Pool B saw a clash of old Northwest Region foes as Oregon met Stanford for a pool play match with some significance. Both teams had lost to Colorado and beaten a pool play opponent, so this game became the matchup for that coveted second seed. Oregon’s big play offense was matched up with Stanford’s much more conservative under game. The result was highly entertaining Ultimate.
Oregon started the game on D, and brought out a star studded line to earn that first break. Anchored by Dylan Freechild and Cody Bjorklund, Oregon would get the D and convert to take a 1-0 lead. Ego would break twice more before Stanford would finally punch in its first O-Line goal. On the third point of the game, Oregon had worked it up when a disc went slightly past the reach of a diving Freechild. As Oregon began to play defense, it was apparent that something had bothered Freechild on that lay-out, he seemed to be grimacing as he ran. The severity of Freechild’s injury became known as he collapsed while chasing a streaking receiver. Carried off the field by his teammates, that would be the last point that the explosive Freechild would play all day.
The Freechild-less Oregon team definitely became a team that looked more to just trade O points with Stanford. Stanford would break a couple of times to get the game as close as 4-3, but Bjorklund’s hucks were really on and Oregon’s defense found new life to take half 8-5. A couple of very noteworthy play’s occurred during the end of the half though, including a huge lay-out D in the endzone by Stanford’s Cody Mills on Bjorklund. The play was particularly impressive considering the distance Mills had to cover to close on the streaking Bjorklund.
The second half began with Stanford receiving and continuing to trade points with Oregon. At 11-7 Oregon, there finally was a break as Bjorklund took over the D line for Oregon and forced the issue. Oregon would earn another break through some excellent downfield defense to take it to 13-7, and the sideline of Stanford got very quiet for the first time all game. Stanford would punch there next O line point in to make it 13-8, but some efficient offense by Oregon and a break on the final point would be all she wrote. Final: Oregon 15 – Stanford 8
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