2024 D1 Nationals Semifinals Deep Dive Part 1
The champs take their hardest punch in four years but refuse to stay down
The University of North Carolina’s women’s ultimate team took home an unprecedented fourth-straight national title over Stanford. Pleiades capped a season where they looked vulnerable (read: not the consensus best program in the country) for the first time since their run began with an anti-climactic 15-10 over the Cinderella Superfly team.
Stanford and UNC are two of the most decorated programs in the D1 women’s ultimate. Superfly was looking for its ninth program title in 14 championship game appearances, dating back to its first title game appearance in 1995 and championship in 1997. Pleiades only had the three titles in three straight appearances before last weekend. But as exciting as the history of the two programs was, the game lacked the drama of previous rounds. A 5-4 North Carolina lead was the last time the game would be within one score. The second half was never closer than the 8-5 halftime scoreline.
No, the real drama, like it so often is, was during the semifinals. Two semifinals for the ages in the women’s division: UNC Pleiades 14-13 over Colorado Quandary and Stanford Superfly 14-13 over Vermont Ruckus. Two universe-point, second-half-comeback, drama-filled classics for the ages.
For this (and the next!) edition, I’ll dive deep into the two best games of D1 women’s ultimate this year.
Pleiades stun Quandary in Epic Comeback
The Thrill of Victory - The Agony of Defeat
As unpopular an opinion as this may be, I am somewhat of a fan of Pleiades. I know nobody likes a dynasty, but I’m from Chapel Hill, I know people who have and still do play for the program, and I like rooting for their success. However, despite that, I cannot put into words how gutting that game was to watch for Quandary. I’ve never been on a team that’s won a national title, let alone four in a row. The closest I ever got was missing the fall nationals bracket on point diff and then forfeiting my last consolation game due to COVID-19-positive teammates.
However, I can still deeply empathize with what the Quandary program has dealt with during the last three years. I have been on a team repeatedly denied by an opponent who seems impossible to overcome. It’s awful and heartbreaking. When Colorado went up 13-9, I thought they would do it. That was the first time all year I truly believed Pleiades would not win it all. And then I witnessed one of the most stunning comebacks I’ve ever seen.
Pleiades has now eliminated Quandary at nationals three years in a row. Twice in the finals and once in the semifinals. Twice on universe point and once where they never really had a chance. Twice as the primary challengers to the throne and once while being told it was time to pass the torch. Colorado couldn’t even get them this regular season when they looked vulnerable.
Conversely, UNC will finally be without Dawn Culton next year, and four years of roster churn from the original 2021 Championship team will finally be complete. This may be it for the dynasty. And if it was, no game could’ve capped or defined this era in college women’s ultimate more than this one. No game typified the sheer dominance mentally, technically, and strategically over the D1 women’s division than this one. Let’s take a deeper dive into the game.
A Tragedy in Three Acts
Act 1: 8-7
The first half was incredibly important to the game’s structure, setting the tone of the ultimate that will be played. Within about 35 seconds, UNC turns the disc over, looking for a reset, before Colorado throws the next throw away on a swing. It’s wet, rain droplets are visible on the camera, and the players are likely hoping in the back of their minds that they’re just able to avoid another prolonged lightning delay like the ones they had two days prior.
The very next throw, UNC hucks and overthrows an open receiver. There have been six throws in the first three possessions of this game; three were completed, and three were not. Sometimes, that’s just the game you’re playing, thanks to the weather. Colorado finally strings a few passes together but drops a slightly underthrown pass to a wide-open receiver still in their own half, and UNC finally punches it in for the hold.
The first six points featured no clean holds until at 4-2 Pleiades, Quandary responded after being broken with a smooth possession of zone offense. Then, they chained that momentum into a more efficient d-line offense and broke twice to take a 5-4 lead. North Carolina could not get the disc back during that run, as after failing to register a clean hold or even score across six points of possession for Colorado, they scored three times in three possessions. Quandary did get a chance to go up 6-4, but Pleiades evened up the score at 5-5 after a poor decision in the red zone gave them the disc back despite yet another bumpy point from the Pleiades o-line.
Finally, at 6-5 Quandary, Pleiades held cleanly for the first time. And once again, the team that put the other’s o-line out on the field quickly capitalized on tired bodies and minds and the bad conditions. UNC generated a red zone turnover out of their zone look and punched it in shortly afterward to go back on serve and retake the lead. And in a return to the earliest stages of the game, the half ends with two back-and-forth holds.
A lot happened in the first half, but the shape and scope of the game didn’t really. It was on serve. However, if the game stayed close, it appeared to be heading for a classic ending between these two rivals.
Act 2: 6-1
The second half began with about 47:30 left on the soft cap clock. This is important to begin keeping track of for later. And out of the gate, the momentum had clearly shifted. Quandary marched the disc down the field and scored. They look locked in, and they know that they cannot give Pleiades as many chances as they did in the first half if they want to finally get over the hump and put their dynasty to bed.
The very next point, they force yet another UNC turnover and score in three throws. Then they break again. It’s 10-8 Colorado with just over 39 minutes until the soft cap when the pull goes up. North Carolina pulls it together for the first and only time during this act for a clean hold, which Colorado then matches. Quandary is up 11-9 with 35:12 on the clock until the soft cap.
It just so happened that Stanford and Vermont are tied at 10s and then 11s on the other field. Both games were set to go down to the wire.
Suddenly, the wheels fell off. But not for Quandary like they did in the 2023 final, but for Pleiades. Not one, but another two breaks from Colorado stretch the lead to 13-9.
What happened?
Well, two goal-line stands on defense aren’t enough to make up for three (3!) huck turnovers on the same point before friend of the program Clil Phillips showed Pleiades how to catch deep shots for a score. The fans and Quandary players are sensing weakness in the champs. This is a real opportunity. To put them away for good. The camera finds Dawn Culton tightening her cleats, alone and exhausted. 12-9.
Is this the end?
Well, it certainly looked like it after the next point, where Colorado broke yet again, capping a 5-1 opening to the second half and putting Pleaides into life support mode at nationals for the first time in four years. This time, UNC didn’t even get a chance to shoot deep before Stacy Gaskill picked an errant swing near the end zone out of the sky, dished to Phillips, who fired an inside break to sensational sophomore Faye Burdick, who would cap a sensational weekend with 5G/2A/2B and a +7 in the semifinal. 13-9 Colorado.
At 13-9, the game looked well and truly over. Colorado just had to score twice, and based on the way the second half had played out so far, I’d have given it 50-50 odds that Quandary would break twice in a row and run away with the game 15-9. Pleiades looked awful in the second half up to this point. They’d played one good point out of six, struggled to connect on anything deeper than a 20-yard under, struggled even more to get the disc back after a turnover, and looked exhausted. And even if the o-line could get themselves under control and hold this next point, two holds from Colorado would end the game.
Right after the score, most of the shots we get are of Colorado joy, where a sense of belief and expectation in their ability to win this game is clearly growing and blossoming into what would be a crowning achievement for this group. There is a small shot of a couple of North Carolina players walking back to the line, where it’s clear that despite their situation, their spirit is not yet broken. UNC huddles and cheers, while Evan Lepler reminds us just how close to over this game is.
But if you look closely, you can see how focused the players returning to the line are. The game isn’t over—not yet, at least.
Act 3: 5-0
There are 26 minutes and 32 seconds until the soft cap when the pull goes up from Colorado to North Carolina at 13-9. Once again, the Pleiades o-line cannot muster up much. They come out in a vertical stack, swing the disc to the handler whose defender is currently poaching the lane, and then work the disc up the near sideline. Erica Birdsong gets stuck on the sideline with a tough Gaskill mark, her teammates don’t help her, and she gets stalled out. Quandary immediately marches the disc into UNC territory to put them out of their misery. However, after a pick call, Quandary makes their first big mistake of the half and underthrows a cut slashing under to the open side from the front of the stack. Pleiades get a block. A few throws later, it looks like they’re about to turn it on a swing caught by the wind. Theresa Yu comes down with it. Another throw is well out of bounds and not coming back in. Dawn Culton toes the line. Pleiades score, and we enter do-or-die time for the d-line. 13-10.
What happens next probably deserves its own article. But I’ll try to do my best to do this point justice. The clock reads 22:20 when the pull goes up. When Theresa Yu rolls over onto her back in the end zone, completely exhausted, having secured a Pleiades break for the first time since they took a 7-6 first-half lead, the clock reads 7:34. This point took almost 15 minutes. And in doing so, shifted the entire balance of the game. Here’s how each of the 20 possessions on that point went, with some notes about other things happening during the game. The time left on the game clock is noted at each turnover, and the asterisk indicates if they were in the attacking red zone when they threw the turnover.
CO - 5 yd upline throwaway (21:55)
UNC - Deep shot underthrown and dropped (21:28)
CO - Missed a difficult catch first throw after a pick call (19:47)*
Jessica Wu yellow card
Commentators mistakenly report that the other semifinal has ended in a 13-12 UVM win
UNC - Williamson layout d on Yu upline (19:15)
CO - Crossfield hammer dropped in end zone (18:39)*
UNC - Throw behind receiver allows for Burdick layout d (17:45)
CO - Too much heat on an inside flick (17:17)*
UNC - First throw huck way short (16:55)
A coach on the sideline clearly makes the timeout motion toward another one. I believe they’re Quandary coaches. It doesn’t happen just yet, though.
CO - Long swing too much even for a layout (16:07)*
Lepler notes rain has started again.
Phillips subs in after an injury call after the missed layout. Gaskill and Phillips were both out for the first five CO possessions.
Emily Przykucki comes in for UNC. The total stoppage is a little more than 70 seconds
UNC - Another one throw huck turn (14:41)
Here we get actual confirmation of the Stanford win
CO - Dropped inside break throw (14:25)
UNC - Medium away shot dies in the wind (14:07)
We are reminded that this was a Colorado o-point. This was actually helpful, as I’d forgotten it at this point.
Colorado calls timeout after picking up
CO - First throw huck turn against a zone (12:00)
This flipped the field position as it went out of bound and never went back in again from about half field
UNC - Backhand throw to the forehand side gets eaten by the wind (11:05)*
CO - Wind carries a huck too far (10:55)
UNC - They chuck the disc out the back of the end zone not really sure what was happening (9:24)*
Sidelines begin to crowd.
Dawn Culton has apparently tied her shoes three times this point
CO - Thrower cutter miscommunication allows for Lowder block (8:19)
UNC - First throw huck playing field position now (8:13)
CO - First throw drop in own red zone (8:04)
UNC-score (7:36)
Are you tired? I am just after having rewatched the point. That was 20 possessions, 19 turnovers, four Quandary red zone possessions, three Pleiades red zone possessions, and one break to make it a 13-11 game.
This was the moment of the game. Even with no Gaskill and no Phillips (for the first half of the point, at least), Quandary had many early opportunities to go up 14-10 and put the game away but couldn’t. The huck turnover after the timeout flipped field position, and for the first time, it felt like UNC actually had a chance to score this point. Instead of just waiting for Colorado to figure it out. And eventually, Colorado got tired, too, dropped the disc near their own end zone, and North Carolina scored.
That may all have been for naught if a Quandary deep shot on their next possession found an open Gaskill or Burdick instead of sailing out the back of the end zone, finding the one spot between them where they each had no play. But Pleiades sense the blood in the water now. They’re not giving the disc back anymore. They march 70 yards and score. 13-12.
Just 90 seconds later, everyone is on the line, and the disc is in the air on the pull. Quandary, once again, cannot find a way to punch in a score. Gaskill again frees herself up in the deep space, and a tight, same-third huck is sent her way. But her defender, Lowder, goes up early and forces Gaskill to make a hard read and lay out for a disc trailing away from her that she didn’t expect to make it to her. Turnover.
But the exhaustion is no longer something anyone on the field can avoid. We are once again treated to another absolute grind. Both teams are desperate to score, sending huck after huck to their best players, and each and every time, the execution is just not there. There were over three minutes left when this point began, but the soft cap came on during this point. That means it’ll be 14-12 Colorado and a game to 15, or 13-13 universe point.
Finally, after yet another deep turnover on a shot to Gaskill, Pleiades find their composure. They chain together dumps, swings, and unders about 60% of the way up the field before a tightly contested long under leaves a cutter one-on-one in the deep space. The continuation throw is not good. It’s underthrown, like so many other deep shots on at this point and in this game. But because of the spacing set up by their patience, in that one-on-one matchup only the Pleiades receiver knows where the disc is. And Caroline Spencer comes back to it for the score. 13-13. Universe point. A spot in the finals is on the line.
Finally, there’s a timeout between points during this run. Both teams compose themselves, and on the pull coverage, there’s a scary collision between Culton and Phillips, who are both fortunately okay. Unfortunately for Colorado, their offense is still out of sync. They miss high on an inside break under Gaskill, and Sarah Combs completes some intra-CHHS Ember violence by finishing off the play before Phillips can save the disc.
Some swings, some tense universe point offense, and a foul call quickly resolved mark most of this possession for North Carolina. The crowd is screaming their lungs out in support of Quandary. Then this happens:
Dawn Culton called game, capped the comeback, and absolutely got to the disc first. Check out the alternate angle too (source):
And just like that, Colorado’s season was over, and the dynasty rolled on, looking for title number four.
Final thoughts
Despite rooting for this outcome at the beginning of the game, it didn’t feel good at all to see it play out. This was a tragedy in the most classical sense. I don’t think I’ve fully done this game justice. In fact, I feel like no “outsider” telling this story will ever be able to. Especially when compared with what emotions anyone on that field could share when telling this story.
Because none of us were there in Boulder with them. We weren’t there during the long hours spent practicing, lifting, sprinting, bonding, and believing in each other for this moment. We definitely weren’t there with them on the field. We could only watch. And for the second time in three years, they more than showed that they could win against this relentless, unstoppable, inevitable foe and pushed them all the way to the brink. They just… didn’t finish the job.
But to focus solely on the result (as enticing as that is to do as a sports fan and writer) sells these teams and this game, so far short. As it always does. How can you tell the full story of a season in a weekend? In a single game?
Who knows if the UNC era of dominance in women’s ultimate will continue? Logically, I don’t think it will, but until someone beats them at nationals, I’m not betting against them. But by all measures, no team defined and defied this era of dominance more than Colorado has.
Ever wonder what winning 28 games in a row at nationals looks like? Well, here it is. This is every game Pleiades have played at nationals since 2021, color coded to highlight close games. They’ve only played eight games within three points. They’ve only been on the field with their backs against a wall and their season on the line three times.
And two of those times were against Colorado. The 2022 and 2023 title games were against Colorado. No team has reached the heights Quandary has under the iron fist Pleaides control this division with. And if two points went a different way, we could be talking today about the great North Carolina and Colorado duopoly of the past four years instead of a dynasty.
Again, those two points don’t erase everything Colorado accomplished in the last four years. Dynasties tend to be remembered in broad strokes as if their success were inevitable. But we could not do more of a disservice to both teams if we think that way. North Carolina’s run of success has never been inevitable. In fact, the outcome in this game, more than any other during this run, hung in balance the entire time. The fact that Colorado put them so far on the ropes deserves to be celebrated. North Carolina somehow resurrecting themselves when they looked completely buried does too. This was no coronation. This was a real challenge and defiance of authority. It ran out of energy just before the finish. And it showed us how hard it is to be the last team standing at the end of nationals.
Coming soon (early next week!) Semifinals Deep Dive Part 2: Stanford vs. Vermont
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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) or email (noamgumerman@gmail.com).