Revenge, E-Men down alumni

For Jesse Goldberg, redemption was sweet.

Jumping high and scoring in this year's alumni game, the senior Ultimate Frisbee player managed to redeem himself with a catch that he had missed the previous day in the Co-ed Alumni Tournament.

Goldberg's catch proved symbolic for the men's Ultimate Frisbee team, which also redeemed itself after last year's 15-0 loss to the alumni, by defeating them last weekend, 15-13.

"We had the most alumni ever come back," senior co-captain Andy Valen said. "It was really great to win."

The team came into the game skeptical because of the enormous amount of talent on the alumni team.

"There aren't any real superstars on our team," sophomore Michael Chirlin said. "But the alumni team is made up of superstars."

But it was this conglomeration of superstars that may have cost it the game.

"They haven't played as a team, whereas we have," Chirlin said. "Our win definitely came from a team effort."

Alumnus Mike Zalisk, former winner of the Callahan Award, which is presented to the best collegiate Frisbee player in the nation, was among many of alumni's biggest weapons.

The alumni team featured three other club members beside Zalisk. Club Ultimate is the next step up from college.

The team started off the first half slowly, allowing the alumni to pull ahead 4-1. By the end of the half, the E-Men managed to close the deficit somewhat, but were still down 8-6.

Largely due to the play of senior co-captain Matt Abbrecht, the E-men pulled themselves together and went on a 5-0 run.

"[Abbrecht] had a really great game. He went deep for a score a bunch of times and he played really well," Valen said.

But it wasn't just his offense that led the E-Men.

"Abbrecht was making stellar defensive plays all over the field. He was blocking people all the time," senior Ariel Santos said.

With Abbrecht's help, the E-Men were within one point of victory, when the alumni scored two points, reducing the E-Men's lead to 14-13. Shaking off this slip up, the E-Men hammered the final nail in the coffin and edged out the alumni by two, 15-13.

Despite the intensity of the game, the alumni game can best be characterized by its fun atmosphere. Adding to the good times of the game was the huge rivalry that has developed over the years.

"We were attempting to take it seriously because last year we lost pretty badly," Valen said. "They kept making a lot of stupid calls to try to throw us off our game. But we stayed focused and came out on top."

A lot of the alumni live in the Boston area, so friendships have remained strong, which only promotes the jovial atmosphere.

"There's a lot of heckling that goes on because we know each other," Santos said. "But we still tried to take it seriously because of our loss last year."

Win or lose, both teams wait in anticipation each year for the annual alumni game which has been an E-Men tradition for almost a decade.

"It's a really fun time for everyone. For us it's like our Homecoming," Santos said.

This game also has added significance because the freshmen and new players are able to see how Frisbee is played at higher levels.

"It shows the freshmen how important and big our team is," Santos said. "They see how they should be playing."

Hoping that this Sunday's win will set a precedent for their upcoming and final tournament, the team now focuses its efforts on practicing for this weekend's Brown tournament in Providence, Rhode Island.