Author: revolver

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Labor Day preview

Last year at this final regular season tournament we had an exacting Saturday, including a loss to Johnny Bravo, but pulled it together on Sunday for a couple of strong victories in the bracket. We hope to defend our 2010 Labor Day title against a very tough field of teams from across the country.

Saturday

9:45a v. Furious George (Vancouver)

Fresh off their Canadian national title, qualifying them for Worlds next year in Japan and boosting their championship pedigree, we’ll find out if they’re a morning team right away.

11:30a v. Great Britain Ultimate

We’re not sure who this will be… but we love playing the international teams.

1:15p v. Chain Lightning (Atlanta, GA)

2009 UPA championship final rematch! We have some bitter memories of several meetings with the Atlantans in Sarasota over the years, but finally got the better of them last season. This one should be a doozy and may preview another meeting in Florida if we’re fortunate enough to advance that far.

Sunday

8:00a v. Voodoo (Seattle, WA)

It’s been a while since we’ve encountered Voodoo. Some years we have trouble with them and some years we don’t. Either way, every year they are young, athletic, and unafraid.

9:45a v. Southpaw (Philadelphia, PA)

The lefties gave us a scare last year in Santa Cruz, taking half against us before we scrabbled back to win on Saturday. Hopefully we come out stronger against this scrappy squad.

3:00p – semifinals and placement games

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ECC Sunday

Revolver – Emerald City Classic – Day 3 (Sunday, July 14, 2011)

Game 6 – 8:00a v. Urutau (Colombia) – Pool Play

It was an early start so we rolled to the fields at a leisurely pace, but still started warming up before our opponents from South America. The first half went quickly as we led 8-1 on the backs of the D-line. Nick Chapman and Jon Levy both caught two goals and Martin Cochran and Mac Taylor each served two assists. Nick Schlag showed his skill with an ¡imposible! 40 yard around beak-mark flick to his wingman Josh Wiseman (9-2). Joel Schlachet hit Devon Anderson for the 15-5 win. The inter-squad post-game circle was great as we exchanged compliments and the Colombians invited us to their country for a tournament this fall. Maybe we can make it happen!

Game 7 – 10:05a v. Rhino (Portland) – Quarterfinal

Our offense scored first and we broke right away after Mac notched a deep D against the super-athletic Timmy Perston (orange beanie) off a backhand by Revolver alumnus Seth Wiggins. Mac turned and went the other way, so Ashlin Joye connected with a big backhand; a quick blade over to Russell Wynne made it 2-0. Other first half highlights include Devon with awesome acceleration to run past speedy Breeze Strout for a huck D and Beau Kittredge tallying a D, a goal, and two assists, including a nice backhand huck to Wiseman in stride. 8-6 at half as Rhino kept it close, breaking our O-line once. Mac later outran Seth, no simple feat, to block an away throw, which brought the lead to 13-7. The offense closed out the game and a strong second half 15-8 on a two-throw point, the long ball from Adam “Chicken” Simon to Bart Watson.

Game 8 – 12:10p v. Ironside (Boston) – Semifinal

This was the first rematch of last year’s national championship game, so both sides were eager to hit the ground running. Boston received to start and soon broke first to take a 1-3 lead, but we broke right back to tie it at three apiece after an overthrown huck. At 5-4 Ashlin marked primary thrower Matt Rebholz so well that he was forced to chuck a stall nine blade that fell incomplete. We worked it back and Mark Sherwood threw a break-mark hammer to Martin for the 6-4 lead. Ironside’s Muffin later sent a forehand bomb off a pull play to young gun George Stubbs (who otherwise had an impressive game), but Chapman knocked it out of the air; several throws later Ryo Kawaoka ripped a low backhand huck that Dan Forseter nicely defended, but the disc popped up in the air long enough for Levy to run under with the help goal (7-4). We took half 8-5 after a gorgeous inside-out backhand huck up the break side from Schlag to Bart. Later, Robbie Cahill shot a flick over the stack, where Wiseman made an amazing trailing edge layout grab but landed hard on his knee (11-7). Somebody nicknamed “Kibs” experienced double happiness when he foot-blocked Bart’s backhand then beat him to the spot in the endzone to close the score to 12-10. We traded out, including a couple of great deep plays by Ironside to Peter Prial, as the O-line steadily held on game point for the 15-12 victory.

Some may wonder about our D-line’s unusual approach to the pull this year. Those curious should check out the UltiVillage footage. We’ll let Cassidy do the talking, here:

“The Boston coach came over and asked me about the D team’s huddle. He said, ‘How does that work? How do you know who you’re covering?’ I told him, ‘I have no idea. I had one point with them and screwed it up and now they won’t let me play on the D-line anymore.'”

Game 9 – 2:20p v. Ring of Fire (North Carolina) – Final

A rematch of our first game–the alpha and the omega! After a grade A pull by Jonathan Hester, Russell caught a deep shot for the block; a few passes ensued and Mac threw a blade forehand up the line to wide-open Ashlin for the first break of the game (2-0). We took two consecutive breaks for a 6-2 lead and they broke back once before we won half 8-5. After a successful offensive point out of half we broke three times in a row to 12-5. Hester laced another great grade A- pull and Chapman climbed the ladder for the deep D; then Chapman sprinted the other way and Hester snapped a long forehand to him for the break (10-5). On the next point both Zach Travis and Pat Baylis had highlight-reel layout blocks. Bart subbed in for Baylis after his man rolled over him and immediately bladed a flick to Mac (11-5). On the next point Devon easily blocked a hanging deep throw before Ashlin shot a perfectly placed backhand to Russell (12-5). We pushed it to 13-6 as Hester made up for a turnover by forcing a throwaway and calmly throwing through a nasty multiple-foul mark for the goal to Bart. On game point the O-line swung to Bart, who put a forehand onto Beau, in stride, to win 15-8.

ECC champions! Full results here. It’s a good start, but worth noting that the last two winners in Burlington went on to lose in the finals at Sarasota…

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ECC Saturday

Revolver – Emerald City Classic – Day 2 (Saturday, July 13, 2011)

After the showcase game on Friday the team ate dinner at Hale’s Ales. Nick Chapman decided to order the “Ploughman’s Platter,” expecting a heaping plate of roast beef and smoked salmon garnished with some cheese and vegetables. The rest of team burst out laughing as Chapman raised his hands in disbelief when a small appetizer-sized assortment of meat shavings and large wedges of cheese landed in front of him. He refused to accept donations in a misguided attempt to salvage some dignity.

We arrived in Mt. Vernon late on Friday night, then turned in as soon as possible. After breakfast at the motel, we wandered over to Skagit River Park for three games in a row. The weather was overcast with scattered sunlight and calm winds that became a cool breeze in the afternoon. Russell Wynne rested his ankle today.

Game 3 – 10:05a v. Machine (Chicago)

With a 2-1 lead, receiving, Bart Watson tossed a high hammer across the field that was blocked; but Cassidy Rasmussen boot-blocked a low around backhand dump pass. Robbie Cahill picked up the disc, tossed a shorty to Bart, who put an upline flick to Josh Wiseman for 3-1 and the O-line save. The next point a Machine player’s forehand was blocked by one of Sockeye’s (on the next field over) telescoping suitcase handles. Oops! The O-line had several turnovers but Machine only broke once in the first half, as we converted an upwind O point for half 8-5. At 8-6 the O-line turned it over on a Cassidy huck to Joel Schlachet, but Robbie won it back on a deep block before catching a bomb the other direction for bookends. Later, Machine broke us twice in a row, including a precise downwind flick huck by Vijay Menon and a boot-block against Bart to close it to 10-9. At 11-9, Ashlin Joye blocked a forehand shot in the lane and Mac Taylor scored a sweet grab between two crashing defenders to save possession. We finished the game with three consecutive breaks, featuring an inside layout D on an upline dump cut by Tom James, leading to a 15-10 win.

Game 4 – 12:10p v. Truck Stop (Washington, D.C.)

The D-line broke to open the game when Martin Cochran blocked a deep ball shortly before Mark Sherwood launched a backhand to Mac streaking away. A couple of points later Sherwood swooped on a high around backhand to prevent a goal, then the D-line worked it back and Ryo Kawaoka beat his guy up the line for a break goal and a 3-1 lead. We reached half at 8-4. Receiving out of halftime, Adam “Chicken” Simon ran the “Joel” play, much to Joel’s chagrin, while he was off the field. This led to a nice string up the forehand side for a 9-4 edge. On the next point Zach Travis point blocked a scoober and Jon Levy caught the trash before Ashlin shot it back to Levy for a break goal. #87 Alan Kolick played really well for Truck as a tireless cutter and he even snared a layout D on Mac when he slowed down on an under cut. #21 Rob Dulabon had a notable high layout goal off a pull play late in the game. In the end Bart Watson connected deep with Devon Anderson. 15-9.

Game 5 – 2:20p v. Malaki (Australia)

We broke early but Malaki broke right back. Then we traded for a long time as they kept putting precise hucks that our D couldn’t quite cover, but we scored on O to 7-7 on excellent cutting and patient throwing by Devon Anderson, who caught the goal. We finally broke again on the next point to take half after the Aussies had a short throwaway and Mac tossed a floaty backhand that Beau Kittredge bobbled and controlled. Ryo Kawaoka got a mitt-block on a high-release backhand; several throws later Ashlin dished off to Sam Kanner for a 13-9 lead. On game point, Malaki stuffed the O-line against the wall for a couple of minutes before we finally broke through on a couple of gainers. Cassidy put a backhand huck to Devon for the 15-10 win.

After the games…

1) Team ice bath in Skagit River! Brrr…

2) Team spiritual adviser and ex-Revolver Chuck Kindred led an inspiring and thoughtful half-hour session.

3) Ryo, Mac, and Zach picked up dinner from Carino’s and brought it back to the fields for a team feast.

4) Ice cream sundaes, TV, and games at the motel before turning in early. 8:00a game tomorrow!

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ECC Friday

Revolver – Emerald City Classic – Day 1 (Friday, July 12, 2011)

The whole squad traveled to Seattle last night except Eric Greenwood, who is presently in Iceland. The injured reserve includes Taylor Cascino (hamstring) and Eric Halverson (back). The questionable, Russell Wynne (ankle) and Beau Kittredge (foot), both played after testing it out in warm-ups. The captains handed down 2011 wingmen assignments before the first game, leading to much high-fiving, chest bumping, and general celebration.

Game 1 – 2:30p v. Ring of Fire (North Carolina)

Notable in the first five points, both Mark Sherwood and rookie Zach Travis tallied two impressive layout Ds apiece. After scoring on O to make it 5-4, the D-line earned two breaks after Ring turned over two dump passes near the endzone on catch blocks by Mark Sherwood and Jon Levy. The D-line’s offense was sloppy in the first half, but we managed to take an 8-5 lead into the break as Josh Wiseman cut deep totally uncovered against a poachy man D and Bart Watson launched an easy IO flick huck for the score. Our man defense was more aggressive and impressive in the second half. Bart Watson skied for Ds on two hucks to salvage offensive points. For Ring, athletic #00 Ken Porter tossed his body around as usual, including two tough layout attempts that led to brief injury timeouts. In the end, Robbie Cahill shot an up the line backhand huck to Beau Kittredge for a 15-10 win.

Game 2 – 7:30p v. Bunka Shutter Buzz Bullets (Japan)

We love these guys. To both teams’ delight, Mark Sherwood had roamed their sidelines earlier in the day in full a full blue Buzz kit that he had traded for last season in Prague. Neither team played their prettiest this evening, though. Sam Kanner had a giant sky of their superstar Masahiro, only to lazily throw a lefty backhand behind a wide-open Martin Cochran to miss the goal. Oops! The crowd gasped for that one…. Ashlin Joye had a great layout catch block outside of the endzone to prevent a sure goal. Our game plan had included stopping the give-go but Buzz continued to get the jump on us. Revolver broke to take half 8-4 on a short pass from Russell Wynne to Nick Chapman, who had also made a superb layout block on an under cut by Masahiro. In the second half the offense had several miscommunications and Buzz capitalized to close the gap to 10-9, but not before Jonathan Hester had a beautiful backhand huck away and across the field, a la Steve Dugan, to Josh Wiseman to salvage another O point. We pulled back away and broke twice to win 15-11 on a goal from Mark Sherwood to Ashlin Joye.