Posts tagged Harvard
Video Footage
Mar 22nd
Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal Footage from each game! Enjoy!
Colorado Wisconsin Pool Play:
One of the more exciting pool play games, Colorado Wisconsin ended up going down to the wire. Enjoy some early plays and then the last two points towards the end.
Colorado Virginia Cross Over:
Another hotly contested game down to the wire, Colorado would pull away to survive Saturday.
Quarterfinals: Carleton v. Harvard and Florida v. Wisconsin
Mar 21st
I honestly only had one eye on this game because I was watching Pittsburgh-Colorado more intently. Here’s what I’ve got:
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.
Harvard-Iowa Crossover Footage
Mar 21st
Showcase Games Wrap-up
Mar 19th
Couple late night thoughts…
- 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!
Harvard 15, Iowa 11
Mar 19th
I wasn’t able to watch as much of this game as I would have liked, but when I came over, Harvard was on the verge of taking half 8-6. Out of half, they ran out to 10-6, and they went on to win 15- 11.
Iowa
Two things were working for Harvard: the play of George Stubbs, and their intelligence against Iowa’s zone. Stubbs continued to be almost untouchable, throwing pinpoint hucks in pretty much every way possible: upwind, downwind, break throws, and hammers. He was also successful as a receiver, pulling down multiple deep shots from Adam Fagin, and while an Iowa player did get an impressive layout block on him late in the game, it is safe to say that IHUC simply had no answer for Stubbs. Complimenting his play, the Harvard offense remained patient and against the zone, being careful not to put the disc on the downwind side of the field and gaining quick yardage after breaking through the cup.
I think that this game is going to help Iowa in tomorrow’s pool play. Not only will they be hungry to win after their loss, but they will also be a step ahead of Oregon, Florida, and Ohio, all teams that may take a few points to adjust to the wind and gain their legs after a week of spring break.
Injury Report Update
Mar 18th
The Injury Report will continue to be updated throughout the weekend.
As of Friday afternoon, here’s the injury report.
Out:
- Nick Stuart (Carleton), hamstring
- Hidde Snieder (Colorado), groin
- Miguel Palaviccini (Florida), PhD defense
- Sam Kanner (Cal), achilles
- Robert Goode (Wilmington), shoulder
- Matt Bailey (Georgia), out for Saturday, unsure for Sunday
Questionable:
- Julian Childs-Walker (Carleton), back
- Justin Norden (Carleton), groin
- Josh Wardle (Oregon), hamstring
- Andrew Vogt (Harvard), wrist
- Russ Causley (Wilmington), knee
Banged up, but probable:
- Tyler DeGirolamo (Pittsburgh), shoulder
- Cody Bjorklund (Oregon), ankle
- Dylan Freechild (Oregon), not sure
- Brian Kiernan (Virginia), knee
- Andrew Hagen (Cal), not sure
UltiVillage Easterns MVP Award
Mar 17th
I just got word from Easterns tournament director Greg Vassar that UltiVillage is going to sponsor an Easterns Most Valuable Player Award.
The winner will receive an UltiVillage Elite Team Partnership Ring of Fire jersey (which, if it’s like the team jerseys that they had at Worlds, will be sick) 9 Elite Team partnership discs, and a copy of the Club Championships DVD from 2008, 2009, and 2010.
At the moment, the criteria are up for discussion, but the decision will ultimately be up to me. My plan at the moment is to take as many informal votes from players, coaches, and spectators as possible, combine the aggregate, and name the winner.
As fans, what factors do you think are most important in naming a tournament MVP?
Just for fun, here are a number of players that have been impressive thus far: More >
The Top Half
Mar 12th
By seeding, here are a couple thoughts on the top 8 teams that will be at College Easterns next weekend…
1. Carleton College (15-2)
- With tournaments at Warm Up and Stanford Invite, Carleton is the undisputed class of the Open division. Senior Grant Lindsley teams up with sophomore Julian Childs-Walker to form a cutting unit whose speed is overpowering, and senior Alex Evangelides and sophomore Simon Montague are cornerstones of a defense capable of grinding out turnovers.
- Carleton’s only real weakness so far has been its ability to convert their opponents’ turnovers into breaks. While their D line is packed with experience in Evangelides and Christian Foster, CUT has at times had to move offensive players over in order to ensure that its defense scores.
2. Pittsburgh (5-2)
- 5th year players Chris Brenenborg and Eddie Peters have been good for a long time, and given that former youngers Alex Thorne and Tyler DeGirolamo are now juniors, this is the year that Pitt is hoping to bring it all together. Their only tournament thus far has been Stanford, and while they lost a close game to Oregon in pool play, En Sabah Nur mounted huge comebacks against very good British Columbia and Colorado teams en route to a finals appearance.
- Pitt is a team with a reputation for riding their emotions, which is why spectators should be watching any of their games against other top seeds. While they are the only top 5 team at the tournament without a national championship to their name, Pitt has built itself on not backing down to anyone, and every year they seem to add another key victory to their program’s resume.
3. Colorado (12-4)
- Fast, physical, and intense, Mamabird is coming off of a near-miss at Warm Up and a botched semifinal at Stanford. Colorado will certainly be hungry to win its first big pre-Series tournament since Centex in 2009.
- Though only a sophomore, Colorado’s Jimmy Mickle has been playing at an MVP level all season. He leads the D line with huge pulls, strong play in the air, and very effective break throws; look to see how he continues to mesh with Colorado’s universe line.
4. Oregon (9-2)
- When most people talk about Oregon in 2011, they start by mentioning who they graduated in 2010. Consider, though, who the team has gained: John Bloch and Jordan “Dozer” May are back after taking time away from ultimate, and talented freshman Dylan Freechild has moved down the road from South Eugene High School. Add those to captain Cody Bjorklund, and a bevy of others that have been under-the-radar good for quite some time, and Oregon’s roster is in a better place than you may think.
5. Florida (6-3)
- Nationals winners in 2010, many have written Florida off because they graduated Brodie Smith. But while they played poorly against Colorado and Wisconsin at Warm Up, the Gators showed that they will continue to compete at the highest levels. Most teams have not figured out how to stop Cole Sullivan from getting the disc and breaking the mark, and with defenders so wary of the heralded Florida deep game, life is pretty easy for the team’s cutters.
- Florida is most challenged when teams play them honest rather than try to poach or double team. Look to see how their less experienced players do when the disc is in their hands and the dump is well-covered.
6. Wisconsin (8-7)
- Yet another recent top dog that many are ready to write off, Wisconsin is slowly finding its identity as a young team. They are particularly adept at coming down with their own hucks into traffic, and with that as a building block, they are dangerous when cutters give each other room to work underneath.
- Wisconsin has also proven itself as a team very capable of playing up to big opponents, as evidenced by their wins over Carleton and Florida at Warm Up.
7. Harvard (9-7)
- After a rough showing at Warm Up, Harvard righted the ship at Stanford and made semis with a huge comeback over Oregon. The team’s starting seven has yet to play together, but in the meantime, George Stubbs has made up for it by playing at a level worthy of the Callahan.
- Even when at full strength, Harvard is not a deep team. If the top 7 are struggling, Red Line’s role players will have to step up huge in order to fill the gap.
8. Virginia (5-4)
- It is unclear which Virginia team will be at Easterns: the one that could not complete its comeback against Wisconsin, or the one that looked in control against Colorado. As one of the only teams at Easterns without a coach, Night Train is a bit more susceptible to the highs and lows of competition, but with a number of strong 5th years, seniors, and juniors, the team is well aware of what it needs to do in order to succeed.
Tomorrow, look for more on the next 8, which is seeded as follows…
9. California (12-7)
10. Minnesota (4-4)
11. Michigan (7-0)
12. Iowa (8-0)
13. Ohio (13-1)
14. Georgia (5-2)
15. UNC-Wilmington (6-9)
16. Cornell (2-7)
