May 22, 2015 by Katie Raynolds and Liz Gates in News with 0 comments
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Pool B
(2) Stanford 15 – 6 (7) Dartmouth
Stanford came into to the game the favorite to win it and left as a tournament favorite, controlling the game in every facet from first pull to final score, which concluded in a 15-6 thorough drubbing of Dartmouth.
Superfly was aggressive early, marching down the field to open the game three times for three straight breaks. Their swarming defense rarely gave Dartmouth’s cutters or resets much breathing room, forcing Princess Layout into tight window throws and resets without space to continue. Behind their defensive prowess – anchored by a sterling first half by Monisha White – the Southwest champion took an 8-3 first half lead.
Dartmouth found a little more success to start the second half, capitalizing on a Stanford turn to hit Eva Petzinger to bring the gap to 9-5, but that was nearly it for their trips to the end zone in the second half. Stanford switched to a frustrating zone that slowed Dartmouth’s offense to a dish-filled crawl. Meanwhile, Superfly’s decisive continue throwing looks kept the disc moving quickly and Dartmouth’s D on their heels. They went on a 6-1 run to close out the game.
Monisha White and Michela Meister each dished out five assists on the way to an impressive showing by Stanford. With their Friday schedule completed, Stanford has a 30-7 aggregate score, unmatched in Milwaukee. Dartmouth falls to 1-1 with Washington and Middlebury remaining on their schedule.
Washington (11) 15 – 12 Ohio State (14)
Washington took down Ohio State 15-12 in a very fast paced game on a slightly windy field. Ohio State broke to start and was pumped up — then Element decided to play and brought it to 4-1 before Fever could score again. OSU slowly crawled back and tied it at 11 before a series of hard fought points resulted in a Washington win.
Not much man defense was played, which forced the handlers from both teams to work around the zones. Ohio State threw a 4 man cup that was sometimes extremely effective in causing a turn, giving Jenna Galleta 4 D’s for Fever without counting the throwaways that were forced. Washington’s zone didn’t seem to slow down Ohio State, who more often beat themselves with inaccurate throws and drops. Stevie Miller was a bit trigger happy, with some beautiful hucks that resulted in scores — but also a few that drifted out of bounds.
Grace Noah was everywhere for Washington, with 5 assists and a goal. The rest of Element’s goals and assists were pretty evenly distributed, which speaks to the depth of their team. Towards the end of the game, Ohio State made some costly mistakes on throws, but maintained a very aggressive defense. Nearly every deep look for either team was contested, but Washington’s ability to transition to offense quickly and smoothly caught OSU reeling.
Pool D
Whitman (9) 12 – 14 Kansas (16)
Kansas notched their first upset of the day, beating three seed Whitman 14-12 in the blustery wind. This upset brings them – for now – into bracket consideration.
Whitman pulled ahead to start, taking a 3-1 lead in the wind. Both teams threw zones early, poking at handlers’ range and testing downfield patience. Kansas broke to close the margin, transitioning into tight downfield defense on Whitman’s strongest options like Alissa Soo and Marlena Sloss. Whitman in turn locked down on Jenni Corcoran and Caitlin Fitzgerald, making them work for their resets.
At 7-7 Kansas returned to their zone, giving their stars the opportunity to rest in the backfield while the cup worked. The zone also isolated Whitman’s throws outside of their handler core, and a turfed disc gave Kansas half, 8-7.
As predicted, Whitman and Kansas were well-matched mentally and physically. Neither team gave an inch, even when they were down several breaks. Excellent offense downfield from Soo, Nina Finley, and Ari Lozano tied the game at 9s.
Kansas was relentless in their deep game, finding Kelsey Akin, Kailee Karr, and Katrina Klaus deep off every turn. Some of their throws rattled going upwind, but throwing for position and setting their zone earned them back the disc throughout the second half. They would have run out the rest of the game if it weren’t for a huge dropped pull from Fitzgerald at 12-10, giving Ari Lozano an easy sky to keep Whitman in the game.
In the end, both teams had workhorses who weren’t going to relent even when faced with tough matchups: Julia Bladin versus Caitlin Fitzgerald, Claire Revere versus Jenni Corcoran, and Kailee Karr versus Nina Finley. Whitman never gave up, playing the cleanest and most dangerous offense I’ve seen from them this season. But Kansas’s fast breaks and deep looks perpetually gave them the field position to score. Kansas won fittingly on a pass from Corcoran to Fitzgerald, 14-12, earning them an upset.
(4) Colorado 15 – 2 (20) Princeton
Final seeded Princeton struggled mightily to get anything going against a confident Colorado team and fell by a massive deficit, 15-2, in round three. Zone or person, the Metro East champions had no answer for the speed and aggressiveness of Colorado’s offense. An 8-1 halftime lead was nearly duplicated in Colorado’s second half. Kali moves to 1-0 in Pool D and faces Virginia at 4:30 while Princeton falls to 0-2.
