Right?

Wrong. All weekend at College Easterns, Florida’s deep game was clicking, its defense was stingy, and its offense kept possession of the disc. With a 15-14 win over Pittsburgh in the final and a 6-1 record overall, Florida used Easterns to show that they have not gone anywhere.

Even more remarkably, Florida did all of this in the first half of the final without their offensive cornerstone. Cole Sullivan was sidelined until the second half due to a second Player Misconduct Foul that he was given in Florida’s semifinal against Carleton, leaving Alex Hill (who returned to the field after Sullivan’s ejection despite having broken his nose earlier in the game), Nathan Sage, and Alton Gaines to shoulder the offensive load.

While many expected this group to struggle when up against Pittsburgh’s tenacious defense, they did not, remaining poised and committed to keeping the disc alive on the dump and hitting taking deep chances when a teammate was open.

Florida was also helped in the first half by Pittsburgh’s decision not to throw a zone or force middle, strategies that may have forced Florida’s interim handlers to make more throws into difficult-to-hit spaces. While the teams went into half on serve at 8-7, Florida, Pittsburgh certainly missed its chance to earn a few breaks in Sullivan’s absence.

Out of half, Pittsburgh’s Alex Thorne stood out quite a bit, getting open at will and throwing give and goes all the way down the field. His work on Pitt’s first point, however, was for naught, as Florida converted a missed breakmark attempt on the endzone line into a break that made the score 9-7.

On the next point, Thorne pulled down a huge sky over the much bigger Sullivan to bring it to 9-8. He would continue to impress throughout the game, coming up with another layout catch for a score and consistently making difficult throws look easy.

At 11-9, Florida called timeout on the endzone line and earned another break after blocking Pittsburgh twice (the first was a Coleman Hoover layout and the second was a sky by Gaines on Pitt’s Tyler DeGirolamo). Throughout the weekend, no team used its timeouts as well as the Gators.

With the score at 13-11 and the  horn blowing to point cap the game at 13-11, Pittsburgh threw a zone that took them on a run, bringing the score to 14-14 and looking like they might steal the win.

With an upwind pull that landed halfway back in Florida’s endzone and very close to the sideline, Pittsburgh set a flick-forcing zone. Alex Hill picked up the disc, and while his teammates worked to find open space, Hill saw nothing that he liked and called a timeout.

The Pitt mark had said “stalling eight,” and the count would be coming in on “stalling nine.”

What happened out of the timeout was surreal. Required to set first because they were on offense, Florida lined up Gaines as Hill’s dump. Sullivan, Sage, Travis Catron, Glenn Lenberger, and Jeff Kale, were all 50 yards downfield.

With Pittsburgh setting up the same cup that the came down in, everybody knew what was coming. As the disc was tapped in, Hill stepped back, wound up, and let it fly.

The Easterns fields are surrounded by a group of huge light poles, all standing about 15 yards off of the sidelines. Earlier in the day, Colorado’s Jimmy Mickle had hit one with a pull, stopping Mamabird’s momentum in their quarterfinal game against Pitt.

As though it was designed for dramatic effect, Hill’s huck soared around the nearest light post and began to float down into a wolfpack of Gators and En Sabah Nur players that were jockeying for position.

At first, it looked as though Sullivan was going to make the grab. After all, he is known more for his ability to box out and will himself to a disc than he is for being a big leaper. When he jumped, though, Pitt’s DeGirolamo applied enough pressure to make Sullivan tip the disc but not bring it in.

Luckily for Florida, however, Sage was trailing the play and the disc floated easily into his hands; after catching it, an easy two-yard backhand to Catron made Florida the 2011 College Easterns Champions.

“Given all of the adversity we had, this win felt even better than usual,” said Florida’s Hill. “Nothing is going to come easily, but now we know we’re going to be there.”

Highlight Shots from Day 2 of Easterns can be seen HERE!

Highlight Shots from Day 1 can be seen Here.

Team Shots will be mailed out later today and the rest of the shots will be processed and up by next weekend. ~Holly

From fundamentals to fireworks, this game had it all.

When Carleton plays Florida, everyone knows their match up. Poaches and zones might shake someone off balance for a point or two, but in general, these teams are ready to line up man-to-man across the line and attempt to outplay each other.

As such, the first few points went off without a hitch for either offense. A Cole Sullivan deep grab in traffic was followed Grant Linsdley ripping one down followed by Nathan Sage skying followed by Carleton scoring on another huck. You get the picture.

On serve and up, 4-3, the Gators started to see the benefits of their strong effort to push Linsdley deep rather than allow him to catch CUT’s first pass underneath. Though not uncomfortable with going to their second option, Carleton’s rhythm was thrown off enough for Florida to capitalize, taking the first break and making the score 5-3. Not long after, however, Carleton would break back after a Florida misfire and another Lindsley goal, bringing the score to 7-6, Florida. The teams would trade to half.

At half, something gave me the feeling that the game’s crucial break would come closer to the second half’s beginning than at the end. On that note, Florida’s Travis Catron made perhaps the play of the game when, with the score at 8-8, he saved a floating Florida dump pass twenty yards outside of his own endzone by jumping and extending over CUT’s Christian Foster. Florida would go on to score and on the next point, force a turn, call a time out, and earn the crucial break.

What happened next started a chain of events that made the finish to College Easterns the wildest that I have seen. Knowing that they could bust the game open with another score, Florida stacked its defensive line with experienced starters. The pulled downwind, and after Carleton worked the disc the length of the field, played stingy endzone defense that forced CUT to dump and swing continuously. Finally, Lindsley was unable to bring in a break attempt from Jonah Herscu, and Florida had the disc. After the turn, Cole Sullivan immediately picked the disc up and jacked a full-field flick that Florida brought in just outside of the endzone and the receiver called a time out. Given Florida’s endzone efficiency, things did not look good for Carleton.

Moments later, however, observers Troy Revell and Rob Sayre-McCord assessed Florida its third Team Misconduct Foul because the team’s coach (someone I did not recognize) had come out onto the field during play. Florida’s third TMF, the disc was walked back to the Gator endzone (the reverse brick) and the team was told that it had lost its time out.

Understandably, Florida was not happy, and they let the observers know it. Despite a warning that continuing to talk would result in another TMF, Sullivan voiced his opinion once again and received a Player Misconduct Foul.

On the subsequent play, the disc was dumped to Sullivan and a disputed foul call resulted in a Florida turnover. Two throws later, CUT’s Justin Norden got open with Sullivan in hot pursuit. Fired up by the prior sixty seconds, Sullivan laid out in an attempt to make the block, and after Justin had caught the disc, the two hit the ground. Hard.

While the players did not erupt and the crowd’s reaction was somewhat minimal, it was clear that Sullivan had bid somewhat late for a disc that he did not have much of a shot at touching. He was assessed another PMF, kicking him out of the game and off the premises for the remainder of the half and for the next half that his team would play.

With Sullivan out, Florida could have crumbled. Instead, Alex Hill, who had previously left the game with what is almost surely a broken nose, re-entered, and the Gators kept their cool. While Carleton scored the upwind point to make the score 10-9, the Gators held on for their next two offensive points. Despite fantastic play from captain Alex Evangelides that included multiple skys, a layout block, and a gorgeous downwind huck, CUT seemed frantic.

When the hard cap went on, the game’s final controversy played out: while Carleton players thought the score was 11-11 and Florida thought it to be 11-10 in their favor, the observers had 12-10, Florida. Florida would score the next point to win, but it is unclear whether or not they won 12-11, 13-11, or 13-10. From my own notes, I believe that they won 12-11, but it is possible that I missed something. Either way, it was nice that Florida scored to win so that the rightful team was named the victor either way. Also, it was a reminder that ultimate needs score boards.

Moving forward, I think this may lock up a 1 seed for Florida at Nationals. On Carleton’s side, they seem like the most poised, down-to-business team in the country every time they’re not lined up against the Gators. There is a lot of ultimate to be played until then, but a Florida-Carleton rematch in Boulder would certainly be entertaining.

The game went to half on serve, 8-7. During half, George Stubbs told me that he had been playing offense and guarding handlers while playing defense in order to save energy. Harvard’s Devon Williams, the team’s defensive specialist, had been guarding CUT standout Grant Linsdley.

The half started with a CUT hold and a break to make the score 9-8, Carleton, and from there it would trade to 13-11. While normally an offensive player, Linsdley moved over to pull double duty on CUT’s D line in order to mark Stubbs.

Former high school, Chain Lightning, and Junior Worlds teammates, Linsdley and Stubbs are two of the nation’s premier all-around players, and many were excited to see them face off. While there were no real fireworks, the two did not disappoint; Linsdley continued to find himself open on under cuts, while Stubbs was not stopped from getting the disc and making most of Harvard’s big throws. One particularly  fun play to watch was the result of very tight defense by Lindsley when Harvard had the disc on the goal line. Needing multiple moves to get open, Stubbs finally broke (somewhat) free, going upline and laying out for the score in traffic.

Another great play was CUT freshman Jonah Herscu’s layout block while guarding the Harvard player at the front of the stack who was coming back for the dump.

As I said, I did not catch all of this game. It finished 15-12, Carleton. From what I could tell, both teams played great offense, and it was CUT’s ability to break before their defensive legs gave out that won the game for them.

In Florida v. Wisconsin, I only watched two points intently. Wisconsin broke first after blocking a Nathan Sage huck to Cole Sullivan, and in the middle part of the second half, Ben Feldman had a gigantic layout block on a Florida huck that managed to catch the wind and float down into the hands of a trailing Gator receiver. 15-12, Florida.

Pittsburgh v. Colorado

Though Pittsburgh broke to start the game and looked more focused in the first few points, Colorado was quick to respond by turning in one of its best defensive performances of the season, fighting back to go into half down only one break, 8-7.

Pittsburgh held out of half to make the score 9-7, but Colorado’s ability to force Pitt into rushed throws in their fast break defensive offense along with the stead play of Jack McShane brought the score to 9-9.

Up 11-10, Pitt’s Eddie Peters came up with a huge block close to the Colorado endzone line that Pittsburgh punched in for the break, 12-10. While Colorado would hold on the next point to make the score 12-11, it would miss the next break opportunity A huge Jimmy Mickle pull hit a towering light pole fifteen yards off of the sideline, and Pittsburgh capitalized on their field position to punch in the easy score. All day, Pitt’s endzone offense looked steady on both offense and defense, with handlers Alex Thorne, Chris Brenenborg, and Isaac Saul constantly threatening to break the mark while Pitt cutters showed both speed and discipline.

At this point, the cap went on, and it was too little, too late for Colorado. Pittsburgh stood steady under pressure, and the teams traded scores toward a 15-13 Pittsburgh victory.

Pitt coaches David Vatz and Dave Lionetti after beating Colorado.

In Oregon v. Michigan, Ego’s three-throw offense ran up against MagnUM’s willingness to forever dump and swing; in Pittsburgh v. Colorado, there was the rematch of the Stanford Invite quarterfinal that happened two weeks ago wherein Pitt mounted a huge comeback; in Carleton v. Harvard, a chance to be reminded why Harvard was 2-0 against CUT in 2010 as well as a potential George Stubbs v. Grant Linsdley battle; and in Florida v. Wisconsin, a rare opportunity to see a match up with teams that nobody knows anything about because it’s not like college ultimate revolved around them playing each other for a good three years or anything.

These teams did not disappoint, as all games were filled with huge throws and skys and each was within two scores just before the cap horn sounded.

Oregon v. Michigan

Michigan turned in a Saturday performance that not many saw coming, laying a beat down on Colorado, beating Georgia, and falling just short to Wisconsin, all results that put MagnUM atop Pool C and into the quarterfinals. In Pool D, Oregon looked good against Iowa and Ohio, alright for a half against Florida, and great in their pre-quarterfinal crossover win over UNC-Wilmington.

While the game started with back and forth scores, Oregon seemed in control because they were score much more quickly than Michigan. With wind as a factor, minimizing the number of throws the offense had to make was huge, and while Oregon had little trouble making space and completing hucks, Michigan had a few long points that required strong defense by the offensive line after turnovers forced by Ego’s strong pressure and switching man defense.

Up 5-4, Oregon added offensive handler Dylan Freechild to its defensive line, and after a Michigan turnover and injury call, brought in captain Cody Bjorklund. After a quick swing, Freechild ripped a full-field backhand to Bjorklund, giving Ego the first break of the game. After scoring downwind for another, Oregon went on to take half, 8-5.

The second half was a different story. Rotating fresh defenders onto Freechild and Bjorklund, Michigan neutralized some of Oregon’s deep attack and went on a run. MagnUM also cleaned up its own games, eliminating some of the cheap turnovers that plagued them in the first half. At 12-12, Michigan broke to pull ahead 13-12 and did not look back, eventually winning, 15-12. It is certainly worth noting that a key strength for MagnUM is that on top of a commitment to smart possession offense and tough defense, they remain extremely even keel; throughout the weekend, it was difficult to tell whether or not Michigan was up or down by simply looking at their sideline. This kind of poise can only help.

Final Point Part 1

The disc is coming back on Stall 9 in this second video.

Final Point Part 2

Alex Hill wraps his flick huck around the pole, which gets tipped by Cole Sullivan into the hands of Nathan Sage who flips it for the win.

Round One (for full scores from every round, go to Score Reporter)

Little truths like these were evident in Oregon and Iowa’s first round match up. While the gusts were at their low point for the day, Ego showed the importance of staying in control early by scoring on quick two and three-throw pull plays to which Iowa was slow to respond. At 6-4, Ego, Iowa would receive, kicking off the first of two points that had at least five turnovers each.

The key was that Oregon won them both. Using their timeouts, swarming floating discs, and continuing to apply pressure when Iowa was knocking on the endzone line’s door (which it did few times), Ego was able to take half 8-6. From there, they won comfortably, 15-9.

Elsewhere in Round One, Harvard took down Wilmington, 13-11, in a battle wherein the only multiple point leads were when Wilmington was up 2-0 and when Harvard broke to win. When asked about covering Harvard’s George Stubbs, Wilmington coach Tully Beatty stressed how important it was for all six of the team’s defenders not guarding Stubbs to step up so that he did not have such open looks to throw to.

“If one of our guys is going to take that assignment, he knows he’s there to work,” said Beatty. “The important thing is his teammates not hang him out to dry.”

Round Two

In Round Two, Virginia and California played a game worthy of the expectations put on the tournament’s 8-9 seed match up– for about three quarters of the game. While there were some minimal runs, no team led by more than two before half.

Pulling at 7-7, Virginia threw a zone that produced multiple turnovers on which it had trouble capitalizing. Finally, a Nathan Schelbe footblock led to a Virginia half, which Night Train followed up by winning two more long points to go up 10-7 out of the break. While Cal would continue to stay close on defense, it was their defensive offense’s inability to do more than huck the disc that allowed Virginia’s offense to remain comfortable. The game ended 15-11, Virginia.

Two fields over, Harvard came up with yet another close win, this time coming from behind to beat Minnesota, 15-14.

Round Three

With the one seeds playing the fours, Round Three was the most uneventful of the day. Of the games that I was able to watch, Pittsburgh rolled Wilmington, 15-3, and while Georgia was able to hang with Colorado for a few points, Jojah simply dropped the disc and threw it away more than Mamabird; Colorado started to pull away before half.

Round Four

If Round Three was a downbeat, Round Four got things moving again. With the wind picking up, both Oregon v. Florida and Colorado v. Wisconsin stayed close throughout the first half. In both cases, the two seeds (Florida and Wisconsin) held the upper hands in their respective games, each earning a single upwind break that would carry them to half. In Florida’s case, the Gators forced Oregon to throw numerous passes to gain marginal yards, and in Wisconsin’s, Colorado continually gave the Hodags the disc on overthrown dump passes and offensive miscues. The games went to half with Florida up, 8-7, and Wisconsin leading, 8-6.

In the second half, however, the stories were different. While Florida was able to pull away, rattling off three breaks in a row en route to a comfortable win, Colorado made sure that Wisconsin would not do the same. Down 13-14 and going downwind in a game to 15 (the cap was on), Colorado continually looked to the endzone in hopes of tying the game. After a huge Martin Freeman bid just missed, Wisconsin was able to work the disc up the field. With the disc on the line, a Hodag handler threw into what seemed to be a handblock only to recover the disc off of the bounce. His next throw, however, was D’d, and on Colorado’s next chance, Timmy Beatty was able to cover just enough ground to make a layout grab in the endzone.

At 14-all, Colorado pulled upwind, and after a Wisconsin turnover, Mamabird had its chance. Again, Beatty would find a way to make the play, this time catching the disc on an in cut and firing a pinpoint flick huck for the score. 15-14, Mamabird.

Before bed, two quick thoughts on the crossover games. More tomorrow:

• Harvard defeated Iowa, 17-15, in a game that had zero breaks until the score was at 12-12. Each team scored in the upwind endzone only once. Harvard’s Stubbs played all but two points in the game.
• Colorado beat Virginia, 11-9, on a game that saw Virginia recover from a 7-4 deficit to take a 9-8 lead. At 9-9 and with Virginia on the goal line, Matty Zemel came up with perhaps the block of the tournament, flying from a few feet behind Night Train’s Neil Place to get the catch D. Colorado was able to work the disc up the field to break to 10-9, and on the next point, broke again to win, 11-9.

Highlight pics from Saturday pool play added.

• Check out @no_look_scoober for a good deal of video from today.
• Colorado is rocking new blue jerseys that I dig. Check out Holly’s pictures to get a glimpse.

Mamabird's new jerseys

• Christian Foster is huge for Carleton.
• Grant Lindsley is hucking the disc for Carleton a whole lot.
• Jack McShane was Colorado’s best player today. He’s big for them because he has steady hands, makes good decisions, and generally just keeps the offense running smoothly. That really showed in the wind.
• Iowa didn’t do a great job of adjusting to the fact that two players (George Stubbs and Adam Fagin) were doing 80% of the damage against them.
• Those two faces are very recognizable for Harvard, but they’ve got a bunch of guys that are either good at finding the endzone and catching their throws or good at being open as their re-sets.
• Harvard looks noticeably better than the team I saw at Warm Up (which I’m sure everyone who was at Stanford already knows), and they don’t even have Andrew Vogt back yet. That’s pretty big…

Stay tuned to Easterns.org, @87til, and @collegeeasterns for more tomorrow!