"GODIVA GOES FOR SEVEN"
1998 U.S. CLUB NATIONALS
OCTOBER 21–24, SARASOTA, FLORIDA

Lady Godiva has plans for reigning until the end of Ultimate. Believe it. The Boston Aristocracy will not surrender the crown to mere pretenders and peasants! The rights to the throne have borne with them since 1987, dare ye say different? They have outlived Maine-iacs, Crushers and even Felix's bag of tricks.

But the stodgy bluehairs may someday be toppled by the strong spirit of the Northwest. Godiva mysticism has started to dim, their era may be coming to a close.

Just don't count on it happening anytime soon. New talent now calls Boston home and Godiva the headmistress. For the forseeable future this team will be around and they will be competitive.

1998 Nationals wasn't much different than 1997 Nationals, or 1996 or 1995. Godiva, Women on the Verge, Ozone, Nemesis–all forces to be reckoned with. But what wildcard would emerge this year? Would the Northwest again rise to the challenge to face Godiva? Or would Atlanta break through and make finals like 94 and 96?

And what about the wind?

POOL PLAY

The wind was there. Just like last year in Sarasota. But this time more. Not exactly Georges or Mitch or Hurricane Harry standards, but still enough to send your toppers adrift and your forehands floating.

Opening round pool play is not usually one for excitement in either division. The middle seed in each pool (number 4 in a pool of seven) gets the morning off while the others match up with their counterparts (1 vs. 7, 2 vs. 6, 3 vs. 5). Round one is either the birthplace of upsets of the forgotten round of games.

Like last year, Godiva and Verge were granted top seeds. Although Godiva hasn't played particularly strong during the season, losing at Tune-Up and other tournaments playing with half-squads or mixed teams, they remain the team to beat and are always prepared for Nationals.

Verge had another spectacular season, losing in the finals of one tournament–to arch-rival Schwa by one poin. But Schwa wasn't here at Nationals and that certainly allowed the Seattle women to breathe easier.

Other teams with their eyes on the prize included Nemesis, Philly Peppers and HomeBrood in pool B and Ozone, Rare Air and the Condors in pool A.

Opening round games did nothing to untangle the teams. Rare Air laid an early claim to point differential, blasting the North Carolina contingent BackHoe 15—1. BackHoe faced a particularly tough Thursday with Godiva in round two and the Condors at the end of the day.

Florida's own Hucksters put up some good numbers against Nemesis. Nemesis came with a half-dozen more players than last year's super-13 squad. But they may have played half as good. Nemesis rode to a 15—7 victory.

Pittsburgh's Catshit came to Nationals as an unknown. A women's team from the Alleghenies hasn't been seen at Nationals since… Playing the underdog role with confidence and sporting the second-best name in the tournament can take you far.

They managed to put nine points on the board in a loss to powerhouse Ozone. In round two they claimed the best name by besting top moniker Johnny Cocktail, 15—5.

In Pool B, the mentally prepared Women on the Verge collective gave up three points in their first game. They were primed and ready to make 1998 the year that counted. They faced 2nd pool seed Nemesis (third overall) in the last round of the day. Evidently they wanted to get to Nemesis as quickly as possible, so they breezed through another Northeast team 15—2 in the second round. They performed similarly last year and failed to reach their ultimate Ultimate goal. Would 1998 be the year the Women rode the Verge to climax?

But first there's the tricky middle seed. That "other" team from the Northwest ended up in the slot. Last year it was Portland's Schwa that derailed Verge. They didn't make the cut this year, even though they were the only team to beat Verge during the regular season. They were ousted by HomeBrood, those spirited gals with a fondness for good Ultimate and good beer.

HomeBrood stayed pretty swell all weekend. They featured really loose, comfortable Ultimate–and when you have as much talent as they do it can make for frustrating games if you're lining up on the opposing sideline.

Brood was hoping to make their third straight Nationals appearance count. They started preparing early.

"We made a decision at the beginning of the season to go to Nationals. Our region is very difficult with five potentially contending teams [Verge, Brood, Schwa, Goo and Fury]. We came out Sunday [at Regionals] and went 4-0 to take the second spot. And we came here with that same kind of attitude– Come out strong on teams and just play hard," related Field General Carrie Berlogar, better known as Burl.

Nemesis may not have known what to expect from the Brood. Still, they opened a 5—3 lead and appeared to be playing good Ultimate.

But HomeBrood was all for sticking around. They rallied to win 14—11, putting a crimp in Nemesis' plans for returning to semis for the fourth straight year.

According to one Nemesis player, the team "fell apart." Evidently a few players had gotten to Sarasota late the previous evening and were not in the best condition for the tough match in round two.

Burl revealed the strength of Brood; "Playing with heart, with spirit, having fun–most fun wins. No negative energy. Staying positive."

The Condors may have been looking to pull off an upset in their game against Ozone. But the lady swoopers were just too young and green for an established team like Atlanta. Ozone won 15—7.

And Atlanta may have been too young and green for an established team like Lady Godiva. No, not really, but Godiva won the big 1 vs 2 matchup anyway, 15—11. These two teams are the true definition of old school. Both count 1987 as their first Nationals appearance. They have made it every year since, 11 in a row (Nemesis has made 10 of the last 11). But Godiva always seems to get the best of them.

In the pool B matchup of top seeds, Nemesis hoped to regain some confidence against Verge. But Verge wasn't going to have anything to do with that. They used all their players to great advantage and beat Nemesis to every disc in completing a 15—4 rout.

"Too many chiefs, not enough Indians," commented a Nemahead.

Verge ended the day having outscored the competition 45—9. Clearly their confidence level was high. HomeBrood and Philly finished 2-0 while Nemesis came out 1—2.

Godiva finished pool A undefeated as expected. Ozone beat two tough teams, Catshit and Condors, and ended 2—1. Rare Air gave up 5 points for the day and compiled a 2—0 record.

FRIDAY POOL PLAY

Gotta love that 9:30 am game. 2 vs 3 seed on both sides. Ozone was ready for Rare Air and the Philly Peppers hoped to avenge last year's early-morning loss against Nemesis.

Both Ozone and Rare Air were aware of the importance of their game.

"This is the tournament. Win or lose to Godiva yesterday, this is the tournament," spoke Ozone co-captain Chris O'Cleary before the game.

Continued O'Cleary, "We're psyched. We like these girls. We have great spirit with each other. It looks to be a really hard, well-played game."

"This is a big game for us," was all Rare Air leader Tina McDouell had to say.

Rare Air captain McDouell had her team deathly focused on the match. She knew the tough style of Ozone. She played with them last year.

"She's one of the most competitive girls I've ever played with or against," credited O'Cleary, "A great leader can pump her team up to play to their potential, or even beyond their potential."

"Never give up. Never let up. Always believe, Always always always always,' exhorted —McDouell during the huddle before the game. Rare Air was going to need everything they had to defeat the experienced Ozone squad.

Even though Ozone was worried about their ability to throw upwind, they proved they could work without too much diffiulty en route to opening a 7—4 lead. But despite several opportunities to take the lead into half-time, Rare Air came back with three in a row before Ozone could finally claim half 8—7. Still, they had gained a point-swing and were now receiving the pull going downwind to start the second stanza.

Behind O'Cleary and Mara Lindsley, Ozone stretched that lead into an 11—8 advantage. Rare Air came back with a big upwind goal, a floating backhand that was skied for a score in the endzone to close within two. But their defense failed to stop Ozone on the next possesion as Ozone returned the upwind goal and completed the two-point play going downwind to go up by four, 13—9, late in the game.

They finished with the W, 15—10 and commanded the track to semis barring an upset.

Nemesis and Philly played this same morning game last year at Nationals. Nemesis won that matchup and hoped to do it again this year.

Chicago took half 8—4. But Philly came back with three in a row to close to 7—8. Philly went on a run in the second half and tied the game at 10s. Both teams had been able to score upwind, but not in the second half when the wind picked up. Nemesis had the edge, being the team to receive the pull going downwind. Philly was unable to gain the wind advantage and fell at the cap, 13-12.

The Nemesis win gave HomeBrood the edge to semis. If Brood, Nemesis and Philly ended up tied at the end of pool play, Nemesis was surely out on point differential.

But the home team upset the forecast. The Hucksters have quietely qualified for Nationals nine years in a row. They added some new talent this year and had been playing well so far. They were used to the wind and enjoyed being an underdog team capable of making a big upset. Coming off a quick 15—1 shellacking in the first round at the hands of Brood, they were able to rest up for Philly.

It paid off. They elected to pull the disc to Philly going downwind to open the game. But instead of the Peppers scoring, the Hucksters converted a turnover and put in the upwinder.

The score gave them all the confidence they needed behind veteran co-captain Debbie Renner. She was able to slice forehand and backhand hucks through the wind all game and her players were making catches. Philly looked lost and confused and could not string together a run. The Hucksters won 15—12, effectively handing the semis birth to HomeBrood.

"We let them score the first upwind goal. That really got us down. The very first point," spoke slightly muted Philly leader Melissa Ditz after the unexpected loss.

"They had a really good hucking game," commented another player. Well, yep.

Philly would have to upset Women on the Verge in the next game to be in contention. They didn't. Verge won 15—4. HomeBrood beat Ambush in the final game of the day 15—6, leaving them at 4—1 with Nemesis and Philly at 3—2.

The Condors had defeated Catshit in the first round, 15—12. These are two young Nationals-level teams that hope to make an impression in future appearances. For the Condors it was a step in the right direction, returning to Nationals after a four year absence. Maybe thier success here will help rebuild the women's Southern California scene. Several players from successful UCSB Burning Skirts teams have drifted North and were playing with HomeBrood in the Bay Area.

Catshit (whose name was adopted after a particularly turnover-plagued game some years back when the sidelines were imploring their players to hang onto the disc, yelling Catch it, Catch it!!) may have benefitted from beginner's luck and an emphasis on defense.

Facing a deflated Rare Air team in the second round, Catshit came out on top, scoring upwind against the zone to win 14—12. Rare Air ended the miserable day against Lady Godiva with a loss, eventually finishing what looked to be a promising Nationals with a 3—3 record and no bananas.

Catshit enjoyed the victory. But the game they were really looking forward to was a "backyard brawl" with fellow Mid-Atlantic representatives BackHoe. Catshit beat them twice during the season, with Backhoe getting closer each time. At Regionals BackHoe came up with the win.

With a resounding good-natured cheer of "Why not us! Why not us!" Catshit readied themselves for North Carolina. BackHoe, too, was focused 100% on this game. Clearly the teams enjoyed the rivalry.

"We absoultey do not let them score upwind!" urged on Backhoe captains Tonya Little and Beth Cates in the huddle.

"We win this tournament for ourselves right here!" proclaimed Catshit behind captain Susie Rynerson, a former Godiva player.

It was definitely Catshit's year. They edged BackHoe 14-13 in a tight match, close throughout, and finished Nationals with a more-than-respectable 3—3 record.

Johnny Cocktail finally found an opponent they could play with. Featuring several players from this year's Wisconsin-Madison College Nationals team, they found playing the younger-skewed Condors a much more even match. But the Condors prevailed at the cap 15—14.

In the battle for respect in the Northeast, the second-tier Boston team Twister outlasted New York's Ambush 13—10. Both teams will be around for some time and feature a core of good athletes. They may be able to do some damage next year.

Godiva defeated Rare Air 15—9, finishing at 5—0 and qualifying for first place in the A pool for Saturday Semifinals. Ozone locked up second-place with Rare Air's losses. In the B pool Verge edged fellow Northwesterners HomeBrood 15—12 to finish the day at 5—0 and a gauranteed first-place finish. HomeBrood also locked up a semifinals spot, even if they were to lose to Philly in the final pool play game on Saturday. There would be no "game to go" on Saturday morning for either team. HomeBrood would play Godiva and Ozone would face Verge in semifinals.

FRIDAY PARTY RESULTS

The Venezuelan Ultimate music scene was in the house. I was not aware of this at the time, but evidently four members of the famous Yanomani team had come to Club Nationals to whoop it up at the beach party. They did a helluva job.

Bringing three sets of congas and a large tom from a drumkit, the Venezuelans hooked up with the mellow beach music groove band that had been squired to play and jammed out a free-for-all night of great, great music. It was all pretty damn cool.

I don't know who won the party, although Rare Air did win the Saturday event, taking home a trophy for their efforts.

SATURDAY POOL PLAY

There was no "game to go" in the final games of pool play. Only matches for respect and future confidence. Rare Air was looking forward to that good feeling that only a win can provide, while Philly hoped to find some solace by beating HomeBrood.

Both Ozone and Verge were evidently not concentrating on their Saturday morning games, focusing instead on their matchup in semifinals later in the day. There was no point wasting precious energy in meaningless games. Their confidence level was already high so they didn't have to worry about that.

Godiva showed Catshit what getting to the next level really means when they pummeled the Pittsburgh contingent 15—5. Still, Catshit finished Nationals at 3—3 and ahead of seed. They were going home happy and looking towards future Nationals.

Rare Air rematched Southwestern region-mates the Condors and got the win, finishing their tournament at 3—0 on Thursday and Saturday and 0—3 on Friday. They had hoped to do much better and to make semifinals, but it was not to be this year. Ozone was still playing a step better than the best Colorado could offer. But Ozone has also been around a long, long time. Rare Air's time will come.

Speaking of Ozone, they defeated BackHoe 15—11 and gathered together to make plans for their big game with Verge.

Nemesis defeated Twister 15—9, finishing at 4—2. If the Hucksters hadn't upset Philly, Nemesis might have made semifinals. As it stood, however, they tied HomeBrood and not Philly, and HomeBrood had beaten them head-to-head.

Nancy Glass's team hadn't played particularly well all weekend, sleeping through the Verge game and not playing together against HomeBrood. Still they finished with a respectable four wins and can take heart in that when they regroup next season.

The Philly Peppers, winner of Fools Fest, Mother's Day and Regionals, lost their dancin' groove on Friday. Like Rare Air, both seeded third in their pool, they lost all of their matches on that fateful day despite the spiffy uniforms they had assembled.

But they beat the semifinalists on Saturday. Determined to show everyone that the still had spunk left, Philly stayed ahead of HomeBrood all game and won 13—8.

"This game doesn't matter, but we still want to win," spoke Burl just before Philly went on a late run to put away the game.

It didn't matter much. They had the three-time defending Champs to play in the next game for a berth in finals.

The Hucksters, a team that is either playing well or tanking a game and losing interest, played Verge well. It was a free game for both teams. Verge won 15—10.

SATURDAY SEMIFINALS

"I would not want to be a team in our way this year," confided Verge offensive force Kathy Porter before the semifinal matchup, "We are mentally prepared and have fixed our mistakes problems."

Behind captains O'Cleary and Lindsey the fearless Ozone women began what would become a very lengthy and exciting semifinal.

The wind was brisk. But both teams have enough skillful throwers to cope with this adversity. Verge opened with a score after punting the disc downwin. But Ozone countered with a downwinder and then an upwinder from O'Cleary to Emily Merkle, opening an early 3—1 advantage.

Verge returned the upwinder two points later to tie the game at 3—3, then see-sawed up to a 6—4 advantage on another upwinder. Neither team was playing spectacular and the wind factor highlighted mistakes.

Points were traded to 8—6 in favor of Verge, and they were receiving the disc going downwind. After a short pull they had an easy chance to put in the goal for half. But a bad turnover resulted in an Ozone fast break. O'Cleary once again unleashed a big upwind score to Michelle Chabot, but not without the help of Jami Epstein who had made a huge grab to preserve the disc on the possesion. Ozone tied the game at 8s before Verge finally scored to take half by one.

Verge had not capitalized on several chances in the first half to control the flow of the game. Now they were caught in a dogfight.

The teams had gotten used to throwing in the wind by this late in the tournament, but they hadn't mastered playing a solid defense in the conditions.

"At this point, throwing is a natural reaction, while defense is in the head," figured a sideline player trying to decipher the problems of the game.

The half-time break didn't stop O'Cleary. She kept using her extended reach to send backhand and forehand hucks without problem, and even caught a score upwind to put Ozone ahead again, 10—9. They followed through with the two-point play to take an 11—9 advantage.

Verge seemed to have forgotten how to play with the wind in the second half. They were not making crisp throws, not pulling the disc right and generally not finding a groove. Finally a hammer by Vida Towne found its target in the endzone and Verge was back on track.

O'Cleary again returned the score, but this time Verge answered right back with a score from Leah Towne and a defensive block from super-fast Kathy Scott. Scott's D gave Verge the chance to score an upwinder from within 10 yards. They converted and the game was again knotted, this time at 12s.

Verge finally got their defense to stop O'Cleary. If getting burned by her for almost 75% of Ozone's goals doesn't make you come to a simple conclusion then you shouldn't be playing sports.

Verge decided to stop trapping O'Cleary and play her straight-up in hopes of disrupting her rhythym, forcing her to adjust for a half-second or longer. O'Cleary's windups are usually long because of her arm length, but she makes up for it by deciding when to throw deep (almost always) before she gets the disc.

Verge regained the lead by laying out Leah Towne twice, the last one for a goal. Ozone immediately countered with a downwind layout score from Angela Lin.

Ozone's sidelines were starting to get raucous. They were drawing fans from all over rooting for the Southerners. Verge's Northwest support group, Seattle Sockeye, were still in Seattle while friendly NW rival HomeBrood was busy with their own game.

Again Verge's could not generate an offense. Fortuantly for them their defense, and the wind, kept them from being scored on. Several turnvers gave the disc to Ozone and they called time-out, looking for a way to score. The horn sounded, meaning that this point was going to be an important one.

The wind gusted at all the wrong times for Ozone. Despite Jami Epstein's best efforts, catching tough passes and making big d blocks after turnovers, they were not able to score the crucial point. Leah Towne came up big on defense for Verge while Australian import Nicole Shepherd got the best of her matchup with the equally tough Lin.

Finally Verge got a little lucky when KP got a phantom block and then caught a desperate stall-9 hammer from Vivian Zayas in the endzone to record the point, 14—13, game to 16.

Verge's defensive strategy started to work wonders on the next point. O'Cleary simply refused to be stopped. This resulted in two quick throwaways by the veteran and it looked like Verge was going to score upwind and control the game. But they seemed to want to give the disc back to Ozone and sure enough O'Cleary found herself with the disc again, and, well, third time's the charm right? She pulled out a high-release breakmark backhand and Ozone scored to tie.

What I could never fathom the entire weekend was teams opting to open the game on defense with the opposition receiving the pull going downwind to start the game. If the wind held force the entire game and it was hard-capped, that opposing team would win by one.

That seemed to be the case here, as Verge now looked to be in control, needing only to score two downwind goals to win while Ozone would have to score a downwinder and an upwinder.

They obliged by scoring the first downwinder. KP put a disc to a wide-open Lori Van Holmes in the endzone. But the wind carried it a little too far and fast and Van Holmes had to stretch upwards to fingertip-catch the disc. She came down with it and ignited a burst of enthusiasm from the Verge sideline.

Still Ozone was unfazed. They had relied the whole game, maybe even the season, on hucking the disc. Why not keep it up and make Verge work upwind?

Verge coulnd't do it. At least not in the first five chances they had. Nilssen had trouble finding targets and Ozone kept ending up with the disc and kept putting it up. Finally Verge opened up an upwind fast-break. Speedy Berkely Young made a great grab on an high-stall huck tailing away, and then had great presence to turn and hit Michelle Burley in the endzone for the final score. Suddenly the long game was over. Women on the Verge would be advancing to finals again after a two-year absence.

Perhaps Ozone could have taken better care of the disk at key moments. They were getting the turovers they wanted out of Verge, but they never developed a working, confident offense that could work the disc in for a score.

For Verge's part, they got lucky. Ozone's game-plan had been effective against them, but it shouldn't have been. They could have taken better of the disc and scored when they should have. They were relying on Ozone to turn the disc over and seemed to have gotten caught up in Ozone's style of play.

But that's all speculation. It was a gritty match and both teams played well.

On the other side of the field, HomeBrood and Godiva were battling with the wind rather than each other.

An Brood injury midway through the game prolonged cap 30 minutes, making the match seem to last an eternity. It was fairly evident that Godiva was not likely to let this game slide. They had a height advantage and an experience edge on HomeBrood that could nearly insure them of victory.

HomeBrood had made semis as an underdog–a strong team with lots of great spirit and their own micro-brew. They weren't regarded as a crew that could put up a tough game against a no-nonsense team like Godiva.

They were enjoying themselves in Florida but had played strong, comfortable Ultimate all weekend. Making semifinals was a feather in their cap, a nice place to be, but they weren't necessarily looking to take home the 1998 Nationals Crown.

Godiva may have been non-chalant about the game. They certainly did not play spectacularly, especially in the first half. But they worked patiently through Brood's zone and scored immediately after a Brood score. They finally put together a run to ease up to a comfortable 4-point lead at 8—4.

Both teams were playing zone and the game was noticeably absent of the excitement of the Verge-Ozone match.

Brood worked a cool 50 or so passes before scoring against Godiva's zone, then tried to stop Godiva from countering. But Godiva has too much firepower. Lori Parham found Godiva rookie Vicki Chow in the endzone and Boston took half 9—5.

After half Godiva rolled, stopping Brood with person defense en route to opening a seven-point gap at 12—5.

The cap was enacted and Godiva ended the game in their usual fashion–a goal scored by Gwyn Tracy on a pass from Christine Dunlap.

As expected, Godiva and Verge were set to play the finals.

INTERMISSION

The HomeBrood Bio, to MacBeth
by HomeBrood

Setting: Northwest Regionals. Davis, California. Thunder and Lightning.

Enter Three Broodies. They stand round a cauldron, stirring the brew within…

FIRST BROOD: When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning or in rain?

SECOND BROOD: When the hurlyburly's done
When the battle's lost and won

THIRD BROOD: That will be in the land of sun

FIRST BROOD: Where the place?

SECOND BROOD: Upon the field.

THIRD BROOD: There to play and never yield.

ALL: Nationals calls. Anon!

Foul is foul, and fair is best, Home Brood frisbee, to the test

Enter Fourth Broodie

FIRST BROOD: Why, how now, Broodie? You look angerly.

FOURTH BROOD: Have I not reason, beldams as you are,
Saucy and overbold? How did you dare
To cut and dive without me
In affairs of great moment
And I, the mistress of great plays
The close contriver of all lays
Was never call'd to play my part,
Or show the glory of my art?
And, which is worse, all you have done
Hath been but for one tourney won
But make amends now. Get you gone,
And at the fields in Sarasota,
Meet me in the morning. Thither thee
Will come to know your destiny!!!
Your bubbles and your spells provide,
Your charms and everything beside.
Great business must be wrought ere noon:
Before the coming of the moon
There hangs a wondrous throw profound;
I'll catch it ere it come to ground.
Today, I am for the air; this night I'll stand
With a frothy beer in hand.
And that distill'd by magic sleights
Shall raise such spirit and delight
As by the strength of Brood's illusion
Shall draw other teams on to confusion!
We shall spurn fate, scorn pain, drink beer
Our hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear!

FINALS

Women on the Verge held a roundtable meeting for an hour and a half before Sunday's finals. Surely they talked about Godiva's mental toughness and the spirit that they were going to use to defeat the reigning Champions. Undoubtedly they steeled themselves for the opportunity to become only the 9th different Champion in 18 tries at the greatest Ultimate tournament in the world, Nationals.

And they also went over game strategy.

"It was a class where we went over point-by-point what we were going to do," explained captain Abbi Nilssen.

When they came out of the clubhouse the skies were bathed in blue and dabbed with languid clouds. It was a beautiful day to play Ultimate, despite the wind.

Verge rose to the occasion when they took the field to start the final game of the four-day tournament.

For one half of play the Women of Seattle dominated. They scored going downwind almost right away on a huck from Kathy "KP" Porter to Kathy Scott. Kall it the Kathy & Kathy Show.

Scott and Porter provided the firepower. Scott is slim, tall and fast, capable of great grabs and layout D blocks. KP is the offensive Field General, sending troops downfield for long scores on beautiful throws.

The wind was fairly strong. And Seattle hadn't practised with wind all summer. But they had practiced their deep game, and found that they could still connect despite the conditions.

"Thats what we've been working on the last couple of weeks before nationals, getting our long game to really click," revealed Nilssen.

Punting downwind is a frequently employed strategy in games involving a lot of wind. It prevents quick turnovers near the goalline being converted for easy upwind scores by the opposition and it pins the other team deep facing a difficult wind. And if you're lucky, or skillful in this case, it can lead to some easy scores.

Both teams hucked it away for punts. But whereas Godiva seemed to punt purely to get rid of the disc, Verge sent downwind hucks to receivers. And the receivers caught them, repeatedly, for scores.

And they converted points going upwind too, sometimes even using the huck for that too.

Before Godiva could say "game on!" Verge had opened a 4—1 lead including an upwinder scored by Porter on a hot endzone layout.

Godiva finally put in a downwinder, but they were not playing well. They seemed a little dull on the field while Verge players were leaping and cutting everywhere, making defenseive blocks, putting up hucks, catching mac'd discs.

Verge scored again, but it was called back on a Godiva call of some sorts. That disrupted the flow for both teams until seven turnovers later Porter found Leah Towne in the endzone for a 5—2 lead.

Godiva returned the downwinder and Verge again responded with a successful huck, this one from Nilssen.

Finally someone stepped up for Godiva. Veteran Heather Tausig read a crossfield throw and stepped in to intercept the disc. She got the score too, as Molly Goodwin was only too happy to send her the disc. The score closed the gap to 6—4 in favor of Verge. It would be the last point Godiva got in the half.

What happened? A lot of great plays from Verge and not a lot of spark from Godiva.

"I think we spent a lot of time thinking about strategy and we weren't thinking about heart," spoke Christine Dunlap after the game.

Verge quickly countered on a tademark KP deep bomb to Scott. They were not having trouble with scoring downwind, but could they keep up the pace facing the wind?

Godiva tried to help them. They dropped the disc after receiving the pull, giving Vergea prime opportunity. Seattle called time-out to set up a play, but upon checking back in they failed to connect. Dunlap picked up the disc and immediately sailed one deep to no one. Verge took the gift and weaved through the Godiva zone with fluid ease, finally getting the flow into the endzone on a Rene Alexander to Vida Towne connection.

For the next point, Kathy Scott sliced through the air en route to meeting the disc, stopping Godiva's movement. Nilssen picked up the turnover and hit her in the endzone, 9—4, Verge.

The next point was a big one. Verge's person defense shut down Godiva going downwind. Godiva started to make unusual errors, dropping discs, throwing bad passes–seemingly playing tired, scard or unconcerned. But Verge maintained a high level of enthusiasm, even hucking upwind after Godiva turnovers. Godiva tried to punt-and-zone again midway through the lengthy point. It didn't stop Seattle however and they moved it up the sidelines smartly before KP ripped an upwind forehand up the right side for the score and half, 10—4.

Verge could not have played any better. KP recorded four throws for scores and two goals and Abbi connected on three throws and one goal.

They scored a remarkable four upwind goals to Godiva's one and had complete control of the flow of the game.

"In the first half we were a little bit caught up with everytime that they scored upwind, assuming they would score the downwind too," related Godiva spokesperson Peg Hollinger, "So at halftime we decided we needed to think about every possession instead of just the upwind-downwind one."

It was clear that Godiva had to wake up. Molly Goodwin may have been just the woman to put the ire back in their eyes.

"What the f*** is going on!?!" demanded the superstar. Goodwin may well be the winningnest woman in the history of Nationals. She played with the Maine-iacs and Felix championship teams before joining up for Godiva's recent Nationals' run.

She knew there was no excuse for the team's desultory play in the first half. So did Teens Dunlap. Teens has been with Godiva since their first title in 1987. She knew how to win and that what they were doing now was losing. Big time.

"At haltfime we brought it back up," explained Dunlap, laying it out on the table to the team "Who f***ing wants it??"

Goodwin for one. She realized that she needed to step as well if Godiva was going to get back in the game. Not that they were worried.

"We knew it was going to be a long game. We've played in finals of Nationals a lot and paying to 19 is a long time. You learn that," said Hollinger afterwards.

Verge, too, tried to rally the troops.

"I told them it's a game to 9 and they have to score a helluva lot more points than us. So we'll just keep doing what we're doing well and stick with it, work our arses off like nothing else matters," said Nilssen.

The second stanza started off more of the same on both sides. Godiva received the pull going downwind. Several turnovers on both sides later they scored. Verge returned the favor, scoring on a Nilssen to KP huck.

One of the things Verge discussed before the game was playing Teens and Goodwin straight-up on the mark instead of forcing a side. It worked in the first half, whatever they were doing, but that was mostly Godiva just not connecting. It worked in the second half too, but only on one of them.

Meanwhile Godiva still looked flat. They scored downwind. Then Verge couldn't connect downwind and Godiva marched upwind. Goodwin showed her team how to do it, throwing to Denise Cunningham on a tough upwinder to close within four at 7—11.

Verge had their chances to score upwind but goals were not forthcoming. Several opportunties were squandered, including one where they called time-out 20 yards from the endzone. Still nothing. No groove. No more big scores. Finally Goodwin punched it in again for Godiva.

And again. But where Molly was getting hot, Teens was not. Goodwin was burning with intensity and the team was feeding off her emotions. Teens was having an off game, missing connections and failing to find a groove.

Godiva closed within one at 10—11 before Verge got a little something back. Godiva had several chances to score to tie at 11s, but one was called back on a travel and the others fell short. Finally Pam Kraus converted the point for Verge and they could breathe a little easier. Not much, though.

Godiva worked smoothly downfield and scored again, Goodwin to Dunlap. Verge answered, Vivian Zayas to KP, 13—11 Verge.

But Godiva was in the thick of the hunt and there was no way to shake them. Teens finally connected and again Verge was forced to respond.

The did and didn't. Abbi placed a perfect pass to Janet Wong in the endzone and it looked like Verge had staved off another Godiva rally. Both teams starting walking back to the lines. But out of somewhere, maybe nowhere, a pick was called on a person not involved in the play. It was kind of a weird moment, because nearly everyone had recorded the score and a full 20 seconds went by before players started to return to their positions on the field.

Just another one of those nebuluous Ultimate things. We'll have to back over the tape to find out what, if anything, really happened. But there is no doubt it had an effect on the game. Verge lost their rhythm completely and turned over the disc.

Godiva, led by Goodwin, Teens and Lori Parham, marched upwind straight through Verge's sideline trap and scored. Tie game.

A Godiva rookie, Vicky Chow, gave the Boston women their first lead of the game a possesion later after Verge floated a forehand in the wind. Chow broke the mark and found Teens in the endzone for the big score.

It was time for Verge to show what they were made of. They weren't about to give this game up. Moving effectively downwind they scored on a big layout catch from Pam Kraus to tie the game at 14—14.

The wind started to pickup. But Godiva had ragained all their confidence and composure and Goodwin was still on the prowl.

The teams were trading downwinders now. Godiva had gained the wind advantage by scoring the point to tie the game at 13—13. Both teams were now in a healthy scoring rhythm, helped by not having to go upwind often.

Godiva stopped punting the disc away early in the second half. They were moving it well.

Goodwin caught a score, followed by Rachel Projansky for Verge and it was 15s. The horn sounded. The sidelines were buzzing. Verge pulled. Godiva punted. Could Verge get the upwinder?

Godiva played a tough trapping defense and Verge could not move the disc. It was two one-pass and out possesions and Goodwin jammed the disc to Gwyn Tracy to inch ever closer to that 6th Nationals Championship.

Verge would not die. KP found the endzone with a well-placed huck again. 16—16. Next point wins.

Those sudden death points are real tough. Sudden death points in Nationals' Finals I can't even imagine. One thing is for sure, the defense has just as hard a time as the offense. Weak-kneed and slightly paranoid is my impression of players trying to defend what always seems to be the inevitable.

In this case, the inevitable was Gwyn Tracy scoring the game-winning goal. In fact, she has scored the game-winning goal in Nationals' finals the last three years in a row. Make that four. From Molly Goodwin, who else?

17—16 Lady Godiva in a great comeback.

Verge had so much pent-up emotion left over from the difficult loss that they immediately huddled and burst into a song. Godiva streamed onto the field and were joined by Death or Glory in some sort of "yeah Boston" thing.

Verge became distraught after the huddle and took to boat races to ease the pain. Sometimes it seemed like they were going through their own 12-step program with playing great Ultimate the 11th step and winning Nationals the 12th.

They'll get there, but even if they don't they definitely play some of the best Ultimate in the game today. And no, they won't change their name if they win. It's not about that.

"Verge played great. They're a great team. My hats off to them," congratulated Teens.

The Boston women picked up five very solid players this year, and although they always lose one or two to retirement, they will still come out ahead. They will be a strong team next year and the year after that.

"I think the team's about 19 women who want the same thing. They all want to play high-quality Ultimate and win," Hollinger told me.

And Goodwin and Teens–they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

This was written for the UPA Newsletter.

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