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Bowdoin Wins 2013 D-III College Women's Championship

Mikaela Hagen

Posted: May 20, 2013 03:21 PM

The weather was clear and warm again on the second day of the Division III College Championships. After a Saturday filled with exciting upsets and head-turning results in the women’s division, the higher bracket seeds prevailed in all of the quarterfinals, ending deep runs by several scrappy teams. After prevailing over the agile Carleton Eclipse and upsetting powerful top seed Valparaiso, Williams would make their second appearance in the championship game in three years. Once there, however, they would fall to the only D-III team to challenge them this year: the confident and spirited Bowdoin Chaos Theory.

Clock Strikes Twelve for Cinderellas

Truman State TSUnami had shown steely resolve throughout Saturday’s pool play and pre-quarters. Their deep squad ground out several of the longest games of the tournament, building on their team cohesion and careful play. TSUnami, eventual spirit award winners, demonstrated upbeat play and careful swings among several capable handlers as they fell 3-15 to Bowdoin’s hard-nosed defense and swift conversions.

Initial 15-seed Swarthmore and 13-seed Philadelphia University both fell 6-15 in their quarterfinals games, but not before exposing some weaknesses of their higher-seeded rivals. Philadelphia University Diskfunctional, coached by AUDL Philadelphia Phoneix player Nicolas LoPresto, is in only its second competitive season and made its Nationals debut this year. The young squad would score first in their quarterfinal game against Claremont, but Claremont’s Raney sisters, Julia and Catherine, combined to answer back quickly, marking the start of the Greenshirts’ march to victory. While Claremont maintained control for the rest of the game, taking half 8-3 en route to a 15-6 victory, the points were often long and contested. Stingy defense from Philadelphia, led by captain Erika Krueger and Alyssa Leaning exposed Claremont’s vulnerability when their quick flow was interrupted. The handling of Allysha Dixon and Kelsey Kausch stretched the field and provided Philadelphia with big opportunities, but ultimately Claremont’s speedy defenders and explosive horizontal offense was too much for the small roster from Philadelphia.

The Swarthmore Warmothers were back in the stadium where they had clinched their championship bracket bid on Saturday afternoon, matching up against the Valparaiso Chicks Hucking Discs. Swarthmore’s senior class includes players who had participated in the 2010 D-III Nationals finals loss to Pacific Lutheran University and now formed the core of Swarthmore’s offensive attack, with captain Sachie Hayakawa making incredible grabs and bringing stinging intensity on offense and defense and Emily McAfee again putting up precise and lengthy hucks. The Warmothers returned to Saturday’s successful playbook, exploiting disciplined resets to patient handlers to neutralize the impact of Valparaiso’s tall, athletic downfield presence. While Valpo had thrown zone defenses throughout the weekend, they shifted to a tighter person defense against Swarthmore in reaction to the careful movement by the handlers. In the end, Valpo’s big looks and athletic downfield (including big receptions by Erin Watkins and Ellen Guisfredi) allowed their offense to close it out 15-6.

The Williams v. Carleton quarterfinal promised to be an exciting game between two experienced teams that had entered the weekend seeded third and fourth overall. Williams won their pool to earn a bye Saturday afternoon, while Eclipse had been forced to play through the pre-quarters after dropping a close game to the Claremont Greenshirts in pool play. The two teams last met in the finals of the 2011 D-III College Championships, when Eclipse came from behind to best Williams in a capped and windy game. This time, with the winds calm and La WUFA fired up, the outcome would be reversed. Williams came out hot, sprinting to a 4-1 lead. Running tight lines, Eclipse worked their junky zone to bring the game back to 5-5. Eclipse took half 8-7, but Williams came out focused in the second half. Williams worked patiently in the zone, swinging the disc between steady handlers and putting up big hucks in the calm air to exploit size advantages downfield. Williams marched back into the lead with a four-point run, and Eclipse answered with big Ds from Lucinda Robinson and precision hucks by Kalli Perano to bring the game to 12-11. Eclipse relied heavily on their core handlers and benefitted from strong breakout performances from underclassmen Julia Reich and Katie Blise as well as senior Lily Pearson. However, even with boisterous late-game support from a Carleton-heavy crowd, fatigue and effective defense from Williams slowed Eclipse’s offense and allowed La WUFA to close the game with a three-point run.

Semifinals

Coming off a 95-minute game against Carleton, Williams made their way to the stadium to face the top-seeded Valparaiso. Valpo had played all of their games in the stadium and boasted the weekend’s most impressive cheering section. Several members of the men’s team and a band of green-shirted parents provided encouragement (and an impressive eight-person version of "the wave") all weekend long. And they had a lot to cheer about: Valparaiso’s season had been the most successful in the team’s history. Coach Matt Oldenberg remarked that the team was incredibly successful not only because they were strong athletes and skilled players, but most importantly because of their closeness as a team and their ability to find their "center" and play for one another. Captain Erika Wagner echoed this sentiment, explaining the acronym FAITH the team used to outline their philosophy of Focus, Attitude, Integrity, Teamwork and Heart. Throughout the weekend, their cohesion and incredibly deep roster allowed them to play big and play successfully—winning match up after match up downfield and running a smothering zone that disarmed weaker throwers. In Williams, however, the Chicks Hucking Discs (CHD) faced a team with the capacity to exploit the weakness of their game plan by contesting deep shots and swinging patiently against the zone, just as they had against Carleton. Indeed, though CHD jumped out to an early lead, Williams’ talented backfield defenders, including sophomore Madeline Gilmore and senior Claire Baecher, mercilessly punished Valpo’s floaty hucks, forcing unders and fundamentally changing the way that CHD could use deep looks. Williams chipped away at Valpo’s initial lead to bring it to a 5-all tie before storming ahead to grab half 8-6. Valpo answered with great intensity, drawing on their speed to execute fast breaks down the field. Senior Ellen Guisfredi was dominant in the end zone and on defense, snagging a hat trick of goals in the second half alone. However, they would never get within more than three points of Williams, whose patient handling from Rachel Kessler and Haley Eagon had gelled and kept adding points to William’s tally. The team’s chemistry and offensive effectiveness was underscored with a beautiful cross-field put from Chelsea Zhu to Baecher to end the game 15-10, Williams.

On the other side of the complex, the Claremont Greenshirts were giving Bowdoin their most challenging game yet. Their Nationals experience was apparent in their steady wins over Carleton and Philadelphia, and they were hungry to take down another top seed. Former Andover High School standout Mariana Heckendorn was huge for the Greenshirts on both offense and defense, putting the first point of the game to Julia Raney. Bowdoin answered quickly and began to roll as they had all weekend. Captain Julie Bender was a huge spark for the offense; pairing sharp and persistent cuts with smooth, accurate puts, she was able to open up the field again and again. However, the Claremont zone defense was effective in trapping Bowdoin on the sidelines, forcing them into riskier throws and interrupting the fast breaks that had allowed Chaos Theory to dominate in earlier games. Turnovers and miscues from both teams slowed play considerably and forced both teams into more horizontal swings than they had used all weekend. Kate Speck showed great patience and persistence as a handler for Claremont, finding open women and sparking the offensive flow, and Tasha Arvantis was tireless on both sides of the disc. While Bowdoin was in control of the scoreboard throughout the game, the characteristic speed and effective defense that had characterized Claremont’s weekend were on display throughout. Bowdoin closed out the game 15-6.

Finals

The finals showcased a regional rematch between rivals Bowdoin and Williams—the third meeting for the two teams this season. Chaos Theory had bested La WUFA twice by comfortable margins in their previous meetings at the Regional Championships, dealing them their only D-III losses of the year.

In many ways, Bowdoin’s 2013 season seemed almost identical to their 2012 season: they entered the D-III Championships undefeated and seeded second. However, when asked what had changed, the Bowdoin captains cited an early spring tournament in the snow that solidified the teammates’ commitment to each other and the beginning of the belief that this season could be something special, filled with both fun and great success. Building deep friendships and great on-field efforts, Bowdoin drew upon a core of six close returners to forge a new identity for a team that had lost many members to graduation in 2012. Starting each game with a dance party and maintaining high energy and expectations regardless of the score, Bowdoin played each point in accordance with their choreographed theme song: "Anything Could Happen."

After missing Nationals last year, La WUFA was hungry for another shot at the title and had worked hard all season. Their dominance was evident during their Virginia is for Layouts victory and their sweep of their conference tournament. Williams has a deep roster with a variety of talented athletes bringing skills from hockey, basketball, soccer and volleyball backgrounds. Coach Jeannie Albrecht noted that, from top to bottom, the roster is filled with quick, confident players, allowing for a deep rotation and a high degree of trust between teammates.

Williams entered the stadium having played two hotly-contested games, resulting in 13 more points played than their opponent in just the first two rounds. This set up an intimidating final for La WUFA, and the jitters were apparent when Bowdoin jumped out to a fast lead. Bowdoin’s Hannnah Young ruled the backfield as she had all weekend, often appearing unguarded as she streaked deep. Phoebe "Goose" Alon’s long pulls and hucks kept Williams on their heels, and freshman lefty handler Ana Leon brought great intensity and big throws to the handler corps. For their part, Williams seemed to be committing unforced errors: normally sure-handed throwers were making silly drops and miscues, and overthrows were hurting Williams’ formidable deep receivers. However, when the count reached 6-0, Williams reoriented their defense to put on a zone, trusting Madeline Gilmore to rule the skies as she had throughout the tournament. Williams scored twice, with senior handler Sarah Freymiller looking quick and authoritative and Gilmore reeling in a second goal, but Bowden reasserted itself and took half 8-2 behind the smothering defense and precise offense of Julie Bender.

Williams looked steadied in the second half, trading points with Chaos Theory and utilizing an effective zone defense to force less accurate throws up the sidelines and over the cup. However, the damage had already been done. Bowdoin’s full-team defense generated the turns the offense needed to put the game away. After a timeout at 10-5, Bowdoin rolled to a victory, running a tight line and trusting their veterans to execute quickly and efficiently. A smooth put from Alon to Young sealed the 15-5 victory for Bowdoin and the first National Championship in the school’s history. Anything COULD happen.

Photo Credit: CBMT Creative

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Bowdoin Wins 2013 D-III College Women's Championship