Sockeye went 5-0 at the Elite Select Challenge last weekend, not letting any opponent get to double digits, and as a result rose to 2nd in the Ultiworld Power Rankings.
The Fish came out a little sluggish on Saturday morning, and were tied at 8s with #20 Oakland Guerrilla. However, after a fiery speech from coach Roger Crafts, the defensive line went to work, going on a 5-1 run to close out the game a comfortable 13-9 victory. Sockeye never looked back, cruising through the rest of pool play with a 13-5 victory over Denver Inception, the second team out of Denver, and a 13-3 blowout of Indianapolis Brickyard.
Sunday morning, the sun rose to find the boys already warming up. Some fields had been left unplayable due to rain, forcing quarterfinals to be cancelled and semifinals to be moved earlier. Although the fish had awoken that morning between 3:00 and 3:30 PST, the D-line came out hot, immediately forcing a third throw turnover and then getting back to back breaks. Sockeye never looked back, cruising to a 13-6 victory over Madison Club. The final was a similar story: the SoCal Condors, after their early morning triumph over Toronto GOAT, couldn’t hang with Sockeye’s pressure. Again Sockeye went up 2-0 and played a complete game, giving up only one break en route to a 13-6 Elite-Select tournament championship.
Going forward, Sockeye looks to their showcase game against hometown rival Seattle Voodoo in the annual Battle For Seattle before heading into the USAU club series.
Check out the links below to learn more:
Ultiworld Tournament Recap
Ultiworld Power Rankings
Video – Semis vs. Madison Club
Video – Finals vs. SoCal Condors
Check out full results from this year and past years, plus video, on our results page.