Men's Ultimate
While most Jumbos were living it up in Cancun or the Bahamas, the men's and women's ultimate frisbee teams were hard at work down South. The team competed in two tournaments: Terminus, on March 17-18, hosted by the University of Georgia (UGA), and College Easterns, hosted this past weekend by the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).The E-men took on a strong group of teams at College Easterns, an invitation-only tournament. The first day of an ultimate tournament consists of "pool play", in which the teams battle to maintain their seeds for the bracket play that takes place on the second day. On Saturday, however, the E-men were placed in a "power pool", which consists of the top nine teams. The Jumbos had also participated in the power pool the weekend before at Terminus.
"There was a much stronger field at Easterns [than at Terminus], but we were in the power pool again," junior co-captain Mike Bright said. "We got to play a lot of good teams from the western side of the country."
The squad first faced Stanford, winning 13-12 in an action-packed game. The E-men then suffered the agony of defeat to Carleton, the pre-season favorite to finish first in the nation, by a 15-10 score. The team would again taste victory against the University of California Berkeley, 13-11, but followed that game with a loss to UNC Chapel Hill.
Conditions were tough on Sunday, as the E-men had to play in low temperatures, rain, and wind. The ominous weather would foreshadow the future for the squad, as it lost in the first round to Cornell.
"We weren't too ready for it," Bright said.
The mixed results at Easterns came a week after the E-men experienced their first losses of the season at Terminus. Coming off a 7-0 start, the E-men finished 4-2 after a loss in the semifinals. However, the squad is satisfied with the results.
"We came in fourth out of thirty teams," Bright said. "This is better than ever, something we're very happy about."The play started on Saturday, March 17 with perfect Ultimate weather - sunny and warm.
"This was the first time that we've been placed in a power pool since I've been at Tufts," Bright said. "We were really happy about that."
In its first match, the team was able to beat North Carolina State (NC State) 13-8 with little trouble. The E-men next faced UGA, winning 12-9 in a battle against an improved team. The E-men came from behind in their next match, against Florida, securing a 10-9 victory.
"Florida was a really exciting game," Bright said.
After winning three in a row, the E-men could not continue the streak, losing 14-5 to an overpowering Duke team.
"We got blown out by Duke," Bright said. "They're a strong team, and we were pretty tired."
On Sunday, the E-men faced NC State in the quarterfinals of bracket play, winning 15-13.
"It was a tougher match than Saturday's," Bright said. "It was good to beat them."
Following this game, Tufts once again faced Duke, but fared no better than the previous day, losing 14-5.
"Overall, the weekend was a success," Bright said. "We beat some teams that we had never beaten before, and we had our best finish ever in Terminus. We're really happy about the results."
The spring break tournaments seem to be a good indication of the development of the men's ultimate squad.
"We're starting to get some success that we deserve," Bright said. "I think getting put into the power pools is a sign of this."The E-men head to Haverford in Pennsylvania this weekend for the "Pig Out Lay Out," and then have a week off. Following this, they head to Yale for the "Yale Cup," where the strongest teams in New England will compete for the much-desired high seeds at Regionals.
Women's Ultimate
The women's ultimate team, the E-women, was also hard at work over the week-long break. Competing in the same tournaments as the men, the squad suffered some losses but came out of the two events with confidence. These tournaments were the first two instances where the women have competed outdoors since the fall. "The players had to get used to the differing conditions outside," senior co-captain Johanna Neumann said. "You could see the progression as they got more acclimated."The week started with Easterns, where the E-women faced the top 12 teams in the nation.
"Easterns was such a fun tournament," Neumann said. "It's a higher caliber tournament than Nationals, since it is by invitation rather than by region standings. These are the best women's teams competing, by invitation only."
The E-women went in seeded third, but after a loss to UC San Diego (UCSD) on Saturday, entered bracket play seeded fourth.
On Sunday, battling the treacherous conditions, the E-women faced UNC Wilmington (UNCW) in the quarterfinals. Despite rough play from UNCW, the E-women did not let the opposition's aggression rattle them.
"We kept our cool and beat them with style," Neumann said. "We played a bunch of rookies and made some good substitutions."
Following this game, the E-women attempted to avenge their loss to UCSD, but were unable to do so, losing 13-10.
"It was such a hard-fought, well-spirited match against a really good team," Neumann said. "We were bummed about losing, but it was a good learning experience. The fact that it came early in the season keeps us from getting cocky."
The loss in the semis came a week after losing to the University of Georgia, 15-10, in the finals of Terminus. The team attributed this loss to a lack of stamina due to poor substitutions in the squad's semifinal game against UNCW.
"During the final game against Georgia, we were really tired," Neumann commented. "We subbed poorly in the UNCW match, so we did not have the stamina to be able to beat Georgia. We played our hearts out, but it was not enough."
Down 8-1 at the half, the E-women closed the gap slightly in the second half, but it was not enough to emerge with the win.
There were diamonds in the rough, however, with impressive performances coming from several rookies.
"The rookies were amazing," Neumann said. "Gabrielle [Eklunhd], Anne Marie [Braun], and Britton [Goodale] all had really strong performances. I think this year it's going to be hard for them to find their niches on the team, since there are a lot of seniors on the team. But, they're going to learn a lot this season, and they have a great future ahead of them."
The E-woman will head to Maryland for the Chesapeake Invite from April 7-9.
