FJR: Having qualified for pre-quarters after pool play, you had exceeded the expectations of outsiders (including myself). The wins over UNC and Iowa State were solid wins but what came next was something that nobody could have anticipated. The win over Carleton eliminated any doubts about the strength of your squad, and turned Venus into the story of the tourney. Talk about the lead-up to the Carleton game and the game itself. Stachowski: If we made the pre-quarters we'd match up with the winner of the Carleton vs. UNCW pool game. I was hoping it would be UNCW since I had watched them play a little bit and thought they were close to UNC in style and talent. I figured that could be a good way to encourage our team to pull off another upset. Unfortunately, Carleton beat UNCW 15-11. And since that game was happening at the same time as the Stanford/UNC game, I didn't even get to watch Carleton play. Uh oh.
So, on the minus side it looked like Carleton was playing some really good ultimate. On the plus side, I figured we'd be a little more rested since our last game of the day was over two hours before Carleton's... and also since we played a completely open rotation against Stanford to try to preserve our top players for later.
During our warmup after a five hour break, we looked a bit lethargic. Carleton was looking very efficient and sharp doing their warmup drills and I noticed with some concern that they were a very tall team. My message was the same as any other game during the series... play our game... keep a vocal involved sideline. As the game got underway we started out sluggishly but the mental toughness was there. We were making good decisions and working the disc really well and not panicking after they had a couple of monster skies by their tall receivers. We slowly got a grip on the game and took half 8-7.
During half time we seemed to find our second wind and came out very energized... running off 4-5 straight against a tired looking Carleton. When Katie Poulos, a third year player and super steady cutter and defender, made her first career layout grab on a disc that looked like nobody would get to, it was good for the 14th goal and the Penn sideline erupted. A turnover and a few throws later, Opi pointed to a corner of the endzone and Kate Anthony put it there... with Opi out-jumping a taller defender for the final goal. And just like that, we were suddenly in the quarterfinals of Nationals. And unbelievably, another goal change: "Lets make semis!"
FJR: Beating UNC and Carleton was one thing. Getting to the quarterfinals was amazing. But challenging Washington Element, a team that was on everyone's short list to win the title, took Venus from this year's Cinderella to one of the great underdogs in Ultimate history. How were you able to contend with a juggernaut like Element?
Stachowski: Honestly, I felt pretty good about our chances against Washington. We had been doing a great job of focusing on our own game the entire weekend and with a good night's rest I thought we'd be ready to pull off yet another upset. The message to the team was basically: nobody expected us to be here... everyone will be pulling for the underdog... just get out there and show everyone what we're made of and leave it all on the field.
As Penn warmed up up before the game I could tell it would be a much harder contest than anything we'd played in all year. Not only because of our opponent, but also because of the heat. I felt pretty confident that our top 9 could match up well with any other 9 at the tournament, but going against a team so deep and talented I was worried that we'd have fatigue problems towards the end of the game. Still, the girls had shown an incredible amount of fortitude so far... maybe there was another miracle to be had.
And for a while there, I really thought we were going to pull it off. At one point in the first half, we were making huge plays
everywhere... Opi got a huge deflection D then tore downfield for the score to make it 6-3. 6-3!! At that point, a girl from Pitt (we had fantastic support from players from all over the ME all weekend... Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, Cornell) stopped me on the sideline and said something like "Doc, what is going on here?" I shook my head and said "I don't know." I really didn't know. The euphoria of that early lead... the energy and excitement of the Penn sideline... the energy and buzz from the crowd... our team of underdogs playing their hearts out and taking it to the number 2 team in the nation... just an
amazing feeling. That's probably my favorite moment of the entire tournament.
Unfortunately, Washington was able to apply relentless pressure on both offense and defense and the chilly decisions we were making all weekend started thawing quickly. A couple of uncharacteristic drops... and turfed throw here and there... and suddenly it was 7-7. That focus that had been so sharp all weekend was showing some wear.
Still, we took half 8-7 and we were feeling very upbeat about our chances. But the Washington pressure was just too much for us and you could see our energy output dropping dramatically. We traded until about 10-10 or so, then Washington broke us twice I think. We traded again to 12-13 and Washington finished us off with two in a row. We'd come within 3 points of attaining a goal that we would never have thought possible just a few weeks beforehand. Our season was over.
FJR: Now that the 2009 season is over, what are your prospects going into next year?
Stachowski: It's hard to say what our prospects are for next year. We are losing Raha Mozaffari (three time all-region), Whitney Viets (captain, all-region, Callahan nominee), Rachel Shah (captain), and Kate Anthony. Basically, Raha, Kate and Whitney played every point of every victory and the quarters loss. And Rachel played every D point as a defensive handler and had zero turnovers. That's a lot of ultimate skill and leadership to have to replace.
On the other hand, to say that our remaining veterans and rookies have been galvanized by this whole incredible experience is an understatement. Every one of our rookies has signed up for a local league, and/or has written me for things to work on over the summer, and on and on. Hopefully some of the rookies will make good progress over the summer and come back with a purpose. We have a bunch of determined vets who are ready to step up and have their turn as well.
So, with some progress there and another good rookie class... maybe a transfer or two... maybe some hotshot HS player will read our story and decide to go to Penn to be part of our program... who knows?
What I can say is that by the time Sectionals 2010 rolls around, we'll come in with a low RRI but full of fire, determination, discipline and heart... and we'll be gunning for another trip to Nationals... playing our game... one point at a time.
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