USA Ultimate

2012 US Open -- Mixed Day 1 Recap

Day one started off hot and fiery with a tight 1 v 3 matchup featuring San Francisco's Polar Bears vs Chad Larson Experience of Ames, Iowa. The teams traded points with athletic plays from both teams. CLX got into their groove putting up deep shots time and time again, but the Polar Bears stepped up and began dominating the air. Lucas Dallmann outran his opponents repeatedly to score multiple points, and Daniel Naruo picked up a few layout Ds on second chance discs. Between Dallmann and Simon Higgins, a new recruit for the Bears this year, the San Franciscans essentially shut down the deep looks for CLX. In response, CLX began actively working the disc with shorter passes; Michael Liu did an excellent job distributing the disc while his sister Magon seemed able to get open under at will. Magon Liu is one of three ladies (the other two are Becca Miller and Sarah Pesch) who play for CLX that hail from Iowa State University, one of this recent college seasons top teams. They are joined on Chad Larson by their coaches, Kevin and Lana Seiler, and the five of them are impressive in how on the same page they are. With cap coming up, CLX tied it at 12s, and after an uncharacteristic overthrow from PBR, the Bears were out of position deep to make a play on a yuck from Michael Liu to Melissa Gibbs for the 13-12 win.

 

After a great win CLX had a tough next round in what would turn out to be the biggest upset of the day. They came out strong against Euforia but quickly realized how difficult it was to face a team with such incredible experience and passion for the game. Some of the Colombians had even written numbers on the back of their legs to represent players that could not make it here today. Buoyed by their national pride and the desire to prove to the world their strength, Euforia made it incredibly difficult for CLX to work, and won the game 10-9. Euforia is the epitome of a mentally tough team. They went into each point as if it were a brand new game, completely shaking off anything that had just happened whether they scored or not and laying it all out on the  They have a high amount of experience on their roster and it shows in their ability to rebound from a first round loss to Golden Spike to take down a perennial nationals contender like CLX. Captain Jair Roa #55 said about the game, "we lost against golden spike but it was our first game and we came out slow. So I think Chad Larson didn't think we were very strong but we feel great about the win!"

 

The Odyssee vs Slow White game proved exciting as well. The Canadians went down early, having trouble connecting on their deep game which they rely on heavily. They have strong athletes on their team which can usually run down long shots but perhaps due to the thinner air they were putting up many throws that went out the back or just too far for the receivers to bring them down. Slow White took half 8-2 with calm play and excellent break throws. Yet the second half belonged to the Canadians, coming out with a fire and intensity, stepping up their D to cause turnover after turnover; it was Slow White's turn to look tired as they miscommunicated on a few opportunities. As the clock ran down, Odyssee brought the score to 7-9. A huge layout put away the last point but time had expired and Slow White walked away with the victory.

 

 

 

Memorable Moments: