Wisconsin Comes From Behind to Win; Carleton takes Second

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DECORAH, IA
April 27-28, 2008

For the third year in a row, Wisconsin took top honors at Central Regionals, with Carleton coming in second place. The well-fought finals was the highlight of the weekend, although close games abounded with Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota, and Iowa State right there in the mix. Wisconsin and Carleton can't get too cosy as the top teams in the region for long.

At the last minute, the tournament format changed to double-elimination. Anne Bosscher explained the situation for the weekend, "Saturday the women's rounds did not start until noon due to the fact that all of Central Regionals was limited to eight fields.  The men had started at 8:00am, reportedly playing while snow fell.  By the time the women started warming up, the temperature had risen to something in the 40s but the wind held strong.  I heard later that gusts had been up to 30mph.  Due to the limited field space, the women's format changed to double-elimination brackets.  In a deeper region, this format may have been detrimental to some teams as the weather changed drastically from Saturday to Sunday."

In the first round, the weather was cold and windy and most teams opted for a punt-and-play-D strategy. The gusty wind made trying to work the disc unattractive as even faking was difficult with the wind sometimes catching an edge and pulling the disc out of a player's hand. Wisconsin's zone kept Milwaukee out of the endzone and Milwaukee was only able to score once. Bringing only 8 players to the tournament allowed all the Milwaukee players to stay warm, but put a huge burden of play on the team's main handler, #10. She was able to put the disc through Wisconsin's cup, but often the offense stagnated when the disc was not in her hands. In fact, most teams seemed to have a key handler shouldering the burden of the long look turnovers. For instance, Alicia Hermes (#00) for Duluth put up huge forehands from shoulder height while a Grinnell women in a blue hat let the hucks fly against Iowa. In the closest game of the round, Luther used a couple different defensive strategies against Winona, keeping the handlers off balance with a combination of zone and hybrid-man. Kalee Wothe and Anna Greenberg were a great pair for Winona, but Luther pulled out the win 11-7.

In describing the second round, Anne Bosscher mentions it was a "handler-heavy weekend" with the amount of zone played and the difficulty of catching in the wind. She goes on to recount: "In the second round, all games went to hard cap except the Carleton/Minnesota game in which Minnesota was not able to put up any points.  Syzygy simply has too many players with experience and patience.  I have been impressed with the growth in Minnesota's program: in just a few short years, they have built a consistent core of players and have even fielded a B team.  Although they were blown out in this game, they continued to fight in the subsequent rounds, pulling out two more wins.  Although the other games were all ended by the sound of the horn, the wins were decisive.  In the Wisconsin/Iowa game, Iowa's cup was too much for a few Wisconsin handlers as they found themselves trapped on the sideline with only an upwind flick through the cup as an option.  Wisconsin was only able to break Iowa's cup with constant crashing and quick resets.  In the backdoor games, St. Olaf made some noise by going on a three game winning streak before losing to Eau Claire."

Both semifinals were decided by just a few points. Wisconsin traded points with Minnesota-Duluth for much of the game and it was tied as late as 9-9. When the cap went on with Wisconsin up 10-9, Bella Donna threw caution to the wind (so to speak) and looked deep more frequently over the next few points. The final goal was scored on a huge forehand by Georgia Bosscher to Frances Tsukano for an impressive sky and the 12-10 win. Carleton held off Wisconsin-Eau Claire by three (12-9). Duluth is led by Alicia Hermes, a 2007 All-Region winner, and speedster Missy Klajda. Eau Claire's stars include Robyn Fennig and Jamie Glader. Glader actually sustained a hairline fracture in her wrist on Saturday, but played through the injury in the hopes of helping her team go to Nationals. Anne Bosscher described Fennig as the "Kershner of the Central Region with her pink hair, temporary tattoos, and all around ridiculous play." Both Duluth and Eau Claire have improved tremendously in the last few seasons, and the impact of their top players cannot be overstated.

Lead by Beth Mynar and Megan Molteni (another 2007 All-Region winner), Carleton came into the finals with tons of momentum and fire. Syzygy is known for the combination of well-timed continuation cutting, precise throws, and pressure defense, helping the team quickly build up a 5-1 lead. Wisconsin was able to re-focus and then went on its own run to tie the game at 5's. Carleton refused to allow the momentum to swing any further and pushed back to maintain a lead until 12-9. At this point the weather became a factor as the wind picked up. Wisconsin's handlers were not detered and pushed Bella Donna to a tie at 12-12. The teams traded to 13-13 before Wisconsin's Georgia Bosscher found Laura Bitterman in the endzone past a bidding Molteni. Bosscher then caught the game winner after another point with multiple turnovers. A spectator noted that Carleton seemed to let the pressure of the game affect them down the stretch, although fatigue could have been another culprit. Wisconsin in a team that seems to ride on emotion, needing its adrenaline pumping to perform. Neither Carleton nor Wisconsin have a coach this year.

In the backdoor bracket, both Duluth and Eau Claire met for the chance to play the loser of the finals. Minnesota-Duluth was the more tired of the two teams, having just come off of a one point victory over Minnesota (12-11) while Eau Claire had played St. Olaf in a 15-6 game. Eau Claire emerged victorious in another close game (13-11) and lined up against Carleton in the game-to-go. Showing tremendous resilience after losing such a close finals, Carleton came out clicking against Eau Claire, with Taylor Ross was a primary target downfield for Carleton. Eau Claire played zone defense to try and take advantage of the wind, but Carleton's handlers were ready and used precision and patience to break the D down. Carleton's zone D was able to generate some turnovers, helping Syzygy take half 8-3. Eau Claire utilized half time for some strategic changes and came into the second half playing person defense with some different match-ups. Carleton was not about to give up another lead with a bid to the championships on the line, and fought through till the last point was scored. A 15-11 victory allowed Syzygy to return to Nationals for the upteenth time.

Wisconsin now goes into the championships with a 8-7 record against the other teams that have qualified. Going to all three of the NCUS tournaments gave Wisconsin a good taste of the competition out there and the Bella Donna women are eager to prove themselves again. Carleton also attended all three Cultimate events, but fared a little worse against Nationals competition, with a 3-8 record against teams that have already qualified. Nonetheless, Carleton's ability to go up on Wisconsin and almost hold on to the win indicates that the team could be peaking at the right point in the season and should not be overlooked in Boulder. Holding onto the strength wildcard should not be a problem.