Don’t Use This Zone With Me: An Analysis of How Brute Squad and Fury Attacked Scandal’s Delicate Zone

It’s been almost a month since the Nationals ended, and I’m still thinking about the San Francisco Fury’s decisive title game victory over the Washington DC Scandal. Fury has been the best team all season and proved it at Nationals against a spirited and talented Scandal team. Scandal made it to the finals in part because their zone defense defeated the Boston Brute Squad in the semifinals. It was the first time since 2014 that a team other than Fury took out Brute. Brute Squad wasn’t the only team that couldn’t withstand Scandal’s dynamic zone¹they were certainly the team with the highest profile, and the contrast between their play and Fury’s helps explain why the trophy is heading back to the Bay Area rather than staying in Boston or making the trip to DC.

The biggest differences between Brute Squad and Fury’s approaches lie in their form and the speed at which they play. First, let’s look at the anatomy of the Scandal zone.

The clear goal that Scandal is playing with is to confuse the middle. Early in the game against the matchup defense, Brute Squad was able to score by making open slash cuts that started near the sideline and finding gaps in the middle of the field. At this point, the front of the zone (the left side of this photo) leaves players open along the sideline while blocking them from throws through the middle. In addition, defensive wings (e.g. No. 7 Annelise Peters in the foreground) push inward to the center to deny Brute Squad open looks through the middle and force the disc into wide spaces where the defense can block the disc in one can capture smaller area.