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.

States - Open

The lead up to States was rather crazy. Originally scheduled to take place in Pittsburgh, a last minute field cancellation forced the venue switch to just outside Allentown, in the shadows of Dorney Park. The change also lead to a number of Pitt. teams dropping out, leaving only 12 teams to compete for the State title. The Open team had played well enough in the spring to earn a 5th seed at States, and hoped to play well enough to prove it was well earned.

Radnor

First game of the tournament, familiar opponent. Having played Radnor already several times in the season, O'Hara was well versed in how to go about beating the Griffins. The first game proved to follow suit exactly as the entire season has, with O'Hara Ultimate defeating Radnor 13 - 7. No real surprises, simply good Ultimate.

Wissahickon

Having come off a loss to Wiss at City Championships due to Curran breaking Ben's nose, O'Hara was ready for a rematch. O'Hara and Wissahickon had proven all year to be very evenly matched, save a 15 - 1 blowout by Wiss earlier in the spring. The game was hotly contested with points being traded back and forth. A few key turnovers in and around the endzone, Szkuds and Curran not quite finding their groove, and once again, too much from the Stavingas, proved to be O'Hara's undoing, falling 12 - 8.

Pennsbury

The City Champs and defending State Champs once again proved why they are such a good team. Pennsbury came to States on a mission, and showed it, defeating O'Hara 13 - 6. O'Hara played Pennsbury as good as any team in the pool, but just could not match the depth of the Falcons.

Mt. Lebanon

In the final game of the day, and O'Hara looking for a .500 finish, the only Pitt. team in the pool arrived with their A game. This would prove to be the most exciting and dramatic game of the tournament for O'Hara. The teams traded points to 3, then Mt. Lebo was able to get a few breaks, and took a halftime lead of 7 - 4, including an incredible, double happiness play that featured a layout at both ends from a Mt. Lebo player. O'Hara Ultimate would not be denied this game however, as they fought back to tie the game at 8. With O'Hara driving, Mt. Lebo came up with a huge D in the endzone and started to work the disc up field, as they approached midfield, they floated a pass over the middle, and playing a masterful deep position as usual, Squared flew in for a huge D. Unfortunately, Henkel made a similiar run at the D and a thunderous collision ensued. Both key players were down and out at a crucial time, Henkel with a bloody nose, Squared with a severely hurting leg. Still, O'Hara drove on after the injuries, determined to win the games last two points savage. O'Hara took a 9 - 8 lead just after the cap went on and forced Mt. Lebo to play conservative, but intelligent. The safe play of Mt. Lebo lead to a 9 - 9 tie, forcing a universe point, with O'Hara receiving the pull going down wind. The play was intense, both teams forcing several turnovers before an exhausted O'Hara scored the winning point, finding Sleeves in the endzone for the win. Both teams collapsed on the field, Mt. Lebo in exasperation, O'Hara in jubilation.

The end of Day 1 found O'Hara 2 - 2, needing a win in the final pool game on Day 2 verse an unknown, and underrated State College.

State College

O'Hara arrived at Day 2 with a savage team, having lost Henkel to injury and team captain Szkud to a family emergency. O'Hara Ultimate was still determined to send the seniors out on a high note. The game began with O'Hara turning the disc over 3 times in the endzone and giving up huge scoring drives to State College, instead of being up, O'Hara found themselves in an insurmountable 3 - 0 deficit. The team fought back, finding weaknesses in the SC zone, but was unable to find enough defense to cause the breaks, and lost 13 - 10, the early lead proving the difference.

J. R. Mastermann

Having been eliminated from the Championship bracket, O'Hara sought to dominate the Chumpionship division. O'Hara had a recent string of games against Mastermann, and once again, even savage, proved too much for the fledgling team to handle, winning the game, 13 - 7.

Radnor

The final game of the tournament, ending just the same as it started, with Radnor. The differences in this game from the first however, made for a much more interesting set-up, O'Hara, playing in their third savage game of the day, was looking to continue their winning streak against Radnor, and finish States with a winning record. Since the Championship game was starting at about the same time, the teams agreed to play to 9, in order to watch the event. Once again, O'Hara proved too much for Radnor. O'Hara took a 5 - 3 halftime lead, and on the ensuing pull, bolstered that to 6 - 3. From there, the team was content to trade points to the end, when Wilcox found tournament MVP Curran in the endzone with a trademark layout for the game winning goal, 9 - 6.

When the dust settled, O'Hara finished the tournament with a 4 - 3 record, and the season with a 16 - 15 record and overall, scored 5 more goals than they allowed. A successful season, filled with wins, losses, and incredibly fun season. The graduating seniors will be missed, but they have set the stage for more growth and plenty of success. Good luck to the graduates, most of whom will be playing for Penn State in the fall.