Pool Play Recap
I couldn’t sleep at all on Thursday night. I visualized non-stop. Was it the visualization or Phenom’s snoring that kept me awake? We really can’t be sure can we?
The fields were sweet. Really sweet. Perfect. We arrived ready to stomp Delaware. We had the scouting report on these guys. They had three players. Walden would guard their main handler and Pavan would guard their deep guy. We would be forcing them backhand for most of the game. Their offense was not able to connect on their deep shots and our defense took advantage. I honestly don’t remember much from this game, except offense was really easy in the second half as they were playing a loose zone. We get off to a great start at Nationals, downing Delaware 15-8.
The next battle was against a team we have all come to hate UNT. Their spirit was probably the worst out of any team we had played all year, with the possible exception of Florida. The story of this game was the carelessness with which we played offense. Yours truly had an awful game, throwing away multiple easy incut passes. UNT played their game, hucking it wrecklessly deep and throwing hammers all over the place. We were put on our butts and never got into the flow of the game. We would lose 15-10.
Our last game of the day came against the #1 seed Florida. Barring something crazy, we were assured of making it to prequarters, so we had nothing to lose going into this game. We knew Florida. We knew their game and had played them close three times previously this year.
The game would start off well for Illinois as we were able to hang up until 7-6 Florida. A format like Nationals favors a team like Florida who does not use their full roster. Gibson probably played every point of the first half. They were able to take half 8-6. Sweet plays included Joel streaking deep on Gibson for two scores, sweet continous zone-breaking by the handlers, and Charlie blocking Gibson in the endzone deep. However, Gibson made some spectacular plays deep, including a goal on Joel that we still can’t believe.
What was interesting at this point in the game was the possibility of us seizing the 1 seed in our pool. Delaware was crushing UNT on the next field. If we’re able to steal the victory away from Florida, we could take the 1 seed.
However, it was not meant to be. Sweet cheating tactics by Florida and inefficient offense by Illinois would prove to be too much. Highlights of the second half included Pavan handblocking Brodie. Pavan was the angriest I’ve ever seen him. Terrific. Illinois would lose 15-10.
Bracket Play Recap
Illinois was in the unenviable position of playing three games this year that could potentially be the last games for many graduating players. We passed our first test against Ohio St. at Regionals. It was only fitting that the next make-or-break game would be against a regional rival. Michigan. The maize and blue. The champions of the west.
The last time Illinois defeated Michigan was in 2004 at Regionals. We won convincingly 15-5 on our way to a Nationals berth. Since then, there have only been bad memories of Magnum, including a Regional final loss in 2005, a season-ending loss in 2006, and a regional final loss in 2008. Basically, I respectfully hate them.
As I saw it, this pre-quarter rematch against Magnum was all about matchups.
1) Walden vs. Purcell Part II: The battle of who could wear more articles of clothing. Let’s see here, Mugatu rocks any of the following during games: a bandana, pink hat, necklace, tights, armband, and multiple bracelets. Mr. Nelson wears two hats, two jerseys, and two pairs of shorts at all times. Everything in the last two sentences is completely inexplicable, and yet we love talking about it all the same. Amazing.
2) Phenom vs. Ricky (Michigan’s coach): The battle of who can cake themselves in sunscreen more. Seriously, Phenom, you may have met your match. I spoke with Ricky for the first time right before the start of the game. He seemed like a good guy then and through his comments during the game. It seems odd that I would talk to their coach for the first time before possibly the last game of my career.
3) Jman vs Dave Fumo: The battle of who can be skinnier than a rail and yet really muscular. These guys must have negative body fats right? Fumo matched up on Jman, and after watching their game against Texas, I knew it would be a battle. Jman goes deep and skies people. Fumo makes up ground and sacrifices his body for the D. Good stuff.
4) Joel vs. Neff. These guys didn’t guard each other too often, but this is the battle of which best player would shine during the game. Keep reading for the answer.
THE GAME
Is it possible for opposing players to have nightmares of a 5’10” asian guy who is constantly smiling at you? The very same guy who won his team’s spirit award? The answer is decidedly yes. Did I mention that he wears two pairs of shorts during EVERY GAME? Bueller?
Walden’s defense on Purcell during this game was simply suffocating. Scrappy on scrappy. Lefty on lefty. Shifty on shifty. Whew. Anytime you can neutralize the other team’s Callahan nominee, you have done your job for your team. Purcell’s hucks were a non-factor and Walden made him work like hell to get any sort of breaks off. Don’t call bad foul calls on Walden and trick him into not contesting. You’ll make him think about playing you again for three weeks. Lesson learned. Job well done Waldo.
Illinois brought the noise from the start. We broke them twice in a row to start the game, first with a rip from Lamp to Lefty and capped by a forehand bomb from me to Lamp for the score. Who knew he could go deep?
The third point of the game was eerily similar to the 10th point of the Regional final. I believe there were at least 5 turns on both sides. The 10th point of the Regional final effectively tipped the scales in Michigan’s favor and we didn’t want a similar point to do the same this time. Unfortunately, Michigan was able to cash it in and pull to 2-1.
The pressure our defense created was the story of the first half. Defenders were so close to Magnum cutters throughout each of the points. This pressure caused Magnum to give us gifts. They were dropping catchable passes and throwing the disc away. Smooth offense and capitalizing defense allowed Illinois to take an 8-4 lead. Illinois would not be broken in the first half. Sweet plays included a backhand invert break from Lamp to Charlie for a goal and Phenom absolutely destroying two Magnum defenders for the sky and goal. Sidenote: The only two times Phenom wears a wool hat during games are during games against Michigan that are played under decidedly warm conditions. I bet they thought he was a pud. Amazing.
Illinois would need to come out on fire in the 2nd half and let Magnum know that comeback was not within reach. The offense got broken twice in the second half, but was able to sustain the momentum the D-line had created. A backhand huck from Joel to me and we were leading 11-6. Wait, Joel throws backhands? Apparently at halftime, the Magnum huddle was talking about knowing that we love to throw backhands and that’s what needed to be stopped. Right. Back to the recap.
Remember when I told you I would tell you who would shine the most, Joel or Neff? Well, after a sweet turnover by me, Joel seabiscuited Neff on the ensuing possession. Yes, seabiscuited is a verb. He popped out of nowhere. After Joel called an immediate timeout, Neff was actually speechless going to the Magnum huddle.
As Denis would say, “That was so dirty Joel.” I caught up with Neff later and he still couldn’t believe the D. “Do you remember that D Joel had on me? I thought I had so much time.” What was I supposed to say in that situation? GEEZUS H. Unreal. After the timeout, Joel flipped a high backhand break to me for the goal. We took an 12-8 lead. Did I mention that Joel threw a backhand?
Purcell ran the Pappy play on the next possession for a score to Fumo. Magnum was within striking distance at 12-9. Smooth offense got us to 14-11. Here’s where I mention something crazy. Something that makes my head hurt. Something that no one could possibly imagine. Jacob Lionel Segil threw a 72-yard huck for a goal. And it was a forehand. I don’t have anything else to say about that. Just read that sentence over and over and the shock value should be enough.
The D-line would end the game in style. After getting the turn, a huck was thrown to Pavan streaking deep. After some sweet iota action, Lefty threw a forehand around fake to shift the mark and had an easy forehand throw to Dan for the game. Illinois was headed to Quarters at Nationals for the first time in 5 years.
That win felt so good. What made it better? A little birdie told me Magnum was talking before the game about conserving their energy for Quarters. Oh baby.
Illinois would have nearly a 2-hr break before a date with the Colorado Mamabird. We knew pretty much everything about this team. They breed mutants and giants and then throw it to them deep and see what happens. In all seriousness, Colorado has who I think was the best player in college ultimate this past year, Jolian Dahl. Jolian controls the Colorado offense and wills the team to victory. He also is a disgusting defender. He gets major-league D’s and is blazing fast. No disrespect to Gibson’s offense, but if I want to start a team with this year’s college crop, I want Jolian.
The game would start out with the Illinois offense being patient while the Colorado offense took some crazy shots. We were able to break Colorado on a ridiculous grab by Jake in the endzone to take a 3-2 lead. Oh my rizz, that was silly.
During the first half, Colorado employed a bit of trickeration. They decided to hide Martin Cochran on the far sideline during the point and trick us into throwing a huck deep to his guy in the hopes of getting a “poach D.” Well, it worked, sort of. I got the disc and Jman was open deep. I got excited. Fortunately for us, I lasered the huck to the mizzle and it got to him before Martin could race over. Sucker. We were able to hold a 4-3 lead. The wheels started to fall off towards the end of the first half. After Illinois turnovers, Mamabird jacked some shots deep and their mutants made some sweet plays. There was also a point in the first half where the D-line played offense. It was as if we were living in bizarro world as the D-line was the most patient that either side has ever looked all season long. They must have thrown 40 passes to work it in the endzone. It was amazing and shocking at the same time. That’s all I have to say about that. Colorado took an 8-5 halftime lead.
Illinois knew they were in striking distance and only a couple plays a way from being in the thick of it.
However, neither team would get a break in the second half. The second half featured Martin fooling us again and being successful and Colorado flashing some junk that was actually useless. In the end, Colorado’s offense was great. Really great. Their huge cutters got big gains in and were open deep at will. They didn’t give us many chances to get back into the game. Illinois would lose 15-12, tied for 5th at College Nationals.
Thank you to all the parents, friends, and girlfriends who made the trip out to Boulder. Your support was terrific. It made us feel more comfortable to hear cheers, especially when we played against Colorado and their large amounts of fans.
It was the final game for eight Illinois players. After the game, the team shared compliments for each other and reflected on the season. We talked about doing just as well as any team in Illinois history, the team chemistry that was developed over the year, and appreciation for the graduating players.
I-L-L…
