Born 2 Dive
Junior Prom on Friday, major tournament all weekend...sure, why not?
O'Hara Ultimate received a bid to the 3rd Annual Born to Dive tournament a little over a month ago, and still had trouble fielding a team. 8 dedicated players showed up and played well, though O'Hara Ultimate could not muster enough to win a game, going 0-5 over the weekend.
The tournament started with Woodside, a team from Virginia, that showed up in force, with an offensive and defensive line. The team had a goal of scoring at least 5 points against an opponent that had them outnumbered, but as the game progressed, it became apparent that O'Hara Ultimate could win. Unfortunately, that was never realized as O'Hara lost a highly spirited game 13-5. Our goal was met, but the loss was again marked by unforced errors.
Columbia was the next team on the schedule. The school that started Ultimate, and perennial powerhouse showed how good they really were. Columbia proceed to thump O'Hara 13-3, but showed very little spirit in their victory, at one point spiking the disc violently while they were up by more than 8 points in the second half.
The first day ended against Magruder, a team from Maryland. Magruder was a highly spirited bunch, and O'Hara Ultimate played a great game. O'Hara proved to be able to move the disc well, played great defense, but just couldn't put together enough to come out with a win, falling 13-10.
The second day brought O'Hara face to face with defending Eastern Champions Pennsbury. O'Hara facing elimination, came out rather weak, allowing Pennsbury to score twice before even completing a pass. The rout appeared to be on. It was at this point, that O'Hara began to play out of the heads. They quickly tied the game up at 2 and traded points to 4. Pennsbury was frantic as the O'Hara zone mystified the host team. Pennsbury could not break through and O'Hara kept them mostly pinned in their own endzone. Even with Pennsbury taking half 7-5, the champs looked very beatable.
After half, Wilcox had a chance to bring O'Hara within one point, but instead of catching a sure Callahan, he smacked the disc to the ground. On the ensuing offensive point, O'Hara misfired, and Pennsbury awoke, scoring immediately. Before O'Hara could regain composure, Pennsbury was up 10-6. O'Hara fought valiantly and performed incredibly well against a very talented team before eventually falling 13-6. It was by far the best performance in any game, and a game that the team can look back on and know they can compete with any team in the country.
O'Hara decided to play a consolation game against Stuyvesant as their last game of the day. In incredibly windy conditions, consistent wind of 20, with gusts of 35+, neither team could move the disc very well. O'Hara proved to be able to easily score against Stuy, typically doing so with one pass on offense, while the O'Hara Zone forced multiple turnovers. O'Hara did have one successful drive against the wind, moving all the way down to within 10 yards of a score, when a handler got greedy and made an ill-advised flick into a strong wind that was easily d-ed. The game fell into the time cap, and since Stuy had the disc first, O'Hara fell 7-6.
O'Hara did find out a few things from the tournament, for example, even playing against some of the best teams around, Columbia and Pennsbury, not a single team could match Squared's speed. Katie was able to break the mark repeatedly and Gunther played incredibly well and intelligently. The team showed heart when up against a wall, and overall, even though several players bailed on the tournament, the team had a good time, and came home no worse for the wear.
O'Hara Ultimate received a bid to the 3rd Annual Born to Dive tournament a little over a month ago, and still had trouble fielding a team. 8 dedicated players showed up and played well, though O'Hara Ultimate could not muster enough to win a game, going 0-5 over the weekend.
The tournament started with Woodside, a team from Virginia, that showed up in force, with an offensive and defensive line. The team had a goal of scoring at least 5 points against an opponent that had them outnumbered, but as the game progressed, it became apparent that O'Hara Ultimate could win. Unfortunately, that was never realized as O'Hara lost a highly spirited game 13-5. Our goal was met, but the loss was again marked by unforced errors.
Columbia was the next team on the schedule. The school that started Ultimate, and perennial powerhouse showed how good they really were. Columbia proceed to thump O'Hara 13-3, but showed very little spirit in their victory, at one point spiking the disc violently while they were up by more than 8 points in the second half.
The first day ended against Magruder, a team from Maryland. Magruder was a highly spirited bunch, and O'Hara Ultimate played a great game. O'Hara proved to be able to move the disc well, played great defense, but just couldn't put together enough to come out with a win, falling 13-10.
The second day brought O'Hara face to face with defending Eastern Champions Pennsbury. O'Hara facing elimination, came out rather weak, allowing Pennsbury to score twice before even completing a pass. The rout appeared to be on. It was at this point, that O'Hara began to play out of the heads. They quickly tied the game up at 2 and traded points to 4. Pennsbury was frantic as the O'Hara zone mystified the host team. Pennsbury could not break through and O'Hara kept them mostly pinned in their own endzone. Even with Pennsbury taking half 7-5, the champs looked very beatable.
After half, Wilcox had a chance to bring O'Hara within one point, but instead of catching a sure Callahan, he smacked the disc to the ground. On the ensuing offensive point, O'Hara misfired, and Pennsbury awoke, scoring immediately. Before O'Hara could regain composure, Pennsbury was up 10-6. O'Hara fought valiantly and performed incredibly well against a very talented team before eventually falling 13-6. It was by far the best performance in any game, and a game that the team can look back on and know they can compete with any team in the country.
O'Hara decided to play a consolation game against Stuyvesant as their last game of the day. In incredibly windy conditions, consistent wind of 20, with gusts of 35+, neither team could move the disc very well. O'Hara proved to be able to easily score against Stuy, typically doing so with one pass on offense, while the O'Hara Zone forced multiple turnovers. O'Hara did have one successful drive against the wind, moving all the way down to within 10 yards of a score, when a handler got greedy and made an ill-advised flick into a strong wind that was easily d-ed. The game fell into the time cap, and since Stuy had the disc first, O'Hara fell 7-6.
O'Hara did find out a few things from the tournament, for example, even playing against some of the best teams around, Columbia and Pennsbury, not a single team could match Squared's speed. Katie was able to break the mark repeatedly and Gunther played incredibly well and intelligently. The team showed heart when up against a wall, and overall, even though several players bailed on the tournament, the team had a good time, and came home no worse for the wear.
posted by Tom Cook at
11:40 AM
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