Ultimate Frisbee goes 5-3 in Santa Barbara
After coming up short in its first three games of last weekend’s Santa Barbara Classic, the USU ultimate Frisbee team rebounded to win five straight and finish atop the tournament’s ‘B’ (or ‘Beer’) bracket.
With temperatures in the upper 70s on Saturday, the Aggies took the field against Cal Poly for their first game of the tournament. After starting slow, USU kept things close until Cal Poly eventually pulled away, handing the Aggies a 13-9 defeat.
In their second game of the day, Utah State suffered a 13-5 loss at the hands of eventual tourney runners-up, UC Davis.
“We were out of sync,” said team member Dustin Smith. “A few key mistakes gave them an early lead and that kind of took the air out of us.”
Next up was Santa Cruz. In what Smith called “the turning point” of the tournament, USU came up just short, falling to the Slugs by a score of 13-11.
“We started to play a lot better,” he said. “We had many opportunities to beat these guys, but we had the USU jinx of not being able to pull off a close game.”
With their new found momentum, USU rolled into their final game of the day and handed Cal Berkeley a sound 13-5 defeat. After one complete day of play behind them, the Aggies sat at 1-3, just short of qualifying for the tournament’s ‘A’ bracket.
Sunday morning found the Aggies tired and sore.
“It is the most draining thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said team member Isaac Westfield. “I used to run track and cross country in high school. Those don’t begin to compare to how you feel after an ultimate tournament.”
But physical hardships aside, the Aggies were still ready for their first game of the day against UC San Diego, and in the end a strong Utah State defense prevailed, improving its tournament record to 2-3.
Against UCLA the Aggies started slow, and at the half the Aggies found themselves trailing the Bruins 7-3. But USU came out fast in the second half, outscoring UCLA 9-3 and eventually winning the game by a score of 13-10.
Utah State kept its intensity and winning streak alive in its third game of the day against the UC Davis B team. Final score: USU 13, Davis 5.
“This team showed that we have the potential to be a dominating force in the world of ultimate. We work really well together and are beginning to flow like a veteran team,” said team captain Scott Shine.
For its final game of the tournament USU found itself in a rematch with Cal Poly. The Aggies came out tough, looking for redemption. After trading points for most of the game, USU found itself knotted at 8-8, where a strong defense, led by rookie Ben Eskelson, held tight and cemented the victory and the B bracket championship.
“Without any doubt, I would give my MVP nod to Ben,” Westfield said. “His amazing defense in the end zone, play after play, kept us in the tournament. Without him our opponents would have scored four or five more points each game.”
The Santa Barbara Classic was the ultimate Frisbee team’s first competition of the year. Over the next month they will have games with BYU, the University of Utah and Idaho State, followed by tournaments in both Washington and Texas in March.
–acfalk@cc.usu.edu