Woodside Invite 2012 was played in continual rain both days, and winds in the 15mph and gusting range on Saturday. We used 14 different field locations in a variety of configurations in order to get all the games in over the weekend. There was very solid ultimate played even through the wet and sloppy conditions. Earning a $500 credit from Savage, a free bid to defend the title, and a $400 (all in ones) cash prize was Yale, avenging a pool play loss to Maryland to in the finals 11-9. Unfortunately since everyone spent the weekend saturated they did not make it rain with the cash prize.
A few observations I took away from the weekend:
Tournament winners, Yale.
Yale looked consistent all weekend, they played 2 close games with Maryland winning the one that counted most after a long hard weekend in adverse conditions. I’m not very familiar with the Metro East so I can’t speculate how far they can go, but from what I saw they play hard and play smart and that will keep you in games against anyone.
Maryland played strong all weekend long, I believe they would have won the tournament with a full squad but they had reduced numbers and just seemed to wear down at the end. I’m not sure they can break into that top tier in the region this year and I think some of their other spring results back that up, but this weekend could have went a long way to helping them play in adverse conditions and possibly built some more depth.
Dickinson, played well and was in every game, they showed solid handling and defense. Their primary handler Simon can control the game and flow and is an all around great young player. I think if they continue to grow this spring they could be a real threat on the D3 level.
Trent Cooper, a junior at Woodside, doing what he does best, making plays most college kids only dream about.
I thought the same thing about Brandeis until in talking with them I found out they would choose to play D1 not D3. I would think at the D3 level they could go deep into play on Sunday, but don’t know that they have the depth to do the same playing D1.
The Atlantic Coast should have a very interesting Developmental tournament this year, Maryland, VT, and Georgetown finished in a 3 way tie, beating each other over the course of the weekend, and generally beating the rest of the field pretty easily. Combined with UVA and UNC who I saw in the fall I think there could be a lot of tight games as those teams battle for B-team supremacy. Its a good sign that those teams will continue to stay strong and improve in coming years. Georgetown walked away with the Woodside Invite Banner provided by Savage by way of a pokey contest, a fair warning to all DO NOT CHALLENGE GEORGETOWN B TO POKEY.
Photos courtesy of Richard Rudnicki
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