USA Teams remain undefeated after two days of play at Worlds.
June 20, 2016 by Charlie Eisenhood in News, Recap with 9 comments
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ST. ALBANS — The United States’ National Teams continued their romp through pool play on Monday and remain undefeated after two days of play. The US teams from top three divisions — Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed — overwhelmed opponents again today, with a 15-5 USA Mixed win over the United Arab Emirates proving to be the day’s closest contest.
The Men’s team again had just a single game, in which they defeated Singapore 15-4. Joel Schlachet and Jimmy Mickle led the way for the Americans; each finished with a pair of goals and assists. The big story for the Men’s team so far is the injury bug. While no player has been ruled completely out of the competition, many are limited by nagging injuries. Beau Kittredge, Cassidy Rasmussen, Tyler Degirolamo, and Henry Konker did not play today. Men’s assistant coach Ben van Heuvelen said that the team is just being cautious and taking opportunities to give players rest with many more days of ultimate ahead.
The Women’s team continues to look effortlessly dominant after a day in which they played a turnover-free game. They defeated the Netherlands 15-2 and France 15-4 today. The team has had contributions from players up and down the roster; every player on the team has recorded at least two points (goals + assists). Anna Nazarov leads the team with eight assists; Georgia Bosscher is atop the goals category, with 7.
The Mixed team also won handily, 15-5 over the United Arab Emirates. But it was a bit of a slog for the US, especially in the first half. They were down early, 3-2, and looked out of rhythm for most of the game.
“[The UAE] made us work,” said USA Mixed head coach Jake Henderson. “The second half, I think, we checked it and worked hard to get those points. I think they brought it. I don’t know if it was super sloppy but the intensity they brought we had to match.”
Players were dropping in-cuts and hucks seemed to miss the mark in the first half. While the sheer level of individual talent easily carried them past the UAE (and that level of talent could well be enough to carry them past the entire division), they did not look quite as cohesive as the other US delegations.
It does make you wonder if the Mixed team’s lack of pre-Worlds travel has left them needing to fill some chemistry holes. The Men’s and Women’s teams traveled to the TEP tournament in Colombia in May, in what was as much a team bonding experience as it was a chance to practice on the field.
The Men’s Masters team cruised to a 15-7 win over Finland as the Women’s Masters team had to grind out a 15-11 win over a scrappy New Zealand team.
Tomorrow
- The Men’s team begins power pools, and will face the Czech Republic (11:30 AM) and South Africa (3:30 PM).
- The Women’s team wraps up pool play with games against Finland (9:30 AM) and Singapore (5:30 PM).
- The Mixed team enters power pools and will face Hong Kong (9:30 AM) and Germany (1:30 PM).
- The Men’s Masters team finishes pool play against Denmark (11:30 AM) and will play their first power pool matchup (5:30 PM).
- The Women’s Masters team finishes pool play with games against Germany (1:30 PM) and Japan (5:30 PM).
