USA Ultimate

		2011 Club Championship Day 1 Recaps: Masters Recap (Spillum) Mixed Recap (Ziv) Open Recap (Toner) Women's Recap (Levine)

Seeding the Masters Division is always a bit difficult, given the really small number of out of region games there are to go on. Leaning on past results and the names of the newly eligible can get you only so far. As a result, the discussion of surprises can be a bit misleading. Still, the sheer potency of Wheelchair’s roster looked a lock to finish up their day at least in the upper half. Inconsistency plagued them most of the day, however, and, after a backbreaking loss to Beyondors in the second round put them at 0-2, they finished the day with a third loss to defending champs, Surly. 

[PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Canniff, facebook.com/ultiphotos (full coverage)]

Wheelchair was not the only team to suffer from inconsistent efforts, and both Surly and Boneyard looked out of sync and tentative in their respective matchups against No Country and Old Style. Still, they righted their ships in time, and would finish out their days undefeated. Likewise, DoG began its day against a tough Chalant team, with the Big Sky squad’s height and D forcing DoG to adjust their game before gutting out the 15-13 win. The rest of the pool clearly took note, however, and came at DoG hard, pressuring them until the squad began to fracture, with the GLUM players reverting to more of a long, low percentage game that the long-time DoG stalwarts were clearly uncomfortable with. Real Huck built a large early lead, with Eric Zaslow’s hammer to Johnny Hock giving them half, 8-4. From there, the Chicago side stayed comfortably ahead. DoG looked more motivated against Boneyard, taking an early 6-4 lead, before the 2010 finalists ran off four straight to take half. From there, the teams traded points until Boneyard’s Alan Hoyle found Brian Lang to seal the win. 

[PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Canniff, facebook.com/ultiphotos (full coverage)]

Another theme for the day was roster size. Every year, the heat of Florida wears on the teams down in Sarasota, and having numbers, especially in Masters, becomes paramount. Two teams in the division, Beyondors and No Country, played the day with around 16 players, and it seemed as though they would eventually wear down. No Country certainly looked like they might have used their reserves against Surly, and struggled against Tejas, before riding tenacious play to beat Chesapeaked in the final round. "We always play better late in the day, when we get in our groove. Even with our smaller roster, we are able to stay strong," said No Country’s Daron Byerly. More impressively, the short-rostered Beyondors kept in their groove all day long, beating Chesapeaked, Wheelchair, and putting away Tejas. Tejas looked far more like a team with a short roster, and many minor tweaks, especially hamstrings, put a dent in their bid to go undefeated on day one. 

[PHOTO CREDIT: Brandon Wu, facebook.com/ultiphotos (full coverage)]

As the day progressed, it became more and more apparent that the pools would bear scant resemblance to the seeding. As Reckon and Chalant rose out of their fourth and fifth spots in pool B, so too Tejas and No Country transcended their seeding. Still, with two more pool games to go on Friday, most spots in the quarters are still up for grabs. Games that on paper did not look compelling are now potential pool deciders, as both Surly and Boneyard face teams that have moved themselves into contention. With a night of rest under their belts, it remains to be seen how the 2011 Masters field will respond. 

[PHOTO CREDIT: Brandon Wu, facebook.com/ultiphotos (full coverage)]

A few things from Thursday’s action:

• The Southwest’s sole representative pushed the region’s Thursday record to a perfect 3-0. The South followed with a 4-2 record, the Mid-Atlantic went 3-3, the Central 4-5, and both the Northeast and Northwest finished 2-4. 
   
• The debate between the all-star roster who never practices and the teams that build and prepare continues, with Surly and Beyondors showing that consistency can be telling, while the DoG/GLUM combo and Wheelchair demonstrated that radical fixes can present challenges. Still, Chalant, Tejas, and Reckon showed us new projects that got it done on the field. 
   
• The Masters format really keeps up the excitement, as two more pool games give teams a kind of second day reboot opportunity. I look forward to the clarity that tomorrow will bring.
   
• While myriad people stepped it up in each game, here are a few folks who really seemed to bring it Thursday: 
  
  • Calvin Lin, Tejas: for big D and timely O, the ageless Lin kept coming up huge for Tejas. 
     
  • Ricky Eikstadt, Surly: Eikstadt made breakmark throws seemingly at will for Surly, and his relentless fitness tortured defenders all day.
     
  • Mark Aagenes, Chalant: A huge force in the air for the Big Sky boys, Aagenes was critical in keeping opponent’s long game under wraps, while finding teammates in the end zone frequently. 
     
  • Steve Dugan, Beyondors: Always a man to be reckoned with, Dugan came up with play after play in the 17-16 victory against Wheelchair. 
     
  • Brian Sherry, Boneyard: One of the keys to Boneyard holding off DoG’s late surge, Sherry put critical points on the board with throws and catches.