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#2 Wisconsin Hodags (1-1)
The Hodags looked a bit off all day. While their 15-9 defeat of Cornell may appear as if it was a comfortable victory,Wisco had trouble valuing the disc, often giving it away needlessly. They were visibly frustrated after some points in what should have been an easy win for them. In their game against CUT, Captain and Callahan nominee Brian injured himself on the first point of the game, after an attempted layout d. Hart’s absence was noticeable for the duration of the game; the Hodags certainly could have used him to get a few breaks back down the stretch. While there were moments of brilliance, especially from Colin Camp (who definitely stepped up in Hart’s absence), the Hodagsappeared to rely too much on the huck. Since a quarterfinals matchup against Oregon is likely at this point(unless Harvard has something to say about it), the Hodagshave tomorrow to work out their kinks.
#7 Carleton CUT (2-0)
Carleton began the day by breezing through Florida State in what many had pegged as an upset. Carleton had no trouble though, finishing DUF off 15-10. As previously mentioned, the meat-and-potatoes game of the pool was CUT’smatchup against the Hodags, and CUT looked fantastic. Despite main cutter Nick Stuart playing only a few points (hamstring), CUT had plenty of depth to pick up the slack. Justin Norden, who played a majority of the regular season on the D line, has transitioned back to O. His boost to the handling core opens up Simon Montague more freedom, and it really benefitted CUT today. Look for CUT to take care of Harvard and Cornell tomorrow and clinch a berth in quarters.
#10 Harvard Redline (2-0)
Redline also looked impressive today, crushing DUF 15-7 in the biggest blowout of the day, and defeating a tired Cornell 15-10. Freshman Mark Vandenburg looked particularly impressive, leading his team in assists with 10. Harvard played the two weakest teams of the pool today, but has Wisconsin and Carleton tomorrow. Judging from their play today, both the Hodags and CUT should not be overlooking this team. Darkhorse team for sure.
#15 Florida State DUF (0-2)
DUF has to be disappointed with their results today. While I’m sure they didn’t expect to sweep the pool, all DUF had to do was defeat two of the top teams in order to clinch a birth into prequarters. Their 15-7 drubbing at the hands of Harvard has to be particularly tough to swallow. While it is technically possible for DUF to still make the championship bracket, they would need a ton of help.
#18 Cornell Buds (0-2)
While Cornell didn’t come away today with any victories, there are a few positives to take away. 1) Jake Stevelman is only a junior. Stevelman runs the show, rarely taking points off. He finished today with 2 goals and 7 assists of his teams 10 total points. He’ll be a force next year. 2) Their handler movement looked solid today, While Cornell has a small roster and runs a tight rotation, their handlers looked crisp today. Look for them to pull off the upset against DUF tomorrow.
Feature photo by Kevin Leclaire – Ultiphotos.com
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