USA Ultimate

 

Round 1

 

• The North Carolina-California game was a battle to take second in the pool.  In an attempt to slow down California’s isolation huck plays, UNC-CH often came down zone-to-man, but it seemed that not much could slow down the Cree Howard, An-Chi Tsou, Palak Shah trifecta.  However, Leila Tunnell and Janna Coulter displayed some offensive firepower of their own to keep UNC-CH in the game.  Cal took half 8-5, before UNC brought it back to 8-9, but Howard continued to make things happen for the Queens and led Cal back to a 13-10 lead.  UNC rattled off two in a row to make the game interesting late, but the Pie Queens would not let this one slip away, taking the game 15-13 and securing first in their pool.

• The Northwestern-Wash U matchup was an exciting game to start the day.  Kami Groom played an exceptional game for Wash U on both sides of the disc, with Abby Stephens and Julie Habbert taking control as handlers.  For Northwestern, Kim Streff and Lienn Hoffman ran the offense, with quick handler movement and well-timed hucks.  Hoffman got a number of key Ds as well.  The teams battled back and forth, with many multiple-turn points.  With Northwestern up 13-11, the game seemed in the bag for Gung-Ho but Groom refused to let Wash U die.  A Habbert huck to Groom brought the game back within 1.  Wash U came down hard on D and Stephens put on a stifling mark, forcing a Northwestern turn.  Groom caught yet another score to tie the game at 13s.  Wash U was offsides on the next pull, giving Northwestern the disc at half-field, but Emily Luck got a huge D, and Kami Groom went up big outside of the endzone and threw the short pass to Luck to give Wash U its first late-game lead at 14-13.  Northwestern worked it down the next point, with Hoffman finishing to tie the game.  A fantastic catch by Megan Epperson gave Wash U the lead, and on the next point, Groom got a catch D and caught yet another huck right outside the endzone, before Habbert hit Luck to finish the game off.  16-14, Wash U.   

 

Round 2 

• The game between Colorado Kali and University of Washington featured the most epic comeback of the day. Colorado, down 8-4 at half and 12-6 late in the second half, scored 8 unanswered points to win the game 14-12 in the soft cap.  The energy on the Colorado sidelines with palpable and it seemed like Kali knew that this game was theirs to take.  Katie Anarde caught the score to tie it at 12s, and after a D by Christy Reams, Brenna Hokanson hit Anardi again to make it 13-12, giving Colorado its first lead all game.  Colorado’s defense late in the game often featured a poach in the open side lane, forcing Element to make some difficult throws.  Emery Cowan came up with a big D and Colorado worked it up the field, with Katie Dosch hitting Lauren Boyle with a huge blading forehand to win the game.  Colorado won this game as a team, with offensive and defensive plays coming from a number of players.  This win set them up to take either first or second in the pool.

• The Wisconsin-UCLA game was another highly anticipated matchup.  The game was tied at 3s, with UCLA utilizing an effective 4-man cup.  Emelie McKain showcased her break throws and field vision to break the zone open for Wisconsin, but Kelly Wiese, Marisa Mead, and Sabrina Fong were firing on all cylinders for BLU on offense and kept the game close.  Wisconsin consistently came down zone and transitioned to man after 5-10 passes and the two teams mostly traded until Wisconsin took half 8-6.  The Georgia Bosscher-Sandy Jorgensen connection was huge this game and the tandem scored the first point after half to make it 9-6.  Jenny Gaynor would find Julie Chen to make it 10-6, but UCLA refused to die.  Megha Shah made a sick grab to keep the disc alive for BLU, and Fong hit Wiese with a crossfield throw to bring it back within 3.  In the end, BLU’s inability contain Jorgensen hurt them greatly as she pretty much caught the disc deep at will.  Wisconsin pulled away for the 15-10 win.

 

Round 3

• UNC-Wilmington came out firing against Pittsburgh, throwing a stifling zone that forced some uncharacteristic Pittsburgh turnovers.  After going down quickly 2-0, Christie Lawry threw a nice inside forehand to put Danger on the board.  Pittsburgh seemed to find its stride after that, with Sarah Roth hitting Kelsey Lenard at the front endzone cone for the score to tie it, and Susan Thomas finding Bailey Moorehead to take the one point lead.  Kelly Tidwell was huge for the Seaweed, and she was often on either the throwing or receiving side of the score on multiple occasions.  UNC-Wilmington loves to hit the up-the-line cuts and throw big looping hucks with lots of momentum off of these cuts.  Their speed and athleticism make this game plan difficult to contain.  UNCW pulled away to win the game 15-10.

• UNC-Chapel Hill came out fired up to try to knock off the second seed in their pool, USC.  UNC-CH went up 3-1 with more fantastic play from Janna Coulter and Leila Tunnell, but USC fought back to tie the game at 4s with great cutting from Lindsey Cross.  Tunnell threw a beautiful inside-out forehand to give UNC the 6-5 lead and then made a trailing edge grab to give UNC a break to make it 7-5.  UNC-CH came down zone in an attempt to stifle the USC offense, but Cross caught yet another score to keep USC in it before Tunnell made yet another picture-perfect throw to give UNC-CH half at 8-6.  Cross, Anne Ohliger, and Mary Kate Hogan played well down the line for USC and the Hellions walked away with the game, 15-13.

 

 

Round 4

• The matchup between UCLA and Stanford was a do or die game for UCLA – the outcome of this game was the difference between playing in the championship or placement brackets, and they came out ready to earn a spot in the championship bracket. BLU took an easy 5-1 lead against Stanford using big hucks and athleticism to put the disc deep over and over. Stanford, on the other hand, preferred to work the disc up the field using in-cuts and handler dump-swings.  Stanford would work it up the field consistently, then turn the disc over on a misthrow, giving UCLA too many opportunities.  Stanford scored a few in in a row toward the end of the second half, but UCLA took half 8-5.  In the second half, UCLA continued to roll, going up 12-6.  Stanford pulled its offense together in the second half, but it was too little, too late and Marisa Mead laid out in the endzone to catch the game winner.  UCLA took the game 15-10, earning the second spot in Pool B.

• Texas needed a win against Carleton in order to secure a spot in Pre-Quarterfinals.  Texas went up 4-0 early and looked to be in complete control of the game, but Carleton threw a strong trap zone and completely stifled the Texas offense.  Texas seemed unable to break the trap and even when they managed to dump the disc back out of the trap, they were unable to move the disc quickly enough to swing the disc to the other side of the field.  Attempts to huck the disc against the Carleton zone also failed as Anna Snyder ate up the Texas huck attempts.  Caitlin McKimmy played fantastically down the line for Carleton, earning them the 15-9 win.

• Maryland came ready to fight against Wisconsin.  Molly Rose, Charlie Mercer, and Kate Stambaugh worked the disc well for Helpful Corn, with Claire Valdivia coming up with a number of great reads and catches downfield.  Amy Hudson added more depth in the handler position, allowing Mercer to spend some time downfield.  This game featured some interesting sub-stories as Frances Tsukano and Claire Valdivia played on the same summer league team in Austin together and Charlie Mercer and Sandy Jorgensen were club teammates on Scandal.  The chemistry between the Maryland handlers was evident, as they all seemed to be on the exact same page with their dump sets and creative dish passes.  Both teams played fairly physical D early on and the McKain-Mercer matchup was intense.  Jorgensen had another huge game for Wisconsin, as no one could stop her.  Wisconsin put the game away 15-13, but Maryland displayed great heart with their valiant effort against one of the best teams in the country.

 

Pre-Quarters

• UCLA was riding high on their win over Stanford and brought a lot of positive energy into this game.  UW took a 2-0 lead but stellar play from Adrienne Baker brought the game back to 2-3.  Bookends from Alyssa Brown evened the game at 3s for UCLA.  Both teams continued to battle and UCLA took its first lead of the game at 7-6.  Lindsey Wilson had a huge grab for Element to tie the game at 7s.  Wilson, Shannon O’Malley, and Cailey Marsh kept the disc moving for UW, but UCLA refused to die, not phased by the experience and starpower of the team they were playing.  UW took half 8-7 and it wasn’t until 13-12 that UCLA took the lead back again.  A brutal point at 13s took a lot out of both teams, but UCLA dug deep to score it and at 14s, rattled off two to win the game 16-14.  Wiese and Mead had excellent games for BLU, but the win was a true team effort.

• The UNC-Wilmington-UNC-Chapel and USC-Pittsburgh games were never really close despite inspired play from Leila Tunnell of UNC-CH and lots of heart displayed by Kayla Kleynen, Kelsey Lenard, and Christie Lawry of Pittsburgh.  UNC-Wilmington and USC took commanding leads and never really looked back.  UNC-Wilmington again scored on huck after huck off the up-the-line cut, with Kelly Tidwelld doing much of the work.  Sara Casey and Lia English also made strong contributions and it seemed like everything was going Seaweed’s way.  In the USC game, it was more of Lindsey Cross, Mary Kate Hogan, and Anne Ohliger, as USC played its way into the championship bracket in convincing fashion.

• Similar to UCLA, Colorado was bringing lots of positive energy from its win against Element earlier today.  Colorado went up 5-2 and the Lauren Boyle-Emily Damon matchup was fun to watch.  Damon continued to dictate the Stanford offense, but Boyle pressured every reset and made Damon work hard on defense.  Ali Mendoza contributed some key Ds, and Elaine Hart and Caitlin Ruggs helped Damon hold down the handling duties.  Stanford held the lead as late as 13-11, but again Colorado battled and went on a 4-point run to win the game.  Colorado’s attacks came from all over the field with Laura Travers, Katie Patterson, and Brenna Hokanson keeping the disc moving and hitting Kali’s many capable cutters.  Final score: 15-13, Colorado.

 

Quarterfinal Matchups: Oregon vs. UCLA, Cal vs. Colorado, UCSB vs. USC, Wisconsin vs. NC-Wilmington

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