Girls' High School Easterns
The GirlSquad had qualified for Easterns based on their finish at States last year. O'Hara Ultimate had finished second, falling to Fox Chapel at universe point. With high expectations and a 8 seed overall, GirlSquad stepped onto the fields in Pittsburgh. The fields were a swamp and the weather foreboding, but the experience of playing at the highest level was all the motivation needed.
Amherst
The first game of the tournament was against perennial powerhouse, Amherst. The Amherst team boasts an incredible record, several Eastern Championships, and several very good players. Even with all of that, O'Hara Ultimate came out strong, scoring the first 2 points, and showing everyone that they were not a team to be taken lightly. As the game approached half, several spectators were heard grumbling about a possible upset as the zone defense was causing problems and Katie was not allowing any long passes. However, the experience and depth of Amherst became evident in the second half and the youth and vulnerabilities of the GirlSquad was exposed. This would be the best game of the tournament for the girls, playing together as a cohesive unit and giving a giant a strong match, but unfortunately, the girls fell 12 - 5.
University School of Nashville
The team from Tennessee was seeded second in our Pool and was every bit as good as Amherst. During a second round bye, O'Hara watched as USN and Amherst battled out a monumental game, with Amherst pulling away in the end to make USN hungry for their battle against O'Hara. USN came out strong, scoring 3 quick goals on the GirlSquad. The second round layover had taken something out of the GirlSquad as they were playing very flat. The team took a time-out to talk about playing intelligently and with passion. After that, O'Hara Ultimate ripped off 5 unanswered goals to take a 5 - 3 lead, and swing the momentum in our favor. USN was able to weather the storm, and scored 5 in a row of their own to take halftime 8 - 5. In the second half, USN was content to trade points with O'Hara, the final, 12 - 8.
LC Bird
At some point in the USN game, Blue had hurt her foot, she was able to play a few points in the LC Bird game, enough to help O'Hara build a 3 - 0 lead, but once she had to come out, the team began to slip. With obvious exhaustion, GirlSquad began making poor decisions, trying to press the disc up-field and forgetting about the tried-and-true dump/swing to beat the cup. A frustrated Katie removed herself from the game for her only rest of the tournament. After playing a hard, promising game against Amherst, O'Hara Ultimate was unable to muster up the same determination and hard fought playing, and lost to LC Bird in their worst defeat of the year, 11 - 6.
Day one ended with an 0 - 3 record, exhausted girls, an injured Blue, an upset, but hopeful team.
Columbia
The second day brought cold temperatures and the constant threat of rain. It also brought Sparkle Motion. The game was very competitive, but O'Hara fell 9 - 5. One of the core reason for this loss were the 27 endzone turnovers. O'Hara was able to repeated get the disc down to the goal line, but could not seal the deal. Turnovers in the endzone had been a repetitive theme throughout the weekend.
Stuyvesant
The last game of the tournament found Cook wearing a trashbag to stay dry on the sidelines, and Katie wearing on to play in. This game also held the most dramatic, frightening moment of the entire tournament. On a seemingly innocent play, Becky laid out for a catch with a defender going for a D and Becky did not get up. A fiery player, Becky had been knocked unconscious while trying to make a catch in the middle of the field. She had to be taken away to the hospital, but not before making sure everyone knew she made the catch and to pancake the disc. With the loss of a second player, Blue had been injured beforehand, and a sick Reg, O'Hara Ultimate went on fighting, but could not muster up enough for a win, falling 7 - 4 in our final game at Easterns.
Overall, a 0 - 5 record is not very pleasant to look at, but, with a very young team, and many more years to practice and perfect gameplay, look for O'Hara Ultimate to be a fixture at Easterns for many years to come.
Amherst
The first game of the tournament was against perennial powerhouse, Amherst. The Amherst team boasts an incredible record, several Eastern Championships, and several very good players. Even with all of that, O'Hara Ultimate came out strong, scoring the first 2 points, and showing everyone that they were not a team to be taken lightly. As the game approached half, several spectators were heard grumbling about a possible upset as the zone defense was causing problems and Katie was not allowing any long passes. However, the experience and depth of Amherst became evident in the second half and the youth and vulnerabilities of the GirlSquad was exposed. This would be the best game of the tournament for the girls, playing together as a cohesive unit and giving a giant a strong match, but unfortunately, the girls fell 12 - 5.
University School of Nashville
The team from Tennessee was seeded second in our Pool and was every bit as good as Amherst. During a second round bye, O'Hara watched as USN and Amherst battled out a monumental game, with Amherst pulling away in the end to make USN hungry for their battle against O'Hara. USN came out strong, scoring 3 quick goals on the GirlSquad. The second round layover had taken something out of the GirlSquad as they were playing very flat. The team took a time-out to talk about playing intelligently and with passion. After that, O'Hara Ultimate ripped off 5 unanswered goals to take a 5 - 3 lead, and swing the momentum in our favor. USN was able to weather the storm, and scored 5 in a row of their own to take halftime 8 - 5. In the second half, USN was content to trade points with O'Hara, the final, 12 - 8.
LC Bird
At some point in the USN game, Blue had hurt her foot, she was able to play a few points in the LC Bird game, enough to help O'Hara build a 3 - 0 lead, but once she had to come out, the team began to slip. With obvious exhaustion, GirlSquad began making poor decisions, trying to press the disc up-field and forgetting about the tried-and-true dump/swing to beat the cup. A frustrated Katie removed herself from the game for her only rest of the tournament. After playing a hard, promising game against Amherst, O'Hara Ultimate was unable to muster up the same determination and hard fought playing, and lost to LC Bird in their worst defeat of the year, 11 - 6.
Day one ended with an 0 - 3 record, exhausted girls, an injured Blue, an upset, but hopeful team.
Columbia
The second day brought cold temperatures and the constant threat of rain. It also brought Sparkle Motion. The game was very competitive, but O'Hara fell 9 - 5. One of the core reason for this loss were the 27 endzone turnovers. O'Hara was able to repeated get the disc down to the goal line, but could not seal the deal. Turnovers in the endzone had been a repetitive theme throughout the weekend.
Stuyvesant
The last game of the tournament found Cook wearing a trashbag to stay dry on the sidelines, and Katie wearing on to play in. This game also held the most dramatic, frightening moment of the entire tournament. On a seemingly innocent play, Becky laid out for a catch with a defender going for a D and Becky did not get up. A fiery player, Becky had been knocked unconscious while trying to make a catch in the middle of the field. She had to be taken away to the hospital, but not before making sure everyone knew she made the catch and to pancake the disc. With the loss of a second player, Blue had been injured beforehand, and a sick Reg, O'Hara Ultimate went on fighting, but could not muster up enough for a win, falling 7 - 4 in our final game at Easterns.
Overall, a 0 - 5 record is not very pleasant to look at, but, with a very young team, and many more years to practice and perfect gameplay, look for O'Hara Ultimate to be a fixture at Easterns for many years to come.
posted by Tom Cook at
8:13 AM
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