March 23, 2013 by Charlie Eisenhood in Recap with 3 comments
WILMINGTON — Last year’s National finalists Wisconsin and Pittsburgh both locked up quarterfinals spots after wins in the last round of pool play.
In one of the best games of the day, Wisconsin battled with North Carolina in a game that wasn’t decided until the final point. Wisconsin would score on offense to win it 15-14.
The Hodags never trailed, opening the game with a break. They would expand the lead to three at 9-6 after halftime, but UNC rattled off three straight midway through the second half to get it back to even at 11-11. The sides would trade out offensive points to the finish.
Both teams had chances throughout, and UNC likely feels, as they did in their similar loss to Pittsburgh at the Stanford Invite, that they certainly could have won it.
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, cruised to their win over a mentally depleted Florida State team that came into the game after two straight double game point losses. FSU did not really show up for the game and lost 15-9.
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Colorado, amped up after a double game point comeback win over Florida State, rolled past UNC-Wilmington 15-9 to finish second in Pool C. Colorado’s offense was flying high and UNC-W, as in their game against Pitt, couldn’t get anything going on the defensive end.
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Stanford got a very important win over Dartmouth, 15-13. Dartmouth, ranked 26 by the USA Ultimate algorithm, is gunning for another bid for the Northeast. Stanford currently sits in the final strength bid position at #18.
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#12 Florida was hanging with #1 Oregon for most of the first half, but drops killed them in the second half as Oregon went on to win 15-11. With the win, Oregon finished second in their pool and will face Stanford in the prequarters. The winner of that game will take on #10 Central Florida in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
Florida gets #6 North Carolina in the prequarters. UNC had a big letdown in prequarters at the Stanford Invite after losing on double game point to Pitt in the last round of pool play. Could it happen again?
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#9 Minnesota survived a late run by Brown to win 15-14 and finish undefeated on the day. Minnesota looked impressive all day. They will face the winner of #2 Carleton v. #18 UNC-Wilmington tomorrow in the quarterfinals.
