In the case of the Tufts' women's ultimate team, what happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas.
No, what happened at February's Sin City-set Trouble in Vegas tournament set the stage for the rest of the EWo's season, which will culminate at the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) National Championships in Columbus, Ohio on May 26-28.
"I think going to that tournament really gave us an idea what we needed to work on to accomplish our biggest challenge yet: getting to Nationals," said fifth-year senior Berenice Diaz, the team's veteran handler. "The teams we faced there have been the toughest teams we have played all season."
Indeed, the EWo squared off against the country's top squads in Vegas, rallying from a slow first day to finish sixth of a field of 32.
"We were in an initial pool with three other '06 Nationals-qualifying teams, and we made it out alive with our pride intact," senior co-captain Elana Eisen-Markowitz said. "That's really impressive, especially considering that before this year, this team of EWo hadn't really been on the national radar at all."
"It was great to go to, because we saw a lot of the teams we'll see at Nationals," said senior co-captain Kira Paisley.
And thanks to their victories in Vegas, as well as their cohesiveness and camaraderie, the EWo, now 15th in the national rankings, will be on solid footing when they face those teams in Columbus.
"Most teams with a record as good as ours will have one or two superstars, and the rest are supporting players," coach Alicia Kersten said. "But it's not that way on our team. Everyone is really good."
Kersten's co-coach, Sangwha Hong, agreed.
"Everyone contributes in so many different ways," Hong said. "Everyone puts in 100 percent, all the time, and this year, there's been more of that than there has been in other years."
Kersten and Sangwha have been coaching the Ewo for the past four years, and their tenure has coincided with the four-year career of today's graduating seniors.
"They've really helped to bring us to a new level, and they really know the ultimate scene," Paisley said. "And it's fun that we started out as freshmen the same time they started coaching us, and we've made it to Nationals after four years together."
"We've been growing, and every year, we've gotten better," said Kersten, noting the team's surging momentum from the beginning of the season. "This year, we were ready to dominate."
And dominate they have, finishing either first or second at this season's Ultimax, UMassacre and Yale Cup tournaments. They took the top spot at Sectionals on Apr. 22-23, and at Regionals earlier this month, they finished second to Dartmouth, earning a Nationals berth for the first time since 2001.
"We've been trying for four years now and have come really close, but not quite," said senior cutter and handler Becky Firesheets. "We were at game point [against Dartmouth], and [senior midfielder] Julia [Hallman] had just caught the disc, and I turned and ran deep to catch the score that won the game. At first, it was totally surreal, then we all started jumping on each other and hugging and crying."
The EWo hope for more victory celebrations, but are realistic about their chances to take the top spot, as they enter the tournament ranked 16th out of 16. Joining them will be several teams that the Ewo have played closely this season, including Emory and Delaware, which both beat Tufts by a single point.
"Our first goal is to play up to our full ability and maximize our potential, so that regardless of how we finish, we can walk away feeling that we did our best - that's more important than placement," Hong said. "Our second goal is a team goal of making it to the top eight, the quarterfinals."
Multiple factors influence the EWo's chances.
"The difference between the East and West Coast teams is that the West Coast teams have played outdoors since January, whereas East Coast teams start their outdoor season mid-March," Diaz said. "West Coast teams have already peaked ... East Coast teams haven't yet, which makes them very dangerous."
And luck may be on the EWo's side. Their initial pool includes fourth-seeded Wisconsin, fifth-seeded UC-Davis and ninth-seeded Michigan, all of which they have already played this season, coming out on top twice.
"For being seeded last at Nationals, this is kind of an exciting pool to be in," Eisen-Markowitz said.
The EWo will feed off that excitement heading into the tournament and are ready, even if the going gets tough.
"We've been in a lot of really close games where the team has come back from behind to take the win," Kersten said. "The team has a lot of heart - almost every game where it's been a tie nearing the end, they've ended up winning."
