UPA Finals 2009- Open Preview- Pool B

Nation,

Results will be posted here

Pool B

• Chain Lightning (GA)
• JAM (CA)
• Ring of Fire (NC)
• MadCow (OH)

This is going to be a tough pool.

Chain Lightning of the A-T-L (Atlanta folks) features Josh Zipperstein (who, until he comes to No Borders in Ottawa, will be referred to Dory Zipperstein's brother) Rob Barrett and a plethora of speed and talent. They are 27-4 this season, and were tied for third at UPAs last year.

Chain should have high expectations this year. Seeing this team in the finals is a very real possibility.

Jam is the defending champion. Their handlers are world class and provide the speed and throws that make it almost impossible to game plan for.

However, it's been a real up and down year for the year and they narrowly qualified for finals out of the Northwest. With a season record of 25-16, they have not looked invincible. Still, opponents often sense that Jam still has the talent, and they have been playing possum this year. They will be exciting to watch.



Ring of Fire (24-8) from Raleigh North Carolina is celebrating its 20th year of elite ultimate. Captain Kris Bass gives the following preview of the team (and he gives a special plug to sponsors at 5 ultimate, who have provided our awesome anniversary Fire Jerseys).

As always, Ring is planning to bring it strong at all times at the tournament. We have had an exciting post-season so far, losing in a classic finals match against Truck Stop on double game point. We followed that by another one point game against a strong NC team, LOS. We are absolutely looking forward to playing any and all the teams at nationals, and interested in taking on whomever we face.

We have had lots of close games this year, and hope to avenge a few earlier losses if we can! It is always a challenge and great experience to test yourself against the best everyone has to offer.

If you are coming down, you will want to catch some of our exciting style of play if you can! Larry 'Dirty' Durgin sets the tone for our D line. Brian Lowther conducts sunday morning service in the endzone. and Thomas 'T-unit' Ward and Ken 'Kapow" Porter patrol the skies for the Ring Air Force.

Madcow (39-10) of Columbus Ohio enters their first UPA finals in their tenth year of existence. It's such an inspiring story it needs an article to itself. Rodger Oakes, team captain... provides this rundown:

Madcow is a team built around spirit, depth, and comraderie. We play Ultimate as an outlet to enjoy time with each other. Our expectations for every tournament are to play the best we can...and play our best game during our last game.

This is the first time we've made the Club Championships...and it has been a long road. The team has been around for 10 years now...and a good amount of players have been there for nearly that entire stretch. Over the last 2 years, we've really added depth from other areas (Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Indiana).

We're hoping to win a game, maybe 2 on Thursday. But, our main goal is to get into the play-in game Friday afternoon. We're a team built for long runs...we've got a few high end players that could play on any time, but our strength is the consistent, strong play from 5-27 on our roster.

Sectionals was a good tournament for us...we were clicking on almost all cylinders, and were able to stay focused through most of the tournament.

We knew Regionals would be our real test. We had the #1 seed going to regionals, but ran into a bad matchup against Chicago's Machine. For one reason or another, we just had a little trouble against there Defense. In Semi-finals, we lost a 1 point thriller. Our main goal for the weekend was to qualify for the Championships...so we were able to get over the loss in okay fashion. Sunday morning of regionals was cold and windy...but we persevered. It was a nice setup for us, because we were able to get past Louisville and had to play a Prairie Fire team that had just come off of an upset victory over Sub-Zero. Prairie Fire virtually eliminated us the previous year in Regionals, so we had a little taste of revenge to help motivate us. We got that victory and hit a buzzsaw against Machine again. But, we were able to pull through...knowing that we had beaten Sub-Zero at CHC, we were confident in our ability to play with them...and got through.

The Central Region has 5 teams all at the same level, and we were pretty happy to get the timely victories to qualify. We're excited to play a lot of the teams down in Florida. We have seen a few over the past few years...had plenty of run-ins with GOAT over the last 3-4. I think we realize they're all quality teams, and we'd like to see as many different styles of play as possible.

I don't think there is any one team that we're looking forward to...they'll all be great competition for us.

Our top players on offense are: David Vuckovich (Tlake), Kevin Ryan (Willis) at the cutter position, and Jimmy Hughes and Jeff Kula at the handler spots. Tlake and Willis are open all the time, and just never stop running. Jimmy has great throws, and Kula is the glue for the squad...just does all the dirty work to keep the disc alive and moving. Willis is our highlight reel on O.

Defensively, I'd put Craig Poeppelman (BMW) with any player in the world. He covers any position...handler, 1st cutter, or deep cutter. I don't think I've seen him go through a game without getting a D on his man...or he just keeps his man from touching the disc altogether. He is that good...which is tough for me to say since that was my role until a pulled hamstring put me out for most of this season. Timmy Meyers is also on Defense, and is the heart of the team. He has great passion for the game, and usually covers the largest, tallest cutter on the other team. Ryan Sitler is our main puller, and he has changed our defensive dynamic with his ability. He's been disc golfing for awhile, and does things with the pull that are tough to understand. Scott O'Brien and Josh Botti (OB and JB, respectively) are 2 way speedsters that are a constant annoyance to anyone they cover. They also double on the O line as 2nd cutters to keep things moving for us.

UPA Finals 2009- Open Preview- Pool A

Nation,

Results will be posted here

Pool A

• Revolver (Bay Area CA)
  
• GOAT (Toronto/Ottawa ON)
  
• Truck Stop (Washington DC)
  
• Pike (Princeton NJ)
  

Revolver enters the tournament as the #1 seed and enjoys a new status this year as an elite team. This team has been around since 2006 and is based on players from the Stanford University program, but took a big step this year with the addition of Colorado Mammbird legend Beau Kittredge and Mac Taylor. In 41 tournament games, they are an impressive 36-5. By no means is this team a runaway favorite (dropping semi final matchups in tourneys this year against Sockeye and Ring of Fire) but they do serve as strong contender deserving of the hype they have received all season.

GOAT of Toronto comes into the tourney on the heels of a Regionals final loss to rival Ironside. It was less a loss and more of a (slap the taste out of your mouth) defeat. In a very good season where they have won the Boston Invite and have a 39-8 season record, a wake up call so close to finals might be a necessary evil.

There is lots to like about this team outside of their passports. My yankee viewers will recognize John Hassell (yes he's great) but there is many more players to like on this team. Joel Hogberg (Sverige Klub Skogs) and Derek Alexander (Team Canada/Furious/Phoenix) have been added to give the team handler weapons with big game experience. GOAT boasts a glut of home grown talent like Taylor Martin, Adrian Yearwood, Lowell Heppner who are just entering their prime. Mark Lloyd serves the role of Kid wonder who'll steal the show if given the opportunity. Inian Moorthy has been noted by 'insiders' as playing particularly hot this fall.

Here's the paradox for GOAT- They have to talent to try and win now, but they also have the vast majority of the roster on the right side of 30, even 26. There will be no talk of the future this week though.. it's time to hunt.

Truck Stop won their regional tourney with a big one point win over Ring of Fire. Trying to build on that, DC's finest (The area has 3-4 touring open clubs) will be looking to show teams that their disappointing 2008 finals showing was a fluke. 25-11 in 36 games this year, they defeated GOAT 13-9 at Chesapeake in their latest head to head.

Pike of New Jersey played Mid Atlantic regionals (I thought they were a North East team) and were 29-14 during the season. Their team is described by captain Duty Rhodes as follows.

Our team expectations are the same as they are for every tournament:

• Put the team first
• Trust the play of your teammates and earn their trust through your play.
• Work and fight for everything because no one will give it us.

Pike is looking forward to facing every team. Especially since we have not had the opportunity to play any of them in well over a year. They each provide unique challenges for our personnel, strategies and mental/intestinal fortitude. The differentiation of the challenges is one of the best aspects of team sports-- Ultimate is no exception. That a high-level challenge exists every round rather than which challenge exists every round is the glory of The Show.

I mean, wait... this is a Canadian site? We're particularly excited to play GOAT!

On Offense, Nick Malinowski, CJ Kozarski and Art Shull anchor our downfield play while Ian McClellan is a handler with every throw in the book as well as a number that aren't.

Defensively, J Dono (attending his 10th Open Nationals), Jon Fink and Jake "The Jake" Rainwater lead the charge. All three are extraordinarily versatile defenders and devastating offensive players on the turn.

UPA Finals 2009- Masters and Mixed Preview

Nation,

Due to time constraints, the Masters and Mixed previews will be brief.

Masters

Results here.

Canada is represented by GLUM. GLUM is fresh off one of their biggest victories ever- A regional championship with not one but two victories over legendary Death or Glory. Mentally, this might be a huge barrier removed for Ottawa.

In their regionals victory and their National championship, the team has been very quick to attribute their success to their defence and their new cutters, who have provided the speed needed to get open and provide easy looks.

A UPA championship is possible, but GLUM will have many tough games throughout the tournament. A team to watch will be Double Black of Colorado, who was one of the few squads to play in open tournaments through the summer and defeating strong club team Blackfish during the Colorado Cup.

Mixed

Results here.

As stated, Canadian finally has a UPA finals participant in this division and the team is looking forward to the challenge.

Psychoplastique finds themselves third in their four team pool. They will face the defending champions (Mental Toss Flycoons) on day one and will look to build on the previous head to head matchups with them.

More importantly, they must beat both Barrio (AZ) and BCBC (CA) in order to stay in the power pools and remain alive for quarter finals.

UPA Finals 2009 Preview- Women's

Nation,

Two teams have dominated this division for this decade- Riot and Fury. Is this the year someone else makes the final? Can Canada get a break through in this division?

Two Canadian Teams enter this week with strong teams and stronger hopes of a UPA championship.

Schedule is here and will also be updated here.

Pool A

• Riot (Seattle)
• Showdown (TX)
• Ozone (ATL)
• Wildcard (PA)

Riot (Seattle) enters the finals with a season record of 27-4. They have only lost to Fury (twice) Uno (Japan) and Traffic this season and are on a particular hot streak. They have given us reason to think that, despite losing to Fury for several seasons, this is their year. They beat Fury at regionals and at the Emerald City Classic. Can they do it a third time?

Showdown is out of Austin and they represent the growing talent from that city and that state. After a solid season of touring, it appears that while this team is not quite ready for prime time, they will provide finals opponents with a tough match. In 30 games this year, they are 19-11 with big wins over Ozone at regionals and a very good Nemesis team at Chicago Heavyweights.

Ozone of Atlanta has had an intersting season. In compiling an impressive 26-4 record, they have beaten some VERY good teams (Zeitgeist), play Fury and Riot hard, and then lose to Showdown at regionals. Despite the mess up at regionals, they get a chance to face showdown again and get into day two power pools.

Wildcard is the third seed from the Mid Atlantic region. They've had a busy summer and fall, with 39 tournament games and posted a 25-14 record. They had a rough ride at the Chesapeake Open earlier this summer.

Pool B

• Capitals (Toronto/Ottawa)
• Zeitgeist (Berkley CA)
  
• Nemesis (Chicago IL)
  
• Safari (San Diego CA)
  

Capitals have had a very strong fall season since merging Stella (Ottawa) and Lotus (Toronto) as per fall tradition. The team is 16-0 this year, winning Chesapeake against some tough teams and their sectional/regionals with relative ease. As I look at their pool, I think they will have a tough day one because the teams below them are all very good. However, the Capitals are as good as they have ever been, and they need to beat teams like these to make it to semis and finals.

Here's the makeup of this team. Lotus (roughly 21-1) won the national Canadian championship this year, and won the Boston Invite in addition to losing on universe to Brute Squad at the No Borders final. Stella (roughly 12-7) finished second at CUC 2009, and both teams were able to compete against the best of the east on their own. Combined, they should be a huge threat when deployed properly.

And if they don't make semis, at the very least, I suggest they change their merger system or personnel. I really like how these ladies have stuck to their program and system for several years (others could learn from this), but they must take the next step.

Zeitgeist has always been a team of interest, because they are capable of beating the very best and being surprised by less stellar teams. In their summer season, they played 36 games and had a 23-13 record.

Nemesis of Chicago appears to be a program on the upside. They are led by a fantastic handler in Jessi Witt, and they owe a lot of their success this year to the addition of new athletic players. In 37 tournament games, they sport a 30-7. Yeah.. that's pretty damn impressive for the third seed in a day one pool!

Safari of San Diego is a tough California team that will give all three of their pool B opponents a tough match. 15-10 during the season in tournament play.. and will look to play spoiler during the tournament.

Pool C

Fury is the three time defending champions of this division and aim for the elusive four peat this year. With a 37-3 tournament record this year, they seem to have the same mystic of past years over all opponents except for Riot, who was been responsible for all three losses.

Traffic of Vancouver has been away from CUC since 2007, and as such Canadian teams and cities do not get to see them very much. Focusing on tourneys and opponents from the ultra tough north west US region, Traffic has an 18-12 record this year, and it's been a bumpy ride. They have shown to play Riot and Fury tough, but have also lost to Seattle's B team (Underground).

Lady Condors of Santa Barbara have not won a national championship since their fourth straight title in 1987. They have had a strong touring season, going 15-5 and played well at Chesapeake.

Pop of Minneapolis has had a long touring season and have collected a lot of travel points playing many of the teams that are in this finals tournament. In 35 tournament games this year, Pop sports a respective 22-13

Pool D

Brute Squad of Boston pose as one of the strongest Boston teams to come to UPA Finals in some time. After getting the chance to see them at No Borders, it seems like the team has an advantage of many strong leaders, as well as good coaching. They are also very skilled with throws and will be able to handle the winds of Sarasota. If you want to see a young player who uses angles and savvy to handle, look no further than Dory Zipperstein. In 45 games, they had a strong 34-11 record.

Backhoe from North Carolina is a squad that has long been on my list of teams to see. Lindsey Hack is highly regarded as a leader and a very fit "big" (5'10) with skill. That package causes matchup problems. In 32 games, they sit at 26-6. They appear to be a strong candidate for quarters if not semi final action depending on how things shake down.

Rare Air is Boulder's Best coming out of the Southwest region. After getting some humbling elite team spankings at their home tournament (Colorado Cup), they have gotten stronger during the season and enter finals with a 18-12 record in 30 tourney games this year.

Scandal from DC is an interesting team when you look closely at their season win/loss stats. They went winless at the Boston Invite but played every single team hard, including eventual champ Lotus. They had similar tough losses at Chespeake. Since then, they have pounded some lesser knowns and enter Florida on a high note. In 39 games, they went a respectable 25-14.

Talking with Trainor: Who is PsychoPlastique?

Nation,

Every year, Canadian Ultimate wonders when the city of Edmonton's ultimate program will have a breakthrough. We thought it might happen in 2005 with the play of Open team EMU at nationals. We thought Team Alberta's strong play at CUC 2007 was a strong indicator that the women's team would lead the way. These were all false starts for an Edmonton breakthrough (a larger Canadian city that should be a more prominent at the national level). We were disappointed when CUPA gave Edmonton CUUC 2008 and did not see any of their teams make it to CUUC 2009.

It's official- we finally have a breakthrough in Edmonton. Mixed team Psychoplastique.

Psychoplastique is not new. They finished 3rd at CUC 2007, and were a team to watch at CUC 2008. However, the team has accomplished a very tough feat recently, beating out many Northwest region opponents to capture a bid to UPA 2009 Finals in Florida. Not only is this rare for a team out of Alberta, it has not been done by a Canadian mixed squad this decade.

I interviewed team captains Jenn Nichols, Seb Toth and Patrick MacQuarrie to find out more about the team and their expecatations as they embark for their first UPA championship.

Best of luck in Sarasota!!
____________________________________________________________________

How did the team take shape? What have been the keys to success in developing?

Although the name Psychoplastique has been around for a while, it was only last year that we started to adhere in an organized fashion and travel to competitive tournaments to gain experience and increased exposure to higher level Ultimate. Edmonton struggles with maintaining numbers in the competitive touring scene, so a mixed team formed as we could not support a competitive separate open and women's team.

Last year, the team had a very similar core to this year, but our systems and values were not as developed. We had a good nationals, apart from our semifinal loss to TFP, and then sent a skeleton squad (almost entirely younger players) to UPAs, and finished middle of the pack at regionals.

This year, Jenn Nicholls (Flycoons and TFP last year, making her a defending UPA and world champion) moved into a captain's role (along with Seb Toth - Furious last year) and really began to push to make this team competitive . We went to Philadelphia to play the Philly invite, and played well enough to beat a couple teams that made UPA nats last year. We had losses to AMP and Slow White, but gained a lot of experience getting to play these top teams. At Potlatch, we lost games to both Mischief and DropCop, but our top powerpool finish helped players to believe that this team had the talent to compete at a high level.

Canadian Nats was a huge let-down for us. For a variety of reasons, we just didn't bring our A game. Perhaps we got a little to comfortable with our Potlatch and Philly experience, but we didn't come into Canadian Nationals with the right attitude, and we paid the price. It was a great wake-up call for UPAs , however, as we addressed a number of issues . Practice and training intensity increased, focused roles developed a little more, and talent was brought in to fill roles that were needed.

How was the sectionals and regionals experience?

Sectionals had a couple tough losses for us. We were up a break on both Flycoons and Spike early, and then collapsed after half. We decided, before regionals, that it was important to keep the energy in games, especially on D, and that started with sideline support. One comment that stuck with me was "our sideline should pump up our D line, not the other way around."

At Regionals, the cards fell into place for us. The weather was bad, but not awful. There was rain, snow and wind, but nothing compared to playing in the swamps at Canadian Nats. The elevation was an issue on the first day, but we adjusted quickly. Although, upsets in the other side of the bracket worked in our favour, we ran hard when we needed to and got our job done.

The Saturday went as expected, as we went 3-1 with a loss to Flycoons. We played Spike on the Saturday morning, and were down 3-2, with no breaks yet, when there was a long delay due to lightning. We came out focused and cohesive, and our D line rose up to take that game 8-4.

In our first chance at a "game to go", against D'oh, we came out flat and never figured out their poaching D systems. Our next game was against Night Train, who had just beaten Mischief in a nail-biter, and seemed to have burned all their energy . We led throughout that game to a 13-3 win. The next chance in a game to go was against CTR. We targeted our D on stopping their break force throws, and took half 7-3. Each team broke early in the 2nd half, and then we traded out before breaking again to win 13-9.

I can honestly say that no one on the team expected us to make it this far, but we feel like we deserve the opportunity, and we hope to be playing meaningful games on Saturday in Sarasota. The northwest is a strong region, and we feel like we can compete near the top.

How is the team preparing for UPA Finals?

We are preparing for the tournament by pushing fitness training and player connections over the next two weeks. We just had our first snowfall, and, combined with limited day-light hours, and limited numbers to practice against, our scrimmages will likely be few and short.

How would you describe your team style of play? Who are the key players on offence and defence?

If you ask almost anyone we have played, they will tell you that we like to huck to both our men and women, and that we are very physical on defense. It is difficult for me to pick out 'key' players, but, if I had to try, on offense it would be Brendan Wong and Jenn Nicholls, while defensively, Seb Toth and Terri Whitehead usually draw the tough matchups.

What's the current state of Edmonton ultimate? Growth?

Edmonton ultimate is still struggling to achieve a high number of competitive players. While there is a healthy city league (www.eupa.ca), we struggle to maintain numbers throughout a full season and at Psycho practice. We hope that this exposure in Sarasota will help with growth in the competitive scene, as well as coaching and mentoring skills that can be brought back to our university and city teams.

UPA 2009 Finals Website + 10 Things I Think I think

Nation,

The big dance is but mere days away.

The 2009 UPA Finals website is up, and the teams and schedules are listed. I will be posted previews of the divisions shortly.

Canada has five squads in the championship this year:

• Traffic (BC) and Capitals (ON) in Women's
• GOAT (ON) in Open
• GLUM (ON) in Masters
• Pyschoplastique (AB) in Co-ed

In the meantime, here are 10 thoughts to be discussed.

1. I think VC Ultimate is on fire right now, and their sublimation series is H-O-T.
   
2. I think the Carleton-Western game, from all witnesses, was a great game play wise and spirit wise.
   
3. I think University of Toronto's (Torontula) run from 2006-2008 qualifies as a dynasty.
   
4. I think I wish the national championship at the club level was as valued as the University one is now.
5. I think Mark Lloyd will be a captain for Team Canada at some point in his career
   
6. I think the Capitals need to make semis in Sarasota
7. I think GLUM is as good as they have ever been, and their time to win Masters is now
8. I think GOAT getting their a$$ handed to them in the regional final was a blessing
9. I think WFDF under 23 worlds is a great idea for 2011, but too late for 2010
10. I think Ottawa's first national title in open since 1998 should not be underestimated

UWO Sharks 2009 CUUC- VC Ultimate Sublimation Jerseys

Ravens Soar, Gee Gees Gallop to CUUC 2009 Championship

Nation,

Ottawa is the proud home to both the mens and women's 2009 Canadian University Ultimate Champions.

Open Results

Finals- The University of Western Ontario Sharks vs the Carleton Ravens.

The Sharks dominated their pool and power pool matchups. The Sharks gave up no more than 7 points in 7 pool games, including a 14-7 win versus Carleton on Saturday. Their wins of Torontula and UBC (14-12) brought their 2009 win streak to 17 heading into the final.

Carleton made it finals after winning a nail biting 13-12 semi versus Queens. They had won 9 of their first 10 games in this tournament, losing only to the Sharks on day 2.

In what is being described by both sides as a great final, Carleton had an outstanding game and took the national championship with a decisive 15-11 victory over Western.

Congratulations to everyone who helped develop this program in Ottawa and helped bring this championship to Ottawa. Team roster is below:

Tobiah	Abramson
Reynaldo	Arteaga
Ryan	Bauer
Joel	Bellavance
Neal	Dawson
Gerrit	De Vynck
Shaw	Dungate
Brad	Fackoury
Brent	Gerhart
Mat	Goodkey
Jan	Gorski
Jason	Lobb
Karl	Loiseau
Christian	Mahaffy
Eric	Mazzei
Devin	McCabe
Tim	Nardi
Colin	Purdy
Bryce	Ring
robert	schmidt
Joshua	Tai
Rene	Toupin-Piper
danny	vanwilligen
Kielan	Way
Tyler	Zandbelt

Womens Results

Womens Finals- Ottawa Gee Gees versus McGill Martletts

From the outset of the tournament, this bracket seemed to be (at best) a five team race for the national championship.

• Ottawa
• UBC (depending on who/how many players came out "east")
• Montreal (Upstart rookie team)
• McGill (Constant contender)
• Guelph
  

Ottawa entered CUUC 2009 with a 36-4 record this season, having not lost to a single Canadian team all year. Outside of a close 11-8 win over UdeM Diva in pool play, Ottawa moved quickly and easily to finals.

McGill entered the finals off of a big win over city rival UdeM in the semi finals. In winning 8 straight games at this tournament, McGill showed they were a worthy finalist and the strongest challenger to the Ottawa machine.

In the end, Ottawa won the title with a 14-9 victory over the host Marletts squads. Ottawa finishes 2009 with an astounding 44-4 record for the calender year, and sets their sights now on the UPA college series in the spring of 2010.

Team roster below...

Chanelle	Pratt-Johnson
Jenna	Atchison
Viviane	Bartlett
Shannon	Becker
Anita	Benoit
Eloise	Clement
Laura	Evgin
Danielle	Fortin
Stephanie	Gobin
Louise	Guolla
Angelia	Hughes
Marie-Andrée	Imbeault
Brianna	Jaffray
Meghan	Kane
Sonia	Komenda
Julia	Laforge
Kylee	Letourneau
Stephanie	Mandal
Chantal	Mayotte
Anne	Mercier
Ariane	Morissette
Samantha	Morris
Lauren	Murphy
Aline	Pfefferle
Kathryn	Pohran
Gabrielle	Robineau-Charette
Vanessa	Scharf
Tayla	Sedgwick
Kaylee	Sparks
Michelle	Warren