Australia defeated the most surprising unbeaten of the tournament, Germany.
July 16, 2022 from Edward Stephens in recap with comments
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BIRMINGHAM, AL — Australia came back from a first-half deficit and fended off a late comeback attempt to defeat Germany in a universe point thriller. The semifinal victory catapulted the Crocs into the gold medal game – their first since 2013 in Cali, Colombia – where they will meet the United States.
The Aussies’ intense defensive mindset was evident from the start. They finished on the first point and Caro Ma hit the target on the sidelines in front of Germany’s Kyoko Binnewies. Somehow, with Ma practically lying on top of her, Binnewies had the presence of mind and sheer determination to find the disc to attempt a second catch. “[Kyoko Binnewies] is unbelievable,” said Anna Gerner about her veteran teammate. “She gets at least one block a game, and she does it with mad intelligence. She knows how the opponent moves and reads the game perfectly. She’s been my role model for years because I’ve watched her play Frisbee.” The point ended in a draw for Germany, but the Crocs struggled throughout the game.
Australia held, and then, when Gerner’s backhand huck fell over Levke Walczak’s deep cut, the first thing they bled was blood. Alex Gan, who has played both ways for Australia this week and served as a third release valve alongside Tom Tulett and Alex Prentice, dived and rolled to keep possession alive. When he got up, he saw Rob Andrews with nothing but green in front of him. That’s an automatic look for a Crocs team that relies on Andrew’s skills as a receiver. “You start clapping [when the throw goes up]’ said Cat Phillips. “You just stand there and watch… We knew he would come here and show everyone that he was one of the best players at his position in the world. I think he showed that pretty well today.”1 The break goal was Andrews’ first from a game high-five and he leads the tournament in goals scored.
As has been the case throughout the week, Germany turned to Conrad Schlör in need. Nico Müller connected it with a flat, smooth backhand huck from the pull game – one of six assists for Müller in the game. With two chances to hit back at the next point, Germany took another shot at him. But first Gan, then Sam McGuckin blocked the attempts. It was important for Australia to realize early on in the competition that they had players with the strength to take on Schlör alone and in the air. Cat Phillips, who made no mistake at these World Games and is likely to lead the field in her raw imperturbability, used her eyes to move Germany’s goal-line defense away from Georgia Egan-Griffiths to hold an Aussie.
Australia’s strongest players had started to show themselves, a trend they continued at half-time. Alex Ladomatos played the strongest reset defense Muller faced in the tournament, wrapping him in a straitjacket of unsuccessful jukes and forcing Germany to find other options. (It must be said that Samuel Beutenmuller played the role of “other options” admirably in the semifinals – he was practically ubiquitous in late stall situations.) Tom Tulett, as he has done time and time again, held the disc at the Crocs alive. Backfield with impossible layouts. He got up after one of them and fired a forehand 65 yards away for Cat Phillips who maintained the separation from Walczak, a significant feat in and of itself.
Despite Australia’s exploits, Germany remained focused and determined. A pair of wide Crocs throws and a Binnewies layout block gave Germany three break chances. They hopped to Schlör to get the game back to serve.
Then it was Gerner’s turn to show off her skills. In addition to top performances in the form of Müller and Steffen Döscher, she overshadowed both of them. The pendulum precision of her exit cuts from the top of the stack, steady and consistent clearing and accurate throws in the face of tough Aussie defense were remarkable. As in an imitation of Tulett, she twice gave up ball possession actions with seemingly hopeless passes. Gerner took it for granted that it would be up to her to keep whipping the offense towards goal. “Well we want to get into the end zone to get the point so someone has to do the job,” she said. “Just go on. If the first cut doesn’t work, the second or third will. [We have] 100% confidence in our handler’s movement… full confidence.”
Gerner’s tireless work took Germany to the goal line, and her teammates worked the final few inches to win the half 7-5 in a three-pointer run.
Australia was undeterred by the great task ahead of them. “We knew that [Germany] would be a great team,” said Cat Phillips. “We were also very confident with how we played the whole tournament. The improvement we showed game after game after game – we knew that would put us in a really good position to compete with them. I think that’s what we felt after a break or two, that we knew we had it in us to keep going and keep pushing.”
However, it’s one thing to say you’ll keep pushing and quite another to put it into practice against a German side that up until that moment had controlled seven out of seven halves of the tournament’s ultimate. “The game felt great the whole time,” said Gerner. “We played very confidently. We have blocks on the d-line.”
At half-time, Australia approached Schlör again. Cat Phillips threw a long backhand wide into space. It was McGuckin versus Schlör in a straight footrace – and McGuckin won with a stride and reached out to attack the disc with his feet from behind the goal line. It wouldn’t be the last time one of Australia’s deeps rewarded a pitcher’s confidence.
Ladomatos started Australia’s comeback attempt with a block. The Crocs Zone freed him from having to stay exclusively with Mueller and gave him the ability to lurk out of sight of the German pitchers. He jumped into midfield from behind with a soft forehand, initiating a sequence that ended in one of the highlights of the tournament. Australia regained its composure with a few resets backwards. Then Ladomatos uncorked a 50-yard blade. This was no blade for a still receiver. His target, Andrews, was on the move by this point, sweeping to the forehand side with a defender in the pocket. Nonetheless, Andrews jumped over his defender at full speed at an angle roughly perpendicular to the disc’s trajectory to make the one-handed catch. Australia’s jubilant crowd at the stadium – a group made up of the national squash team and some ultimate players who traveled to the US in the run-up to WUCC later that month – roared their appreciation.
Müller and Gerner continued to do the lion’s share of the work for the German offensive. Muller was as close to perfection as one can get with such a high volume reel. Each disc that comes out of his hands seems to travel with purpose and weight. And his blow-by-reset cut behind the disc – American fans can cite Bridget Mizener as a comparison – could be the best move of the tournament. He converted a blow-by into a safe breakside score to put Germany 8-7 ahead.
Excitement filled the stadium as Australia and Germany traded holds. At 9-9, Ladomatos dropped his feet for another block and dived onto the lane over a blazing Müller forehand. On the break, Andrews Schlör cleared to bring down another blade, giving Australia a late lead.
But Andrews saved his best act for the end. Stimulated by their own electrical play, the Crocs were ready to feast. The pressure was too great for Germany’s offensive. Walczak dropped a disc and Gan denied a sloppy reset attempt. Caro Ma picked up the disc near the sideline and waited for two counts – obviously wanting to see if Andrews would turn towards the end zone. He obeyed and she lofted a flat backhand. The sky that followed was nothing short of an earthquake. Andrews made such a tremendous leap that his shoulders cleared the jumping defender’s head. The break opened the Aussie lead to 11-9, which soon turned to 12-10.
One point before elimination, Germany continued the fight. Gerner intercepted a swing on the goal line and sent McGuckin airborne with a deft counterfeit following a phantom pass. But McGuckin wasn’t done yet. From his knees he jumped into the alley. It was more like the dying spasm of a stranded fish than anything else. Gerner had his eye on him, however, and held off the backhand until he was done with the flop. After McGuckin was finally out of the game, she sent the disc the remaining few yards to Döscher.
Germany had to string together two breaks to win the game. “We said to ourselves: ‘The blockades will come, we simply have to assert ourselves,'” said Gerner.
A block came and it was instantaneous. Tired of seeing Tulett gather every necessary reset for Australia, Döscher sold a bid as the Crocs were still building their offense. There was a lot of contact but Tulett obviously didn’t feel compelled to call the foul. Müller came on as an injury replacement and met Beutenmüller.
The 25th point of the game – universe point – once again depended on Tulett’s play. “Tom is the heartbeat of the team,” said Cat Phillips. “When you’re on the line with him, you know he’s going to give anything he can give. He will never allow the disc to touch the ground. He will never stop trying. I couldn’t think of a better person to play with.” This time, Germany wouldn’t find a way to get to him. From midfield, he charged at the attacking rock, collected the disc with a clap catch and put his feet to Liv Carr for an unmarked continue. Game, set and match to Australia.
Germany had played like the favorites for most of the week. They never doubted themselves and were reluctant to accept the reality of defeat. “I feel like the game was in our hands the whole time. Until they got the last point in the end zone – that was the moment when I realized, okay, we lost. The entire team was 100% convinced that we could turn the tide,” said Gerner. “It could have gone either way.”
As great as that win feels like, Cat Phillips and the Crocs have one more item on their checklist. “We came here to win gold. So I think we’ll be happy now and then we’ll get to work for tomorrow,” she said.