So Day 1 of the UPA College Nationals began at 8:30am. We left our hotel around 7:45 to beat the traffic and arrived at the site at around 8:15. The site was awesome. It was quite a site as we walked in from the gate. Pool play began around 8:30 so when we got there, all we saw were teams warming up, pumping themselves up, getting themselves ready for the game. We started off the day at the booths that were selling Nationals merchandise. I picked up a couple discs for some friends and then we wandered onto the field, looking for a good game to watch.
We decided to watch Wisconsin vs. Stanford, and I'm glad we did since it turned out to be a good game. Stanford was up 2 breaks before the defending champs clawed their way back (mostly because of their ridiculous deep game) and won 15-13. We then made our way over to watch the women's side, with BLU playing against Maryland. BLU played well with great handling from Taz and D from gizmo, along with overall solid play from KIX and Cozmo.
During the next round, we watched Colorado play Santa Cruz, as well as Florida play Delaware. Both games were pretty lop-sided so I walked over to watch Stanford play Arizona. That turned out to be a good game as both teams were pretty evenly matched, with Arizona pulling out the win eventually.
The 3rd and 4th rounds started 1/2 an hour apart (4:00 and 4:30) and it was really difficult to watch since there were so many great games on. How do you choose between watching Carlton vs. Colorado or watching Wisconsin vs. Arizona. So what we did was watch the first half of the latter, and then RUN our butts over to field 1 to watch Carlton vs. Colorado. I was hoping that the games would be closer, but they both turned out to be one-sided with Colorado and Wisconsin winning by 6 and 9 respectively.
Although these games were about over, our attention switched over to watching our fellow UC team, Santa Cruz play against Dartmouth. They were up 3 or 4 but we saw Dartmouth mount a huge comeback and beat Santa Cruz. That meant that BOTH Northwest teams (Stanford and SC) were 0-3 and had no shot at quarters. =/
The attention of the tournament then went over to the Michigan vs. Texas game of Pool D. This pool already had 2 upsets and in this game, Texas was 0-2 and fighting for a chance to really stay in the tournament. When i got there, it was 13's. The teams traded points and it was an overall intense last couple points. Imagine the ENTIRE sideline and back end lines filled with other teams, spectators, cheering on Texas. That's what it was like. Texas eventually lost Universe point, and that left Texas at 0-3 and without a chance for the title.
We left the tournament satisfied, and look forward to the quarterfinal games for tomorrow.
Highlights
-Wisconsin vs. Stanford Bloodthirsty went up 2 breaks on the defending champs and played very well. However; Wisconsin established the deep game and took the game 15-13.
- Michigan vs. Georgia First upset of the day as Georgia upset Michigan in Pool D.
- Wisconsin vs. Arizona The rematch of the TiV final proved to be a lopsided victory for the Hodags as they won 15-6
- Colorado vs. Carleton Colorado goes up 8-2 at half on Carleton en route to a 15-9 win.
- Stanford and Santa Cruz Both Northwest regional teams go 0-3 in pool-play, both losing their 3rd seed in their pools and dropping out of contention of the National Title.
Some pictures from the day:
Wisconsin vs. Stanford (15-13)
Texas vs. Michigan (16-17) *universe point) UCLA vs. Maryland
Arizona breaks the huddle, before lining up against Wisconsin Former Callahan winners were out for the action (Tim Gehret, Callahan Winner 2006) Colorado on the line vs. Carlton Boulder is Gorgeous
Game 1 vs. Colorado Mamabird What more can I say about this game. We played an (arguably) a top 5 team in the nation in Mamabird. We went down a quick 5-0 as Colorado capitalized on our throwaways and took half at 8-2. Of note was the scoresheet as Colorado generated ZERO defensive stops on our team as we threw away multiple easy passes and were caught on our heels during their quick transition Defense. At half, we discussed strategy and decided to throw our clam (3-3-2) defense which confused the offense and generated several turns. We were able to convert on several of the turns but ultimately we lost 15-7.
Game 2 vs.Cal Poly SLO
We had played SLO at sectionals twice already and we had a good idea as to what we were facing. The game started off well with points being traded however SLO managed to go up a break on our offense. We were able to claw back to take half, but it was close the entire game at this point. SLO worked it very well through our various defensive schemes and once they were able to break through our initial handling wall defense or on the break side, our team was unsuccessful in recovering and preventing the easy score. We were trading points until about 9's, and that was when our offensive line simply just tanked. We gave up 3 straight breaks and SLO was able to run away with the game, 15-10. It was a very heartbreaking loss as we played very well up till the last stretch.
Game 3 vs. Azusa Pacific Our third game was against the lovers from APU. This game started similarly like sectionals with our team pulling away in the beginning and then having APU catch up near the end. They were able to move it up the field with their quick handler set that we were unsuccessful in figuring out, and got burned on the dishes and up line cuts. We eventually adjusted after some offensive/defensive adjustments and took the game 15-11. It was not a good game and the win gave us a 1-2 record in pool play and a bracket play game against Colorado State which beat UCLA in pool play to take over the 2nd place in Pool B,
Game 4 vs. Colorado State
We played Colorado State earlier at Trouble in Vegas in February and we went to Universe point at 13's. This game saw the same trend as it was the best game we had played on an offensive standpoint. Our Offensive line of Khosh, Miller, Box, Hammy, Steve, Allen, Max, and Phil were successful in scoring in the first 6 or 7 offensive opportunities. So it was up to the defense which was able to generate a break shortly before half. But as you would have predicted, CSU broke right back and we were all even going into the second half. CSU then broke the offense at around 10's and never looked back as they won the game by one break, 15-13. Of note was the flow of the offensive; the best it has ever been the 3 years I've been playing. There were several points where every member of the line touched the disc atleast once and we were able to dump swing, and break the force and score with ease. This was the end of day 1.
