Home>News>All News Posts > Boston BUDA (U-19 Boys) and DiscNW Olympus (U-16 Boys) win 2015 YCC titles

Boston BUDA (U-19 Boys) and DiscNW Olympus (U-16 Boys) win 2015 YCC titles

USA Ultimate, Santiago Fernandez-Gimenez
Posted: August 10, 2015 10:45 PM
 
 
U-19 Boys (full results)
by USA Ultimate
 
There was a lot of impressive talent on display in the U-19 boys' division this weekend, but the four semifinals teams were just a step above everyone else in the field. They each started as their pools' respective one seeds on Friday morning and, by Sunday, had proven that their early spots were deserved. 
 
The semifinals featured two great ultimate match ups: one a familiar cross-country battle between two great ultimate cities in Seattle and Boston, the other a battle of the Southeast between the Triangle and Atlanta. 
 
The Triangle-Atlanta game was a rematch from last year's semifinals, and this year's result was largely the same. The ATLiens played nearly step for step with Triforce in the first half, but going into halftime, Triforce had the comfort of one break. In the second half, that started to pull away a little at a time, eventually earning their spot in the finals. 
 
Seattle and Boston traded points from beginning to end. Boston managed to break on the first point of the game, thanks to an unforced Seattle turnover on the first throw. The short-field conversion gave Boston the early advantage, but it didn't take Seattle long to get the break back - everything was back on serve by 4-3. And so it went throughout. When the hard cap horn blew, the game was tied at 10-10. Seattle had started the point on offense, but Boston's defense earned the team a chance. A few throws later and Boston had broken to win on double-game point and advanced to the finals against Triforce. 
 
Finals
 
The semifinal round was early, so both teams had several hours to rest before the first pull went up in the finals. That break ended up being a couple hours even longer when lighting was spotted and play was stopped in the middle of the round before they were supposed to get underway. But the teams were troopers, waiting things out in cars, at the nearby Target or in the Schwann center at the NSC. Twitter quickly filled with team selfies and hopes of no more rain or lightning. 
 
After the lightning cleared up, games ended up starting two hours late, but most teams stuck around, and the crowd around the U-19 boys’ final field was still crowded. 
 
The level of play throughout was exactly what you hope to see in a championship game. Decisions were smart, execution was good, and stars were stars. Mac Hecht was expectedly huge for Boston, making plays both behind the disc and downfield. He ended up with four goals and two assists in the final alone. Perhaps lesser known in the ultimate community at large is Tannor Johnson whose name appeared on BUDA’s stat sheets almost constantly. His line for the final was an astonishing two goals, seven assists, two Ds, and zero turnovers. That’s hard to beat. For Triforce, Liam Searles-Bohs may have been their MVP of the weekend, despite being one of the youngest players on the roster and playing alongside athletes like Matt Gouchoe-Hanas who made a name for himself in May at the College Championships with North Carolina Darkside. Searles-Bohs led Triforce in assists this weekend with 19. 
 
BUDA got the only break of the first half to go up 6-4 and carried that cushion into halftime, up 7-5. Triforce made some adjustments at halftime and started using more of their junky zone look on defense to try and force mistakes from BUDA. Triforce got the break back to tie the game at 7-7 and got another to go up 10-9. It looked like Triforce had the momentum late in the game, but BUDA did what they had done all weekend and remained calm. They played their game and took their chances when they got them. Their offense is was an impressive mix of patience – waiting for their spots, even if it required 100 throws – and deep shots that often worked because of their great athleticism, even when matched up against a similarly athletic team. 
 
After giving up their last break, BUDA held and managed to close out the game with three consecutive breaks to win 13-10. 
__________
 
In the third-place game, Seattle Shogun easily defeated a tired Atlanta ATLiens team. 13-6. There were several other close games in the placement brackets. Chicago U-19 Elite pulled out a 12-11 win over Minnesota Superior A on double-game point in hard cap to take fifth place. Colorado Cutthroat took seventh place with an 11-10 win over the Nashville Nashvillains. 
 
Note: Several games were called when the lightning delay began, which is why some final scores don’t appear to be complete games.
 
 
U-16 Boys (full results)
by USA Ultimate
 
Some familiar faces made their way into the semifinals in the U-16 boys’ divisions. All four teams had been there before, with the longest absence being for Bay Area Aftershock whose last appearance in the semis was in 2012. The other three teams, from Seattle, the Triangle and the Delaware Valley, have made it to the semifinals or beyond in each of the last few years. 
 
Semifinals
 
Early leaders appeared in each of the semifinals on Sunday morning. Seattle Olympus jumped out ahead of Bay Area Aftershock, and Delaware Valley DeVYL took an early lead over Triangle NC Hammer. 
 
Aftershock did their best to make life difficult for Olympus, but Seattle’s quick disc movement made it hard for Aftershock to consistently apply defensive pressure, particularly all across the field. Aftershock played close enough defense on the open side in-cuts to make Seattle think twice on occasion, but they would quickly change tactics and attach the break side. Wherever a cutter was open, Seattle’s throwers were able to find them. Olympus built a three-point cushion by halftime and rode that to a final score of 13-7.
 
NC Hammer came out timid in their semifinal against DeVYL. Disc movement wasn’t as quick as their offense typically allows, and more stagnant cutters downfield forced some tough reset throws late in the stall count. DeVYL eagerly took advantage of Hammer’s mistakes. Just as in the division’s semi, the halftime score was 7-4, and DeVYL continued to roll in the second half. Despite Hammer showing a few signs of life later in the game, DeVYL had no intention of allowing their opponent to mount a comeback. They added a couple more breaks in the second half and also won with a score of 13-7. 
 
Finals
 
DeVYL is the only team other than Seattle and the Triangle to have made an appearance in the U-16 boys’ championship game at the Youth Club Championships to date. They lost that game 13-6 and were hoping for a very different outcome on Sunday. 
 
The scoreline for the first several points looking incredibly like the one from the U-19 boys’ final happening on the next field. The teams traded points on serve until 4-4 when Seattle earned the first break of the game to go up 5-4. They took that break with them into halftime up 7-5. Seattle’s field awareness really showed in this game. They got contributions from all up and down the roster, whether it was a heads-up poach D, a good switch to help out a teammate or just waiting for the open look to develop on offense. 
 
Olympus threw a pretty standard zone defense against DeVYL on several occasions, often trapping them near their own end zone thanks to impressive pulls. The zone forced DeVYL to make extra passes, which often resulted in rushed throws in an attempt to beat the cup, either up the line or over the top. When playing offense, as it had been all weekend, their disc movement was again too quick for their opponent’s defense to keep up with, and their solid disc skills across the board made defensive match ups difficult. Players like Cylas Schooley was just as comfortable cutting downfield as he was playing behind the disc. Whereas most of DeVYL’s goals came from a single player, Kevin Tsui, Seattle spread the disc around. Seven different players scored in the final. 
 
The hard cap horn blew with Olympus up 12-8. DeVYL got the final goal of the day, but Olympus claimed their fourth consecutive championship title with the 12-9 win. 
 
Other ultimate communities are growing by leaps and bounds, but for the time being, Seattle’s youth ultimate program is unmatched in the U.S. It’s not uncommon for the athletes Seattle sends to YCC on their U-16 teams have already been playing for half a dozen years because of the availability of elementary-aged ultimate programs. It’s always exciting to watch these young athletes compete on the national stage, and hopefully more opportunities for youth players will continue to spring up in other areas around the country and will continue to develop the level of competition we get to witness at YCC every year. 
 

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