2014 D-I College Championships - Women's Division Day 2 Recap
Erick Starkey
Posted: May 24, 2014 11:55 PM
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Day two of the Division I College Championship n Mason, Ohio, is in the books. The pool play and pre-quarterfinal rounds are over, and the championship bracket is set .Related Links:
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Pool A
Ohio State came into the day with two wins already under their belts and nothing changed for them today. They began by facing the University of Victoria Vixens and used their depth to stay fresh on offense. In the second half, Fever showed their top-seeded prowess by easily working the disc down the field. They took the game 15-9. Fever later faced the Cinderella team from Virginia. Virginia tested Ohio State early on, but the depth of Fever's roster again helped them take over the game. Fever went into half up 8-5. The second half included more hucks and, as a result, more turns, making each point longer and testing the legs of each team. Fever took the game 15-8 to seal the top seed in their pool and earn themselves a first-round bye in the championship bracket.
The pool’s second seed, Michigan Flywheel, suffered a loss to Victoria, mainly a result of the excellent Vixen zone. The Vixens took half 8-7 with neither team pulling ahead by more than one point in the half. The Victoria zone interrupted Flywheel’s flow and helped the Vixens win 15-11. The loss dropped Flywheel to the third spot in the pool. With three teams in the pool sitting at 2-2, despite their big win over Michigan, the Vixens fell to fourth in the pool as a result of their loss to Fever. Virginia, the surprise in the pool, did what was expected of them in day two: they lost to Ohio State but handled business against fifth-seeded Kansas, if only by two points. Hydra found themselves climbing from the fourth seed in the pool to the second spot.
Pool B
Fugue was tested in one of two Friday pool play games, against Superfly, but were relatively untested by Western Washington and Tufts on day two. Against Chaos, once again, Fugue’s depth and skill level, along with their unique zone defense, helped propel them to the 15-8 win. In Fugue's second game of the day, it was more of the same as their firepower proved too much for Ewo. Oregon cruised to a 15-5 victory and a bye through the pre-quarters round.
Despite being steamrolled in their game against Fugue, Tufts went on to take the second seed in Pool B. In their match up against Colorado College, Ewo's offense seemed flawless, especially after half. They valued possession all the way to the end zone, rarely turning over the disc. Colorado College joined Tufts in upsetting higher seeds to take the third spot. Strata overtook Stanford with their handlers finding and exploiting lanes to work their way through the Superfly zone. Strata snagged a 12-9 upset. Western Washington and Stanford fell to the bottom of the pool, with their match up deciding who would finish pool play in last. Chaos came up with a 12-3 run to win the game 15-10.
Pool C
Central Florida is the only number one seed to lose a game in pool play. The Sirens began their day on a positive note in their game against British Columbia. Central Florida used their hucks to score and their zone to stop the Thunderbirds offense. Central Florida took the game 15-10. In their second game of the day, UCF faced off with Northeastern in contest that came down to the wire. Despite having already clinched their pool, the Central Florida stars continued to play heavy minutes. Northeastern used excellent defensive play to take half 8-6. In the second half, the Sirens settled for hucks because the Valkyries seemed to shut down everything else, but the hucks also often resulted in turns. When Northeastern got the disc, they capitalized. Final score: 15-13 Northeastern.
While Northeastern was busy upsetting Central Florida, British Columbia was working on an upset of their own against Carleton College. The Thunderbirds seemed more energetic on both sides of the disc and used defensive pressure to create offensive opportunities. The Thunderbirds took the game 15-12 and landed themselves Pool C’s second spot. Carleton College fell to third after already having handled business against Colorado. Carleton used their dink-and-dime offense to wear out Kali. In the end, Colorado could not keep up with Syzygy and lost 15-9. Despite Northeastern's upset of Central Florida, tiebreaks put them in fourth place and out of contention for the championship bracket.
Pool D
Pool D was the only pool that didn’t require the use of tiebreaks; as expected, Washington came out on top. Washington finished pool play undefeated but was tested in their game against regional rival Whitman. The teams traded points until half, which Washington took 8-7. Element used their long-ball offense throughout the game and came away with the 15-11 win. Washington had another tough matchup against the surprising UCLA. UCLA played bigger than expected and gave Washington a challenging game, but Element still managed a four-point victory.
California-Santa Barbara played two back-to-back games and were not tested in either. Against Cornell, points were traded early, but California-Santa Barbara pulled away easily. The Burning Skirts’ tenacious defense was able to force turnovers which turned quickly into hucks for scores. The finished the game with a big cushion, 15-5. The Burning Skirts then took on UCLA, who was simply outmatched in every aspect of the game. The Skirts again won easily, 15-4. UCLA did, however, pull off the only upset in Pool D with their Friday win over Whitman, placing BLU third in the pool.
Pre-Quarterfinals
The second and third seeds in each pool met at the end of Saturday to decide who will take on the number one seeds in Sunday’s quarterfinal round.
Michigan and California-Santa Barbara met on the feature field in what turned out to be one of the best games of the weekend so far. Flywheel seemed to have more intensity throughout the game which helped with their deep looks. They broke to take half 8-6. Hucks were a regular occurrence for Michigan while the Burning Skirts focused on under cuts. Both were successful strategies. Soft cap made it a game to 15, and after neither team was able to garner a break in the second half, the game was pushed to double-game point. Michigan eked out the win and will face Central Florida in the quarterfinals on Sunday morning.
Virginia kept their upset magic going in their pre-quarter match up against UCLA. BLU lost possession on a lot of failed hucks, but when Hydra got the disc, they took care of it with multiple short passes, working their way to a score. Hydra ran away with the game, taking it 15-9, and will face with the defending champions from Oregon on Sunday.
Tufts met Carleton but could not keep up with Syzygy’s depth. Carleton took half 8-6 and started to run away with the second half, but Tufts brought the score within one at 10-9 and again 14-13 but did not have the legs to finish off the game and finally fell 15-13. Carleton is set to face Ohio State in the next round.
Colorado College could not keep up their intensity and enthusiasm as they fell to British Columbia. British Columbia used the short game to their advantage while Colorado College tended to launch the disc downfield, and in the end, the Thunderbirds took home the win 15-9 and earned the right to play Washington in the quarterfinals.
Day 2 Highlights - Images by CBMT creative
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