USA Ultimate

 

The fourth-annual U.S. Open Championships are underway in West Chester, Ohio. Thirty-six teams across the men's, mixed and women's divisions are competing to take home the first leg of the 2015 Triple Crown Tour. Related Links: Event Website Event Guide (PDF) Men's Division Scoreboard Mixed Division Scoreboard Women's Division Scoreboard #usopenoh

 

Day one of the 2015 U.S. Open in West Chester, Ohio, has come to a close. The first major tournament of the year had some expected outcomes and a few upsets in the men’s division. On a somewhat cloudy day with little wind and damp fields from rain the day before, teams came out with a little rust but quickly got it together, and the dominant teams showed why they were ranked where they are.

Let’s take a look at the games from day one.

Pool A

Johnny Bravo (1) 2-0		Ring of Fire (3) 1-1		Truck Stop (6) 1-1		PoNY (7) 1-1		Furious George (10) 0-2		Inside Rakete (12) 1-1

 

Round 1

Johnny Bravo v. Truck Stop

Bravo started their tournament against the overall six seed, D.C. Truck Stop. The teams traded points until Truck got the first break point of the game to go up 4-3, then 6-4. But as Bravo has done over the last couple of years, they hung in there to keep it close. Truck Stop got on a roll and went up 12-10 in a game to 14, but Bravo just would not go away. They scored four points consecutive points to steal the game from Truck Stop 14-12. Jimmy Mickle had five assists in the game.

Ring of Fire v. Furious George

Ring of Fire entered the U.S. Open with a small squad. Only 14 guys were active and here in Ohio ready to play on Friday, although they may have a couple more reinforcements arrive tonight, for day two of pool play. Even without numbers, Ring of Fire came out strong in their first game against Furious George. Ring took half 8-7. After getting a break out of half, they traded with Furious until the game got close again at 11-10. Ring of Fire then put the pedal down and ended up winning 15-11.

PoNY vs Inside Rakete

PoNY and their lot of new players started their weekend by matching up against one of the unknown teams of the day – Germany’s Inside Rakete. PoNY had a few miscues on the offensive side of the disc early on but pulled things together and started to flow after a couple of long points. Inside Rakete put some pressure on PoNY using their deep game and connected on a majority of those deep looks. Inside Rakete seemed to come down with every 50/50 disc throughout this game which helped them pull out the victory, 15-13. PoNY found themselves down 9-13 at one point but tightened up their game and gained some ground and force double-game point, but they could not pull out the win.

Round 2

Johnny Bravo v. Furious George

Bravo came out looking to make a statement in this game and did so early, taking half 8-5. They controlled the game from start to end and rolled to a big win, 15-9. Bravo definitely looks like they want to win the U.S. Open this year, after falling in the finals to Revolver last year. We will see how they fair tomorrow in their match-ups against Inside Rakete, PoNY and Ring of Fire.

Ring of Fire v. PoNY

With Ring being low on numbers this weekend and PoNY coming off a tough loss in the first game, we knew this would be an exciting second-round match-up. The teams traded points back and forth throughout the entire first half. The game ended up tied at 13-13 – double-game point. PoNY came out in a vertical stack on the final point, and in four quick passes and a 60-yard huck, found the end zone to claim the game over a small but strong Ring squad.

PoNY coach Bryan Jones said, "We really found or defense in this game. They gained a lot of confidence, and that’s how we pulled this one out."

Truck Stop v. Inside Rakete

After their close loss to Johnny Bravo, Truck Stop came out with something to prove in their second game of the day against Inside Rakete. Truck Stop didn’t take any chances while Inside Rakete was feeling really confident, thanks to their first-round win over PoNY. Truck Stop came out firing; they took half 8-2 and really never looked back, closing out the game 15-5.

Pool B

Ironside (2) 1-1		GOAT (4) 1-1		Revolver (5) 2-0		Temper (8) 2-0		Great Britain (9) 0-2		Team Colombia (11) 0-2

 

Round 1

Ironside v. Revolver

This was one of the marquee games of the day, with Ironside coming into the tournament as the second overall seed and Revolver being…well, Revolver, and it happened in the first round. True to form, it turned out to be one of the most exciting games of the day. Revolver took half up by two, but Ironside broke out of half to make the score 7-8, then tied it up at 9-9. The match up went to double-game point, and Revolver pulled out the win 15-14.

Side note: According to Ironside’s Teddy Browar-Jarus, Tannor Johnson is the first 18-year old on the roster in more than 15 years of Boston Ultimate.

GOAT v. Great Britain

Great Britain came out ready to play in the first half, firing on all cylinders against GOAT. Britain took half 8-7 in a very exciting game. They matched up well against GOAT, despite being down by two a couple times in the first half. This looked like it would be a game that would go down to the wire – and in large part, it did – but in the end, the strong play and solid defense of GOAT prevailed, 15-13.

Temper v. Colombia

Temper’s turnovers kept Colombia in this game. The teams largely trading points throughout. Temper eventually found their groove and took more advantage of the sheer size of their downfield cutters, something Colombia struggled to handle. The score ended up tied at 11-11 in a game to 13, but Temper got two Ds on the last point to close out the win 13-11. Toward the end of the game, Temper really started to show signs of the upstart, energetic team everyone saw at Nationals last fall.

Round 2

Ironside v. Great Britain

Coming off of a very close loss to Revolver in the first round, Ironside wanted to make sure they secured a win in the second round, and they did just that. Ironside controlled the game from the start and rolled on after taking half 8-5, going up by five at 10-5. Great Britain just could not get things to click, and Ironside won 15-5.

GOAT v. Temper

This game was exciting from the word "go." With only a few break points through the first half between the two teams, GOAT ended up taking half 8-7. The point trading would continue until the teams were tied at 11s. "Once our defense started working together, we really separated ourselves. We are a team to beat here, and we proved it by going 2-0," said Temper’s Mark Fedorenko.

Temper will have two big tests tomorrow against Ironside and then Revolver. GOAT will face off against Revolver tomorrow at 9:00a.m. and finish with Ironside. These will all be great games to watch.

Revolver v. Team Colombia

Revolver wanted to get through this game quickly, and it was very clear that the Colombian team could not handle Revolver’s downfield cutters. Revolver’s smothering defense was also apparent throughout. After taking half 8-3, Revolver continued onto a smooth win 15-7 and look forward to tomorrow’s big games.

________________________

Tomorrow is moving day for some teams, when we will decide who will have a shot for the U.S. Open Championship title and who will fall short. Will Temper continue their run to get into the championship bracket? Will anyone beat Johnny Bravo? Will Revolver continue dominating teams like they did last year? Will one of the foreign teams make some noise tomorrow? They’re all questions that will be answered in the next 24 hours.

---

Have any questions or comments? We welcome community feedback and discussion made in a respectful manner. Please refrain from profanity or personal attacks, as such public comments negatively reflect on our sport and community.

 

​