A Week at the Under-23 World Championships – Day 3, Part II
Eric Brach
Posted: July 25, 2013 11:41 AM
The following is part of our of continuing coverage of the 2013 WFDF U-23 Championships in Toronto, Canada.
The U.S.A. men’s team saw their third showcase game of the tournament on Wednesday: a sunset matchup against the number two seed in their pool, Colombia. The game started out close but ended with America pulling away, turning an 8-6 nail-biter into a 17-9 romp.
With the win, the U.S.A. locked up the top spot in their pool and a number one seed going into Friday’s elimination brackets. Some highlights:
On the first point, Byron Liu catches the pull and centers the disc, who immediately hucks to a streaking Jimmy Mickle. Mickle beats two defenders to the end zone and scores.
On the U.S.A.’s second offensive point, Josh Klane catches the pull and throws a 30-yard, high-backhand break to Jimmy Mickle. Mickle turns and unleashes a flick huck that travels the remaining 50 yards to Colin Camp for the score.
On the third U.S.A. point, Klane catches the pull and swings to an unguarded Byron Liu, who immediately hucks downwind to an unguarded Colin Camp. The U.S.A. sideline launches into call-and-response cheers entirely based on Bruce Willis movies. "Live Free – Die Hard!" "Die Hard – Die Harder!" "With a – Vengeance!"
On the fourth U.S.A. point, Jimmy Mickle picks up the disc off a bricked pull and throws to Christian Johnson. Johnson throws to Colin Camp, who throws to a streaking Jimmy Mickle for a score.
What’s amazing about this is not simply that Mickle caught the score on a point he started. It’s that the point took only three passes to finish – and those three passes marked the longest U.S. offensive possession in the game.
But still more amazing? The Colombian’s don’t bend an inch. U.S.A. may be scoring, but Colombia does just fine as well. The first 11 points of the game see only two turnovers – total, and there are no breaks at all until the 12th point of the game. Staying with the U.S.A. every step of the way, it’s not until 6-5 that Colombia allows the U.S.A. defensive line to score.
After breaking to go up 7-5, U.S.A.’s defensive line never looks back. Ian Toner leads the d-line offense, capably moving the disc and striking fast and hard when he sees an opening. In the first point out of halftime, after a shaky Colombia drops the pull, Toner picks up the disc, walks it back to the end zone line, then throws a German-style (i.e., thrower-initiated) high backhand break for the easy score. Toner is particularly clutch for the USA’s d-line offense throughout the rest of the game, and with the help of Timmy Morrissy, Dalton Smith and Kelsen Alexander generating multiple turnovers, USA’s o-line gets to spend a lot of time on the sideline watching.
They finish introductory pool play with a lame duck game against Switzerland in the afternoon.
Coming tomorrow: an interview with U.S.A. women’s team coach Carolyn Matthews.
Day 3 Highlights - Images by CBMT creative
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