2015 U.S. Open Championships - Men's Division Day Two Recap
Chris Goodpaster
Posted: July 4, 2015 01:30 AM
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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.
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On day two of the U.S. Open Ultimate Championships in West Chester, Ohio, there was one common theme among the teams by the end of the day: win or go home. The weather was overcast, the wind was starting to pick up, and at 9:00 a.m., there were seven on the line ready to go. There was still a lot of ultimate to be played: 18 total men’s games were played on the day and three of the 12 teams in the division started the day with 2-0 records.
To begin the day, Temper, Johnny Bravo and Revolver were the undefeated teams looking to continue perfection while Ironside, Inside Rakete and GOAT all looked to put a stop to that dream in the first round. The three teams from overseas showed exactly why they were invited to this tournament with some brilliant play throughout the day. Great Britain Open went 0-2 yesterday and knew they had to come out hot and execute to perfection against one of the three undefeated teams left in the tournament, Temper. Inside Rakete also drew their toughest challenge so far, matching up against Johnny Bravo. Colombia played Ironside with hopes of pulling off their first win of the tournament. Revolver matched up against GOAT in the first round to see if they can keep rolling and remain undefeated.
Pool A
Johnny Bravo opened things up against Germany’s Inside Rakete. The German team wasted no time showing everyone in Cincinnati why they deserved to play at this tournament. With their unique offensive style and great downfield attacks, they did not necessarily match-up evenly against Bravo on paper, but Bravo kept turning the disc early, and the Germans took full advantage. Any time Johnny Bravo turned the disc, the German team utilized the opportunity. They even found themselves up 7-3 at one point. Inside Rakete went go on to take half 8-5. The game ended up tied at 12-12, but Bravo couldn’t complete the comeback. Inside Rakete knocked off the overall one seed and defending national champion 15-13. The impressive win kept them in the conversation of making it to championship Sunday.
Truck Stop v. Ring of Fire turned out to be a very tight game. Both teams were 1-1 after day one, and both could use a win to start the day and stay in contention for the championship bracket. With some additions to both rosters who were absent on Friday, the teams were flowing much better on offense and playing at a higher level on defense. Truck Stop took half 8-6, and the game was eventually tied at 11-11 before Truck Stop scored three consecutive goals to win 14-12 in the hard cap.
PoNY v. Furious George was set to be a good one, but PoNY controlled the game from the start. PoNY started to pull away after 2-2. They looked like they were working together in all aspects of the game. PoNY went on to win 15-10, in large part thanks to their superb defense.
The second round of games in Pool A were all statement games.
Johnny Bravo came off their loss to Germany and totally dominated PoNY, winning 15-8. Clearly salty from their earlier loss, they took half 8-4 and kept the pressure on the entire game. Tight offense and smothering defense took Bravo to their statement win.
Ring of Fire v. Inside Rakete was a great game to watch. Inside Rakete came out with positive vibes after their win over top-seeded Johnny Bravo and continued with the favorable play. Ring took half 8-7, and the game continued to be close, tied as late as 13-13. Ring of Fire scored to make it 14-13 before Noah Saul got Ring a much-needed D and conversion to win on a break, 15-13.
Coming off their solid win over Ring of Fire, Truck Stop fell short in their next game against Furious George. Truck Stop just could not seem to get any momentum going in the first half. Furious took advantage of Truck’s turnovers and miscues early on in the second half and would ended up winning the game 14-12 after hard the cap horn blew.
The third round was probably the most exciting of the day for the teams in Pool A, with Johnny Bravo sitting at 3-1; Ring of Fire, Truck Stop, PoNY and Inside Rakete all at 2-2; and Furious George at 1-3. Furious was looking to dash the German team’s dreams of making the finals by serving them a loss.
Truck Stop came out hot against PoNY in a "win-and-move-on" game for both of them. Truck Stop really looked like the complete team in this game. Their smothering defense and transition offense was just too much for PoNY to handle. Truck Stop took half 8-5 and allowed only one more point the rest of the game. They won in impressive fashion, 15-6, to advance to Saturday’s semifinals as the second-place team in Pool A.
Johnny Bravo was looking to take care of business against Ring of Fire and roll into the semifinals, but Ring would not go down without making things very interesting. Johnny Bravo took half 8-3, and it looked like the game was getting out of hand very quickly for the North Carolinians. But Ring of Fire found their groove in the second half and ended up making it back within striking distance at 12-11. On that point, there were eight total Ds between the teams. Bravo ended up scoring that point, as well as the next, to win 14-11 and move on to Saturday’s semifinal round.
Inside Rakete needed a lot to go their way in the rest of the division to stay in alive, and through their first half against Furious George, it was all still up in the air, but Furious George’s defense adapted to the offense of the Germans and shut down their deep game. Furious George took half 8-5 closed out the win 15-11 in what was a much closer game than the final score showed.
Pool B
In the Pool B, two teams entered Friday undefeated, and only one would end the day that way. Temper did not seem to find their stride all day. They lost all three of their games on the day. Revolver was the exact opposite, winning all three of their games with conviction. The rest of the games in the pool all turned out to be relevant as well, in an exciting end to the day. Let’s get into it.
Revolver faced off against GOAT in the first round, a rematch of last year’s prequarterfinals at Nationals, where GOAT knocked out the then-defending champs. Revolver did not get into proper form until after half, which they took 8-6. But once they got through to the second half, they really started clicking. With their ridiculous defensive plays and well-timed offense, they pulled away to win 15-8. Revolver really looked like the best team in the tournament after the first game.
Ironside opened their day against Team Colombia. Ironside took half 8-6, and despite only being up by two, they were in complete control. They easily handled the Colombians, allowing them only two points in the entire second half. Final score: 14-8.
Temper had to be feeling confident after going undefeated on Thursday, but that confidence might have been their downfall against a Great Britain team who knew that if they did not show up in the game, they would likely be out of the tournament completely. Temper had a lot of unforced errors that made them look like they were just not jiving completely on offense. Great Britain took half up 8-7, even though it seemed like Temper still controlled the game. The teams traded points until, in the most crucial point of the game, with three big defensive plays by both teams, Great Britain ended up pulling ahead 13-11. They eventually won 15-13, in impressive fashion.
The second round mixed things up a bit, with key losses coming from Temper and Great Britain and one of the biggest comebacks in the tournament thus far by GOAT against Team Colombia.
Ironside and Temper traded points all the way to half, but after that, the game got really interesting before Ironside closed it out 15-12. With the win, Ironside strengthened their position in the pool and improved their overall record to 2-2, keeping hopes alive for the championship bracket.
Revolver shut down Great Britain Open who seemed to have used a lot of energy in their previous game against Temper. Even though it was a great game, Great Britain had no answer for the superior defensive talent and perfectly timed offense that Revolver had shown the entire tournament. Revolver won 15-10 and never once looked worried or out of control.
Team Colombia v. GOAT was probably one of the best games to watch of the entire tournament so far. At one point, Colombia was up 11-6 and looked to be on their way to a huge upset. Team Colombia was really rallying together and celebrating every success they had on the field, whether it was a great break throw or even a successful zone point. It was really exciting to watch as the undersized team battled to try and get their first victory of the tournament. But GOAT calmed down, started playing their game and took care of business, knowing that if they lost the game, they could say goodbye to a chance to make it to the finals. GOAT rattled off five impressive break points in a row to tie the game at 11s, and just as Team Colombia pulled ahead again, GOAT stepped up and scored, then found the end zone one last time to pull out the win 13-12.
In the third round of men’s division play for the day, Revolver continued their road to perfection with another statement win, this time over a Temper team who just could not get anything going for them all day. After Revolver took half 8-4, things started to get out of hand. Temper tried to make it a game, but it was no use. Revolver ended up winning 15-10.
Great Britain Open and Colombia was a game that Great Britain controlled from the beginning. They took half 8-5 over Team Colombia who just looked exhausted after their tight game against GOAT. This was a very good spirited game to watch, Great Britain went on to win 15-6.
Ironside v. GOAT turned out to be a test of who was the most disciplined in windier conditions; the will of these teams to win was put to the test late in the game. Ironside took half 8-7 but GOAT would just not go away. Knowing that the semifinals were only points away, GOAT dug deep and needing to break to win on double-game point in overtime, tied at 15-15, got a handblock and worked the disc to the red zone. After a timeout, GOAT set up a vertical stack and the isolated cutter made his move. An outside-in flick to the opposite side of the field went up to Isaiah Masek-Kelly on what must have been a high stall count. Kelly actually missed the initial catch, but it deflected off his hands up into the air as he fell to the ground. Focus paid off as he looked up and snagged it just before it touched the grass to clinch the win for GOAT and advance his team to the semifinals.
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Overall, none of the three teams from overseas will end up playing for the men’s division title at the U.S. Open this year, but they put up some great games and showed the teams here that they were not to be taken lightly.
Tomorrow’s semifinal match-ups will be Revolver v. Truck Stop at 5:30 p.m. and Johnny Bravo v. GOAT – a rematch of last year’s national championship final – at 8:00 p.m.
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