News Recap: 2011 College Open Regionals (North Central)

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Recap: 2011 College Open Regionals (North Central)

Jack O'Callahan

Posted: May 2, 2011 07:26 PM

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Regionals Recap

The following is Iowa fan Jack O’Callahan’s account of IHUC’s two games against top-ranked Carleton CUT.

After a week of rainy weather, the teams of the North Central Region went into the Friday before Regional’s still unaware of whether or not they were going to be playing. The original field site had closed down, backup sites were up in the air, and the weather for the weekend didn’t look good. But at last, fields were found in Madison at a middle school summer league site and the games were on.

Led by coach Ryan Nation, Iowa played brilliantly. The windy conditions made every game on the weekend very tight, but Iowa’s big wins over tough opponents were not flukes. Every Iowa player was aware of his role, and quality play was contagious amongst Iowa teammates.

Saturday morning dawned cloudy and windy. IHUC was seeded fourth, sitting atop Pool D. The first game was against Wisconsin Eau-Claire. Eau-Claire came with a small team of only ten or eleven guys, but proved that they had some talent. IHUC came out a little shaky but was able to get a few upwind breaks and win 15-10. The second game was against Nebraska and there was a similar story: in the tough wind, IHUC got the early breaks and held on, but still didn’t look to be playing at the top level in the 15-10 win.

Across the board, other teams were also engaged in close battles. Wisconsin-Whitewater, the fifth seed, was upset by Wisconsin Eau Claire, 14-9.

Iowa reached its full potential for the first time all season in the team’s game against Whitewater. IHUC burst out and got two upwind breaks, finishing the downwinders to go up 4-0. Whitewater, already down after their first loss, had very little fight left in them. Iowa took half 8-2, going on to take a 15-5 victory.

The semifinals were set as originally seeded: Iowa versus Carleton and Wisconsin vs Minnesota. The wind was a factor, but it began to die slightly as the teams faced off. Carleton, who had an easy pool path, came in confident in their game against Iowa. It was close early as each team traded downwind points and punted whenever they were in trouble. Tied at 4-4, CUT called a time out, called a line of players that would have made a club team envious, and came out with fire. CUT broke twice, taking half 8-5.

At halftime, Iowa reminded itself that ultimate is a game of runs, and IHUC started the second half with two breaks that brought the score to 8-7, Carleton. As the wind began to die down near sunset, the teams were forced to play more man defense, and the points grew longer. IHUC fought hard, but Carleton controlled the end of the game and won, 15-8, moving on to the Regional final and guaranteeing a berth to the College Championships.

While many expected Carleton to go on to with the North Central Region, a loss to the Wisconsin Hodags bumped them down into the second-place bracket. After wins over Luther and Minnesota, Iowa earned a rematch.

Iowa won the flip, electing to defend the upwind endzone. After a few downwind points, Iowa was able to break first, taking a 3-1 lead. While Carleton elected to play man defense, Iowa went with a zone, forcing Carleton to throw blades that lead to turnovers and, eventually, a halftime score of 8-3, Iowa.

Iowa came out of half with yet another upwind score, and while Carleton switched lanky defensive handler Simon Montague over to offense, IHUC made multiple upwind goal line stands and won a critical long point to make the score 10-3.

Late in the game, Carleton finally threw a zone that attempted to trap downwind. The adjustment, though, was to no avail, as Iowa handlers continued to throw accurately despite the wind and pressure. Carleton also started to hold while going upwind, but the score did not get closer than 11-6. At 12-6, the cap horn sounded, meaning that the game was to 14. On game point, Iowa scored upwind one final time to end it, taking second place in the North Central.

With four tough teams from the Central going to the College Championships, the region is proud and ready to do well. Iowa is happy to have thrown a wrench into Championships seeding, and is ready to meet any challenge.