The ultimate frisbee team exploded onto the scene this past weekend in its first tournament of the year, going 7-0 at the University of Pennsylvania-hosted event. Early in the season, Tufts is ranked seventh in the nation in the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) rankings.
"This is going to be a tight spring," junior co-captain Mike Bright said. "New England is a strong region, and there are a six or seven teams that could go to Nationals at the end of the season. It should be exciting."
On Saturday, the weather was conducive to frisbee competition - low 50's and no wind. Having practiced indoors since the fall, the team - which as a club sport goes by the name elephant men (E-Men), and not Jumbos - had to re-familiarize itself with different conditions.
"Playing indoors is different than playing outdoors," Schneider said. "It took a few games to get used to it, but by the end of the day, we were used to it."
Despite the adjustment, the squad crushed Princeton 13-5, with the help of a strong defensive effort early on. The E-Men went on to defeat Carnegie Mellon, 13-3, on a slightly less than ideal field, with glass scattered throughout the playing area and with endzones of differing sizes. The men went on to finish off Salisbury State with little trouble, winning 13-3, and annihilated Lehigh, 13-1, before sundown.
Saturday was a day of pool competition, in which the different seeds compete against one another to determine the brackets for Sunday's play. With their 4-0 record, the E-Men were seeded first, and looked to continue the streak on Sunday.
"We went into Sunday thinking - it's on," Schneider said. But the weather proved to be much different - rain and sleet. Games were shortened to compensate for the difficult conditions.
Even in the cold, the E-men remained sizzling, going 3-0 after decimating Haverford 13-1 in the quarterfinals, beating U. Penn 11-4 in the semifinals, and dominating Princeton 11-2 in the finals.
According to team members, the marks in the win column will not be stopping anytime soon.
"I had a lot of fun this weekend," sophomore Josh Weisstuch said. "It is definitely fun to win. I think we'll be doing a little more of that in the coming weeks."
"We have really high expectations," sophomore Ian Schneider said. "Last year was the first time that we had gone to Nationals in about ten years, and this year, we look to exceed that performance."
The wins were not the only thing that team members were excited about last weekend - two promising freshmen, Matt Abrecht and Ariel Santos, made their debuts as well.
"Abbrecht is a deep threat," Schneider said. "Meaning that we can throw [the frisbee] to him deep and there's a good chance he'll come down with it. Santos should be good too; he played in high school."
The E-men's first tournament came after a tough training schedule throughout the fall and early winter. During the fall, the team practiced three times a week outside and played tournaments on weekends.
"Basically the fall is like a warm-up time for the new guys, to teach them the plays and whatnot," Bright said.
During the winter, the team practices three to four times a week in the Gantcher Center, and has one practice per week dedicated to running.
"We've been training really hard," Weisstuch said. "We're all really excited for this season."
"Not only do we have an amazing coach [Jeff Brown] and dedicated leadership this year, but our team is really deep, and that's going to be huge for us later in the season," Schneider said. "Last year we were definitely not as deep. When you've got guys coming off the bench, they need to be just as ready as the starters were."
After the season's first weekend, it looks as though the E-Men will be able to capitalize on this depth. The team is off until March 17, when it heads down to Georgia for the next tournament.
