2013 U.S. Open Friday Recap - Mixed Division
Anna Levine
Posted: July 6, 2013 03:45 AM
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Mixed Division:
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Round One
The first round of play on this excruciatingly hot, muggy day was all about the upsets. Teams that came out strong yesterday had a tough time connecting on offense and committed many unforced errors that ultimately led to their demise.
Odyssée came away with a big win over Drag’n Thrust 15-10, boosting them to the top spot in the round robin. Odyssée’s precise, confident and handler-oriented game allowed them to get some crucial early breaks, while Drag’n Thrust struggled to put the pieces together. Although Drag’n Thrust managed to get a few breaks later in the game, there was no way they could keep up with Odyssée’s momentum. After the loss, Drag’n Thrust wasn’t too rattled, "Our goal was to learn how to play with each other at this tournament, and that’s what we’re doing," coach Jake Henderson said.
On the neighboring field, Mischief was up on their Bay Area rival, the Polar Bears. The rivalry made the game slightly contentious, and the Polar Bears were clearly frustrated with their inability to play clean offense. Mischief’s game, in contrast, was assured and cool, despite the heat. At 12-9, PBr’s defense began to kick into high gear. Tommy Li had a spectacular bid in Mischief’s end zone, sliding about 20 feet on the wet ground with disc in hand. Kevin Cocks played tough defense, laying out to intercept Mischief passes both on deep- and in-cuts. Despite the big-time play, the Polar Bears couldn’t stop Mischief from winning 15-11.
Cahoots also came away with an upset win against Team Colombia, rising to the sixth spot in the mixed division; and although Ambiguous Grey lost 12-10 to Blackbird, they certainly put up a fight.
Round Two
In a memorable middle-of-the-day round, Ambiguous Grey came away with their first victory in a 15-6 decision against Team Colombia. With only 13 players on their roster, the Colombians looked exhausted and couldn’t put much defensive pressure on their D.C. opponents. Ambiguous Grey’s offensive game, however, seemed to be connecting especially well. When asked about their success, Ambiguous Grey’s Lexa Stambaugh concurred with that assessment. "We were making better decisions on offense and were able to focus on our fundamentals," Stambaugh said. "The Colombian team is so spirited and are so much fun to play. Despite having such a small roster, they stayed strong and had a really good second half."
Cahoots gave the Polar Bears a run for their money, losing on universe point 12-11. Cahoots was on their game, with Pete Wentz and Ann Arps going all-out while cutting. The team was succeeding despite the absence of on-field leaders Cate and Bud Yackey who were away attending a wedding today. After a Polar Bear half, Cahoots managed to bring the score to 11-10 in their favor, game to 12. But after Cahoots was issued a third TMF for inappropriate language, the Polar Bears received it on their opponents’ brick mark and scored easily to tie up the game. After a long universe point, the Polar Bears’ Greg Marliave found Kevin Cocks in the end zone to seal the game.
Drag’n Thrust came away with a big win against Blackbird, partially due to their use of everyone on the field. While Blackbird relied mostly on Sally Mimms, Chelsea Witte and Barrs Lang to do much of the heavy lifting, there were no dominant receivers or handlers on the Minnesotan team. Drag’n Thrust’s women were extremely positive, loud and vocal on the sidelines whereas Blackbird’s sidelines became obviously frustrated with themselves. Ultimately, Drag’n Thrust’s attitude, possession-minded offense and great deep game won them the game 14-12.
Round Three
While Cahoots was able to beat Ambiguous Grey fairly quickly and solidly to the tune of 15-6, the other games in the round were nail biters that all went to universe point. The first was Odyssée’s 12-11 victory over Blackbird which knocked the first-seeded Bay Area team out semifinals contention. Odyssée was up 6-3 until Blackbird rallied and took half. But Odyssée’s precise, handler-oriented offense proved too difficult for the fatigued Blackbird to contain, and the Canadian team came out with the huge win.
The second game between Team Colombia and Mischief was unexpectedly amazing. Despite having only 13 now-exhausted players, the Colombian team played great on both sides of the disc, forgetting their bodies’ limits on every defensive move and laying out constantly. The Colombians used their women to their advantage, relying on them to receive the disc deep while also facilitating much of their short, quick handler flow. The Colombian women, especially Juanita McAllister, left their Mischief defenders lagging behind. Mischief seemed visibly deadened, and their deep game was not clicking as it had been in the first several rounds; many players, unaccustomed to hitting slower-than-usual teammates, overthrew deep looks. That said, the Bay Area natives remained ahead into the second half when Team Colombia raised the score to 9-8, and the game turned into a sheer battle of will. Both teams misfired and struggled to reel in their mental and physical games late in the day. Mischief was finally able to focus and punch in the winning score on universe point to win 14-13.
Game of the Day
Many of today’s games were exciting, but the Drag’n Thrust vs. Polar Bears match up stood out. Going into the game, PBr captain Greg Marliave knew his team would have to work extra hard to win the game, especially coming off of such a tight, exhausting match against Cahoots and losing to Mischief earlier in the day. "We will have to dig deep," he acknowledged. However, Marliave added that the Polar Bears were feeling good overall. "We feel pretty lucky to have gone 4-1 so far, and in such a competitive tournament, you can’t be rattled by a pool play loss. You have to expect it," he said. "We’re excited to play Drag’n Thrust – they always give us a good game."
Similar to yesterday against Blackbird, the Polar Bears began with a 5-0 deficit. The Bears had trouble connecting in the red zone, and DnT worked quickly on their offensive transitions and maintained possession well. Drag’n Thrust’s James Hron did a particularly good job of holding onto the disc throughout the game. Slowly, PBr managed to even the score, gaining breaks as they worked the disc successfully and found cutters deep in the end zone. AJ Shankar, Tommy Li and Morgan Paulson were crucial in evening the score on offense for PBr.
Although the game was mostly amicable, it became more and more physical once the Polar Bears closed the gap to 10-7. Many travel, foul and contact calls were made, and play stopped frequently. Meanwhile, the Polar Bears’ confidence skyrocketed spurring them to a four-point run by utilizing the quick give-and-go work of An-Chi Tsou and tying the game at 13s.
At this point, it seemed as if every player on both teams was laying out on defense; the energy on the field was electric. PBr’s Daniel Naruo hucked the disc towards the end zone, and DnT’s Brian Schoenrock laid out to smack it out of opponent Daniel Naruo’s hand, only to see Naruo desperately follow the disc and catch it in the end zone anyway to knot up the score again at to 14s. Soon the game was tied at 15-15, still universe point. Drag’n Thrust had gone slightly quiet, their energy diminishing as nervousness kicked in. The last point was messy. Drag’n Thrust received and overthrew a deep shot, only for the action to be repeated by the Polar Bears. Soon, however, Paige Kercher caught a deep throw at the front of the end zone and called a time out. PBr’s Clay Miller received the dump from Kercher and hit Adam Raty on the break side to win the close game 16-15.
What to Watch For
- Odyssée’s Isabelle Ascah-Coallier caught the disc on an in-cut, only to be clobbered by a Drag’n Thrust player laying out on defense – but she managed to hold on to it!
- Polar Bears’ Kevin Cocks puts it all on the line on defense and offense. Watch out for him!
- Team Colombia’s Juanita McAllister stepped it up big today. She found the disc every other throw on offense and laid out on defense at every opportunity.
- The Drag’n Thrust vs. Cahoots game has the potential to be very close and still has a slight chance to impact the semifinal lineups. Will Cahoots come out with a win against the Minnesotans?
National Teams Face Off
In a special finish to the day, the United States National Team squared off against Team Colombia in a showcase game that finished under the lights. Although many may have expected a much quicker and less-competitive match, the teams stayed fairly close in the first half, much to the delight of the fans who crowded the stadium’s bleachers.
Despite their small roster, made even smaller after visa issues kept a few members of the team from making the trip to Raleigh, the Colombians came ready to play. The contrasting styles played to each team’s strengths: the Americans used their height and big playmaking abilities to launch many deep shots to downfield mismatches while the Colombians used their speed and quick handler moment to keep the disc moving. The game was full of exciting bids and big skies from both teams – a fitting end to a day full of big close match ups and great play.
In the second half, the U.S. team slowly started to pull away and eventually closed out the night’s second marquee match up with a 15-10 final score. The teams will meet again when Colombia hosts the World Games in Cali, July 25 – August 4.
Video clips by ESPN
Day 2 video recap:
Photos by UltiPhotos.com (extended highlights gallery)
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