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Friday morning saw #1 seed Oregon playing against #8 overall, Colorado in one of the day’s most anticipated match ups. Both teams came out fired up, ready to put it all on the line for the chance to earn a bye into the quarterfinals. At first, Oregon seemed un-phased by Colorado’s zone, taking an 8-5 lead into halftime and maintaining a 2 point cushion until Colorado rattled off three breaks in a row, eventually taking a 14-13 lead on the backs of captains Jimmy Mickle and Tim Morrissy. The Colorado run, however, stopped there as Oregon punched in the O-point and fought for the Universe Point victory, 15-14.
Colorado proceeded to take half on #13 Georgia, 8-6, and wrapped up a hard-capped game with a 12-10 victory to finish the day 2-0. The other squad from Pool A to win their first two games was Dartmouth Pain Train, who fought off a fierce JoJah team from Georgia, claiming a 15-13 win despite a late JoJah run. Their second match pitted Dartmouth against the #17 seed Washington Sundodgers. Washington’s tight downfield defense required Dartmouth to rely on their handler motion and experience of veteran players such as Ian Engler and Cecil Qiu, who controlled the pace of the game. Simply put, Dartmouth outplayed the Sundodgers en route to a 15-10 victory.
In the final round of Day 1, the Northwest Regional match up between Oregon and Washington went more-or-less as expected, with Ego taking the Sundodgers down 15-9. Washington took a hucking approach to the game and could not seem to connect with their downfield receivers, which gave Oregon plenty of opportunities to move the disc up the field and set the pace of the game. Tomorrow all eyes are on the Colorado/Dartmouth match up, which will likely determine who earns bids to the pre-quarters and how the match ups shape up.
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