Cheltenham

Game three, this time, with some excitement. O'Hara Ultimate traveled up to Cheltenham, on the team bus no less, and arrived well in advance of Cheltenham. The team prepared for a challenging game, while not having Whitey or Squared.
As the game started off, O'Hara Ultimate showed some life, playing very good defense, and actually moving the disc well on offense, with Henkel and Ben doing a fine job handling, and Zakk and Brett coming into their own with fantastic cuts. Just about every member of the team had some playing time, and was able to contribute.
The first half was a see saw match, going back and forth, with O'Hara takign the half. Coming out for the second half, a dominant defensive performance by Zakk, French, and Sleeves gave O'Hara a solid 4 point lead. Once the game went to 14 - 10 O'Hara, Cheltenham rolled out a zone, and began to torment the O'Hara offense. Cheltenham was able to score three quick points to bring the score up to 14 - 13. With desparation in the air and O'Hara Ultimate feeling the game slip from their gasp, the offense began to move deliberately and methodically down the field. The handlers, Henkel, Ben and Brett were able to walk the disc down the field, but kept stalling just shy of the goal line. After a turn, an amazing D would give O'Hara another chance, but 4 times in a row, the offense could not punch it in. The final attempt left Henkel stranded in the far corner of the field, mere feet from the endzone with too much clogging and lazy cuts to find a chance to score. When Cheltenham turned a huge huck into an immediate score, O'Hara had nothing left, losing 16 - 14.
Once again, on the brightside, lots of experience for the younger players. This team will have learned a lot by the time the spring rolls around, hopefully O'Hara Ultimate will have a chance to play a game with a full line-up sometime soon.

Wissahickon

Game two of the fall, unfortunately, same result. The game, against friendly foe, Wissahickon, was an interesting game to be a part of, once again, good enough defense, but not enough offense. Squared highlighted his ability to completely shut down any and every deep throw and French made a big splash in his first game, showing off talents eerily similar to an early Magerr.

Wissahickon is a good team, but not nearly as talented as O'Hara made them look. Jumping out to a 7 - 0 lead, thanks to a healthy dose of uncalled travels (Wilcox, we miss you) O'Hara just could not get anything going. Wissahickon ran a cup defense that O'Hara was frequently out of position to defeat, created turn, after turn, after turn on the Wiss goal line. That close to the endzone, Squared could not cover enough of the field.

It was not until Frenchie and Zak got in the game that the offense showed any life. Zak's solid cuts, and French's desire for the disc became infectious. French scored the first two O'Hara goals, getting on the board, 7 - 2. After a halftime talk that highlighted on calling the travels and fouls, O'Hara started to put it together in the second half. Wiss moved to a man defense that Henkel, Squared and Whitey were able to run a three-man weave and move at ease. Unfortunately, a lack of patience made it difficult to score. After spotting Wiss a 7 point lead, O'Hara managed to score 6 to Wiss' 5, but it was not enough as O'Hara lost, 12 - 6.

Some bright points from the first two games, Zak has real talent and potential, ditto French. Squared is a major defensive force. Ben can be a solid handler. Whitey makes so few mistakes, his game is near perfect. The biggest surprise is Brett. Kid came to play this year and is showing some true potential, great things for this junior. Blue and the GirlSquad are getting mentally ready to play some tough games and make some waves in the spring. As the fall progresses, I am sure that things will start to fall in place and this team will pull together to make a good run at a City Championship, and have some real excitment at States.

Fall Season Opener - Radnor

O'Hara Ultimate graduated a ton of great players last year. Handlers, cutters, incredible D, depth, all lost to college. Knowing full well the fall would be rough, the team decided to schedule just a handful of games and focus on rebuilding in the fall. The first game, against rival Radnor, a team that we had never lost to, would be the first test of the season.

Before the game, the team fought for transportation, and the school has granted the team busing to every away, a major milestone for the club. Now, on to the game recap.

The team split into A and B squads for the game, and had high hopes for both. First, A Team. The first teamers had a difficult time moving the disc early. The handlers, Henkel, White, and Squared, were not able to get good looks down field to move the disc, and would often have slight miscommunications that would cause a play to break down. Offensively, there were very few cuts available to make downfield throws. Overall, it was a rough first game. O'Hara fell behind early, and despite playing good defense, could not muster up enough offense to win, falling 15 - 7 for the first ever loss to Radnor.

The B team was a completely different story. The B game was played mixed, 5/2 ratio, and that worked right into O'Hara's favor. With Blue, Reg, Poncho, and Colleen getting playing time in the A game, Becky took charge. Recording the first slash of the season, Becky was the top handler and game manager for the B team's total domination of Radnor B. French showed his ability to become a defensive stopper and major threat on offense. The B team cruised to a 15 - 3 shellacking of Radnor.

All in all, many lessons were learned, mostly about timeliness of cutting. Hopefully, with more practice and experience, the team can begin to pull it together.