States - Girls
GirlSquad had just come off their official crowning as City Championships, and was looking to States to avenge their Easterns losses. Last year, O'Hara fell just one point shy of winning, and this year, was determined to win every game.
Lower Merion
Of course the tournament would start out in a familiar way, against cross-town opponent, Lower Merion. O'Hara GirlSquad came out rather flat, owing that to a sluggish morning, and early start. The wind would become a crucial part of the game, as both teams decided to rely on the huck-and-play-D tactic. At some points, the game seemed to break down into a game of catch between Katie and Emily, the Lower Merion star. In the end, Reg in the endzone and Katie and Monica on D, once again proved too much for Lower Merion to handle, with O'Hara winning, 7 - 5, in what would prove to be the closest game of the day.
Mt. Lebanon
The Mt. Lebo Girls came into the tournament as one of only two teams from Pittsburgh and the team with the best record, going 9 - 1, the only loss was in the semi-finals of the Pittsburgh Championship. They happened to catch the GirlSquad in a game that would prove to be the most dominant performance by an O'Hara team ever. With the wind gusting hard, O'Hara GirlSquad moved the disc as if it were a perfect still day. On defense, the girls were dominating, on offense, the movement and flow of the disc was pure artistry. GirlSquad cruised to a 12 - 3 victory and had finally looked like the championship-caliber team they are.
Haverford
Once again, a familiar opponent from nearby. Haverford, in their first year, has progressed quite far, but this day belonged to O'Hara. The game was close, 9 - 3, and had a few scares, Reg hurt her leg and Blue's injury from Eastern's was acting up again, when this game closed, the stage was set for a showdown with the PHUL champion, North Hills.
North Hills
The North Hills Girls were an athletic bunch, pretty much cheerleaders with a flick. What they had in talent, they lacked in sportsmanship. The game was close, back and forth, with the North Hills Girls showing why they were the PHUL champions with very good hucks, luckily O'Hara had Katie shutting down the deep game. A scary moment came when Monica caught an apparent goal and called herself in, a NH player was right with her, and violently grabbed Monica's arm during an argument about whether Monica was in or not. Monica kept her cool, and eventually relented that she was not in and immediately threw a goal to Katie. With O'Hara firmly in control, the second half was a mockery, with NH hucking deep, not playing D and generally unspirited, O'Hara easily won, 10 - 5.
Second Day
Lower Merion
The semi-finals featured the top two teams from Philly, and O'Hara dominated. Blue and Reg played limited points to rest their injuries and GirlSquad did not miss a beat on a picture perfect morning. The wind had calmed down and Katie lead the girls to complete control of the over-matched opponent. Even with the limited playing time, Reg managed to score 3 goals on 4 catches, and blue played key D and added a few of her own. GirlSquad cruised to a 12 - 3 victory and completed a season sweep of Lower Merion with a combined scoring of 57 - 20.
North Hills
After Day One, everyone knew the PHUEL Champs would meet the PHUL Champs to decide States. The game was close, with O'Hara falling behind for the first time all tournament 4 - 2. The North Hills sideline was overheard during a time out saying "Ok, now we just do what we do, blow them out." Apparently, they did not respect the ability and tenacity of GirlSquad. O'Hara quickly answered back, taking half 7 - 5. After half, with all the other teams, Haverford, Lower Merion and Mt. Lebo cheering for O'Hara, GirlSquad had the extra boost to carry them to take an 8 - 7 lead. While the point was being played, the hard cap went on, O'Hara was firmly in control of the disc, near the NH endzone, but couldn't punch it in. The whole sideline was aware that if GirlSquad scored, the game was over, if not, a universe point would ensue, memories of the previous year's universe point loss in the title game flooded through the sidelines memories. The players on the field had no idea about the critical nature of the point, and just played hard. When Reg scored the winning goal, and the sideline rushed the field, it took a few seconds for reality to hit the team, GirlSquad had captured their first Pennsylvania State Championship and the State title in O'Hara Ultimate history.
Lower Merion
Of course the tournament would start out in a familiar way, against cross-town opponent, Lower Merion. O'Hara GirlSquad came out rather flat, owing that to a sluggish morning, and early start. The wind would become a crucial part of the game, as both teams decided to rely on the huck-and-play-D tactic. At some points, the game seemed to break down into a game of catch between Katie and Emily, the Lower Merion star. In the end, Reg in the endzone and Katie and Monica on D, once again proved too much for Lower Merion to handle, with O'Hara winning, 7 - 5, in what would prove to be the closest game of the day.
Mt. Lebanon
The Mt. Lebo Girls came into the tournament as one of only two teams from Pittsburgh and the team with the best record, going 9 - 1, the only loss was in the semi-finals of the Pittsburgh Championship. They happened to catch the GirlSquad in a game that would prove to be the most dominant performance by an O'Hara team ever. With the wind gusting hard, O'Hara GirlSquad moved the disc as if it were a perfect still day. On defense, the girls were dominating, on offense, the movement and flow of the disc was pure artistry. GirlSquad cruised to a 12 - 3 victory and had finally looked like the championship-caliber team they are.
Haverford
Once again, a familiar opponent from nearby. Haverford, in their first year, has progressed quite far, but this day belonged to O'Hara. The game was close, 9 - 3, and had a few scares, Reg hurt her leg and Blue's injury from Eastern's was acting up again, when this game closed, the stage was set for a showdown with the PHUL champion, North Hills.
North Hills
The North Hills Girls were an athletic bunch, pretty much cheerleaders with a flick. What they had in talent, they lacked in sportsmanship. The game was close, back and forth, with the North Hills Girls showing why they were the PHUL champions with very good hucks, luckily O'Hara had Katie shutting down the deep game. A scary moment came when Monica caught an apparent goal and called herself in, a NH player was right with her, and violently grabbed Monica's arm during an argument about whether Monica was in or not. Monica kept her cool, and eventually relented that she was not in and immediately threw a goal to Katie. With O'Hara firmly in control, the second half was a mockery, with NH hucking deep, not playing D and generally unspirited, O'Hara easily won, 10 - 5.
Second Day
Lower Merion
The semi-finals featured the top two teams from Philly, and O'Hara dominated. Blue and Reg played limited points to rest their injuries and GirlSquad did not miss a beat on a picture perfect morning. The wind had calmed down and Katie lead the girls to complete control of the over-matched opponent. Even with the limited playing time, Reg managed to score 3 goals on 4 catches, and blue played key D and added a few of her own. GirlSquad cruised to a 12 - 3 victory and completed a season sweep of Lower Merion with a combined scoring of 57 - 20.
North Hills
After Day One, everyone knew the PHUEL Champs would meet the PHUL Champs to decide States. The game was close, with O'Hara falling behind for the first time all tournament 4 - 2. The North Hills sideline was overheard during a time out saying "Ok, now we just do what we do, blow them out." Apparently, they did not respect the ability and tenacity of GirlSquad. O'Hara quickly answered back, taking half 7 - 5. After half, with all the other teams, Haverford, Lower Merion and Mt. Lebo cheering for O'Hara, GirlSquad had the extra boost to carry them to take an 8 - 7 lead. While the point was being played, the hard cap went on, O'Hara was firmly in control of the disc, near the NH endzone, but couldn't punch it in. The whole sideline was aware that if GirlSquad scored, the game was over, if not, a universe point would ensue, memories of the previous year's universe point loss in the title game flooded through the sidelines memories. The players on the field had no idea about the critical nature of the point, and just played hard. When Reg scored the winning goal, and the sideline rushed the field, it took a few seconds for reality to hit the team, GirlSquad had captured their first Pennsylvania State Championship and the State title in O'Hara Ultimate history.
posted by Tom Cook at
10:24 AM
1 Comments:
Mt. Lebo was really cheering for O'Hara too? That says something.
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