Tony Leonardo's Collection of Ultimate Frisbee Writing
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1999 U.S. Club Nationals
Preseason Scouting
Women
Open
Daily RSD Posts
Miscellaneous

1999 Tune-Up

1999 NE Club Regionals

Short Article written for ESPN Magazine

1999 Whitesmoke

1999 College Preseason Rankings
Women
Men

1999 College Nationals
Men
Women
Daily RSD Posts
Interview Transcripts
Team Bios: N.C. State Jinx and Stanford Superfly
Press Releases

2000 Stanford Invite
Saturday
Sunday
Post-Tournament
Press Releases

2000 College Nationals
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Post-Tournament Notes

2000 National Champions Brown University

2000 Ow My Knee

2000 Club Open Top Ten Post

Interview with TK (Tom Kennedy)

 

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1999 CLUB NATIONALS – WOMEN

[words: more than ever]

"It's just a simple game. Throw and catch," says Tracey Satterfield, leader of Schwa.

"We wanted to have a team that didn't have to deal with stress, cattiness and stupid politics. We wanted players to play and love the sport," says Gloria Lust-Phillips (or Glo) of Fury.

This wasn't going to be a year like the past ten in women's Ultimate. To be sure, all the signs pointed to another Nationals for the old guard, for the veteran teams from the Northeast and Northwest, Lady Godiva and Women on the Verge. Maybe Ozone could repeat their victory at Tune-Up, perhaps Fury could make semis, possibly Nemesis could get back into semis or Schwa even. But no one expected a number 4 seed and a number 7 seed to make 1999 their year, the breakthrough year for women's ultimate.

The story goes back just a few short years. In 1996 Fury was formed and in 1997 Schwa went to the finals at Club Worlds and Nationals. In San Francisco Glo (Gloria-Lust Phillips), Jennifer Donnelly, Nicole Beck and Kimber Zabora, experienced players with Championship rings from Felix, Maine-Iacs and even Godiva (Glo founded that team in 1987) formed a new, younger club with the intent to mold younger players into Nationals contenders using Stanford as a farm system.

In Portland, Schwa came together as a team with the verve and nerve to run with Verge and the Bay Area teams. In 1997 Schwa, with a healthy mix of young and old, went to Nationals' finals and lost to Godiva. But the winning tradition had been set and Portland became a great area to play great disc.

Everything changed in 1999 for Schwa after many top players retired, increased the world population, or moved. Nine left, in fact, and Tracey Satterfield, Dara Bailey and others led a rebuilding phase, picking up Univeristy of Oregon players en route to a surprising Finals appearance at this year's Worlds in Scotland. That tournament became a defining moment for the team and the groove was locked in.

For Worlds winners Women on the Verge and four-time defending Nationals champions Lady Godiva there was no need for a youth movement or a change in game plan. These teams were the best. Verge was undefeated on the season while The Lady was returning from a four-peat with all their players and no signs of slowing down.

I guess that's why they play the games.


THURSDAY

You had to like the parity present at this tournament. There were maybe ten teams with a legitimate chance at semifinals, depending on how things progressed. Pool play the opening day would go a long way to determining who would have a decent seeding in quarterfinals, avoiding Godiva and Verge.

Godiva had no trouble, as expected. They won almsot every game by double-digits. Verge, too, beat Philly 15-2 (the Peppers were preparing for their next round game with Schwa), Diva 15-3 and Schwa 15-8. Fury opened with their A game, running by Twister 15-6, Catchit 15-2 and Nemesis with surprising ease, 15-8. Three seed Ozone won their first two games easily before having some trouble with Rare Air, 15-12.

The real games to watch, of course, were the 2 vs 3 pool games. In the case of Backhoe versus Safari, it was also the 8 seed overall versus the 9 seed. It was anyone's game.

Triangle area veteran Beth Cates is a fine player and captain and she led Backhoe to their first-ever victory over the Philly Peppers at Regionals, earning them the top spot out of the competitive Mid-Atlantic region. Safari, behind captain Beth Thomas, traveled the 10 miles or so to Del Mar with some key veteran pickups.

It looked like Backhoe early on, But Safari kept making great plays behind Thomas, Stacey Koff and Fi Campbell-Johnson. The veterans, Laura "Spanky" Ingebritsen and Wende Pinz (?) also helped keep the team in focus, especially against such a young team like Backhoe.

Amy Seagroves, Tonya Little, Cates and the rest of the girls in green could not keep it up against hometown heroes Safari and eventually went down 15-11, meaning Safari advanced to the A bracket while Backhoe would be the top seed in B bracket.

Schwa versus Philly would be a fun match, no doubt. The Peppers, long used to contending for semis at Nationals, had fallen out of first in the MA this year landed in the #10 spot here in San Diego. Schwa, the third seed in the NW, placed #7 in seedings. A tough pool with Verge at the top, meaning only one of these two would likely advance to A bracket pools tomorrow. This game might have been the tournament for both teams.

Schwa's captain Tracey Satterfield knew the stakes were high, as did Philly's Mel Iwaszko. Both teams came out in battle formation. Turnovers were aplenty in the opening stanza. Schwa, especially, knows how to get turnovers out of teams and they are quite capable of throwing away the disc themselves. A six-turnover point became a flashpoint after Satterfield, who had thrown the disc away twice in the point already, finally connected downwind and it was 4-2 Schwa.

It got a little touchy between Iwaszko and Satterfield when a mentioning of 'Red Lights' triggered memories for both teams. Schwa and Red Lights, with pickup Iwaszko, had met at Worlds in a game marred by foul-calling. It resurfaced here in San Diego as the two tried to get in each other's heads. Cool was kept, but not before a face-off and a tossed water-bottle.

The head games didn't affect either team but the game continued to be a turnover-fest. Schwa's defense seemed a step quicker but they repeatedly failed to capitalize, allowing Philly to regroup and punch it in. Schwa stayed ahead by two or three the whole game mainly due to their ability to score quickly when receiving the pull. Effective play-calling.

Schwa took half and led by 3 early. But Philly was all for staying around and they put in an upwinder to close to 10-8, putting the pressure on Schwa to score upwind. Schwa responded, as did Philly, scoring another upwinder to put the game at 12-10, Schwa, and the soft cap to 14.

Peppers pulling; a big defensive stop on Schwa going upwind would give Philly the momentum. But instead Satterfield worked a picture-perfect umbrella up the sideline, hitting a well-covered Jody Dozono in stride in the endzone to inch towards the end of the game at 13-10. It was a big play at just the right time for undaunted Portland. Philly got it back to 13-11, then got several turnovers from Schwa but failed to score twice when they were within five yards. That'll end a team's chances and Schwa finally put it away, 14-11. They were heading to the A bracket.

"That was a moral victory," said Satterfield after the big win over the contentious Peppers. Take that as you will, reader.

The day ended with a loose Ozone team taking on Rare Air for first in their pool. Ozone's Mara Lindsley donned a bright auburn wig and the girls from Atlanta outlasted Rare 15-13.


FRIDAY

The re-seeded pools, with the top two teams from each original pool, came out to be Godiva, Fuy, Nemesis and Safari in Pool E, A bracket. Pool F, A braccket, became Verge, Ozone, Schwa and Rare Air. No easy games here. B bracket pools were Backhoe, Catchit, Twister and Eh?, and Philly, Condors, Diva and Clutch on the other side.

Remember, games against original pool opponents carried over into Friday's schedule, effectively meaning those games counted twice. Another advantage for the top-seeded teams.

The opening round presented one big surprise: Ozone and Schwa, meeting for the first time, began their game 9:30 am in the bid for prime quarterfinal seedings. Ozone has never been an early-morning team and they were not prepared for Schwa's multiple offenses and quick defense. Ozone never put a zone on Schwa and Portland took advantage, scoring quickly and effectively en route to opening an 8-6 halftime lead. Perhaps Ozone was hoping for Schwa to slow down or give up a few points. Instead they just kept it coming, scoring in bunches. They put the disc in 5 of the last 6 times they touched it to finish the game at 15-10 and give further notice that they were for real.

"Strategically, I can't elaborate on beating Ozone, you'd probably print it," wrote Satterfield afterwards, mysteriously, "but applying early pressure and not relieving it was the key to victory."

Some sort of Jedi mind-trick, methinks. I get the feeling it was planned as an ambush, an attack from the get-go and then each point thereafter became a game of one-upmanship and Ozone never quite knew what hit them. "We played flat. Schwa controlled that game from the first pull onward." said Ozone's Chris O'Cleary.

Godiva spanked Nemesis 15-6 to start the day while Fury stayed ahead of Safari the whole game to win 15-11. Verge beat Rare Air 15-8.

There were several game-watchers at the beginning of the Godiva-Fury match. Was Fury for real? Could they hang with the veterans and put some points on the board? After all, Fury played Godiva even at Tune-Up, beating them in semifinals. And Godiva, like DoG, will typically play some close games in pool play to get the team warmed up for pressure situations (for instance, at Regionals this year they scrimmaged themselves after the the finals ended).

So what happened? Why did Fury get pummeled 15-4? "We just played poorly," said Glo later on. "We were playing beautifully," said Godiva's Judy Layzer. In retrospect, it almost seems like a snarky Northwest conspiracy. Godiva's dominant win meant that they had not been tested the entire tournament. Tommorrow's quarterfinal game would likely be another blowout for them meaning they would only have to play a real game in Semis and then finals.

Personally, I never figured out why teams do not front Godiva to death.

Nemesis and Safari proved to be a good macth in the first half. Safari took an early 6-4 lead before Nemesis woke up and scored three in a row. But Safari came right back with two of their own to close the half up 8-7. Nemesis needed to find a way to regroup. At halftime, Nemesis hubby Mike Glass provided some tips while Nancy and the rest urged the team to "use our heart."

Nemesis responded with the first point after half to tie at 8s. From that point they turned on the jets and won 15-10, sending Safari to a pre-quarter play-in with the winner of Pool G in the B bracket. The victory gave Nemesis the 6th seed in quarterfinals and a matchup against Schwa who brought a 15-6 beatdown on the Southwest champs Rare Air to move up three slots to the third overall. "Every game someone steps it up for us," said Schwa's Dozono after the victory. Schwa mainstays Jen Failla, Rebecca Doyle and Jen Scott were the heroes on Friday.

Ozone had a chance to get one back when they played Verge. They were ready this time, but Verge would be giving no ground. Verge took half 8-5 but they could not prevent Ozone from scoring upwind. Without a doubt, Ozone's strength and weakness is the huck. They can win games and demoralize opponents with it or they can punt points away.

Behind the huck lies a solid offense and defense that can match veteran for veteran and youth for youth with all the top teams. It is always a matter of keeping the huck in the right frame of mind for gametime, and sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't.

After half, Ozone scored going upwind to make it 8-6. Verge responded upwind and Ozone did likewise, to 9-7. Then a Verge timeout on offense resulted in a turnover and Ozone sent it deep for a score to close 9-8. Verge was not going to let the pressure sink this game, and they responded with a beautiful huck to Vida Towne who made the layout grab in the endzone.

At 10-9, Verge, Ozone again had a chance when Pam Kraus could not come down with a disc for Verge and Ozone took over possession. But four passes later she made up for it and got a big defensive block to once again quell the momentum for Ozone. Verge kept playing well and Ozone could never get over the 2-point deficet. They finally fell 15-12 to end a disappointing day for them. Finishing third in the pool meant they would face a rematch of Tune-Up finals in a game against Fury, the third and last Northwest team they would play on the weekend.

In the B bracket, Backhoe and Philly emerged undefeated as expected, earning them a play-in game for quarterfinals against the last-placed teams in the A bracket, Safari and Rare Air, respectively. These would be quality games against well-matched opponents playing to make the elite eight.

Rare Air and Backhoe came down to the wire. Rare Air took an early lead and stayed ahead by two but Backhoe battled back to lead 12-11 behind Beth Cates amazing goal-throwing touch. Rare Air tied the game at 12s and then scored after a handblock from Fran Carson. Amy Seagroves and Tonya Little tried to revive the team offensively but could not, as Fran again was in the right position for a Backhoe throwaway and Rare Air scored the next two, both to Fran. Congrats to Fran for those last three points of spazztic defense.

"The disc goes a lot slower [at sea level], " explained Rare captain Suzanna Jones, "you really gotta crank it up."

Philly edged up on Safari behind veteran Tracey Berg and they too finished strong (expereince was the key) scoring the final two points to win 15-11. For their effort they received a first-round game with Verge. Rare Air faced Godiva.


SATURDAY

Verge started by running line drills. The Philly Peppers ran a short scrimmage. Ozone practiced throwing and cutting drills. Fury ran endzone drills. Schwa scrimmaged. Nemesis ran endzone drills. Godiva appeared loose and a few players tossed discs.

An Ultimate game can roughly be divided into 4 quarters of action. The beginning and end of games are typically the most important. The middle parts–before half and after half–can change the game. The tone and rhythm are set at the start and if a team is performing badly, they will try to make changes before halftime to re-focus their energies.

Ozone and Fury began by trading point for point to 4s. Schwa and Nemesis battled to 3s. There was no early advantage to either team, meaning the tone and rhyhthm would be determined later in the game after the squads had sussed each other out.

Godiva and Verge, however, opened strongly against Rare Air and Philly, respectively, with both favorites opening up leads at 4-1 and 6-3. Cetainly it was advantageous for them to play against teams that had won hard-fought and exhausting matches the day before. Rare Air played 71 points on Friday, Godiva 40. Philly fought for 68 points while Verge needed 50.

These are all statistics, mind you. The simple facts were that there was no way Godiva and Verge were going to lose in quarterfinals. The final tallys were both 15-7 in favor of the favorites.

Schwa versus Nemesis was a back and forth match. Nemesis started off slow, but that could have been a result of Schwa's defensive quickness. Schwa scored on a seven-turnover point to go ahead 3-2, and then kept in a rhythm by scoring three in a row to win the fist quarter, 6-3. Finally, Nemesis found their offense and scored quickly, 6-4. But it was their defense that got them the disc. Nemesis threw on a zone and Schwa found themselves is serious trouble. Nemesis used the zone to score four in a row and take half 8-6. They even scored the first point after half, but by then Schwa had figured out the zone.

"We ran a trimanator. We're handler heavy," said Satterfield afterwards, referring, presumably to a three-man weave that opened up the offense for Schwa.

Perhaps more importantly, Schwa started to win the mental challenge. Offensive turnovers typically have a negative impact on a team's psyche. But Schwa, it seems, can battle through points, turnover after turnover, and be completely unfazed.

"There were plenty of turnovers on both teams," said Nemesis' Nancy Glass afterwards, speaking about the second half. But somehow Schwa found a way to score a majority of points over that time, and wound up with a 12-11 lead when the cap was called.

Schwa was tougher than ever for the game's final couple of points, refusing to give up possession of the disc no matter what it took. They kept their cool when the game got hot and Nemesis couldn't hang. The final two belonged to Schwa and they advanced, 14-11.

"We made some adjustments offensively. On defense we stepped it up, changed a little on our marks, and got aggressive. It was quarterfinals you know?" said Satterfield afterwards.

"Women's Ultimate still suffers from way too many turnovers and too many bad foul calls," says Glass, "but the parity these days is wonderful and it seems the top eight teams are all capable of knocking each other off on any given day."

Ozone had slipped in seedings and now faced Fury for the right to advance. The teams match up well, featuring established players and young playmakers ready to take it to the next level. Chris O'Cleary may be the most recognizable member of Ozone, but it is Jamie Epstein, Mara Lindsley, Angela Lin and others who guide this team underneath.

Aftet the 4-4 start it was all Ozone. Fury was never able to take a lead. After an inital string of turnovers Ozone found a groove and put three in a row to take the half 8-5. Fury could not find their offense to begin the second half and soon it was 10-5 in a game already running late by lengthy points. Ozone was in control but Fury's spirit was alive and kicking. They finally got a goal on offense and a turnover from Ozone to close 10-7.

From that point on, the game belonged to Jennifer Donnelly. Glo, Dominique Fontinette, and Sam Salvia provided the backup, but really this game turned on the willpower of JD. The night before she had suffered from heat exhaustion, along with teammate Nicole "Sprout" Beck. And it seems JD is not the most agile when it comes to hitting the ground. Several times over the weekend she landed with a most painful thud, but always rebounded with the help of some deep well of energy (likely the same fountain that provides her enthusiastic verbosity and coaching vigor). On a team full of spritely athletes, it was the rock-steady presence of Donnelly that kept Fury in this game.

Ozone scored easily after a Fury throwaway could have closed the gap to two. Instead, Ozone was ahead by four late in the game at 11-7. Both teams were surprisingly relaxed and loose. Perhaps they knew this game had much more playing left.

Ozone's person defense is as good as any in the country. This time they got a stall count on Fury and looked to have a chance to put another nail in the coffin. But Ozone could not score and Fury could not do the same. A deep huck to the endzone for Ozone failed and Fury drove the distance and turned the disc over. Then Dom got it back with a layout block and finally Fury scored the crucial point, JD to Glo. It was an emotional point. I think Fury felt that an Ozone score (and the chances were there) could put the game out of reach. Instead, they were down by three.

Fury got a block on the next point and scored, Donnelly to Glo again. Ozone got the goal back, working through a zone. 12-9. On offense, Fury was clicking again. When they get running, they are hard to stop. Sprout, Sam Salvia and Martita Emde contributed to the next couple of scores, but still Ozone stayed ahead. Not so comfortably anymore at 12-11, but the horn sounded, hard cap at 14.

Ozone worked patiently through a zone and scored to stem Fury's comeback at 13-11, game point. Atlanta would have at least two chances on offense to finish the game. They were comfortable and relaxed. But so was Fury.

Fury scored quickly and effectively, behind hard-running Dom, this time connecting with Glo. Ozone would be receiving going downwind. Fury came in a zone. Ozone worked it for a few passes before opting to huck it deep to no one. This can be an effective strategy in high-wind games and if you're Ozone, you can additionally count on a mean defense. But Fury can really move the disc fast when they are in a groove. And they were certainly in high gear now. So instead of getting a turnover near their own endzone, the Ozone sideline could only watch helplessly as Dom saved a disc from the dirt, then hit Maya Conrad for a thirty-yard bowling alley, followed by a huck to JD that was somehow snagged and suddenly it was all tied up and one point to go.

This was real pressure. Ozone was feeling the possibility of lettig this game slip away with one wrong throw in the zone. Fury looked comfortable. Offensively in the zone, driving upwind, Ozone was overly cautious. The deeps and middles were unable to split the seams and draw defenders. Instead, Angela Lin at point, #16 and #22 (#9, #11) on the sides, swung the disc countless times.

The offense became an ebb and flow like the tide at La Playa. Ozone would advance 20 yards, then retreat 10, then move ahead 5 and then backwad 15. Several times #16 bailed out potential mishaps. Lin, on point, preserved the disc when trapped on the sideline, effectively using a breakmark throw. After five minutes and 50 passes they had advanced to mid-field. The crowd was breathless with anticipation and excitement. They were caught in the hypnotism of Ozone's patience. "I can't believe it!" 70 passes. 80 passes. 90 passes. Game point. 10 yards to go. The zone was tight now. Offensively, the handlers are within five yards of victory. Angela Lin is in fact sneaking across the line but the swing pass never comes. Finally, Ozone sends it far to the opposite corner to Eileen Murray. Time-out is called.

That should not have happened. The zone offense had miraculously worked for 100 passes. Finish it. Put it in the endzone and end the game. A timeout here gave the defense a chance to readjust, to switch, to put on a junk zone. The offense had worked effectively and without nervous mistakes. Now they too were feeling the pressure whether they believed it or not.

Ozone was still remarkably relaxed when the disc went back in play. Perhaps it was nervous energy belying a sense of fear, I thought as I watched a couple of players wrestle around before Fury came out of their huddle. When the disc came back in play, Fury was in a person defense. Ozone swung the disc to the middle, and then tried to swing it one more time when all of a sudden, bam! Launching through the disc, Donnelly (see, I told you it was her game) came flying from the endzone to make the block and all the anticipation and excitement built up from one of the most amazing offensive points ever turned instantly into ohmygod.

"I was just fired-up," said Donnelly.

In seconds, the disc was zipping across the ground that Ozone had gained so preciously, so pointedly, with every pass. The spell of the playing field had been broken, and Fury swept over the once-sacred ground with the delight of a fleet-footed devil whose life had just been spared.

Fury could not, would not end it right away. They turned it over, deep on Ozone's side of the field, almost teasing Ozone. But the game was over and everyone knew it. Ozone got the disc back, handled for a dozen more passes, again facing the zone. But their offensive cohesion, that magical spell that had guided the last possessin, was dispelled and would no longer work again. Not again would 80, 90, 100 passes be thrown in pure patient faith in victory. That was something special, and it was gone. It came as no surprise when a handler's crossfield forehand lifted up and carried in the wind then softly landed, on the ground, with no more left to give.

Two passes later, JD had the disc on the goalline and the stall crept up. Ozone's defense was fierce. On stall nine, she sent a short forehand to the far corner, unreachable by anyone except Dom and sure enough she came down with the disc, the game, and the tournament.

An intense release of emotion from Fury and devasting anguish from Ozone. The game had crumbled for Atlanta and Fury had somehow escaped clutching the win. They found a magic key to victory and it was theirs to keep for future games.

"That loss was one of the hardest losses I've ever experienced," said Chris O'Cleary, after the tourament.


SEMIS

Expect the unexpected.

The Northwest proved to be the best region in the country when all three teams reached semifinals. The third qualifier from the Nothwest, Schwa, outlasted Central champs Nemesis and now faced four-time defending Champions Lady Godiva. Over yonder, no less than the top two NW teams, Women on the Verge and Fury, met in a re-match for all the money. For Verge, the the inter-regional rivalry may have invoked bad memories of semifinals two years ago, when Schwa handed them an enexpected loss.

This year, Verge has beaten Fury in the finals of Solstice, Labor Day, and Regionals. But oddly, never in the semifinals. It was always the finals.

Women on the Verge is without a doubt one of the most successful teams in the history of the sport. Over the past five years they have won more tournaments than any other women's team, quite possibly more than any men's team. They have brought home the tournament trophy eighteen times since 1995, including three Worlds Championships and numerous Northwest tournaments, where the level of difficulty is always high.

Led by a core of veterans, including Lori van Holmes, Abbi Nilssen, Pam Kraus, Kathy Scott and Cat Pittack, Women on the Verge have consistently outplayed opponents. They have ten or so women that have been playing at the highest levels of competition for over ten years. They know how to win and they know how to win big tournaments.

Pam Kraus has been playing Ultimate since 1985 and has been with Verge since 1991. She credits the success of the team to their fundamental strength as a group. "We're a team's team. We are always in support of each other." But what about the pressure of winning Nationals? "Every tournament we put the pressure on ourselves, so this is no different," says Kraus.

But collectively, there is a type of mental anguish that overtakes the team when they come to win Nationals. In fact, it is a National Championship that has eluded Verge since their founding, and this year, like every year since they first appeared Finals in 1995, it was the Championship that was on everyone's mind. The thoughts of winning were embedded in their hearts and worn on their sleeves.

It was no secret that Verge wanted more than ever to avenge last year's loss to Godiva–to beat Boston in Finals, to win the long-awaited Championship here in San Diego. It was almost as if they were still fighting the demons from last year, still coping with that loss, and only by beating Godiva in Finals could they get the monkey off their backs. But there was pressure to get there first.

"They've beaten us a bunch of times, and they've been really focused on winning Nationals. Not that we havent, but they are more of the favored horse. We knew the pressure was on them," explained Donnelly for Fury.

"We said, 'they want to win so bad that they're going to be nervous.' But for us, we had nothing to lose. In fact, there hasn't been a game that we've been so loose all season," said Gloria.

But first we must take the start of this game back one hour, one full hour to the end of the miraculuos Fury victory over Ozone. That electrifying win set the stage for the team from San Francisco. Coming back and taking that quarterfinal really psyched them up, kept them confident, and most importantly, kept them loose–for Fury had already done better than they could have hoped. Remember, this was their first appearance at Nationals as a team. Nationals is a lot of pressure. Everyone wants to win, "everyone is out for blood" as Glo puts it. So to take a young, new team to Nationals and to avenge an earlier season loss to Ozone, a contender, and then to be in semis–to make semifinals of the biggest tournament in the World was already an accomplishment beyond expectations and it was great.

Verge got on the board first, Kathy Scott to Lori van Holmes. It was the first and last lead the team would ever have.

There was some pressure on Verge, sure. Pressure from having played out this season undefeated and being expected to do it again here. There was pressure dating back to 1997, maybe even before that, and this pressure, which has been with them all along, began to manifest internally, forcing the release of tension in the phyiscal recesses of the body. It was like an evil djinn escaping its prison, seeping underneath the psychological walls of the mind and body, causing havoc with nerves, with hands, with the mind.

This isn't easy territory to get into and perhaps I should get back to the game. "From the first point I thought we were kind of tense," said a Verge player. "Usually people who don't make mistakes were making a ton of them."

You know what, this game was close throughout and technically speaking, either team could have won. Fury has played well against Verge in the season, losing only by a couple of points in most of their meetings. And Verge knew that this semifinal wasn't a cakewalk, they knew that Fury would bring a game. But perhaps it was, in a sense, over before it even started.

The mistakes were spread throughout the game, preventing Verge from ever gaining momentum and taking a lead. After scoring the first point, Fury took the next three, and Verge had chances each time. Finally, they took two in a row to tie at 3s. But all game, Fury responded by scoring, this time Andrea Johnson to Dominique.

Again, Fury put three in a row, and again Verge missed chances to score. It all came to a devasting head at 7-5 when Verge's Nicole Shepard went down in the endzone and didn't move. Suddenly everything seemed to become manifest for Verge. There was a blanket of silence surrounding the field for 30 minutes. It was scary. An ambulance came with the emergency paramedics. Nicole's neck was wrapped in a splint while the medics asked her if she could feel anything, or move any body parts. These are moments of terror for everyone involved. Nicole responded that she could wiggle her toes.

It sounds grim, and it was, but I was told after the game that paralysis can be determined by locality; being able to move parts of the body furthest from the injury indicated that everything in between would likely be able to function as well. Indeed, the next day it was reported that Nicole was going to be alright.

The interruption followed with a change of fields for the teams and hopefully, for Verge, a change of focus. In fact, Verge scored the next two points without a turnover to tie at 7 all. And then, again, they tied at 8s, but could never get a lead, and Fury took half at 9-8. But the distraction of losing one of their players to a serious injury compunded their fears about losing the game.

At half, tournament captain Rachel Projansky tried to calm the nerves down for Verge and get them back in the games. "It felt good the first couple of points after half," said Abbi Nilssen.

But Fury had no plans to let up. "At half, the team knew we weren't going to lose. We were relaxed and totally psyched," said Glo.

Fury scored the first two, but Verge responded quickly and effectively in a run of three behind Kathy Porter and Nilssen to tie at 11s. At that point, Fury's hit 4th gear and began to score without making turnovers. Verge could not keep up and the game began to slip away.

Fury didn't let up and they didn't make nervous mistakes. They reeled off two points in a row to ease up to 14-12 in a game shortened to 16. Verge had a chance, but were still plagued by drops. On the other side, Fury was making hot plays–on this point it was a full layout by Martita Emde to catch a blade and preserve the disc that enabled Fury to score upwind on a pass from Jennifer Beck to J.D. and get to game point at 15-12.

Verge scored, Nilssen to van Holmes, but it was too late. Verge even got the disc back after AJ couldn't hit Glo coming down the sideline. But A.J. stepped it up and got a stop when a Verge pass sailed long. It was going to happen, and youthful AJ, with no fear and plenty of confidence, made it happen. She hooked up with a huck to her Coach J.D. (who else?) and JD, well, she was in the endzone, and then, there it was. It happened. The game ended. The game was over.

"It was very strange. It seemed like a big struggle," said Nilssen afterwards, trying to figure out what went wrong for Verge.

"We just focused it and said we didnt have any pressure. Lets just go out there and play. and that worked, especially with our young players who are studs," said JD. " We were very loose. We were dancing, looking in each other's eyes saying 'we got this–no problem.'"

And JD, what about catching two game-winning goals in one epic day of Nationals? "It feels great. It doesnt matter if I'm doing it or they're doing it, I knew we were going to do it!"

Before the Fury-Verge game had ended, there was a roar from a couple of fields over. It was the DoG–Furious game, which had ended in an electrifying catch from young Fortunat Mueller. But next to that, one field over, something even bigger was happening.

Godiva had put together a solid tournament, as usual, but one thing was missing. They hadn't had a game yet. They had hardly broken a sweat by the time semifinals rolled around. Against Fury? Yes, it was 15-4, and no Fury didn't tank the game. They hadn't played well necessarily, but Godiva simply crushed. They are that good.

Godiva doesn't make many mistakes. It is something of a Boston tradition now, to not give away the disc. Sure, maybe it's boring Ultimate, too precise, too patient, too rigid and controlled. But it wins and Godiva wins and Godiva, with Molly Goodwin, Teens, and others is not boring.

"Being the underdog is almost always the advantage," says Godiva's Judy Layzer. Say what? I think being Godiva is an advantage. Teams usually have to muster up the will to overcome their fears and preconceptions of the top team, the best team in the nation, the team with no less than six Championships under its name, the Queens of Ultimate, Lady Godiva. This was the twelfth straight year for Godiva making semifinals. They are the best women's team to ever play. They rule.

And Schwa, jeez, well Rita Halberman has been playing for ten years. Tracey Satterfield won college Nationals a couple of times. Dara Bailey has been around, and sure there's others. A few players from Schwa's finals appearance two years ago. A few.

But Tracey Satterfield, at least, agrees with Layzer, "The pressure's always on them. Thats how it always is–they handle it great. They got Goodwin in the helm, Layzer, they got people who are experienced and well at handling the pressure."

Godiva can be a tough team to crack. They have kept the external pressure off of them by staying deathly focused internally, as a group. They have successfully created an aura about them. They have been called aloof, arrogant, aristocratic. Their cheer? "Godiva! Like it or not!"

But Godiva wins when it counts and they don't need pesterers or pretenders. They are not made of unkind players, they are not cheaters, nor mean-spirited puritans–but they have to be tight and controlled in order to win as often as they do. "It's a challenge to keep people on this team from saying, 'why can't we do things differently?'" says Layzer.

Why fix something that isn't broken? But what happens when something does interfere with the way the World is supposed to work–with Godiva winning? "It needles you to get out there and fix it," says Layzer.

Satterfield and Schwa set about trying to devise ways to get under Boston's skin. If they could find a way to exploit Godiva's strengths to their own benefit, maybe they could get Boston turned-around, thinking, reflective, and away from playing with their imposing blend of confidence and superiority.

"We know they love the dump-swing game, the bowling game.They're not going to do anything weird, they're not going to throw hammers, not going to go deep," expained Satterfield before the game, "We'll play a nice fronting. Try to stop the dump-swing–everybody knows that. It's just if you can stop it or not."

Continued Satterfield, "As they don't concentrate on superstars on their team, we're not going to concentrate on superstars on their team. We're just going to try and play team defense. Thats the way I think you can try and beat them. They dont do a lot of one-on-one stuff–thats why they are the best team."

Actually, in a sense, Godiva relies more heavily on one-on-ones than anyone else. Because their offense is so textbook, you instinctively know when Godiva players are going to cut, and where they are cutting to. It is a matter of beating them to the disc in the isolation, or somehow preventing the cut from happening.

So how do you prepare your team to match wits with Godiva and their air of greatness? "I think with their experience, they're going to come out mellow. So maybe we shouldn't get too over-excited. Don't over-celebrate the endzone–act like you've been there before. We dont like to be too wound-up and we dont like to go too fast," says Satterfield, adding, "we're not going to focus on them. We're going to focus on us and try to take the pace of the game."

There's that pacing thing again. Schwa set the rhythm early in their game against Ozone and never relented. Against Nemesis, it went back and forth, but the final surge in scoring belonged to Schwa. And now, against Godiva, they were going right at it again, setting the pacing, putting the game on their groove, somehow, someway. A lot of it is just having the entire team on the same page and aware of what the strategy is. That way turnovers don't go to your head. Maybe that's what happened here...

Godiva knows that a game is played to the end. Like last year, for instance, a stirring 17-16 come from behind win. So when seventh-seeded Schwa, carrying one big name and a bunch of new faces took a 4-1 lead, the Lady, why, the Lady does not flinch at such impudent point-scoring!

OK, so Schwa jumped out to an early lead, and they were seeded seventh, sure, but most teams here knew that Schwa was a contender and no pushover. They got a pretty damn high seeding coming into this tournament, considering they were the third team out of a region. En route to semis, Schwa bested Philly, Ozone, and Nemesis. Damn good teams. Godiva knew they had a game. And maybe, again, that was part of the problem. They had a game, and they hadn't had a tight game with their full squad since last November.

That three-point lead? Well, you knew it couldn't last. Godiva's offense is just too damn good. Sure enough, they put in four in a row to take a 5-4 lead, trying to staunch Schwa's surprising run. Interesting to note that Schwa's early advantage was gained on Godiva giveaways and Schwa defensive stops. And then, each time Schwa got the disc, Satterfield would throw it away.

It was some kind of routine testing. For the first half of the game, Satterfield would send the disc to Godiva players, and then, as the game progressed, those turnovers became pinpoint scores. At the 5-4 Godiva mark, Satterfield had already made a remarkable seven turnovers, compared to two goals thrown. Those numbers would switch in the second half.

But indeed, they had set up some sort of magical pacing from the get-go and they never lost their heads when Godiva turned it on offensively. Schwa tied it at 5s on crisp offense, then both teams scored each time they got the disc, standard for Godiva, and good rhyhthm for Schwa. Tied at 7s, Schwa finally faltered offensively and Godiva took half, 9–7.

Schwa received the pull to start the second half. In a sign of things to come, Satterfield marched the team downfield and threw a score to Dara Bailey. After a turnover point, Godiva got it back, 10-8. It was an upwind-downwind game, with zone mixed in on upwinders, but both teams proved capable of handling the wind. But Godiva took an advantage on the next point after Jody Dozono couldn't hit Jen Scott going downwind. Godiva took over and marched up for the score, Teens to Pooch. Then out came the zone and Schwa was presented with one of many late-game challenges.

Working patiently, precisely swinging and dumping, cutting in and clearing out, Schwa moved upfield and upwind against Godiva's zone. I tell you, they ran an impressive zone offense, textbook, absolutely perfect. I counted roughly 80-90 passes, and then, ca-ching, Satterfield hit Bailey for the score. No throwaway for Sattrfield–she kept the long throw in check, used her fakes, and acted as perfectly as one could ever hope to play in the zone. No timeouts, just clean offense. They wore down Godiva, even caused some chattering on the Boston sidelines, and really showed Godiva that this game was on at 11-9 and no, Schwa was not going to fold.

It looked like a pivotal turning-point. Next point, Molly Goodwin got banged-up after a turnover and Schwa took over and called time-out. A score here would be big, but Denise Cunningham, Pooch (ED. #12??? who is this? anyone?), wasn't going to let that happen. She read the play and stepped in the lane to record the block and it was back to Goodwin and company to march it up and in and goodbye Schwa momentum, 12-9. Then a quick throwaway from Schwa and easy Godiva score, calling on their Jordan again, Goodwin, to make the connection. 13-9 Godiva, and Schwa's pacing was going right out the door.

But they had proved they could do it. Had they kept their confidence despite the mistakes? Finally, they got one back, Deana McMurr to Bailey. And them Kama Siegel got a block for Schwa and their spirits were up! But she couldn't make the connection five passes later and Godiva again had a chance to score, but Rebecca Doyle got a block near the Godiva goal and got it back, in the goal, on a pass from Dozono to make it 13-11. Game back on. Sidelines back in it. Hard cap called (why these games were hard capped instead of soft-capped is a mystery to me). Game, yes, game to 15.

Right back, downwind, Goodwin throws the score, goodnight Schwa, thanks for making semis, see you next year, nice uniforms, blah blah blah. 14-11, hard cap, Schwa receiving going upwind–they needed a miracle to get out of this game alive.

Satterfield may not be a saint, but she brought some holiness today. The end of this game belonged to her, not Gwyn Tracy, not Goodwin, not Teens or Layzer or Kate Coyne or anyone of them. I think what set the stage for this action was the mentality of Schwa. They hadn't come to lose, but they weren't pressured into feeling that they had to win. Perhaps their huddle and cheer at 14-12, after Satterfield hit Michelle Grey with a soft-touch, crossfield forehand for the uplifting upwind score, best sums it, "Why fucking not! Why not us!" And truly they meant it.

Game time for Goodwin. There's a reason why she is considered the best player in the sport. It's because she is the best player in the sport, and there is no arguing. Mentally, she is tough as nails and always comes to compete and to win. She once played quaterback on a grade-school level boys Football team, went to UC-Berkely on a soccer scholarship, and has won seven consecutive National Championships in Ultimate since losing in the finals her rookie year with the Maine-iacs.

In an interview published last year, she said, "Even though you win as a team, you have to have your playmakers. To win there has to be one or two people who make that special play during a big game." Molly Goodwin is the playmaker in Ultimate today.

But it cannot always be her, and on a team of big-time players like Godiva, other people can step it up and make it happen. But rarely does it end up that Goodwin makes a mistake that would have otherwise ended the game. It's a rare occurrence, to be sure, like getting tagged out in a triple play in baseball. "Wow, you don't see that very often," one says to oneself, like I said when I witnessed Goodwin, five or so yards out of the game-winning endzone, bobble and drop a nicely thrown 20-yard pass.

That, my friends, would have been a score one pass later and the game over at 15-12. But it didn't happen that way. Schwa worked it, but then threw the disc away and again Godiva had a chance to end it and couldn't, the first pass from Teens knocked down. One pass later, Satterfield steps up to the plate and hits one out of the park, boom, down comes the hammer, score, Satterfield to Linda Scheffler, 14-13 and yes, that is a bonafide momentum swing.

Third try is a charm, right? Godiva received going downwind. Schwa, "why not us!" came down in tight person defense, smothering the Lady. Jessica Young, a rookie player from the Boston area (rookie in one sense, but she has been playing a while) ended up with the disc on the sideline, trapped. She managed to get a forehand off against the trap, up the sideline, but a foul was called, maybe a pick or an offensive foul on thr thrower, I don't know. Whatever it was, the rhythm was instantly gone. She went to look for a dump pass, and faked, and then threw the fake into the turf and Tracey picked up the suddenly charged disc, charged with the current of this unbelievable opportunity for Schwa to tie the game going upwind, and called time-out. "Why fucking not!" came the cheer again, and Schwa settled in, staring upfield 35 yards from a possible date with history. Pressure? Not here.

Six passes later, Satterfield finds Rita Haberman for the goal and then Godiva was broken for real. 14 all, next point wins, Godiva would be going upwind and they had given away the last three points to Schwa and Satterfield was unstoppable and Godiva was feeling, could it be?, nervous and we knew, the whole sideline knew, that Godiva was not going to score this point.

Schwa came down in a zone. Almost immediately the turnover came, in Godiva's endzone, popped up in the wind over someone's head, who knows who, and Jen Faya knocked the disc down and Satterfield picked the disc up and Dozono caught the disc, in the endzone, in Godiva's endzone, and the game was over, 15-14, the final four points scored in five possessions, each one coming from the hands of Tracey "T-Bone" Satterfield.

Silence. 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds. Godiva was grouped on the sideline, staring at each other. No one dared utter a word. In the distance, Schwa looked like tha Yankees after the World Series, players toppling over each other, pictures snapping, hugs, and a big pile-up somewhere in that endzone. But here, on Godiva's sideline, you could hear teeth grate from 10 feet away. Eyes burning, body language in disbelief. Finally someone calls the team to the distant sideline for a session.

Kate Coyne hung around and talked to me about what happened, "It sucks, we could have won and we didn't win. We had the opportunity and we didn't score. But it never comes as a shock to lose."

Coyne was courteous with me. Was Godiva complacent in that game? "Obviously," she responded, "we had our chances and we blew it."

Added Judy Layzer afterwards, "We were just irritated with ourselves. We were stunned."

An ecstatic Satterfield, tears streaming down her face, talked about the biggest upset in recent women's history, "We worked really, really hard. We kept pushing it and we didn't play any junkie defenses. I always believed, 'why not us?'"

Yes indeed, why not. Someone had to knock off Godiva, sometime. Why not them? Why not now?

"We have confidence in each player on the team, on any cut, any pass. When you believe in the people behind the system, it will work," spoke mastermind Satterfield.

They say, or at least I've heard Bob Marley sing it, 'The harder they come, they harder the fall.' It still came as somewhat as a surprise to me, but perhaps it wasn't so shocking after all.

"I won't stop crying until I win again," said Molly Goodwin, half-serious, to a friend on the sidelines the next day. "I can't feel sorry for Molly!" came the response, "she already has a thousand titles!"

I wanted to get an official quote, find out what Molly, the sport's superstar, thought about the surprising loss, or about this year's tournament and the teams that advanced. I'd been trying for weeks to talk to Molly. People said she was nice, but that she had a rigidly defined personal space. So I kept my distance, respected her space. But when you are the premier player in the sport and the press wants a quote, you gotta give it. Imagine Mia Hamm or Chaminique Holdsclaw or Bob Byrne not talking, ever, to the people that write up their sport. No way. I suppose Ultimate should be different because, yeah, we aren't mainstream?

"I'm officially telling you I don't want to talk to you," said a sulking Goodwin. Well, at least it's official. Her friend added, "Fuck off. Go away."


FINALS

The radio was playing, the sun shone bright over the valley, fresh ocean air sweeped clear the senses. A large expanse of fields were being watered by giant-wheeled pipelines, pluming like peacocked fountains. And over on field one, Schwa on one side, Fury on the other, the preparation for the final game of competition was taking place unobserved. Schwa srimmaged, Fury ran some drills, and with 15 minutes to start there were a dozen people louging around, including me. Oh! Right, the time change. An hour and 15 minutes to go...

Dah-dah, dum-de-dum. Hmmm, maybe I'll get some food. No food. OK, maybe some merchandise? All sold out. Well, um, ok, I still have 50 minutes, um, maybe I can stir some things up.

What fun would this finals be if there wasn't just a little more something to this match? Like an old school rivalry, or a shared player, or a grudge match, or some motivation on either side to beat this particular opponent. After all, we had two Cinderellas here, two teams that weren't even at Nationals last year. Sure, same region, so maybe something there, but these teams hadn't been around long enough to really develop a good, solid rivalry. There had to be something.

There was this one thing I remember hearing about. Something to do with the stars of both teams, the two most outspoken women in Ultimate today, two great leaders from different styles and different backgrounds. Something going back three or so years, to Nationals outside of Minneapolis.

So I went further, asked each what they thought of the other. That worked better than I could have imagined, but I won't go into details here, because this game, this game was...

This game was a celebration. Two new and different styles of Ultimate were alive and well, in Finals, and the old guard was on the sideline. I've heard commentary saying the finals were boring, that the game was over in the first half, that it was a turnover-fest of epic proportions. Why couldn't we have the fight we all wanted, Verge versus Godiva?

This was all wrong thinking. This game was like a championship cruiserweight fight. Both teams were battling, thick in the heat of the game, focused the entire time and they were playing tough, hard-nosed, trying to find how to win, but neither could quite knock out the opponent. It was tough and it was fun to watch the toughness.

Fury stayed loose to start. Playing tunes and dancing as part of the warmup, keeping up sideline chatter. But underneath they knew they were going to win, and that gave them confidence and strength to face Schwa. It helps too, we must not forget, to have team leaders that have been to Finals and have won. They know how to keep their cool and get their team in position to win it again.

"We know that we have depth. If we think too much, we'll psyche ourselves out," spoke Kimber Zabora before gametime, "It's not about who they are. It's the Finals of Nationals."

"We'll stay with our game. We have faith in our system," spoke Satterfield. What about offenses and defenses? "We'll use a little bit of everything."

For Fury, it was all gravy after the huge comeback win over Ozone. Verge in semis, Schwa in finals, hey alright. Nothing fazed them now. They were ready to make this thing happen, get a groove on, try out a new opponent.

* * * *

"This team loves challenges. If it's not a challenge we get bored," says Glo, "We focused on two or three of the players–Tracey, Dara and Jen Faya and hoped the rest of them would fold." Sounds like a good challenge to me.

Schwa kept their focus and beliefs tight. As a result, they had a certain freedom from the burdens of pressure. But perhaps this game was a little more than they expected. They weren't the huge underdog this time. This was a game they could actually win if they worked at it enough.

Fury received the disc to start, but Jen Faya was in the right place to knock down an attempted goal and Schwa was ready to go. But a McMurr throwaway to Satterfield returned possession to Fury, who couldn't connect, and then a dropped pass, and then Fury got on the board first after a series of pick calls, Donnelly to Andrea Johnson. JD was back in action again...

Satterfield tried to get it back with a huck to Rebecca Doyle. Easily intercepted by Dominique Fontinette. Two more turnovers, and Fury was up 2-0. Again, Schwa was n offense and again they threw it away. If this was setting up the pacing, then they were in trouble. Their offense seemed a little tight. They weren't using the whole field. Fury's offense was crisp, loose, with well-timed cuts and open receivers. But finally, after a couple more turnovers on both sides, Schwa ran a very nice fastbreak umbrella up the forehand sideline, five passes for 70 yards and Michelle Grey hit Jenny Craig for a score. If they could keep that offense going, this would be a game.

Schwa scored again and it became 2-2. Fury responded, working it easily before Donnelly found Maggie Mathias for a score. Between the two teams there were only five scores in 17 possessions of the disc. The time for measuring the opponent's strategies was now over, and Fury learned something very important. They kept some women in the passing lanes when Satterfield had the disc, looking to stop Tracey's 25-yard endzone strikes up the sideline. But Schwa–for the next five points in a row they could not stop Fury's potent offense from scoring. They were still stuck in first gear, trying to get to the next stage of the game. Fury was cooking now and this, truly, might have been the game right here.

Dom to Glo, score, Schwa makes it 4-3 on a Satterfield connection to Jen Faya. Fury got a little lucky on a huck that hung in the air, Jen Faya missed getting the D, and Gloria brought it down in the endzone. "We're lucky they have no real tall girls," said Glo later. Schwa couldn't connect again, and Fury scored in a hurry, Glo hung one up in the air and Donnelly the giant killer collected the junk and landed with a thud in the endzone. 6-3, Fury.

It was time for Schwa to regroup before this game got out of hand. Satterfield called timeout before the pull. "Our O is not going to falter. It hasn't faltered yet in this tournament, so don't worry," she assured. "Let's run some henrys, over the shoulders and inside-outs. Maybe call an audible if you need to. Remember, go home tired. If we lose we gave it our goddamned best. If we don't and lose that will suck. Now get ready–they might put on a zone."

Fury came down in person. Satterfield is a great leader and one of the best strategians in the game today. But in this game it was evident that Fury had her number. They seemed to counter everything Satterfield strategy, and more importantly, stopped her from scoring on the field.

Moving effectively, Schwa moved within twenty yards of keeping this game close. But Tracey made a bad decision. It was weird–she sent one up the sideline but forced it, because the defense was right there in the passing lane like they knew it was coming. Schwa got the disc back, but again Satterfield couldn't make the offense click. She turfed a throw and this time Fury did score to make it 7-3.

Now repeat, this time another Schwa player tried to get one up the sideline and looked completely through the poach like she wasn't there. Fury had Schwa figured out. They scored, almost throwing it away themselves, and this game was over. Actually, check that, this game was over the next point when Schwa again failed to throw and catch and Fury again made a hot catch, this one courtesy of Glo, who reached up and skied a tough disc in the endzone to end the half with Fury up high 9-3.

Fury had gotten all the breaks, sure. A couple of big plays in the endzone, a few lucky junk pickups–but still their offense was running well and they were confident, while Schwa, confident yes, but they never adjusted offensively to Fury's poaching.

Rita Haberman spoke prophetically at halftime, "Now, for the second half, let's slow the game back down to our pace."

Fury gathered around Coach Bob. He went over a few basic things, everyone was pretty chill, and Martina Hingis (er, I mean Mary Hunt Martin) led the cheer and Fury was back to playing some tunes, throwing some discs, enjoying themselves.

The second half started like the first half ended. Schwa threw the disc away. Fury scored. Yawn. 10-3.

Now came the time when those Boxing analogies were relevant. Schwa has too much character and grit to get knocked out. This was a 12-round fight and yeah, they lost 5 of the first 6. Plenty of time left and now was the time to fight back.

"We knew that they were a better team than they were playing, said Maya Conrad afterwards, "The first half wasnt very exciting–they were makin a lot of errors. We told ourselves that they would make a run."

"We got kind of bored. Fell into a lull," explains Glo.

Schwa stepped it up. Jennifer Scott brought out her game, and Dara Bailey and Jen Faya followed. Scott hit Linda Scheffler in the endzone with a huck. Fury returned the score, but a pick call overturned it, and Jen Scott hit Dara, jumping over the goalline for a score. JD couldnt' connect with AJ, and Satterfield finally re-joined the brigade, finding Doyle in the endzone on a short goal. Fury called timeout.

"Let's win this game to three. We're wide open on our offense. Suck it up–make an effort on every level. And let's have some fun!"

Now the game entered its long, drawn-out, back and forth phase. Fury couldn't keep the disc to start, and then Satterfield again threw into an endzone poach, then AJ hucked it away for Fury. This, I was telling myself, was a moment. Fury was in zone. A score after Fury's timeout would bring life to Schwa and get them within three. They worked through the zone, Satterfield broke it open with a 45-degree forehand, and they were within five yards. But the mistakes kept coming, and sure enough it happened again when Schwa threw the disc to the poach. Donnelly stepped up to the plate and cranked it deep to Glo and scored.

The veteran Scheffer came out swinging and ran down a huck from Jen Faya, and scored, 11-7 Fury. Satterfield poached on defense and got the d-block, then threw the hammer, but Haberman couldn't hang onto it in the endzone. But Schwa's game was back, it was clear. Fury came back and scored–but wait, Conrad couldn't hang onto the disc either. Satterfield back in charge while Fury's defense looked tired, and Haberman made up for it and scored. 11-8.

Fury hucks it away up wind, Schwa can't connect, drops, throwaways, miscommunications, defense blocks–this point had it all. Both teams looked tired, but no one stopped playing hard. Schwa was fighting against Fury and fighting against themselves. Finally they called time-out. "Break look first, then number 4 and 5 split–if it's not there, go to 6," came the instructions. Deana McMurr had the disc, and did as called, breaking the mark with a beautiful backhand, then got it back, and broke through the defense to hit Haberman. 11-9.

Here was the problem. Schwa was scoring after several turnovers while Fury did this: ran like demons and scored in four passes, all of them involving AJ, who scored with a big layout.

Hell point coming up. The one everyone remembers because each team threw it away eight times over 15 minutes of play. Punch after punch, but no knockout. Exhausting, tiring, an effort to score, an effort to even make a connection. Schwa missed several chances to score early and then all those turnovers. Draining. Both teams looked beat. I have written down "the most hell point ever." But neither team gave up trying and finally, rightfully, Schwa scored. 12-10. If Schwa could keep scoring these ridiculuos points, maybe they could actually win. But Fury refreshed their line, got the turnovers out of the system with a couple more, and then scored Martita Emde to Conrad. 13-10 and the horn sounded to announce the end of this madness. Game to 15.

"The Cardiac Kids," is what Coach Bob says. But Fury is confident now. And Schwa, they had their chances and just weren't making them count.

They made the next two happen, Jen Scott to Rebecca Doyle, and Satterfield to Scheffler. No more turnovers, but you know, in the end they could not stop Fury from running, and those foruntate breaks kept going to Fury. Mary Hunt sent a disc to a well-covered Fontinette. The Schwa defense was tough, got the block, but the disc stayed around the body and Dom juggled it, falling backward, and made the catch. Great athelticism, and great presence from Dom and it was finally game point, 14-12.

Schwa scored the final two points of the game against Nemesis and Ozone, and the final four to beat Godiva. If any team could make it happen again, it was them. They never gave up, but they never found a groove and the final point of the game resembled so much the hell points that defined the entire second half. On the line for Fury defensivley were Cathy Ericson, Martita Emde, Andrea Johnson, Nicole Beck, Dominique, JD, and most importantly Maya Conrad. Bob called Maya in and her job was clear: stop Tracey and get in her head.

"Tracey and I match up against each other a lot. I've known her for a long time– since college nationals 93. I know how she plays," spoke Conrad afterwards.

Tracey is a fierce competitor. Mentally, physically, on the field and off, she's tough. She can dish it out and she can take it. It didn't come as a surprise when Conrad picked her up after the pull and hounded her down the field. But it had already been a long, tiring game for Satterfield who still hadn't found her rhyhtm, and Conrad took advantage.

20 yards to the endzone, Tracey with the disc looking to score (she's always looking to score from 20 yards out) and Maya fouls her. Tracey takes it in stride, but then Maya hacks her again, "C'mon Maya!" protests Tracey, but Maya kept quiet and keeps on her case.

Satterfield sends it to the endzone, but it's overthrown to Dara. Still not connecting. Schwa gets it back, but Jennifer Beck steps up for Fury and gets a hand block. Dom floats a pass into the endzone and Schwa knocks it down, avoiding the end of the game.

Back to Maya and Tracey. More bodying, more jawing, and again Tracey could not force the huck completion. Trying to find Dara, but there was enemy JD in the lane and she got the disc instead. Back down the field this time and–how else to end it?–but a hanging forehand from AJ to Sprout that stays in bounds and the game is over.

It just was not to be for Schwa. Fury held all the cards and this game was all about them from the first point on.

A lot of Fury's strength can be attributed to their farm system, Stanford, and all the young fast players they have gotten from there. Donnelly, as most are aware, has been the coach of that team for five years running now. How did she feel about her sudents–Dom, AJ (both Callahan winners), Mary Hunt, Martita and others stepping up and contributing in a big way to winning Club Nationals?

"I just like seeing all my young players shred, play confident and take it to them," emoted JD, "My god, its just awesome."

And the game? How did Fury keep it together and pull it out? "Schwa did come back big time. If we didnt have all those points in the first half it would have been a different story. But the big game that gave us a lot of confidence was the semifinal against Verge. That was key."

Satterfield thought likewise, "Sometimes in sports semis is often the better game–and it was this year. Both of our teams, Fury and Schwa, were physically exhausted in Finals. I think it's hard to come back and focus after such a huge day before."

"But, that's not why we lost, continued Satterfield, "we lost because we didn't strategically stop and think of what we could do to win this game. Thank goodness we are so

athletic because it helped keep us in there until we finally realized what we were doing wrong."

What about Fury's superior defense? "Yeah, sure they knew what we wanted to do, but we knew what they wanted to do as well. Did they get some lucky breaks? Yes. Did

luck give them the win? No." says Satterfield.

After all the congratulary hugs and talk of going to Germany for Worlds, Kim Zabora talked about having a coach on the sidelines, "It was a team effort and Coach Bob certainly helped us keep our calm. Anytime we get riled up, he tells us to put a smile back to our face and keep the calm."

The giant Trophy, the Ultimate Cup or whatever its called, is now at Coach Bob's house. That's a sign of respect if ever there was one.

For Gloria Lust-Phillips, for Glo, this was the third team she helped win a National Championship. She's been playing since 1981, with a few years off in between. It was all the more the special to be the veteran leader, the one to bring confidence, comfort, and a Championship to a young team. For Glo, this was much more than just another winning team. "We have a bunch of women who love playing with each other. That makes a huge difference."

Can Fury repeat? Can the new, young teams remain a force? Schwa made finals in 1997 and failed to make Nationals in 1998. But they will be there in 2000, guaranteed. There's a lot of hungry teams waiting in the wings, and Godiva, Ozone and Nemesis will be ready next year. For Women on the Verge, this may have been their last tournament together. There is a lot of talk of retirement. For such a great team, such a winning team, it is sad that Nationals was never to be.

Fury will probably be around for a while. They have some great young talent and top-notch leadership, plus a real winning program behind it all. Keeping it loose, keeping it real, avoiding politics, playing for the love–it can't really last, can it? "The woman worthy of praise, the Muse forbids to die."


This was written for the UPA Newsletter. Make sure to read the Open piece too, it's even
longer. Holy Christmas!

 

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