USA Ultimate

Open Division Atlantic Coast D-III Regionals Preview

Event preview by North Carolina-Asheville's Clint McSherry, as a part of our 2013 Regionals coverage.

After holding two bids for much of the season, the Atlantic Coast was left with just a single bid to Nationals after Navy and North Carolina-Asheville fell just short, finishing 17th and 18th in the Division III standings. While Wake Forest is the clear front-runner, ranked fourth overall in D-III, the field of contenders is deep, and WOMB will have to overcome a lot of strong challengers gunning for the top spot and a trip to Nationals. The fight for a spot in the finals on Sunday will be vicious. Wake looks like an almost guaranteed finalist, but their second opponent on Sunday afternoon could be almost anyone. St. Mary’s and Davidson will also be at Regionals, but neither team won a game at Conferences against an opponent that also made it to Regionals, so don’t expect any huge surprises from either of them.

Wake Forest:

With the top seed and a strong roster, WOMB is aiming for their third consecutive trip to Nationals under the senior leadership of Corey Casarella. With a strong weekend at the Conference Championships, they’ll definitely be carrying a lot of momentum and confidence into Regionals. Also look out for offensive threat Tim Kreutzfeldt and a relatively deep roster.

Navy:

 

The next highest team in the rankings is coming into the weekend as the third seed in their pool after falling in their conference semifinals to Richmond. The team underperformed at the Conference Championships, splitting wins with Richmond (losing the semifinal match up) and losing their only game against Catholic. Look for them to be led by senior captains Mark Livengood and Mike Fessenden.

 

North Carolina-Asheville:

 

UNCA surprised a few this season, but like Navy fell just short of earning the Atlantic Coast a second bid. With a 13-8 loss to Wake at Conferences and two injury-ridden losses to Elon, Asheville will have to play at the top of their game to earn their way to Nationals against some stiff competition. Look for offensive control coming from senior cutter/big man Logan Stagg and defensive intensity in the form of captains Sam Fontaine and Kyle Silva.

 

Elon:

 

Elon made the decision to split their team into A and B squads during the spring season, and it seems to have done them a considerable amount of good. With more disciplined play than they’ve been known for in the past, they are another team we could see making a strong push late on Sunday. Look for handler Sam Lee and layout-madman Andrew Gruninger to lead this team to an uncertain fate. 

 

Richmond:

 

Richmond is yet another team with a legitimate claim to a spot in the finals. They finished in second place in their conference, losing twice to Catholic and splitting with Navy, but winning when they needed to. Watch out for seniors Kevin Kindler, Max Grinchenko and Paul Rubino.

 

Catholic:

 

Catholic is a difficult team to figure out. Despite being ranked sixth in the region, they won their conference and could pose a serious threat on Sunday. However, all three of their wins against Richmond and Navy were only by two-point margins, so there seems to be a great deal of parity amongst the teams. Watch out for the Grabowski brothers and captain Dan Ruck.

 

*Saturday Update:

When I wrote that anyone could be playing Wake in the finals, I was wrong. Wake lost to Elon in bracket play, their first loss to a regional opponent all season. In fact, both brackets were so crazy that Richmond was the only team that ended up holding seed. The first round went predictably, with every higher seed beating their lower-ranked opponent. However, the next round left all four teams in the B-pool tied at 1--1. Richmond upset Catholic to go 2-1, sending Catholic to the bottom of the pool, despite starting the day as the top seed. UNC-Asheville also went 2-1, just holding off a surging St. Mary's squad to take the top of the pool with the head-to-head advantage over Richmond.

Everything was going according to plan in the A-pool until the last round of the day when Davidson rose above Navy, and Elon managed to take down Wake after trading points for most of the game. The day came to a close with half of the first round being played in the championship bracket. Wake earned a win over St. Mary's after coming out flat and getting broken a handful of times, while Navy toppled Asheville, adding to the collection of upsets and surprises.

With St. Mary's and Asheville relegated to the fifth place bracket, the Nationals bid is still up for grabs. Wake is still a heavy favorite, but Elon, Catholic or Richmond could all steal the trip to Nationals from right under their nose. Sunday should see some more chaos in this region. Expect the unexpected because there are still six teams in the field who can make a push for the single bid. I predict a Wake vs. Elon final, but I wouldn't want to bet against either team in that match up. If I had to choose, I would give the bid to Wake, since they have experience under their belt and get an extra two hours of sleep Sunday morning. But my predictions didn't turn out too well the first time around, so watch closely. Almost any team could surprise the region tomorrow morning. 

Have any questions or comments? We welcome community feedback and discussion made in a respectful manner. Please refrain from profanity or personal attacks, as such public comments negatively reflect on our sport and community.