News Recap: 2011 College Open Regionals (New England)

Home>News>All News Posts > Recap: 2011 College Open Regionals (New England)

Recap: 2011 College Open Regionals (New England)

Alex Cooper, Robert Luedeman

Posted: May 11, 2011 11:25 AM

Open Division

College2011 NE Icon
New England
Regionals Recap

Despite initial predictions of rain, the weather on both Saturday and Sunday was cooperative and set a beautiful backdrop for a weekend full of great ultimate action at New England Open Regionals.

There weren't too many surprises on Saturday morning. Boston College successfully avenged a Conference loss to Northeastern in the first round, but everything else went according to seed in the first two rounds. This set the stage for what have come to be familiar faces in the New England semifinals over the last few years: Harvard v. Dartmouth and Tufts v. Middlebury.

In the first semifinal, Dartmouth set the pace by punching in a couple of early breaks that forced Harvard to fight from behind for the first time in the tournament. Andrew Vogt's ridiculous layout grab at the back corner of the endzone brought Harvard to life, though, and Redline rolled off two consecutive breaks to get back on serve before the end of the half. Dartmouth began the second half with the disc, but couldn't convert. Harvard picked up two breaks to start the half and never really looked back. Final: 15-10 Harvard.

In the other semi, Tufts took advantage of a slow start by Middlebury, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead and taking half 8-3. When the lines opened up for both teams, Middlebury punched a few in, but they couldn't overturn the deficit. After trading for much of the second half, Tufts closed things out for a 15-9 victory.

In a rematch of the Metro Boston Conference Championship, Tufts and Harvard squared off for regional glory. It was their third meeting in a little over a month, and each team came into the game with an intimate understanding of its rival.

Some soft winds to start the game made for some misplaced hucks and lengthy points. Tufts got the better of these exchanges, and kicked things off with an early pair of breaks. Harvard steamed back with one of their own, but they couldn't keep the momentum going. Tufts got the better of Harvard on some marathon points in the windy conditions and, at one point, had the opportunity to take half, 8-4. But after a few unfortunate Tufts drops on consecutive points, Harvard brought the score to 7-6 before Tufts took the half, 8-6.

The first three points out of half ran for a total of nearly 30 minutes. Unlike in the first half, Harvard came up on the right side of the exchange each time, rattling off three breaks in a row and clearly snatching the momentum.

After the lengthy point that brought the score to 9-8, Harvard, the cap went on, meaning that the game would be played to 11. Tufts had their chances, but couldn't finish things off. Harvard wrapped things up with 2 more breaks, taking the second half, 5-0, and the New England Regional Championship with an 11-8 victory.

In the backdoor bracket, Middlebury had handled Boston College, 15-10, and Dartmouth had held off UMass, who surged late in the game but could not hold onto it, winning 17-15. These two teams, who had met just a few weeks before at Conferences, got to fight for a chance to take on Tufts. This time, Dartmouth got the better of Middlebury, as their consistent offense helped lead them to 15-12 victory.

Tufts quickly picked itself up for the second place game, and the difference between their level of play and Dartmouth’s was readily apparent. Tufts sprinted to a 6-1 lead that proved insurmountable. By the time the dust had settled, Tufts had earned the second bid to Boulder with a 15-7 victory over Dartmouth.

Notes:

Tufts is only losing 5 seniors, and is returning 6 offensive starters, and their second place finish this year shows next year's potential. Watch out for playmakers Jack Hatchett and Adrian Banerji to make some noise both in Club this summer and all next year.
Though looking pretty injured this weekend, Vermont still had a strong showing and will continue to build on their deep class of 2013. In addition, Brown and Dartmouth both have a strong younger class in great programs, making future success look probable.
Though the weather was beautiful all weekend, there were on and off gusts of wind, showcasing the best throwers of the tournament and their wind throws. In addition to George Stubbs, other standouts included Tufts' Ben Nelson, Middlebury's Robbie Zabel, Dartmouth's Robin Meyers, and UMass' John Barker
The X factor that pushed Harvard and Tufts above the rest was strong man defense, both up and down wind. In particular, musical sensation Devon Ray Williams, of Harvard, and Lloyd Olson, of Tufts, played amazing D all weekend.