May 5, 2014 by Charlie Eisenhood in News, Recap with 42 comments
A wild weekend of college Regionals action has finalized the forty Division I teams headed to Cincinnati for the College Championships later this month.
Take a look at what happened in each region this weekend, and see the full Nationals lineups below.
Interested in what happened last weekend? Go here.
ATLANTIC COAST
Men’s
1. UNC Wilmington
2. North Carolina
UNC Wilmington got the big upset in the finals over UNC, 15-10. UNCW’s offense was unstoppable in the game, never giving up a break and not even turning the disc over once in the first half. It is another humbling loss for UNC, a team that has struggled since the Stanford Invite, losing two games at Easterns and now here at Regionals to their bitter rival, Wilmington.
Women’s
1. Virginia
It was a tight contest, but it was a wire-to-wire victory for Virginia over North Carolina as Alika Johnston led her team to another Nationals appearance.
METRO EAST
Men’s
1. Rutgers
Did you just think about glossing over this section, expecting to see Cornell? Rutgers rewrote the script in the Metro East, plowing through the field and into the finals. In the first half, it looked like another Cornell stomping was unfolding, as the Buds got four breaks in the game’s first six points to lead 5-1. Rutgers trimmed the lead, but Cornell took half 8-5.
But a 4-0 run early in the second half gave Rutgers a 10-9 lead that they would hang on to for the 11-10 win on double game point.
NEW ENGLAND
Men’s
1. Harvard
2. Tufts
3. Dartmouth
4. Massachusetts
Harvard and Tufts, the odds-on favorites, both advanced relatively easily to the finals, ensuring a bid to Nationals and playing just for seeding — and pride. The two teams, like so many times before, duked it out; again, it was Harvard coming away with the victory — 14-13 on double game point.
Dartmouth battled with UMass in the game-to-go to reach the 2/3 game, and fended off a late push by Massachusetts to win 14-12. That dropped UMass down into the game-to-go against Brown, a team they had beaten earlier in the weekend. Again they came out on top, winning 15-10 and ending Brown’s season at Regionals.
Women’s
1. Tufts
2. Northeastern
It ended up not really being close in the Women’s Division, as Tufts ran away with the finals over Northeastern, 15-7, as the Valkyries began to conserve energy after falling behind. Northeastern dropped down to face Dartmouth, who had stunned Harvard in the backdoor semis 9-8. It was an easy victory for the Valks, who won 15-7.
NORTH CENTRAL
Men’s
1. Wisconsin
2. Carleton
Wisconsin rolled through pool play and into the semifinals where they faced off against Luther. It was an absolute battle, as Luther opened up a 4-1 lead to start the game. Wisconsin started chipping away in a slow-paced contest, but Luther took half up 8-7. A resilient Hodag team scored the second half’s only three points to win in the cap, 10-8. They proceeded to finals where they walloped Carleton 15-5 to take the Regional crown.
Carleton, who had beaten Minnesota 14-12 in semis, dropped down into the game-to-go for a rematch with Grey Duck. As you might expect, the game again was a nailbiter, but Carleton came out on top after holding off Minnesota for the entire game to win 15-13.
NORTHWEST
Men’s
1. Oregon
Oregon was simply unchallenged in the Northwest. Washington crashed through the other side of the bracket to reach finals, but they were outmatched and lost 15-6 to the Ducks.
Women’s
1. Oregon
2. Washington
3. Whitman
4. British Columbia
5. Western Washington
6. Victoria
Not much to see here. Every team that was expected to get a bid to Cincinnati did so, with favorites Oregon and Washington coming out on top.
SOUTH CENTRAL
Men’s
1. Colorado
2. Texas
3. Texas A&M
Although the three teams expected to advance to Nationals did so, it was far from a chalk weekend in the South Central. Arkansas and Colorado College made things very interesting. Arkansas made Colorado work very hard in the semifinals, leading for much of the contest and taking half on a Jimmy Mickle-led Mamabird. But Colorado came out swinging in the second half to secure a finals berth.
In the quarters, Colorado College upset Texas A&M 15-14 to reach the semis, where they would fall to Texas 13-7. But the strong play from two bubble contenders suddenly made Sunday very interesting.
Colorado eked out a win over Texas 13-12 to take back the Regional crown; reports from the fields said the Mickle/Driscoll matchup was a sight to see.
Texas A&M slugged it out through the backdoor bracket, barely taking out Abe Coffin and Arkansas 14-13. In that game, they lost Dalton Smith to a hamstring injury and he was sidelined for the rest of Sunday. A&M would beat Colorado College to get into the 2nd place game against Texas. They lost 12-11.
Dropping down to the third place game, A&M again had to face Colorado College to decide the three game series and the bid to Nationals. A&M went wire-to-wire to claim the bid they earned during the regular season.
Women’s
1. Kansas
2. Colorado College
3. Colorado
Big surprise in the SC Women’s Division, where #1 seed Texas did not make it out of the Region. In semis, a quietly building Colorado College team, led by Callahan nominee Lisi Lohre, upset the Texas squad 13-11 as Kansas stunned Colorado 12-8. Both finalists were already assured a bid to Nationals, but still fought it out, as Kansas took a one point victory to win the South Central.
In the third place game, Colorado took on Texas in a rematch of last year’s Regional final (Texas won 15-9). Colorado got the ultimate revenge with an 11-10 victory on double game point.
SOUTHEAST
Men’s
2. Florida State
3. Central Florida
The suspended Southeast Regionals finished up this weekend in dramatic fashion, as both favorites ultimately moved on to Nationals, leaving the impressive Georgia outside looking in. FSU and Georgia battled hard in the 2nd place game with FSU leading most of the way until a late Georgia break gave them a 13-12 advantage. FSU responded immediately with an offensive hold and a break to regain the lead and then closed out a 16-14 win to advance to Nationals.
Georgia dropped down to face Central Florida, who had just dominated Georgia Tech in the backdoor semis. UCF struck first with an early break to make it 4-3 and extended their lead after halftime to 10-7. Georgia got back a break minutes later to get back within one at 11-10. After an offensive hold, back to back huge plays from Central Florida — first a big sky by Matt Helms, then a giant layout score by Kyle Reedy — put UCF up 14-10 and into total control. They went on to win 15-11.
SOUTHWEST
Men’s
1. UC San Diego
Ultiworld was in southern California for the tournament. Read the finals game story.
Women’s
1. UC Santa Barbara
2. Stanford
3. UCLA
How fitting that UCSB Callahan nominee Lisa Pitcaithley caught the winning score in the finals in front of an elated crowd. The Burning Skirts battled it out with Stanford after both teams had easily reached the finals, ensuring each a spot at Nationals. The lead changed multiple times throughout the game, with UCSB jumping out to an early lead, Stanford taking control in the later part of the first half, and then UCSB stealing a win with a break on double game point. Both teams are quite good, and should be very tough matchups in Cincinnati.
In the third place game, UCLA dominated a surprising USC team that came in seeded 10th but finished 4th. Michelle ‘Chip’ Chang led the team to a great weekend and a spot in Cincinnati.
THE FIELD
Here is the Nationals field in each Division, with teams listed by their final USA Ultimate ranking (note: this is definitively NOT a seeding prediction).
Men’s
Colorado
North Carolina
Texas
Pittsburgh
Oregon
Texas A&M
Florida State
Harvard
UNC Wilmington
Florida
Central Florida
UC San Diego
Wisconsin
Michigan
Tufts
Massachusetts
Eastern Michigan
Carleton
Dartmouth
Rutgers
Women’s
Oregon
Ohio State
Central Florida
British Columbia
Washington
UC Santa Barbara
Northeastern
Stanford
Western Washington
Victoria
Carleton
Michigan
Virginia
Colorado
Whitman
UCLA
Tufts
Kansas
Colorado College
Cornell
