still waiting 04...
H-train
the Open finals (or semis for that matter), either here or on the UPA
website. I know nothing except scores and a few passing references in
posts here and there. Perhaps this post will be obsolete by the time
it shows up, in which case I apologize; I just want to hear a little
more about what happened.
cenzer
come on upa. come on michael. please give us a more detailed account
of what happened on the biggest days of ultimate this year.
mike
Worm
Womens
Seattle Riot v. Vancouver Prime
Although
Riot pulled to start, they jumped out to a lead with a pair of breaks. At 2-0
Prime settled down and got a break of their own to even the score at 3's. Riot
threw up an obviously effective zone and pushed Prime to call a time out at 5-3
Riot. The teams traded until Prime got another break to even the score at 8's.
Bodies were flying everywhere with offensive and defensive bids from both teams,
and possession changes became more frequent. Riot scored the last point of half,
and gained the advantage of receiving in the second period.
Riot found some
inspiring energy during half. After keeping possession of the disc to score the
first point, they ran up 4 breaks in a row to effectively seal their victory. At
14-8, Prime was able to score again, but from here the two squads basically
traded points to a 17-12 Riot victory. With some big d-blocks and a few scores,
Liz Duffy of Riot put in an exceptional effort, as did core performers Viv
Zayas, Sarah GR, Kathy Scott, and Deb Cussen. Prime relied heavily on their
accomplished core. The return of Leslie Calder to UPAs made a big impact on
offense and on defense, and the play of Hilary Dunn and Suning Strube also
helped put points on the board. In the end the Canadians will go home with their
first final appearance and the Championship trophy will head 90 miles south of
them, where the Riot gals will be relaxing after finally pulling it out in the
big game.
Open
San Francisco Jam v. Seattle Sockeye
The
rivalry in this competition was unmistakable from the first point, which had no
less than 3 foul calls. Sockeye received and eventually punched the disc in to
start the scoring. Jam got a pair of points back, before Sockeye kept and scored
the first point without a turnover…with a greatest! Neither team was giving any
quarter, with multiple d-blocks per point common. At 4's Sockeye again kept for
the score, and then took a two-point lead as Jam missed a huck. At 8-6 Sockeye
gained possession near Jam's goal and called a time-out. Sockeye put the disc in
play and a dozen passes later took half 9-6.
Jam answered quickly in the
second half, and then got a break. Working patiently around the field Jam scored
and got back to within 1. At 11-9 Jam turned over a huck and again Sockeye went
up by 3. Jam kept and scored for only the second time of the game and closed to
12-10. Sockeye received but turned the disc on a foul call that went to the
observer, with the observer ruling no foul. Jam scored and the game was again a
1-point contest. On the ensuing point a quick Sockeye throwaway gave Jam the
easy dunk and the score was tied, the first time since 4's many points ago (and
many turnovers ago). The 3-point run by Jam pushed Sockeye to call a time-out
and regroup. Both teams came back from the timeout with renewed focus, and each
kept possession to tie the game at 13's. Sockeye overthrew a huck to give the
disc to Jam, and Jam closed it off to take their first lead of the game at
14-13. After a wild point of blocks and turnovers Sockeye scored to tie. Time
was running out for this game, and the score was now capped at 16. Jam worked up
field and scored with a scoober from Idris Nolan. Sockeye answered right back,
with Monahan and Philip Burkhardt working the disc together into the end zone.
Jam received with their chance to win. A huck by Jam just missed out-of-bounds
and Sockeye had their chance. Returning the favor Sockeye turned the disc over
on a huck and Jam marched back upfield. Sockeye's Giora Proskurowski got a
pivotal d-block in the end zone to turn the disc back to Sockeye. The Fish
finally worked down field and finished with a hammer into the end zone, and
their first Championship. The feeling of close-but-not-quite is gone for
Sockeye, and is setting in again for Jam.
Mixed
Chad Larson Experience
from Ames v. Shazam of Seattle
In the first half the teams tested each other,
trading points and big grabs. At 4-4 the wind started to pick up, and the
turnovers increased. A couple of back-to-back scores and Shazam took the half
9-7. Receiving to start the second period Shazam kept and opened up the first
3-point margin. The disc was being aired out by both squads successfully, and
neither team could gain the advantage. CLE brought it close at 11-10, and then
the teams started keeping possession and scoring. Shazam again built a lead,
14-11, but CLE started to adjust their defense, and converted a score and a
break to a one-point game. Shazam regrouped with a time out, but CLE got another
break and finally tied the game again at 14. Shazam kept possession and hit
Steve Finn off the ensuing pull for a point, but CLE eventually evened the total
with a lay out by Luke Voytas. Again Shazam scored quickly by hitting Finn, and
CLE also answered with a quick score. 16-16 and the game was going to overtime.
Going to the well again, Shazam's Steve Finn scored on a cross-field hammer to
move to within one point of the prize. CLE received, but turned the disc. Shazam
followed suit, and the teams traded throwaways until a long huck was finally
tracked down for Shazam…by Steve Finn of course.
Shazam got big performances
from their key players Steve Finn, Charlie Ellis, and Aaron Bell to take the
third Championship title of the day back to Seattle.
The Chad Larson
Experience received the honor of becoming one of only two teams from the Central
Region to have ever advanced to a UPA Championship match.
Four teams won their first-ever Championship titles this week. With their new-found knowledge of what it takes to win the hardest tourney in the world, and after their taste of sweet victory have we witnessed the birth of new dynasties? A year from now we will know the answer.
Yesterday's Errors
Okay, the fact-checker wasn't
working at midnight Saturday when the write-up was completed so these errors
slipped through. Apologies to those affected.
Somehow Billy Dobyns was named
as the coach of Backhoe, rather than Brian Dobyns.
Also, Jam was listed as
having sat out the 2003 Championships, when actually they missed qualifying for
the 2002 tourney.