I have to say that I had a blast at Easterns working with Greg Vassar and Jonathan Neeley. Check out the videos and coverage over at Easterns.org.
Pool Play Saturday:
Pool A:
Not much to see here, everything went according to plan except for Cornell and California. Cornell showed that while they aren’t in the league of contenders, that they should be able to take some lower level teams at Nationals this year. You cannot discount the experience that their younger players will gain, setting them up to be better next year.
Pool B:
I had Minnesota making the quarters, thinking that they may have just had a bad start to the season. They did take Harvard to Universe, and unfortunately was on the receiving end of a tough call. The video below shows that after a tipped disc, a Harvard player does not reestablish himself in bounds before catching the disc ( to come later tonight). Eventually George Stubbs would go up the line to take the game, that video is currently below. Minnesota would lose big to UNCW and be ousted from the championship round.
Harvard has a shorter roster, and likes to play a lot of close games. When it comes down to it, George Stubbs can usually be found with the disc. I like their experience, and they also have good coaching that keeps them level headed. They were within 1 late in the game against Pitt, but couldn’t convert on the goal line. This was the only challenge Pitt had in pool play.
Pool C:
Georgia would be the odd man out in the pool where the top 3 seeds all beat each other. Michigan started the day with a HUGE upset, 13-7 over Colorado. Colorado gave away the game with crucial fundamental errors, throwaways, and dropped passes. Michigan is an incredibly solid team, where players play in their roles very well. Michigan would go on to lose to Wisconsin in a closely contested 14-12 loss. Colorado would start to regain momentum towards the end of the day, grinding out a 14-13 victory over Wisconsin. Jimmy Mickle had an odd play to tie it up at 13’s late in the game. After a D, the disc ended up rolling on the ground towards the Wisconsin end zone. Mickle picked it up, and was able to put himself in power position to send a huck down field. Colorado converted, which led to the final point. Watch Footage Below
Pool D:
The main story here is the match-up of Florida Oregon. The game was very close early on, with Florida taking an 8-6 halftime lead. I left the sideline to watch other games, figuring I could come back for it. By the time I made it back it was 12-7 Florida. Every other game played out to seed. Ohio looked like they are in need of a bit more experience. It was certainly a challenge for them to play consistently against top level teams. They will definitely benefit from the experience, but just need to focus on getting to nationals.
Cross Overs:
With the exception of two cross overs, the games went pretty much as expected. Harvard Iowa was incredibly close, with Harvard pulling out a 16-15 win. George Stubbs had a layout grab to preserve possession which you can see below.
Colorado pulled out a win against UVA 11-9 to survive their roller coaster Saturday. UVA was down 7-4, and roared back to take half 8-7. They had chances to score, but Matty Zimmel made the defensive play of the weekend. From there Colorado would break, and score downwind on the ensuing possession to get the win.
Sunday Coverage to be up soon!
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