Ahead of HSNI, get caught up on the statement results from one of California's largest and most competitive youth ultimate tournaments
June 3, 2025 by Guest Author in Recap
This post was written by guest author Anush Patel.
This year’s Spaghetti Western boasted an ambitious field with the likes of #7 Green Canyon, #25 Berkeley High, and #19 South Eugene looking to fight it out for the coveted auto bid to HSNI awarded to the tournament’s winner. But it was #15 Albany Cougars who walked away with the trophy, cementing them as true contenders for HSNI. The 2024 state champions’ undefeated weekend, winning their closest battle in the final against South Eugene by three, is a true representation of the raw talent and skill the team possesses.
Flurry of Breaks to Seal It
In the tough afternoon heat and high wind, the two remaining undefeated teams Albany and South Eugene clashed in a high-stakes battle for a bid to HSNI. Both teams had no issue breezing past the field with some impressive ultimate to reach the finals. With Albany absolutely tearing through Berkeley 11-6 in the semis, as they had previously in the season, Albany asserted themselves as kings of California and strong contenders for the bid from this region. On similar lines, South Eugene paired early breaks with clean holds in the semis to earn a redemption chance at winning Spaghetti Western.
The final started off well for Albany, who went up multiple breaks as quality downfield defense forced tough shots and hucks from South Eugene. Albany mostly elected to send out their universe line consisting of top-class handlers such as Muhammed Awais, Matthew Wong, and Alex Poy. With South Eugene missing top-class seniors such as CJ Kaperick, their inexperience started to show with sloppy decision-making and throws. Albany was quick to capitalize, being dominant in the sky and near-impossible to stop in the reset space.
South Eugene eventually started to display their class by completing silky smooth hucks to a bidding cutter in the deep and grinding unders to start to crawl back on Albany. Through half-time the game seemed up for grabs, even with Albany up 5-3, as the chemistry and athleticism of South Eugene was unmatched.
Interestingly, both teams elected not to put up a zone despite close to 20 mph winds. Were they not confident in the zone? Were they afraid it would get broken easily? As most teams employing zone on Sunday, match defense seemed an intriguing choice when both teams struggled to punch in clean holds throughout the game. Though person defense was generating a solid number of turns, mixing in a zone could have dissuaded the other team from forcing riskier throws, especially as both teams moved to relying on their hucking capabilities in the second half, launching half-field hucks as soon as they see any opportunity.
After half, South Eugene seemed to be crawling back a break at a time into Albany’s lead. Charlie Nicekarz led the South Eugene offense and scored some crazy layout goals, while high-flying defense from Oliver Hughes generated skies and layout blocks. But Albany’s Muhammad Awais and Jasper Graf responded with connections on some beautiful cuts, ensuring the Cougars stayed strong and ended the game with breaks of their own. Albany sealed the game with a spectacular skying grab, going over the defender to grab the goal, leaving the sideline in awe.
Of note is the number of younger players performing well on both teams. Many of Albany and South Eugene’s star players are juniors or underclassmen like Awais, Graf, and Hughes, who have the potential to mature and become serious contenders at the upcoming HSNI.
What It Means for HSNI
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The Spaghetti Western win assured Albany’s trip to HSNI, with South Eugene yet to earn an automatic bid and falling short in the final again. The Albany team still needs to mature and develop chemistry to become legitimate contenders to winning HSNI, as a stronger match-defense team like Jackson-Reed would breeze past them by easily winning 1 vs. 1 matchups. However, with a younger team and strong base to reach this milestone again, the HSNI field should be worried about this underdog.
For South Eugene, on the other hand, things are looking bleak. After losing multiple seniors last year who were dominant on the field, their offensive sets seem to have come to a standstill. Playing without reliable and consistent handlers put tons of pressure on the cutters, who sometimes struggled to get open. This offense won’t work against even better competition, and they will have to significantly step up for any chance at being competitive against a stacked field.
Unfortunately, with #10 Green Canyon unable to play on Day 2, fans did not get to see Albany play the other highest ranked team in attendance. Green Canyon is a dominant force in the high school scene, having won Spaghetti Western last year and a common face at HSNI, and they flashed their bonafides Saturday, going 3-0 with a +25 point difference and taking down Berkeley High 10-7 on the way.
Best of the Bracket
Bay Area teams were the next in line as tournament finishers, with Berkeley High facing Oakland DiscoTech. The game was fairly uncompetitive, with injuries plaguing Berkeley and DiscoTech securing 3rd place with an 11-6 win. Uncommon in the division currently, both teams rostered a high number of seniors over younger talent.
Grant High from Portland beat El Cerrito 10-8 to take 5th place in a tactical game where both teams employed zones in windy conditions. Grant’s handlers were unmatched in their swings and over-the-top throws, slicing through the zone, while El Cerrito had a few inexperienced handlers making unforced errors and unable to capitalize on break chances.
A wild card coming into the tournament was Santa Cruz Ultimate, seeded 7th and having beat Albany in the Bay Area Spring League final. Led by Son-Mai Clark and Ronan Mai, a dominant duo in the tournament, they sadly couldn’t hold seed, losing to DiscoTech, Albany, and Summit Storm for the 7th place game.
All Tournament Team
Matthew Wong (Albany)
Thomas Riedl (Summit Storm)
Oscar Pearce (Grant HS)
Charles Nieckarz (South Eugene)
Reggie Masket (DiscoTech)
Blake Holt (Green Canyon)
Muhammad Awais (Albany)
