Another indoor double header. Won our first game handily, then eked out a last-second win on universe in the finals. Zoya came again. She’s getting a lot of ultimate-watching in. Hope it rubs off on her (just the good stuff though).

Two solid indoor games. The first was against UConn (Liz/Saipher/Mary/others). We didn’t play well (start off down 5-1) and the game was quite chippy overall. We eventually clawed our way into the game, switched to backhand to prevent their easy hammer scores, and went up a few points at the end. As time was running out, we buckled down and closed it out to win by 2.

The second game was the best game of the season. We played Colt/Baywatch. They were the favorite, with lots of solid club guys and a deep roster. They only had two women, and we tried to take advantage of that, but I think it was pretty even. The whole game was very close and very spirited. We forced middle the whole game (props to Bosco for the brilliant idea) and made sure we were subbing super fast. We even created two subbing groups for the second half to make sure our lines were well-balanced.

I think the force middle really got to them, because their offence (normally very fast-paced and trigger-happy) slowed down a lot. We often forced them to throw 20 or even 30 throws before they could score. Big props to the improved defense from everyone. On offense, Shockey dominated. He probably scored half our goals that game. Bosco started throwing him floaty dimeballs, and eventually I found my stride and hit him on a few nice hucks too. I think he only got beat in the air once.

When time ran out in the second half, the score was 20-20. They had just scored, so we decided it would be a universe-point game with us on offense. We subbed in our best line and started working the disc. After 3 throws, Bosco unleashes a floaty hammer to CJ for the win. It floats a bit too long, and gets D-ed toward me. I catch it and throw CJ game-winner. A very exciting end to a very good game.

Team Wins

• Force middle. Damn smart.
• We finally subbed at the right pace. I’m just as guilty of staying on too long as anyone. I’m happy we finally did it right.
• Great execution on the force middle. Sideline presence was strong and got everyone into the game. Several people had never played FM before, but they did a great job figuring it out and implementing it. I’d say this was the biggest factor in our win.
• Strong deep game from Andy/Shockey. Really kept us in the game.
• Excellent spirit from both teams.
• Free beer for us after the game.

Personal Wins

• Reeled in my bad throws from the first game, threw better deep looks in the second game.
• D was on point. Got a nice layout D on Timmer in the endzone, an almost-handblock, and generally played my guy tight (plus ran some nice switches).
• Biggest win was the last point. Not that I saved the hammer or threw the goal, but that I made myself get in position to clean up the trash. When I’m tired, I take mental shortcuts and just hope that things will work out. I clearly remember thinking “oh, I don’t need to back CJ up. either he’ll catch it or its a D”. And my next thought was “well, I can get close enough for a small chance at a second attempt”. And that’s exactly what happened, and it won us the game. This mental weakness has been a point of internal struggle for a while, and I won that struggle today.

Needs Improvement

• Still too risky/inconsistent with my deep throws.
• Need to learn to better recognize when someone is open or not. I’ve been hesitant on some throws to open players, when I should be hitting them.
• Starting giving-and-going towards the end, but still not natural.

We lost 15-13. Just like las year. Just like two years before that. 15-13 is my least-favorite score. The thing is that we actually played pretty well this time too. I don’t remember too many stupid decisions. But we did dig ourselves into a hole early on and could not climb back out of it. Mott and Quinn both played very well, skying pretty much everyone on PTA repeatedly. Isaac and Swilson talked a big game, but I was underwhelmed by their play (though Swilson was solid on D). Having Paul and Tache back was a plus, but Adam and Dustin were out with injuries. Maybe we’ll get our shit together next year.

First game of Mercer finals was a typical Roots finals game. We went up a few, couldn’t close, and lost 19-18. We played well for the most part on both O and D. Our O line was especially strong in the second half, scoring most goals quickly and efficiently. Our D was solid, though we didn’t get many takeaways. We also struggled to convert our Ds, sometimes having multiple-turn points where we had trouble getting downfield cuts. Noah was really big for us, as were Quinn and Mott. I had one turn on an IO break flick that went over my reciever’s head. Otherwise I played decently well, though my D was not the best. I need to focus more on my guy and work on my footwork more.