USA Ultimate

Blaine, Minn. (Aug. 10, 2014) - Sunday was a long one for the boys in the U-19 division. For the teams that made the championship final, it would be their fourth game of the day. In the U-16 division, three games would get teams to the title game. But despite the potential for tired legs, high-level play was prominent in both divisions throughout the day.

Photo by: CBMT creative

U-19 Boys
By: Nick Ryan

Quarterfinals

Triangle Triforce v. Texas Two Step

Triforce got a hand block with Texas trapped against their goal line and immediately tossed it in for the first point. Triforce showed good handler movement throughout the game, especially in the red zone. Texas hammered their way out of Triforce's three-man cup and hucked successfully into a two-on-one situation. Texas stayed behind most of the game but started a potential comeback for a point or two before Triforce reeled in a hammer for halftime. Triforce didn't give Texas much room and went on to advance.

Atlanta ATLiens v. Connecticut Insomnia

Connecticut stayed in this game by the skin of their teeth, helped in a major way by their four-man cup zone which they held onto in the red zone, rather than switching to man defense at half field like most teams. Connecticut's handlers rotate in and out of the cutting stack as a way of opening more field space. Connecticut took the lead early on with a huck to Nick Butler. Atlanta's handlers fought the zone by swinging the disc between handlers and crashing the cup but had trouble looking the disc all the way into their hands, which resulted in drops and turnovers. Despite Connecticut's effective zone, Atlanta wore them down and claimed a win on double-game point to move on in the championship bracket.

Seattle Salvo v. Cincinnati Flying Pig

Salvo came into this game with a successful Saturday behind them and no reason not to take this game hard to the Flying Pigs. Salvo's Jack Buckner proved my point by hustling downfield, chasing the pull, getting a layout D on a handler, then getting up and sprinting into the end zone for a goal. Salvo dug deep into their energy reserves and put everything on the line for this game, but the Flying Pig defense continually put a damper on that energy. Salvo put the game within one point with 10 minutes to go until hard cap. Salvo capitalized in those 10 minutes by gaining a break to tie the score right as the cap horn went off; we went into double-game point. Salvo's big defender Jack Buckner cramped up after a layout D attempt and came off the field with an injury. The Pigs looked to get an outside-in forehand around Salvo's defense for the win, but it got swept out of bounds. Without missing a beat, the Flying Pigs got a quick D to get the disc back in their hands and aired out a working replica of their last outside-in forehand point attempt. This time, it was met with by inbounds receiver and the win.

Triangle Carolina Sky v. Boston BUDA

Carolina Sky surprised everyone when they beat out DEVYL in their pre-quarterfinal game, so no one knew what to expect coming into their quarterfinal with BUDA. Carolina Sky's energy was waning, probably due to having put their "chips all in for DEVYL," as Theran Riedel, coach for Carolina Sky, explained. Jinny Eun, the other Carolina Sky coach, went on to say that because they had "nothing to lose in the DEVYL game, that's why they won." Back to their game against BUDA, which proved too challenging for the TYUL B team. BUDA took a large, early lead and never let up. Carolina Sky realized they were outmatched and gave some of their newer players a shot at this stiff competition to prepare them for next year.

Semifinals

Triangle Triforce v. Atlanta ATLiens

Triforce pulled to Atlanta to start what was sure to be an exciting match up, especially when just in the first point Triforce clamped down a D with their zone, Atlanta caught a D, Atlanta hucked off of a high stall count for a turn, and Atlanta got a layout D followed by the point. Triforce works it up the field with precision and patience to score on a connection between Terrence Mitchell and Liam Searles-Bohs. Mitchell usually pulled and gave Triforce premium field position, almost 100 percent of the time. Atlanta shined on transitioning off of turns, a prime example coming when they broke Triforce with a hammer to take the half. Atlanta’s Sebastian DiFrancesco and Nathan Haskell quarterbacked their team throughout. They were active handlers working with an athletic team; that means no risk, no reward, so with their many turnovers came many big plays. Triforce was down 4-7 at halftime but started climbing back in with the little time they had left before hard cap. The horn was blown right after Triforce tied the game at 8-8, and we went into double-game point. DiFrancesco hustled out and got a D for Atlanta but turned around to huck for a turn of his own. Eventually, Triforce found Nathan Kwon in the end zone on a long throw, assisted by Walker Matthews, putting Triforce through to the finals to meet the Flying Pigs.

Boston BUDA v. Cincinnati Flying Pig

Dillon Best for BUDA and Dominic Schuster for the Flying Pigs put on a show with dazzling hucks and the occasional hammer (looking at you Dominic Schuster). BUDA picked up the Flying Pigs deep cutters well, but the Pigs had the ability to work the disc up the field between their handlers and in-cuts, which helped them seal the win and the chance to face Triforce in the final.

Finals

Triangle Triforce v. Cincinnati Flying Pig

We could not have asked for a better display of youth ultimate prowess than what we saw in this match up between the Flying Pigs and Triforce. The Flying Pigs worked the disc with crisp throws, patience and no hesitation to secure the first point. Triforce’s Walker Matthews broke away deep and bid for a point, which pushed the Pigs to call a timeout. The Flying Pigs's Dominic Schuster energetically handled the disc with nice up-line cuts and even a deep cut that ended in a layout catch and goal. This game was defined by layouts, turns and long points. The Flying Pigs utilized the height and physical agility of Jordan Monnin to lift them out of those long points with deep cuts or to create critical turns with layout Ds. After the half, which was taken by Triforce, the Pigs’ Monnin connected with Schuster on a huck to help them stay in the game. Triforce's driving trio, Terrence Mitchell, Sol Yanuck and Nathan Kwon, worked the disc downfield together using big swings and spot-on up-line cuts, culminating with Kwon receiving a short toss in the end zone. As the time before hard cap wore down, the Flying Pigs put another point on the board to make the score 8-11. Triforce played hard to the end, never letting up, despite their lead, and Terrence Mitchell put up a fast huck for an extraordinary layout finish.

Photo by: CBMT creative

U-16 Boys
By: Charlie Enders

Quarterfinals

Only one quarterfinal managed to finish relatively close, but how close it was!

The Flying Piglets of Cincinnati met New Jersey DEVYL, with the common man’s forgone conclusion that DEVYL would run away with the game. Au contraire. The game was anything but as expected. The teams traded points throughout, the Piglets led by Ben Reutener and Kane Gormley and DEVYL by 6’3" Connor Russell. In the end, it would come down to double-game point, with DEVYL just barely eking out the w. Elsewhere, Seattle handled Neuqua Valley with ease (11-4), Atlanta was triumphant over Pittsburgh (10-4), and the superb handling duo of Devin Hom and Jeremy Dolezal-Ng couldn’t save the Bay Area from the NC Hammer juggernaut (13-8).

Semifinals

The semis saw the four top seeds squaring off: Seattle against Atlanta and New Jersey against Carolina.

Atlanta threw a zone against Seattle, who despite the absence of wind, turned the disc multiple times.  Sam Smith and Luke Smith (twins, I suppose) both earned multiple Ds, yet Atlanta could not capitalize on their opportunities. At 6-3 Seattle, a fantastic downwind pull pinned ATLas deep in their own end zone. A misthrow was then scooped up by Doomsday’s Ronnie Estoque for the backbreaking Callahan to take half. DiscNW never looked back and finished ATLas handily, 13-5.

DEVYL v. NC Hammer was another story. At 6-5 Hammer, North Carolina tipped a floaty pass thrown over their cup, then picked up the disc and jammed it in to take half 7-5. But DEVYL planted their cleats in the pristine National Sports Center grass and decided they weren’t going anywhere. With help from Harry McNamara and Alex Atkins, DEVYL earned back the break and pushed the score to 9-9, double-game point. But Hammer’s Tyler French continued to do what he had done all weekend; he put the team on his back. French led the O-line to the score and the win, 10-9.

Finals

The finals brought together two teams that know each other well. Including today’s match up, Seattle and Carolina have met in the U-16 final in three of the last four years. North Carolina took the inaugural title in 2011, but Seattle has claimed the last two championships, with the 2013 title coming over Hammer. Hammer was surely hungry for some revenge, but they didn’t show it to start. Seattle, riding preposterous sideline energy and stellar play from the amazing Amanze Oleru to a 5-1 lead. But this time, it was Hammer’s turn to make a comeback. Tyler French made his case today as the best U-16 player at the tournament, and he took it upon himself to play a majority of points in the second half. The strategy worked. Hammer began to earn their breaks back, stifling Seattle’s creative and agile throwers with a huge cup. French found Will Magnum for multiple goals, and before anyone realized what had happened, the score gap had narrowed to 9-8 Seattle. But with the cap looming, Seattle’s Ivan Lee skied for a downwind score that all but sealed Seattle’s championship. Although Hammer scored the next point, the time cap was on, and the game was over. Seattle took the game and a third U-16 boys’ national championship, 10-9. Congratulations, Doomsday!

Catch up on all the action from the 2014 Youth Club Championships: Event Page: play.usaultimate.org/events/Youth-Club-Championships Twitter: #2014YCC   usaultimate.org: daily recaps and photo galleries

 

Photos (by CBMT Creative)

2014 YCC - Day 2 Highlights

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