The Upstate NY section used to be one of the largest in the country, with the count almost always being in the mid 20’s. Now it has split into Hudson and Western NY D1 and D3 conferences, reducing the size down to 10 teams. Cornell is the most notable team in the area, and is the favorite in the Metro East. With 5 bids this year, the Western NY conference will have the largest influence of team turnout at Regionals. Lets see who will likely be competing in Princeton come later this April.
You might think that Cornell has always run away with this section, but it wasn’t until their recent nationals run that they were the team to beat. They are the reigning champions for two years, with Carleton University and Queens Kingston being in contention years before. Here are the champions for the previous 6 years.
- 2010: Cornell
- 2009: Cornell
- 2008: Carleton University
- 2007: Cornell
- 2006: Queens Kingston
- 2005: Queens Kingston
Pool A:
Cornell-A1
These guys are certainly the favorite, and are likely to walk through day 1 without a hitch. There’s no doubt they’ll be at Metro East Regionals. We’ll hear plenty more about them later.
Queens Kingston-A2
These guys have loved to come out of the woodwork and surprise the conference. One of the Canadian teams that used to qualify for Nationals, they are usually in the running for the Canadian Ultimate Championships. Historically, they’ve often had GOAT players that make up for having savaged squads.During one game at Regionals I was playing against them in a 4 man cup. The GOAT handler faked a hammer, to which I jumped for ( for no reason), and threw it under me. Expect them to be experienced, and another favorite to qualify for Regionals.
SUNY Brockport-A3
Brockport has come a long way from being the lovable losers of the Upstate NY section. A young team on the rise, they may not be ready to qualify for Regionals this year, but should be on the cusp.
RIT-A4
The Spuds are always in the thick of things come “sectionals”, but have never qualified for Regionals. Dan Justa is the veteran handler from which most of the offensive flow will be started.
Ottawa-A5
Ottawa may be extremely under seeded at this tournament. They only played two games last year spring at a small Rochester tournament and did not preform well. They did place higher than Queens Kingston at the Canadian Championships, and could give everyone in the pool a game. The tough thing to tell is what type of team they will bring. Canadian teams often don’t have many games before the series, and due to long travel distances are often savage.
Pool Predictions:
- Cornell
- Queens
- Ottawa
- RIT
- SUNY Brockport
Pool B:
Syracuse-B1
Syracuse had a year of strong regional appearances in the early 2000’s, but has not gotten back since 2006. They are primed to make an appearance after having a solid regular season and taking down Buffalo at a Rochester tournament several weekends ago. Should things hold seed, we will see the Rivalry game of the section starting at 4 pm Saturday. Buffalo and Syracuse have battled started with a legendary match in 2007. More on that below.
Buffalo -B2
It should be no secret that this is the team I’m pulling for this weekend. I was lucky to be part of some great games against Syracuse during my 5 years at sectionals. In 2007, Buffalo was down 13-8, but came back to win 15-14 in elimination play and eventually took the final bid to Regionals. While neither team made it in 2008, Buffalo eliminated Syracuse in pool play 15-12. In 2009, Buffalo came back from a halftime deficit in bracket play to win 15-12 on their way to their second Regionals appearance. I know that Zack Smith, David Ferraro, Jason Stiffler, Nick Rogers and Colton Steiner are going to be giving it all they got at their last “Sectionals” appearance with Buffalo.
Rochester-B3
Rochester had an impressive victory over Millersville at IUP Nutbuster, but besides that have not been able to muster a streak of good wins. Led by Dan Wang and several players from Kung Fu Grip, Rochester has been infamous in the area for its zone-junk D. They should be in the running for the last bid to Regionals.
SUNY Binghamton-B4
Binghamton fell just short of Regionals last year after they were unable to defeat RPI twice. Justin Pierce and Justin Li lead the way for a team that lost a lot of seniors the year before. Many years ago, Binghamton used to go Nationals, but haven’t been back to Regionals in years.
SUNY Oswego-B5
A relatively new team, good to see a new face at sectionals.
Pool Predictions:
- Buffalo – Did you not see this coming?
- Syracuse
- Rochester
- Binghamton
- Brockport
Overall Predictions:
I consider four teams favorites to move on to regionals, with Cornell taking it all and Buffalo, Queens and Syracuse making up 2-4 in no particular order. The one wild card is Ottawa. If they show up with a good team, they’ll be in the mix with RIT and Rochester competing for the 5th and final bids.
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