USA Ultimate

2010 College Division - Women's Division Day 1 Recap 

Round 1

• With the last Stanford-Maryland at Women’s College Centex falling strongly in favor of Stanford, Maryland, coming off capturing a Colonial Sectional Title and an exciting win over Ottawa in the backdoor game at Regionals, was looking to come out strong. However, Stanford came out fired up in this game and jumped out to a 3-0 lead, thanks to inspired play from Emily Damon.  Damon was the key to the Stanford offense, and her, Caitlin Ruggs, and Elaine Hart kept the disc moving with ease, utilizing great around break throws.  The Stanford handlers’ throw-and-go movement was extremely effective this game.  Maryland battled back with some great disc movement of their own and Charlie Mercer, Kate Stambaugh, and Molly Rose displayed great chemistry on the field.  Ultimately, Stanford took the game handily 15-9, but Maryland showed that their top players will give many teams a run for their money.
• USC and Northwestern had not seen each other all year and both teams came ready to play.  Kim Streff and Sara Miller controlled the disc for Northwestern with all of the Gung-Ho offense running through them, while Mary Kate Hogan directed traffic for USC.  USC took half at 8-4 and went on to close out the game 15-11.
• UNC’s weekend got off to a bit of a rocky start when seven of their players’ flights were canceled.  The Pleaides maintained their composure, jumping out to a 5-2 lead and never looking back.  Leila Tunnell, Heather Zimmerman, and Janna Coulter kept the disc moving for the Pleiades and catapulted the team to a 15-7 victory.  This game also marked captain Katilin Baden’s return to the field, after a year of surgeries and rehab.  Baden’s return is a happy one for the Pleiades.  Sarah Ebstein kept the disc moving for Wash U with Kami Groom tearing things up downfield.

Round 2

• The Carleton-Pittsburgh game was a crucial matchup, as the loser would face likely relegation to the lower brackets.  Carleton came out firing and took a 2-0 lead, but great offense from Christie Lawry and Molly Moore, and a huge handblock from Kayla Kleynen allowed Pitt to take the lead 4-2.  Pitt was not afraid to huck the disc and Carleton’s play was much more conservative.  Pitt walked away with the game 13-8 with Lawry, Moore, and Kleynen leading the way.
• The matchup between Oregon and UNC-W one of the highest anticipated games as both teams came into the College Championships undefeated through Sectionals and Regionals.  Oregon came out a bit lackluster, but quickly pulled things together to take a 5-2 lead.  Kelly Tidwell had some big plays for Seaweed, but ultimately UNCW had no answers for Julia Sherwood, Molly Suver, Bailey Zahniser, and the rest of the Oregon studs.

Round 3

• Wisconsin-Stanford was a rematch of last year’s Quarterfinals matchup and while Wisconsin has beaten Stanford four times this season, Bella Donna was anxious to seal a win again Superfly when it mattered the most.  Wisconsin jumped out to a 5-1 lead on the back of a very effective zone-to-man.  However, Stanford refused to go away, showing great patience with the disc and eventually battling back to 5-7.  Wisconsin went on a strong run in the second half extending their lead to 14-8, and most thought the game was over.  But Stanford rattled off 5 straight to bring the game within 1 before Wisconsin gutted it out to avenge last year’s Quarterfinals loss.
• Maryland jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against UCLA and the game remained close with the teams trading points and throwing stifling zones.  Maryland’s handlers looked very comfortable moving the disc down the field, with Molly Rose throwing several perfectly-placed crossfield hucks to cut BLU’s trap zone wide open.  Maryland would bring it to 12-8, but UCLA scored twice to make it 10-12 before Maryland closed out the game 15-13.  Sabrina Fong had a number of nice throws for UCLA, but ultimately BLU fell just short.

Round 4

• Washington-UCSB faced off in a rematch of last year’s Finals and the first half of the game went according to plan with the two teams trading points and exciting plays.  Kaela Jorgenson, Carolyn Finney, and Marie Madaras were connecting all over the field for UCSB and Shannon O’Malley and Lindsey Wilson put up the big throws for Washington.  UCSB took half 8-6, but the second half was all UCSB and Washington’s hucks stopped connecting and UCSB ran away with the game 15-8.
• Texas-Pittsburgh was another exciting matchup as Texas needed a win in this game to have a legitimate shot at making the championship bracket.  Lawry took control early for Pittsburgh, but Rachel Massey, Rachel Hokanson, and Katie Blyth led a very balanced attack for Texas.  Texas took half at 8-7 and the team dug deep in the second half to take the game 15-11.
• Carleton needed a win against UNC-Wilmington in order to boost their chances at making the championship bracket and the game was hotly contested.  Anna Snyder ran the Syzygy offense, while Kelly Tidwell provided much of the firepower for Seaweed.  UNC-Wilmington went up 9-6 but Carleton fought back to tie the game at 10s before UNC-Wilmington took the game 14-12 in the hard cap.
• Colorado-Michigan was one of the most exciting games of the day with the teams trading points back and forth for the entire game.  Courtney Verhaalen was the keystone of the Colorado offense, with Brenna Hokanson and Katie Patterson holding down the handling duties.  Hokanson also had some clutch Ds to keep Kali in the hunt.  AnnaMarie Paruk kept the Flywheel offense moving, with Paula Seville making some big throws for Flywheel.  Sarah Rutherford helped keep the disc moving for Flywheel with Becky Malinowski making some great grabs downfileld.  Ultimately, Colorado pulled it out with a 15-13 win.

Round 5

• California went up early against USC, starting out with an easy 5-2 lead featuring some nice goals from Lucy Rosenbloom and a lay out D from Maya  Gilliss. Palak Shah worked the disc well and consistently looked to break the mark, leading the Pie Queens to take half  8-3.  In the second half, both teams switched their defense up a bit from man-to-man, to zone, and back again. The Pie Queens continued to roll, with Cree Howard eating up any deep look attempts from the Hellions and generally keeping the offense moving  as an initiating cutter in the ho stack.  Cal and USC traded points for most of the second half, and several times, the Hellion’s offense scored effortlessly in three or four passes, with big hucks from Mary Kate Hogan. The game ended on a floaty backhand huck from An-Chi Tsou to Howard, who got up high to bring it down for the win, 15-10. 
• UW went into their game against Harvard reeling from their game with UCSB.  The two teams traded points until 6-6, when UW finally scored twice in a row to take half.  UW’s Shannon O’Malley and Lindsey Wilson put up a number of big hucks, with Leah Fury helping to keep the disc moving.  Lucy Barnes played huge for Harvard, controlling the disc for Quasar.  In the second half, Harvard scored first, making it 8-7 Washington, but UW pulled away going up 12-8 on a big backhand look from Jilliam Goodreau.  Harvard managed to hold on, staging a mini-come back, but eventually fell short to UW, 15-13.
• Middlebury proved to UCLA that despite their crazy uniforms and flair, they deserve to be taken seriously in terms of what they bring on the field. The game started out close, with Middlebury mixing between playing tight man defense and running a 3-man cup. UCLA took half 8-6, but things stayed close at 10-9 UCLA. Middlebury’s handlers effectively took UCLA’s defenders up the line, and put big hucks out to space for their receivers again and again.  In the end, Marisa Mead and Kelly Wiese helped UCLA put together a substantial run to win the game 15-10.