Posts tagged Wisconsin
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.
Saturday at Easterns
Mar 20th
In the first full day of action at College Easterns, teams were tested early and often. On top of the warm temperatures that surely took a bit of getting used to for all but Wilmington, Georgia, and Florida, the tournament’s trademark wind came and went throughout the day. With multi-turnover points becoming the norm as the day drew on, the number of turnovers a team had became far less important than the field position that they gave their opponent, as allowing easy upwind breaks was a recipe for disaster.
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.
Tournament within a tournament: The North Central at Easterns
Mar 18th
For the past 5 years, either Carleton or Wisconsin has won the Central Region, and each time, that winner has gone on to advance to the last game of the college season. Additionally, both Minnesota and Iowa have spent the last two seasons climbing to national prominence.
While Easterns has teams attending from all around the country, you can bet that each North Central will be sizing each other up in preparation for Regionals before they’re thinking about what may lay ahead in Boulder, Colorado.
Carleton's Patrick Roberts (left) against Wisconsin
Carleton:
With some of the best high school recruitment around as well as a very strong intramural program, Carleton is a national powerhouse. One unique aspect of CUT’s season makeup is its school’s quarter system. Rather than two semesters that correlate well with the USA Ultimate season, Carleton players have a Fall, Winter, and Spring term. Some players have commitments to varsity sports teams during the winter term, requiring them to miss early tournaments, while other students choose to study abroad, not making it back until later in the season.Forced to deal with roster movement up until mid-March, CUT leadership has often stated that it trades early season success for late season depth.
Returning from abroad for CUT is Ben Sullender. Captain Alex Evangelides comments that “Sully will be huge. He brings amazing energy and positivity, as well as being a dynamite player. He was on the field for almost every D point last year”. Also, freshman Jonah Herscu was just able to join the team at the Stanford Invite. The rookie standout also is a member of Carleton’s basketball team during the winter months, and his experience at the handler position (Herscu attended Amherst Regional High School and was a member of 2010′s Junior Worlds team) helped CUT at Stanford.
Wisconsin:
Former Hodag standout Will Lokke, who graduated after Wisconsin’s second consecutive championship in 2008, gave his take on what Easterns meant for his team:
“I know in the years before I was at Wisconsin, Easterns attracted teams from the west as well as having more talent situated on the East Coast. What I took away from our years at Easterns was that it was never as competitive as other big events such as Stanford, Vegas or Centex.
“Pittsburgh seemed to be the largest threat to our success (and possibly Harvard or Dartmouth), but we saw it mostly as a bonding tournament in preparation for the Series. During pool play we would run younger players, try out new plays if there was an opportunity, and work on varying defenses. On Sunday we’d be more down to business, as our main lines would be pretty set at that time during the season.
“There was a memorably close game against James Madison one year, who had a handler/cutter combo* that threw anything they could think of, and somehow seemed to come up with almost everything. I think finals against Pitt that year was more scrappy than our usual games, with a guy on the Pitt sideline angering a few of our players…”
*Editor’s note: While the handler hasn’t been confirmed, it’s safe to assume that the cutter was Jeff Larz or Chris “Scuttle” Barker. Ballers.
Minnesota:
A talented but still unproven squad, Grey Duck is looking forward to Easterns as a Nationals preview. “We are looking forward to Easterns this weekend as it will be highly representative of teams we’ll be seeing at Nationals. We are confident in our ability to beat every team in the nation, but we also recognize that we are somewhat lacking in experience. All teams we’ll be playing are very talented and we will have to play our best game each game in order to win,” says the team’s Matt Marinello.
Grey Duck
While the team has a solid group of upperclassmen, it also boasts a number of strong juniors players. The list includes three freshman that won the Minnesota State tournament, and Josh Klane who represented USA at the World Junior competition. The inexperienced crowd is balanced out by a heavy club presence, as Marinello, Chris Demet, Dan Miesen, Stephan Mance, Dan Hoff, and Greg Arenson all played with Sub Zero during the 2010 season.
Marinello knows that the road to nationals is going to be a tough one, “The Central region is strong. Ourselves, Wisconsin, Carleton, and Iowa can all hang against the best teams, so bids to Nationals will be hard-fought and at least one team that deserves to go won’t. We will be working hard up to Regionals and plan on winning the region. Last year we lost in the Regional final 11-15 in a close game against CUT that we easily could have won. We beat Wisconsin twice that weekend, but they have improved this year and will put up a better fight.”
Iowa:
Finally breaking through to Nationals last year, IHUC was the Central’s fourth team. Known for their huck-happy offense that utilized talented deep receivers like Tyler Glenn and Sean “Shark” Parker, Iowa was able to pull out a 9th place finish at Madison by besting Illinois, Oregon and hometown rival Wisconsin.
Coming into the 2010-11 season, Iowa won the Free State Classic, despite early exits in No Wisconsequences and Missouri Loves Company. Add a finals loss in Mardi Gras to regional rival Minnesota, and at this point IHUC looks like they aren’t going to miss a beat. Iowa, like their regional rivals, will use Easterns to prepare for the impending gauntlet, and they know that a few decisive wins could make life down the road easier because it could mean a fourth bid to Nationals. Be sure to check out Neeley’s post on Gleason’s Army for more information on Iowa. Thanks to Zack Smith for the information on Iowa
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)
