Southwest Regionals Recap

Before I go into my recap, I want to briefly address my picks from last weekend's Regionals. I ended up with 11 of the 13 teams correct (thankfully, one of the 11 was USC). I'll give myself a B+ for the predictions.

In the Metro East, I'm not sure anyone could have seen UPenn's backdoor win coming after Helpful Corn shellacked Venus in the semis (15-4). I'm looking forward to hearing a recap. Until then, I will make absurd speculations based on nothing but random comments on RSD, the UPA score reporter and a set of tarot cards I don't know how to read.

I'll be honest; I didn't think Maryland had the guns to seriously challenge Ottawa in the finals. I wish I could have watched that game. The fact that Maryland had a legitimate shot at winning may have been their undoing. In a two-bid region, the loser of a tight finals game is often vulnerable in the backdoor game. I don't know to what extent fatigue and the letdown of losing against Ottawa factored into their loss, but I'm sure that those two elements could have made a one-point difference.

I don't want to discredit UPenn either; they seized the moment and believed that they could take down Maryland after losing the previous day by 11. I am excited to see UPenn in Columbus. I was a big UPenn fan back when I was in school, and in my days of smoking crack, I was an ardent supporter of Val Kelly in her successful bid to be the first women's Callahan winner in history.

In the South, I incorrectly picked Texas to trump Washington. I forgot one really important rule when making my picks -- the Washington Corollary. When there is a realistic shot of having a Washington (University) vs. Washington (University of) matchup at Nationals, always go with Washington.

Washington, WA-SHING-TON
Two schools playing and hucking a ton,
Opponents beware
Proponents beware,
They're coming... they're coming... they're coming...

Let me drop a little rhyme,
They have seven on the line,
Two sets of seven gals so divine,
From the middle of the heartland
to the Emerald State
The only school that's missing
is by the Potomac Strait
Here comes the Washingtons
They're packing discs instead of guns
To shoot down teams and poop on your dreams,
They're coming... they're coming... they're coming...

I truly fear the day when GWU, UW and Wash U. all show up at Nationals. Make sure you hide your children (if you're British) and your pet bears.

Anyway, the real important thing here is that two St. Louis schools will be attending Nationals. SLU is joining Iowa State and the USC Hellions as first-timers at the Big Show.

SOUTHWEST REGIONALS RECAP
The primary points of interest in pool play were the following:

1) Would the real Colorado stand up and win their rematch with Colorado State?

2) Could UCSD challenge UCSB?

3) How would New Mexico and Colorado College perform?

The answer to number one was an unequivocal yes. Because we won our game against Claremont so quickly (details below), we were able to watch the Colorado vs. Colorado St. game. I hadn't seen Hell's Belles all season, and I was very impressed by them. By the time we started watching, the game was already out of reach (Kali was up 12-5). Even so, CSU kept fighting and they looked much improved from last year. In years past, I thought CSU was pretty solid but they seemed to have limited upside. The addition of a coach (Charles Stone) and a solid player in Brianna Quigley of Rare Air has made a tremendous difference. They have a much clearer system in place, and I expect good things from them in the near future.

The facile answer to number two is no, but I spoke with Steve Dugan before our semifinals matchup and he had nothing but good things to say about the Psychos. The score was lopsided but his respect for UCSD was very clear. As it turned out, UCSD scored more against the Burning Skirts than anybody else and turned out to be the only team to prevent them from reaching the point cap. It may seem like I'm grasping for straws, but on a weekend when UCSB was simply dominant, you have to grasp a little bit.

Regarding UNM and Colorado College, I didn't know much about either squad and took a stab in the dark by suggesting seeding UNM above UCLA-B and seeding Colorado College last. I don't know if they played out the last few placement games, but I think I was about right with UNM and completely wrong about Colorado College. Unfortunately, because of the uncertainty regarding both teams, pool C ended up as a difficult pool and I think UNM was prematurely eliminated from Nationals contention. Speaking of pool C...

POOL C
University of New Mexico
The Bombshells are a solid squad and they were a fun team to play. We played them in the first round and we came out on fire. Our defense forced them into difficult throws, and we managed to score three Callahans. UNM was very good-humored about it and at halftime, they cheered 'NO MORE CALLAHANS!' They fought hard in the second half, and though we emerged victorious, they succeeded in their halftime goal.

Colorado College
Coached by Emily Anderson of Rare Air, Colorado College has a number of exciting young players, led by Sophie Herscu. She is the engine for their offense, and her flick huck is their primary weapon. They very nearly knocked off Claremont in the first round, and ended up 8th in the region after beating Long Beach in a rematch. Lysistrata's Tools will need to develop their offense next year if they are going to take the next step up and contend with the top 6 or so teams, but the potential is there.

Claremont
We had played Claremont three times in the spring so we knew each other very well. I think this may have led them to tank the game quickly, a decision that I think was absolutely the correct one given their circumstances. The Greenshirts had an unexpectedly difficult first game against Colorado College where they were pushed to double game point. Erica Baken was on the sidelines for the bulk of the game with what may be a cracked femur. When Claremont was unable to pull away in the second half, she put on her cleats in order to help them beat Lysistrata's Tools.

I feel torn about Baken's decision to play hurt. I mean, this is the time of year you want to show up. Regionals is what everyone plays for. I just don't want to see her cause any long-term damage. She's an exciting part of the Southwest's future and she has many years of Ultimate to play. That said, she is one hell of a gutsy player. Apparently, she's been dealing with this injury since Santa Barbara Invite (in January). Wow.

Semifinals vs. UCSB
Well, they kicked our ass. I think it was the first loss of the season where our opponent gave an obviously superior effort when we were playing fairly well. Our defense was solid and produced some turnovers, and our offense was able to move the disc against one of the best defenses I've seen all year. We had plenty of scoring opportunities where we didn't convert and UCSB capitalized by marching it downfield.

The game was a respectable 8-5 before Santa Barbara demonstrated why they are the favorites to win it all. When they are firing on all cylinders, they will not give you another opportunity to score. Katie Barry's return to the team is obviously a huge boost. Fatigue was big factor in their collapse against UBC last year. This year, they should be able to keep Dre and Kaela fresher by simply picking and choosing points where the big four (add Finney and Katie) are on the field together.

Backdoor Game #1 vs. Colorado State
I was really nervous about this game because it was the perfect cocktail for an upset. We were facing an unknown opponent, we ended Saturday with a dispiriting loss, and we were facing a high-pressure day where each round would get progressively more difficult.

After trading the first few points, I actually felt relieved. We were playing at a high level, and I felt certain that the breaks would come. Our O line was moving the disc confidently, and despite not getting an early break, our D line was making Colorado State work hard much harder than they were making us work when we had the disc. Sure enough, the breaks started coming and we ran away with the game. The finishing blow came when we were up 12-5, and we played the hell point to end hell points. I guess that was only fitting given the teams involved. The point began with a quick turn on a block by Carrie 'Bubbles' Williams who read a swing pass perfectly. We had the disc in the red zone, but Katie 'Punky' Killebrew forced a high-stall throw that resulted in a turnover. Twenty-five minutes later and three times out later, Shinyi Chen lofted a floaty jump disc that was fittingly caught by Bubbles.

The point also featured one of the best bids of the weekend. Punky launched a deep throw to Balls whose bid at the disc made an observer (who will remain nameless) audibly express his admiration. I think Balls had the disc but the forceful impact on the ground caused her to lose control of the disc. Balls seriously has some of the most impressive layouts I have ever seen. I think it gets her injured often, but man, they are beautiful to watch when the situation calls for it.

We found ourselves on the other end of a 15-6 score, and in all seriousness, I definitely felt like it was the closest nine-point victory I've been a part of. The win made a huge difference for us as it ensured that we would only have two more games and two shots at one of the Southwest bids.

Game-to-go #2 vs. UCLA
What had been a beautiful day with virtually perfect conditions changed during the bye before our game against UCLA. While we were at Panera, the wind picked up and clouds started to approach. The game would unfortunately be primarily an upwind/downwind affair.

UCLA won the flip but we started the game with an immediate upwind break. We were unable to break BLU for the ensuing downwinder. When the game was tied at 4s or 5s, we got another upwind break, but again, BLU was able to score upwind to prevent us from taking the downwind advantage.

In the second half, I think we were down 9-10 when BLU got an upwind break. Unlike us, they were able to convert the back half and get a critical three point cushion. We fought hard to get one of those upwind breaks back but we couldn't make good on any of those chances. The final score was 14-11.

BLU did a good job of employing the huck-and-play-D approach. I think they also did a slightly better job of working the disc upwind, especially in the second half. They took some shots upwind and Bossa and Hawkins were critical in coming up with some tough grabs. A couple of lucky bounces ended up in their favor as well. I think Norm had something like 3 or 4 blocks that macked off her hands and were caught by BLU receivers. Kudos to BLU for making the big plays. I think the game basically came down to BLU making more of these plays than we did.

Game-to-go #3 vs. UCSD - The Do-or-Die Game
This was secretly the game I wanted to avoid at all costs (alright, it wasn't so secret). I was nervous about how the Hellions would respond in a high pressure situation, the highest they would likely face in the season. Also, this game felt like the season had come full circle. We began the fall with a scrimmage versus UCSD, and there we were facing them for the last spot to Nationals.

With the rain approaching and the prospect of an upwind/downwind game that could possibly be decided by the disc flip, I suggested to the Psychos that we change the field orientation to facilitate a crosswind game. For whatever reason, they elected to keep the field the way it was. As it turned out, the wind wasn't near as big a factor in this game.

We won the flip and broke the Psychos twice to take a 3-0 lead. At 5-3, the wind died down and the Psychos produced an important break to close to 5-4. The Air Squids were cheering in full support. A couple were crossing the line with obnoxious comments -- supporting your women is one thing, but heckling the other team in a game this important is another. Also, there is a double standard (justifiably so) when it comes to men heckling women's teams. It's something that you just don't do.

Anyway, the Hellions stormed back and broke the Psychos twice to take a huge 8-4 lead. The lead seemed insurmountable when you factored in the wind having changed directions 180 degrees, giving us the downwinder to start the second half. After trading the first few points, the wind died again. The Psychos held serve to close within 10-6 and then broke us to make it a three-point margin.

The next point ended up as the turning point of the game. The momentum was with UCSD and they were playing with the full confidence that a comeback was within reach. The point went back and forth but we ended up stopping their momentum with a critical score. On the next point, the cap horn sounded just a bit before we broke them. Up 12-7 with less than 15 minutes to go, victory was well within sight.

As I had been hoping to do, I put our senior line on in the hopes that they would close out the game. We only have six graduating players (Bambi's coming back for a fifth year), and four of them were with the team before Tracy and I joined the team. Unfortunately, Balls had to come out of the point after a collision at mid-field, but that line produced a break and put us on the brink of our first appearance at Nationals.

A couple of the players on the senior line were gassed and had to take subs, but I was able to get Balls back in for what was hopefully the clinching score. UCSD turned the disc just short of midfield and I think everyone could feel that the moment was imminent. Mary Kate controlled the offense and got the disc about 10 yards out and nicely centered. She spotted Rex breaking to the front of the backhand side, and she was able to zip the disc into the tight space. Rex dove for the disc and came up with the most important score in USC's short history.

I really loved that the clincher came on a no-turnover point, something we had been working on for the past weeks. In adverse conditions, we came through and I'm really proud of how far we have come. The mental game is something we have been working on all year long and I think it was extremely evident at Regionals that the mental work has paid off.

UCSD was a very worthy adversary and had been playing well over the weekend. Losing Molica to an ACL tear was really tough, but they battled all weekend and nearly took out UCLA in the first round on Sunday. As I've mentioned several times before, bouncing back from a one-year suspension is no small thing and I think they would have represented the Southwest well if they were attending Columbus. They lose great players like Meeko, Sir Robin and Ferris, but their program is one of the greatest in the women's division, and they have a number of talented, young players like Joule, Bonds and Loryn. They will be in the mix for years to come.

We had been aiming for 2nd in the region, but we are all ecstatic about our Regionals performance. We'll be going into Columbus with little pressure and the right amount of hunger. Our season is not done and we still have a lot that we want to prove. We're ready to show our stuff at the biggest stage.

My previews for the remaining Regionals and thoughts on All-Region will be coming up soon.