2016 U.S. Open - Day Two Mixed Recap
Jared DiMascio
Posted: July 2, 2016 08:36 PM
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The fifth-annual U.S. Open Championships are underway in Kingston, R.I.
Thirty-four teams across the men's, mixed and women's divisions are competing to take home the first leg of the 2016 Triple Crown Tour.
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The brisk winds of Rhode Island came in full force on Saturday, even worse than on Friday, and made for some close games, exciting layouts and spectacularly athletic plays just to keep possession. Though most teams seemed to have adapted to the wind after playing three rounds on Friday, these last two rounds of pool play in the mixed division were mostly controlled by the wind.
After playing three pool play games on Friday, the mixed division teams were ready and eager to get on the field for a chance to make it to the championship bracket. With two undefeated teams in Seattle Mixtape and Metro North, the rest of the bubble teams had to win out if they wanted a chance at the semifinals.
Pool A
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Drag'n Thrust
(1)
4-1 |
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Polar Bears
(3)
3-2 |
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Metro North
(6)
4-1 |
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AMP
(7)
3-2 |
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Union
(10)
1-4 |
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Panama
(12)
0-5 |
The first game of the day, which was streamed on Ultiworld, was the most unbelievable of them all. Drag’n Thrust found themselves in a 7-1 hole against a pumped-up AMP, who was looking to coast to victory with several upwind hucks and quick scores, taking advantage of Drag’n Thrust’s miscues and uncharacteristic drops. After half, Minneapolis shook off the 8-3 deficit to rattle off break after break to tie it at 8-8. With a huge block and quick score, Drag’n Thrust completed the comeback with a 12-11 win.
Polar Bears managed a solid win against a tough Metro North team, 13-11, after leading by a few points most of the game. However, the Connecticut team locked up Pool A with a 4-1 record, proving they are a team to watch, despite missing a few key playmakers. Even after beating the pool winner, the Polar Bears finished 3-2, after losses to AMP and Drag’n Thrust on Friday. They fall to the fifth-place bracket.
With their loss to Drag’n Thrust this morning, AMP missed out on the championship bracket and will face off against a tough Wild Card team in the fifth-place bracket.
Union and Panama drop down to the ninth-place bracket after a few tough losses. Team Panama seemed to struggle to adjust to the wind. They made up for it with huge bids and great efforts, but ultimately came up just short in each of their games. Union struggle to find their footing against the U.S. teams, leading to big losses against the three domestic teams in their pool.
Pool B
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Seattle Mixtape
(2)
5-0 |
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Slow White
(4)
4-1 |
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Ambiguous Grey
(5)
1-4 |
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Wild Card
(8)
2-3 |
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NOISE
(9)
3-2 |
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Voltaje
(11)
0-5 |
The other bracket saw an exciting first game as well, as Wild Card and Seattle Mixtape played in a gusty, crosswind game. Despite an 8-5 halftime lead for Boston, Seattle came back with better reads on deep shots and plays from their playmakers like a huge layout by Khalif El-Salaam to earn the lead back for his team at 11-10. Wild Card tried to fight back with handler movement from Robin Meyers and Matt Heath, but tight defense from Mixtape won them the game, 13-11.
Seattle finished the day as the only undefeated team, to win Pool B with a 5-0 record. They will have to play Drag’n Thrust, a rematch of last year’s National Championships final, for a chance at the U.S. Open final.
Slow White bounced back from their loss against Mixtape with two wins on Saturday, with a decisive win over Colombia and a close game with Ambiguous Grey. Newcomer Tannor Johnson led the charge all day with big skies and deep options, while Annie Fisher was a repeatable target in the end zone as well. Handler Jeff Smith seemed to have no trouble with the wind, delivering several well-placed hucks.
NOISE was the surprise of the pool, with upsets over Ambiguous Grey and a double-game-point win over Wild Card. The Madison team finds themselves playing in the fifth-place bracket after coming into the U.S. Open as the 10 seed.
With losses to Slow White and NOISE, Ambiguous Grey falls to the 11th-place bracket after a disappointing weekend. Also dropping to the 11th-place bracket is Voltaje. Despite losing all of their games, they managed to put up several points against Seattle, thanks to great chemistry in zone, big defensive bids from Michael Espinosa and quick throws from their handlers.
Looking Ahead
Sunday brings the championship bracket semifinals, as well as the rest of the placement brackets’ first rounds. With Metro North’s dominating play on Friday and Saturday, they find themselves as the one seed leaving Pool A. They are the only team seeded lower than fourth to make the championship bracket and will play against their local rival, Slow White. The other side of the bracket finds the overall one and two 2 seeds, Drag’n Thrust and Seattle Mixtape, playing for a chance at the finals. The Minneapolis team will have to fight hard against Seattle, the lone undefeated team at this point, if they hope to retain their title as U.S. Open champions. Whichever team does make it to the finals, they will have a tough time against Slow White or Metro North, both of whom went 4-1 in pool play on the back of some great throws in the gusting wind and athletic plays on both sides of the disc.
ESPN will be airing the Drag’n Thrust v. Seattle Mixtape game, while Ultiworld will film the Slow White v. Metro North game and make it available on tape delay.
In the fifth-place bracket, AMP and Wild Card will hope to reverse their fortunes from pool play and come away with a close win, after both teams lost a few games by just a couple points on Saturday. A disappointed Polar Bear team will have to turn things around to come out with a win against a fired up NOISE team, who broke seed over Ambiguous Grey and Wild Card in Pool B.
Rounding out the 11th-place bracket, the three international teams will have to fend off an Ambiguous Grey team that had a rough Friday and Saturday. Union and Voltaje (Colombia) will play the winner of Panama v. AG.
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