2013 National Championships - Mixed Recap - Day 2
Paul Utesch
Posted: October 19, 2013 09:26 AM
Today’s prequarters almost all went according to seed, with the exceptions being the two games projected to be tight. AMP and Mischief, who both had rough days on Thursday, improved over yesterday’s results, knocking out Slow White and The Doh! Abides. Polar Bears saw the first true test to their invincibility against 7Figures who was arguably the strongest four seed from any of the pools. PBR went up a couple breaks to begin, then traded points before scoring another three to take half 8-4. 7Figures continued to force PBR to respect their offense with several calculated upwind hucks and their four-person cup defense which managed to force a few Polar Bear turnovers. The Polar Bears’ consistent offense scored nearly every upwind point, ensuring they would stay ahead of Los Angeles and eventually won 14-10. Drag’n Thrust met Steamboat, who showed they weren’t ready to be done at Nationals. After going down 3-1, Steamboat used the brief weather delay to renew their focus. Though Drag’n Thrust is a team who uses the wind to their benefit, Steamboat matched them with a few upwind scores of their own. Chris Clements was ready to get a break to tie things up by getting a huge layout block, but Steamboat was unable to convert. Steamboat finally bowed out to the strong Drag’n Thrust squad, losing 15-9.
Cosa Nostra nearly pulled off an upset in their prequarter game against Odyssée. Dallas-area ultimate legend John Grzywinski had a dominant performance helping Cosa maintain a lead through the entire game. Despite great individual performances from several Cosa members, Odyssée was able to keep enough pressure on to keep the game within reach. With the game on the line, Odyssée supplemented their D line with a few power players and set up a poach system to not only challenge Cosa’s deep shots but also put pressure on their women. This adjustment helped Odyssée go on a five-point run to win the game 15-13.
After their easy quarterfinal matches, The Ghosts and Chad Larson Experience met up in what was the most equally matched quarterfinal contest. Both teams’ offensive lines proved too strong for the other’s defensive line, each preventing the other from breaking up wind and only turning over the disc a combined total of five times in the first half. After half, The Ghosts started to pull away with a couple breaks and changed their defensive strategy, forcing CLX to throw upwards of 70 throws to score one point. Despite a masterful scouting report by Barrett Davis, The Ghosts’ defense and a ridiculous game played by Jeff Graham proved too much for CLX. The Ghosts sealed the game 15-10.
Wild Card continued their red-hot streak today, beating Cahoots to get to the quarterfinal round against AMP. It was a game of runs. AMP came out as just strong as they had in their prequarter earlier in the day, scoring two quick points. But Wild Card responded with three consecutive goals of their own. The game’s momentum was nearly reversed when AMP retaliated by picking up two more points, but Wild Card quickly collected another three. After a lone AMP point to bring the game to 5-6, Wild Card’s incredibly athletic style of play and some incredible defense forced AMP to surrender a few more scoring opportunities. Wild Card ultimately earned four more points to push AMP further into the red, finishing the game off at an impressive 13-6 over the tournament’s initial one overall seed.
After an amazing five-point run to steal their quarterfinal, Odyssée ran into a wall of Polar Bears. After PBR went up 6-1 to begin the game, Odyssée’s Caroline Cadotte threw two assists to get the team back on the board, followed soon by another two to bring the score to a much closer 7-5. Odyssée attempted to force some turnovers by playing a 2-3-2 zone which had been successful against PBR at the U.S. Open earlier this year, but the Polar Bears’ quick-moving offense managed to keep the game in their control, giving them the win 14-11. On the other side of the bracket, Drag’n Thrust faced Mischief who they’d lost to twice during the regular season. Mischief took a 6-3 lead and continued to stay in font up until half. After half, Drag’n Thrust arranged their traditional lines into upwind and downwind squads while Mischief continued to play a tighter rotation. After a few traded points, DnT took advantage of Mischief’s poaches and several scoring opportunities created by the defensive play of Jordan Hupp to clinch their spot in the semifinals, pulling out a 15-12 win.
While many placement games were eliminated from the Nationals schedule, because it is a Worlds qualification year, teams are required to play out some consolation games to determine the order of any potential bid allocations. Chad Larson Experience, currently the clear frontrunner of the #FriscoFind competition, ended their season in fifth place at Nationals with a friendly yet competitive game against AMP, and a 13-12 win. Odyssée overcame Cosa Nostra for the second time today and will play Slow White for the final spot in the 2014 Pro Flight on Saturday.
Tomorrow, a relentless Wild Card will meet up with Polar Bears in what should be the Polar Bears’ greatest challenge this weekend. The Drag’n Thrust v. The Ghosts match up will be the first semifinal broadcast on ESPN3. The game begins tomorrow at 12pm CDT.
Notes:
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The Northeast had three of their five teams in the quarterfinals, with two of the Boston teams (Wild Card and The Ghosts) advancing into the semifinals, with potential for an all-Boston final.
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7Figures and 7Express played each other at the end of the day but left several opportunities on the table, such as not playing on field 7, never tying at 7s and not playing for 7th place.
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As was seen amongst all three divisions, the teams who won their pools advanced to the semifinals.
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