Utah State OK with losing to ISU
In the final game of its season, the Utah State University ultimate Frisbee club was defeated on its home field 15-9 by Idaho State University at the Big Sky Sectionals Tournament Sunday, giving USU second place.
Although USU would have rather placed in first, they feel all right about the outcome, captain Dustin Smith said.
“ISU is a good rival and they are good friends,” he said. “If we were going to lose, then we’d rather lose to them.”
From the beginning of the game ISU had the upper hand, Smith said, due to the wind which had been blowing all day. With ISU being more experienced, it was able to use the wind to its advantage and control the flow of the game.
The Aggies also had a few crucial mistakes, which continued to give ISU the upper hand and eventually the championship, he said.
“But we’re happy and other than losing to BYU we did really well,” Smith said. “And we qualified to go to regionals, so of course we feel good.”
Before meeting ISU in the finals, the Aggies played Montana State University in the semifinals, winning 13-6.
Just like the championship game, the semifinals was a match which was controlled by the team who could use the wind to their advantage and this time it was USU, Smith said.
“The wind really helped us out,” Smith said. “We played really good defense which led to some good offense.”
The tournament started Saturday with six teams, but ended Sunday with only three teams because of various circumstances.
Saturday, the Aggies played four games and finished the day 2-2. They beat the University of Utah (13-9) and Logan High School (13-2), but lost to ISU (13-7) and BYU (13-10).
The outcome Saturday gave ISU a straight shot to the finals, only playing one game on Sunday, which the Bengals deserved, Smith said.
Although USU qualified for regionals in California next weekend, it has made a team decision not to attend because of the interference it will cause with finals week.