DIII Centex

WIN! Sorry, no jerseys. Apparently I don't read the captain's packet carefully enough.

Philly Classic 2010

Philly Classic 2010
March 14-15

Where: State College, PA

The time was 0900 and the rain would not let up. In chilly low 40 degree weather with a wind chill that sucks the heat out of you, 12 Miss Red girls lined up on a turf field to play! Warm-up did not look promising as the weather conditions were foreign to college kids from Houston, TX. Flicks flew left and right, hucks were stopped at midfield by the wind, and discs bounced out of frozen hands.

But when Boston College Flix lined up against 7 Miss Red girls, all of that was forgotten. Granted, there were a few flicks that flew out of peoples hands, a few drops, and some failed hucks, but with amazing 3 man zone defense and the best man-to-man defense of the season, we managed to dominate the game. We broke through their zone defense multiple times with skillful handling, quick movement among the poppers, and active deep cuts among the wings. Going downwind, we played some controlled huck and Z points that turned to our advantage giving us many endzone opportunities. Everyone stepped up and made a play this game! Honestly, I can think of at least one spectacular play from every person that played this game. Due to the conditions, we were 5-5 at hard cap. Both teams were rallying for points, and Miss Red was playing the best man D of the entire year. We must have forced 7+ turnovers and broken their zone upwind at least twice to get near scoring position. But in the end, they got a lucky huck off and a score.

We could not rebound from the loss in the next game against Case Western. They had a few skilled handlers and some quick hucks. There were still spectacular plays especially incredible shut down D from Foster, deep defense from Edith, and some pure athletic showboat plays from Wheeler. Kathleen adjusted quickly to the short deep position and managed to get a few solid Ds there. We learned a lot about zone offense against this team that threw a 5 man cup/wall. The trick was the dump and swing. Once we got it through the wall, if we kept the disc moving, we could work it through. It was increasingly difficult to raise moral and to convert on offense as people started to tighten up due to the weather. In the end, the fighting energy had disappeared and mentally, we had let the cold get the best of us.

After running to the heated cars and driving to the new location, we bounced back against Towson for an easier victory. They were a younger team having difficulty adjusting to the wind. On downwind points, we had quick easy offense points and scored. On upwind points, we had ore trouble. The game ended 11-3 (I think?) with a special shout out to Toni for coming down with a lot of swill! Our last game of Saturday was a game of survival. Fran was escorted to a heated vehicle because she could not move and was shivering uncontrollably (I mean, we all were but she was incapable of moving and crying), Edith and KP had tightened up and couldn't run anymore, and I don't really remember who else was not playing because I was trying to remember how to move my legs fast enough to stay warm. Northeastern managed to break through our cup and was getting easy unders on our man D. We had a few points of spectacular play against their zone, working it up in their cup and learning to adjust against the trap cup to get a swing off, but in the end, our legs could not keep up with theirs. Kudos to the people who managed to play out this game. There was never a point where I believe we were not playing with whatever we had left. On the last point, we knew we had to score - we would not give up without a fight. They threw a zone on us again. I told Wheeler (surprise surprise) to split the deep with the other wing. On a swing from the side handler, we put a throw, which was far from perfect, and Wheeler came flying in for a score. I would like to say great job from Kathleen and Lynn for playing chilly handler offense and to Evi for working the popping position like a pro.

Sunday was another story. The weather had changed, it was less cold and less wet. Throws and catches were more on target and we were returning to more normal play. Against Brandeis, we played some solid D and O. They had one girl with a crazy inside out flick that kept breaking us. We let them get 3 points up on us on the breakside but then held them. Matching them point for point, we played a solid game against them, never letting up. Our cuts were getting a little more sloppy but we still had some good flow starting from the handlers. It was just those few points they got on us but we played hard despite the fact most of us were crippled by then.

Yale was our last game of the tournament. We had lost a few players but gave them a run for their money. Our zone O continued to improve here with great popping/wing movement through the zone by Evi, Toni, and Lynn. They kept the disc moving well. While our cutting started to get sloppy, everyone was still running hard on the field. We saw some incredible plays and moments of greatness - and we know that in warm weather, we would have been able to beat most of these teams. If they end up coming down to beautiful 80 degree weather with 70% humidity, we will run them into the ground (which is not really an excuse but it makes me feel better).

Weekend summary: Despite crappy weather, this was really a true bonding tournament. We learned to play together and to trust each other on the field. Our zone offense is no longer a huge intimidating and threatening factor, and we saw players step it up when we needed them. Lynn played solid under defense on every girl she marked, made the give and go plays that we needed this weekend. Kathleen was a rock on offense and defense throughout the tournament. Toni managed to come down with so much swill and take out girls a foot taller than her (Wheeler). Lara and KP had great hand blocks on tough handlers. Kat Powell had some clinch time grabs. Foster was incredible on D and had some really important grabs in the endzone. Fran was always open on the in cut when you needed it most. Evi was shredding ever zone offense with incredible popper placement. Wheeler was Wheeler - despite losing her backpack to some stupid NYC HS kids, she was 100% in the game taking down her man on D and then owning her on O (Wheeler, keep making that cut! I am going to throw it to you.) Edith played awesome deep defense and was a cornerstone of our offensive handling all weekend long!

We did it guys, we played our hearts out and left everything on beautiful turf fields in the cold, rainy, miserable weather of State College, PA. We've developed so much as a team and as individuals on the field. There should be no doubt in your head right now that we can match up against any team in the South this year - we just need to keep working hard everyday at practice. We play how we practice so bring that intensity (once you can walk again Toni) everyday with you and every time you touch the disc. We will still have fun (especially on Thursday) but we need to treat it with the same mentality that we had playing BC on Saturday.

I couldn't be more proud of us! Enjoy Willy Week!

Spring 2010 Season

This is where we came from:

And this is where we will be: 2010 College Championships, Madison, WI