Sockeye faced Wolf in the 8:30am game. They had an interesting offense– their handlers went downfield a lot and their cutters all had strong throws, allowing a very fluid offense that didn’t set anyone in a very rigid place on the field. They got underneaths on us and would dish quickly to handlers for quick break throws, and this
quick disc movement was difficult to stop. However, they had some unforced errors, and had difficulty finding their way through our poachy zone, and we were able to get the disc on D enough to make this game somewhat comfortable. We certainly didn’t look past Wolf and we’re glad we didn’t.
After Wolf we had a bit of a break before playing Furious, the game to earn a nationals bid. Our history with the monkey is long, and both teams had a good idea of what to expect from the other both offensively and defensively coming into the game. Oscar, Mauro, Lugsdin, Hughes, Menzies, Hayduk, Morgan,Seraglia, Savage…. we can list off their names like they can presumably list ours, and we matched up long before the game started. The wind had picked up a bit in this game (but nowhere close to what it would be like alter in the day), but the rain/drizzle had stopped. After trading a few to start, sockeye earned the first break with a clammish D that saw Reid Koss jump a throw to a standing Lugsdin for a fantastic catch block, and, gaining momentum, took half 8-4 riding the tough defense of Tim Gehret, Nate Castine, Skip Sewell, and Matt Rehder (who unfortunately hurt his shoulder– diagnosis unknown for now– getting a gigantic layout catch D on a deep shot). Sockeye trades out to win 15-11, and heads to finals against Revolver.
This game was not very close. Revolver’s D was strong throughout, getting some great blocks– notably a Beau layout D on a loopy endzone throw, an Ashland (I think?) handblock on MC that just never really happens, and a few blocks on our defensive offense that saved breaks. Had our defensive O converted a few of our multiple opportunities (we got the disc, we just couldn’t put it in), this game could have gone very differently, but we simply weren’t able to convert. Tough way to finish, but the nationals berth was our goal, and we’re psyched to head to Sarasota.