Conditions: Hot, Humid and Breezy

Stanford legacy as college women’s most dominant club was made stronger this year with another championship as Superfly defeated the University of California Santa Barbara’s Burning Skirts, 13-7.

This was the second time the championship finalists matched up this weekend. The major difference between UCSB’s 15-11 win in pool play and their demise in finals was Ultimate’s favorite factor: the wind.

Stanford wins in the breeze. Over the past decade, they perfected their four-person cup. They have disciplined their throwers to know when to punt and when to work it against opponents’ zones.

Meanwhile, Santa Barbara has focused more on their fair-weather game, relying on outside-in hucks that have little effect in the wind.

Stanford pulled downwind to start the game and threw its signature four-person force middle cup. Santa Barbara was quickly flustered, turning it over early. Stanford converted on both its first and second defense breaks. They switched up their defense consistently throughout the game to keep the Skirts off-balance.

“Santa Barbara is a momentum team. We needed to fluster them early and keep changing things up so they wouldn’t get comfortable,” said coach Lyndsay Holley.

“As soon as they getting used to our trap, we went back to force middle zone and once they got used to that we wet back to trap.”

Andrea Romano scored with an assist from Maddux to bring the score to 2-1, but that was all Barbara could muster for most of the first half.

“Their four-person cup was stifling, so it took us a while to adjust to that,” said Skirts captain Allison Maddux. “We weren’t comfortable with our short throws at first.” Santa Barbara was down a key handler, losing Katie Barry to earlier in the tournament.

“Not having Katie made things a little more challenging for us against the zone,” said UCSB captain Danelle Mangone, who was injured most of the season.

Both teams were turning the disc on errant outside-in forehands, but Stanford’s aggressive athletes came up with more junk.

The Skirts were not without talent and athleticism. UCSB’s Romano was the team’s rock, handling solidly in the zone and getting several D’s against Stanford’s big receivers.

One of those stars was Alicia Dantzker, who has visited four finals with Superfly, but was injured for two. She sprained her ankle on Friday and played on and off on Saturday. Superfly brought her in the second half against Berkeley to launch Stanford into semifinals. Dantzker was Stanford’s most dominant receiver in the wind on Sunday, the team’s defensive monster, wracking up several lay-out and run-through D’s. On offense, she had five goals and three assists on the day.

Most points were extremely sloppy, but Stanford came up with the outside-in swill allowing them to roll to 6-1.

In their first meeting, the hucking Skirts took half 8-2 in calm weather. Without the use of high hucks from Romano and Claire Fletcher, Barbara had no cohesive offense. At some points, the Skirts worked it patiently with 5-foot throws between key handlers on the upwind side of the field. But with changing defenses, drops, calls (made by both the Skirts and Superfly) and instructions to punt it from the UCSB sideline, the Skirts were never able to establish flow.  The struggling team used two timeouts in the first half to reconvene, to no avail.

Stanford took half 8-2.

Santa Barbara came out much more focused and composed to start the second half.  

In the second half, Stanford threw in straight-up person at several points in the game when Santa Barbara started it working through the middle using popper Allison Maddux. Santa Barbara capitalized on the person and chipped away at Stanford’s lead. The closest the Skirts came was at 9-6 when Barbara’s speedy Elizabeth Cavagnaro found her way into the endzone on a short flip.

Stanford’s return to zone was the team’s return to dominance. They would allow only one more point in the game. Stanford struggled to put the last few numbers on the board. But, a Callahan goal by Stanford’s Callahan nominee Christina Contreras was enough to put the nail in the coffin and elevate Stanford’s momentum to full swing. Contreras was also smothering as a mark in the four-person trap cup and a giant receiver for Superfly.

She got the final D for Stanford, which was quickly converted the turn to a goal when veteran ace Julia James broke her mark to Dantzer to seal things at 13-7. Despite a few clutch plays from Stanford’s veterans, it was truly a team effort to elevate Stanford’s status in Ultimate history.

“Everybody did their job,” said Contreras.

Women’s Wrap-up

By Carolyn Matthews

Saturday May 27, 2007

Conditions: Hot, muggy, little wind

Pre-quarters

Pre-quarter finals set the tone for a very exciting day in college women’s Ultimate. A championship newbie NYU gave the veteran Superfly a tough first half with a tight score of 8-7 before Stanford ran with it. Northwestern came out of nowhere to upset Emory. Carleton ended Delaware’s season with a game tighter than the score (15-9) reflected. Wisconsin and San Diego battle in a gritty game for the chance to see the No.1 seed in quarterfinals

After beating Florida in Pool D, Northwestern crept its way out of the lowest seed to secure a quarterfinals battle against the tournament’s other surprise, the UBC Thunderbirds.

Gung-Ho played Emory Luna, a team with a very short rotation who looked tired from yesterday’s heat and effort against top seeded BLU.

Northwestern lead from the start, but at no point did Emory appear to notice. Emory’s dump-and-swing offense running through Lauren Truxillo and Andrienne Tecza looked solid all game, but tired receivers and a overthrows lead to turns that converted to big backhand hucks from Gung-Ho’s lefty handler Vanessa Fajardo.

Northwestern took half at 8-6. Emory came out after half fired up and scored after a few exchanges to close in at 8-7. Northwestern rallied back and went up 10-7. With stellar move across the field from Truxillo moving the ball as a dump, Emory scored to make it 10-8. Fajardo answered back with a backhand huck for a goal to stretch the lead to three.

Emory kept chipping away using Tecza as worked the Emory defense both as a handler and a downfield cutter. Katherine Russet ramped up Luna’s defense and a chilly break to bring the score to 12-11.

Luna’s Suzanne Greenfield got a huge handblock, but Emory quickly turned it over with a throw just wide of a tired receiver. After a long point with many turns, Emory puts to Tecza to tie it at 12-12.

Emory came down in a straight up mark but after handler movement, Fajardo hucked again to wide open receiver on the open side.

The rest of the game was pretty ugly – both teams had chances to takeover. However, Emory’s exhaustion gave way to Northwestern’s breaks and downfield movement. Northwestern shut down the Emory rally and the uber underdog took the game 15-12.

San Diego knows how to scare an opponent. On Day 1, the third bid from the strong southwest region went up against Berkeley 4-0, before the Pie Queens took over. In pre-quarters, Psycho took advantage of Bella Donna’s jitters. San Diego threw a four-person cup against Wisconsin who struggled with the defense the previous day against UBC.

Before half, Wisconsin’s veteran handlers began moving the disc quickly through the middle of the cup, utilizing their quick poppers.

Wisconsin’s freshmen ace Laura Bitterman was a critical factor in the team’s first half resurgence. She got a huge D and got the team running against San Diego’s forehand person force which proved ineffective against Wisconsin’s breaks and speed.

San Diego’s offense saw streaks of brilliance from speedy handlers Laura Wishingrad and Emily Gauthier. When Pyscho slowed things down, they were most effective – using dumps and swings to spread the field rather than its usual strategy of run-and-gun.

Wisconsin’s handlers seemed to take a breath at the 4-4 mark and moved across the field with dumps and breaks. Bella Donna quickly took half 8-5.

The few points after half were ugly, with both teams attempting to stretch the field with their long game. Each team was forcing forehand equating to several short and bladey OI forehand turns. Psycho sprite Wishingrad kept the team in rally distance with tough defense coupled with savvy handling. Gauthier came up with a big lay-out save at midfield that lead to a San Diego score to put the game at 9-6.

Despite shaky offense, Wisconsin’s defense stepped up the way the tired legs couldn’t against UBC. Wisconsin stayed person on San Diego the whole game, mostly forcing forehand. Bella Donna was bidding everywhere, generating real and phantom D’s as well as rushed throws from San Diego’s less experienced throwers.

With a few short pulls and some quick scores, Wisconsin vaulted to a 12-7 lead.

Gauthier never stopped running and scored at 12-8 to give momentum for a potential comeback. Holly Greunke showed off her breaks against tired San Diego marks, breaking around for a score to Bella’s Claire Mowbray to put it at 13-8.

Senior Psycho Goldamer Tach came back to handle with Wishingrad once San Diego reeled in its deep game. Tach worked it around to find Wishingrad in the endzone putting San Diego at 9 against Wisconsin’s 13.

A short, out-of-bounds pull allowed Wisconsin to set up and easily execute a one-pass Boston pull play. Solid sophomore talent Georgia Bosscher huck a beautiful forehand to Gruenke streaking to the endzone for an easy score to bring Bella to gamepoint.

San Diego unsuccessfully tried out its deep game again, but Bella’s Kari Rongstad ate up the attempt. Wisconsin moved up the field only to turn it over in the red zone as Bella clustered in the endzone. San Diego turned it again and Bella’s Frances Tsukano laid-out for a pretty grab to put the struggling two seed into quarters against UCLA.

NYU’s Mia Iseman was Stanford’s biggest threat. Iseman was the team’s offense and once she tired and Superfly learned how to neutralize the cagey thrower, the game was over.

The Violent Femmes gave Superfly a run in the first half. They went up 2-0, scoring on hucks from Iseman. Stanford only lead 8-7 at half. Superfly went on to finish the game 15-8, evidence of both Stanford’s second half prowess as well as NYU’s reliance of their star to control the offense.

Quarterfinals

Smart handling was the major difference between a quarter and a semifinal team this year. UCLA was just a little more savvy and controlled with the disc against Wisconsin. Santa Barbara’s patience against Carleton’s zone allowed the No.4 seed to roll through quarters. UBC’s Kira Frew’s breaks and composure to holster hucks edged Gung-ho’s tricky happy handlers. Stanford’s tall, rather inexperienced handlers stood their ground and Superfly’s man D flustered the Pie Queens to push the  No.3 seed out of the running.

Northwestern, the tournament’s biggest underdog, was on its way to surprise another victim. UBC’s weak man defense allowed several wide open throws from the lefty Vanessa Fajardo. UBC answered by using give-and-go’s and the occasional huck to Nikki Short to wear out the already tired Northwestern team. The game had several ugly moments with points lasting 10 minutes or longer, most of which Northwestern eventually put in the endzone. Gung-ho took half 8-5.

Northwestern kept the momentum going and went up 13-8 by using a combination of hucks and open side in-cuts against UBC’s poaching, tired defenders.

UBC’s coach Stephanie Chow called a timeout and told her team one thing: You are two points away from ending your season.

The succinct pep talk appeared to work.

The Thunderbirds switched to zone and capitalized on the D’s and turns generated by its four-person cup. UBC slowly chipped away at the lead. When Gung-ho did get a good long look, it was often overthrown to tired receivers.

During the late UBC run, Frew constantly broke her mark and the quick handler also wracked up a handblock on Northwestern’s star Fajardo.

With a big D from Michelle Bowlen, finished with a lay-out grab by the graduate student, the Thunderbirds tied it at 13-13. UBC quickly got the D with its clamping zone and scored to launch them to 14-14. Both teams had turns and chances at game point, but it was UBC who finally managed close the game with a hammer caught by sophomore Tory Hislop.

Both teams played gritty and Spirited Ultimate, true underdogs who clamped down and never gave up. UBC took the game 15-13. Gung-ho players had their hands in their heads after the game, but Northwestern should have nothing but pride in the team’s effort this weekend.

Meanwhile on Field 8, Carleton fought extremely hard against Santa Barbara. Carleton ran a four-person cup on the team notorious for its deep game. At times, it looked like Carleton was close to stopping UCSB with its zone, but the Skirts were patient and swung the disc to find the cup’s weaknesses. Once, the Skirts broke through their zone, they easily scored. After taking half 8-5, Barbara cruised through the rest of the game lead by handlers Andrea Romano and Claire Fletcher and receiver Alden Fletcher. Carleton looked tired and its usual ballers like Megan Molteni looked slow and made uncharacteristic mistakes. UCSB took the game 15-9.

The Stanford and Berkeley game was a series of streaks – trading multi-point runs in their quarterfinal Regional match-up.

Superfly scored the first point, then Berkeley went on a three-point run thanks to handler Amanda Leahy’s chilly play and precision hucks. Berkeley played mostly zone, which generated turns early, but wore them out late. Stanford, a team that usually relies on its zone, played force middle man to neutralize such huckers as Leahy. Superfly shortened its bench some, relying on veterans Julia James who ran the offensive with Megan Andrews and Christina Contreras. Andrews also came up big on defense and Ruth Emerson’s added pressure to Berkeley’s tired handlers.

Superfly took the half 8-7. But, Berkeley rallied back to take over at 11-9.

At that point, Stanford brought in the injured speedster Alicia Dantzker who sprained her ankle on Friday. With Dantzker’s contribution on O and D, Superfly went on a six-point run to finish the game 15-11.

UCLA sprinted out of the gate against Wisconsin, quickly putting four on the board to Bella’s zero. BLU looked more composed, swinging until handlers Anna Nazarov and Lisa Vampola located Pooja Shah open in the endzone. Wisconsin called a timeout at 4-0. UCLA continued scoring, but Wisconsin started producing breaks after going down 6-2. Bella’s younger players Georgia Bosscher and Laura Bitterman kept Wisconsin alive with aggressive defense and hard cutting.

UCLA secured half 8-6. BLU played zone on-and-off in the second half neutralizing receivers like Bitterman.

BLU’s Andi Coleman was a beast on defensive, taking away looks from Bosscher. Wisconsin’s defense also came alive in the second half with bids from Bosscher, Bitterman and Claire Mowbray.

Bitterman made a beautiful grab at 10-7 to bring Bella within two of BLU.

But, just as Bella rallied, BLU senior Annie Banks got a huge footblock on Wisconsin’s Callahan nominee handler Holly Greunke that translated to a score.

Points traded until BLU started pulling away for good. UCLA finished the game with composed fast break movement, ending it 15-12.

Semifinals

The most tragic element of this year’s women’s semifinal games was that no one was there to see them. The crowds gathered around the open semifinal blowouts, ignoring the double game  point action happening on BOTH fields one and two.

Each game showcased not only the talent from four premier teams, but also the resolve and Spirit that defines college women’s Ultimate. Both games featured major second half comebacks, lead changes and huge defensive plays.

UCSB looked unstoppable in the first half against regional rival UCLA. BLU looked like a different team from what they’ve been showing all weekend. Santa Barbara took advantage of BLU’s uncharacteristic drops and throw-aways. The Skirts went up 6-1 before BLU starting settling down and running its usual composed offense. Santa Barbara had its share of turnovers – but, this is a hucking team and the occasional deep turnover is written into its offense. BLU’s Andi Coleman stopped a number of UCSB’s looks from handler Andrea Romano, but BLU was unable to convert many of their D’s. 

UCLA threw a four-person zone against the Skirts, which the team had little trouble breaking. Handlers Claire Fletcher and Romano moved through the cup to quick poppers Allison Maddux and Kaela Jorgenson.

Freshmen Jorgenson had several impressive grabs against pressure from UCLA’s Pooja Shah and Coleman.

UCLA slowly crept back in the first half, relying on the four-year old chemistry of Anna Nazarov, Lisa Vampola and Pooja Shah. Shah threw to Nazarov streaking upline from the dump position for a goal in the upwind endzone, closing the gap to 7-4. UCLA forced a turnover and converted with a forehand huck from Vampola to Sierra Simmons going long. UCSB quickly responded as Claire Fletcher scored to take the half at 8-5.

Stanford similarly appeared to be the clear winner in the first half. UBC was tired from its quarterfinal and the previous day’s upset battle against Wisconsin. The Thunderbirds dropped throws they would ordinarily make with fresh legs. Superfly had its share of turns, but for the most part the team was much more consistent on offense. They teams traded points to start, but Stanford gradually built up their lead to take half at 8-5 after a long point with several turnovers from both sides.

Stanford forced forehand at first, but mixed in its tough four-person trap cup with the 5’11 Christina Contreras on the mark. Their biggest challenge was stopping the deadly combination of speedy handler Kira Frew and dominant receiver Nikki Short. Stanford neutralized the threats with tough man defense from Megan Andrews and Ruth Emerson.

The conditions were breezy. The upwind endzone did not see much action in either game until the second when UBC and UCLA’s backs were against the wall.

BLU played mostly straight-up man the second half, taking open hucks away from the veteran handlers. Nazarov came up with a huge handblock on the goal line to start the second half, allowing BLU to pull within two.

UCLA had a few chances to score upwind, but without Shah and Nazarov, the handlers had trouble executing the red zone. After a long point with debated calls, Santa Barbara scored to put them up 10-7.

The fields continued to parallel with Stanford and Barbara both leading 10-8. Stanford’s deep bench capitalized on UBC’s fatigue and went ahead 12-9. Stanford characterizes itself as a second-half team, but with a comfortable lead and an impassioned UBC, the reigning champion let down its guard with game point in sight. UBC scored quickly downwind and then stopped Stanford using their zone. UBC patiently worked it upwind with Frew leading the charge with breaks through and around Stanford’s cup. The Thunderbirds scored a critical goal in the upwind endzone. At this point, the Vancouver team found its legs again and generated another D by pressuring Stanford’s raw handlers. UBC easily scores downwind to tie it up at 12-12.

If UBC should remember one point from this year’s championship, it was this one. The soft cap was on – game to 14. The Thunderbirds cup was everywhere on Stanford’s now struggling offense. After a Stanford turn, UBC once again patiently swung the disc to tire out Stanford cup and inch closer to the upwind endzone. The Thunderbirds then scored to capture the lead as well as game point 13-12.

Stanford has several players with big game experience under their belts. This fact was most evident in these last two points. After turns by both teams, Stanford marched the disc upwind to eventually find Contraras in the endzone. Contraras reacted in time to a tipped D, tying the game at 13-13, double game point.

Stanford came down in its smothering zone. Team leader Andrews got a big D in the team’s tall cup. Superfly quickly returned the disc to UBC with an overthrown forehand. UBC works the disc with a few swings until turning it over. Stanford again locates the Contraras open in the endzone – ending UBC’s fairytale run.  

UCLA almost had a legendary tale of its own. In last year’s semifinals, BLU won on double game point against Colorado. With their experience, the veteran BLU players almost did it again. UCLA mounted a major comeback relying on the chilly play of Nazarov and Shah. UCLA scored upwind with a look to Shah in the endzone. UCLA’s Coleman got another D and BLU converted with another goal by Shah, putting the game at 10-10, game to 12.

Both teams were overcome by nerves at the end of the game. Calls slowed down play and took away UCLA’s momentum. UCLA scores downwind to put them up 11-10, BLU’s first lead on the game. Barbara showed its grit by scoring upwind on the next point tying the game at double game point.

UCLA had the disc at 11-11. Santa Barbara’s Maddux got a huge D to get the disc back in the Skirt’s hands. Romano handles the disc, swinging patiently with Fletcher and Jorgenson. UCLA gets it back after a disputed D.

BLU moves it up the field and Lisa Vampola drops the disc on a dump. Barbara quickly picks it up and finds an open Romano in the endzone to finish the day’s most exciting game 12-11 

 ----------------------------------------------------------