August 13, 2024
By Evan Lepler
Tuesday Toss: Divisional Championships recap | Part 1
1. A Historic Victory for the DC Breeze
Even though the DC Breeze will be the only organization making its first ever appearance at Championship Weekend in 2024, they unquestionably enter the UFA’s climactic event as the title favorite. Their talent, discipline, playmaking, and desire were all on display during their 16-14 victory over Boston in Saturday’s East Division title game.
“It’s just unbelievable how much sacrifice that went into this from the top down,” DC’s Rowan McDonnell told Breeze broadcaster Will Smolinski in a postgame interview. “The next generation won us this game. AJ [Merriman] steps up. Jacques [Nissen] steps up. These players that I used to coach. Now, as I get older and slower, they’re taking these huge roles, and they’re pushing us forward. I don’t have to do anything anymore, and it’s so lovely.”
His role may be diminished at 35 years old and in his ninth season with the Breeze, but the immense passion and pride were evident. Shortly after the final buzzer, McDonnell gave the team’s first-year Coach, Lauren Boyle, who was also dripping joyous tears, a huge hug on the DC sideline.
“The emotions at the end of the game, I was relieved,” said Boyle. “I care so deeply for each of the players and the people behind the scenes who have believed in this program. They have been incredibly supportive and bought into the vision that we will be champions by setting our standards and measuring our success against that [...] Troy [Holland] and [David] Bloodgood gave me confidence to come back to coaching. AJ gave me the confidence that what I brought as a coach would fit well for the Breeze. And Rowan helped me quiet the times where I was nervous I could be letting everyone down. Especially after the [season-opening] Salt Lake loss. That hug from Rowan was so special, as throughout the season he helped my confidence that as a rookie coach in this league my instincts were good and he always had my back.”
The triumph over Boston did not come easy, but DC only trailed for 67 seconds all game long. After falling behind 1-0, the Breeze converted their opening O-point and surged in front 2-1 following Jasper Tom’s brilliant layout poach block, which led to the night’s first break. About six minutes later, Tom’s second block helped create DC’s second break, and the Breeze were up 5-3 at the end of the first.
From there, Boston kept grinding, but an offensive foul called on Jeff Babbitt for shoving Merriman in the end zone prevented the Glory from tying the score at 5-all early in the second. And while they were never out of the game, they never again had the disc with the chance to tie or take the lead.
The Glory produced their second break of the night with 1:40 left to inch back within two, but Nissen’s bold huck hit Jeff Wodatch, leading to a Jonny Malks to Andrew Roy goal that made it 16-13 with 1:14 left. After that, Boston’s last gasp was too little, too late, and DC had finally clinched its first division title and the accompanying berth to Championship Weekend.
“Seeing Charlie [McCutcheon] catch that pass with less than a stall count to go was magic,” said Malks, who led the Breeze with four assists and 399 total yards. “So fun to do it with this resilient group that has bought in at every turn. Really a testament to how long guys have stuck around through constant disappointment year after year to make it to this point. And the energy from the new talent coming in. Synergy! But we’re still hungry. Got more games to play.”
2. Boston Battles to the End
The Glory only briefly trailed by as many as four on Saturday night in DC. For most of they night, they were behind by just two or three, but they struggled to stymie the Breeze’s top-ranked offense. Creating only two break chances in each half, the Glory offense couldn’t quite keep pace.
“Breeze came out with a defensive strategy that was different from other teams’ strategies that had worked against us throughout the end of the season,” said Boston’s Ben Sadok. “It was very effective and rattled us early, giving them break chances we don’t normally give defenses. They counteracted our spacing discipline well with the right poaches, and given the IQ of some of their defensive players, they can do that without giving up too much on riskier poaches. We never successfully navigated it mid-game, but we were able to pivot enough to keep us in the game from the offensive perspective and reduce damage control.”
Babbitt finished with four goals and a block, but certainly did not impact the game the same way he did against New York in the opening round of the playoffs. Sadok tossed four assists and finished with 62 completions, but bemoaned the fact that he also endured five turnovers—four throwaways and a stall—for the second straight game.
“From my individual perspective, it’s inexcusable for a main O-line handler to be solely responsible for 10 turnovers in two games in the playoffs,” he said. “If I reduce my turnover rate by just a few turns, we have a much easier ride through these playoffs. We lost as a team, but I have to be better if we are to reach our potential. From a team perspective, we know we have a lot of potential and we didn’t hit our ceiling this season. Given our result, that bodes well for future seasons and that excites not just me but everyone else on the team. The loss still stings, but I learn a lot more from losses than wins, and I love learning.”
3. Minnesota Blows Past Madison For Second Straight Division Title
It was clearly the least exciting of the four games this past weekend, but that is not meant to diminish Minnesota’s second straight division crown one bit. To the contrary, the Wind Chill thoroughly outplayed the Radicals at breezy Sea Foam Stadium, outscoring Madison 7-2 in the fourth en route to a 23-14 victory.
“It was nice that we took control of the game in the second quarter,” said Wind Chill Captain Bryan Vohnoutka. “I think we were able to apply a lot of pressure near the disc. That seemed to cause some anxious moments for them, and it led to some turns either in the backfield or they had to punt and play defense. The moment that particularly stands out as a turning point was Colin [Berry’s] block at the end of the first to maintain a tie game. We then scored four of the next five points.”
The Radicals were down 16-8 with 4:20 left in the third and created a glimmer of hope with a 4-0 spurt to finish the period, but the Wind Chill, up 16-12 with 12 minutes left, immediately bolted on another 5-1 surge to put the game away.
“We huddled between the quarters and the message in our offense’s huddle was that it was our opportunity to have a clean quarter, shut the door, and punch our ticket back to Championship Weekend,” added Vohnoutka. “Our offense went 3-for-3 on holds in the fourth and our defense, who was tenacious all game, added a couple more breaks.”
Josh Klane and Gordon Larson each threw four assists, while Anthony Jirele and Quinn Snider each scored four goals. Overall, the Wind Chill finished with 12 breaks in 20 opportunities to earn their second consecutive trip to Championship Weekend.
“It feels great to know what performing at Championship Weekend takes after our experience last year,” said Minnesota’s Dylan DeClerck, “and I’m sure the entire team is excited to show that we’re a talented squad capable of winning a championship. After a lot of success against a top offense in Salt Lake last season at Championship Weekend, I’m confident our coaches and captains will once again put together a great game plan to limit DC’s effectiveness and score on the counter-attack.”
The Wind Chill don’t need to be reminded that they will be sizable underdogs against the Breeze, but it should be a different feeling this year, with the past lessons from last year’s heartbreaking semifinal loss pushing them forward.
“It was our job to make it, for the first time ever, in front of our home fans last year,” said Vohnoutka. “There was a lot of expectation and progress just to attend. We still felt like we could win last year, but we broke a lot of barriers. I don’t think our approach changes much this year now that we made it. I do understand that DC is likely viewed as the favorite, but so was Salt Lake in our semifinal from last year. I don’t think many people would’ve predicted how close that game ended up.”
4. Radicals Suffer First Postseason Loss Since 2017
The headline, while true, is obviously a tad misleading.
Madison advanced to every Championship Weekend between 2013 and 2018, finally winning the franchise’s first title in ’18, but the Radicals had missed every postseason since before this year’s 8-4 campaign earned them the two-seed in the Central. Their double OT comeback victory over Chicago in the opening round will go down as one of the wildest games of the entire season across the league, but the reasons they almost loss to the Union were basically a harbinger of struggles to come against Minnesota.
Quite simply, the Radicals offense, especially in the windy Twin Cities conditions, was inefficient, inconsistent, and the ultimately what held Madison back from being a true Championship Weekend contender.
“The wind at Sea Foam was inconsistent,” said Madison’s Josh Wilson. “It changed from west to east and north to south. The change is what I think affected us the most. You could throw a pass and it would be perfect. Then the wind would shift and the same pass would bounce more or drop faster. So a high percentage pass would change point-to-point…The Wind Chill have many different D-line sets that they switch between. Backhand force, force middle, zone, or just a really good person. This makes it hard for an offense to find a rhythm and adjust, and we did not do a good job adjusting.”
Overall, the Radicals held on just 40 percent of their O-points and scored on only 33 percent of their O-line possessions. And though their defense had carried them for much of the season, breaking opponents on approximately 40 percent of their D-points, the Rads D-line produced breaks on just 25 percent of their points on Saturday against the Wind Chill.
“This season gave us experience with being down and making comebacks,” said Wilson. “I knew we could go on a run. The end of the third was a good example of that. I thought that was the turning point in the game. However, the Wind Chill took the time to refocus and came out strong in the fourth. I think we knew being down by four we needed to score quickly. That led to some lower-percentage throws that didn’t go our way.”
5. Division Championship Weekend Always Delivers
Obviously, three of the four matchups were down-to-the-wire nailbiters this past weekend, but that’s nothing new for the intensity of these battles with berths to Championship Weekend at stake.
Since 2021, just under 60 percent of all games across the UFA have been settled by five goals or fewer. But during Division Championship Weekend, that rockets upward all the way to almost 94 percent!
In fact, the Madison-Minnesota game was the first quarterfinal matchup to have a final margin greater than five since Indy beat Pittsburgh 23-17 for the 2019 Central crown.
Going back even further, 24 of the last 28 Division title games—85.6 percent—over the past seven seasons have been decided by five or less. It’s a testament to the rivalries, competition, and everything that’s on the line, as there’s no doubt that earning the trip to Championship Weekend has become one of the great prizes in ultimate.
Much of the ultimate world loves to claim that USA Ultimate’s Club Nationals is the toughest tournament to win—and that’s probably true—but qualifying for the UFA’s Championship Weekend is absolutely more difficult than simply making Nationals, and that dynamic, with the accompanying sense of desperation and pride that hangs in the balance, is part of what makes this past ultimate weekend so darn special.
6. Do We Need to Change a Rule to Prevent Keep Away?
In short, I wouldn’t necessarily hate it if we made a change, but I don’t believe it’s absolutely necessary.
I understand that it was frustrating for Atlanta fans and even some neutral viewers that desired more drama from the final seconds of Friday’s South final, but being there at Silverbacks Park and calling the game for WatchUFA.tv, I promise that the game was not lacking tension, either at the end or at any other point.
Now, I am super intrigued by the dynamic that a 60 or 90 second shot clock would create, but I also worry about how it would be administered, and while I think it would be exciting, I’m not sure it’d be solving a problem that is currently pervasive enough around the league.
I am not a huge fan of the idea for a “backcourt violation” like basketball once the disc crosses over midfield. To me, that seems against the spirit of ultimate and your ability to throw it any direction in the field of play.
During the final point on Friday night, one Flyer who was on the field did say to a member of the Hustle that it was dumb to not have a rule preventing Carolina from simply completing passes to run out the clock. I hear that, but I also think the Hustle had plenty of chances to try and create chaos, not to mention they put their O-line on the field to try and score the game-tying goal. When they failed in that endeavor, they were obviously fatigued as reality set it. But they also were not completely helpless! There were a bunch of near blocks in the final moments, but the Flyers possession prevailed.
It may not surprise you to learn that changing the UFA ruleset is beyond my personal jurisdiction, and truthfully, no single player, coach, owner, or even commissioner can mandate a specific change. Ultimately, there’s a rules committee that can make suggestions and ultimately vote on adjustments to the bylaws of our game.
But I do think it is worth pointing out what Steve Hall, our now former commissioner, shared on twitter in response to one of Adam Ruffner’s tweets. Hall wrote, “Carolina smartly used the rules to their advantage but we should do better. We had the same convo after New York ran out the clock at Champ Weekend [in 2022].”
Clearly, the debate will continue, and it will be mighty interesting to see if any changes are made for 2025.
7. My Own Personal Whirlwind Weekend
I’d be remiss if I did not take a moment to express gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to help narrate two of the UFA’s Division Championship games to the world. What a wild journey it was.
I was up before sunrise Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to catch flights, I fortunately made it from Atlanta to Salt Lake despite some nerve-wracking delays that cut it close, and I made it home for dinner Sunday night with more than enough time to spare in order to drop my oldest daughter off at her first day of kindergarten on Monday morning.
Experiencing the roller-coaster of emotions in both Atlanta and Salt Lake, amidst all of their loyal and enthusiastic fans, was truly a thrill. And with both games going down to the wire, it’s hard to fathom a more exhilarating pair of games on back-to-back days.
When I head back to Salt Lake City next week, I’ll be on the call for my 10th UFA Championship Weekend. It’s an immense privilege and honor to do what I love for these season-defining games, and I promise I will never take it for granted.
The Hammer
Thanks for indulging my own personal nostalgia, but don’t worry, I know it’s not about me.
For many players, earning a single trip to Championship Weekend can be a career highlight. Obviously, the goal to win the whole thing is still present, but winning the opportunity to compete in these marquee games is something that can never be taken away.
And as some players get older, they appreciate it even more.
Carolina’s Ben Snell is not an old man, by any means, but at age 32, he knows his ultimate career will not last forever. He also, despite having been a part of teams that qualified for Championship Weekend, has never played in a UFA semi or final.
“I’m winding down,” he said, when asked about the opportunity to play at Championship Weekend. “Just a chance to go play in bigger games is always fun. And there’s a different energy when you get in those situations, and I think it’s always a treat. It’s something that’s like a reminder to me—I’ve played in a number of games like that at this point—but every time you’re in them, you’re like, ‘oh wow, I don’t know how many more of these I am gonna get. How many more opportunities to feel that feel?’
“So I’m looking forward to enjoying it.”
