USA Ultimate

Women's Division Northwest Regionals Recap

Event recap by Washington coach Kyle Weisbrod, as a part of our 2013 Regionals coverage.

They say proximity breeds familiarity. And familiarity breeds tight games.

Going in to Eugene for the Northwest Women’s Regional Championships, there was a sense that there was a clear hierarchy of team strength but that every one of the top six teams had it in them to beat a team two or three seeds higher. Oregon sat atop the pack, but their only loss of the season had been to British Columbia, and they’d been challenged by Washington. UBC was the clear second seed, but they had a loss to Washington, and Western Washington had given them a game at conferences. Washington was clearly third but had a tough time putting away both Victoria and Western Washington at Conferences. While UVic, Whitman and Western Washington had all earned their seeds, Western had played tight with UVic, and Western and Whitman had split games early in the season.

Oregon (1 seed, 1st Place) Wins the Region

Oregon’s Saturday was just ducky as they put away their competition by a combined 45-9 score. Their perfect Saturday gave them the Nationals berth and a top three seed in the region. In the finals against Washington, they struggled with mistakes on offense and found themselves down a break at half. Even that was fortunate as Washington missed several chances to convert additional breaks. Oregon scored three straight out of half with a force middle defense to take a 9-8 lead. Washington countered with their own score and took a break to lead 10-9, game to 11. Oregon would hold and then break for the win after Washington turned it over on their half of the field, and Sophie Darch took an immediate shot to Kimber Coles. Oregon maintains their winning ways and likely locks up the one seed for Nationals.

British Columbia (2, 2nd) Struggles without Some Stars but Shows Resiliency

UBC was sitting pretty going into their final round on Saturday. They just had to beat Washington or lose by fewer than six points to earn a bid to Nationals. But UBC was without Mira Donaldson and Cat Hui, who were both attending the Canadian World Games team training camp, and the 20 MPH wind (32 KPH for the Canadians) was not ideal. UBC couldn’t solve Washington’s zone as Element jumped out to take half 8-1 and win the game 15-5, sending UBC to second place in the pool. On Sunday, UBC battled to hard cap with Whitman to earn their bid with a 14-12 final score before avenging their loss to Washington on double-game point to secure the second seed out of the region. Presumably fielding their full roster in Madison, UBC will surely be a contender.

Washington (3, 3rd) Inconsistent but Dangerous

Defending National Champions, Element struggled against a hot Western Washington team in the second round on Saturday, and the resulting 13-10 loss put Element in a tough position to make Nationals. They had to either beat UBC or win three straight on Sunday. Element responded with a 15-5 hammering of UBC to take the pool and earn their Nationals berth. On Sunday, they looked like the better team for most of their finals against Oregon before allowing a 5-2 run and a double-game point break to end the game. They then came out slow in the second place game against UBC. Down 8-4 at half, they tied the game at 10s and 11s but lost on another double-game point 12-11. Element ended up with a 2-3 record on the weekend but the third bid from the competitive Northwest.

Whitman (5, 4th) Steals the Fourth Bid

The small Division III school from Eastern Washington came into Eugene unknown and left with a ticket to Madison. In Saturday pool play, Whitman upset Victoria to take the easier road toward a Nationals bid. Down 13-12 with the hard cap on, UVic, going upwind, dropped a goal which would have given them a double-game point going downwind. Whitman responded by working the disc the length of the field to punch it in 14-12. On Sunday, Whitman was edged by the UBC Thunderbirds before claiming their bid over an exhausted UVic, 15-10.

Victoria (4, 5th) Falls Short of Qualifying for the Championships

The UVic Vixens, reigning Canadian college champions, were unable to take the bid their regular season had earned for the region. The hard cap loss to Whitman sent them on the long path to Nationals. Facing Western in the game-to-go to the game-to-go, UVic clawed back from a 7-2 deficit on the backs of hard marks and Western’s fading legs. But their road ended with a second loss on the weekend to Whitman.

Western Washington (6, 6th) Stumped in the Three-Way Tie

Western Washington thought a 2-1 pool play record would give them a clear road to a Nationals berth. They approached Saturday perfectly, including playing the game of their season in their match-up against Washington. Behind the great defense of Callie Mah and Abbie Abramovich, consistent offensive play throughout their line-up, and a series of great hustle plays, Western built an 11-5 lead over the defending champions that they rode out to victory. But Element’s third-round victory over UBC would create a three-way tie and send Western back into third place. Their lack of depth would be their demise on Sunday as they were beaten by UVic for the third time during the series.

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