USA Ultimate

		2011 Club Championship Day 2 Recaps: Masters Recap (Spillum) Mixed Recap (Ziv) Open Recap (Toner) Women's Recap (Levine)

 
No one’s hopes were dashed at the start of play on Friday, but by the end of the day, the Open field was whittled down to eight quarterfinalists.  The power pools and lower pools were exciting in their own ways, with top teams jockeying for Saturday positioning and lower teams battling to merely stay alive.

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

Josh McCarthy noted on Thursday that his Boston team would have to prove its resilience by responding to punches in Friday’s power pool play.  Their second round matchup against Doublewide gave Ironside an opportunity to showcase that character, and with Doublewide up 11-8, the Boston boys mounted a defining charge.  Flying blocks from George Stubbs and standout play from Russell Wallack brought the game back to 14-14 before Doublewide dropped a pull on its own goal line.  Ironside quickly broke to go up 15-14 and then again to win 16-14, earning Boston the Pool F title and a matchup against a pre-quarters victor.

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

Southpaw has responded to and delivered punches all tournament long, defying expectations and playing gritty, chip-on-your-shoulder Frisbee.  On Friday, the Philadelphia-based team clawed its way out of Pool G with an improbable 15-13 victory over Johnny Bravo and earned a spot in the pre-quarterfinals against higher-seeded Regional rival Truck Stop (that victory came after a 15-13 loss to the last-seeded Condors, mind you).  As much as Frankie Hazera, Alan Kolick, Sean Keegan, Jeff Wodatch, and George Hughes-Strange tried to will DC to victory, their efforts weren’t enough in comparison to Southpaw’s discipline and break efficiency (or Truck’s offensive shortcomings).  Trey Katzenbach and David Brandolph took care of the disc while Stephen Thor, Jake Herman, and Trent Dillon made plays downfield en route to Philly’s stunning 15-12 victory.  Southpaw may not have the deepest or most star-studded roster, but coaches Jeff Snader and Marc Stachowski sure know how to get the most out of their players in crunch time.

The other pre-quarterfinal saw Hector Valdivia’s Madison Club squaring off against Regional rival and Thursday favorite Machine.  The Hodag-heavy squad fought through Tanasi and Sub Zero in the lower pools before heading to double-game point in the Machine matchup.  Colin Camp, a Hodag and NexGen player who first made a name for himself in this year’s College semifinal against Colorado Mamabird, proceeded to find the endzone for the umpteenth time and earned Madison Club an unlikely but well-deserved quarterfinals berth.

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

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

 

News & notes:

• Ken Porter is a game time decision for Ring of Fire’s quarterfinal matchup against Chain Lightning tomorrow morning
  o    Ring Captain Josh Mullen, who hurt his ankle in the weeks of practice leading up to Nationals, is unlikely to cleat up
  o    Chain and Ring will meet for the first time since placement play at the 2010 USAU Club Championships

 

• The Southwest Region is the only Region not represented in the 2011 Championship Bracket

 

• Southpaw is now guaranteed (at least) a second consecutive quarterfinals finish in the team’s second year of existence
• Sub Zero, the Central Region champion, is the only winless Open team left
  o    Eric Johnson separated his shoulder in the second half of Sub Zero’s game against Truck Stop on Thursday, and he is out for the weekend

 

• The Doublewide/GOAT quarterfinal will be a rematch of a Colorado Cup pool play game, which Doublewide won 15-7

 

• Neither Revolver nor Ironside have lost a game since the Series began
  o    It’s very possible that this same statistic could ring true at the end of semifinal play Saturday, as both teams are on opposite ends of the championship bracket

 

• The Oakland Haiders, who earned the Mid-Atlantic’s fourth bid, have broken seed, with a guaranteed finish of twelfth or better
  o    Their first game in the ninth place bracket against Truck Stop is a rematch of the Mid-Atlantic second place game (which Truck Stop won, 15-9)