Hot In the City - Day 1 at Nationals

It wasn’t exactly like Melbourne footy weather, but in some ways, we had a Four Seasons in One Day opening session at the 2024 USAFL Nationals.

The teams arrived for an 8am start in darkness, and with the temperature about 65F.  Buy the time the day was over and the first 46 games had been played, it was blustery but also up near 95F.

And tomorrow, both the action on the field and the atmosphere will be pretty hot.

Day One saw a couple of favorites run in form, a couple of them tumble, and a some Sunday morning matches with opportunity to convert to Sunday afternoon glory.

Here is a look at how things stand:

MEN’S DIVISION 1

Austin’s road to a ninth men’s D1 championship was freshly paved with new asphalt, as they topped Group A with a combined 148-20 scoreline over New York and Quebec.  It was the Saints, however, who ended the Magpies’ run with an exciting 6-point victory to grab the second semifinal spot.

Sacramento’s Men’s D1 debut was full of fight, but they ultimately fell to both Denver and Golden Gate.  The Bulldogs’ 33-6 win over the Roos cemented the top seed for them.

Thus, it will be Austin facing off against Golden Gate, while Quebec takes on Denver in the other semifinal, both games at high noon USCDT.  Barring victories by the Saints and/or Roos, we’re looking at the fourth final between the Crows and Bulldogs in the last five seasons.

WOMEN’S DIVISION 1

It’s a similar scenario to last year, with slightly different results.  Minnesota and Golden Gate won their opening games against Denver/New York and Seattle, respectively.  The Freeze then neutralized the Iron Maidens’ advantage with the wind, coming home 21-8 winners.  Seattle, who had played Golden Gate tough in their matchup, scored ten points in the last ten minutes, including a goal in the waning moments, to pip the Dogs/Pies combo 11-4.

So 2-0 Minnesota takes on 1-1 Seattle, while the 1-1 Iron Maidens tangle with the 0-2 Denver/New York.  The Freeze are in the catbird seat and can clinch a spot in the Grand Final with a win.  It’s still possible for three teams to finish at 2-1 or 1-2, which would require the percentage tiebreaker.  Anything is possible.

MEN’S DIVISION 2

Seattle’s march back to the Divvy 2 Grand Final started off with wins over Austin-B and Columbus by a total count of 107-19.  They face Baltimore at 1-1 tomorrow; the Dockers would need to win by enough to account for the Grizzlies’ large percentage gap to capture Pool A.  The Crows-B side have an outside shot with a blowout win over Columbus.

Pool B sees Houston on the precipice of their first ever Men’s D2 Grand Final.  They’re in the same spot as Seattle; they would need to win, or lose by just enough to keep from getting surpassed by the Eagles or third-place Boston to get through.  The Dees play 0-2 San Diego who have a higher pecentage.

WOMEN’S DIVISION 2

Putting a stamp of authority upon their collective quests for another D2 crown, the Austin Crows/Portland Sockeyes combo head into Sunday 2-0 in the five-team round robin. Calgary/Houston, Quebec/North Texas, and Sacramento are all 1-1; if they can pick up two victories on the day - especially Calgary and Quebec who play Austin - then it may come down to a tiebreaker to decide the winner.  DC at 0-2 is all but out of it, but can make a run towards being in the top two or three with wins over Calgary and Sacramento.

MEN’S DIVISION 3

The eight teams here have essentially been whittled down to four, with virtual semifinals to determine who plays off in the Grand Final Sunday afternoon.

Minnesota and Chicago, who met in the D2 semifinal in 2018 (won by Minnesota en route to their last championship), will meet to decide Pool A after wins over Arizona and Nashville.  In Pool B, it’ll be Calgary and North Texas to duke it out.  The Kangaroos defeated Philadelphia and Los Angeles/Jacksonville by a combined 135-12.  The Devils, meanwhile, are looking for their first ever berth in a Grand Final in their fourth Nationals appearance.

MEN’S DIVISION 4

The Denver Bulldogs Reserves (Pool A) and Oklahoma Buffaloes (Pool B) went 2-0 on Saturday.  Orange County and St Louis have sit at 1-1 with a chance to move up in Denver, while Portland and Ft Lauderdale sit poised in Pool B.

MEN’S DIVISION 5

The inaugural running of the 14-a-side competition brought some fantastic close matchups, and the six teams are now pared down to four.  The North Carolina Tigers (A1) square off against the Rome Redbacks (B2) in one semi final, with the winner taking on the New York Reserves/Wasatch (B1) v Houston Lonestars Reserves (A2) match.