2001 UPA College Ultimate Championships

ROUND ONE

A Pool

UBC 15 Northwestern 3

The toughest opponent the Canadians faced was jetlag as many didn't land in Boston until well past midnight. Still, UBC showed why they are the favorites taking half 8-1 against the Great Lakes champs en route to a 15-3 victory.

Tufts 15 Illinois 8

The game started close and featured strong early play by both teams. Tufts steady O and Illinois huck game both worked early and the score was knotted at three all. But Tufts eventually tufts adjusted, throwing a zone and pulling away to take half 8-4. The second half was more of the same asA0 Illinois had no answer for the Tuft's quick strikes.

B Pool

UCSD 15 Bucknell 8

Bucknell, maybe the tallest team in the tournament played exclusively zone, which helped keep it close early. But SD played good clean man and, aided by a great layout block by #11 Kirsten Unfried, took half 8-3. The second half was more of the same as the Bucknell zone slowed the game down, but couldn't cut into the SD lead.

Stanford 15 Wisconsin 2

Unfortunately for an undermanned Wisconsin team (12 players) the young Stanford team was out to send an early message about their (perceived) low seed. After a slow start to the season Stanford, thanks to a spring break team retreat, has been playing great and they didn't let up against Belladonna.

C Pool

UNC-W 15 Swarthmore 10

This turned out to be the best game of the round. Seaweed got out to a quick start and an early 5-2 lead. But the Warmothers pulled got back in the game closing to 8-6 by half. At this point Willmington started to rely on their break mark throws and handler cuts and reeled off four straight goals. But Swarthmore played great defense, keeping Seaweed out of the end-zone, while never quite scoring themselves. After a long point at 14-10 UNC-W finally put it in for the win.

Brown 15 MIT 6

MIT improved on their regionals performance, but it wasn't enough to beat the North England champs. The Brown receivers were too much and they rolled to a 15-6 victory.

SECOND ROUND

UBC 15 Illinois 3

Illinois tried zone, they tried man, but neither could stop the North West champs who took half 8-1 before cruising through the second half.

Tufts 15 Northwestern 7

This game was much closer than the score would indicate. The Northwestern team is only in its third year of existence (and second year actually winning games). But, as Tufts found out, the young squad led by #11 Shelly Peyton and #3 Courtney Bethem, can play. The teams traded goals to five all before Tufts pulled ahead. NW had several chances to score near the end-zone, but turned it over each time. Tufts took half 8-6. Northwestern answered to start the second half, but that would be it for Gung-Ho. Reigning Callahan winner Johanna Neuman (#13) hucked it to #23 Sally Mims to make it 9-7 and Tufts never looked back. Tufts started playing a 2-3-2 zone and Peyton and Bethem tired, and Johanna took over -- it seemed like she threw or caught every Tufts goal -- and Tufts went on a 7-0 run to finish the game.

B Pool

UCSD 15 Wisconsin 1

Wisconsin is learning that it hard to have only ten players at the UPA Championships. Everyone looked like they were having fun. SD will be tested by Stanford next round.

Stanford 15 Bucknell 6

Stanford beat Bucknell with an effective zone, breakmark throws and hot deep defense. Bucknell is tall and hucks a lot, but Stanford got most of them and punctuated the victory with a huck of their won to #17 Rosie O' Gara.

D Pool

Colorado 15 Wash U 3

This game started close, as the two teams traded points to fours, but Kali pulled away, taking half 8-2, and rolled on to 15.

UGA 15 Carleton 10

The biggest controversy of the women's division is Carleton's low seed ("how can you win the championship, return 13 players and still be seeded third in your pool" someone close to the team was heard saying before the game). Indeed, whoever wins the D pool will have survived a real test. Carleton received the pull and five seconds and three passes later were in the end-zone. UGA answered and after some hard fought points the score was tied at three. UGA made a run. Jessica Ogburn, #30, made a great block near the Syzgy end-zone and was rewarded with the goal to put the Ho Dawgs ahead 6-4. They extended the lead to 7-4 before Carleton came charging back to 7-6 on a full extension layout for a huck by #25 Miranda Roth. Calreton got the D to take half but gave it back and UGA capitalized 8-6 at half. The second half featured great play, even if the score was a little more one sided. Each point was a marathon, highlighted by great D and clutch grabs. UGA really utilized their dump throws and methodically worked the disc to grab the lead before going ahead 13-9 on a great huck from #41 Evelyn Ogburn to #3 Katherine Kidd-Shippey. Another full field huck and the Ho Dawgs had game point. After a long point that Carlton finally took, UGA scored for the game.

This was the first of what will probably be many great games this weekend. Either of these teams could win the title. Carleton is the most aggressive team I have seen. They huck almost every possession and attack a zone right through the middle. UGA is composed and has a handful of players with great throws and great catches. The key to this game in my opinion was nine Carleton possessions where Syzgy turned it over on one pass. If they can pocket those mistakes they could repeat.

THIRD ROUND

UBC 15 Tufts 11

Why not start with the best game yet? The New England wind started to pick up around game time, and the local team took advantage, jumping out to an early 3-1 lead. But then the Ewo caught a case of the drops, letting the number one seeded Thunderbirds pull ahead 4-3. A few more Tufts drops and Canadian goals and its 7-4. Time for some drama. Three straight Johanna Neuman throws for goals and it's a tie game. On the next pull UBC was called for a time violation, taking more than 70 seconds to have seven players on the line, and had to start with the disc 15 yards into their end-zone as a penalty. The Tufts zone forced a turn and #3 Neva Cherniavsky threw the goal to #7 Taliser Avery to give the Ewo half, 8-7. the teams traded to 11 all when the unthinkable happened -- Tufts dropped a pull. The Thunderbirds capitalized to take the lead. They say lightning never strikes twice, but don't tell that to the shocked Ewo. On the very next point Tufts dropped the pull again. Sarah Mukai, #00, hucked to #25 Elizabeth Job for the goal. From there UBC scored two straight to beat the demoralized Tufts team and win the pool. Tufts finished second.

Northwestern 15 Illinois 11

Illinois jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in a rematch of the Great Lakes regional finals, but Gung-Ho switched to a zone defense and gained control, taking a 4-3 lead and half at 8-4. The second half turned intoA0 huckfest, with IL pulling as close as 10-8, before Northwestern closed the game out 15-11, including a Callahan goal -- an interception in the other team's endzone.

Final Pool A standings:

UBC
Tufts
Northwestern
Illinois

Pool C

UNC-W 15 MIT 5

Seaweed proved too much for the number three team from New England as UNC-W rode effective deep cuts and tight man to man D to an early 7-2 lead. Wilmington took half a point later on a backhnd from #23 Kathryn Brock to #6 Melanie Bossert. Both teams played zone in the second half, but the result was the same as Seaweed went on to win 15-5.

Brown 15 Swarthmore 4

Brown's man D was too much for the War Mothers who fell behind early and never got back into the game.

Pool D

UGA 15 Wash U 7

The Wash U zone caught the Ho Dawgs by surprise, but it wasn't enough. Geaorgia rolled to half at 8-3 and relied on a Clam Zone to finish the game.

Carleton 15 Colorado 8

The struggle for the D pool continued in what both teams called a scrappy game. Carleton jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and never looked back, although both teams had some great moments along the way. Syzygy btook half 8-3 and Both teams came out fired up. At 10-5 Carleton, Syzygy #9 Bekah Sexton and Kali #27 Chelsea Boyle both had come-out-of-nowhere blocks. Another point featured back-to-back layout blocks by Carleton -- each of which was caught by a diving Coloradoan. But Kali proved no match as Carleton went on to win 15-8 for the tournament's first upset.

ROUND FOUR

Stanford 15 UCSD 12

Every round today a new game earned the title of most exciting. Earlier in the day Stanford Coach JD was complaining about her team's low seed. This was their round to do something about it and they wasted no time, jumping to a 2-0 and then a 4-2 lead. A flick from #187Delia Chiu to #13 Hanna Kim brought the lead to 5-2. But Pychaughtit wouldn't let their seed go so easily and, thanks to a Clam defense, scored four straight to take a 6-5 lead. The teams traded points to 7-6 before Superfly tied it up on a pass from #21 Erin Percival to #5 Gwen Amber, and a Camille Yu (#10) point block later, Stanford took half. Superfly continued its hot play in the second half, opening the lead to 12-8. The teams traded points again to 14-10, when SD coach Chris Jewell could be overheard complaining that "too many turnovers" had cost her team the game. But Pyschaughtit wasn't nearly as ready to give up as their coach, storming back to take the next two and poised to pull within one when #77 Jen Sanderson caught a huck just outside the end-zone. But they were unable to capitalize, and Stanford worked the disc upfield where (several turnovers later) they won on an inside out flick from Yu to Percival.

Bucknell 15 Wisconsin 4

Bucknell won their first game of the day, while Wisconsin will have to try again next year.

Final Pool B standings:

Stanford
UCSD
Bucknell
Wisconsin

Pool C

UNC-W 15 Brown 10

Another one-two game. Seaweed set the tone early, taking leads of 2-0, 5-1 and 7-2. But just when it looked like the route was on, Brown scored two in a row as #10 Sarah Cook and #22 Rachel Weston connected for a pair of goals to pull with in three, 7-4. But Wilmington regained control, taking half and a 10-5 lead before trading goals en route to a 15-10 victory.

Swarthmore 15 MIT 12

Swarthmore hung on against a tough MIT team for third place in the pool.

Final Pool C standings:

UNC-W
Brown
Swarthmore
MIT

Pool D

UGA 15 Colorado 8

Despite losing to Carleton, Colorado could still win the pool if they beat the Ho-Dawgs, and they didn't waste anytime hucking frequently. At 2-2 #24 Lori Moore made an awesome catch around a defender to reel in a Leah Brooks (#5) huck to give Kali an early 3-2 lead. UGA answered with a huck of their own #3 Katherine Kidd-Shippey to a wide open Amanda Strout (#21). The intense play continued as Georgia's Jessica Ogburn (#30) blocked the first pass of the next point, only to have Moore point block the next throw. Colorado got the next goal, but UGA rallied to take half 8-5. The Ho-Dawgs steadily increased their lead from 11-7 to 13-7, before finally winning 15-8.

Carleton 15 Wash U 1

What can you say about a 15-1 game?

Final Pool D standings:

UGA
Carleton
Colorado
Wash U

It looks like Saturday will feature some great games. While there were only two upsets on the day, San Diego, Tufts and Carleton all showed that they are capable of winning the tournament and both Colorado and Brown could pull an upset in the pre-quarters or quarters.