Women's Division Pre-tournament Coverage

By Neva Cherniavsky

The story of elite women's ultimate over the past decade has been much the same - Godiva, Godiva, and more Godiva. Only a handful of times in any sport has one team so completely dominated over so long a period. The stats are incredible: the team from Boston has won the national championship seven out of the past eight years, and nine out of the past fifteen. They have never lost before semis. The same core of veterans has taken the team to the top time and again, and no one seems able to stop them.

But there are signs that Godiva's reign at the top may soon be coming to an end. Last year the title did not come easily, as Godiva eked out a 17-16 win over San Francisco rival Fury. This year the team lost to Colorado's Rare Air at Tune Up and opted not to play in the Northwest-heavy Emerald City Classic. More worrisome is the loss of Lori Parham to Atlanta's Ozone and persistent rumors of the retirement of Molly Goodwin (#9) and Christine Dunlap (#23). Parham was part of the leadership and one of the younger core of veterans. Dunlap and Goodwin have been the heart and soul of Godiva; they are team leaders, great strategists, and two of the best women players in the world. Without these three, the team has sometimes seemed disorganized and lacking in their usual confidence.

The predicted demise may be premature; Godiva only lost to Rare Air by 1. Furthermore, Godiva has never won Tune Up, preferring to peak at the UPA Club Championship. Their performance at Regionals was a return to form; they won both the semis and the finals by 15-1 margin.

Still, there are plenty of teams ready to take away the number one spot. The northwest region is the home of perennial semifinalists Schwa, Riot, and Fury, and Canadian Nationals champion Prime. The top three teams have taken their turns in the finals and are hungry for that title. Rare Air is also knocking on the door. All five are quite closely matched, with many one-point games at Solstice, Emerald City Classic, and Labor Day.

Schwa, the number one seed out of the northwest, hails from Oregon and is the team that beat Godiva in the semis in 1999. Their primary go-to is superstar Tracey Satterfield (#4), who has amazing throws and a good strategic mind. On defense, Schwa plays fast and intense, and relies on Callahan winner Chelsea Dengler (#27) for huge layout blocks. Schwa's one weakness may be their depth; they have a small core of great players and may have to rely overmuch on Satterfield, which could hurt them on Saturday.

Seattle's Riot is the second team out of the northwest. Two years ago they were in the finals versus Godiva and last year they won Club Worlds, only to fall in the semis to Fury at the Championship. They have retained much of their core of veterans from the past two years, including Deb Cussen (#27) and Vivian Zayas (#5) on offense and Liz Penny (#14) on defense. Zayas and Cussen are playmakers, patient, hard-working handlers with lovely throws. Penny is a phenomenal receiver who never hesitates to lay out on defense. Riot's weakness seems entirely mental. At Regionals they lost badly to Fury before pulling it together on Sunday to take the number two seed. For the past two years they've had the pieces in place to win the title and have failed; perhaps this is the year they'll go all the way.

Fury, the three seed out of the northwest after a three point loss to Riot, won the title in 1999 and lost it by one in 2002. They retained much of their core from last year, while adding some new faces. Injuries have plagued the team throughout the early fall, but Fury looks to be full-strength Championship weekend. The hard-running, physical team runs a vicious four-person cup, opens up the field by throwing deep, and has a large, talented roster. Amy Little (#9) is well-respected in the northwest for her fiery defense and breakmark throws, while Jody Dozono (#24) and Jennifer Donnelly (#00) are primaries on offense. Fury's greatest strengths are their athleticism, depth, and experience, while their weakness might also be mental. At Regionals they lost to Schwa by one and then to Riot by three, after beating Riot 13-5 on Saturday. They also don't always rely on their effective zone defense, which some rivals think is a mistake.

Vancouver's Prime is the winner of Canadian Nationals and four seed out of the northwest. At various times this summer and fall they have beaten the above three teams, but at Regionals they fell 13-5 to Schwa and 15-12 to Riot. This year they are without Leslie Calder, an all-time great who has retired, but Anja Haman (#2) is back from a knee injury. Prime runs a unique spread iso offense that they use to choose their matchups and huck deep. Harman is a patient handler and strategist, while Valerie Dion (#66) has good deep throws and is a great receiver. On defense, Prime plays tight and runs hard, relying on co-captain Jillian MacGuire (#5) to make plays. They are also known as a great come-back team. However, Prime has several weaknesses that have caused them to miss the semis in previous years. Their offense sometimes struggles in the wind and rain because the deep game can be shut down. More significantly, Prime often seems to peak for Canadian Nationals and fade away for the rest of the fall season. They have the depth and talent to be at the top tier of women's ultimate, but often cannot sustain their high level of play from Canadian Nationals through to the UPA Championships.

Rare Air has had an impressive fall, racking up wins over Riot and Godiva at Solstice and Tune Up, respectively. The Colorado team and one seed out of the southwest garners much praise from rivals in the northwest, who describe a fast, athletic, defensively oriented squad that has been on the rise over the past several years. Rare Air saw the loss of several players this year, including Heidi Pomfret, another all-time great, and Lori Moore, Michele Stockham, and Leah Brooks. They have added seven new players who are all important in the rotation. Rare Air plays aggressive, layout, shut-down defense and are known for their athleticism and fight. They are on occasion inconsistent on offense and have not yet been able to get to that next level. However, they have had extremely close games with all the top teams and conventional wisdom says this is the year they'll make it to semis, if not beyond.

On the next tier are teams that will likely make quarters and could upset one of the top teams for semis. This includes Atlanta's Ozone, Chicago's Nemesis, and Raleigh's Alias. Ozone lost in the semis last year. They have added former Godiva leader Lori Parham (#9) to a talented roster that includes phenomenal throwers Angela Lin (#71) and Katherine Kidd-Shippey (#3) and key handler Holly Sommers (#24). However, their roster has undergone some significant changes and the process of getting used to one another may have taken some time. Their performances at Emerald City Classic and Tune Up were not up to par. A semis repeat is surely not unlikely, but they must play better to get there.

Nemesis is a very different team than they were a year ago, since Chicago is a transitional city. To fill out their roster they've added a lot of young, fast talent from area universities. Their core of Nancy Glass (#24), Lynne Nolan (#4), Mia Zierk (#1), Kerry Ryter (#8), Lorra Gillan (#7), and Becky LeDonne (#9) will make plays with their legs and long throws. After losing to Minnesota's Bait in the quarters of Tune Up, the team seems to be on the upswing, beating them 14-7 at Regionals in a game that was never close.

Alias (formerly Moxie, Flight, and Backhoe) has many of the same stars that have propelled them to quarters in previous years. Valerie Kelly (#3) is a solid, patient handler; Beth Cates (#12), Amy Seagroves (#22), and Jessi Witt (#9) open the field up with marvelous deep throws; and Frannie Goodrich (#34) is an exceptional receiver with speed and ups. They run a stifling straight-up defense with the sideline warning the marker which side the incoming cuts are from. When Alias is good, they're very very good - their deep game can be unstoppable. But they are a streaky team and have a history of imploding at critical times, such as last year's Worlds and Club Championships.

On the third level are teams seeded below quarters level, many of whom could upset one of the above. In particular, Bait, Ottawa's Stella, and Boston's Brute Squad could surprise some teams at the Championships. Bait relies on Rosie and Robin Kunze (#21) to run their spread offense, and Miranda Roth (#25) as a superb layout defender. Stella, like Prime, looks to peak at Canadian Nationals, but are an athletic, defensive squad with a number of good handlers. Most of them have seen action before at the Championships as Fuse. Brute Squad also runs a spread offense and has a core of very athletic, strong players, led by Nancy Sun (#8) and Kathy Dobson (#6).

Finally, the last five teams do not look good to make quarters, though anything can happen. San Diego's Safari took the two seed out of the southwest in a close game and beat some second-tier northwest teams at Labor Day. Information on their roster is sketchy, though they've lost at least some of their key players to Fury. Pounce, out of Pittsburgh, won the two seed out of the Mid-Atlantic in a decisive manner, and are coming to the Championships for the second year in a row. They are led by throwers Chrissy Isbister (#23) and Karen Thorne (#8), and Megan Zdancewic (#42), a spectacular young receiver and defensive player. Pounce had a decent showing at Tune Up, losing in the consolation finals to Brute Squad. Strike, the second team out of Atlanta, lost badly to Ozone in the front door finals of Regionals, but decisively beat the other teams. At Tune Up they lost to Brute Squad and beat Clutch. Clutch had a very close game to earn the three seed out of the Central region. At Tune Up Clutch lost to Brute Squad, Strike, and Pounce.

Thursday's games to watch:

Round 1's best matchup should be Schwa versus Alias in Pool B. Both teams have great deep games and stifling defense; Alias may be seeded dangerously low. Pool D features games that could also be close with Fury versus Bait and Rare Air versus Brute Squad. Brute Squad will be at their best early on in the tournament, when their lack of depth won't hurt them, and in the past Rare Air has had trouble in the first game of the Championships. It will be interesting to see how Bait's spread offense fares against Fury's fast and effective defense. The other games will likely follow seed.

Round 2 is the battle for quarters, as teams that take the two seed in the pool will have a far easier time qualifying. Pool B again features closely matched teams, this time Nemesis versus Alias. Alias and Nemesis both have deep games, though Alias has more experience playing together. The Fury versus Brute Squad game also could be close in the beginning, though Fury will probably take over and win decisively.

Round 3 will feature two extremely competitive games, one in pool C and one in pool D. Riot versus Ozone is a clash of '02 semifinalists; Ozone will want the upset as badly as Riot will want to keep them from it. Though Ozone has had a subpar season so far, they should not be underestimated; this will be a tight one. Pool D is the 4-5 game between Fury and Rare Air and will also be very exciting. Fury and Rare Air are quite closely matched. Both are athletic, defensive teams, so expect to see some hard-running ultimate.

All ideas expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the UPA