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The guard has changed in women's club ultimate. For the past sixteen years, the story has revolved around Lady Godiva. The team from Boston has dominated since its inception, winning nine of the past sixteen championships under the same core leadership. But the core retired last year; though heavily involved during the 2003 season, they did not play at the Championship and Godiva lost in the semis. At Northeast Regionals this year, the team won but did not crush, beating Boston's Brute Squad by 15-9.

The talk on the sidelines is that the new Godiva is nothing compared to the old, but this may be overly optimistic. At last year's Championships, the team struggled versus Vancouver Prime and Seattle Riot, two perennial semifinalists. Against other competition, they won as usual. This year, Godiva has posted wins over eight of the teams at Nationals, including Prime. The leadership that played last season is back again, with Shana Cook (#8), Johanna Neumann (#13), and Vy Chow (#29) running the offense. After years of tutelage under superstars Molly Goodwin and Christine Dunlap, these three key players are ready to take over. Look for Godiva to make quarters for sure and possibly semis.

Filling the void at the top has been San Francisco Fury, who crushed in their finals win a year ago and never looked challenged during the 2003 Championships. Fury relies on a stifling zone defense that works well on the windy fields at Sarasota. Their standard four-person cup won the championship for them in 2003, and they have developed many different variations to target specific offenses. With a strong core of handlers and huckers, including Jennifer Donnelly (#00), Martita Emde (#15), and Alicia White (#49), Fury looks deep often, relying on their height and speed to open up the field.

However, 2004 has not been a repeat of the domination of 2003. Fury lost twice to Prime at Worlds, the second time in the semifinals by a score of 17-8. Riot beat Fury handily at Northwest Regionals a few weeks ago, though the season has been split between the two teams. When Fury gets down in a big game, they seem to give up, as the lopsided scores indicate. Still, Fury is virtually a shoo-in for semis, and finals are likely.

Fury's nemesis all season has been Riot, the number one seed out of the ultra-competitive Northwest region. Riot has great handlers with hucks and breaks, and a loosely structured offense that relies on swift receivers getting open both in and away. They play hard, shut-down man defense, with switches to contain the deep game. Riot also runs an effective 1-3-3. Look for Deb Cussen (#27), Vivian Zayas (#5), and Beth Wise (#15) behind the disc, and Liz Duffy (#37), Julia Weese-Young (#22), and Miranda Roth (#25) making huge plays on D.

In the past, Riot's great weakness has been zone offense, but they changed their strategy this year in response to the loss in last year's finals. Their new zone O was successful at Regionals, and was helped along by Jenn Wilson's (#31) devastating high release backhand over the cup. Riot is itching to win it all this year, in what would be a first for the Seattle women's team.

Standing in their way will be Prime, the Canadian winners of Worlds in August. Prime has played numerous close matches with Riot this year, splitting on the season. Tall and fast, Prime relies on a structured spread offense and lots of deep looks. Their man defense is similar to Riot's, with lots of speed, layouts, and switches. Though the team is very deep, several playmakers stand out. Anja Haman (#2) has great breakmark throws; Valerie Dion (#66) hucks, receives, and forces turns; and Leslie Calder (#7) has the throws and some of the best layouts in ultimate.

If Prime has any weakness, it's that they may have peaked for Worlds. In the past, the Canadian team has brought it home for their country only to play beneath their potential at the Championships. Prime has played inconsistently this fall, losing to Godiva and Fury at Labor Day and taking the three seed out of Northwest Regionals. Nevertheless, it's hard to imagine Prime losing before semis, with finals also a very real possibility.

It will be surprising if the top four teams don't make semis; but there are plenty of squads ready to upset them. On the next tier are teams that expect to make quarters, including Portland Schwa, Denver Rare Air, Raleigh Backhoe. Atlanta Ozone, and Chicago Nemesis. This year, there's been much more cross country preseason action. All five of these teams have split games with one another and are closely matched.

Schwa has not played well this year, and the team seems very different from the past. Their offense has struggled with too many turnovers in big games. They almost lost their chance at the big show, down 10-5 in the game-to-go. However, as a sign of their grit, they overcame that deficit and scored 7 in a row to take the four seed out of the Northwest region. Tracey Satterfield (#27) remains a huge force, and Anna Neraas (#23) and Chelsea Dengler (#2) are her go-to receivers.

Rare Air has had a tough season so far, especially compared to their preseason a year ago. One of their key veterans, Heidi Pomfret, moved away and they lost a number of last year's rookies, so the team is full of new faces. Some of the hardest workers in women's ultimate, Rare Air relies on speed, endurance, and defense to win games for them. Training at 5,280 feet doesn't hurt. Look for Leah Brooks (#5) to make big throws and expect anyone on the team to layout past the offense. However, it is unlikely for Rare to make it to semis this year; overall, their offensive skill set is weaker than those of the top tier.

Backhoe, a quarterfinalist last year and fifth seed this year, is hoping to play the role of spoiler. Last year saw a change of name and team, with coach Brian Dobyns adding some sorely needed discipline. They have height and athleticism, with big throwers Jessi Witt (#9) and Mel Proctor (#1) looking deep and Beth Stager (#12) making plays on defense. Backhoe has the ability to beat any team at Nationals in one game; all that's holding them back is consistency.

Ozone, another quarterfinalist from a year ago, saw some significant roster changes this year. They lost former Godiva player Lori Parham to co-ed, captain Eileen Murray to illness, and handler Kat Kidd-Shippey to motherhood. In their places, Ozone has picked up a significant number of young, fast college players. However, the key leaders on the field remain the same: handler Holly Sommers (#24), receiver Lisa Kotura (#8), and all-around superstar Angela Lin (#71). Their creative handling skills open up the field, and Lin is a big playmaker who is always fun to watch. The most significant weakness on the team is the inexperience of much of the roster; many players will be attending their first club Championships.

Nemesis has had the most disappointing season of the five, beating Ozone but losing close games with others in this tier. They also lost to Washington, DC BNOGO twice and Houston Zanzara once. Against the top four teams, they haven't come close. However, Nemesis has some tall talent, including all-around playmaker Becky LeDonne (#9) and receiver Mia Zierk (#1). They value the disc and can draw from a deep roster. Nemesis's big shortcoming is their mental game; sometimes the team goes negative on themselves and others, and they lose energy and desire.

The next tier consists of teams seeded below quarters level who have the potential to upset some of the top squads. BNOGO and Brute Squad are consistently listed as underrated teams. BNOGO has undergone major roster changes, losing ten players but gaining ten more, including former Pounce captain Jax Neilson (#23), B+ stars Sarah Smith (#1) and Kerry Lutz (#18), and hucker Erin Herzog (#5). It's difficult to judge how well they could do, given how few teams they've seen out of region. But with multiple wins over Nemesis, BNOGO could be a spoiler. Brute Squad has kept games close with Godiva this year and has a strong core of athletes. Look for Kathy Dobson (#6) as the all-around go-to and Nancy Sun (#8) to put it long. Inexperience is probably the biggest weakness for Brute Squad.

On the same tier is Houston's Zanzara and San Diego's Safari. Zanzara picked up four players from coed finalist Hang Time to add to a core of veterans that are finally injury-free. Look for Katey Forth(#11) and Diana O'Quinn (#22) to make big plays, especially in transition. Their biggest weakness is turnovers. Safari posted a huge win over Fury at Labor Day, but has lost some great players to their northern neighbor over the past few years. They picked up Corinne Pisacane (#1), a new veteran, to handle with Shar Stuht (#20). Other keys include Alia Schoettgen (#6) on defense and Manisha Daryani (#71). Safari's big weaknesses are rookie inexperience and throws in the wind.

Finally, the last three teams will probably not compete for quarters. New Jersey Electric Mayhem is the third team out of the MidAtlantic region and Ohio Collide and Ann Arbor Clutch are the second and third teams, respectively, out of the Central region. All three have lost by a lot to the teams above them this year. Collide runs a fast-paced game and plays scrappy, but runs into trouble against a zone. Key players include DeAnna Ball (#23), Mel Scheetz (#24) and Jamie Landheer (#4). Clutch added a lot of young players to their team this year. Their key players include Erin Murphy (#22), Anne Reader (#12), and Martha Carlson (#2). All three lack experience at the Championships, and will likely finish in the bottom quarter of the tournament.