O'Hara Invite - Sunday

Saturday was for the A and B teams, Sunday brought GirlSquad into action in a prep for Eastern's in two weeks. YHB made the drive up from Virginia, and although O'Hara tried to find another high level girls' team, none could make the commitment. The first ever O'Hara Invite Girls' Division featured YHB (A & B), Lower Merion, and O'Hara.

O'Hara first played a warmup game against a combined LM and Haverford team. Haverford only had three players available, and they rolled into a rather large LM/Haverford team. The combined group scored 2 quick points on GirlSquad, and seemed poised to finally end O'Hara's domination of Philly teams. However, GirlSquad had no intention of allowing that. The girls ran off 7 quick unanswered points, to win the game in a lightning fast 35 minutes. The game ended at half in order to get YHB involved in the action.

In the second game of the day, GirlSquad would get a preview of YHB, a team that will also be competing at Easterns', and who had defeated GirlSquad in the fall at KitKat. YHB jumped out to a 2 - 0 lead, just as LM had, and GirlSquad answered back with 4 of their own. The game continued in this way, streaks of points, for both teams. In the game, Monica recorded a slash, and Katie finished once assist shy, but unfortunately, the team fell 13-10. While the team was not able to beat YHB this time around, the team should feel confident about their chances at Easterns.

The closing round pitted O'Hara against YHB's B team, a collection of young players, with one starter from their A team. Katie and Monica sat out most of the game, and allowed the younger players to gain some experience and some playing time. Without their captain and star player, GirlSquad was still able to roll over their opponent 13-1. YHB's B team did show a lot of heart and played well, but the experience and chemistry of the GirlSquad was just a little too much.

Next up for GirlSquad...Easterns.

O'Hara Invite - Saturday

The first ever O'Hara invite was not quite a major spectacle. Originally slated to have a 3 team A and 3 team B division, only 5 teams showed up, and one had to leave early. Sadly, both of those were the other A teams. Cheltenham could not get enough players and Wissahickon had only 7, most of which had to be on the road shortly after noon. It didn't matter, as there was still plenty of ultimate to play.

First, O'Hara A. The A team took on Wissahickon in a reversal of fortunes game from an earlier match-up. Last time, it was O'Hara would played savage, accounting for only 4 points. This time, Wissahickon had a savage team, but the Stavinga's still managed to make it close. O'Hara won 15-14 with the twin brothers from Wiss accounting for 90% of the Wiss points. Other than that, O'Hara did win, even if it was in ugly fashion.

While O'Hara A was battling with Wiss, O'Hara B was fighting with J.R. Masterman, a new team from Philly. Mastermann played well, and was able to defeat B7, but not without some great play. Back to having fun, B7, for the first time ever, ran a stack in game. Playing in the new offense, Russ showed off his athleticism and instinct for the game. It didn't take long for the team to be able to put the concept for the offense into action and was able to run the stack with surprising effectiveness. Mastermann did come away with a 13-5 victory, but O'Hara B showed some hope for the future.

In back-to-back action, O'Hara B took a short break, and then took the field for a game against Lenape, a team form New Jersey. The Jersey kids showed great athleticism, but not much in the way of actual Ultimate knowledge and skill. Their ability to outrun and outlast O'Hara B proved to be enough. In the last game of the day for the B team, the squad simply could not match up with a much bigger, faster group. The team fell into some bad habits, not running to the disc, dropping easy passes, not looking up field to advance the disc, and simply making bad throws. Lenape easily won the game, 13-3.

O'Hara A looked to redeem their younger, more inexperienced B team by defeating Lenape. The game was one of the easiest of the year for O'Hara. The team, without having much difficulty, was able to quickly dispatch with the team from Jersey playing savage. Lenape did show heart, but the experience of O'Hara was simply too much for them.

O'Hara A finished out the day by taking on Masterman. Masterman has played many games in their first season, and their experience and coaching was on display. Unfortunately for them, O'Hara once again, had too much experience and skill. Handlers repeatedly found Albaugh in the endzone, in what was probably Albaugh's best game ever. The junior shows some promise for next year.

Overall, the B team had a fun day, and O'Hara A raised their record to 8-5 in league, and 8-10 overall. With 4 regular season games, and City Championships still to be played, O'Hara is currently tied with Wiss for the PHUEL regular season lead.

Abington Friends

Off a hard fought loss to HUDA B, O'Hara B team traveled up to Abington to take on the Friends. The drive up brought some wrong turns, Mr. Cook getting really lost, and some general confusion, set the tone for the game.

O'Hara B showed real promise and passion on Tuesday, but could not carry that over into this game. AbFS, with a roster full of players with height and way too much facial hair simply cruised by O'Hara, 15-4. The team was unable to put together any offense, only showing momentary flashes of the brilliance from Tuesday. The zone proved ineffective, and players who can typically be relied on for consistent play, were not delivering.

After the game, the team discussion centered on passion and desire to play. It seems the day off lead most of the B team to leave their love and passion of the game at home in bed. Hopefully it is a lesson they will not forget soon.

HUDA B

With the A team having the week off, their only time off this season, the B team was in full gear. The first of 4 games this week, B7 traveled to Haverford to take on HUDA B. Haverford's B team is not a true B team, it is about half A team players playing down, and some younger players. HUDA and O'Hara did agree to play the game with a 4:3 ratio, evening the odds a little for O'Hara.

The first half of the game was quite a debacle, O'Hara not being able to string together any offense and being decimated on defense, quickly falling behind, 7-0. On the sidelines at halftime, the team decided to switch to a zone. On the first offensive series of the half, O'Hara quickly turned the disc over, and HUDA scored amongst the confusion of setting up the zone. That was to be the last time the zone fell apart. B7 quickly put together how to play the zone and was absolutely devastating in the second half. The B squad forced turnover after turnover, playing lights out D and unstoppable offense to score 9 points in the second half. The team, led by new captains Eric and Sean, and stellar play by rising GirlSquad star, Becky, showed tremendous grit and determination. HUDA "B" may have won the game 13-9, but the second half showed B7, that with the right attitude, hard-nosed defense and team play, they can find a way to put points on the board.

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.

Lower Merion Girls

O'Hara GirlSquad, playing as many games as possible as they prepare for Easterns', took on Lower Merion Girls. Earlier in the season, GirlSquad defeated LM at the HipHop Tournament, and once again, great offense led to another victory. Katie and Reg connected several times on offense as Reg finished just shy of a slash. Two game featured the debut of two new players, Molly and Olivia, who both played well, especially defensively. Monica continued her stellar defense, establishing herself as a shut down defender as well as crucially involved in the offense.

The girls cruised to a 12-4 victory and now begin to prepared for the first O'Hara Invite. The tournament will feature YHB, Stuy, Pennsbury, and LM/Haverford. With three of the teams heading to Easterns', this is a preview of the excitement and competition the girls will face in Pittsburgh.

Haverford

On Tuesday O'Hara GirlSquad took on HUDA women for the second time in just a few days. The result was the same, however the game was very different. GirlSquad won the game 7-4, but did not look nearly as invincible as they did in the tournament win on Saturday. GirlSquad looked sluggish and HUDA Women came to play. The game featured many misfires by the GirlSquad, and at one point, HUDA even tied the game up, 2-2. Many of the girls played with a timidity not seen since they first picked up a disc. It was a sobering experience for several of the players, and hopefully, it will cause them to rededicate themselves and play like the champions they are. It was only with fierce defense from Monica and 4 scores by Blue that O'Hara's team was able to seal the deal. Hopefully, with a month to go before Eastern's, GirlSquad will be able to get enough practice to regain their edge.

Wednesday brought HUDA's A team to O'Hara. Once again, it was a challenging game for O'Hara Ultimate. With Curran and Szkud nursing injuries, and HUDA playing at or near the top of their game, the team was simply overmatched. Even with both of those players healthy, O'Hara's odds of winning would have been slim. O'Hara Ultimate could not capitalize on HUDA mistakes and made too many of their own and fell 15-6. This was the second loss in a few days to Haverford and the third lopsided loss of the season. Overall the team still needs to figure out how to minimize mental errors and eliminate miscues on the field. Patience, team play and field sense are three major areas that are lacking in the losses, but have been present in all of the teams wins. Hopefully, with many games still to be played, the team will find some consistency.

HipHoponPop

The weather decided to cooperate, and the tournament was on! A total of over 20 teams competed, 16 in Division 1, 3 Girls teams, and several B level teams, for one of the best tournaments in PHUEL history. O'Hara played well enough to finish 6th, falling to the eventual champion, Haverford in the quarterfinal round, and playing their best game of the day in the consolation bracket against Cheltenham. GirlSquad cruised past both of their opponents, in route to another HipHop Championship, their 2nd in three years.

Open Team Recap

The open team started their day against a very inexperienced CB East team. The game started out very sloppy with O'Hara and East trading mistakes, East could not quite throw accurately, and O'Hara could not catch anything. The game progressed slowly through the first five points, with O'Hara having the edge, 3-2. It was at this point that the experience of O'Hara began to pay off. The team proceed to outscore CB East 10-1 over the next 25 minutes to cruise to a victory. The game had a scary moment when two players collided and a a CB East player was slow to get up, interesting since he was the bigger of the people involved in the collision.

After the victory over East, O'Hara advanced to the quarterfinals to play a very talented Haverford High. HUDA boasts incredible team speed and runs a very efficient stack and zone offense. As the game began, O'Hara came out in their zone offense and was able to create a few turns earlier, but the difficulty catching and throwing from the previous game carried over and O'Hara was unable to capitalize. HUDA jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back winning 11-6. During the game, both Szkud and Curran had to sit with nagging injuries, hopefully, this will not haunt the team as the season progresses. A bright spot in the game, once again, was the defensive play of Squared. Rob simply was on fire. He has several defensive stops and was able to shut his player out on offensive strikes of greater than 20 yards. He is proving to be a valuable asset in eliminating a huck threat.

The final game of the day for O'Hara matched them up with Cheltenham. By this time, both Wilcox and Szkud had left, leaving O'Hara with just one sub. The tenacious efforts of those players proved to be enough. O'Hara simply mauled Cheltenham, by putting in the best team effort of the day. While tired, depleted, and in the case of Curran, hurting, O'Hara Ultimate showed why they are a threat to beat any team on any given day. Huge play from Sleeves, with a slash plus 2 (his first slash), an offense that involved the top handler, Katie, much more, great layouts from Whitey, stellar defense from Squared, and great timing (plus a sweet sky) from Curran, lead O'Hara to a 13-10 victory that was not nearly as close as the score suggests. This game highlighted the spirit of both teams, as their was plenty of good-natured trash talk between the two teams.

O'Hara was forced to forfeit the last game, against Yorktown, as most of the remaining players ran off for closing night of the school show. Hopefully this tournament was a learning experience and will lead to a higher-than-seeded finish at Born 2 Dive next weekend.

GirlSquad

A heavily favored Girls' team entered HipHop with all expectations to win easily, and they did not disappoint. The first game, against HUDA Women was played 6 on 6, due to a lack of numbers for Haverford. O'Hara simply dominated. Blue recorded her first slash, with Reggie and Monica finishing just one shy, as those three scored all of the points. Katie, Loran, Becky, and many others contributed by tossing the scores and playing excellent defense. While HUDA lost 13-0, they did show that they have some athletes and will present a challenge for GirlSquad as they gain experience and playing time. A highlight of the game was during halftime, a highly spirited GirlSquad involved both of the other teams in a spontaneous dance party to keep smiles on everyone's face and remind all teams of the fun nature of Ultimate and the vital component fo Spirit.

The last game for GirlSquad brought the challenge of Lower Merion, who, unfortunately, had suffered a few injuries. The previous game featured everyone getting assists, this game, featured everyone getting in the endzone. After this game, every girl had made it in the scorebook, a feat that the open team has never accomplished. While the GirlSquad did allow LM to score, winning 13-4, the game was again, highly spirited and much fun to watch and play. The team showed that they can play and win without Katie playing a huge role, as she sat back and allowed the other players a chance to shine. Becky especially put on a great show, and Boylan showed off her potential. Overall, it was a great chance for the GirlSquad to finally play together and they showed their passion and ability. For all who care to take notice, this team should do some damage at Easterns.

Wissahickon

In a final tune up before a hectic tournament schedule begins, O'Hara Ultimate traveled up to Wissahickon to take on one of the best teams in the city. Unfortunately, several key players, Wilcox, Squared, and Sleeves, along with Albaugh and C-Lo were unable to make the trip. This left O'Hara Ultimate with a lineup prepared to play savage. Russell received a call-up from B7 in order to give the A team a sub if necessary. The team proved not to need the help.

Wissahickon dominated the game from start to finish, easily cruising to a 15-5 victory. Turnovers highlighted by a lack of speed, consistency, accuracy on throws, drops and a team that could not string together more than 5 passes led to a quick defeat. Wiss took half with a score of 8-1 and only when the younger players started to get more playing time, could O'Hara Ultimate put some ink on the stat sheet.

While the game was a blowout, the teams did enjoy themselves. Spirit of the Game is always very evident when these two teams meet, a few of the players on both teams have competed together in various venues (YCC and Paganello.) While on the field, the game may have been a debacle, O'Hara Ultimate played together and never allowed the score to effect their attitudes toward each other, hopefully a sign of a maturing team.

Next up, HipHoponPop, hopefully the weather will cooperate.

St. Joe's Prep

Tuesday brings us to our fourth game of the season, against perennial school rival, St. Joe's Prep. The Prep has a long tradition of outstanding Spirit and great Ultimate, and this game would prove no different.

After losing the flip and having to pull to start the game for the first time this season, O'Hara Ultimate got off to another slow start allowing the Prep to score first. Unlike the last game, we had an answer, marching right back down the field on Prep's cup defense and tying the game. The game proceeded back and forth up to 3, and that is when the game was blown wide open, scoring 5 in a row to take the half. After half it was more of the same, with some of the B team getting involved. This game saw Russell and Ellis getting their first A team points, and Eric debuting as a handler. With that being said, the day truly belonged, once again, to Szkud and Squared, each with 6 points, 5 assists for Szkud and 5 scores for Squared. This was the first slash of the year for Squared who played nearly every minute of the game with very high intensity. (*a slash refers to a player scoring 5 points and has been coined by Gunther)

O'Hara was playing our own unique zone defense, while mixing it up and confusing the Prep by switching in and out of man coverage. It was this stellar strategy that helped to confuse Prep and cause several costly turnovers, of which O'Hara Ultimate was able to capitalize on throughout the game.

On the other side of the disc, the offense moved with great efficiency. For the first time in O'Hara Ultimate history, every member of the team is capable of making the necessary throws to continue the progression of the disc. Prep's cup defense was easily broken and caused very few scares. Utilizing a modified version of our offensive game plan, O'Hara Ultimate was able to continually complete passes at every level.

There were a few problems that will need to be addressed for O'Hara to continue with the recent success. The defense did look a bit tired at points during the game, especially while playing man defense, often allowing their players to beat them to the force side by giving less than their best efforts. This may be due to two games in two days, a problem the team will have to address with several major tournaments coming up. Offensively, handlers too often were looking downfield for a huck, often at the cost of a more intelligent swing pass. The offense will need to raise the tempo and push the disc downfield with more short, high percentage passes to dominate against better opponents.

In all, a 15-4 victory against St. Joe's Prep is always a great thing. The team continues to play at a very high level and will face its second true test of the season against Wissahickon on Thursday. After that, it is on to HipHop.

Radnor

Monday brings us to a new week, and our first away game of the season.

Both the A and B teams were in action against a continually improving Radnor team. First, the B team, or as they are now known, B7.

B Team
B7 took on Radnor B in a hard fought, back and forth game. Radnor B struck first and built up a 3-0 lead before B7 was able to get on the board. B7 scored two quick points and the teams traded points to half, with Radnor scoring to take the half 7-5. After half, B7 was able to take an 8-7 lead, before Radnor took the score to 12-10. With their backs against the wall in a game to 13, B7 tied the game just as the cap fell. The team fought hard, but a pass that was tipped twice, fell into the hands of a waiting Radnor player to win the game 13-12. The team as a whole played great, with Russell, Frenchie, Ellis, Savage, Colleen, and Blue playing especially well. In a unanimous vote, Eric was named MMP (Most Muddy Player.)

A Team
O'Hara Ultimate came into the game having never lost to Radnor and O'Hara knew they would need great play all around to keep that streak in tact.
The game started with Radnor jumping out to a 3-0 lead, as in the B Team game. However, it took a little while longer for the A team to bring it together. O'Hara Ultimate kept trying to institute a zone, while Radnor kept capitalizing on turnovers, taking half with a score of 8-5.
After half, O'Hara Ultimate came out flat and fell behind 11-6. The streak looked near end, but with a renewed defensive passion, and a refuse to lay-down attitude O'Hara Ultimate fought back. O'Hara Ultimate after falling down by 6, went on an 8-2 run to win the game. Highlights of the second half include Gunther running down a Curran miscue for a score, and two absolutely sick layouts by Szkud. The first, a great layout in the endzone for a goal that was contested (we scored on the next throw anyway) and a disgusting, one-handed, around-the-defender grab to set up the go-ahead point. The winning point featured everyone on the field playing a significant role on offense and defense to put together several turns, and a drive from our own goal line to win the game.

Big plays from Curran, Squared, Gunther, and Szkuds helped bring the team back. Henkel, Wilcox, Ginger, Katie, Sleeves, and Whitey all played solid games to contribute to the game. Tomorrow brings St. Joe's Prep into our home field and hopefully, another win.

First Week

O'Hara Ultimate spring 2008 has begun!

The season began in an inauspicious way. The B team dropped 3 games at Green Eggs and Spam, Radnor's new, annual event. While the team lost the games by a combined score of 39 - 9, we had a great time, and look forward to improved play as the season goes on. Highlights include Sleeves and Russell busting their butts all day, and our lone A team hold-out, Rob Squared playing every minute of every game in a valiant attempt to pull out a win!

The A Team dropped its first game to a very athletic Haverford School. With lots of wind, few subs, and un-inspired play, the A Team just couldn't muster enough offense as the lost 10 -9.

In the wake of a humbling loss, the cross-town rivals, Lower Merion, stepped out O'Hara's fields, looking to continue their dominance. O'Hara had dropped 6 consecutive games to the Babaganouj. O'Hara Ultimate came out with inspired, hardcore Waste play, effectively running its vaunted zone defense, the Waste jumped out to a 6 - 3 lead. Not to be out-played so easily, a well coached LM team, stormed back to take the half 8 - 6.
O'Hara went into halftime with a sense of urgency and emerged to score two quick goals and tie up the game at 8. An epic battle of "huck and play D" and two very different zone philosophies lead to trading points up to 12. With the score tied again and Universe point on the line, O'Hara pulled to LM.
LM had been playing a huck offense strategy to pin O'Hara deep on their red zone, but with the game on the line, Wilcox, Szkud, Curran and Squared and company would not allow them to get the disc back. Deep on his own goal line, Wilcox fired a huck downfield to Szkud who made and amazing layout, but could not hold on. However, he called a foul on the play, saying that he was stripped of the disc on the way down. The call was contested and went back to the line. A second attempt from Wilcox to Szkud found its mark A few short moments later, the disc found its way into Squared's hands on the goal line who tossed a simple pass to Curran in the endzone for the win.

O'Hara Ultimate is now 1 - 1 on the season, and the B Team is 0 - 4. Girl Squad has yet to play, but has been invited to compete in UPA High School Easterns' in Pittsburgh.

Check back often for updates on O'Hara Ultimate.

1..2..3..4..5..6..7..WASTE!