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.

Devon Prep

Senior Day brought in Devon Prep, a new team to the league. This would be set to be the Seniors last home game, and last regular season game. A windy, cold day, would be the perfect setting to play.

The game started off much closer than O'Hara had anticipated with Devon actually taking a 3 - 1 lead. O'Hara had been running its zone defense, but it was not as dominate as in the past. O'Hara quickly switched to man defense, and the rout was on. Gunther recorded his first slash, Monica her first Open score of the year, and Savage played some solid D. The team now preps for States.

City Championships

The City Championships were slated to be hosted at Edgely, but some last second revisions were necessary and brought the tournament home to O'Hara. The home field advantage may have helped, but only slightly.

GirlSquad

Off their Easterns' fallout, the Girls came home to their dominance. The first game against Lower Merion started off slow, and ended early. The game had to be time capped in order to start the rest of the tournament. O'Hara was not playing particularly well, with many throws hitting the turf early or simply not being caught. Luckily, the girls were able to turn it on when they needed it, and walked away with a 6 - 2 win.

The Haverford game was much more the style that O'Hara is familiar with. In a 15 - 0 rout, O'Hara regained its form with Reg nearly collected two slashes and Katie tossing most of them. The game even featured a Callahan goal! The GirlSquad had claimed the official title of City Champions and had begun to look forward to States.

Open

The Open team had drawn the 5 seed and had to face Lower Merion in the first round. The game would prove to be hard fought, but a testament to how far the team has come this year. In the only other match-up with LM, O'Hara won a nail-biter 13 - 12, this time, there would be no doubt.
O'Hara stumbled a bit to start the game, falling down 6 - 4 before taking their play up a notch, taking half 8 - 7. The zone began to gel and put pressure on LM players and force bad decisions, upon which, the offense quickly capitalized. Squared was as dominate as ever, but once again took a hard shot to the groin during a collision with Sleeves. The second half was all O'Hara, the team could sense the life draining from the LM players and quickly closed the game, winning 15 - 9. This was a game of wills, with O'Hara proving it wanted the win, just a little more.
After beating Lower Merion, O'Hara had the dubious distinction of playing Pennsbury. Earlier this season, at Born 2 Dive, O'Hara gave Pennsbury a little scare, and had confidence that the team could hang with them. Pennsbury quickly put that idea to rest. Showing just how dominate they really are, the defending State Champions never let O'Hara into the game, dominating from start to finish with a 15 - 6 win. Unlike B2D, Pennsbury took O'Hara seriously, and was not looking past to a match up with anyone else.
The final game for the A Team had them matched up with Wissahickon. Both teams had limited subs, and were debating before the game about seedings at States. It was clear once the game start, that both wanted to win and claim 3rd place in the city. The game wore on as a slug fest, with both teams going on runs of points, and several players, including both Stavingas, needing to leave for a point or two with cramps or other injuries. With the score 10 - 6, Curran let a huge huck fly, but on the follow-through, he caught Ben in the nose, and opened the floodgates. With as much blood as Ben had pouring out of his face, it was obvious he had to go to the hospital. O'Hara decided to forfeit the game, and give Wiss. the win. It was later determined that Ben had a small break in his nose, but would not miss any game time.

O'Hara finished the day in 4th place in the city, meeting our team goal of a top 5 finish. The next goal is a top ten finish for the open team, a State Championship for the girls.

Cheltenham

After a downer of a trip to Easterns, the O'Hara Ultimate A team had a few days to get themselves ready for City Championships. On the day before playing Cheltenham, the team scrimmaged against several seniors from Cook's marketing class. The game, of course, was a debacle, with the Ultimate team winning 15 - 2. The bigger story was that we were supposed to play Cheltenham on that day, and the brilliant coach that I am, I screwed up the schedule. Cheltenham was gracious enough to reschedule for the next day.

O'Hara Ultimate met Cheltenham on their home field and was able to field a savage team. No subs, no problem. O'Hara Ultimate thumped Cheltenham 15 - 6 on the strength of the zone defense. Squared had plenty of D's and took a shot to the groin when he went up to sky a Cheltenham player and collided with Sleeves. He did not get the D. Szkud chipped in a slash, as did Curran and Wilcox on the assist side. Always a good spirited game, the teams decided to shake hands on the way to the ice cream truck which had waited patiently for the game to end.

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.

Masterman - Playoffs

O'Hara Ultimate was seeded 5th in the City Playoff Series, a win qualifies the team for Division 1 City Championships and State Championships. Masterman, who O'Hara had earlier defeated at the O'Hara Invite.

Masterman was able to keep the score close early, but, the experience and skill of O'Hara dominated the opponent. The zone defense was infuriating, causing many turnovers, just when Masterman thought they were through. The offense quickly capitalized on mistakes and made very few of their own. O'Hara took half with the score 8-2, increased the lead to 10-2, and won by a final of 15-7, settling to trade points at the end of the game.

Squared and Szkud chipped in a slash in the endzone, with Katie and Curran racking up a slash each tossing past Masterman defenders with ease. O'Hara Ultimate advances to the City Championships where they will face Lower Merion in a rematch of the second game of the season. O'Hara has lost 6 of the last 7 to Lower Merion, but has improved tremendously this season. We should be a force at the City Championships.

Next up, the GirlSquad at Easterns.