Nationals Day 2: Virginia, Stanford, and UCSB

Pool play

magnUM opened Saturday with two tough games against the top two seeds in our pool, Virginia and Stanford. The Virginia game, um, well … (words not fit for blogging). At certain points in the first half, we might have been better had we just centered the disc to Virginia. Oh wait, we pretty much did that on a couple points. Night Train rolled us 15-5 in arguably our single worst showing of the season.

The Stanford game presented an interesting dilemma to the team. Unless we beat Stanford by more than 10, which was unlikely, we would finish third in the pool regardless. Once Stanford secured a strong early lead, our decision was made—we would work in all the rookies and measure our effort in the heat while working out a couple offensive kinks. The rookies absolutely capitalized on their chance, trading blows with Stanford’s best and even went on a mini-run to make the game closer. Stanford would win 15-9, but if ever there was a uplifting 6 point loss, this was it.

UC Santa-Barbara

Finishing on seed in our pool, we earned a pre-quarterfinals berth against UC-Santa Barbara. This was a rematch of a hard fought 14-12 win at the Stanford Invite earlier in the year. In addition, Black Tide was on fire, breaking their 5th seed in pool play with upsets over Tufts, Georgia and Illinois. I won’t ruin the ending, but I promise reading all the way is worth it.

The game started out well. Considering the O line had been broken to start 3 of the 4 games so far, it started out extraordinarily well. Matt Marcum landed a sweet huck to Will Neff to put magnUM up 1-0. Matty Mich had a twinkle in his eye after that toss, and you knew he had more in store. magnUM almost took the first break, but couldn’t capitalize on a Dave Fumo D. Black Tide would earn the first break and take an early 2-1 lead. Both teams would alternate the next seven points, with Alex Kaulins and Derrick Wolbert netting a pair of goals and Matt Marcum a a pair of assists.

The D line was struggling to contain Black Tide’s deep game. But as the game progressed, the D line was getting their measure and finding chinks in the Black Tide offense. Ben Deland would lead the rally, gathering two D’s and an assist to the Meatball for the first break. When Seth Collins landed a gorgeous deep huck to Fumo to for the second straight break, the sidelines exploded. magnUM lead 7-6, the first lead since 1-0.

The lead would be short held in this back and forth game. Black Tide answered swiftly to tie it up, then broke the O line to take half at 8-7. The halftime huddle was an anxious meeting, but everyone was unanimous that a) we still weren’t playing out best and b) it was only a matter of time until the entire team caught fire.

Unfortunately, a matter a time still meant more breaks for Black Tide as their O line held serve, then broke us for a commanding 10-7 lead. Will Neff answered with a goal to Ollie, but Black Tide had another for an 11-8 lead. Black tide then took the game by the absolute neck with a sweet layout D and a score for a 12-8 lead.

At this point the game became the feature pre-quarters game, as most other games were nearly finished and our game had some long points with many tight calls (our observers had many tough decisions). Indeed magnUM appeared all but finished when an Alex Kaulins score was answered by USCB to keep them up four, 13-9—remember that score. To further stress the hearts of parents, coaches and magnUM sympathizers, we turned the disc on the next O line point. But Craig Sanford immediately got the D on the mark in the turning point in the game. Ollie hit Tom Haynes and magnUM was still alive at 13-10.

To this point the D line hadn’t had a break since the first half. Derrick Wolbert had enough of that, bookending the point. Suddenly we had a pulse, 13-11. The last break was fueled by our zone D, and it forced a second straight turn (this time a turf in the end zone). Will Neff threw a hammer to Ollie, and we were back fighting, 13-12. Will wasn’t done, not by far. He D’d a huck and then threw an assist back to Derrick Wolbert. Brand new game at 13 all. Black Tide finally stemmed the Maize and Blue tide to take a 14-13 lead.

At this point our game was bordering on epic and the only game around, the sidelines filled 5 deep with spectators. Alex Kaulins did his best to kill some of those fans, when he fell on the ground, then got up and tipped, bobbled, and caught a Neff huck. But he caught it to tied things up at 14. UCSB would not die easily, and returned serve, again, 15-14. magnUM wasted no time answering on O with Will making a nice sliding catch on the right side of the endzone, back to 15 all.

Now we had a game to 2, technically still down a break. After a UCSB turn, young guns were the signature of the point, as sophomore Ben Deland hit freshman Seth Collins deep. After being down for most of the game magnUM now was at game point, 16-15.

Will Neff did the rest. He got the D. He soared above the crowd for a high pass from Fumo. And he threw the winner. Matt Marcum grabbed the disc, tucked his toe in the corner of the endzone and for once, didn’t spike it. magnUM and their many fans exploded with the epic victory. We closed the game on an 8-2 run from that 13-9 score. And to underline his team MVP status, the Boxcar grabbed 5 assists, 2 D’s and 1 goal on our last 7 points scored.

What’s next you ask? Quarterfinals vs Colorado Sunday afternoon. See you there…