This was the only picture taken of us all weekend. And we aren't even playing, but Knute gets the limelight in the background. Go here if you want to see a ludicrous number of pictures of Emory.
Rolled out of Durham around 6, got into the hotel around 11:30. Considering we were getting up at 6, this was not ideal. The fact that we then got lost (stupid tourney directions labeling Thomas Dr as East Campus Dr, which it is CLEARLY NOT) made for a less than ideal warm-up. The fact that it was about 49 degrees made it more of a cold-up. After Wade almost stepped on my iPod, I was a little worried. Wonder how the day turned out...
Illinois, 11-6
First game of the day against a nationals quarterfinalist and a C1 team. We were a little intimidated, but came out fired up. They didn't. We took half 6-3 on great O line play and solid, intense defense. O line was never broken and I scored a Callahan on a floated dump/swing. Tommy scored a couple goals and threw a blady flick that Ethan laid out for to score and end the game. (1-0 vs. C1)
North Carolina, 8-10
They had just finished earning a double game point win over Texas and we had just tooled Illinois. Both teams came out intense, but a little sloppy. The wind had picked up somewhat (by the third round it would be pretty squarely upwind-downwind) and we dropped an easy pass to give up a break on the first point. UNC made a run to take half 4-6. We made a run back to get it to 8-9, cap goes on and the game is first to ten. Unfortunately, they make a nice grab in the endzone to end the game. (1-1 vs. C1)
Texas, 11-9
Texas is a fun team and Guenther knows every one of their players. Callahan front-runner Stephen Presley seemed real chill and made some baller plays. Even with their star-studded line-up, we managed to get a couple of breaks on them early and late in the game. They evened it up mid-game and closed to 10-9 late, but we managed to punch it in after a couple turnovers. Hagan and I took turns covering Presley and he did a great job (me, I didn't get ludicrously tooled). Berendes made a crazy layout grab to score the gamewinner (disc was point-blocked and D'ed prior to his catch). (2-1 vs. C1)
Virginia, 4-10
We had played them two weeks earlier at Wolfpack and had given them a lead early and then fought back to lose a tight game. This time we gave them a lead early...and lost the game pretty badly. We opened up the rotation after falling at half 3-6 and the game ended at cap with the good guys scoring. They played a very quick offense, moving the disc within the first couple counts as often as possible. First game of the day we had significant problems scoring with the O line.
Ole Miss, 11-5
Two byes later (weird schedule due to field availability), we play our last game against the pool's bottom seed. Considering we came in as the fifth seed, we should have taken them more seriously, but we played lackluster throughout the first couple points. When they broke to take the lead 2-3, we all got pissed and started a 9-2 run to win the game. They had a couple decent players, but our depth was too much for them to handle.
Sunday
Emory, 15-8
Number 7 on Emory is a dick. Lots of travel calls, lots of talk, lots of yelling and lots of turnovers. Unfortunately, I got into it with him. So did Trahey. So did Guenther. Besides him, their team was pretty chill. Sam, their stud, seemed particularly cool and he kept a pretty good attitude considering Berendes had a sick layout D on him in the endzone. A lot of great rookie play sealed the deal for us. Also led to the best quote of the weekend: Emory in their halftime huddle shouts "Second Half, Our Half!" and both Guenther and Trahey simultaneously deadpan "Nope" causing the entire line to double over laughing.
Ohio State, 13-15
Probably the only game of the weekend that I am angry about. They had just finished tooling UNCW 15-6 and we were warned they would be chippy with calls. Didn't really turn out to be true, with two exceptions.
We came out forcing them under and managed to control their hucks for most of the game. Traded the first points and then I threw a big upwind flick for a break...that gets called back on a travel. Not on the throw though, apparently I took too many steps to stop. We work it up and turn it on the goal line. They score, break, break to go up 4-1. We break back later in the half to tie it at 5s. At 6-6, they score and then break to take half 8-6.
After half, we come out pissed and run off four straight to lead 10-8. As we keep trading, Trahey makes a sick D in the upwind endzone that gets called a foul because the guy he was guarding ran into him and fell over. They end up scoring. They eventually get the break with the wind to pull it to 13-12. They score going downwind even after I point-block them on the goal line. 13-13. O-line gets broken 13-14. We get the disc going upwind and manage to turn it over on a reset. I have the disc trapped on the sideline and decide to pressure the mark to throw upfield. Gets to stall 9 and he uncorks a 60 degree blade that gets caught in the endzone. Game over. Fiddlesticks. Sadly, the two calls that stand out end up being the margin of victory. We played pretty well against yet another C1 team and I was honestly not impressed. Had my best statistical game of the weekend with 3 goals, 2 assists and a D (0 turns). (2-2 vs C1)
Davidson, 11-8
After another bye where we watched Wisconsin and North Carolina try to out-call each other (also saw three UNC players carted off the field), we had a trap game against Davidson, who had lost to Georgia. Went up 5-1 on great defense from the rookies and then gave it right back on poor zone play against a four man cup and a 15 mile an hour headwind. Took half 6-5 (we agreed to play a shortened game to 11).
In the second half, we played better against the zone and scored a break or two to win by three. Sadly, my play did not correlate with the team's as I got point-blocked twice in one point. Need to work on my fakes or at least get my low backhand-to-high backhand-to-flick fake more fluid. Screw it, next time I'm throwing hammers.
Random addition: There was a long drawn out argument in this game that I feel should be mentioned. Going upwind, I catch the disc on an in-cut, turn and throw an upwind flick huck as I get bumped by my mark. I call "foul". The disc floats and ends up getting caught by Wade pretty much on the goal line. Wade spikes the disc, which prompts a big argument as Davidson claims he wasn't in, while we argue that his spike obviously indicates he thought he was. Me, I'm forty yards from the play arguing with my man if my foul allows Wade to keep the disc based off "one-throw continuation", which it is quickly pointed out would completely contradict the point of continuation. I back down, only to see my man get into a shouting match with Gunther on the sideline coming from the other argument. Looking back, was kind of hilarious, though it did lead to a great debate about the value of compromise (seriously, that word was used at least 10 times in the ensuing discussion).
Overall, 5-3 weekend for 11th. Finished higher than four of the twelve C1 teams in attendance and got a good win against a sectional rival. Our close game against UNC gives me some hope for the season and the amazing improvement of our rookies in the last two weeks makes me giddy. We need to work a little on our offensive flow (looked good at times, bad at others) and I need to either solidify my handling or find a replacement. Considering we were missing two of our starting O-liners, I'm pretty psyched.
Next week, CUFF and Princeton!
Pictures may be added later if any relevant ones appear on the interwebs.
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