USA Ultimate

Quarterfinals

• After pulling off some exciting upsets yesterday, UCLA was looking to bring that momentum into today’s Quarterfinals matchup against Oregon.  UCLA came out fired up, but Oregon had other plans and went to work, stringing together five in a row to go up immediately.  Katie Falk stepped up with a D, then threw the score to Kelly Wiese to put UCLA on the board, but there was no stopping Fugue today.  Oregon’s stacked roster was difficult for UCLA to contain, as the attacks were coming from everywhere and everyone on the field.  Molly Suver and Julia Sherwood kept the disc moving, and as always, Bailey Zahniser make some crowd-pleasing plays.  Steph Eaneff got a layout D for BLU, and Sabrina Fong hit Falk for the score to make it 2-6, but Oregon would continue working to make it 10-3 and then finish it off at 15-5 to earn a spot in Semifinals.
• The UCSB-USC game was a rematch of the universe point Southwest Regional finals game, where USC emerged victorious to capture its first Regional Championship.  However, UCSB was having a great weekend that included an enormous 15-9 upset of #3 seed overall, University of Washington and they refused to be stopped today.  UCSB and USC traded early, but the Skirts got a break to make it 4-2 and yet another break to make it 6-3 on the backs of Kaela Jorgenson, Carolyn Finney, and Marie Madaras.  UCSB took half 8-5 and pulled away after half to take the game 15-9.  UCSB’s zone stifled USC, though Mary Kate Hogan connected with Lindsey Cross and Anne Ohliger several times to keep USC in the game.  Jorgenson ate up most of USC’s huck attempts as the deep-deep in the zone and Stephanie Karba provided an intimidating presence in the cup to give UCSB the relatively easy win.
• Wisconsin’s years of experience in the championship bracket at the College Championships was evident as they warmed up for their Quarterfinals matchup against newcomer University of North Carolina-Wilmington.  UNCW had a convincing win over Regional rival UNC-Chapel Hill in Pre-Quarters yesterday and came out ready to challenge Bella Donna.  Seaweed fought to stay in it, though Wisconsin took a commanding 5-0 lead and took half 8-4.  Kelly Tidwell continued to be a dominating force for Seaweed, attacking the deep space with big hucks.  However, Seaweed had no answer for Georgia Bosscher, Emelie McKain, and Sandy Jorgensen, who carried Bella Donna to the 15-8 win.
• The Colorado-California Quarterfinal matchup was the most exciting game of the round.  The teams have a longstanding good relationship that dates back to the 2005 College Championships, when the two teams choreographed dances for each other.  Colorado drew first blood, with Courtney Verhaalen hitting Katie Dosch for the score.  Cal answered with a huck from An-Chi Tsou to Cree Howard, a combination which worked like a charm all weekend.  The teams traded points early before Cal got a couple of breaks to go up 7-4 and traded out to take half 8-5.  Claire Desmond would score to make it 10-6 but as in every other game this weekend, Colorado refused to die and rattled off four straight to tie the game at 10s.  Lilli Morris contributed some especially inspired play on both sides of the disc and a host of other Colorado players including Laura Travers, Christy Reams, Emery Cowan, and Lauren Boyle also played exceptionally well.  Cal stopped the bleeding with a Howard to Desmond score to make it 11-10, Cal.  Cree then had a great read on a big curving huck to make it 12-10, but Colorado kept fighting and scored 3 straight, including a crazy deflection that Cowan came down with to make it 13-12, Colorado.  A series of Cal turnovers made for a marathon point, but Howard eventually found Desmond again to the game up it at 13s.  Cal came down zone, but Colorado worked it down the field patiently, with Boyle hitting Dosch for the win 14-13 to send Colorado into the Semifinals.

Semifinals

• With their exciting win over Cal, Colorado earned the right to play Oregon in the Semifinals.  Oregon was well-rested, having finished their Quarterfinals game early and they came out ready to play.  Fugue took half 8-1, again utilizing their full roster to come up with the big plays.  Despite coming off a draining Quarterfinals game, Colorado forced multiple turns and made Fugue fight for each point, but couldn’t convert the turns they got.  Colorado ran a stifling 4-person cup, but Fugue’s handlers worked the disc patiently and often found cutters like Tina Snodgrass wide open in the endzone.  Oregon continued to crush in the second half, winning the game 15-4 and earning a spot in tomorrow’s championship game.
• The Wisconsin-UCSB matchup was hotly contested in front of a large crowd that included many Bella Donna alums and friends.  Wisconsin came out fired up, with Emelie McKain putting it to Frances Tsukano to put Bella Donna up 1-0.  Wisconsin went up 4-1 before UCSB called a timeout to slow things down.  UCSB earned a break back to make it 4-6, with Kaela Jorgenson, Carolyn Finney, and Marie Madaras working hard for the Skirts.  Georgia Bosscher hit Sandy Jorgensen to make it 7-4, but UCSB refused to go away.  Finney hit Stephanie Karba to make it 5-7 and then hit Emily Bass on the very next point to bring it within one.  UCSB came down in zone, but Wisconsin shredded it, with Maria Mahowald hitting Rachael Westgate to take half 8-6.  Bosscher had a beautiful layout grab, toeing the line to make it 10-8 Wisconsin, and Bella Donna eventually extended the lead to 13-9.  The Skirts’ energy was still high though, and no one on the sidelines was giving up.  Their repeated appearances in the Semifinals and Finals of the College Championships allowed them to take a deep breath and get to work.  At 13-10, UCSB, Kaela Jorgenson got a huge D on Sandy Jorgensen in the endzone and Finney showed great confidence on offense brining it back to 12-13.  Sandy Jorgensen had a huge grab past the bidding Kaela Jorgenson to put Wisconsin up 14-12, but UCSB rattled off four in a row for the win 16-14, earning UCSB its fourth College Championships finals appearance in a row.

Tomorrow’s Championship game will feature Oregon v. UCSB at 1:00 PM CST.