USA Ultimate

@TripleCrownTour

Scoreboard

PHOTO CREDIT: CBMT Creative

In the first round, Drag’n Thrust met with Odyssée with plans for redemption for their loss to them at the U.S. Open.

Drag’n Thrust went up 3-0, and then traded points for the remainder of the game.  At one point Odyssée, experimented with zone, quickly finding out they were playing into a Drag’n Thrust strength. They quickly scrapped the zone for a hard man defense that contested DnT’s deep looks. Odyssée turned up their defense to tie the game at 12s, game to 13.

After being issued their third TMF, DnT had the misfortune of starting universe point with Odyssée already set up on defense at the goal line. DnT turned the disc over, but got it back after an unfortunate Odyssée scoober that was blocked by DnT’s Jaime Glader. Drag’n Thrust proceeded to throw a few patient passes to claim their first win of the weekend. This wasn’t the only nail biter for Drag’n Thrust.

In the last round of the day, they started out rusty after a four-hour bye and immediately went down a couple breaks to AMP. Any time DnT’s offense gave away the disc, AMP’s D-line converted the opportunity. Drag’n Thrust had their backs to the wall and were down 11-7 before calling a time out to help change their mentality.

The Polar Bears proved they really are the team everyone wants to avoid this weekend by winning their pool pretty handily. At points during their game with The D’oh! Abides, there were small signs of the Bears letting up, but D’oh! wasn’t able to take advantage.

D’oh’s first match up of the day against Ambiguous Grey saw both teams filling their turnover columns on the stat sheets. Ambiguous Grey managed to stay close, despite three early drops in the end zone, but was unable to close the gap against an increasingly solid D’oh. In the pool’s three v. four match up, Cahoots went down 0-5 to Ambiguous Grey, when they were unable to connect some rushed deep shots.

Ambiguous’ D-line offense frustrated Cahoots’ by working the disc for a few short passes before extending the long ball for several goals. After several miscues, Cahoots got a few breaks back to bring them closer to their opponents but eventually succumbed 14-10.

Thursday’s first shock of the day was delivered by Wild Card in their game versus the overall three seed, Chad Larson Experience. Both teams had very few turn-free offensive points, yet neither team earned any breaks in the first half. A very athletic Wild Card defensive line capitalized on CLX’s mistakes late in the game, bringing them to universe point and an eventual 15-14 win.

In their second game, Chad Larson again started off playing close with their opponent, this time 7 Figures. Shortly after half, captain Neil Hanke fired up the sidelines with a huge layout block followed by a goal, received from Dan Brennan. In the next point, Blake Larson also laid out for a block and immediately went deep to catch a goal from John Misra. CLX finished their day strong against Mischief, managing to keep a close lead throughout the game, owing mostly to several veteran "up" calls from Barrett Davis.

Wild Card continued their streak to take the top seed from their pool, beating Mischief in another tight game and 7 Figures 14-10.

The first round’s match up pitted The Ghosts against Cosa Nostra. Cosa Nostra suffered from a series of miscues throughout the game as The Ghosts played a tight, force-middle zone. Cosa played catch a lot amongst their handlers and sometimes forced 50/50 throws they weren’t able to come down with.  Cosa’s defense was able to create some turnovers from The Ghosts’ interesting offense but couldn’t break through for scores.

Cosa met Slow White in their next round, which started out with points being traded.  After an attention-grabbing layout block by Matthew Bierschenk, Cosa took the lead until Slow went on a four-point run to get some separation and eventually take the game 15-10.  Cosa’s last game of the day against Steamboat proved to be a bit more difficult than they imagined. By this time, Steamboat had already played against and lost to Slow White and The Ghosts, improving with each opportunity but still hoping for their first Nationals victory. They brought renewed intensity and focus into this game, reeling in more Ds, even seeing a great layout from Aaron Schwartz.