LADY GODIVA GALLOPS TO FIFTH TITLE AND THIRD STRAIGHT
1997 CLUB NATIONALS
OCTOBER 23–26, SARASOTA, FLORIDA

Any team if they can get it together could go to the finals this year. This sentiment was echoed by all the top women's teams. Defending Nationals champions Lady Godiva, World champions Women on the Verge, World finalists Schwa, last year's National finalists Ozone and frequent contenders Philly Peppers, Nemesis, and Rare Air. It was like a battle royale: last team standing wins.

THURSDAY POOL PLAY–DAY ONE

The Northwest Regional was played in windy conditions this year. The wind may have hampered Schwa's self-described "run and gun" brand of Ultimate. They came in third, ultimately placing them tenth overall at Nationals, fifth seed in the B pool. They matched up Thursday morning with sixth overall, third seed Safari.

So much for the seedings. Schwa blew away the San Diego team 15—5 and sent an immediate wake-up call to everyone in the B pool. The aliens have landed!

There were no such sightings in the A pool. The experienced Philly Peppers squad was able to take care of up-and-coming Rare Air from Boulder, 15—9. Ambush tried to lay in wait for some unsuspecting team to waltz into a New York mugging, but it didn't happen. Canada's own Stella spiked them again, 15—11.

Detroit's Clutch earned the right to go to Nationals after upsetting frequent qualifier Jane Air. They were not much of a match for most of the teams in Sarasota, however, and joined fellow Michiganders Big Ass Truck with a goose egg in the win column. The team is a newly-formed one, coming out of the women who previously played under the name Spike. Getting to Nationals alone should give them experience and confidence to do better in future tournaments.

Schwa's Thursday schedule was not kind. After "upsetting" Safari they faced Lady Godiva. Portland had defeated Godiva in the semifinals of Worlds this summer, but Godiva has been practicing for Nationals and are a much more powerful team than the travel squad that made the trip to Vancouver.

What started off as a close game didn't end that way. Led by Molly Goodwin, Godiva was able to pull away from a 6—6 tie to a 9—6 half-time lead. It cannot be said that Godiva is an unspirited team, but they play with a lot of intensity and can alter an opponent's style of play. They used this intensity to take care of the upstarts in the second half and close out the game, 15—8.

Godiva was aiming for 3—0 in their last game of the day, a rematch of last year's finals against third overall, second seeded Ozone. Ozone had already been through two long games, beating the Mid-Atlantic's Vixen 15—9 and spirited San Francisco team Home Brood 15—12. Ozone has lost numbers over the past few years and aren't the same team that made it to the finals in 1994 and 1996. Godiva posted a relatively easy win, 15—6.

Local favorites the Hucksters finished 0—3 after facing three tough teams.

Schwa finished the day against Home Brood with a 15—8 victory. Believe!

Women on the Verge matched up with the Peppers in the last game on a hot day. Philly's small squad of 14 players was not enough to stay with Verge's 14 players on the sidelines. They stayed close early before Verge capitalized on their person-to-person defensive pressure to open a three-point margin at 6—3. Points were traded to half, 8—5. Philly was unable to generate a run of their own and could only keep pace to 11—8 before Verge got another run to take a commanding game-point lead at 14—8. They closed out 15—10 to finish 3—0 on the day.

FRIDAY POOL PLAY–DAY TWO

"We are not a morning team. Blame the vagaries of scheduling," commented a Philly player watching her team lose momentum against Nemesis 9:30 Friday morning. It was a key matchup for both teams, the winner having a clear shot at finishing second in the pool and qualifying. Nemesis kept on top and led at half 8—5.

Captain Nancy Glass kept her team well-focused on the game. The Chicago women played confidently and business-like. They "absolutely" expected to win the game and did, scoring after an incredible layout from Sue Bourbeau to win, 15—9.

"The key for us was that we didn't give the disc up too many times and we played really good defense," commented Glass after the game.

The weakened Ozone squad almost faced the music on Friday. Playing against Safari and their killer bongo line-up they almost got swept under. Safari, led by veterans Liz and Wendy, managed to get their team into good position to upset Atlanta. The game was tied at 8's and Safari managed to get close again at 11—12. Atlanta was finally able to escape with a 15—12 win and avoid the early morning upset. Had Safari won there would have been a three-way tie for second place.

The recently-formed New York team Ambush finally got in the win column with a 15—5 shellacking of the Hucksters. The Hucksters, too, got a big victory, defeating the skeletal Stella squad 15—6.

Ambush also played tough against the Philly Peppers. Their squad features some veteran players with Championship rings, but they also had many rookies experiencing Nationals for the first time. They stayed with Philly throughout but could not generate enough consistency and lost, 10—15.

Both Northwest teams Women on the Verge and Schwa had to beat back stiff competition in the final round of Friday play. Verge faced undefeated Nemesis while Schwa found themselves in a battle with Vixen.

Portland may have been a little unprepared for DC. They failed to generate enough excitement and found themselves in a tight match at 12—11. But they stayed on target and got the key two—goal lead at 13—11. They finally closed out the game with a three-layout point to win, 15—12.

Nemesis brought only 13 women to Sarasota. The sun was merciless. The water tasted like rotten eggs. Vultures were circling overhead. And those pesky men from Z were loafing on the sidelines with beers and sunglasses. Could they get it up and defeat the tireless "Kavu" squad from Seattle in the final game of the day?

The teams played tough ultimate. It was again proven that a certain evenness exists in the Women's division. Verge took half 8—4, only to watch Nemesis pull themselves right back into the game with three straight. The sidelines were abuzz. Clouds came.

But Verge was packing lots of ammunition. Tons of experience rested on the Seattle sideline with two teams of players waiting to get in. They came right back and ran off three of their own to go up 11—7 and deflate Nemesis' high hopes. The sun came back. Verge closed out 15—11 to remain undefeated and effectively cinch first place in the pool.

Just like the Open division, the Women's semifinalists would not be determined until the final game of pool play on Saturday morning. 4—1 Nemesis faced the 3—2 Rare Air team while 3—2 Philly Peppers went against the Hucksters. Nemesis had only to win to qualify, but based on differentials, could actually lose by up to seven points and still qualify. In the B pool, 4—1 Ozone faced 4—1 Schwa in the game to qualify.

SATURDAY FINAL POOL PLAY–DAY THREE

Home Brood got their second victory of the tournament with a close win over California counterparts Safari, 15—13. They finished a respectable 2—4 along with Safari and Vixen.

It was fortunate for Nemesis that they had practically wrapped up a spot for semifinals, because they lost to Rare Air 15—13. That left Nemesis, Rare Air and the Philly Peppers tied at 4—2. Rare Air's four points against Verge, versus Philly's ten and Nemesis' eleven, left them behind in the point column, while Nemesis's six-point victory over Philly kept them safely ahead. The two-point loss was close enough for Chicago. They might have been saving energy against Rare Air in preparation for their battle with Boston.

The Ozone—Schwa matchup was a test of wills. It was a matter of which team was left standing at the end of the game, literally. The game was tied at every point possible. Really, it was.

Schwa used their patented "huck to Kajsa" strategy to lead at intermission 8—7 in a half with very few turnovers. But what started off as a well-played game didn't end that way.

The wind picked up, the hucks increased, the drops increased, and soon it was a bloodbath. People were falling down everywhere, the ground began rising up to scare players into dropping discs. I could barely watch the carnage.

Schwa 12, Ozone 10. Ozone gets a D block in the endzone. Turns disc over. Ozone gets another D block in the endzone, scores. Repeat. Tied at 12's. Now repeat for Schwa. The horn sounded at 13—12, Schwa, with the disc in their hands. But the 'huck-n-gun' strategy repeatedly failed to connect. After 39 turnovers Ozone was granted the point by a nearby official. 13's all, game to 15.

With the winds at their backs, Ozone also decided to employ the huck strategy, but instead of sending tall power-forward Chris O'Cleary to catch the disc, she was the one cranking out trademarked 80 yard backhands. Unfortunately, no one caught them. Repeat for both teams.

Somehow Schwa scored during the melee and only needed one more to win. It was an upwind goal, but somebody had to do it, so after countless throwaways and drops by both teams, Schwa tired out the skeletal Atlanta squad and scored to win the hell match, 15—13. Several Ozone players dropped to the ground in exhaustion as Schwa celebrated the victory and berth in the Semis against arch-rival Women on the Verge.

SATURDAY SEMIFINALS

The fields were buzzing with activity as thousands of feverish Ultimate spectators gathered on the sidelines. The Safari space drums were beating, the sun was shining amber through plastic cups filled with beer and discs were floating overhead like wayward balloons. I thought I saw Jerry.

In a rematch of this year's Worlds' finals, Seattle's Women on the Verge and Portland's Schwa began semis; Godiva and Nemesis were staggered to start one hour later. The first Open semifinal started at the same time as Verge—Schwa, and for twenty minutes in the second half all three underdogs were winning. Only Schwa would keep up the pace.

Verge and Schwa are intimately familiar with each other. They have been battling with each other since 1991 and have met in numerous finals at tournaments throughout the years. Verge has been the dominant force and has won their fair share of these matches, but Schwa has a way of beating them in crucial games.

"Some years one team is clearly stronger, yet almost every game is close and intense. It's just the nature of two teams that they know the other's strengths, weaknesses, and matchups well," explained Schwa's Kajsa Wing.

"The two teams are similar in strengths and weaknesses. We both play a fast running game and posses a very solid person-to-person defense. We both have good teams with a mixture of veterans and young talent," says Verge Captain Abbi Nilssen.

Last year Verge hoped to win Nationals but fell victim to the Left Coast malaise of looking past Regionals. They lost a semifinal game to Schwa and then lost concentration, bowing out to a Bay Area team and failing to qualify for the big dance.

They set out to prove themselves in 1997. They lost only one game the entire year before Nationals. That was against Schwa at Worlds. They avenged the loss with a victory over Portland in the finals. They may have suspected that the next time the teams met the pendulum would swing back.

Several Verge players were rooting for Ozone during the qualification match earlier that morning, not wanting to face Schwa. Ironically, Schwa believed that they would have an easier chance against either Nemesis or Godiva.

But fate brought the teams together again. The pendulum was on the move, and momentum now resided with Schwa.

Neither team played well. The wind conditions were prohibitive and the familiarity of the teams allowed for less than stellar play. Although Verge posses what is considered a better roster, Schwa played with a healthier verve while Verge seemed tight and too focused. Schwa capitalized on Verge's jitters and opened up a sizable lead in the first half.

"The big gap opened up from 4—4 to 4—9. We are used to trading points with them in the beginning of games and were tentative offensively. We were making errors in strategy, judgment and execution and they capitalized very effectively," recounted Verge's Nilssen.

"They came out flat, we had some big plays, and they got nervous. We also had a new-ish offense that took advantage of our long game," said Schwa's Wing.

Schwa used their height advantage to score on several long bombs to Wing, who at 6-feet tall had little competition getting to the disc. They ran off five to take half, 9—4.

"After the first five or six points I think most of us thought we could [win the game] and I'm sure we thought we would by half-time. However, nobody took it for granted. Verge has come back to beat us from a big deficit before, and we knew they were a better team than ever this year," explained Wing.

But the five-point run gave Schwa confidence. Verge is unfamiliar with losing and they seemed to have difficulty coping with the fact that Schwa was beating them in the game for the right to play in the Nationals final. Schwa, seeded tenth overall, was playing without fear while Verge may have been afraid to lose.

"We had nothing to lose, they had everything to lose. Tenth seed has its advantages," related Wing.

Schwa's huck strategy and Verge's errors continued in the second half. It was only late in the game that Verge began to play the high-quality Ultimate they are used to. But Schwa's lead and their history of upsets were too much. The game may have effectively been over at half-time.

"Later in the game they started to relax a little more and so did we. We played better, but still not great. The closest we got was 10—13 and 12—15," said Verge's Nilssen.

Schwa won the capped game 16—13 to advance to the finals of Nationals.

"We have one more game to avenge!" proclaimed exuberant Schwa captain Jeanne Selby after the game, referring to their re-match with Lady Godiva. But first Godiva had to take care of business with Nemesis.

Nemesis is an excellent team. While media attention has traditionally focused on the East and West Coast, Chicago has quietly played solid Ultimate for years. The team came into fruition in 1987 when Open cohorts Windy City won Nationals and the original Nemesis qualified for Semifinals. Amazingly, captain Nancy [Leahy] Glass has kept some form of Nemesis in Chicago since that time.

Actually, that may not be entirely true. In the early 90's Nemesis disbanded and Spike rose to take their spot as the premier Central region team. But Glass (her husband is Windy City's Mike Glass) brought Nemesis back, and in 1995 the team again made semifinals under the name Nemesis II.

They also played in the semifinals last year, losing to Lady Godiva. The road can only go up for Glass's team, but they faced Godiva again with another difficult opportunity to get there.

The conditions were windy at the start of the game. But both teams posses excellent throwing skills and were undeterred by the swirls. Several un-informed spectators figured that Godiva's large and powerful squad would have little difficulty with Nemesis' small (and unlucky?) team of 13.

The game started tight and remained so late into the match. Boston continuously pulled ahead by one or two, but Nemesis brought it back to tie every time.

Nemesis was focused and played each point confidently. Their strong defense stayed consistent and they performed tirelessly even with a noticeable lack of subs. Godiva was not playing their best game and found themselves frustrated by Nemesis' ability to hang around.

Godiva took half 8—7. Nemesis immediately responded with the first point of the second half to tie. Again Godiva surged ahead and again Nemesis returned the favor with crisp offensive handling to tie at 10's.

It is late runs in games that often separate champions from challengers. Godiva took two to open a 12—10 lead and many thought they would close it out from there.

But Nemesis remained strong–a testament to their all-around abilities. They came back with two of their own to tie at 12's in a game to 17 that was inching to a time-cap.

The cap did indeed come on the next possession. Godiva's offense got back on track and they scored to make it 13—12, game to 15.

Captain Christine Dunlap commandeered her squad down the stretch like a Union General.

Godiva pulled and their defense came out intense. They pressured a quick Nemesis turnover on their own goal-line that led to an easy Boston score. A single late-game possession can make all the difference, and instead of Nemesis driving for the potential tie, it was Godiva, 14—12, with game point.

Nemesis took the next possession downfield but had trouble with the wind and could not convert the crucial point. Lady Godiva recovered and patiently worked upfield before calling a time-out 30 yards from victory in an attempt to seal the game. It worked. A couple swing passes led to a score from former-Midwesterner Lori Parham to Selagh Sheetz for the game.

Lady Godiva was in the finals for the eighth time since the inception of Nationals in 1981. They have won four of those games, including the last two. To say the team is a powerhouse may be an understatement.

They now faced Schwa, who had enjoyed their first-ever semifinals appearance with a victory. This was the third different finals' opponent for Boston in three years. They have already defeated Women on the Verge and Ozone for the trophy. Would Schwa be the next victim?

SUNDAY–FINALS

Like their Boston counterparts Death or Glory, Godiva has a lock on the analytical perspectives of the game. Blame M.I.T.

"Our defensive strategy was to force them to the trap side, to throw their forehand against the wind. And our offensive strategy was to try and break it when they did the same thing to us," explained Godiva veteran Peg Hollinger.

Pure speed and run-and-gun offenses are diminished in such conditions. While Schwa's offense found difficulty connecting, Lady Godiva utilized their top-notch handling conditions to tame the wind.

The game started off close. Schwa took the opening pull and scored to get on the board first. Godiva matched the possession and scored without event to tie at 1—1. Several well-played points later the score was tied again at 5's.

Godiva scored the next point on a Molly Goodwin to Denise Cunningham pass, and soon Godiva was in their rhythm. Team leader Christine "Tines" (say 'teens') Dunlap and superstars Goodwin and Pooch propelled them to two more quick scores to go up 8—5. They would never give up the lead.

Schwa used a huck-punt successfully and Godiva turned it over on a high count on their own side of the field. Schwa quickly capitalized on a Beth Ford to Jeanne Selby score. Four successive three-and-out possessions by both teams gave the disc back to Godiva and they scored to hold at 9—6. A defensive block by Julie Jacobsen provided yet another opportunity for Godiva, and they scored on the unstoppable Goodwin-to-Ellen Taggart connection to take half, 10—6.

Molly Goodwin may well may be the most famous woman Ultimate player, and for good reason. Her scorecard registered one score, six throws-for-scores and three defensive blocks. I'm not a tool for RUFUS stats, but these are quite remarkable and accurately reflect her position as Godiva's playmaker.

Overall, Godiva's women were quicker on defensive person-to-person. They registered seven blocks over the game, compared to Schwa's two. They were also more aggressive, led by the fearsome Taggart.

There were very few zone defenses played in the first half. But Schwa felt that they needed to do something to shake up Lady Godiva. They brought out the zone on the opening point and soon the game turned into a hucking, turnover-plagued slug-fest.

"When they put the zone on us, we felt that our upwind, really aggressive throw was our easier throw, as opposed to the swing pass, and that's why we started hucking it. In that wind it was actually easier to throw it straight–because you didn't have to worry about spin–rather than crossfield, which was angle and spin," explained Hollinger, "that's why it became a huck-fest."

It wasn't until later in the second half that Schwa wisely followed suit. They continued to try and break the force and ended up dropping discs in the wind more often than not. Schwa was unable to gain any ground on the huck-and-punt Godiva crew and essentially traded points to 13—9, Godiva.

"We weren't able to use our run-and-gun style," commented Schwa captain Jeanne Selby, "and we've never played well in the wind."

Schwa finally came around to the huck strategy and soon it was Tines' hucks for Godiva versus Tracy Satterfield's for Schwa. Schwa's Kajsa Wing was able to get under some of the long throws, but Godiva's matching height Ellen Taggart provided competition, catching her fair share of the bombs as well.

Points were traded on a Cunningham score for Godiva and a Selby-to-Molly Barnes score for Schwa, 14—10, Godiva.

At that point, Tines' superior against-the-wind backhand proved too powerful. A successful upwind crank to Taggart led to a Pooch score, and two quick Schwa drops allowed Godiva to score again, 16—10.

Although the game was to 19, it was essentially over with Godiva's late six-point advantage. Schwa could not generate a lengthy offensive possession and Godiva proved far more skilled in following garbage discs, collecting on several clean-up throws.

Schwa converted on a long huck to Wing, 16—11, before two lengthy points with twenty-five turnovers between the two teams resulted in two more Godiva scores to game point, 18—11.

Schwa followed with two more before Godiva moved cleanly through a Schwa zone to score the game winner on a Judy Layzer to Gwn Tracy stroke, 19—13.

"Boston's experience was key for them," confessed Selby and Wing, "they had little trouble in the conditions."

Indeed, Lady Godiva is an incredibly experienced team. They have been around for ten years and feature a line-up that hasn't changed much in three years–the length of their Championship run.

Since that time four new babies have been born, and like many teams at the tournament, several of the Godiva women split time between games and infants.

Schwa finished the tournament with two losses at the hands of Godiva and numerous upsets to their credit. They are an exuberant team that enjoys competition and should be around for a long time if they can keep players. Already this year they lost two players to Verge and former leader Sarah Welsh to a cross-country move.

Lady Godiva must also keep their crew intact. If they can maintain the team against retirement and injuries, Godiva, like their counterparts DoG, should be in good position to return to the finals in 1998.

This was written for the UPA Newsletter.

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