MLC Recap

The men’s team headed into this tournament with high hopes. With the likes of Colorado, Wisconsin, and Carleton in attendance, we saw a chance to prove that we were a legitimate threat and national contender. Unfortunately, injuries would cripple our run at taking the tournament trophy home.

Going into the weekend, the team was down three starting defensive longs. Rip and Lefty were out with injuries, and Lamp was forced with the difficult choice of choosing career or tournament. Becoming a doctor is tough, and one can hardly blame him for not attending this tourney. Without these three impact players, the rest of team would have to step up. First year A-teamers had an opportunity to prove that they belonged with the squad.

Pool play on Saturday seemed to be a good start. We held seed. However, one could see trouble brewing by the fact that all our victories were much closer than they should have been, but taking Carleton and Colorado to double game point provided the team with hope going into Sunday.

The wear and tear of Saturday weighed heavily on the Illini. Everyone was a step slow. Each throw was a bit off. Drops plagued us. The game against Wash U was an utter disappointment. Our D-line could not get a break even if they got the turn on the goal line. That loss hurt. It hurt a lot.

The next two games were close, but that loss to Wash U gave the team the wake up call it needed to close the next two rounds out. Ohio State was in our sights.

Revenge stalked the mind of every A teamer that played in regionals last year. We didn’t care that the game only meant ninth. We wanted to win. The game stayed tight, but OSU held the lead most of the way. I’m pretty sure they went on a run at some point, but we answered right back. Sick plays were made all around. My favorite was Joel skying an opponent in the endzone with the suns rays steaming out of cloud in the background. It was as if Joel snatched the disc from the hand of God.

It came down to double game point. We called timeout. After losing twice yesterday, we needed something to spur us to victory. Joel had us turn our Jerseys inside out; hence, he created our universal point jerseys. But all was for nothing. OSU scored, and we walked off the field defeated.