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SATURDAY:
The first round of games on Saturday had all games but the 8/9 game going to seed in a big way. The closest margin of victory was a 6 point win. The AC had 16 teams competing for three bids, leading the UPA to select a double elimination format, getting to the big games quickly. The finals match-up would be set by 3:00 on Saturday.
The top seeds seemed to be rolling early in the second round. UNC went up early on a very young Wake Forest team. Wake Forest was the sleeper pick for many. WFU won the Wolfpack Invitational, had a strong showing at the CCC, QCTU, Terminus, and Southerns. In each tournament, they were knocked out in the quarter or semi finals, but it was obvious they were a team ready to put it all together. Wake came out forcing UNC straight up, afraid of the big huck and speedy Carolina receivers. But UNC was ready and put the disc outside then swung to the open thrower and rained down big throws on the overwhelmed defenders. UNC was fluid and fast and when they went up 3-0, the game looked to be over quickly. WFU called a time out, and came back forcing the disc to the middle and trying to clog up Carolina's cutting lanes. The force seemed to work, and Wake tied the score at 3-3, then went up 5-3. Carolina came back, tying the score at 6, before Wake scored two more to take half.
With the middle force, Carolina abandoned their long game, and tried to work it underneath and around the mark. Their receivers were clearly faster than the Wake defenders, but the handlers were plagued with execution errors, throwing over open receivers and goal line turnovers. After a time-out with Carolina down 10-6, they went back to their run and gun offense. A huge huck from Kate Scott to Lindsey Hack started a UNC comeback. UNC clicked off three points in a row to bring the score to 10-9, before Wake could respond. Lucia Derks, Wake's sophomore captain playing on a torn ACL got a huge dump d and score to put Wake up by 2. After a few traded points, the cap went on. Carolina scored to tie the score at 14, game to 15. Another execution error by Carolina turned the disc over about 30 yards outside of the UNC end zone, and Annie Reuben ripped a right handed flick huck down the right side of the field and into the endzone. Carolina, still running well, had a defender step for step with the Wake receiver. The UNC defender was not able to get a whole hand on the disc, macked it up into the air and back to a waiting WFU player, ending the game and the upset 15-14.
The other quarter final games went according to seed quickly, matching up WFU with Georgia and Florida with Emory in the A bracket semi finals. UNC dropped into the B bracket to play Elon, NC State took on Davidson, UVA matched up with Mary Washington and Georgia Tech played Richmond. The 1:00 games were fairly unremarkable, with the higher seeded teams playing well and rolling.
The last round of the day featured just two games with teams still holding onto hope for a bid. UNC found themselves matched up with yet another sectional rival in NC State, while UVA played Tech. Despite their long history of sectional match ups, UNC and State had not yet played in 2006. Carolina once again came out strong and went up early and took half. They seemed to be running away with the win. Both teams were facing elimination, with UNC loosing to Wake and State loosing to UGA in earlier rounds. NC State has many experienced players, having made nationals the previous two years, and two club level coaches. After an NC State time-out, Carolina once again was the victim of execution mistakes. State went on several 2 or 3 point runs, and eventually, UNC found themselves in the exact same position they were in earlier in the morning. The score was tied 13-13 in a capped game to 14. Once again, a huck goes up, a UNC defender gets a partial d and the disc floats to an open receiver. NC State's Christina Beuchamp lays out, makes the catch, and eliminates UNC.
SUNDAY:
Florida and Georgia were matched up for the title game, and had a Sunday morning bye. In the B bracket quarters, NC State played their best game of the tournament. Sara Emmel had a very good game for the Wolfpack, and they showed a lot of promise for the next few years, with several freshmen stepping up and playing well. They ran hard, out hustled and rolled over Emory 15-9. Wake also seemed to be playing well, taking a 5-1 lead over UVA early. However, they were not able to keep the same momentum, and allowed UVA back into the game. UVA took half 8-7. Wake stuck to their offense, and continued to play aggressively, throwing huck after huck to their receivers down field. Wake went on a small run after half to take a 11-10 lead, and won 13-11 in their third capped game in a row.
The finals took place next to the men's Florida v Georgia final, and drew the largest crowd of the weekend. Florida and Georgia had played twice this year, splitting 1-1. Florida had shown no weakness throughout the weekend, and looked confident coming into the finals. Although Georgia also looked strong, they lost to Florida at their last meeting and played Wake to cap in their last game. Florida's impressive fitness level could prove to be a big factor.
Florida jumped out early to a 4-2 start. Their players were excited, as were the fans, who rushed the field at every break. Georgia took the pull, and quickly scored, then scored again off of a missed Florida huck, to tie at 4. The rest of the half was an offensive showcase. The slight wind brought out Florida's zone d. While they got a few turns, they were mostly a result of bad throws rather than good defense. Georgia took half 7-8.
The second half Florida continued to press the Georgia handlers with their zone. Katherine Wooten and Maggie Jackson took over most of the handling duties for the Hodogs while and Shanye Crawford and Chelsea McGehee were good down field targets. Florida transitioned back into man, and Chelsea took over. Chelsea caught 4 of the last 6 goals for the UGA team, and got several defensive blocks in the middle of the field. UGA's win rode on Wooten's big righty flick huck, which went up just about every point. Florida's Sara Puyana played very well with few turnovers and a lot of confidence for FUEL, working with Joanna Neville to break the Georgia zone, while Florida's stong bench answered everytime they were called upon.
The cap went on with UGA ahead at 10-11. Georgia scored a downwind goal to make it 10-12, and Florida responded with their own downwind goal to bring it to 11-12, game capped at 13. The last three points seemed to last forever. There were no fewer than 10 hucks that were out of the reach of their receiver or went out of bounds. Game point, Florida came out in man, UGA worked the disc to the right sideline, and found Wooten open in the right corner for the win, 13-11.
Florida immediately went to play Wake for the backdoor bid. Wake had just ended their own battle with NS State, pulling out the victory 12-10 under the cap. Wake's string of cap wins was becoming a trend. They are not the most disc skilled players, but they are driven and refuse to loose. Hard running and aggressive play have put them into a position to play for a bid to nationals for the first time in their short program's history.
Florida came out strong and hard. Possibly because their ego was stung from their close loss to UGA, possibly because Wake was coming off of a hard fought game, but probably because they were more experienced and had better disc skills. Wake committed too many turnovers, and Florida made them pay for every one of them. Wake went down 15-6 after they went to a longer rotation to save some energy for the last game of the day: the third bid and game to go against Emory.
Emory avenged their earlier loss to NC State with a convincing win to get to this game. The WFU/NC State game had been a battle, leaving both teams very tired. Emory took full advantage, and went up big and never looked back. The State/Emory game took place several fields away from the rest of the action. There weren't many fans and aside from the game, there was not much else going on there. Emory was focused and ready for Wake when they arrived at the field. Once again, Wake was caught flat footed at the beginning of the game, going down 0-4. Based on the energy level and body language of the Wake team, it seemed that their Cinderella weekend was about to end. They did begin to mount a comeback, however, when Casey Krebs had a big d right in front of the Emory bench. This play brought out the fire in the Wake team, and they scored 8 quick points to take half at 8-6.
After scoring the first two points after half, it looked like Wake was cruising. Emory however keep scoring. Amy Smith was still running like it was Saturday morning, making cut after cut up the sidelines and advancing the disc. Wake's short rotation and fatigue was showing and they had trouble running out the long hucks that had served them so well to this point. Emory continued to work the disc, and made up the score. The game was capped at 13-12 and Wake received the pull. A quick turnover and an Emory score put Emory one point away from the third bid. Wake scored after a turn or two, pulling to 14-13. Wake gets the disc again, 20 yards outside of the Emory goal. Lara Whalley put up an outside in backhand, which was caught for the score, but the throw was called back on a travel. The observer was not able to make a ruling and Wake committed the turnover. Emory walked the disc down the field and scored to win the game and the bid at 15-13.
Good luck to Georgia, Florida and Emory as they represent their region in Ohio.
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