2013 Southeast College Regionals Recap (Open)
Ben Stringer
Posted: May 10, 2013 02:36 PM
Event recap by Florida State's Ben Stringer, as a part of our 2013 Regionals coverage.
If you’re a betting man, then Southeast Regionals probably wasn’t for you. With three of the top four seeds garnering surprise losses on Saturday, predictions were out the window almost immediately.
Saturday-Pool Play
The three top seeds all came into Saturday looking to take an easy road into Sunday’s bracket play, but none of them accomplished that goal. With all three facing scares at some point in the day, Central Florida was the only one to continue on unscathed.
Pool A went as expected, and everybody finished how they were seeded to start the day. The biggest surprise was a short-handed Tennessee taking UCF to universe point in the second round of play. UCF went on to win the game 13-12 and remained relatively unchallenged for the remainder of the day. Alabama defeated Tennessee in the first round in a game that would ultimately decide who would finish second and third in the pool.
Vanderbilt ended up going winless for the weekend but seems to have a young and enthused squad. South Florida made the trip to their first Regionals ever with only eight guys, yet managed to come away with a win against Vandy in pool play.
Pool B is where it all got interesting. LSU came to Tupelo with nine able-bodied players (and just one additional injured player on the sideline), but were determined to make this a strength instead of a weakness. In round one, Florida State went into half with an 8-5 lead and expecting Purple Haze to just roll over. Haze had different plans in mind and went on a 6-0 run. At 15-15, FSU pulled, and LSU marched it down the field to pull off the first major upset of the weekend. In round two, Florida State came away with an easy victory over Mississippi State, and a tired LSU fought hard but eventually lost 15-13 to Georgia Tech.
Going into the last round, FSU knew they needed to defeat Tribe by two points in order to win the pool and finish on the opposite side of the bracket as UCF. Despite coming out to an early lead, and holding the advantage at 12-8, FSU continued their end-of-game woes. The game came down to universe, and FSU won 15-14. DUF failed to win their pool but would avoid a crossover game. LSU finished third on point differential and would have to defeat Tulane in a crossover game to make bracket play.
Pool C – Georgia may be the perfect symbolization of Southeast Regionals this year. Georgia came into the weekend seeded fourth and was clearly seen as the most direct threat to the Florida Conference’s chances of sweeping the bids. In round one, Georgia came out nervous against Auburn and allowed the Tigers to claim the second upset of the first round. Then Georgia needed universe point in order to defeat Tulane 15-14 in round two. When everything was on the table, the Dawgs performed their best and defeated Florida 14-11 to win the pool. The win effectively made it impossible for all three Florida teams to go to Nationals and meant they would all be on the same side of the bracket on Sunday.
Sunday Bracket Play
Saturday don’t mean ish, and two victories in bracket play are all that stood between teams and the glory they had dreamt about all year. As we all know, the ultimate gods never make it that easy, and the weather Sunday was less than ideal. I’m from Florida and hate snow with a passion, but I can assure you North Central teams wouldn’t have found these conditions much more favorable. Regardless, this is Regionals, and teams came to win games, not complain.
Quarterfinals
UCF continued their dominance of the weekend and were able to easily defeat LSU 15-8. Georgia and Georgia Tech were each able to win their games over Alabama and Tennessee in convincing fashion with scores of 15-10 and 15-9 respectively. Florida v. Florida State was a blood bath. With no love lost between these two programs, both teams put everything on the line in hopes of gaining the upper hand. Florida was able to sprint out to an 8-3 halftime lead but couldn’t find a way to put in the dagger. Coming out of half, FSU went on a major run and ended up bringing the game to universe point. Florida was able to get their act together, and pulled out the 12-11 victory.
Semifinals/Backdoor Quarterfinals
UCF and Florida were in the first semifinal, and it only took Florida a couple points to realize this wasn’t going to be their game. The Gators throwing in the towel early allowed UCF to easily win 15-4 and earn their second trip to Nationals. Georgia and Georgia Tech is another classic rivalry in the region and was magnified by the Nationals bid on the line. Tribe seemed in control of the game and on their way to a second Nationals berth when Georgia began chipping away at their lead. Up 9-7 in a game to 11, Tech gave up five straight points to allow the Dawgs a reappearance at Nationals for the first time in three seasons.
Florida State handled Tennessee 15-8, and LSU upset four time Gulf Coast winner Alabama 15-10. Florida State would go on to play Tech, and LSU would play Florida.
Finals/Backdoor Semifinals
UCF and Georgia both were content with their Nationals berths and saw this game more as a celebration than anything. Still, UCF wasn’t willing to risk a high seed in Madison and closed out the game 15-9. Congratulations to both teams on successful seasons, and best of luck at Nationals.
FSU was able to take a commanding 5-0 lead against Tribe, who seemed completely devastated following their loss to Georgia. Weather caused some points to drag, but eventually DUF won the game 13-5. LSU continued to prove they were more than a formality and wouldn’t let Florida advance without a fight. Even though it was their sixth game of the weekend, the Tigers battled to the end but eventually fell 11-15, setting up an FSU v. Florida rematch in the game to go.
Third Place Game to Go
It is very difficult to put into words exactly how much these two programs dislike each other. This match up pits former classmates and best friends against one another in what could be seen as a war between brothers. There is no other team these two would rather not lose to, and this emotion creates the type of instant classics that took place on Sunday. Every point was a battle, and neither team was lacking big plays.
The first half saw both O lines play their top ultimate. For the majority of the half, the two teams traded until FSU was able to gain a break going into half, 8-7. Coming out of half, Florida was fired up and immediately took two breaks to go up 9-8. DUF eventually reclaimed one of the breaks and pulled the disc up 13-12. The Gators responded by scoring the O point and then breaking to go up 14-13. Just when it seemed FSU was in the same spot they always were, they had their championship moment. Holding at 14-14, the Freaks pulled to Florida needing a break to win. After an unfortunate throw away from Florida, Jordan Huston connected with Chris LaRocque to send DUF to Nationals for the first time since 1996.
Congrats to all teams on a great season! Go show the nation that the Southeast can compete with anybody up in Madison!
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