USA Ultimate

@TripleCrownTour Scoreboard

PHOTO CREDIT: CBMT Creative

	Boston The Ghosts	vs.	Minneapolis Drag'n Thrust

This year’s semifinals verified a shift of power from San Francisco to Boston as The Ghosts took the field against Drag’n Thrust and Wild Card against Polar Bears. Drag’n Thrust traded points with The Ghosts until The Ghosts made the mistake of throwing their familiar four-person cup, playing right into their opponent’s strength.  DnT used this opportunity to score the first up-wind score to break.  In one of the most play-filled points of the game, The Ghosts took a shot deep to get the break back, only to have it denied by DnT’s Brian Schoenrock. After a Drag’n turnover, The Ghosts again attempted a long ball that was going out of bounds but was saved by a Brian Stout greatest collected by Marika Austin. Austin quickly threw an assist. The remainder of the first half was marked by cascading layouts from The Ghosts to attempt to stop DnT’s momentum and an intense match up between Jay Drescher and Mat Packard, two tireless players. After DnT punched in three straight scores to bring it to 13-7, The Ghosts knew they had to turn it up a notch if they wanted any chance of staying in the game. Seth Crockford and Jeff Graham helped The Ghosts go on a four-point run, soon followed by another two to tighten the game at 14-13. With time running out for The Ghosts and Drag’n Thrust fearing a universe-point situation, the teams traded hucks in attempts to score quickly. During what turned out to be an 18-minute point, a total of eight hucks went uncompleted before Drag’n Thrust finally ended it 15-13.  Jordan Hupp unfortunately had no stats in this game. 

	San Francisco Polar Bears	vs.	Boston Wild Card

At the other field site, Wild Card started their game against the Polar Bears showing PBR that they were ready to compete. The game opened up with two points for each team that took 12 minutes to complete.  Polar Bears quickly learned that the tactics that have worked throughout most of the tournament were not going to come as easily against Wild Card. While Wild Card’s defense was tenacious, the Polar Bears unleashed strings of seemingly impossible break throws to keep the scores coming.  Following many offensive miscues, PBR finally found their rhythm.  Alex Nord made a huge layout block to get possession of the disc for PBR’s first break of the game, making it 5-3.  Wild Card’s defensive line knew they would have their best chance if they forced PBR to play under, to avoid any deep looks to their few huge receivers. This strategy proved difficult as the Polar Bears dug deeper into their stacked roster – one example came on a long shot to a doubly covered Morgan Paulson who still brought down the disc and the score to 10-6.  With little time left to make a comeback and the Polar Bears really putting pressure on the under cuts, Wild Card sent some successful throws of their own deep, bringing it back to a two-point game.  Before peeling away in the end, Wild Card’s Aly Heath denied a PBR deep ball to 6’4" Simon Higgins with an amazing layout D in the end zone.  The Polar Bears closed out the game with yet another run. Final score – 15-11. 

	Boston The Ghosts	vs.	Boston Wild Card

In the third place, game to go to the 2014 World Championships, The Ghosts met Wild Card in a Boston showdown. The game began with the teams trading points until a great Jess Blanton’s layout block was complemented by a bookends goal.  It served to feed The Ghosts’ intensity, allowing them to take advantage of a Wild Card team struggling to find their game. Armed with a cleaner offense that never turned the disc over and a tight man defense, The Ghosts gave Wild Card only yard-losing dumps. In the end, The Ghosts ran away with the game, finishing 15-7 over their hometown rivals. 

Over the weekend, Wild Card improved tremendously over their initial seeding and last year’s results, forging an identity of yet another top-tier product of the prosperous Boston Ultimate scene.  

Finals Sunday

The field is now set for the mixed division championship final with Minneapolis’ Drag’n Thrust facing off against San Francisco’s Polar Bears at 11am CT. The two teams haven’t seen each other since the U.S. Open in July, where Polar Bears came away with a win on universe point.  Will Drag’n Thrust’s style of play, seen as one of a kind, bar Polar Bears from claiming another championship?  Or will Polar Bears, who most see as the mixed division’s strongest team claim the title over "America’s Sweethearts?"  We’re in for a tight game that will likely go down to the wire, and you can catch all the action live on ESPN3.  

Photos

Day 3 - Highlights - Images by CBMT creative

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