Pittsburgh-B Tournaments:
4th Annual SHOWdown: Newark, DE – November 18th – 19th, 2006
Joint Summit Classic: Clemson, SC – February 10th – 11th, 2007
B Team Bonanza: Raleigh, NC – March 3rd, 2007
Steakfest ’07: Shippensburg, PA – March 24th – 25th, 2007
Spring Phling: State College, PA – March 31st – April 1st, 2007
West Penn Sectionals: Warren County Fairgrounds, Pittsfield, PA – April 21st – 22nd, 2007
We sent one teams to this tournament composed of a single A team player and part of the B team from last year. They went on to qualify for Mid-Atlantic Club Regionals. This is the first time the University of Pittsburgh has ever had a team qualify for club regionals.
Pool Play (1-2)
Snakes on Crack (Franklin & Marshall Alumni) 15 – Pittsburgh 12
Pittsburgh 15 – Drew 8
Philly 15 – Pittsburgh 4
6th Place Bracket (4-0)
Prequarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Columbia High School 13
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Penn State 10
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Lehigh B 8 recap
Final: Pittsburgh 15 – Bucknell 11 recap
Semifinal: Lehigh B
This game was modified by captain’s clause. The actual score was 7-4 and
then that was double to come up with a legitimate score.
Final: Bucknell
This game was modified by captain’s clause. That allowed Cheese to single
handedly bring home the win with a 2-1 ro-sham-bo victory that was then
modified to come up with a legitimate score.
We sent a single rookie team plus three vets (Josh, Wes, and Tony) to this tournament. They went on to win it all. Our rookies played out of their minds all weekend. We had those vets, but they were almost never on the field at the same time, and they really let the rookies go out and make the plays.
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh-Rookies 13 – Delaware X 6
Pittsburgh-Rookies 13 – Highland Park High School 9
Pittsburgh-Rookies 13 – Swarthmore X 4
Championship Bracket (2-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh-Rookies 13 – Swarthmore Y 7
Final: Pittsburgh-Rookies 13 – Delaware XY 9 recap
Final: Delaware XY
Delaware’s captain asked Josh prior to finals if it would be ok if people
from their other split team played. The way our rookies were playing, Josh
had no doubt in my mind they were up to the challenge, so Josh told him it
was ok.
Stop-the-Swill: Newark, DE – September 30th – October 1st, 2006
Needless to say it was a good day for the Pitt rookie team. Our roster had 21 people, 17 of which were rookies and one who played for Pitt B this year. The way our rookies, most of which are true rookies, held there own and outplayed a lot of other teams veteran players, was very impressive. I can’t tell you how excited I am for the season to see what these kids can do.
Pitt Rookies, now 13-0, coming to a city near you…
Pool Play (5-0)
Pittsburgh-Rookies 11 – Lehigh B 6
Pittsburgh-Rookies 11 – Carnegie Mellon B 0
Pittsburgh-Rookies 11 – Pennsylvania B 3
Pittsburgh-Rookies 11 – Franklin & Marshall B 0
Showcase Game: Pittsburgh-Rookies 11 – Delaware C 9 recap
Championship Bracket (3-0)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-Rookies 15 – Maryland B 3
Semifinal: Pittsburgh-Rookies 15 – Delaware B 9
Final: Pittsburgh-Rookies 15 – Pennsylvania B 4
Showcase Game: Delaware C
The final game was a showcase game under the lights which was pretty neat. Udel had
two teams at the tournament and merged ’em for this game, so this was a solid win for
us.
Fall Brawl: Columbus, OH – October 14th – 15th, 2006
Pitt’s two split squads went a collective 13-2 on the weekend. We sent two evenly split teams from the A team. Pittsburgh X was placed in power pools. Pittsburgh Y was placed in the regular pools.
Team X:
Pool Play (4-0)
Pittsburgh-X W – Arkansas L
Pittsburgh-X 13 – Penn State 8
Pittsburgh-X W – Michigan L
Pittsburgh-X W – Ohio State L
Championship Bracket (3-1)
Prequarterfinal: Pittsburgh-X 13 – SUNY-Buffalo 0
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-X W – Edinboro X L
Semifinal: Pittsburgh-X W – Edinboro Y L
Final: Ohio 14 – Pittsburgh-X 12
Team Y:
Pool Play (4-0)
Pittsburgh-Y W – Case Western Reserve L
Pittsburgh-Y W – Hanover L
Pittsburgh-Y W – Carnegie Mellon L
Pittsburgh-Y W – Wooster L
Championship Bracket (2-1)
Prequarterfinal: Pittsburgh-Y 1 – Ohio State 0
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-Y W – Ohio Northern L
Semifinal: Ohio 13 – Pittsburgh-Y 11
First A team action of the year.
Pool Play (2-3)
Pittsburgh 10 – Indiana 5
Davidson 11 – Pittsburgh 10
Central Florida 11 – Pittsburgh 9
Pittsburgh 13 – William & Mary 9
Wisconsin 13 – Pittsburgh 8
9th Place Bracket (1-1)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Minnesota 12
Semifinal: Illinois 15 – Pittsburgh 10
4th Annual Alumni Game: Cost Center, Pittsburgh, PA – November 12th, 2006
This weekend keeps getting better and better as more people graduate. This year people came from Colorado (two), California, Washington (please note: Fraggle does NOT live in Oregon), and Maryland (three), among other places near and far.
In the game itself, the young studs pulled out a dramatic 19-17 victory over the has-beens. However, this should all change next year, when Brent and TallE will help lay a whooping on the dumb studs.
A great time was had by all. Alumni weekend allows current players the rare opportunity to talk to our grads player at higher levels, like Sean and Brody about their club nationals experiences with Truck Stop and Johnny Bravo, respectively. Our grads are going places.
It was also a big weekend for our coach, Weasel, too. Not only did he win a seat on the UPA Board of Directors, but we have officially forgiven him for graduating from CMU and accorded him Honorary Alumnus Status. Congratulations Weasel. Your countless hours of dedication to the sport have now earned you the right to spend even more countless hours dedicated to the sport. But I’m sure you knew that; it’s why we all voted for you.
Alumni team: John Bain, William ‘Brody’ Brotman, Rich ‘Fraggle’ Coker, Frank DeFazio, Michael Finnerty, Phil Katz, David ‘Weasel’ Lionetti, Mike LoPresti, Sean McComb, Jason Paulonis, Alex Shamraevsky, Andrew Willment, and Mike Yanchak.
Team A:
Alumni Game (1-0)
Final: Pittsburgh 19 – Pitt Alumni 17
Team Alumni:
Alumni Game (0-1)
Pittsburgh 19 – Pittsburgh-Alumni 17
With a rookie heavy team with only 4 vets from last year, Sabah traveled to Delaware for their first split tournament of the year.
Pool Play (2-2)
Pittsburgh 13 – Bucknell 8
Edinboro 13 – Pittsburgh 9
Pittsburgh 13 – Carnegie Mellon 8
James Madison 13 – Pittsburgh 12
Championship Bracket (0-1)
Prequarterfinal: Northeastern 15 – Pittsburgh 14
9th Place Bracket (2-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 13 – Salisbury 2
Final: Pittsburgh 9 – Bucknell 8
Queen City Tune-Up: Charlotte, NC – February 10th – 11th, 2007
It was a good weekend. Saturday: beautiful weather, improvement throughout the day on offense and defense, and we took care of business by beating teams we should beat (something we’ve had trouble with in the past). Plus we finished early, got some good Sunny’s BBQ, and went to sleep at 9 o’clock.
 Team huddle at the Queen City Tune-Up
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh 13 – William & Mary 8 recap
Pittsburgh 13 – East Carolina 9 recapPittsburgh 13 – Michigan 8 recap
Championship Bracket (2-1)
Prequarterfinal: Pittsburgh 13 – North Carolina B 0 recap
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 14 – Ohio State 13 recap
Semifinal: Georgia 13 – Pittsburgh 7 recap
Pool Play: William & Mary
Inauspiciously, we start the day off giving up a break. Our offense looked
pretty rusty and gave up far too many turnovers, but the second half might
have been slightly better than the first. Despite this we marched to a
comfortable victory, clearly looking like the more experienced team. TallE
got a D at our goal line and the disc popped up into the air. As he was on
the ground, he figured his man would grab it, but he must not have seen it
either
and it ended up landing on top of him. It bounced to the ground before
TallE
could snag it, but the team started to rush the field. TallE waved them
off
and threw the goal over his man, who was lying on the ground and
apparently
thought it was a Callahan as well. Win, 13-8.
Pool Play: East Carolina
We started this game giving up a break as well, but in general the offense
was better. ECU was surprisingly efficient with their Coastal Carolina
offense, moving the disc with a lot of check it out cuts and give and go’s
until someone came open for a deep shot. Though they were able to keep the
score close, they never really threatened to win the game. TallE’ sole
turnover of the day was in this game on a blown coverage. Nobody covered
Brent, so he was open by about 25 yards and TallE threw it way past him.
(Hint for all potential opponents reading this: don’t cover Brent and it
will make
things much harder for us.) Win 13-9.
Pool Play: Michigan
This was a game that we had been very much looking forward to since our
bitter and humbling defeat to them at nationals last year. While they do
have a few fine players, the faces of many familiar foes were
conspicuously absent. We finally got off on right foot, getting a break
instead of being broken. Michigan hung tight in the first half and broke
back to tie the score at 6s. However they ran their stars hard, and in the
second half our depth began to really make an impact. We opened up a lead
and Michigan opened up their rotation. Their subs managed to get one
against our defense on game point though, so the offense had to finish the
job: 13-8.
Prequarterfinal: North Carolina B
It’s been talked up on RSD, but UNC-B did not really belong (nor did they
want to). It was good practice for WP sectionals, I guess. Win, 13-0.
Quarterfinal: Ohio State
It feels like we’ve played these guys a lot. Some of this is no doubt due
to the fact that many of them play for Madcow, just as many of us play for
Burgh. It may also have something to do with my last two games against
them coming down to Mega point, both of them wins: at Hellfish Bonanza
last year and most recently Fall Brawl. We started this game off with an
easy bomb for a goal. From there we absolutely dominated the first half.
We broke them the next point for a 2-0 lead. We played some of the best
defense I’ve ever seen this team play. It was epitomized on one occasion
when at stall 9 an OSU player threw directly to a defender. Even though we
were getting Ds just about every point, after that first break we were
unable to convert them into points. Still the offense was rolling, and did
not turn it over during the first five points. One miscue lead to an OSU
break at 6-5, and suddenly we were on serve coming out of half…not at
all where we wanted to be, but that is usually what happens when you don’t
capitalize on scoring opportunities.
In the second half the defense finally punched two in. OSU made some nice
defensive adjustments in the second half that slowed us down a bit, though
we didn’t give up a break until it was game point, 12-10 us. Then we gave
up two back to back to send it into OT. This was very frustrating, as you
may imagine. We ended up with Mega O point at 13-13. OSU made the
interesting decision to go zone, despite having broken us two out of the
last three times man-to-man. It turned out to be a poor choice as we got
about 55 yards barely contested before scoring for the win, 14-13.
Semifinal: Georgia
They kicked our butts in the first half. We played better/they slowed down
in the second half. It’s funny, but whenever we play Georgia they never
seem to be that much better than us, yet when you look at the scoreboard
they’re cruising and in control. Sure Dylan is strong, but the supporting
cast is where it’s at for Jojah. They are well-coached, fast, and
consistent across the board. In what appears to be a wide-open year, these
characteristics should help them in Columbus. Loss, 13-7.
College Terminus: Atlanta, GA – March 10th – 11th, 2007
 En Sabah Nur at College Terminus.
Pool Play (2-2)
Wisconsin 14 – Pittsburgh 13 recap
Minnesota 13 – Pittsburgh 11 recapPittsburgh 11 – North Carolina State 10 recapPittsburgh 13 – Colorado State 10 recap
Championship Bracket (2-1)
Prequarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Winona State 6 recap
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Wisconsin-Whitewater 11 recap
Semifinal: Wisconsin 15 – Pittsburgh 9 recap
Pool Play: Wisconsin
Due to a double bye we didn’t start playing until well after 11 o’clock on
Saturday. I was not a fan, but we did come out firing and ready to play.
We hold the Hodags in pretty high esteem around here, so for many of us
this was the game we were looking forward to the most. Starting out on D,
we got things rolling with a break right out of the gate. The Wisconsin O
was a little shaky, and they seemed unprepared for the furious counter
attack after the turn. We took half up two in points (7-5) and breaks
(3-1). We knew the Hodags we going to throw everything they had at us in
this second half. Coming out on offense we turned it, but were able to get
it back and score for the 8-5 advantage. Our defense continued to put
pressure on the Wisconsin O. After yet another Wisconsin turnover, one Hodag
on the sideline said to another, “All our handlers need to be taken out
and shot.” We got a fourth break in the second half, and had a good change
at another. On a blading away throw Killz got a layout block, but the
Hodag snatched the mac-ed disc from his back for the goal to make it 11-8.
With their backs to the wall, the Wisconsin put in a line of studs on
defense (granted most Wisconsin lines are stud lines, but this one more so
than most.) They popped off a couple breaks on us and gathered some
momentum, taking a 12-11 lead before the offense would score again. We
faced Mega D point at 13s, but Wisconsin was marched it in for the score.
This was a pretty disappointing loss to say the least. Although we were
tantalizingly close, the bottom line is they took their game to a level we
just didn’t have. Yet. Loss 14-13.
Pool Play: Minnesota
We just didn’t bring it in this game. When you do that against good teams,
you lose. Our defense was rolled over again and again, while the offense
was giving up stupid turnovers. Down by three breaks late in the game, we
made a little run, but it was too little too late. This one was tougher to
take than the Wisconsin loss. Minnesota is good. I don’t think they’ll be
able to take down the Hodags, but CUT should be watching their backs. I
think Carleton still has the edge, but Minnesota could easily end up in
Columbus this year. Loss, 13-11.
Pool Play: North Carolina State
0-2 in pool play, we were faced with the possibility of a miserable
Saturday if we lost this one. The first half of this match featured some
uninspired play by us, yet we found ourselves up 7-5 at the break. After
three bad halves, we finally got our energy back up. The cap went on at
9-7, game to 11. Unfortunately we continued a nasty trend of being unable
to close games out late, and gave up two breaks to tie the score. We
recovered in time for Mega O point at 10s. We punched it in for the win,
11-10. 2-0 on Mega O point this year.
Pool Play: Colorado State
We played these guys twice at Terminus last year. It got pretty ugly, so
we were sure to request observers for this game. Interestingly there was
no trouble in this match up. They seemed pretty nice. It was late into a
long day due to our start time, and we had a number of people go down with
injuries: an ankle, a knee, a flying knee to the ribs, and heat exhaustion
had taken their toll. But when called upon players stepped into bigger
rolls nicely and we turned in a sold performance, especially in the second
half and down the stretch. Win, 13-10. Third in the power pool behind
Wisconsin and Minnesota, followed by NC State, and with CSU at the bottom.
Prequarterfinal: Winona State
From Winona, MN, the Experience is probably best known for sending good
players to Wisconsin. After trading at the start, we were able to exert
our will on them defensive and cruise into quarters. Notably we gave up no
breaks this game. Win, 15-6.
Quarterfinal: Wisconsin-Whitewater
Didn’t really know much about these folks, except that they seem to win
those Mid-West tournaments like Frostbite and Hollowinona. We got touched
up for the first break early, but got one back later on two huge plays by
Bobby D. We took half on serve and ramped it up in the second half. This
was the most complete game we played all weekend, but we still squandered
some nice opportunities. Win, 15-11.
Semifinal: Wisconsin
We were pleased to get another match up with the baby-blue. While
Saturday’s games had a slight crosswind, this game was upwind/downwind and
a bit stronger, though it was not difficult. We started off right, scoring
on offense and getting an upwind break on the first defensive possession.
Wisconsin answered with an up wind O point. Our offense couldn’t convert
the next one, so we were back on serve. It stayed that way until 7 all,
when Wisconsin broke for half. We traded to 10-9 before Wisconsin popped
off five in a row to end it, mixing in some nice zone defense. It was
disappointing that we allowed them to assert control at the end of both
games, but I know we are getting closer. Last year they absolutely
physically dominated and out worked us all over the field. They may still
be better than us, but at least I feel we belong on the same field. The
best aspect of the weekend was the 51 points we got to play against the
Hodags–it’s experience that you simply cannot get anywhere else, and I
think it will serve us well this season. Loss, 15-9.
College Centex: Austin, TX – March 24th – 25th, 2007
Pool Play (1-4)
Pittsburgh 13 – California-Santa Barbara 11 recap
Georgia 13 – Pittsburgh 9 recapTexas A&M 13 – Pittsburgh 10 recapBrown 11 – Pittsburgh 10 recapCalifornia-San Diego 13 – Pittsburgh 11 recap
17th Place Bracket (3-0)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 11 – Kansas 10
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 13 – Davidson 5
Final: Pittsburgh 13 – North Texas 7
Pool Play: California-Santa Barbara
We came into this match up with a little extra emotion stemming from
our disagreeable double TMF game at Nationals last year. But this is
Centex and you had better come juiced up or it’s going to be a long
Saturday. The first half featured some sloppy play by both teams.
There were plenty of turnovers, but is was surprisingly uncontentious.
At the half, we were down just one break and pretty fired up to get
back in it. We bumped up the defensive intensity and were soon
rewarded with a couple breaks. We grabbed the lead and refused to
relinquish it en route to a 13-11 win. This was not our best effort,
but I thought we would be able to build off a solid second half. It
was also a satisfying victory over a quality (and unloved) opponent.
Pool Play: Georgia
We headed to round two pretty pleased with ourselves and were surprised to
learn that Jojah had been upset by Texas A&M. We knew that they would be
bringing it against us, but we could not keep thoughts of the A bracket out of
the back of our minds–premature and unhelpful to be sure. We started off with
a defensive score and things looked
pretty good for a while. But Georgia always brings it against us. They have
good schemes and good athletes, and when they’re focused, they’re a top 5
team. They broke us to take the lead right before half and cruised to a fairly
easy win in the second half. Loss, 13-9.
Pool Play: Texas A&M
We had a bit a of time before this round. O line was pretty much slicing and
dicing in the first half. There were a few turns late in the half, but we got
them back with some well-executed slush. The defense had some golden
opportunities in early on, but squandered them with two goal-line turnovers.
The end result had the first half play out on serve. aTm got break at 9-8, and
for some reason breaks against us seem to be worth three or four points (cf.
Wisconsin 1&2, NC State 1&2) Defense finally woke up, but by that time the
only thing left to do was make the score a little less lopsided. Loss 13-10.
Texas A&M is a solid, veteran team led by Pat Eberle, who is even better at
receiving than RSD posting. As the South looks to pick up a size bid this
year, I would not be surprised to see Dozen in Columbus. South Regionals may
be pretty exciting with Texas, A&M, and Kansas all battling for two spots.
North Texas will be dangerous (to themselves? or others?). Oklahoma and Texas
State are the unknowns (at least to me). Can one of them make a run on Sunday?
Pool Play: Brown
One break a piece leading to a 11-10 loss. At one point we were leading 9-1 in
break opportunities, yet the score was tied. Has anyone else noticed how weird
Brown is? Two years removed from their championship they only have, as far as
I can tell, two players left. It seems to me that a high percentage of their
new players have very odd personalities…anyway they beat us.
Pool Play: California-San Diego
All losses are frustrating. Losing four in a row is extremely frustrating.
Losing this game 13-11 after being up 11-10 just blew up the frustration
scale. This may have been the worst loss of the year (and let me
tell you there have been some bad losses.) There was nothing to do but eat
some Poke Joe’s and get ready for Sunday.
Easterns: Wilmington, NC – March 31st – April 1st, 2007
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh 15 – Ohio 7
Pittsburgh 15 – George Washington 9
Pittsburgh 15 – East Carolina 7
Championship Bracket (3-1)
Prequarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Queens-Kingston 6
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 13 – North Carolina State 12
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 14 – George Washington 13
Final: Wisconsin 17 – Pittsburgh 13
West Penn Sectionals: Warren County Fairgrounds, Pittsfield, PA – April 21st – 22nd, 2007
 Motel Sign in Pittsfield, PA.
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh 15 – Penn State B 2
Pittsburgh 15 – Carnegie Mellon B 0
Pittsburgh 15 – Indiana (Pennsylvania) 3
Championship Bracket (2-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Penn State 12 recap
Final: Pittsburgh 15 – Messiah 8 recap
Semifinal: Penn State
Saturday’s semifinals saw us playing Penn State, a team we had never
beaten in the series since they had not played in the past two. Their
suspension has truly been unfortunate as it allows some Penn State people
to harbor the fallacious and ill-conceived notion that, had they been
allowed to participate, they and not Pitt would have made nationals.
We were quite eager to have to opportunity to play them. We came out with
a strong first half performance, especially on defense, and we took half
8-3. The second half was a bit of a let down, as we basically just played
well enough to win. That said we still took care of business and moved on
to finals. The other semifinal saw Messiah pull off the upset of Edinboro,
15-9.
Final: Messiah
The first two points were pretty awful, but we managed to play a pretty
complete game after that. We took half 8-4 en route to a 15-8 win. Despite
traveling quite a bit during the season, they were not ready for the level
of physical play we brought. Bruised and bloodied (literally) and with
only 11 players, they were worn-out for the 2/3 game and fell to Edinboro.
Make no mistake though; they will make their presence felt in their first
trip to regionals.
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh 15 – Princeton 7 recap
Pittsburgh 15 – Swarthmore 6 recapPittsburgh 15 – George Washington 5 recap
Championship Bracket (0-1)
Semifinal: Cornell 15 – Pittsburgh 13 recap
2nd Place Backdoor Bracket (3-0)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Maryland 6 recap
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 14 – George Washington 11 recap
Final: Pittsburgh 15 – Cornell 8 recap
Pool Play: Princeton
Our first opponent was Princeton, a team I had not played before. The
Metro NY Champions seem to be a pretty young team, and they had some
offensive success against us by dumping to a handler as soon as this disc
was caught. I don’t know whether they were taking a page out of Billy
Berrou’s book or their receivers couldn’t throw. Perhaps some of both?
After a bit of a rusty start we rolled to a 15-7 victory. Somewhat
surprisingly, they kept many of their top players in the game until very
near the end of the game. This may have cost them in the next round as
they lost a late lead to George Washington. The sun was shining and the
wind was moderate, but it reversed direction at about halftime and began
to steadily increase.
Pool Play: Swarthmore
Round two featured a match up with a rather rag-tag group of
earthworms from Swarthmore. They were surprisingly annoying and talked
a lot of trash for their level of play. Not satisfied with an 8-4
first half, we picked it up and played well en route to a 15-6
victory.
Pool Play: George Washington
After a little bit of a between-round breather, the competitive juices
started flowing for the highly anticipated match up with George
Washington. They say familiarity breeds contempt, and we are quite
familiar with GW, having played them twice already this year and having
defeated them in the game-to-go each of the past two seasons. No matter
how things go in the regular season, GW always seems to find its stride at
regionals, finishing no lower than 3rd the past five seasons. This
regionals would be no different. (Hey, look at all the nice things I found
to say about them.) I am sure they were amped for this game considering
our recent regionals history and our close game at Easterns in semis.
Starting on offense, we scored and traded to 3-2. I don’t know what
exactly happened after that, but some switch must have flipped as Pitt D
went nuts. GW was forced into attempting throws they didn’t want. Every GW
error, whether forced or unforced, was punished with lightning efficiency
and deadly effect. Everyone was getting into the act, either by launching
bombs, grabbing second chance discs, creating Ds, or getting huge skies.
People seemed possessed. It was pretty out of this world to watch from the
sideline. As an offensive player let me tell you there is nothing better
to see. I don’t actually like playing, and would rather watch anytime. By
the time GW scored again, we had taken half and added one more break for a
9-2 lead. The offense came back with a quick score to end any GW hopes.
We proceed to cruise to 13-3 when an interesting series of events unfolded
in a very long point with multiple turnovers. Actually it should not have
been very long, as we scored quickly after a GW turn on a nice breakmark
throw. House, however, called what appeared to me to be a very suspect
travel. I’ll take his word for it, but considering how the point unfolded,
he might have wanted to take that one back. After several more turnovers
an endzone shot went sailing out of bounds. Josh, undeterred, attempted a
rather ill-conceived greatest. He jumped from out of bounds, grabbed the
disc, and threw it hard and low to an area where nobody was…nobody
except House, who was trailing the play and unexpectedly received the disc
full on to balls with a sickening crunch. I want to apologize to House for
the laughter on our sideline (even GW alums were not immune), but it was
an absolutely absurd moment and sometimes all you can do is laugh. GW
scored that point, and we traded out to a 15-5 win.
Semifinal: Cornell
After winning our pool, we faced Cornell, another team I had not played
before, in semifinals. The wind which had be steadily increasing all day
was now howling directly off Lake Erie, at times making the shortest of
upwind throws a dicey proposition. This unfortunately helped level the
playing field in terms of athleticism and skill (areas in which I feel we
had an advantage), and replaced it with hustle and luck. Good teams find a
way to win no matter what the conditions, though, and to Cornell’s credit,
they were really hustling and making plays. We were not executing or
playing smart (I never said we had an advantage in smarts.) On two of
their upwind breaks we had stupid turnovers within feet of our endzone,
giving them easy opportunities. We also blew several golden opportunities
on the other end. Despite playing poorly, we clawed our way back to 8-6 at
half, and took over the lead (and the wind) in the second half. Until, at
12-12, an errant huck went out of bounds five yards from the upwind
endzone and
gave them the easy break. This was a killer, bonehead mistake.
Unfortunate, as it basically cost us the game. Yet even
despite this setback we had a good chance a scoring the next up-winder,
but it didn’t happen and we fell, defeated 15-13, much to the applause of
the on-looking Delaware sideline. It was a gut-wrenching loss for a
stunned Pittsburgh crew. We had wanted to be Metro East Champions so very
badly and to seek revenge for that horrible loss at Princeton last year.
That we would not even get the opportunity was hard to swallow.
Quarterfinal: Maryland
We came to battle Sunday with confidence and fire, and we vowed we would
not be out-worked ever again. The first team to face this onslaught was
Maryland. A victory over a tired and worn down Messiah (of whom I am a big
fan, by the way) did not prepare them for us, as we took a 4-0 lead, half
at 8-2, and the game 15-5. Their season was over, and their fans, many of
whom had been sitting on a couch placed dangerously close to the sideline
in business suites, departed.
Semifinal: George Washington
With the wind once again becoming a factor, GW
employed the trap zone they had used against us at Easterns to quite a bit
of success. Once again they were rewarded and once again it seemed we
could not hand handle high winds, as we gave up four consecutive breaks to
start the game. Though we scored, we would give up another break and find
ourselves down 7-2. The thought that this might be my last college game
flashed briefly though my mind. We were not going to let it end like this.
Fueled by the hatred of losing and blessed by a slight respite from the
wind, we stormed back. It was a repeat of yesterday as everything started
going our way. We rolled off five straight breaks to take half 8-7,
thoroughly deflating GW. There was no way we would lose now. We were in
command most of the second half. When they threatened to make it a game,
we responded quickly and decisively. We ended their season (for the third
straight year) 14-11. We had been using a 2006 Easterns Champions disc. It
was returned to me inverted after the game. Apparently some folks on GW
were a little upset. No matter, I have up it on my wall next to the piece
of game disc from the 2005 game-to-go, my national’s pint glasses, and my
egg. It should be a great conversation piece.
Final: Cornell
We didn’t get to watch any of the regional finals, but I, much to my own
dismay, was rooting for Delaware. We wanted a second chance against
Cornell. With it granted, we knew there would be not repeat of Saturday.
The wind was blowing hard, but not quite as hard as the previous day. We
traded downwinders for the first few points. On an upwind D point our zone
forced them back. A swing pass popped up and was quickly gobbled up by
Brad for the Kellner for the first break, a huge one. We converted the
downwinder and looked to be in good shape with a half-time 8-6 lead and
the disc with the wind. Unfortunately, a handblock in the zone gave them a
short field and a big upwind break, 8-7. The ensuing upwind O point we
marched up the field and punched it in, taking the momentum away and
returning the wind in our favor. In my opinion even more than the
Callahan, it was the most important point of the weekend. It wasn’t a
back-breaker for Cornell, but they would never have another opportunity to
tie as we cashed in the downwind break. Feisty defense and sick plays gave
us ownership of the rest of the game. We were putting it up with no fear
in both directions, and most of the time we came down with it. When we
didn’t we simply got it back on defense. Cornell would not score again
until it was 14-7 and too late for any come back. A senior line put it
away and extended our season, 15-8. There was joy once again in Whoville.
Returning to the College Championships for the third year in a row, Pittsburgh’s record speaks for itself in proving it belongs in this year’s field. En Sabah Nur, 30-10, is an Easterns finalist, advanced to semis at both Queen City and Terminus and placed second in the Metro East to advance to Columbus. Though it has posted just a 2-6 record against Championships qualifiers this year, Pittsburgh is hoping to show that small schools can play with the big boys. The team will have its hands full, however, as Stu Kellner and Josh Suskin will lead En Sabah Nur against Wisconsin and North Carolina as Pittsburgh hopes to continue its climb in becoming a premiere program. By Chris Spittal
Pool Play (1-2)
Wisconsin 15 – Pittsburgh 4 recap
North Carolina 16 – Pittsburgh 14 recapPittsburgh 15 – Kansas 11 recap
Championship Bracket (0-1)
Prequarterfinal: Georgia 15 – Pittsburgh 13 recap
9th Place Bracket (2-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Delaware 13
Final: Pittsburgh 15 – Brown 11
Pool Play: Wisconsin
After going up big early on Pittsburgh at 7-2, the Hodags had no trouble finishing them off 15-4. -Written by Chris Spittal.
Pool Play: North Carolina
Darkside was getting all it could handle from En Sabah Nur.
Pittsburgh took half 8-7 and was up 13-12 behind the play of Ben Ristau, as the teams were both making small runs of two to keep it close.
While Ristau was throwing big scores for Pittsburgh, Zach Washburn and Josh Torell were keeping serve for Darkside, until Torell was able to connect with Eric Carlberg on a 50-yard huck for the 16-14 win.
“This guy is about as humble as you can get, but that throw was the difference,” Washburn said about Torell. “We have Eric, busting his (rear) for 50 yards to catch the game winning goal -That’s the difference right there. It’s who wants to run harder when they’re tired.”
“We were evenly matched, but we were willing to work harder, and that’s what pulled it out in the end,” Torell said, just before predicting an upset against Wisconsin. “We’re going to give you everything we have.” -Written by Chris Spittal.
Pool Play: Kansas
While the Pittsburgh vs. Kansas match-up was close early, Pittsburgh was able to pull away for the 15-11 win to finish third in the pool. -Written by Chris Spittal.
Prequarterfinal: Georgia
Georgia and Pittsburgh was another tight early game, as neither team ever went up more than three points. Georgia’s Dylan Tunnell said En Sabah Nur came out ready to play, looking to make a statement by advancing to quarters.
“I could tell they really wanted it,” said Tunnell. “It was a hard-fought game.” Georgia took half, and continued to fend off Pittsburgh, charging to a 9-7 lead. Georgia’s offense kept unforced errors to a minimum, though Pittsburgh was able to get a good amount of D’s. “We got a number of D’s on them also,” Tunnell said. “Our D team was having a hard time putting the disc in sometimes, but they were playing good defense.”
Jojah was able to find the end zone when it needed to, as it was able to keep the lead, eventually leading to a 15-13 win. -Written by Chris Spittal.
Pittsburgh-B Tournaments
This was Pittsburgh-B’s first tournament of the year.
Pool Play (1-2)
Pennsylvania 13 – Pittsburgh-B 4 recap
Northeastern 13 – Pittsburgh-B 5 recapPittsburgh-B 13 – Brookdale 9 recap
Crossover (1-0)
Pittsburgh-B 9 – Delaware B 1 recap
Pool Play: Pennsylvania
Miscommunication abounds. Throwaways on offense and lack of intensity on
D.
Pool Play: Northeastern
This game was close to half and much better than first game. We lost half at
7-5. Came out flat in the second and they ran away with game.
Pool Play: Brookdale
Played down to their level. Lost half 7-4 after two point blocks after
trading points to 5-4. Came back HUGE in the second half with a dominating
run of 8-0. They had two quick goals on our game point closing the gap to
12-9. We answered back on O taking the game 13-9.
Crossover: Delaware B
We used captain’s clause to play a quicker game to 9 since UDel wanted to
catch an Alumni style game on other fields. We dominated this game from
the get go and didn’t look back.
Overall it was an excellent tournament. A huge improvement to the Fall season. We’ll keep surprising teams until they respect Pittsburgh-B. Lots of good wins and a good ass-whooping in the end to make us want it more. Winning would’ve been nice but now we know what to work on and that is more important. Look out for us at Sectionals. Tournaments that don’t take our bids will be sorry they won’t be getting one of the best B teams in the nation.
Car ride highlights:
- 1 hour back up in North Carolina leads to this:
- 2 sets of titties from the girls in front of us.
- Some guy holding out a 15 oz. bag of weed to show us, when he rolled down his window, you could see the smoke billow out of the car and the smell.
- Some Horny trucker whom saw the titties. Thumbs up!
- A gay guy at KFC giving us free biscuits and apple poppers.
- Driving by Luca’s disc on 79N
Pool Play (3-1)
North Carolina-Asheville 13 – Pittsburgh-B 8 recap
Pittsburgh-B 13 – Clemson B 4 recapPittsburgh-B 13 – Presbyterian College 3 recapPittsburgh-B 13 – Furman 5 recap
Championship Bracket (1-1)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-B W – Emory L recap
Semifinal: Clemson 13 – Pittsburgh-B 4 recap
Pool Play: North Carolina-Asheville
First game of the first tournament of the spring season didn’t start out
as well as we had hoped. Asheville was a tall, experienced team. A heavy
reliance on their handler cuts, allowed them to march up the field, and
the D-line couldn’t stop them. However, the O-line was their to pick up
the challenge as Asheville took half 7-5. Coming out of half, the O-line
scored to make it 7-6. Despite the valiant effort of the O-line to
pick-up the team, Asheville went up couple breaks and it was enough to
give them the victory 13-8. The game was much closer than the score
indicates as both teams worked very hard throughout the game.
Pool Play: Clemson B
After the first game loss, we vowed not to lose anymore. We came
out red-hot and took the lead 6-2. Highlight of the first half
was definitely Sabey’s breakside huck to McCabe for the score.
That play epitomized all of the hard work and progress that Sabey
made throughout last year and the off-season. It was also the
first time we saw Ho-Stack and we handled it really well by
shutting down the cutters and making the handlers turn it over.
We didn’t let up in the second half as Bob got 3 D’s: a
run-through, a layout and a point block — in one point after
flipping out on Slobo. Man does Bob hate Slobo. This game was a
great confidence booster into the rest of the day.
Pool Play: Presbyterian College
Brimming with confidence from the Clemson-B win, we rolled Presbyterian
College over. Nothing spectacular steps out, but that only means
everyone played a great game and we continued to march forward into pool
play. They have sweet discs.
Pool Play: Furman
Furman came out prepared after playing Asheville. We had a bye and
scouted the game. Furman marched down the field and took the lead 1-0.
But after a dropped pull and a hard stand, the O-line picked it up and
managed to tie it 1-1. A seesaw battled ensued as Furman and us battled
back and forth, but we managed to go up 2 breaks and take half 7-5. We
came out fired up on D and got a turn and proceeded to score. The D line
didn’t go off in the second half as we shut out Furman 6-0 to win the
game 13-5.
Quarterfinal: Emory
After a wonderful sleep-in courtesy of a first round bye and stuffed to
the brim with Chinese buffet the night before, we wanted to come out hot
for Slobo’s 21st. We came out hot on D getting 2 turns and going up
2-0. But Emory came back and scored 2 more to tie it at 2’s. Emory then
took the lead 5-4. Then we got a break and managed to tie it at 5’s.
Sparked by a bookends by Bob we took the lead 6-5. A beautiful pull by
Milo placed Emory deep in their endzone and we got the turn on a
Callahan by Slip. It was however called back, but it didn’t matter
because Slip scored the point regardless, bookends by Slip to take half
7-5. We came out on O and scored to make it 8-5. Emory climbed back to
take the lead 9-8. We got a break to tie it at 9’s. Then we put out our
business line to make a turn and take the lead 10-9 and proceeded with
that line to win the game 13-9.
Semifinal: Clemson
After an emotional win over Emory we were excited to take on the
tournament hosts in the Semi’s. They came out on O and proceeded to run
over the D line with their Ho-stack. Having not gone over Ho-stack D, we
were reeling at a solid Ho-stack. Our O-line wasn’t clicking and Clemson
took half 7-0. We decided to spread out playing time and gave lots of
people PT and they took advantage of it scoring 4 points against a good
Clemson team. This situation was eerily similar to last year’s
Sectionals after defeating Boro and losing to Bucknell in the game to
go.
Overall this was a good day for the B Team to get some PT in before Spring Break and WUFF camp. The past week with Mike Gerics will be huge for this team leading up to the spring.
Pool Play (3-1)
Pittsburgh-B 13 – North Carolina State B 7
Elon 13 – Pittsburgh-B 10 recapPittsburgh-B W – CGHS/Jordan F
Pittsburgh-B 13 – Duke B 7
Pool Play: Elon
After going down 7-2 at half, we rallied back to close the gap to 12-10
but ran out of time with the cap coming on. It was clear conditioning was
paying off down the stretch as Elon began to get tired and we kept
plugging away.
Steakfest ’07: Shippensburg, PA – March 24th – 25th, 2007
Pool Play (4-0)
Pittsburgh-B 15 – George Mason 8 recap
Pittsburgh-B 15 – Pittsburgh-Johnstown 13 recapPittsburgh-B 16 – Susquehanna 14 recapPittsburgh-B 15 – Towson 13 recap
Championship Bracket (2-1)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-B 15 – Gettysburg 8 recap
Semifinal: Pittsburgh-B 15 – Shippensburg 9 recap
Final: Swarthmore 12 – Pittsburgh-B 11 recap
Pool Play: George Mason
Pitt started out slow, but managed to get back into the game and win
it.
Pool Play: Pittsburgh-Johnstown
Pitt had trouble with the deep game, but was able to pull out the win.
Pool Play: Susquehanna
Pitt was able to win in the clutch.
Pool Play: Towson
Another battle to the end, and another Pitt B win.
Quarterfinal: Gettysburg
We went up 3-0 to start the game and got the breaks we needed in the
second half for the win.
Semifinal: Shippensburg
This game was hotly contested early on. We traded points in the
initial stages of the game and then got a few beaks to take half.
Coming down the stretch, Shippensburg kept running the same four players
and I think fatigue set in on some of the veteran players. This let the
breaks come a bit easier in the second half.
Final: Swarthmore
We had three chances to win this game but were not able to pull it out. We
came off of half with a solid score on offense to tie the game at 8. Then
we got the break we needed making the game 9-8 with the cap at 11. On the
subsequent play the pull hit one of their players and we punched it in
making it 10-8. They scored closing the gap to 10-9. Two miscues on
the goal line was all it took for them to take the game.
Spring Phling: State College, PA – March 31st – April 1st, 2007
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh-B 15 – Drexel 9
Pittsburgh-B 15 – Penn State B 8
Pittsburgh-B 15 – Franklin & Marshall 12
Championship Bracket (0-1)
Prequarterfinal: Middlebury 13 – Pittsburgh-B 11 recap
9th Place Bracket (0-1)
Quarterfinal: Drexel 13 – Pittsburgh-B 9
Prequarterfinal: Middlebury
Pitt B lost to Middleberry 13-11 (shortened game per request of Middleberry).
Pitt was down 6-3, but got 4 strait points to take half. After half Pitt
rocketed off a 3-1 run after half, but got lazy and fundamental errors led to
the loss. It frustrating, but the team showed a lot of composure after the
slow start.
West Penn Sectionals: Warren County Fairgrounds, Pittsfield, PA – April 21st – 22nd, 2007
Pool Play (2-1)
Pittsburgh-B 15 – Bucknell B 1
Pittsburgh-B 15 – Shippensburg 8
Edinboro 15 – Pittsburgh-B 3
2nd Place Backdoor Bracket (0-1)
Prequarterfinal: Bucknell 15 – Pittsburgh-B 4
4th Place Bracket (1-1)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-B 15 – Penn State B 7
Semifinal: Carnegie Mellon 15 – Pittsburgh-B 13 recap
Semifinal: Carnegie Mellon
Pitt B went up on CMU and took half 8-6. After leading
most of the game, Pitt B couldn’t stop CMU’s comeback and CMU pulled the
game out 15-13.
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