E-Men enter spring season with optimism.

The men's ultimate frisbee team (E-Men) returned from a spring trip with two competitive tournaments under their belts and optimism for the upcoming season.

"Spring break is a learning time for us --we test our throws outside for the first time, we see how our zone looks, and we get a feel for what we need to work on," junior captain Matt Abbrecht said. "Now it's time to roll."

After nearly two months of practice indoors in the Gantcher Center, the E-Men got outside for the first time at the College Terminus, held Mar. 15 and 16 in Atlanta. Terminus boasts some major competition, and Tufts entered the tournament seeded eighth out of 30. After losing two of the nation's top seniors, Neil Pallaver and Mike Zalisk, last year's Callahan Award winner, which honors the best ultimate player in the country, the E-Men know they have to regain the respect they have lost in the college ultimate world.

"We know we're a great team, so that's all that matters," Abbrecht said. "We play our game, and forget about what those other chumps think of us."

The E-Men got off to a rocky start at Terminus, where they lost their first two games to the University of Illinois and the University of Florida, the two teams that would eventually go on to the tournament finals.

"We always have a slow start at Terminus," senior Ian Schneider said. "Most of these other teams have been playing outdoors already for weeks. But don't worry. We'll still be sweet come Regionals."

After dropping its first two games of the Tournament, Tufts responded with a third game victory over Penn St. On the Tournament's second day, the E-Men came out strong with a 15-10 win against Arkansas, before dropping a 14-9 decision to regional rival Dartmouth.

"The truth is, that will be Dartmouth's biggest win of the season," coach Jeff Brown said. "We're just getting warmed up."

Following the Tournament, the E-Men left Terminus for five days of practicing and strategizing in Clearwater Beach, Florida. The trip to Florida included an epic scrimmage between the E-Men Single Guys and the E-Men with Girlfriends. The Bachelors rolled to a huge 13-4 victory, highlighted by a lay-out grab for a score by Simon "Nug" Kates, who then proceeded to give birth to a Frisbee in an elaborate endzone celebration.

"We got in their heads," star bachelor handler junior Ariel Santos said. "Those head-cases were no match for us carefree single guys."

On Mar. 22, it was back to Georgia for the E-Men, for the Second Annual College Southerns Tournament hosted by Georgia Southern University. The team kicked off the Tournament on Saturday with a quick 13-9 victory over Richmond. University of Georgia came next, taking on the E-Men inside the windy Allen E. Paulson Stadium, and winning 13-6 with their deep game. In the third game of the day, Tufts took on regional rival WUFO, who hail from Williams College. In an intense game, the E-Men came out victorious, as they defeated WUFO on a double game point 9-8.

"WUFO has been talking smack about our team since the fall, but we showed them what was up. Our zone O just shredded their defense," junior Zach Geller said.

The E-Men rolled on to another victory versus Oberlin, and then a 13-3 loss to Minnesota's St. Olaf, a team that boasted four players over 6"4", in a game where the E-Men appeared to have run out of steam.

"By game five on Saturday we were out of legs, but we're better than those goons," added senior middle Josh Weisstuch.

Day two of Southerns fared better for the E-Men, who qualified to compete in the championship bracket based on Saturday's performance. After a close loss to Ohio St., the E-Men handled Yale to a 13-8 victory and then got their second shot at St. Olaf, this time winning in an intense rematch, 13-10.

"The whole weekend was about taking it one half at a time. And each half we played, we kept getting better," said Abbrecht. "Some of our guys really stepped it up."

The E-Men ended up finishing fifth in the tournament out of thirty-two teams, a positive showing in preparation for the more competitive upcoming tournaments.

The E-Men have a weekend off and then will head to New Haven for Yale Cup, followed a week later by UMassacre at UMass Amherst. You can catch the E-Men in action at their only home tournament of this spring, this April 19th and 20th for Sectionals. Sectionals is an elimination tournament for all area Boston teams, and will determine which teams may advance to Regionals and possibly Nationals.

The E-Men encourage all interested to come and watch at Fletcher Field and promise to show their fans some sweet lay-outs and deep skies. For more info about the E-Men, check out ase.tufts.edu/e-men, or www.upa.org.