Open
UW vs. Whitman Philip Murray went huge vs. Whitman. Coming off a shortened Saturday where he went out after having been cleated in the achilles, it seemed that Phil was involved in every score for UW. Two early foot blocks, and smart disc movement allowed Washington to get an early lead, hold off a charge by Whitman, and open up an 11-7 lead. Whitman has an excellent core of deep receivers, who although not on the whole very tall, have tremendous speed. Matched with the hucks of Jeremy Norden, Whitman has been very successful relying on them to break through defenses and give them red zone opportunities. Washington was able to contain Whitman enough to take the win, 15-12.
UW vs. Oregon (2/3) The story of this game was a flat start by Oregon. Oregon didn’t seem able to work the disc against the UW defense, and made questionable throws which allowed UW to open up a 6-2 lead to start the game. Again Phil Murray had an outstanding game. Whenever he had the disc, the whole field seemed to be open to him. His ability to quickly move the disc, find cutters on the break side, as well as do a bit of deep cutting himself, allowed Washington Men’s Ultimate Team to take a big early lead. The story of the game has to be the inspired comeback by Oregon. Down 6-2 at one stage, Oregon came back with an amazing run, eventually tying the game at 8’s and then taking their first lead in the game 9-8. What followed was a close game between the two teams, with neither one dominating the other, as evident by the 15-12 final score, with Oregon winning the majority of the 50-50 throws. Big skys by Oregon cutters, as well as some tough red zone D made the difference. Of course, some might say it was gratuity of the re-spikes by Dylan Freechild which got Oregon back into the game.
OSU vs. Whitman (Game to go) Oregon State was a bit unexpected in the game which would decide the final bid to nationals out of the North West Region. The Beavers defeated Victoria in a game which went to universe, 14-13, on a throw to Timmy Perston by Patrick Buermeyer. Best play of the tournament on the open side goes to Patrick in this game: an errant up line throw lead to a full extension layout and an off handed grab by Buermeyer. The game to go against Whitman came down to the ability to cover the Sweet’s deep threats, and throttle the throws of Norden. Oregon State wasn’t able to do so, with only Timmy Perston being able to keep up with Whitman’s deeps, Norden had plenty of other targets to throw to. Case and point would be the pictured throw, from goal line at one end to a receiver in the other endzone. Certainly the prettiest throw of the tourney.
Oregon vs. UBC (Final) The first game of the day for both teams, the game to decide the first seed from NW Regionals was a lopsided affair. UBC came out strong and made it look easy. Oregon defenders were left trailing their man and seemed like they were working on not enough sleep and no breakfast. UBC, minus John Norris for the tourney (don’t worry, he confirmed the rumors that he will be back in action for Nationals) didn’t seem to have problems working the disc, of course, the other handlers on UBC are very talented in their own right (with guys like Aaron Liu playing very well). With plenty of chances given them by Oregon turnovers, UBC took half 8-3. Oregon managed to put up a better fight in the second half, with UBC winning the half 7-6, but the damage was already done and it was apparent once they started resting some of their starters for the next round.
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