USA Ultimate

48 teams were narrowed down to six on day two at the 2015 Masters Championships in Aurora, Colo. today. 

Men's Masters (schedule)
Annie Perkins

Prequarters

After their loss to Black Cans and Highlands yesterday, 6th seeded Woolly Mammoth met overall 7th seed BAM! in prequarters. BAM! went out to an early 3-0 lead, but Woolly answered back with a 5-0 run. The rest of the game continued with each team running up a few points in a row, but BAM! was able to hold Woolly at 10 points to take the lead 12-10. Woolly appeared to be mounting a comeback, but a crucial layout block from BAM!’s Jason Edelman on Woolly Mammoth’s endline gave BAM! an easy goal to win 13-11.

Pacemaker started out strong in their prequarter against Black Cans & Highlands, going up 5-4 to start. Black Cans soon hit their stride, however, and went on a 4-point run to take half 8-5 and close it out 15-9 over Pacemaker.

Horse and Tejas also looked evenly matched at the start of their prequarter, but Tejas gained momentum towards the end of the first half and never looked back, winning 15-9 over Horse.

OhiOld and Beyonders were close the entire game. "Offensively, we felt like we had good matchups," said OhiOld captain Kevin Ryan.  They scored the first two points, and were able to maintain that cushion as the two teams traded points for an eventual 15-13 victory, OhiOld over Beyondors.  

Quarters

None of the final scores for the Men’s Masters Quarterfinal were close. Johnny Encore was relentless out of the gate, holding OhiOld to 3 points per half, with a final score of 15-6.

Boneyard and Voltron 2020 started out slower than expected, taking half over BAM! 8-5 and Black Cans and Highlands 8-6 respectively. Both teams gained momentum in the second half, with Boneyard defeating BAM! 15-8 and Voltron 2020 winning 15-9 over Black Cans & Highlands.  

The first half of Tejas vs. Surly was a physical battle. Surly had a couple of early injury scares after big bids, yet this physical and aggressive game was very spirited. After Surly's early lead, Tejas fought back to tie it at 5s, then Surly went up again to take half 8-6.  In the second half, Surly capitalized on the depth of their roster. "We were able to rotate match-ups and find what works," Surly’s Charlie Reznikoff said.  They went up 12-7, extending the lead to a 15-9 victory for Surly.

Semis

After cruising through quarters, Boneyard and Voltron 2020 met in semis. Both teams appeared to be evenly matched in skill, aggression, and intensity. In the second half, Boneyard racked up a three point lead, from which Voltron was unable to recover. They traded to a final score of 14-11, Boneyard.

Surly scored a couple of early points on Johnny Encore, and Encore struggled to make up lost ground. Down 7-5, Johnny Encore started picking up their energy through the next two points. A quick goal made it 7-6, and their D line came out strong in the following point, gaining possession. A poach block in the handler set from Surly captain Kevin Seiler was immediately answered by another poach D from Johnny Encore’s Ted Tripoli.  They showed patience on the goal line, working the disc through Tripoli, and finally found an open receiver to tie it up at 7’s.  After taking half 8-7, Johnny Encore continued to increase the pressure with a 4-1 run out of half, ending with a victory of 15-13.

Tomorrow’s finals match-up will certainly be an exciting one.  Will defending world champions Boneyard prevail?  Or will they fall to Denver’s own Johnny Encore?

Placement games are Voltron 2020 vs. Surly for 3rd, Black Cans and Highlands vs. Tejas for 5th, BAM! vs. OhiOld for 7th, Flood vs. Horse for 9th, Crawl vs. Beyondors for 11th, Pacemaker vs. Burnside for 13th, and Woolly Mammoth vs. Get Off My Lawn for 15th. 
 

Masters Women’s (schedule)
Danielle Ennis

Prequarters

Similar to Friday, the day of games started with another early morning upset. Mint beat number one seed Boston 12-11. This time, it knocked the New Englanders into the consolation bracket. The loss came on a long huck at universe point, after playing for nearly two hours. 

In the rest of the prequarterfinals, Retro beat Hot Lava 13-12, Rio Grande beat the Cougars 15-9, and Lame Duck beat Hot Flash 15-11. 

Quarterfinals

In the quarters, Jezebel's first game of the day, they took half quickly and proceeded to beat Retro 15-6 in just an hour. But the other three quarters were the most thrilling of the day. Loose Cannon survived Mint's morale rolling off the first round, and took the game 12-10.

Meanwhile, on the neighboring fields, spectators switched their eyes between a Ripe and Rio face-off and a Baylands Kite Flying Team versus Lame Duck showdown. Ripe took the lead 8-6, but Rio took control in the second half, led by the stellar defense and offensive prowess of Sally Lambert. The went on to win 15-12.

Next to them, the longest game of the day was going neck and neck. The game went nearly point for point, tied all the way until 11's, where the Baylands Kite Flying Team of San Francisco went up 13-11, taking the biggest lead of the tight game. But the Ducks did not give up, scoring two more after soft cap to bring the game to a universe point at 13-13. But the higher seed took the win when Julie Baker threw a long pass to Alicia White to wrap up the quarterfinals round. 

The wind began to pick up as the day rolled by, a clear, bluebird day with not a cloud in the sky to cover up the searing sun. 

Semifinals

In the afternoon, the stage was set for two anticipated semifinals: the Colorado showdown and the two undefeated teams. But the games turned to be less anticlimactic than expected. 

Rio routed Jezebel 15-3, taking half 8-2, and allowing only one point in the entire second half. Lambert continued to dominate and the aggressiveness from the Rio squad landed them a spot in the championship game tomorrow. 

The New York vs. San Francisco game, the Baylands Kite Flying Team led for the length of the game, holding an edge as Loose Cannonkept fighting back. In the end, the Baylands Kite Flyers won 14-9, finishing the day with a beautiful high release into the end-zone from, again, Julie Baker. The win knocked out the reigning champions and leaves the Baylands Kite Flying Team as the sole remaining undefeated team in the women's tournament. 

The championship game will be a rematch of Friday's last game, where the Baylands Kite Flying Team beat Rio 15-10.  The two will match up at 11:45 a.m tomorrow, following the third place game between Jezebel and Loose Cannon (11:15am)

Grand Masters (schedule)
USA Ultimate

Prequarters

Top seed Surly scored three quick points on Old Man Winter, taking half 8-3. Old Man Winter gave up four more points, then traded to a 15-6 Surly victory.

Bighorn vs. BigWheel was a close, hard-fought game, with Bighorn finishing on top 15-13. "They executed better on their fundamentals better than we did, and that was the difference," noted BigWheel captain Jay Pigford.

Super Cali Fragile Disc went out to an 8-4 lead over Moscow State. Moscow looked like they were starting to gain some momentum, but it was too little too late. Super Cali scored the last four points to win 15-8.

Georgetown Brewing gave up two of the first three points in their game against Big D N R, but scored the next eight.  Big D N R put up a fight in the second half, but their short roster lacked the depth to answer back. Georgetown won over Big D N R 15-6.

Quarters

Last year, Surly and Shadows met in the finals, with Shadows falling short on double game point.  In this year’s quarters rematch, however, there was no question which was the dominant team.  Shadows D line came out hungry, holding Surly to two points in the first half.  Shadows captain Bob Clark said that going into the game "they felt pretty confident, but you never know against a skilled team."  Their confidence proved to be true, with a 14-6 victory over Surly.

Alchemy put the pressure on Bighorn’s offense right from the beginning.  It was another hard fought game for Bighorn, but Alchemy’s fresh legs allowed them to score two points for every one of Bighorn’s, with a final score of 15-8, Alchemy.

Johnny Walker went up a break late in the first half against Super Cali Fragile Disc, and took half 8-5.  The two teams traded points for the second half, resulting in a 15-12 victory for Johnny Walker.

No Country also had a first half break against Georgetown Brewing, taking half 8-5.  Another break right out of half time solidified the No Country win, 15-11.

Semis

No Country capitalized on Shadows’ unforced turnovers, and played with patient, high-percentage throws.  They gradually grew their 8-5 lead at half to a 14-8 victory.

Johnny Walker leapt out to an early 5-1 lead over Alchemy.  Alchemy answered back, tying it up at 6’s.  Johnny Walker took half 8-6, and went on a 3-1 run to grow their lead to 11-7.  Both teams looked strong late in the second half, but time was on Johnny Walker’s side, giving them the win, 13-10.

Tomorrow morning No Country faces off against Johnny Walker in the championship game.

Placement games are Alchemy vs. Shadows for 3rd, Bighorn vs. Georgetown Brewing for 5th, Super Cali Fragile Disc vs. Surly for 7th, BigWheel vs. Big D N R for 9th, Moscow State vs. Ozark Hillbillies for 11th, O.G. vs. Old Man Winter for 13th, and Charred Guys vs. Rust Belt for 15th. 

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