2024 Club Nationals Semifinal Saturday Recap, Results, Highlights, and More

The best day of the year

Oct 27, 2024

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USAU Club Nationals Semifinal Results

It was a long day of ultimate to determine our six finalists across all three divisions. But it was a good day. Each division delivered at least one game that ended within three points, and as has been the case for many of the last several years, the women’s division delivered the highest drama late last night. Here’s how it all went down.

#10 New York PoNY 15-13 #4 San Francisco Revolver

PoNY continued their rampage through the men’s division with a 15-13 win in the first game of the day over Revolver to reach their third final since 2018. It’s an incredibly tough ask to play this semifinal at 9:00 a.m. The complex is about two-thirds full. Nearly everyone else is there to play a consolation game and their last of the week, while even the “home” team (Revolver) fan section hadn’t fully arrived until close to halftime.

The moment of the game was at 12-11 PoNY when the Revolver o-line turned over an out-of-sync scoober to the middle of the field near their own end zone which PoNY immediately capitalized on. Revolver had fought all the way back to on serve and tied the game at 11-11 after going down two breaks very early and needed to hold to re-tie at 12s. That break meant Revolver needed two to win and never really got a good shot at it.

PoNY’s defense started early and was a factor all game long, generally effectively flattening their marks on Revolver’s throwers and forcing their cutters deep. Revolver got a couple of easy scores out of it, but far more often, they had to grind and work incredibly hard for every yard of progress they made. PoNY’s offense often capitalized on their size advantage downfield, and Revolver struggled to generate turnovers for large portions of the game. In the end, I’m not sure Revolver can be too disappointed. They’re young and had a great season. A stunted season together, thanks to WUCs, didn’t matter for PoNY, though, and they’re back in the finals.

#7 Portland Rhino Slam! 15-9 #1 Chicago Machine

It was always going to be a tough ask for Machine to pull this off shorthande and make a run all the way to the finals. But it was surprising just how quickly this got out of reach. It was 6-1 before you could even catch your breath, thanks to a few Machine drops, floated hucks that needed to be driven more to their targets, and a tight in/out call that would’ve been a score called out by the observers, much to the frustration of the Machine sideline.

Converting their break opportunities was no easy task, however, but Dylan Freechild captaining your d-line’s offense is generally very helpful. Rhino displayed tremendous patience and willingness to grind short gains on offense, which wore down the Machine o-line on defense and affected their offense on the next points.

The second half brought the return of Daan De Marrée from his first-half suspension and a chance to turn the game around, starting after pulling a break back later in the first half. Machine had chances in the first two points, and Rhino were incredibly fortunate not to turn the disc over several times on offense on the first point out of the half, most notably when Henry Ing dropped and then miraculously saved a goal at the front cone. Once Rhino Slam! started the second half with the 50-50 plays still going their way, it felt like the deficit would be too much for Machine to overcome, and it was.

#8 Lexington Sprocket 15-12 #1 Seattle BFG

What an excellent showcase for the mixed division on the biggest stage. This game featured two teams playing their hearts out with everything on the line. It was unfortunate that this game was the hardest one to watch logistically since it was the first one in the stadium, and it overlapped with the previous game a bit. On the field Sprocket displayed incredible poise and confidence for a team that was playing in its first semifinal as a program.

Of course, having a player like Tannor Johnson-Go, who seemingly effortlessly can make clutch play after clutch play on all facets of offense, would help anyone feel more poised and confident. And while he certainly took over in big moments and stuffed the stat sheet, the entire team stepped up when it mattered most. They made big play after big play on both sides of the disc and imposed their will on a team most people had as big favorites coming in. Sam Rodenberg put in a shift for BFG with 2G/3A, but Sprocket really limited every other big-time contributor for BFG.

A huge moment occurred at 13-10 for Sprocket, as they were looking to put the game out of reach with a break to go up four. Lukas Ambrose called an offensive foul on Liv Player after poaching off to stop the huck from reaching her when the tipped disc found the waiting arms of a Sprocket teammate for a score. I was not sure about that call in real-time, but the observers upheld it, and BFG went down the field and scored. Flipping from a 14-10 lead to a 13-11 one would rattle some teams, but Sprocket’s offense, despite a goal-line hiccup or two down the stretch, didn’t blink and closed it out.

#7 Michigan Hybrid 15-9 #3 Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust

For much of this tournament, it felt like this might be the year the Drag’n Thrust program returned to the top of the mountain. They rolled through pool play in a pool where three teams made the quarterfinals. They knocked out the defending champions despite a 14-10 lead evaporating and leading to universe point. But it didn’t matter. They ran into a bigger buzzsaw in Hybrid. Hybrid are worthy finalists, with the most impressive resume of any team in any division so far. They’ve played one game closer than 15-10 all weekend, a 15-12 win to lock up the pool over Austin Disco Club, and are deserved finalists.

The game itself was a grind. Pick calls, nervy resets, and high-intensity play marked a first half that nearly got away from Drag’n Thrust after going up 1-0 and Hyrbrid returning with a 6-2 run. But Drag’n Thrust was able to claw their way back to 7-7 and a manageable deficit after Hybrid took half, only for Hyrbid to rattle off a 7-2 second half to finish the game.

Hybrid’s d-line was swarming, punishing Drag’n Thrust for every mistake, whether it was an errant throw, non-optimally shaped cut, or poor spacing. Drag’n had opportunities, though. It was not a perfect performance by Hyrbid by any means, but it was pretty clearly a massive struggle to find a rhythm on offense and one they couldn’t overcome before the game was over.

#1 San Francisco Fury 15-12 #6 Denver Molly Brown

It is no easy task to take down Fury at nationals (which is the understatement of the year, by the way). But Molly Brown did not make things easier on themselves. They didn’t lose because of their slow start or an inability to generate breaks. After all, they broke to start the game and pulled back an early 6-2 and halftime 8-5 deficit to within one at 10-9. And they didn’t lose because they weren’t ready for the moment. Very similar iterations of both teams played for the 2022 title, which Molly Brown won. No, it was the sheer relentlessness of Fury, which Molly Brown could not match on this occasion, that did them in.

Watching most of this game from the sideline was probably the best experience of the tournament so far for me. The relentless perfectionism that has propelled this program to heights beyond what anyone else could imagine radiates from every single player and coach. To beat them, on this stage, you need to believe fully in your own ability to match that. There were just too many drops, too many opportunities wasted, and a top gear that Molly Brown just couldn’t sustain for long enough for this result to go differently.

Shayla Harris and Anna Thompson led the charge as Fury avenged their only loss of the year. But the strength of this team is that they have more players who can turn in the types of performances that those two did than any other team does, and their selflessness on the field means that the hot hand will get fed. It’s going to be a tough ask to deny Fury their 13th title.

#3 Boston Brute Squad vs. #2 Washington DC Scandal

It was no surprise that the #2 seed and #3 seed in the tournament delivered a classic in the semifinals, but the manner in which they did so was a little surprising. There were four lead changes in the first half alone, as Brute Squad eventually broke to take half 8-7 and were set to receive to start the second before things got a little weird. Scandal opened the half on a 4-0 run, leading to a Brute Squad timeout. Then, the fog descended, and Brute Squad got a 4-0 run of their own, leading to a Scandal timeout.

Then, Scandal tied the game at 12s and broke to take a lead before Brute Squad held to tie at 13. But Scandal had just a bit more in the tank and held, then broke on a wild final point to return to the final and exact some revenge for their loss in the title game to Brute Squad last year. That final point included a Scandal throwaway on the goal line (on a fake gone awry, no less), an incredibly ambitious Brute Squad huck that sailed out of bounds before Claire Trop ended the game with a beautiful backhand bomb after subbing in on an injury call.

It was a fitting end, as Trop took over the game on a level no player all day matched, let alone anyone else in this game. Her final stat line was 2G/6A/2D on just two turnovers. That’s the level of usage you’d expect a star on a college team trying to pull an upset at regionals to have, not in the club nationals semifinals. Just add it to the long list of transcendent performances she’s given us. Once again, Scandal is back on the brink of a national championship.

The finals kick off in just a few hours, starting with PoNY vs. Rhino Slam!, continuing with Sprocket vs. Hyrbid, and finishing with Fury vs. Scandal. Enjoy them all, and see you back here for the recaps!

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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).