Mixed Writeups
SundayAfter Saturday’s games it was clear that Atlanta, Philadelphia and New England were the favorite’s to get to the final, but New England had yet to be tested. BUDA won their games on Saturday rather handily, but notable absences on their schedule were Atlanta and Philadelphia. The fans would have to wait, however, as New England started their day with a bye and then faced the top two seeds back-to-back.
Round 5
The temperature was refreshingly much lower to start the day with a crosswind that gusted from time to time much like on Saturday with the exception that it was coming from the opposite direction.
Philadelphia and Colorado met in the first round of the day with Philadelphia in blue and Colorado in their sharp, green uni’s. Colorado broke Philadelphia to start the game and took a 1-0 lead. Philadelphia didn’t take to that well and ran off four-straight to move ahead 4-1.
To watch Colorado on the sideline you would think that they were winning the game. Their spirit remained high throughout the weekend, no matter what the outcome of their games were. They ended up with the team Spirit Award at the end of the tournament and deservedly so.
All of the spirit on the sidelines paid off as Colorado was able to put one in the end zone to bring the score to 4-2. Philadelphia responded right back with a score of their own, 5-3.
Colorado was moving the disc well and showing patience to a point, but then a turnover would occur when they got antsy near the goal line and tried to force something. Both teams were playing hard-nose defense and making quality stops, but it just seemed like Colorado had to work harder.
Philadelphia was spreading their offense out amongst players and doing a great job of getting everyone involved. Philadelphia took half 8-3 with seven different players catching goals and five different players throwing them.
The Colorado coaches told their players to focus at halftime and reminded them that they had been through this before and could fight through it. The players must have taken the advice to heart because Colorado came out of halftime to score two-straight goals, the second coming off a Garrett Willyard to Grace Canlas connection.
Philadelphia regained focus and scored with a purpose on a huck from Noah Saul to Mark Dundala. Philadelphia looked more focused during the point and forced a quick Colorado turnover near the goal line. Eddie Peters found Scott Wright in the end zone for the score to move ahead 10-5.
Philadelphia continued to move ahead and Colorado continued to show heart, but Philly closed out the game 14-6.
On the adjacent field Minnesota and NEPSUL were playing for their first win of the tournament. Minnesota went up 6-2 playing a zone that seemed to be frustrating NEPSUL. Minnesota was keeping their mids closer to the cup in order to make things more difficult for NEPSUL’s poppers and the strategy was working as NEPSUL seemed confused in their offensive scheme.
Minnesota moved ahead 7-3 when Kaite Godfrey and Matt Vik had several give-and-gos to move the disc down field before Vik found Godfrey in the end zone on a short flick. Minnesota continued to pull away from NEPSUL and went up 11-5 after Coady Mahowald made an insane layout in the end zone on a beautiful put by Brandon Kane.
NEPSUL played hard throughout the game and tacked on a few more points in the second half, but it was Minnesota that was able to grab their first victory of the tournament.
“It feels great to get the first game on the board,” said Minnesota coach Ben Fisher. “We came out early and established good defense and good flow on offense. I think that carries throughout the game.”
In the Atlanta vs. Seattle game, Seattle played hard against the top seed and even had some success getting through Atlanta’s trap zone, but Atlanta was too deep and pulled out the win 15-6.
Round 6
New England arrived to the fields before the Philadelphia and Colorado game ended looking focused and ready. Philadelphia was resting some of their key players towards the end of their first game of the day in preparation. Although a win didn’t guarantee a spot in the final for either team, it sure would make it more likely.
The game started out tight with both teams moving the disc well, but making great D’s when it counted. Philadelphia recorded the first break when New England turned the disc over near their goal line. Noah Saul connected with Scott Wright for the easy score to go up 1-0.
Another turnover near the New England goal line and a dropped pull in the end zone that was easily converted put Philadelphia up 3-0. New England called a timeout, but Philadelphia kept pouring it on. They scored two more, including a Callahan by Justin Principe on a floaty dump in that was macked before Principe came down with it.
Just when it seemed that the game could get out of hand New England got on the board when Liv Erhard hit Meredith Hadley. Then it was Philadelphia turning the disc over near their goal line and New England converting to bring the score to 5-2.
The New England sidelines were alive now and got even louder when Jonah Guerin made a layout D and then threw a 60-yard flick to his brother Jacon Guerin, who was streaking down the field and toed the line in the back corner of the end zone for the score.
Philadelphia regrouped and began to patiently move the disc down the field against New England’s four-person zone. Philadelphia slowly and steadily moved the disc down the field until Noah Saul found Aman Nalavade for the score to end New England’s 3-0 run.
Philadelphia went on the score the next two points to take half, 8-3.
Philadelphia continued to tack on goals to start the second half and went up 10-4, essentially taking the remaining wind out of New England’s sails. Both teams continued to compete with Philadelphia coming out on top, final score 14-8.
Atlanta continued to roll towards the final playing against hosts Minnesota. Atlanta mixed up their schemes, much as they have all weekend, and remained undefeated downing Minnesota 15-4
Colorado and NEPSUL played a hard fought game that had many big plays and lead changes. At first it seemed as though Colorado would easily collect the win after going up 6-3 on NEPSUL when Ben Thomas recorded a D and then finished things off by catching the score from Jared Winegrad.
NEPSUL stepped their game up a notch and scored when Dan Sivori made a nice layout D and then finished the play by throwing a score to Sarah Lummis. Two more NEPSUL scores later and the game was tied 6-6.
Winegard got a handblock for Colorado and then Ben Thomas connected with Grace Canalas to put Colorado back on top 7-6. They scored the next point as well when Cat Dryke hit Grace Icenogle after a long point to take the half 8-6.
Colorado scored again to start the second half and pushed their lead to 9-6. NEPSUL scored two quick goals to pull within one, but Colorado found an open Canales in the end zone once again, 10-8. In the end, NEPSUL might have just run out of time as the hard cap came into effect and Colorado earned the win, 11-10.
Round 7
Most of the division had been decided before the final round of the day began. The only thing up it the air was if New England could defeat Atlanta by a large enough margin to earn a spot in the final. That didn’t happen.
New England, perhaps still a little let down by their results against Philadelphia earlier, didn’t look like the same team that they had on Saturday. They were also facing tougher competition, but turnovers near their goal line once again plagued BUDA and Atlanta took advantage of just about every one. Atlanta took half 8-2 and only allowed one more point in the second half to remain undefeated heading into the final.
Philadelphia secured their spot in the final by handling NEPSUL 15-7. Seattle and Colorado played their final game of the tournament against each other in what was a very spirited game with both teams interacting throughout. It was evident that neither team wanted their tournament to end and they even agreed to play an “unofficial” final point after the hard cap had already gone into effect.
The Final
Before the tournament began everyone anticipated a final between top-seeded Atlanta and No.2 Philadelphia. There was a preview on Saturday with Atlanta coming out on top, but Philadelphia showing that they wouldn’t go down easily.
Atlanta started the game off with a beautiful pull to the back corner of the end zone (In fact, both teams had great pulls all game). Philadelphia worked the disc up the field and, after trading turns with Atlanta, scored when Scott Wright found Noah Saul in the end zone with a scoober.
After another turn, Saul was back in action for Philadelphia and helped put his team up by two on a 60-yard perfectly placed throw to Eddie Peters.
Atlanta tied things up after Grant Lindsley found Paula Seville for one score and Sophie Darch connected with Ollie Honderd for a second.
The next point was long with great defense played on both sides as they both recorded a series of incredible blocks. When Atlanta scored on a George Stubbs to Seville to go up 3-2, Philadelphia called a time out to regroup.
Philadelphia came out of the time out and was able to tack on two scores to retake the lead, 4-3. Peters to Katie Erikson on the first and then Carly Maconaghy recorded a D to set up the next score with Saul throwing to Dennison Beaches.
Atlanta took a shot on their next possession but Philadelphia’s Peters had position on Lindsley in the end zone for the D. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, they miscommunicated on a dump after the great D and Atlanta took advantage of the turnover when Anna Hall found Lindsley in the end zone to tie things up 4-4.
After a few scores and many great plays, Philadelphia went up 7-5 after Mark Dundala found Nalavade. On the ensuing pull, Atlanta dropped the disc in the end zone. Philadelphia quickly capitalized and Saul hit Peters in the end zone with a high release backhand to take half 8-5.
Atlanta scored the first two goals of the half, both involved Lindsley and Honderd. The first was Honderd to Lindsley with Lindsley returning the favor on the next point to pull Atlanta within one, 8-7.
Philly responded with Wright connecting with Peters in the end zone to push the lead back out to two.
Michael Terry made an incredible catch for Atlanta over a Philly defender to pull back within one. Atlanta got the disc back after a turn and looked like they were moving in for a score when Saul and Michael Terry both laid out for a disc. Terry caught it, but Saul rolled up over his ankle and Atlanta had to replace him with a sub, John Terry. John Terry proceeded to throw a one-pass score to George Stubbs who made a beautiful cut to open himself up in the end zone.
After the pull Lindsley recorded a Callahan for Atlanta to tie things up, 9-9. Atlanta scored the next two points as well to take their first lead of the game and extend it to two, 11-9.
Philadelphia was able to score after the teams traded spectacular possessions when Dundala found Beaches to again pull within one, 11-10. Atlanta wasted no time and responded when Stubbs found Kalli Perano for a score to go back up two, 12-10.
Andrea Bowring gave a great pass to Dundala who dove to make the catch in the end zone, but a discussion ensued as to whether his feet or chest made first contact with the ground. The players figured it out and it was determined a score. The cap went into effect at that point with Atlanta leading 12-11 and the game to 14.
Atlanta put themselves on the verge of victory with a series of sweet passes, the first a high release backhand from Ollie Honderd that threaded through the Philadelphia zone to an open Stubbs who completed the play with a throw to Seville, who was waiting in the end zone.
It was apparent on their faces that Philadelphia felt a sense of urgency and they took to the field determined to score. Wright found Saul to pull within one, but Atlanta ended any comeback hopes on the next possession when Lindsley hit Lane Siedor for the game winner, 14-12.
Saturday
Round 1
Top-seeded Atlanta had a bye for the first round of the Mixed division, but everyone else was in action as the day started out warm and windy with a threat of rain. The wind would eventually die down, and the rains never came, but the heat and humidity would be a factor throughout the day.
Philadelphia came into the tournament as the No.2 seed and showed that they deserved their seed by defeating hosts Minnesota convincingly in the only game that wasn’t capped in the round, 15-2.
Meanwhile, Seattle, the No.5 seed, gave the division its’ first upset in the first round by taking down No.3 New England Prep School Ultimate League (NEPSUL), 11-4.
The other New England team (BUDA), seeded No.4, played a tight game against No.6 Colorado before pulling out the win, 11-8. New England plays a very patient offense with short, crisp throws backed by a solid defense - essentials to win in the gusty conditions that were presented to the teams early on Saturday.
Coach Josh Seamon explained that one of the reasons New England plays so patiently with the disc was that it was a necessity when going against the competition they faced during their preparation for this tournament.
“We have such a geographically diverse team, it made it hard to hold regular practices, so we played in a few Club tournaments to try and get ready,” Seamon said. “Playing against teams bigger and faster than you puts a premium on taking care of the disc and being patient.”
Round 2
NEPSUL sat out of the second round with a bye and top-seeded Atlanta entered the mix. Atlanta employed a series of different offensive and defensive looks in their first game against Colorado. All of their different looks had the same result as they handled Colorado, 15-2.
Seattle went up early on Minnesota building a 3-0 lead. Minnesota pulled within two, 4-2, after Coady Mahowald connected with Maeve Dwyer for the easy score after making a sick layout catch just short of the goal line.
Seattle countered by fluidly moving the disc downfield and capped off their scoring drive when Riley MacPhee hit Carey Hert in the end zone to put them back up by three, 5-2.
The teams traded two relatively quick points before hitting a road block with Seattle still in the lead, 6-4. Minnesota was on the attack, looking to cut the lead to one, and moved the disc to the goal line before a wind-aided turnover occurred. Minnesota continued to attack after getting a quick turnover, but Seattle’s defense seemed to tighten up the closer Minnesota got to scoring.
This happened a few times with the disc basically staying in the same half of the field before Seattle finally found some fluidity to their offense and moved it towards their own goal before their scoring plans were squashed by Brandon Kane who had a great layout D in the end zone that stopped an almost-sure score.
The shoe appeared to be on the other foot as Seattle continued to patiently move the disc towards the goal line only to have their efforts squashed by a great D or turnover just when it looked as though they would score. Eventually they did score when Simon Montague threw to Clayton Dewey-Valentine in the end zone just past the outstretched fingertips of a diving Kane, who made several great D’s during the marathon point.
The teams traded the next two points and Seattle took half, 8-5.
At the start of the second half Minnesota looked confused as to which defensive strategy they were trying to execute and Seattle took advantage with three unanswered scores to increase their lead to 11-5.
Minnesota continued to play hard, even when the soft-cap went into effect just when they scored their first goal of the second half, 11-6. In fact, Minnesota seemed to find an offensive rhythm and closed out the game on a 4-0 run. It was too late, however, as the hard cap already went into effect and Seattle held on for an 11-9 victory.
On the adjacent field New England built a 6-0 lead over NEPSUL while continuing to showcase their patient offense and fluid disc movement. NEPSUL took their shots on deep throws, and had players open several times, but the gusty conditions made it hard to predict where the disc might end up and more often than not it ended up on the grass.
New England went on to take half 8-2 and the game14-6 even though NEPSUL‘s offense picked it up a bit in the second half as they put together a few impressive scoring drives.
Third Round
Philadelphia went up early on Seattle, building a 4-0 lead before Ryan Schooley connected with Julia Snyder for Seattle’s first score of the game, firing up the Seattle sideline. The score and enthusiasm didn’t affect Philadelphia, however, as they continued to pour it on en route to taking half 8-2.
The second half was much of the same with Noah Saul and Carly Maconaghy throwing bombs to Eddie Peters and Aman Nalavade and Philly won going away, 15-7.
NEPSUL was next in line for Atlanta and the top seed continued to demonstrate how deep and strong they are by using a variety of schemes and players on their way to another win, 15-4.
The New England versus Minnesota game began close with New England holding onto a slim 3-2 lead before Liv Erhard came up with a disc that was macked at least three times before finding Erhard all alone in the back of the end zone.
It can’t be known if that particular play deflated Minnesota a little or just fired New England up, but things continued to go New England’s way after that point and their lead increased to 7-2 before taking half 8-3.
Minnesota scored to start the second half, but New England countered with a pair of deep scoring throws to Jacon Saunders. Minnesota continued to play hard and made a few great plays along the way, but New England proved to be too much as they went on to win 15-6.
Round 4
The final round of the day had Denver get their first win of the tournament over Minnesota, 15-8, and New England officially moving into the dark horse category after another convincing win, 15-4, over Seattle to keep them undefeated for the day.
Although New England was looking more and more like a serious contender, the main focus was still on the top two seeds that were about the face their first real tests of the tournament -against each other. The highly anticipated match-up lived up to the hype and gave a glimpse of what the final may possibly look like tomorrow.
The teams traded the first two points; Atlanta on a quick score and Philadelphia with patient disc movement. Atlanta scored their second point in just one throw as John Terry found Grant Lindsley on an 80 yard jack which was perfectly placed into Lindsley’s outstretched arms as the streaked into the end zone.
Philadelphia appeared to be closing in on another tying score after an ultra-long possession that included over 30 passes. But just when it looked as though the game would be tied, Atlanta forced a turnover and then increased their lead on another one-pass possession. This time it was George Stubbs connecting with Allan Jarvis for the score to increase the lead to 3-1.
The game was in danger of getting away from Philadelphia after Atlanta went up 5-2. Someone on the sidelines remarked that Philadelphia was at the point where they needed to decide if they wanted to make a game out of it. They responded by going on a run to tie things up at 6-6. Mark Dundala threw two scores and Noah Saul connected with Aman Nalavade for the one that knotted it back up.
Atlanta didn’t get frazzled by Philadelphia’s resurgence and John Terry connected with Lane Siedor for one score and George Stubbs found Paula Seville in the end zone after a long point to take it to halftime with Atlanta in the lead 8-6.
Atlanta increased their lead to start the second half when Jarvis threw a goal to Alisha Kramer on the first possession of the second half.
Philadelphia kept pace with another goal thrown by Saul, this time to Katie Erikson, and then pulled within one after Mike Plunkett hit Dennison Beaches for another score.
Stubbs and Lindsley put Atlanta back up by two, 10-8, on another monster pass from Stubbs that Lindsley tracked down for the score. The soft-cap was sounded as the teams walked back to their respective lines.
Philadelphia was able to put another score in the end zone to pull within one, 10-9, and give themselves a shot of pulling out a win. With the cap now in effect, game to 12.
Stubbs once again found Lindsley in the end zone to put Atlanta back up by two and just one point away from victory.
Both teams looked a little spent towards the end of the game, as they well should have been. The heat and humidity were both in the 90’s and these players had been putting it all out on the field.
Atlanta caused another turnover and Lindsley hit Michael Terry for the game winner, 12-9 to cap off Atlanta’s undefeated day.
Although happy with his team’s result’s, Atlanta coach Kyle Weisbrod see’s room for improvement with his squad.
“It was a little rough out there at times and there are a lot of things that we can do better tomorrow,” Weisbrod said. “Overall we can’t be disappointed with going 3-0, but we can make better decisions at times.”
The Philadelphia players would have rather have won the game, but seemed to be able to take something out of it to build on.
“It’s like a different game playing against them (Atlanta),” said Philly’s Saul after the game. “We stayed with them though and when competing at this level you have to like your chances against anyone.”
