Frisbee

Eleven total scheduled professional Ultimate games with a lone Friday AUDL match, and a back-to-back for two MLU Eastern conference teams. Interestingly, AlleyCats & Revolution play each other on Saturday AND again on Sunday. This is the last weekend for any team rosters impacted by the College Ultimate season. Betting lines - the spread & points total (Over/Under) - for professional Ultimate

This coverage is presented by Spin Ultimate As always, keep it posted to Tournament Central for all of the latest. Feature photo Christina Schmidt – UltiPhotos.com

This coverage is presented by Spin Ultimate This is it. The end of the 2013 College season, and it all comes together with the twenty teams that qualified for Madison. Starting with what to look for in pools, the entire weekend ends with ultimate televised live then later shown on the ESPN family – it’s sure to be exciting. Be sure to keep posted to Skyd’s Tournament Central throughout the weekend for a Liveblog, video recaps and more. Pool A Oregon, Colorado, Dartmouth, Georgia, Washington Outside of number one team in the nation Oregon Ego leading off this pool, the rest of the pool’s finish isn’t exactly up in the air, but is going to be hotly contested. Ego, and Callahan-nominee Dylan Freechild, have had a phenomenal season thus far and are looking to cap it off with a championship belt. Two seed Colorado Mamabird and their own Callahan-nominee Jimmy Mickle have plans of their own. We’ve already seen this season that when needed, Mickle can turn it on and will Mamabird to victory. While he may want to conserve energy this weekend, he may have to if they want to get past Dartmouth Pain Train. Many weren’t expecting Pain Train to make Nationals at all, thinking that Tufts was the better team in the region. But their play late in the season truly picked up – including a tournament win at New England Open – and if they can bring that play into Madison, Colorado may have a problem on their hands. Sitting below both of these teams are Georgia and Washington. While the Sundodgers have the National-scene experience, Georgia does not. That doesn’t mean they aren’t a good team, but they will face a stronger challenge this weekend than they’ve seen all year. Key Games: Oregon Ego vs. Colorado Mamabird (Fri. 10:30am), Colorado Mamabird vs. Dartmouth Pain Train (Sat. 12:30pm) Pool B Wisconsin, Carleton College, Harvard, Florida State, Cornell Woe is the team who finishes second in this pool. But lucky us in that we get to see one of the most storied rivalries in all of college ultimate to decide who finishes first. Why is it a bad thing to finish second? The second place finisher has to meet Oregon (most likely) in quarterfinals if they make it out of pre-quarters alive (oh and Pittsburgh in semifinals as well), while the first place finisher gets the winner of two teams fighting for their life Saturday night as well. Neither the Hodags or Cut have had as prolific of a spring season as we’re used to seeing, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be an interesting game. Whoever loses this game will be looking at how Harvard Red Line does on Friday, as they’ll most likely be the team to beat to secure second in the pool. Red Line added Piers MacNaughton this season. By the later half of the season that addition seemed to be the kickstart the team needed, with two finals appearances and a regional title before heading to Madison. For DUF, their game against Harvard is a chance to play upset this weekend but lack of big game experience may be necessary when their chips fall. Cornell may have that experience, having taken the Metro East yet again, but their spring results don’t suggest much. Key Games: Wisconsin Hodags vs. Carleton CUT (Fri. 12:30pm), Harvard Red Line vs. Florida State DUF (Fri. 12:30pm) Pool C North Carolina, Central Florida, Ohio, California-Davis, Luther How great was the semi-final game at Easterns between UNC Darkside and the UCF Dogs of War? That back and forth matchup could’ve ended with either team coming out on top, but it was UCF winning at the end of it. No doubt each team is reviewing their mistakes from the game film, and looking to improve on that performance come pool play. Much like the winner of Hodags vs. CUT looks to decide that pool, the winner of UNC vs. UCF decides this pool. Both are great teams, but as we saw in the Easterns game – does Darkside match up well enough with UCF to take them down and retain the number one seed in the pool? For UC-Davis and Luther, Ohio looks to be a sitting duck. Their dep

Hold on to your hats! Pool C is full of star players, deep rosters, and teams with a statement to make. For Iowa State, pool play is a chance to prove that they belong in the conversation about potential champions after faltering in a similar position last year. Ohio State eliminated Iowa State in prequarters last year, bested them in Centex pool play, and then fell 13-14 in the finals in a break-less game – Fever has to love the spot they’re in on Friday morning. For Virginia, Mary Kelly is healthy again and they can break through to the next level simply by making prequarters and start solidifying their position as a consistent top-10 team. For Central Florida and Whitman, programs making their first appearances at Nationals, an upset will prove that they belong. Every new team arrives at the fields with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove – and as last year’s exciting finishes showed, that makes for some great ultimate. Iowa State Woman Scorned (#3) Hailing from Ames, Iowa, Woman Scorned is a fun-loving team that’s risen to the top of the women’s college game in the last three years and is poised to finally make their breakthrough to the late games on Saturday. Electric, athletic, and well-coached by Kevin and Lana Seiler, Iowa State manages to eke every last bit of depth out of their roster, balancing four superstar U-23 players with some very capable role players and a large defensive line full of quick scrappers and heady players able to manufacture a D. Iowa State’s impressive offensive line gets most of the recognition – at Centex, in swirling winds, Iowa State’s offensive line was only broken twice in the semifinals against Tufts and never in the finals against Pool C second seed Ohio State. Led by their four studs on the USA U-23 teams, Iowa State forces opponents to make compromises in their matchups and their approach to defense – compromises which Iowa State readily exploits. Sarah Pesch is a left-handed star handler with deft breaks and smooth hucks on both sides, and her job is always made easier by the effortless ways her three main cutters always find the open space. Magon Liu, top-five Callahan finisher Becca Miller, and All-American Cami Nelson are the primary targets for Pesch – a troika that is unmatched by any team in the country. All three are incredibly strong deep receivers and can make a play on any disc hanging in the air or tailing away in the endzone, which defenders quickly figure out. So it’s inevitable that they’ll all find themselves backed by their marks, in which case they’re all equally capable of finding the open space underneath, turning around, and firing a huck or sitting a soft break throw out into space. It’s a joy to watch Woman Scorned toy with the defense, first opening them up with the deep game, then abusing tight defenders with break throws, and finally watching them move the disc against soft defenses trying to stop the huck by backing and stop the breaks by backing off the mark, and ultimately doing neither as the disc effortlessly flows down the field in a beautiful rhythm from Pesch to Liu to Nelson to Miller to Pesch to Liu for the goal. Pesch, Liu, Miller, and Nelson are typically joined on the offensive line by handler Cassie Sakai, a transfer student from UC-Davis and an experienced player capable of punishing teams that attempt to stop the four stars by poaching off other players. Freshman Brittnee Grimshaw was the fourth cutter at Centex, scoring goal after goal as defenders were caught star-gazing at the “Big Four.” Unfortunately, she’s not on the roster Iowa State has provided for Nationals – but hopefully another player will step up in her absence. On defense, Iowa State is comfortable playing lines of rookies and younger players in various man and clam defenses, trusting that their defense will snag some breaks while their offense carries on

This coverage is presented by Spin Ultimate Schedule/Scores: Open Women’s Live Updates: Tweets from @skydmagazine/d1-championships Open - Adam Lerman @AisSKYD Jimmy Leppert  @Skyd_JLeppert Jonas Cole @Skyd_JonasCole Coit Stevenson @CO1T919 Ian Toner @Skyd_IanToner Women’s - Kami Groom @Skyd_KamiGroom Ryan Thompson @ultimatepulse Previews: Open SAVAGE All-American Team (Open) Women’s Nationals: Women’s Pool A Preview Nationals: Women’s Pool B Preview Nationals: Women’s Pool D Preview Nationals: Women’s Expert Picks Savage 2013 Women’s All-American Feature photo by Jeff Albenberg – UltiPhotos.com

With Callahan voting complete Skyd Magazine with Discraft and Five Ultimate are pleased to announce the top 5 vote-getters in each division. The following is in alphabetical order. Winners will be announced at the College Championships this weekend. Open Clark, Jay (Georgia Tech) Degirolamo, Tyler (Pitt) Freechild, Dylan (University of Oregon) Hart, Brian (Wisconsin) Mickle, Jimmy (University of Colorado) Women’s Chastain, Claire (University of North Carolina Wilmington) Hoffmann, Liên (Northwestern) Miller, Rebecca (Iowa State University) Tajima, Claudia (Tufts University) Zahniser, Bailey (University of Oregon)

This week in Seven On, it’s time for a mailbag! I’ve been receiving questions for a good while now, and instead of summing up the weekend that was and providing other thoughts, I’m going to answer some questions from you, the readers. Have a question for a future mailbag? Email (jimmy@skydmagazine.com) or Twitter (Skyd_JLeppert) are best for that. 1. It may be a little early, but how do you see the MLU vs AUDL vs USAU thing shaking out? I would love to see a collaboration, taking the best teams from club and creating a pro league out of that. Sort of like the Nexgen League, but with the spectator friendly playing style of the pro leagues we have right now. Further, collaborating on resources and talent would make a big difference in putting together a great product for ESPN and their audience. – Chad from Columbus I agree that the leagues all working together for one unified product would probably be the best bet for the sport as a whole – spectators and potential investors included. The biggest issue I see with your suggestion is season length. If adopting the professional model into the club season, where is the capital for investing in the players costs (even if you’re just reducing it) going to come from? The MLU and the AUDL’s Toronto Rush have shown that national corporate sponsors can be attracted to the sport – but that is also for a season that spans just a few months. If that’s changed to a season that goes from late May to late October, I think some big investors may be scared off. As for how the whole thing is going to shake out, I like the chances of USAU with ESPN on their side co-existing with one of the pro-leagues. We’ve already seen that ESPN isn’t afraid to include any amazing plays from the sport in their programs and highlights. But with their talent and cameras now shooting the action, I think they’ll try and integrate it a bit more. Between the two pro-leagues, I think the MLU will come out on top. As mentioned, the Rush were able to attract top investors to their team. But what will happen in cities that house two teams in separate leagues – as will happen in the AUDL’s increasing expansion. Where the talent goes is also a strong indicator of which league will come out on top I think. The fact that the MLU has already secured some of the top West and East Coast talent instantly makes their success much more likely in my opinion. 2. Let’s talk scores for College Natties! What are your predictions for: Total points scored (for all teams); point diff. of the Champion; largest margin of victory; and score of the Championship game? – Charlie from Minneapolis, Minnesota Total points scored, including the consolation games, let’s go with 1382 points – I very roughly added up the past two tournaments, and added some points to the average I got. The point diff. of the Pittsburgh last year was +32, while 2nd place Wisconsin was +18 – and I think this year the champion will come out with a number more around Wisconsin than Pittsburgh. Pitt had a big win in pool play, and in their quarterfinal game against Minnesota, but I don’t think that’ll happen this year; the champion will have a point diff. of +21. Last year, nothing exceeded Michigan State’s 15-4 victory over Cornell in the consolation games, but getting close were the two big wins Pitt had (15-5, 15-6). Two years ago, there were 15-2 and 15-3 games, but I don’t think we’ll get that low; nothing lower than a 10 point victory, 15-5. This last one is the most exciting one, the score of the championship game – I’m going to assume you want to hear this in order to make some friendly wagers with friends. Aside from the 11-5 victory CUT had over the Hodags in 2011, the recent championship games have been very close. I’d set the over/under at 27, or a spread at 2.5 – take that for what you will. Following a lot of hockey writers, they’ve been coming around to what they call ‘fancy stats’ (Corsi, PDO, and others). These are stats that can, for the most part, show a

Dear every Nationals qualifying team that isn’t Wisconsin, here is your scouting report on the number two overall seed. Dear Hodags, since this is the only scouting report video out there, hope you have some serious tricks up your sleeves! Yesterday’s dumps included a sweet preview video for the Vancouver Nighthawks. So let’s go East Coast today! This time, the preview teaser for the Boston Whitecaps’ clash against the Philly Spinners on June 15th. UPDATE: Get the newest videos from the MLU being put up online, quite literally, as this Dumps post is being crafted. For those in a time crunch, you have highlights for games between the Spinners v. Whitecaps, Current v. Rumble, and Rainmakers v. Stags. Fort those fortunate enough to not be in a time crunch (leaving the rest wondering how you do it), there’s full game coverage of Current v. Rumble and Rainmakers v. Stags. In 2011, Sophie Herscu was a Callahan finalist. In 2013, she is part of Rabble Dance Collective’s new UPrise program attempting to emphasize the importance community. Check out the Kickstarter page, or at the Black Box Theatre in Boulder, CO. In an effort to continue to grace ESPN’s Top Ten list, today’s dumps conclude with this amazing, last-second, slip-n-slide grab from Seattle Rainmakers’ Phil Murray. Be sure to tweet #SCTop10 to vote:

Spin Ultimate MVP red jersey awards we presented to top players in each round at the 2013 DIII College Championships. Here is each recipient, along with a little bit about what they did to earn the award. Open Lock Whitney – #22 Amherst College - During their first round game against the North Park Lost Boys, Lock was all over the field commanding their zone defense, and showing a strong offensive prowess. Alan Henzy – #22 Puget Sound -  For the first game of the Postmen’s Satuday, and they played a tight game against Lehigh. During that game, Henzy had a sick layout Callahan – earning him the award, and helping his team earn the win. Stephen Lammers – #12 Middlebury - In their pool play game against Carleton College GOP, the Pranksters defense was key. The sophomore helped lead that defense both on and off the field, and Middlebury would win the game and Lammers the jersey. Jay Sehgal – #13 Wake Forest - During Wake’s beatdown of Claremont during their final pool play game, Sehgal was all over the field making plays both offensively and defensively to help Wake earn the win, and secure first in Pool D. (Ed. note: Twitter still will not accept this picture. Apologies.) Giaco Corsigila – #16 Amherst College - In quarterfinals, Amherst would play Claremont Colleges in a closely contested game. On double game point, Corsigilia made the game winning grab over his defender in what many on the sideline, including myself, thought was a sure-thing defensive stop. Eric Hopfenbeck – #23 Puget Sound - In one of the other quartefinal matchups, Puget Sound was playing Harding in another back and forth game for the Postmen. Down to double game point, and Hopfenbeck not only got the defensive stop for his team, but scored the winning goal as well. Bookends + DGP = MVP Jersey. (Ed Note: With two great plays in quarters, no jersey was awarded on the Open side during semifinals.) Davis Whitehead – #4 Middlebury - As was said in both the video and written recap, Whitehead had the upwind throws – especially his inside flick break throw – to help the Middlebury team battle the wind that showed up for the finals. He was also noticeable making plays defensively, all while taking very few points off. His play was crucial in Middlebury winning the championship. Women’s Pheobe Aron – #11 Bowdoin - She dominated against Sain Benadeict’s during the first round, with her great hucks and break throws. This play would go onto continue all tournament long. Erynn Schoeder – #52 Saint Benedicts – In the Saint Benedicts win over Oberline, she had 7 assists, 2 goals and a whopping 4 defensive plays. Julia Raney – #8 Claremont - With Carleton Eclipse threatening, Raney would help Claremont orchestrate a giant comeback over Eclipse to win Pool C and earn a bye into quarterfinals. Zoe Suche – #34 Carleton  - In their quarterfinal win against Saint Benedict’s, Suche was a monster cutting for the Eclipse offensive line. She was getting open at will, and doing a great job no matter the defender. Claire Baecher – #00 Williams - Her staunch defense, and consistent throws helped Williams to upset Valparaiso in semifinals. Hannah Young – #13 Bowdoin - During their game against Williams in the finals of D3 Nationals, Young scored 6 goals for Bowdoin. Her cutting was fantastic, especially in the endzone for her team – making her the perfect recipient for teammate Phoebe Aron’s throws.