USA Ultimate

Another Dominant Day for the U.S.A. Brings the Record to 13-0

London, U.K. (June 20, 2016) – The U.S. delegation is two days, 13 games and 13 wins into the 2016 World Ultimate and Guts Championships in London. It was another big day for the five American teams. The mixed and women’s teams each added two wins to their overall records, while the men’s, men’s masters and women’s masters teams each added one. 

 

In what turned out to be an ideal timing situation for them, the men’s team took on Singapore on day two. After staying up until about 4 a.m. local time to watch the Cavs win the only championship title anyone can remember for the city of Cleveland, the men’s team made it to the fields for their 1:30 p.m. game and managed to miss the deluge of rain everyone else played through in the morning. Anyway, despite the final 15-4 score line, Singapore played well. They are quick and did a good job of executing their game plan during the first several points of the game. But the stifling American defense couldn’t be overcome. Particularly tight defense on and around the handlers made it difficult for Singapore gain yardage, and the U.S. came away with the win. They now move into power pools and will see the Czech Republic and South Africa tomorrow. 

 

The women’s team put together two more dominant games today – the first a 15-2 win over the Netherlands, and the second a 15-4 win over France. This team just looks dominant. They move the disc well, play tough defense and look far more cohesive than any team should look after three practice weekends and four pool play games. They have two games remaining in pool play before heading into bracket play on Wednesday afternoon, but the U.S. women likely won’t see a tight game until much later in the week. 

 

The men’s masters team took on Finland this afternoon in their only game of the day. It was an up-and-down game for Boneyard. After a strong start, the offensive line had some uncharacteristic errors, and Finland took advantage, earning back a few of their breaks. Boneyard was up 8-5 at half and gave up the first two points in the second half. A seven-point run from Boneyard ended up closing out the game at 15-7. The U.S. defense played well, which earned them the game. It was still a strong performance overall from Boneyard, but maybe not as smooth as most of the team would have liked. They’ll face Denmark tomorrow morning before starting power pools tomorrow afternoon. 

 

The women’s masters team had the closest game of the day. In difficult conditions – constant rain with intermittent wind gusts and sloppy, slick fields (the same conditions experienced by the women’s and mixed teams this morning), New Zealand played well. The U.S. opened up a 5-1 lead to start the game, but slippery disc turns and drops gave both teams opportunities to convert break chances. New Zealand closed the gap, tying the score at 7-7, and stayed within one as late as 10-9. After calling a timeout while up 11-9, the U.S. settled down a bit and closed the game on a 4-2 run to win 15-11. 

 

The mixed team faced Belgium this morning and closed the day against the United Arab Emirates this afternoon. Knowing Belgium defeated UAE 15-2 on day one, the U.S. team was excited about the match up and came out with lots of energy and focus, assuming the game would determine the pool winner. Which it did. It just wasn’t quite the game the U.S. had expected. 

 

After three practice weekends and two days of play in London, the mixed team is still a bit of an enigma – both to themselves and to anyone following along from the outside. Their ceiling is incredibly high, but without having been challenged yet, no one really knows how they’re going to react when push comes shove. No one knows just how good they are, themselves included. 

 

How they played against Belgium this morning is a decent place to start looking, or at least the best one we have so far. With the top spot in their pool on the line while facing an opponent who had put up solid results so far, the team showed up. They were focused, they executed well, and they had the energy you hope to see from a national team, both on the field and on the sideline. The team defense was impressive, chasing down the pull and getting ready to start stalling as soon as the disc could be checked in. The team was feeling good.  

 

The offense wasn’t perfect. The O-line takes some chances, with only a couple here and there probably bringing grimaces to the faces of the coaching staff. And with a team whose strong suit is probably defense, it’s okay to take some chances. Belgium didn’t get on the board until 14-1, when a perfect huck went up just after Jack Hatchett barely missed a layout D on the in-cut. USA finished it out 15-1. The super wet conditions likely gave the U.S. an advantage. Their sheer depth and top-to-bottom skill levels give them the edge in adverse conditions over just about any team in London, apparently including Belgium. But their focus and execution are what really earned them the 14-point buffer. 

 

In their second game, the final game of pool play, they met the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. scored the game’s first two points before the UAE rattled off three of their own to get back on serve. They, like Singapore against the men’s team earlier in the day, did a good job of executing their game plan and showed the ability to move the disc through and over the U.S. zone. After their short run though, it was all USA. The final score line was impressive again – 15-5 this time. 

 

But despite the score line, not all the athletes were totally satisfied with how they’d played. The coaches were glad for the small test at the beginning of the game and with how the team responded to it, making defensive adjustments and re-focusing on better execution, both on offense and defense. But players at this level expect a lot from themselves, from start to finish of any game. Their slow start this afternoon is something they’ll keep in mind as they move on.

 

The team is definitely excited about heading into tomorrow’s power pools and facing off against increasingly competitive teams. 

 

As the week wears on, they (and all of us following along) will get to find out just how good this team really is. 

 

 

Men def. Singapore 15-4

Mixed def. Belgium 15-1

Mixed def. United Arab Emirates 15-5

Women def. Netherlands 15-1

Women def. France 15-4

Men’s Masters def. Finland 15-7

Women’s Masters def. New Zealand 15-11

 

 

9:30 a.m. – Mixed v. Hong Kong, Women v. Finland

 

11:30 a.m. – Men v. Czech Republic, Men’s Masters v. Denmark

 

1:30 p.m. – Mixed v. Germany, Women’s Masters v. Germany

 

3:30 p.m. – Men v. South Africa

 

5:30 p.m. – Women v. Singapore, Men’s Masters – Power Pool Game 1, Women’s Masters v. Japan