USA Ultimate

Club Championships - Day 1 Open Division Wrap

 

 

 

Day one of the USA Ultimate Club Championships is in the books, and if big throws, bigger skies, and teams whose preparation and experience make them unwilling to concede any game no matter the opponent, Pool C’s Doublewide v. Ring of Fire was not a bad way to kick things off. Brodie Smith’s arrival has made Doublewide’s already strong offense even more difficult to handle, as his throws are powerful enough to reach the endzone from anywhere on the field and he has the speed and quickness to get open at will.

Texas still relies heavily on dumps and swings that spread the width of the field, and Max Cook and David Melancon did a great job of making sure the disc stayed alive. Stephen Presley’s day was off and on: in the Doublewide game, he made a number of eye-popping grabs on difficult throws, particularly a game-winning hammer from Brodie, but he also had two drops on easy plays that allowed Ring to crawl back into the game and take the lead at 13-12. Defensively, Doublewide switches well to prevent open deep looks, and on big points, they often play Brodie, Presley, and other offensive line guys like Jake Anderson and Kevin Richardson on defense.

It got windy against Sockeye in the Round 3, which allowed an opportunity to showcase the zone defense that apparently gave Chain Lightning fits at Regionals. Sockeye definitely didn’t find too much continuity but they also weren’t forced into making too many risky throws, as any decent hammer typically reached a very open handler on the far side without trouble. One thing that Doublewide did do particularly well with their zone was recognize when they were able to trap the disc on the upfield sideline, which certainly led to some tough situations for Sockeye.

Doublewide closed out the day with scores of 15-13 over Ring, 15-8 over Madison Club, and 15-13 over Sockeye. While their games were closer than Ironside’s and Revolver’s, they still looked confident throughout. The zone game with Sockeye conserved energy, and with Brodie doing a lot of handling and poaching on defense, he should be relatively fresh tomorrow. It also helps that Kurt Gibson, who is likely to be just as much a force as Smith, will be arriving on Saturday, and that they played so well without him is quite telling of Doublewide’s ability. While they aren’t quite as experienced or organized as Ironside, Revolver, or Chain, Doublewide is certainly talented enough to win this tournament.

Elsewhere in Doublewide’s pool, Sockeye had a strong day, as its offense has cut down on turnovers and its defense simply approaches every point with the expectation that grinding will eventually produce breaks. They connected for a number of hucks against Madison Club, who turned the disc over quite a bit against them, and were able to jump all over a dejected Ring of Fire, rattling off six breaks in a row midway through the first half.

Defending champion Chain Lightning turned in an up and down performance. They were able to pull away from Streetgang in the second half once they found their legs and brought more pressure on defense, but their offense on both sides of the disc looked cluttered. It is apparent that while they have picked up some serious talent (outside of Sam C-K, Kiran, and Jolian, 6’7 Taylor Goforth is playing significant minutes), it became apparent throughout the day that they are missing the steadiness that Jay Hammond (retired) and Josh Markette (now with Ironside) brought when the disc was in their hands. Chain’s offense is still based on a vertical stack, but cutters never stop moving down the field, and it often uses streaking cuts across the front of the stack that handlers hit with flat, easy throws. The problem, though, is when too many people get onto the force side and Chain fails to look to swing the disc soon enough.

Their offensive problems were certainly on display in Chain’s first half against Furious George, but Furious’s early lead was just as much a product of their own high-quality play. In Andrew Lugsdin, Oscar Pottinger, Kirk Savage, and Mark Seraglia, Furious has a nucleus that has been playing together at a high level for a very long time. Handler Mauro Ortiz leads an offense that does an outstanding job of taking whatever the defense gives, and Furious frustrates opponents by their instinctive style of play. Individual handler and cutter roles don’t stand out as much, as everyone seems pretty comfortable doing whatever is needed of them when they are on the field.

Also, Furious picking up Masahiro Matsuno has been huge. While he only saw limited action on defense in Furious’s first game against Truck Stop, Matsuno became an O-line regular in the game against Chain, where it was immediately apparent that he is one of the best cutters in the world. He is constantly heads up, watching the field develop and putting himself in a dangerous position at all times; he is lightning fast, as Chain star Josh Ziperstein and defensive specialist Peter Dempsey struggled to keep up with him; he is a great thrower, which he showed off with pinpoint upwind hucks to Pottinger and Savage; and he can make your jaw drop with phenomenal plays like his huge sky over Brandon Perales or the one-handed grab that he made on a hammer from Ortiz while being covered tightly by Dempsey. Furious was a very tough bottom seed today, and by the way they played, they look poised to perform well in power pools  and advance to Quarterfinals.

Against Furious, Truck Stop struggled to generate turns and looked rattled by their fast and physical play. Their Chain game, however, was a different story. With the wind picking up, Truck blended zone and man looks that each yielded the same result: Chain turnovers. While Chain’s handler issues were certainly on display, Truck Stop showed the tenacity that they have been building up all year. On every point, they looked like they were running harder than the last, and Jeff Wodatch, Sean Keegan, and Rob Dulabon turned in huge skies and strong throws in the wind. It is worth noting that Truck’s great performance against Chain was without captain Brian Stout, who went down with a dislocated shoulder early in the day. Truck Stop has said that he may return tomorrow, but they should be happy with how well they performed without him. Unfortunately, their Chain performance was for naught, as Chain kept it close enough to win the pool on point differential and Truck was forced to drop into the lower pools because of a head-to-head loss to Furious.

In Pool B, Revolver rolled, but the rest was not so straight-forward. Madcow upset Johnny Bravo in Round One with stingy handler defense and a transition game that looked to huck before Bravo’s offensive players were ready to play defense. In the second round, Bravo barely edged out Southpaw who, while they could have closed out Bravo when they were receiving at 15-15, showed that they are certainly here for a reason. While they are sometimes lacking in offensive options and showed a decline in discipline late in the Bravo game, Southpaw has a lot of quality players that simply know how to get it done. This was on display against Madcow, as they came out ready to earn the spot in power pools that opened up after Bravo’s loss.

Ironside had the easiest day of anyone, cruising to wins over Machine, Tanasi, and crushing regional rival PoNY. They were able to play loose lines early in all of their games, and will be fresh tomorrow as a result. PoNY definitely looked like the second best team in the pool, as their physical defense made Tanasi’s role players work harder than they are accustomed to and, in turn, forced their playmakers to attempt to shoulder more of a load.

Tomorrow’s games will be interesting. In power pools, the only real objective is to avoid finishing at the bottom, as first, second, and third all guarantee a spot in the Quarterfinals. All four of the top teams are a nightmare this year, which means that aside from the mental effects of dropping a game, there isn’t the same scramble to avoid playing the top two like there was a when Sockeye and Furious were dominating a few years ago. Conversely, in the lower pools, it will be a dog fight. Only a top finish out of four keeps a team alive, and with Ring of Fire, Johnny Bravo, Truck Stop, and a Streetgang that had strong showings in all of its Pool D games, someone is going to be on the outside looking in.