Thanks to everyone for participating in New England Open Regionals. My predictions weren't great (read: I was wrong), so sorry about that. However, I'm convinced that by making Harvard and Dartmouth underdogs I actually helped them beat out Tufts and Williams.
The weather was partly crappy with a definite chance of showers throughout the weekend. Not much wind (which was nice), great layout conditions, and fields that held together well in wet conditions made for a better weekend than we anticipated.
First Round Saturday
Games in this round all went to seed. UVM was up 11-8(?) on UMass, only to have Zoo charge back and win 15-11. Wesleyan beat out MIT in a close one. UMaine-Farmington gave Brown a much harder game than anticipated. URI put up some points against Dartmouth. Brown-B didn't have to run naked.
Second Round Saturday
In the backdoor, MIT lost to Brown-B 17-15 (anyone catch this game?). UVM lost to Bowdoin in a close one. URI beats out Amherst, proves to me that they deserved a higher seed.
In the frontdoor, all games go to seed. Harvard quietly dispatches Wesleyan, Tufts obliterates UMass (and obliterated my prediction that UMass could win the game, but more on UMass later), Brown outlasts Williams, and Dartmouth keeps on rolling.
Third Round Saturday
In the backdoor, the 5-8 seeds (BC, Williams, UMass, and Wesleyan) hold their ground convincingly in some close games. In the 13th place bracket, UVM beats MIT 17-15, and Maine outlasts Amherst. Is this parity, poor seeding, or an opening up of the rotation for MIT and Amherst?
In the frontdoor, two exciting and close games. Tufts gets up on Harvard and stays up on Harvard 15-12. These teams are 1-1 thus far through the college series events, with Harvard +1 on point diff. Dartmouth gets into the groove against Brown and wins 15-10.
Fourth Round Saturday
In the backdoor, Williams comes back from a 5 or 6 point deficit (13-7 or so?) to take BC down. UMass keeps Wesleyan at bay 15-8.
In consolation, URI jumps to T9 from 15 by beating Brandeis 15-12. Bowdoin beats up Brown-B 15-7.
First Round Sunday
In the backdoor semis, Harvard outlasts Williams 15-10. UMass blows by Brown 15-10 in a testy game by two testy teams. Chill out guys, it's just the backdoor semis.
Second Round Sunday
In the backdoor finals, Harvard takes out UMass 15-11. A few disc spikes here and some foul calls there make this an interesting game, but UMass proves their worth as the 1 seed from WNE.
In the frontdoor finals, Dartmouth plays a solid game around Tufts. The Pain Train plays hard-nosed D, and even though they're not nearly as height-sufficient as Tufts, they put the throws just out of reach of the E-men. Dartmouth uses crisp lead passes to swing the disc over and over again, reminiscent of the first time I played against Amherst High School back in the day where they switched fields with ease. Play of the game is Socks on Dartmouth tipping a pass just out of reach of Tufts and into the arms of a charging Dartmouth player for a Callahan. This seemed to be the point of the game where Dartmouth just wasn't going to look back. Strangely enough, this was the second game in two years for Dartmouth where they got a Callahan in a game-to-go. This time, however, their opponents weren't able to shake it off and get back on the horse. At 14-11, Dartmouth sees a wide open receiver going opposite field, and one nicely-put forehand into the receivers hands just over the charging E-man defender sends Dartmouth to Nationals.
Third Round Sunday
Both Harvard and Tufts came into the game a bit tired. Neither team seemed near 100%, but I guess that was to be expected as Harvard had just dealt with pesky UMass and Tufts was given the runaround by Dartmouth. For the first 14 points, only the (slightly) downwind end zone was needed to score. Points, questionable foul calls, and some hard marks were traded for the entire first half until Harvard scored in the opposite end zone to take half 8-7. After that Tufts didn't seem to have the fire to win the game. Harvard seemed to have more legs under them, more crisp passing, and just a bit more edginess than Tufts, and took the second half 7-4 and the game 15-11.
Some thanks are in order:
Volunteers: you made my and Kendra's weekend run much more smoothly than we could've imagined. Thank you.
Observers: you guys are fantastic. Thanks for coming in from around the region (and from other regions) to observe.
BUDA: thank you so much for use of the trailer. I don't happen to have 16 10-gallon water jugs lying around my house (or my car) to use for tournaments.
Mass Youth Soccer: they've got a fantastic complex, fantastic fields, and fantastic assistants. Thanks for everything (including the golf carts), even though you probably won't see this post.
To the people who reported scores: did you do it all remotely? I sure as heck didn't report scores point by point even though I would've loved to. Thanks a bunch.
And some final thoughts:
-Dartmouth's always got a fantastic cheering section.
-One observer said Williams looked most like a club team. I agree, and I add Dartmouth to that list as well.
-UMass is a different team than they used to be. While they seem to have the largest range of performances from winning WNE to losing 15-3 to Tufts this weekend, they definitely had a fire that was tough to match. Additionally, it seems like they've put the past (a 1986 Nationals Championship) behind them, which I think is a good thing for the program. A few more wins against top teams and a few less spikes of the disc will get UMass to some games-to-go.
-In just one year, Tufts turned up their ultimate and their spirit. I heard from many of their opponents that they were fantastic to play against, and having watched them play for two tournaments in a row I believe it.
-South New England showed up for Regionals this year.
Final standings (* denotes Nationals qualifier):
1. Dartmouth*
2. Harvard*
3. Tufts
4. UMass
T5. Brown
T5. Williams
T7. BC
T7. Wesleyan
T9. Bowdoin
T9. URI
T11. Brandeis
T11. Brown-B
13. UMaine-Farmington
14. UVM
15. Amherst
16. MIT
Good luck to Pain Train and Red Line. Make New England and locomotive owners proud.
Brian Abend
NE Open RC
Monday, May 5, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
New England Open Regionals Predictions
Game by game, round by round. Scores being reported at: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4416
Saturday: Round 1
Harvard v. Brown-B - Harvard clamps down early, Brown-B almost loses their skivvies. Harvard wins 15-1
MIT v. Wesleyan - Wesleyan has had an up and down year, but MIT doesn't fluctuate as much on the whole. Wesleyan surprised a sleepy Williams last year in the first round, but eventually lost that game 17-16. MIT won Metro Boston last year and made it to the backdoor final, losing to Williams and Dartmouth, but beating RWU, Conn College, Tufts, and Harvard. They made life interesting for Tufts in Metro Boston Sectionals semifinals, but couldn't play for third, losing to BC. A tough decision to make here, but I'm guessing this goes down to 17-16 or 16-14, and it will be in Wesleyan's favor.
UMass v. UVM - An intrasectional matchup from WNE. UMass doesn't get embarrassed by an excited Team Chill to take the game 15-7.
Bowdoin v. Tufts - Tufts roars into the day 15-3.
Brown v. UMaine-Farmington - Farmington's got a good bunch of guys, but Brown won't let up this early in the tournament. 15-2 Brown.
Brandeis v. Williams - Williams' loss in the front-door final of WNE Sectionals drops them from a potential 1-seed to the 6-seed, but it doesn't mean they're not a 1-seed. Or that they didn't make it to Nationals last year. Frogger can't cross Route 2, and Williams takes it 15-9.
BC v. Amherst - BC's athleticism, big wins over the year, and close games against Harvard, MIT, and Tufts gives them the edge over Amherst, 15-6.
URI v. Dartmouth - URI's gotten better over the past few years, but the Pain Train rolls 15-5.
Saturday: Round 2
Frontdoor Bracket
Harvard v. Wesleyan - Harvard can't lose on Saturday, and Wesleyan doesn't have the ability to pick themselves off the floor after the grueling win over MIT in the first round. 15-7 Harvard.
UMass v. Tufts - As good as Tufts is, this is a game that UMass can win. If UMass ends up winning here, I think they're 3:1 odds to make it to a front-door finals spot (which would mean a semifinal win over Harvard, too). But since those odds don't kick in til the 3rd round, Tufts wins a closer-than-it-should-be game 15-11.
Brown v. Williams - Williams is 2-0 against Brown this year. Williams will be 3-0 against Brown this year. 15-13 Williams.
BC v. Dartmouth - The Pain Train chugs along, determined to make it to the finals (which would mean beating Williams in Round 3). Dartmouth overcomes a taller, more athletic, but less experienced BC team 15-10.
Backdoor Bracket
Brown-B v. MIT - MIT wins 15-5. Brown-B can't seem to make a dent.
UVM v. Bowdoin - A tough game, but a trip to Vegas and a good Yale Cup showing propel UVM to the win, 15-12.
UMaine-Farmington v. Brandeis - UMaine makes a run, but Brandeis keeps their Backdoor hopes alive, 14-12.
Amherst v. URI - I'm going to pick URI on this one 15-9. Don't ask me why. Sorry Amherst.
Saturday: Round 3:
Frontdoor Bracket
Harvard v. Tufts - A rematch of Metro Boston Finals. Harvard is focused, but in the end I don't think they can hold it together for a second time against an older, more mature Tufts team. This is all assuming that this game doesn't turn into a call-fest, but even then I think Tufts will pull it out. Tufts gets the trip to the finals, 15-13.
Williams v. Dartmouth - This game is the Backdoor Game-To-Go preview. You have my word. Williams wins this one 15-10, but not because Dartmouth didn't bust their asses to avenge last year's devastating home-turf loss to WUFO in the backdoor game-to-go.
Backdoor Bracket
MIT v. BC - A nice sectionals rematch, and BC wins it again, this time by a larger, 15-8 margin.
UVM v. Brown - Brown can't be counted out. Ever. Sorry UVM. 15-5 Brown.
Brandeis v. UMass - Brandeis beat UMass at Yale Cup, but that was Yale Cup. Can't trust those results too much. UMass 15-10.
URI v. Wesleyan - Wesleyan wins 15-6 over a tired URI.
13th-16th Bracket
Brown-B v. Bowdoin - Bowdoin doesn't let up on Brown-B, either. 15-6 Bowdoin.
Amherst v. UMaine-Farmington - UMaine's a good team, but can't replicate results time and time again. Amherst 15-6.
Saturday: Round 4
Backdoor Bracket
Brown v. BC - Brown can't be stopped. 15-8 over BC.
UMass v. Wesleyan - Here's where UMass faltered last year. Here's where they'll falter again this year. Wesleyan 15-13 in a really close game.
9th Place
MIT v. UVM - MIT pulls this out 15-8.
Brandeis v. URI - URI comes close, but will settle for T11. Brandeis, 15-12.
13th Place
Bowdoin v. Amherst - Bowdoin wins this one 15-6
15th Place
Brown-B v. UMaine-Farmington - UMaine takes this 15-11.
Sunday: Round 1
Backdoor Semis
Brown v. Harvard - Harvard almost lets this one go early, as Brown will take half around 8-5. Harvard stays patient and keeps hope alive, going on a strong 7 or 8 point run to win 15-10.
Wesleyan v. Dartmouth - Dartmouth won't let this one get out of hand. Pain Train rolls 15-8.
Sunday: Round 2
Frontdoor Finals
Tufts v. Williams - This game could definitely go either way, and I think Williams will keep things interesting like they did last year against Brown (while they didn't win, they did impress some folks), but Tufts is persistent, and their hard work during the season pays off. Tufts rushes back to campus to book the tickets to Natties with a score of 15-12.
Backdoor Finals
Harvard v. Dartmouth - Harvard is determined. Dartmouth is determined. Not sure who is actually more determined, but I think Dartmouth has fewer injuries and a bit more grit than Harvard, and they didn't have to play Brown in the semis. Dartmouth wins 15-11.
Backdoor Game-To-Go
Williams v. Dartmouth - This prediction is a tough one, as I have a soft spot in my heart for both of these teams. It was painful last year to see Dartmouth go home, but I wouldn't have rather seen any other team grab the second spot. This year is a closer game, and will be 16-14. Sorry Pain Train, but WUFO gets the second bid.
Predicted Final Standings:
1. Tufts
2. Williams
3. Dartmouth
4. Harvard
T5. Brown
T5. Wesleyan
T7. UMass
T7. BC
T9. MIT
T9. Brandeis
T11. UVM
T11. URI
13. Bowdoin
14. Amherst
15. UMaine-Farmington
16. Brown-B
Brian Abend
NE Open RC
Saturday: Round 1
Harvard v. Brown-B - Harvard clamps down early, Brown-B almost loses their skivvies. Harvard wins 15-1
MIT v. Wesleyan - Wesleyan has had an up and down year, but MIT doesn't fluctuate as much on the whole. Wesleyan surprised a sleepy Williams last year in the first round, but eventually lost that game 17-16. MIT won Metro Boston last year and made it to the backdoor final, losing to Williams and Dartmouth, but beating RWU, Conn College, Tufts, and Harvard. They made life interesting for Tufts in Metro Boston Sectionals semifinals, but couldn't play for third, losing to BC. A tough decision to make here, but I'm guessing this goes down to 17-16 or 16-14, and it will be in Wesleyan's favor.
UMass v. UVM - An intrasectional matchup from WNE. UMass doesn't get embarrassed by an excited Team Chill to take the game 15-7.
Bowdoin v. Tufts - Tufts roars into the day 15-3.
Brown v. UMaine-Farmington - Farmington's got a good bunch of guys, but Brown won't let up this early in the tournament. 15-2 Brown.
Brandeis v. Williams - Williams' loss in the front-door final of WNE Sectionals drops them from a potential 1-seed to the 6-seed, but it doesn't mean they're not a 1-seed. Or that they didn't make it to Nationals last year. Frogger can't cross Route 2, and Williams takes it 15-9.
BC v. Amherst - BC's athleticism, big wins over the year, and close games against Harvard, MIT, and Tufts gives them the edge over Amherst, 15-6.
URI v. Dartmouth - URI's gotten better over the past few years, but the Pain Train rolls 15-5.
Saturday: Round 2
Frontdoor Bracket
Harvard v. Wesleyan - Harvard can't lose on Saturday, and Wesleyan doesn't have the ability to pick themselves off the floor after the grueling win over MIT in the first round. 15-7 Harvard.
UMass v. Tufts - As good as Tufts is, this is a game that UMass can win. If UMass ends up winning here, I think they're 3:1 odds to make it to a front-door finals spot (which would mean a semifinal win over Harvard, too). But since those odds don't kick in til the 3rd round, Tufts wins a closer-than-it-should-be game 15-11.
Brown v. Williams - Williams is 2-0 against Brown this year. Williams will be 3-0 against Brown this year. 15-13 Williams.
BC v. Dartmouth - The Pain Train chugs along, determined to make it to the finals (which would mean beating Williams in Round 3). Dartmouth overcomes a taller, more athletic, but less experienced BC team 15-10.
Backdoor Bracket
Brown-B v. MIT - MIT wins 15-5. Brown-B can't seem to make a dent.
UVM v. Bowdoin - A tough game, but a trip to Vegas and a good Yale Cup showing propel UVM to the win, 15-12.
UMaine-Farmington v. Brandeis - UMaine makes a run, but Brandeis keeps their Backdoor hopes alive, 14-12.
Amherst v. URI - I'm going to pick URI on this one 15-9. Don't ask me why. Sorry Amherst.
Saturday: Round 3:
Frontdoor Bracket
Harvard v. Tufts - A rematch of Metro Boston Finals. Harvard is focused, but in the end I don't think they can hold it together for a second time against an older, more mature Tufts team. This is all assuming that this game doesn't turn into a call-fest, but even then I think Tufts will pull it out. Tufts gets the trip to the finals, 15-13.
Williams v. Dartmouth - This game is the Backdoor Game-To-Go preview. You have my word. Williams wins this one 15-10, but not because Dartmouth didn't bust their asses to avenge last year's devastating home-turf loss to WUFO in the backdoor game-to-go.
Backdoor Bracket
MIT v. BC - A nice sectionals rematch, and BC wins it again, this time by a larger, 15-8 margin.
UVM v. Brown - Brown can't be counted out. Ever. Sorry UVM. 15-5 Brown.
Brandeis v. UMass - Brandeis beat UMass at Yale Cup, but that was Yale Cup. Can't trust those results too much. UMass 15-10.
URI v. Wesleyan - Wesleyan wins 15-6 over a tired URI.
13th-16th Bracket
Brown-B v. Bowdoin - Bowdoin doesn't let up on Brown-B, either. 15-6 Bowdoin.
Amherst v. UMaine-Farmington - UMaine's a good team, but can't replicate results time and time again. Amherst 15-6.
Saturday: Round 4
Backdoor Bracket
Brown v. BC - Brown can't be stopped. 15-8 over BC.
UMass v. Wesleyan - Here's where UMass faltered last year. Here's where they'll falter again this year. Wesleyan 15-13 in a really close game.
9th Place
MIT v. UVM - MIT pulls this out 15-8.
Brandeis v. URI - URI comes close, but will settle for T11. Brandeis, 15-12.
13th Place
Bowdoin v. Amherst - Bowdoin wins this one 15-6
15th Place
Brown-B v. UMaine-Farmington - UMaine takes this 15-11.
Sunday: Round 1
Backdoor Semis
Brown v. Harvard - Harvard almost lets this one go early, as Brown will take half around 8-5. Harvard stays patient and keeps hope alive, going on a strong 7 or 8 point run to win 15-10.
Wesleyan v. Dartmouth - Dartmouth won't let this one get out of hand. Pain Train rolls 15-8.
Sunday: Round 2
Frontdoor Finals
Tufts v. Williams - This game could definitely go either way, and I think Williams will keep things interesting like they did last year against Brown (while they didn't win, they did impress some folks), but Tufts is persistent, and their hard work during the season pays off. Tufts rushes back to campus to book the tickets to Natties with a score of 15-12.
Backdoor Finals
Harvard v. Dartmouth - Harvard is determined. Dartmouth is determined. Not sure who is actually more determined, but I think Dartmouth has fewer injuries and a bit more grit than Harvard, and they didn't have to play Brown in the semis. Dartmouth wins 15-11.
Backdoor Game-To-Go
Williams v. Dartmouth - This prediction is a tough one, as I have a soft spot in my heart for both of these teams. It was painful last year to see Dartmouth go home, but I wouldn't have rather seen any other team grab the second spot. This year is a closer game, and will be 16-14. Sorry Pain Train, but WUFO gets the second bid.
Predicted Final Standings:
1. Tufts
2. Williams
3. Dartmouth
4. Harvard
T5. Brown
T5. Wesleyan
T7. UMass
T7. BC
T9. MIT
T9. Brandeis
T11. UVM
T11. URI
13. Bowdoin
14. Amherst
15. UMaine-Farmington
16. Brown-B
Brian Abend
NE Open RC
Friday, April 25, 2008
BUDA College League - Fall 2008
Boston Area College Teams,
I am interested in starting up a BUDA College League in the fall. It would start towards the beginning of the school year (the 2nd week of September, perhaps), run for 7 weeks (I'm assuming 8 teams, one game against each), and culminating in a one-day league tournament (3 rounds of pool play, 1st place/5th place brackets, with the final being a showcase game assuming we've got some lights and it's not too cold out).
What would it take? Each school will be able to enter a single team (no A/B splits unless there aren't enough teams), and would need to be able to schedule a game each week with one of the other 7 teams in the league. Each week the teams decide for themselves where to hold the game. The tournament would be held at the end of October/beginning of November and would have a nominal fee ($75?) which would go towards food, water, fields (if we can't host at a school), and a trophy for the winners.
If you are at all interested, please let me know ASAP, as I'd like to get this league set up over the summer.
I am interested in starting up a BUDA College League in the fall. It would start towards the beginning of the school year (the 2nd week of September, perhaps), run for 7 weeks (I'm assuming 8 teams, one game against each), and culminating in a one-day league tournament (3 rounds of pool play, 1st place/5th place brackets, with the final being a showcase game assuming we've got some lights and it's not too cold out).
What would it take? Each school will be able to enter a single team (no A/B splits unless there aren't enough teams), and would need to be able to schedule a game each week with one of the other 7 teams in the league. Each week the teams decide for themselves where to hold the game. The tournament would be held at the end of October/beginning of November and would have a nominal fee ($75?) which would go towards food, water, fields (if we can't host at a school), and a trophy for the winners.
If you are at all interested, please let me know ASAP, as I'd like to get this league set up over the summer.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Metro Boston Open Sectionals Recap
My sincerest apologies to all of you who were waiting for live updates throughout the weekend. Having three different sets of pool schedules/horns on Saturday, bringing water to each field, keeping track of games/scores, and two field sites in the same complex made it difficult to take time and just write. Next time I'll make score reporting a priority over preventing dehydration. Until then, here's what I got for Open; I wasn't as aware of the Women's division, but I'll see if I can't get a brief rundown of that in a bit.
SATURDAY
Pool A: Tufts (4-0), Stonehill (3-1), BU (2-2), Olin (1-3), Brandeis-B (0-4)
Tufts walked through easily (13-1 avg. score). Stonehill-BU was an exciting game coming down to universe point and started the day with a good amount of energy. Olin loses soundly to the higher seeds, but takes out Brandeis-B utilizing one of their newer members, a freshman from NW Juniors ultimate who's got great field sense, throws, and spirit. Interestingly enough, Olin's got 25 guys playing ultimate. The entire school has just 300 students. Can any school boast 8.3% ultimate participation?
Pool B: Harvard (4-0), Bentley (3-1), Tufts-B (2-2), Stonehill-B (1-3), Northeastern-B (0-4)
Harvard wins by an average of 13-2.5. Bentley puts up a small skirmish (13-6), which was close to my 13-8 prediction. Bentley beats Tufts-B 13-8 (in complete agreement to my prediction). Nothing new to report otherwise.
Pool C: BC (3-0), Northeastern (2-1), Harvard-B (1-2), Tufts-C (0-3).
BC takes practice against the Will Neff-less Gentleman's Club, Bred Line, and C-Men, with NUGC giving it their all to return to Regionals glory of a year ago (an epic win over UMass, albeit in the game-to-go-to-Sunday). In a Uniwatch related observation, has BC dropped their Spoonhead past? I think their new uniforms (just a BC Eagles Logo on the front) make them look, act, and play more like a contender. Good decision, although the old uniforms were pretty cool.
Pool D: Brandeis (2-1), MIT (3-0), BC-B (0-3), Wentworth (1-2)
By far the closest pool of the day (average score: 15-8.5). Two teams broke their seed in the pool with close games. MIT eked out Brandeis 15-13 in the 4-5 game and Wentworth beat out BC-B 15-12 in the 12/13 game. Didn't get to see much, but what I did see proved to be spirited and energetic.
SUNDAY
Round One:
Semis:
Tufts 15 MIT 12 - The Beavers (yes, the Beavers) push the E-Men to work harder than they might've anticipated. MIT upset Harvard last year in both Sectionals and Regionals, and this time they were quite close to doing the same to Tufts.
Harvard 15 BC 8 - A much quieter game. BC's got most of the height, but Harvard has most of the patience. Red Line seemed to have control from the get-go.
2nd Place Bracket:
Brandeis 15 Stonehill 10 - Stonehill has made the most of their experience from last year, but Brandeis and the ubiquitous Frogger have also made up for no coach. As a fellow Jew, I'm impressed how powerful matzos can be for Sunday morning.
Northeastern 15 Bentley 14 - This game went 35 minutes past the soft cap, and although I didn't get a chance to watch it, I can only imagine that Morrone and Co. gave it all they got, but Northeastern's quick passing got the disc where it needed to go.
5th Place Bracket:
BU 15 Wentworth 10 - BU is in a rebuilding year, having lost almost all of their team from last year, returning (I think) 2 grads and one senior. Wentworth has a bunch of fun guys with an interesting jersey (what is that tree design for?), and seem to thrive off of good karma and communication. BU takes this one to keep up the hope for Regionals.
Tufts-B 15 Harvard-B 10 - Tufts-B starts their march towards 5th place against Bred Line. Didn't catch this game, but the B-Men have a good bunch of players who are excited and determined to mimic the success of their A team, and play tough. Haven't seen Brown-B, but these guys are the most promising B-team I've seen in a while. Take a look at their Southerns results.
9th Place Bracket
Olin 16 BC-B 14 - Olin's Saturday > Olin's Sunday. Maybe they had some Jews resting on the Sabbath, I don't know. But for a 2nd year squad (maybe 3rd?) they're having some fun, getting some fresh legs, and are working on the fundamentals. Keep up the good work.
Tufts-C 15 Northeastern-B 8 - C-Men continue the fine line of Tuftsemen against NEU-B. Didn't catch much of this game.
Round Two:
2nd Place Bracket:
BC 15 Brandeis 12 - Didn't catch much of this game, but I would guess that BC pulled down some well-placed hucks and put on some good D to close it out.
MIT 15 Northeastern 9 - MIT keeps up the impressive showing, beating down a scrappy Northeastern team to assure themselves at least a 4th place finish.
5th Place Bracket:
Bentley 15 BU 14 - Team Icehouse keeps it going.
Tufts-B 15 Stonehill 12 - B-Men continue their strong showing, while Stonehill loses steam after giving it their all for Saturday and Sunday.
9th Place Bracket:
Olin 15 Harvard-B 5 - Olin keeps up the good work. Fantastic flick by their star freshman. Upwind, just enough tilt, down the sideline, mark was on him pretty good.
Wentworth 15 Tufts-C 10 - C-men lose to Tree-men.
15th Place Final:
BC-B over Northeastern-B - Battle of the Basement goes to BC-B. Congrats!
Round Three:
Finals:
Harvard 15 Tufts 11 - So I wrote down Tufts 15 Harvard 11 next to the bracket before the game, walked away for the middle of the game, and came back to find my prediction slightly skewed. What I did catch was Harvard's experience taking over Tufts' impressive season, although I think that a meeting of these teams in Regionals will be a reverse of this result. Tufts looks too hungry and too crisp (for the most part) to accept anything less than a Nationals bid, and if they have to get by Harvard to do it, then they will. Their impressive Vegas showing (their only loss to Arizona by 1) and their equally impressive Southerns showing (losing in the final to Dartmouth) aren't flukes. All that being said, Harvard deserved this win, and had the patience and experience to get by the E-men.
2nd Place Bracket:
BC 15 MIT 10 - MIT proves pesky enough to score at least 10 points in every single game this weekend, but BC's deeper lineup takes this game to play for 2nd, and MIT settles for 4th.
5th Place Bracket:
Brandeis 15 Bentley 12 - Bentley is getting closer and closer to a Regionals bid. When does Morrone graduate? Brandeis scores at least 12 points in every game this weekend.
Tufts-B 14 Northeastern 13 - After being stuck at 13s, Tufts-B pulls it out after a marathon point. Impressive. They look good.
9th Place Bracket:
Olin 15 BU 9 - What are they feeding the kids from Olin? BU puts a mostly freshman/sophomore line up against the young Olin team.
Stonehill 15 Wentworth 9 - Stonehill picks themselves up and plays well against Wentworth
Fourth Round:
2nd/3rd Place Game:
Tufts 15 BC 13 - Tufts works hard for this win, and BC gives them a good scare. A very competitive game that was at 13-13 before Tufts decided to stick it in twice in a row. Was picking up the fields at this time and didn't watch too much, unfortunately.
5th Place Game:
Brandeis 15 Tufts-B 3 - B-Men finally come down to earth, lose to a determined Brandeis team who placed tied for 7th last year. Definitely a step up, and look for them to send someone unexpectedly packing in a backdoor game at Regionals.
9th Place Game:
Stonehill 15 Olin 9 - Stonehill finishes up an impressive weekend. Don't know who they'll be graduating, but another year of the same core might push these guys into a 5th or 6th place finish.
Final standings:
1. Harvard
2. Tufts
3. BC
4. MIT
5. Brandeis
6. Tufts-B
7. Bentley
8. Northeastern
9. Stonehill
10. Olin
11. BU
12. Wentworth
13. Harvard-B
14. Tufts-C
15. BC-B
16. Northeastern-B
17. Stonehill-B
DNF Brandeis-B
Great weekend. Thanks guys.
SATURDAY
Pool A: Tufts (4-0), Stonehill (3-1), BU (2-2), Olin (1-3), Brandeis-B (0-4)
Tufts walked through easily (13-1 avg. score). Stonehill-BU was an exciting game coming down to universe point and started the day with a good amount of energy. Olin loses soundly to the higher seeds, but takes out Brandeis-B utilizing one of their newer members, a freshman from NW Juniors ultimate who's got great field sense, throws, and spirit. Interestingly enough, Olin's got 25 guys playing ultimate. The entire school has just 300 students. Can any school boast 8.3% ultimate participation?
Pool B: Harvard (4-0), Bentley (3-1), Tufts-B (2-2), Stonehill-B (1-3), Northeastern-B (0-4)
Harvard wins by an average of 13-2.5. Bentley puts up a small skirmish (13-6), which was close to my 13-8 prediction. Bentley beats Tufts-B 13-8 (in complete agreement to my prediction). Nothing new to report otherwise.
Pool C: BC (3-0), Northeastern (2-1), Harvard-B (1-2), Tufts-C (0-3).
BC takes practice against the Will Neff-less Gentleman's Club, Bred Line, and C-Men, with NUGC giving it their all to return to Regionals glory of a year ago (an epic win over UMass, albeit in the game-to-go-to-Sunday). In a Uniwatch related observation, has BC dropped their Spoonhead past? I think their new uniforms (just a BC Eagles Logo on the front) make them look, act, and play more like a contender. Good decision, although the old uniforms were pretty cool.
Pool D: Brandeis (2-1), MIT (3-0), BC-B (0-3), Wentworth (1-2)
By far the closest pool of the day (average score: 15-8.5). Two teams broke their seed in the pool with close games. MIT eked out Brandeis 15-13 in the 4-5 game and Wentworth beat out BC-B 15-12 in the 12/13 game. Didn't get to see much, but what I did see proved to be spirited and energetic.
SUNDAY
Round One:
Semis:
Tufts 15 MIT 12 - The Beavers (yes, the Beavers) push the E-Men to work harder than they might've anticipated. MIT upset Harvard last year in both Sectionals and Regionals, and this time they were quite close to doing the same to Tufts.
Harvard 15 BC 8 - A much quieter game. BC's got most of the height, but Harvard has most of the patience. Red Line seemed to have control from the get-go.
2nd Place Bracket:
Brandeis 15 Stonehill 10 - Stonehill has made the most of their experience from last year, but Brandeis and the ubiquitous Frogger have also made up for no coach. As a fellow Jew, I'm impressed how powerful matzos can be for Sunday morning.
Northeastern 15 Bentley 14 - This game went 35 minutes past the soft cap, and although I didn't get a chance to watch it, I can only imagine that Morrone and Co. gave it all they got, but Northeastern's quick passing got the disc where it needed to go.
5th Place Bracket:
BU 15 Wentworth 10 - BU is in a rebuilding year, having lost almost all of their team from last year, returning (I think) 2 grads and one senior. Wentworth has a bunch of fun guys with an interesting jersey (what is that tree design for?), and seem to thrive off of good karma and communication. BU takes this one to keep up the hope for Regionals.
Tufts-B 15 Harvard-B 10 - Tufts-B starts their march towards 5th place against Bred Line. Didn't catch this game, but the B-Men have a good bunch of players who are excited and determined to mimic the success of their A team, and play tough. Haven't seen Brown-B, but these guys are the most promising B-team I've seen in a while. Take a look at their Southerns results.
9th Place Bracket
Olin 16 BC-B 14 - Olin's Saturday > Olin's Sunday. Maybe they had some Jews resting on the Sabbath, I don't know. But for a 2nd year squad (maybe 3rd?) they're having some fun, getting some fresh legs, and are working on the fundamentals. Keep up the good work.
Tufts-C 15 Northeastern-B 8 - C-Men continue the fine line of Tuftsemen against NEU-B. Didn't catch much of this game.
Round Two:
2nd Place Bracket:
BC 15 Brandeis 12 - Didn't catch much of this game, but I would guess that BC pulled down some well-placed hucks and put on some good D to close it out.
MIT 15 Northeastern 9 - MIT keeps up the impressive showing, beating down a scrappy Northeastern team to assure themselves at least a 4th place finish.
5th Place Bracket:
Bentley 15 BU 14 - Team Icehouse keeps it going.
Tufts-B 15 Stonehill 12 - B-Men continue their strong showing, while Stonehill loses steam after giving it their all for Saturday and Sunday.
9th Place Bracket:
Olin 15 Harvard-B 5 - Olin keeps up the good work. Fantastic flick by their star freshman. Upwind, just enough tilt, down the sideline, mark was on him pretty good.
Wentworth 15 Tufts-C 10 - C-men lose to Tree-men.
15th Place Final:
BC-B over Northeastern-B - Battle of the Basement goes to BC-B. Congrats!
Round Three:
Finals:
Harvard 15 Tufts 11 - So I wrote down Tufts 15 Harvard 11 next to the bracket before the game, walked away for the middle of the game, and came back to find my prediction slightly skewed. What I did catch was Harvard's experience taking over Tufts' impressive season, although I think that a meeting of these teams in Regionals will be a reverse of this result. Tufts looks too hungry and too crisp (for the most part) to accept anything less than a Nationals bid, and if they have to get by Harvard to do it, then they will. Their impressive Vegas showing (their only loss to Arizona by 1) and their equally impressive Southerns showing (losing in the final to Dartmouth) aren't flukes. All that being said, Harvard deserved this win, and had the patience and experience to get by the E-men.
2nd Place Bracket:
BC 15 MIT 10 - MIT proves pesky enough to score at least 10 points in every single game this weekend, but BC's deeper lineup takes this game to play for 2nd, and MIT settles for 4th.
5th Place Bracket:
Brandeis 15 Bentley 12 - Bentley is getting closer and closer to a Regionals bid. When does Morrone graduate? Brandeis scores at least 12 points in every game this weekend.
Tufts-B 14 Northeastern 13 - After being stuck at 13s, Tufts-B pulls it out after a marathon point. Impressive. They look good.
9th Place Bracket:
Olin 15 BU 9 - What are they feeding the kids from Olin? BU puts a mostly freshman/sophomore line up against the young Olin team.
Stonehill 15 Wentworth 9 - Stonehill picks themselves up and plays well against Wentworth
Fourth Round:
2nd/3rd Place Game:
Tufts 15 BC 13 - Tufts works hard for this win, and BC gives them a good scare. A very competitive game that was at 13-13 before Tufts decided to stick it in twice in a row. Was picking up the fields at this time and didn't watch too much, unfortunately.
5th Place Game:
Brandeis 15 Tufts-B 3 - B-Men finally come down to earth, lose to a determined Brandeis team who placed tied for 7th last year. Definitely a step up, and look for them to send someone unexpectedly packing in a backdoor game at Regionals.
9th Place Game:
Stonehill 15 Olin 9 - Stonehill finishes up an impressive weekend. Don't know who they'll be graduating, but another year of the same core might push these guys into a 5th or 6th place finish.
Final standings:
1. Harvard
2. Tufts
3. BC
4. MIT
5. Brandeis
6. Tufts-B
7. Bentley
8. Northeastern
9. Stonehill
10. Olin
11. BU
12. Wentworth
13. Harvard-B
14. Tufts-C
15. BC-B
16. Northeastern-B
17. Stonehill-B
DNF Brandeis-B
Great weekend. Thanks guys.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Saturday Morning at Metro Boston
It's absolutely beautiful here today. Grass is nice and dry, the sky is beautiful and blue, and there's plenty of ultimate going on. Bring out the sunscreen.
Biggest game of the morning was a 13-12 universe point win by Stonehill over BU, which might be causing BU to play for 5th place tomorrow.
Check the links in the previous post for scores!
Biggest game of the morning was a 13-12 universe point win by Stonehill over BU, which might be causing BU to play for 5th place tomorrow.
Check the links in the previous post for scores!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Metro Boston Open Sectionals: Pool Play Preview
Saturday morning will have two pools of 5 teams and two pools of 4 teams. Following each team name is the predicted record for each team, not their actual record (the teams haven't actually played yet, remember).
Pool A
Tufts (4-0)
Stonehill (2-2)
Boston University (3-1)
Olin (1-3)
Brandeis-B (0-4)
Tufts has a finals appearance at Southerns this year, and an impressive record at Vegas and should win the pool (average margin of victory I'd guess at 10 points for the day). Stonehill and BU should both have no trouble with Olin and Brandeis-B, but will probably play a tight first game which will most likely decide who moves on to play for 2nd and who moves on to play for 5th. I like BU in a one or two point victory given their history and breadth of games played this year, even though Stonehill edged them out 12-11 in a game just a few weeks ago.
Pool B
Harvard (4-0)
Bentley (3-1)
Tufts-B (2-2)
Stonehill-B (1-3)
Northeastern-B (0-4)
Harvard walks through the pool, having a bit of early trouble with Bentley, who played an impressive Sectionals last year. Bentley should beat out Tufts-B, but the B-men should put up a decent fight (13-8 or so). They have some impressive wins at Southerns, whupping an array of B-teams soundly (avg. score 13-3) and SCAD 13-9. Stonehill-B and Northeastern-B is a tossup.
Pool C
Boston College (3-0)
Northeastern (2-1)
Harvard-B (1-2)
Tufts-C (0-3)
BC has had an up and down season. Beating UCLA, North Texas, and SD State in Vegas, they had a tough time in the Yale Cup power pool, going only 1-6 on the weekend. However, their impressive wins in the early season help them beat a Will Neff-less Northeastern team fairly easily (15-7). No surprises in this pool.
Pool D
Brandeis (3-0)
MIT (2-1)
Boston College-B (0-3)
Wentworth (1-2)
In what could be the most exciting game of Saturday, Brandeis and MIT face off during their final round. Not only are they seeded 4-5, Brandeis won their Yale Cup pool 4-0 to MIT's 3-1 record. Their game went 11-7 in B-deis's favor. However, just 2 weeks earlier, MIT and Brandeis scrimmaged in Cambridge to see MIT win 15-14. I think Brandeis pulls this out, but just barely (17-16).
That's all for now. Come and check out Sectionals this weekend!
Babend
NE Open RC
Pool A
Tufts (4-0)
Stonehill (2-2)
Boston University (3-1)
Olin (1-3)
Brandeis-B (0-4)
Tufts has a finals appearance at Southerns this year, and an impressive record at Vegas and should win the pool (average margin of victory I'd guess at 10 points for the day). Stonehill and BU should both have no trouble with Olin and Brandeis-B, but will probably play a tight first game which will most likely decide who moves on to play for 2nd and who moves on to play for 5th. I like BU in a one or two point victory given their history and breadth of games played this year, even though Stonehill edged them out 12-11 in a game just a few weeks ago.
Pool B
Harvard (4-0)
Bentley (3-1)
Tufts-B (2-2)
Stonehill-B (1-3)
Northeastern-B (0-4)
Harvard walks through the pool, having a bit of early trouble with Bentley, who played an impressive Sectionals last year. Bentley should beat out Tufts-B, but the B-men should put up a decent fight (13-8 or so). They have some impressive wins at Southerns, whupping an array of B-teams soundly (avg. score 13-3) and SCAD 13-9. Stonehill-B and Northeastern-B is a tossup.
Pool C
Boston College (3-0)
Northeastern (2-1)
Harvard-B (1-2)
Tufts-C (0-3)
BC has had an up and down season. Beating UCLA, North Texas, and SD State in Vegas, they had a tough time in the Yale Cup power pool, going only 1-6 on the weekend. However, their impressive wins in the early season help them beat a Will Neff-less Northeastern team fairly easily (15-7). No surprises in this pool.
Pool D
Brandeis (3-0)
MIT (2-1)
Boston College-B (0-3)
Wentworth (1-2)
In what could be the most exciting game of Saturday, Brandeis and MIT face off during their final round. Not only are they seeded 4-5, Brandeis won their Yale Cup pool 4-0 to MIT's 3-1 record. Their game went 11-7 in B-deis's favor. However, just 2 weeks earlier, MIT and Brandeis scrimmaged in Cambridge to see MIT win 15-14. I think Brandeis pulls this out, but just barely (17-16).
That's all for now. Come and check out Sectionals this weekend!
Babend
NE Open RC
Welcome to New England College Ultimate!
Hello there, and welcome to the blog for New England College Ultimate! This weekend, April 19th and 20th, we'll be reporting live from Metro Boston Sectionals in Lancaster, MA. Updates will come in after each round, along with scores on the score reporter:
Metro Boston Open: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4489
Metro Boston Women's: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4499
Feel free to check out the other action going on this weekend in New England, see what happened last weekend, and see what's coming up:
This weekend:
West New England Open: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4488
South New England Women's: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4980
East New England Women's: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4498
Last weekend:
South New England Open: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4491
West New England Women: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4500
Next weekend:
East New England Open: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4490
Metro Boston Open: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4489
Metro Boston Women's: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4499
Feel free to check out the other action going on this weekend in New England, see what happened last weekend, and see what's coming up:
This weekend:
West New England Open: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4488
South New England Women's: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4980
East New England Women's: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4498
Last weekend:
South New England Open: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4491
West New England Women: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4500
Next weekend:
East New England Open: http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4490
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