SLU men’s ultimate team goes
2-2 in Wash U. tourney
“There’s no place like home” rang true two weekends ago when Saint Louis University’s men’s and women’s ultimate Frisbee teams competed in the fourth annual Huck Finn classic hosted by neighboring Washington University. Finally, both teams could showcase their talents without having to drive five plus hours to a tournament.
The men’s team got off to a sluggish start Saturday morning when they took on Albatross, a team consisting of Wash U. alumni. Albatross took advantage of numerous mistakes caused by dropped passes and countless throwing errors. SLU battled back with a 4-1 scoring run to put the game within two at halftime.
That fire did not carry over to the second half, as SLU was only able to muster up three more points and lose by a final of 13-8.
Josh Cisler said, “We showed flashes of brilliance, but just couldn’t find our rhythm on the field.”
Games two and three were different stories. SLU came out with vengeance and determination, killing Rose-Hulman and Arkansas State easily to end the day with a 2-1 record. This put them right in the middle of the pack for Sunday’s single elimination tournament.
SLU was given a No. 7 seed going into Sunday’s tournament and their first opponent was Vanderbilt. With both teams evenly matched and playing a similar type of strategy, the game would come down to defense and capitalizing on turnovers, something SLU has excelled at in recent months.
With Vanderbilt jumping out to an early 3-0 lead, SLU captain Paul Grant connected with a fully extended Travis Schrage in the end zone to give SLU its first point of the day. SLU and Vanderbilt continued to trade points, with Vanderbilt taking the lead at half 7-6.
The second half was non-stop action, as both teams stepped up their defenses. Vanderbilt slowly broke away with two quick bombs to take a 10-7 lead. The Bills would not back down, as they stormed back with two unanswered points to put the game at 10-9. Vanderbilt would not be outdone. They scored a quick 11th point, and SLU had their backs against the wall. Both teams scored quick points to put the game at 12-10.
Vanderbilt had an opportunity for the win, but Schrage saved the day with the play of the game. SLU marched down the field for the score, 12-11.
With Vanderbilt receiving the pull, SLU needed a stop and a score to take the game to extra points. But on this day it wasn’t to be. Vanderbilt marched down the field and put in the game-winning goal on a floater in the corner. SLU played what some may consider their best game of the year. “We played our tails off out there,” said junior Todd Kuethe. “It was just a bear of a game.”
SLU ladies ultimate team lacks numbers, plays hard
You’ve heard the clich?, “Winning isn’t everything.” The ladies ultimate team proved it to be absolutely true this weekend. The women would have liked a tally in the “W” column, but despite a 0-5 record, they were happy with their performances against Wash U., Iowa, Truman State, Chicago and MU.
“I am so proud of our team. I see us improve every game. It is not every day that you can find a group of girls to form a team that may not win a lot but are still able to have an amazing time together,” Meg Hall said.
Things got off to a rough start Saturday when there were barely enough members available to field a team because of poor field conditions. But Shannon Nealon, Bethany Paul, Meg Hall, Laura Uthe, Kate Oland, Emily Weiss and Rebecca Dohrman sucked it up for the first half of the first game. Team members Kristen Schaefer, Theresa Kissane and Jo Charron were able to show up later that morning.
