USA Ultimate

2012 Chicago Invite Recap

Just as predicted, we saw a dominant performance out of Iowa throughout pool play. Paired with smothering zone defense, Iowa’s offense ran nearly uninterrupted from one end zone to another.  IHUC captain Alex Rummelhart said that Iowa’s intensity must be kept up no matter the score/opponent. The energy from the sideline fuels each player to make the next incredible play. From a spectator’s view, it’s evident that Iowa’s team morale and drive are what propel them to such a high level. They cruised through their pool, allowing no team more than 7 points. The Michigan State vs. Tennessee match up proved that both teams have the potential to climb the national ranks. Having six players from the club team Tanasi playing for Tennessee, they truly have a core to be reckoned with. Down 6-2, Tennessee put together a run to tie it up at 6’s before Michigan State took half. Zach Barnhart (Mich. State) stated that at half, their players collectively brought focus back to their team’s system.  And after an incredible defensive bid by Barnhart on game point, Michigan State finished the game decisively, 13-9. Pool A culminated to (from first to fourth) Iowa, Michigan State, Tennessee, and Western Michigan.

 

Michigan, seeded top of pool B, came into the Invite a revitalized squad. But even with the return of a few key players, Michigan struggled to gain the upper-hand in their first round showdown against a stern Notre Dame squad. Both teams struggled to find a steady run of form as they traded points early on. Michigan rallied to finish off Notre Dame with two quick breaks, taking the game 14-12. Uniting after this late victory, Michigan continued favorably going into the second round defeating Northwestern in fashion, 13-1. Meanwhile, Notre Dame took on Penn State in what proved to be the upset of the pool. Throughout a hard-fought display of both defensive grit and offensive flair, both teams traded points leading into soft cap. Sensing the immediacy of the situation, a determined Notre Dame squad succeeded in forcing a turn and breaking Penn State with two consecutive points for the win finishing 13-11. The final round of the day saw a Michigan team surging with confidence take on a Penn State team, whom were determined to give Michigan a game, following a poor performance against them at College Easterns. Both team’s stifling defense led to a hard-fought, 13-9 victory for Michigan, securing them top position of Pool B going into championship play. With a 13-8 win over Northwestern, Notre Dame secured second in the pool, leaving Penn State in third and Northwestern in fourth.

 

Cross Over Commotion
 

With the top seeds holding in both power pools, it was the cross over match that clinched the fate of many top teams. We saw the nimble Notre Dame win handily over Purdue and the tenacious Tennessee squad hold its own over Northern Iowa. But every other match surged goose bumps into each respective audience. St. Johns, Eastern Michigan, and Shippensburg brought the fire to their games, knocking out power pool teams and advancing to the championship bracket. But the most intense game of the day came when returning tournament champions, Michigan State, took on the winner of Pool H, Carnegie-Mellon. In what became a highly contested game, these two teams traded points while both struggled to capitalize on their opponent’s faults. With daylight fading, Carnegie-Mellon was able to break Michigan State to go up 12-11. However, tournament fatigue was setting in and Michigan State was able to capitalize square it back at 12’s. Despite Carnegie's resilience in scoring to make it 13-12, Michigan State rallied and found a second wind, scoring two unanswered points and taking the game on universe point. 

 

Women’s Division
 

The Women’s division followed suit with Open in that both of the top seeded teams held with only slight upsets in the rest of the pool. In the Illinois and Northwestern game, Illinois played defensively but struggled to shut down Northwestern’s offense losing 11-4.  Meanwhile, Notre Dame was able to top a stern Indiana 13-6. The Indiana and Northwestern game was close, with Indiana playing hard defensively trying to shut down Northwestern’s offense. However, it proved too much of a task, with  Northwestern taking the game 13-9. Illinois was able to recover, and take down a tough Notre Dame team. Purdue fought hard to compete with returning champions, Minnesota, but it proved too much of a task, falling 13-7. A young Valparaiso team was able to gain momentum as the day went on, eventually taking down Michigan State 13-5. The Northwestern-Notre Dame showdown became one of the most hotly contested games in the women’s division.  A sharp Notre Dame team was ahead playing well offensively and was up at half, but in the end the Northwestern side was able to claw back with a 12-11 win.

 

A rainy morning led to a delay to the  start of championship play and with three of the teams in Saturday’s power pool failing to win their crossover, there were many teams itching to prove their merit. Shippensburg  took on a renewed Michigan State team looking to rally after their universe point win over Carnegie-Mellon in crossover play. Despite a valiant effort by Shippensburg, Michigan State was able to take the game 15-9. Meanwhile, Iowa was able to dispatch a determined Eastern Michigan squad 15-8, whom after trading points in the first half, was unable to keep up with Iowa’s dominant offense and stifling zone. Michigan was able to find a way past an athletic St.John’s squad 15-10 in what proved to be an exciting display of both teams deep game. In the most dramatic matchup of the quarter-finals a Notre Dame team, riding high after their 13-7 win over Purdue the previous day, took on a Tennessee team who had struggled to find definitive momentum throughout the weekend. In a hotly contested matchup, neither team could pick up a decisive lead, leading to a double game point win for Notre Dame, taking the win 17-16. 

 

 

In the first matchup of the semi-finals Michigan (11) took on returning champions Michigan State(23). From the start Michigan struggled to match the intensity of Michigan State, going down several breaks early. Michigan struggled to find a definitive flow to their offense, as a muddy field left many players on both teams flat-footed as they attempted to find solid ground. Michigan State took half 8-2, and despite a admirable run by Michigan, Michigan State was able to finish out the game 15-9. On the other field, Notre Dame came out ardently breaking Iowa on the third point of the match, up 3-1. Notre Dame captain, Michael Della Penna, was the staple of their performance at Invite, as nearly every goal in this game went through him. Notre Dame’s defense did force many high stall count situations, but Iowa’s throwing force proved merciless. After incredible hammer lay out grabs and a linked deep game, IHUC rallied in the second half to win 15-8. 

 

 

Michigan State, coming off a Great Lakes triumph, had earned their trip back to the finals of the Invite, meeting up with an undefeated Iowa. Keeping on serve the first three points, Michigan State displayed how their offense can flow against an elite team. However, the weekend may have proved too exhausting for them to maintain composure, as Iowa ran away with the match shortly after. The momentum shift was apparent when handling savant, Jimmy Wiesbrock, boosted it to a reliable Evan Kerr who was in chase with such focus that he didn’t notice the fence just outside the end zone until he bulldozed right through it (talk about ofFENCE). Whether it was throws lofting into too much space or simple drops, Iowa capitalized on every Michigan State turnover. We have to give credit to Dave Hochhalter of Michigan State for controlling much of his team’s flow, displaying apolaustic spirit, and leading the charge in Michigan State’s success at Invite. But even he could not halt Iowa’s relentless bids and silky throws into the end zone. Iowa sprinted to the finish line of the 2012 Chicago Invite, beating Michigan State 15-5.

 

 

Day two of the Chicago invite started off with a crushing defeat for Illinois. The game had been a tight match right up until the end where Marquette took the lead and won by a small margin. Northwestern and Michigan State played an intense game right up until about half when Northwestern took the lead. Carol Li, Northwestern captain, said it took time to develop their defense throughout the game but eventually it picked up. Indiana fought hard on defense and offense but ended up losing 15-7 against Minnesota. Minnesota pulled out another win against Valparaiso to send them to the championships. The Minnesota team kept control throughout the game and won 15-10. The Northwestern and Marquette game was all too exciting with each team fighting for every point. Marquette stayed with Northwestern in the whole game leaving it up to universe point. Northwestern ended up winning sending them to the championship. In the championship Minnesota dominated play on both sides of the field. Offensively they moved the disc without concern. Defensively them seemed to get into the mix every chance possible. In the end it was Minnesota repeating as champions, 15-4. 

 

 

It was March Madness here in Chicago as we saw some serious commotion this weekend where several high ranked teams simply failed to perform and many "no named" teams came to the tournament showing that they have something to be proud of. Penn State (23), seeded 3rd going into the weekend couldn’t seem to play through their games, falling short by only a handful of points in several games, finishing the weekend in 12th place. Likewise, Northwestern (54) seeded 8th, seemed to lack the composure to work their offense effectively, finishing 20th. On the reverse side, in a seeming Cinderella story, Shippensburg (105), was able to not only take Pool F, but also take down Penn State in Saturday’s crossover. They went on to take down Eastern Michigan (55) to take 5th place. Carnegie-Mellon (96) also had an exciting weekend; after sweeping Pool H, CMU lost on universe in their crossover to a determined Michigan State. Pulling together on Sunday, they went 3-0 on the day and finished in 9th place. The fact that many of these lower ranked teams broke seed and took down teams ranked higher speaks volumes about the potential of these teams. One can only hope this competitive spirit and David vs. Goliath mentality is carried into the College Series. 

 

 

With this year’s games played and champions crowned, we can only look to the future of the Chicago Invite. As both spectators and future players, we would hope the Invite evolves from not only one the largest tournaments in the country, but to one of the most competitive as well. Hopefully in years to come, local top programs such as Illinois, Wisconsin, Luther, and Carleton will recognize the event as a serious source of competition and prestige. With the immense amount of quality teams in the area, why choose to drive cross-country when you can get the same competition in your own backyard? Why avoid playing teams like Shippensburg because USAU ranks them low. It’d be like have the NCAA basketball tournament with only 8 teams, if that was to happen we’d never see a team like Lehigh take down a Duke. Yes, we have regionals but it’s not the same thing. We’ve seen arguments about which region deserves more strength bids, and after watching Iowa take down GL and OV teams like it was their job, we have to agree that NC is the strongest region in the area. The Chicago Invite, both in its geographic location and abundance of field space can offer teams from all over the country this setting. On day one it was no secret that our favorite games were those cross-over games. Why? Because we got to watch David almost take down Goliath. So, to all you captains, coaches, and players out there who don’t think the invite is worth your time, we’d like to challenge you to make it worth your time next year. The competition will be there, if they elect to go. Iowa set the tone this year, they not only displayed great play for the many youth players that came to watch, but took their time to meet us, introduce themselves, invite us to practices, and overall recruit for their program. So, to the other top 20 teams out there we look forward to meeting you next time around. You don’t even have to run through a fence to impress us.