luxury car. They don’t do a “smooth ride.” It’s unclear if they even know how. They want the chaos, they need the pressure.
Blocks from Jesse Shofner, Ronnie Eder, and Alex Guy spurred a comeback that turned an 11-7 deficit into a 12-12 deadlock. On universe point, a soft throw from BENT’s star handler Yina Cartagena let Guy slam down the block. Suddenly, it was Denver’s disc with a scrambling BENT tried to recover. Even as their defense set up, the inevitability of Denver’s upward ascent seemed to set in. Sarah Taggart sliced a flick upwind to Ronnie Eder that lets Molly Brown play yet another day.
A round before, Molly Brown survived the best effort #11 Toronto 6ixers have to offer. Manuela Cardenas (3A/2D), Valeria Cardenas (3G/1A), and Claire Chastain (1G/5A) did all they could to recover from a late game slide that saw 6ixers take a stunning 9-6 lead. Molly Wedge (4G/3A) and Lauren Kimura (1G/3A) were likewise carrying Toronto as they strove for an unlikely but legitimately possible upset. In the end, Molly Brown scored when they needed to and advanced to beat BENT on universe too. Perhaps they’ll have another in store for tomorrow’s semifinal against #1 San Francisco Fury.
Brute Force Gets Boston Back to Semis
- Brute Squad 15-2 Schwa | Game Recap | Stream
#3 Boston Brute Squad set a modern day mark for dominance in their 13 point victory over #8 Portland Schwa in the quarterfinal round. On literally every single point, there was no question who was the better team. Liv Player, Angela Zhu, Levke Walczak, Grace Connerly, Laura Ospina Gomez, and Mangie Forero all looked as comfortable throwing in a swirly wind as you’d imagine a house cat curling up for a nap in their favorite sunny spot.
If Brute’s defensive intensity and field awareness overwhelmed Schwa’s offense, their zippy strings of completions no matter what the wind or defense was doing was simply overwhelming to watch. Brute did not rely on big plays, but were able to shut down Schwa’s top options over and over again to force coverage sack punts. And any team that gives Boston’s throwers the disc that many times is just destined to lose.
If ultimate had advanced analytics, one would imagine Schwa’s expected goals would be higher than two. They had plenty of chances, never gave up, and tried all sorts of different looks over the course of the game. But it was clear they were a level below Brute, and no amount of chemistry, teamwork, sticktoitness, or will power was going to overcome Boston today.
Brute Squad advances to tomorrow’s semifinal where they will match up with #2 Washington DC Scandal – a rematch of last season’s semifinal that Scandal won.
Scandal Sail into Semis
- Scandal 15-11 Riot | Game Recap | Stream
Scandal are through to their third consecutive semifinal appearance after a comprehensive 15-11 victory over 5 Seattle Riot. Claire Trop (3G/3A) and Amanda Murphy (2G/1A) were electric in the winning effort, and they were ably supported by a wide cast including Marie Périvier, Allie Wallace, Kami Groom, Kira Flores, Ashleigh Jentilet, and Sumi Onoe, among others.
Scandal took an 8-5 lead into half, and then extended it to 12-6 in a fruitful third quarter. At that point, the game looked all but over. However, with breaks coming in pairs throughout the game, it would only take a small beginning from Riot to turn the tables in their favor.
Turn them they did. Nora Luloff, Ikran Elmi, Lauren Goddu, and Emily Decker all had huge moments for the D-line as they stormed back into contention. The crowd trickling in from other parts of the complex grew – and grew more vocal – as Riot trimmed the gap to 13-11 after a thrilling 5-1 run to earn back four of their breaks. The comeback stalled out there, though: the six-goal hole was just too deep, the effort needed to craw out of it too demanding to sustain.
Scandal broke to win two points later. They will meet Brute Squad in semis on Saturday.
Surprise! Fury Win Again
- Fury 15-6 Phoenix | Game Recap | Stream
#1 San Francisco Fury simply steamrolled an overmatched, tiring #4 Raleigh Phoenix team in a 15-6 blowout to advance to their 20th straight semifinal. From the opening pull, it was clear that every point for Phoenix would be an arduous task. Fury’s roster was too deep, too rested, and too talented. Any time Phoenix turned the disc over, Fury were ready to take off downfield, never letting Raleigh get into any sort of a defensive set. Phoenix, already playing their second game of the day, couldn’t keep up with the fresh Fury players.
Fury’s semifinal opponent tomorrow morning will be Molly Brown, who took down Pool D winners BENT on universe in prequarters, Molly’s fourth universe point victory of the weekend.
Phoenix Rise to Quarters
- Phoenix 15-14 Flipside | Stream
Just to get to their quarterfinal against Fury, Phoenix first outlasted #7 San Diego Flipside in an instant classic during the morning prequarterfinal round. After a tight first half that saw neither team lead by more than a single goal the whole time, Flipside scored three straight goals to open the second half with an 11-7 lead. Phoenix brought that back to tie the game at 11 before gritting through the final quarter of the game. Jenny Wei’s five assists and Dawn Culton’s three-goal, three-assist performance helped power the Phoenix offense, but it was Lindsay Soo who proved the hero on universe point, launching a pinpoint backhand huck to Sarah Meckstroth for the game winner.
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Riot Outlast Parcha
- Riot 15-11 Parcha | Game Recap
To reach their quarterfinal against Scandal, Riot took down Parcha in the prequarterfinal round. Despite Riot winning convincingly when the dust settled, Parcha stuck with them like a thorn in their side right until the bitter end. The game was largely a back-and-forth of two great offenses slowly picking apart the defense.
On Riot’s side, that looked like Steph Phillips and Shira Stern absolutely carving up Parcha seemingly at will. Shira Stern was able to lose her defender with every jab cut, enabling her to receive some wide-open throws and racking up an eventual statline of 6G/1A/1D. Stern’s dominant performance was matched by Phillips notching a 4A game, but it was the hard work of Carly Campana and Yeh-Sun Lee in the midfield that set them up for success.
Parcha’s offense was led by Annelise Peters and Carolyn Normile, but it was really the heroics of downfield players like Miya Liang, Taylor Conroy, and Makenzie Priest that kept them in contention. They were able to unlock every different defensive scheme that Riot threw at them, even when their set plays broke down.
At the end of the game, Riot’s defensive pressure offered more than Parcha’s and a few stacked lines converted the needed breaks to get Riot back to the quarterfinal round.
Schwa Win Regionals Rematch
- Schwa 15-11 Traffic | Game Recap
The Cinderella run that #12 Vancouver Traffic started with their win over Riot in pool play was unceremoniously ended by Schwa in prequarters. Despite a strong attempt to prove themselves as the best team in the Northwest – regionals be damned – it was Portland who prevailed and cemented themselves as a formidable force in the bracket.
Despite some early offensive troubles, Vancouver was able to trade points for most of the first half. Daisy Lin and Catherine Menzies were playing at an elite level, even with Schwa throwing their best defenders at them point after point. Lin, for her sake, looked incredibly composed under pressure. Some high stall situations looked dangerous for Traffic, only for Lin to find an opening and keep the ball moving.
Even when the game was tight, Vancouver still looked outclassed by Schwa’s offense. Claudia Tajima was everywhere in the backfield for her team, ending the game with a 1G/5A scoreline, and she was flanked by Trout Weybright and Brenna Bailey, both of whom had impressive games of their own.
There was plenty to like from Traffic’s game, but Schwa was the better team. There’ll be many times for them to face off again in the future, let’s hope all those are as close as this prequarter was.
Tomorrow, Brute Squad vs. Scandal and Fury vs. Molly Brown are the semifinal matchups. Follow along with the action first-hand by watching tomorrow’s streamed games.
