News Preview: 2011 College Open Regionals (South Central)

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Recap: 2011 College Open Regionals (South Central)

David Belsheim

Posted: May 9, 2011 04:16 PM

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South Central
Regionals Recap

The weather at South Central Regionals in Denver, CO was sunny, with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s and light winds from the south. Fifteen teams competed for three spots to the USAU College Championships. It was a beautiful weekend for ultimate.

Colorado Mamabird continued their streak of regional championships this weekend, beating Texas (15-10), Oklahoma (15-6) and Colorado College (15-13) to secure a top seed in the 2011 USAU College Championships. Mamabird played most of the tournament without starters Timmy Beatty (leg), Matty Zemel (leg) and David Barnes (foot). Zemel would return for the Saturday crossover game against Texas and games on Sunday.

While Mamabird cruised through competition on Saturday, their defensive performance appeared lackluster at times as teams like North Texas and Colorado College were able to capitalize on quick transition strikes for uncontested goals. Former coach Catt Wilson and former captain Jolian Dahl held a special practice in preparation for regionals to improve Colorado’s defensive skill set, and after this weekend, it is clear that the team will renew its attention to team defense over the next several weeks.

Still, the team is exceptionally strong and is perhaps the most offensively skilled team in Colorado history. Colorado has undergone a transformation under the tutelage of Coach Jim Schoettler. Where Mamabird was once gritty and aggressive, they are poised and collected. The disc movement is almost artful as the handlers reset with ease and then look to attack the open spaces with touch passes and long sweeping break throws. Colorado uses a hybrid vertical stack that easily lends itself to penetrating break-side shots and deep hucks. The play of Jack McShane (#17) in particular was outstanding, as he controlled the pace of Mamabird’s attack.

Colorado was untested until the final game, where they met Colorado College. Colorado College put up a strong regular season, capped by a convincing win over British Columbia at Centex. And while Colorado College was never invited to play in any of the elite tournaments, their performance earned the region a team strength bid.

If you have not seen Colorado College play, they are a treat to watch. Led by captain Nicky Spiva (#36), this team is an excellent example of a contrast in styles with coached teams like Colorado and Texas. The team is wild and undisciplined as players are eager to push the attack and look for the quick huck to their talented receivers. Sound familiar? If you have seen Florida play, the teams are oddly similar. Nicky Spiva is especially fond of his backhand, and he’ll take any opportunity to jack it to Josh Anderson (#15), Henry Konker, or any other of their talented receivers. And more often than not, Colorado College will come down with it— It is their game, and they are exceptionally good at it.

Colorado College has a small roster and many of their players play both sides of the disc. They are used to running at altitude and with only 2 games a day at the College Championships, the format is in their favor. Their 13-8 win over British Columbia, a team that just won Northwest Regionals, could give Colorado College a favorable seeding going into the championship. Like the school from just up the road, Colorado College cruised through pool play (15-3), (15-5), (15-5) and put on a dominating performance against Washington University (15-6), the fourth seed and a team many expected to compete for one of the nationals bids. But it was Colorado College’s performances against Texas (15-9) and Colorado (13-15) that truly confirmed how dangerous this team is right now.

Texas is another team that helped the region earn a strength bid with close losses to Carleton (12-14), British Columbia (13-15) and California-Santa Cruz (11-13) and wins over Illinois (11-8) and Washington (15-8). Coached by Calvin Lin, Texas runs a disciplined vertical stack. Whereas Colorado College seeks to penetrate the break side through traffic and put up a huck, Texas patiently swings the disc to either side of the field until a lane is clear and open for a 10-20 yard in-cut or a deep shot. Often times, it was Ben Hamilton (#20) hitting Will Driscoll (#5) for big yards. Texas played in the pool of three teams, earning a wins over Air Force and Oklahoma before losing to Colorado in the crossover. Texas then edged out Kansas State in a quarterfinals game (13-12) after going down 0-4 and clawing their way back into the lead. After their loss to Colorado College, Texas beat out a small and exhausted Texas State and a surprising Oklahoma team for the final bid.

If you are curious about Colorado's 15-0 quarterfinal victory over Texas State, it is because Texas State literally handed the game over to Colorado. Faced with the knowledge that the team would most likely lose to Colorado and a third bid was available in the backdoor, Texas State made the strategic decision to intentionally turn over the disc to Colorado in order to conserve energy for the next few games. Texas State had a small roster of about 15 players, and the decision seemed to pay off when they beat Washington University (15-11) in the following game.