There was only a little trophy on the line, but there was awhole lot of pride.
Like an "instant" replay on a one-year delay, Sunday was thesecond year in a row that Tufts' Ultimate Frisbee team facedHarvard in the finals of the Ultimate Players' Association BostonSectional Tournament, hosted on Tufts' Cousens Field.
And just like last spring, Tufts' "E-Men" emerged victoriousafter an exciting bout between two of the northeast's mostaccomplished squads.
Just over a dozen other local collegiate teams fell out ofcontention during preliminary tournament play, but many stuckaround to watch the two perennial powerhouses battle it out.
The E-Men's eventual victory remained uncertain during theearly, nail-biting minutes of the contest. Harvard seemed to answereach Tufts tally with a Crimson one, and the score batted back andforth between ties and one or two-point advantages for Harvard.
"It's always a little exciting," sophomore Rob Spies said ofTufts-Harvard match-ups. "They're like our arch enemy, so we'll doanything to put them away."
The E-Men found their turning point in a stellardefensive-offensive combination by Spies, who forced a turnoverwith a block close to midfield, then bolted up field while seniorAriel Santos grabbed the disc and ripped it towards Tufts' endzone. Spies laid out and snared Santos' pass for the score,breaking the E-Men out of what had been a 5-5 deadlock.
Up 6-5, Tufts followed up the Santos-Spies display with a runthat lasted for six more points. With Tufts on top, 12-5, Harvardbroke back into play during the second frame, but the E-Men neverrelinquished the lead and settled the match at 15-8, Tufts.
"We always say it's [about] getting better every half, and wereally did that," Spies said. "We started out the game pretty low.They went on a few runs, they gave us a really hard game and wejust decided it's time to step it up. And we did and we neverlooked back and we really put them away in the second half."
The E-Men showed strong defense even after the game opened up intheir favor, as individuals worked each play as if the disc werethe lead itself -- to be defended at all costs.
"There were some big blocks," coach Jeff Brown said. "The guysget very excited and they feed off the energy."
Tufts was aided by the return of seniors Zach Geller and JesseGoldberg, who both missed last weekend's Yale Cup due to injuries.Keeping that key pair and the rest of the squad healthy will be onemajor focus of the three weeks leading up to Regionals, Brown said,along with conditioning and "fine-tuning."
"We're obviously not going to learn too much more, but it'smaking sure that we're all on the same page," Brown said. "That'sjust what we're working on, keeping it consistent. If we play well,we're going to be ready."
One aspect of play that Brown plans to fine tune is a newdefensive zone that the team debuted at Sectionals. "The BlackPlague" zone defense involves putting the tallest E-Men, likeGeller, senior captain Matt Abbrecht, sophomores Evan Ream, and SamKortz, and junior John Korber on the field at once.
"On a windy day, having a bunch of huge guys all around you ispretty nerve-racking for a thrower," coach Jeff Brownexplained.
Brown was very pleased with the experiment and credited itseffectiveness to both the athletes playing the zone and also tothose on the sidelines who helped to coach teammates rushed intounfamiliar positions.
"They did a very good job of learning new positions, with a lotof help from the other guys on the team. We had guys on thesideline, like Elliott [Freeman] and [Spies], who were kind ofleading them through it, helping them do it," Brown said. "Itworked out very well. Black Plague is going to be a call I calloften."
Brown also commended the class of '06 for its contributions thisweekend. Spies is the only sophomore starter, but the E-Men benchis loaded with young, fresh legs that were key to this weekend'ssuccess.
"The seniors certainly played well and I expect them to, butthis was a big stressful game and maybe one of the first reallyintense games that [the sophomores] had to play in [a] championshipseries," Brown said. "I think they really stepped up."
The overall depth of the Tufts bench has been a major factorthroughout the season and according to Abbrecht, the ability toplay second-string players early in the tournament or in place ofinjured starters gave the E-Men an edge heading into the finals,and will hopefully do the same as the championship seasonprogresses.
"When one person is out it's really not a big deal to us becausewe have so many weapons who can just step up," Abbrecht said.
The strong play of Tufts' B team, the "B-Men," called furtherattention to the depth of Tufts' Ultimate program. The only B teamto advance to the second day of the tournament, the squadeventually took eighth place -- possibly the top B-Men finishever.
"They were shocking teams," Spies said. "I know our whole 'A'team was really impressed with their play."
After losing to BC "A" (13-10) and Harvard "A" (13-2) earlySaturday, the B-Men rallied to shut out Brandeis "B," 13-0, andslide past Wentworth, 13-11, to stay alive. Just one Sunday winwould have landed the B-Men in seventh, good enough to advance toRegionals, but the squad fell to Brandeis "A" (13-6) and also losta rematch against BC "A" (13-5).
"They did awesome," Santos said. "And that's important for usbecause next year they'll already know what its like to win a biggame."
Next up for the E-men is Regionals in Rhode Island, March 8 and9.
