2024 Club Nationals Championship Sunday Recap, Results, and More
The club season comes to a close with three worthy champions earning their title
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USAU Club Nationals Championship Sunday Recap
And so, a wonderful weekend of ultimate has come to a close. Three teams have been crowned champions, and 45 (plus everyone else with nationals aspirations) are already looking forward to next year. Let’s dive into today’s championship action.
#7 Portland Rhino Slam 15-6 #10 New York PoNY
The day started with a triumph coronation, absolute domination, and the best game I’ve seen a team play when the stakes are at their highest. There are a million feel-good narratives that I’m sure will be explored and have already been shared by other writers and the broader community. From high seed and unexpected matchup in the finals, Rhino Slam! finally getting over the hump, Dylan Freechild finally winning with the Oregon squad, and many more. There’s a lot to be said about this Rhino Slam! team. But on the field, Rhino Slam! left no room for sentimentality with an utter beatdown.
Rhino turned the disc over twice. All game. Those turnovers came after they’d already put up double digits on PoNY, and both were on the same point. So PoNY only had one point all game where they had the opportunity to break. Not to mention that the Rhino d-line being perfect on break chances meant that the PoNY o-line did not get the disc back for themselves after a turnover once. On offense, it was controlled, patient aggression from Rhino Slam! throwers until a crack in the PoNY defense was exposed, and then they pounced with precision hucks and aerial dominance. Defensively, they were more than capable of matching PoNY’s size and physicality, and the PoNY offense seemed unsettled by it and unable to ever get into gear. Off of turnovers, the Rhino Slam! d-line operated more like you’d expect an o-line to: lots of passes, incredible patience, attacking matchups they liked, and small-ball offense operating surgically past PoNY.
The crowd had to be at least 75% pro Rhino Slam! and the moment the crowd seemed to sense the way the game would head was at 6-2. Rhino had held three times, all on open backhand hucks, and their defense had broken three times, with calm, controlled possessions after PoNY miscues. The crowd began singing along to “Zombie” by The Cranberries with the lyrics, “We’re in your head, in your head, Rhino, Rhino, Rhino.” It was surprising to see a team as experienced and generally comfortable in big moments as PoNY get immediately blown out the way they were. Especially after Rhino Slam! did the exact same thing to Machine one day ago. On the biggest stage in program history, though, Rhino Slam! put on a performance for the ages.
#7 Ann Arbor Hybrid 15-9 #8 Lexington Sprocket
I think one of my long-term projects for a Breakside piece has to be digging deep into the most dominant performances at nationals in recent history. While Rhino Slam! was the most dominant team on the day, Hybrid barely broke a sweat all tournament. Their only wobble all week was the second half of their pool play game against Austin Disco Club. And most importantly, after coming so close last year, making a run to the final as the #15 seed, Hyrbid completed the story this year and sealed themselves into the history of this tournament with the first championship in program history.
Relentless defense was the key to their win and their ability to pull away from Sprocket in this one, as well as a mentality impervious to any spells of adversity they might face. Their o-line was broken on the first point of the game after misfiring on a swing near their own end zone and they were not fazed. The game went from 1-0 Sprocket to 9-3 Hybrid quick. As mentioned, the defense was the key. Hyrbrid didn’t let Sprocket have any easy throws all day, playing tight, physical defense all the way down the field. Early on, during the first run of breaks, Sprocket would advance the disc to Hybrid’s goal line somewhat consistently but was unable to punch in a hold to stop the bleeding on multiple occasions. Hyrbid’s offense, especially after turnovers, was not perfect. But they made the Sprocket o-line work hard on both sides of the disc, from the first pull until the last score. Their size from their MMPs and FMPs gave Sprocket fits, too, and every ounce of energy they forced Sprocket to use made any comeback effort that much harder.
On the game's last point, Hybrid came within a foot or two of a championship-winning greatest. Remember, the game was 14-9 at this point. Hybrid pulled, their d-line is trying to finish the game with a break. And on an upfield throw well out of bounds, the Hyrbid cutter chased it down and made an unbelievable greatest attempt that bounced very close to a receiver in the end zone. It would’ve been so easy to just let it go, the throw was terrible, and it didn’t really matter if they gave up the hold, since their offense would get five chances at sealing thewin. And they could’ve just done what happened anyway and forced another turnover and punch in the break to win. But beyond just being a great “almost” moment, that effort and intensity, no matter the circumstances, was indicative of the type of performance they had in the final and all tournament long.
#1 San Francisco Fury 15-12 #2 Washington DC Scandal
After two straight blowouts in some unlikelier (at least based on pre-nationals expectations) championship matchups, the women’s division came through with a true heavyweight fight. The number one overall seed and winningest program in the history of the sport, Fury, won their 13th national championship as a program. Dating back to their first in 1999, they have won over half (no national in 2020) of all national titles in the women’s division. And once again, the now back-to-back runners-up, Scandal, will have to wait another year for their shot at climbing the mountain once more for the first time in over a decade.
The final mirrored the semifinal Fury played against Molly Brown rather closely. Both games started with Fury getting the jump on their opponents, and both opponents tightened the game back up, only to fade in the final moments for Fury to take the victory. In the final, Scandal pulled it tight earlier, bouncing back nicely in the first half to keep it close going into halftime. In the second half, things got attritional. Fury and Scandal traded points from an 8-6 halftime score until it was 13-11. Scandal consistently generated turnovers but could not punch in any breaks to tie the game. In that inability to break Fury, were also missed opportunities to ramp up the pressure on Fury. The crowd was behind them, and a break to tie the game would’ve made the stadium explode in energy. But every time they needed a play to save a score or get the disc back, Fury had it. Claire Trop and Marie Perivier came to play, but Fury did an excellent job making Scandal’s stars work extra hard for anything they got. At one point, a huck went up to Trop while three Fury defenders were in the deep space with her.
The dagger came at 13-11. Fury’s offense had finally been getting into a better rhythm—a few points prior, Fury sliced through the Scandal zone defense that had been giving them some trouble for most of the game and emphatically scored in about five or six throws. It was their turn to apply the pressure. The wasted opportunities from earlier in the half finally bit Scandal at the most critical time of the game, as they were broken by Fury and put in the position of needing to hold, then break the best team in the country three times to win. It was too much to ask for, and for the first time since 2021, Fury are champions again.
Coming Soon
I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to come to club nationals just to write about ultimate. Getting a media pass and being down on the field for some of the biggest moments of the year, seeing old and new friends, and chatting with people about my writing was incredible and such a gift. I want to extend a special welcome to all the new subscribers to The Breakside who’ve joined recently, thanks to the coverage of club nationals, too.
As far as the next steps for The Breakside go, I’ll be working on a deeper dive into nationals over the next week or so, something to go beyond just the game recaps and initial thoughts. In the quieter time of the ultimate calendar between club nationals and the college season getting into gear, I’ll continue to work to have a steady stream of content coming your way, as well as evaluate myself a bit for how this week went, what I’d like to do more of, and what I’d like to improve going forward. There’s a lot I’m proud of, and a lot I want to do better. If you have any suggestions about what you’d like to see more of, please leave a comment or shoot me an email/DM/text/any message on any platform of mine.
As always, thank you so much for your support and readership.
About The Breakside
This newsletter aims to tackle the gap in present coverage of ultimate as a sport. Commentary, analysis, and community are some of the guiding ideals behind the Breakside.
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About the Author
My name is Noam Gumerman (he/him). I am from Chapel Hill, NC, and studied Journalism and American Studies at Brandeis University. I am a journalist by trade and have been playing ultimate for over half my life. I love nothing more than combining those two interests. Contact me for discussions, feedback, story suggestions, and more on Twitter (@noamgum/@breaksideulti now too!) or email (noamgumerman@gmail.com).