May 23, 2014 by Preston Thompson in Recap with 0 comments
At the end of day 1, only one team in Pool C is 2-0: UNC Darkside. The number six overall seed may have come into the weekend as the favorite in their pool despite being seeded behind Texas.
Though the team came away with two wins, it wasn’t smooth sailing. They are playing without Ben Snell, who, throughout the year, has been one of their most consistent contributors on both sides of the disc. The loss showed, as they won both their games by a combination of only three points (Tufts by one and Texas by two).
Offensive handler Jon Nethercutt ran the show, and used Christian Johnson as a tool to score the disc. When considering a Most Valuable Player at the tournament, Nethercutt should be on everyone’s list.
Darkside’s downfield defense was superb against Texas, forcing them into multiple stall nine situations. Drew Chandler was a shut down defender, landing two layout D’s on Mitchell Bennet and containing him for most of the game.
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FSU was without star player Chris LaRocque today (he is attending a wedding) and it affected the way they ran their offense. With LaRocque out, responsibilities fell to Connor Holcombe and Andrew Roney. The two of them made plays when they needed to, but couldn’t avoid being upset by a hot Tufts team, an upset that likely eliminates DUF from championship bracket contention.
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The pools five seed, UMass, put scares into both FSU and Texas. A 5-1 start on TUFF showed UMass’s true potential. UMass flashed a bit of their future, getting big contributions from sophomore Jeff Babbitt and freshman Ben Sadok. Although they showed real toughness, UMass still finished the day at 0-2.
TOMORROW
Tomorrow, UNC will look to efficiently close out the pool with wins over UMass and FSU. UNC’s defensive depth will make covering the stars of UMass much easier, and FSU might not have anyone — especially with the LaRocque brothers away — to cover the likes of Nethercutt and Johnson. Its likely that UMass will have an upset chance on Saturday against Tufts; they’re eager for the chance.
