This weekend, the Saint Louis University Ultimate teams participated in the Huck Finn Ultimate Classic hosted by Washington University.
The men’s team played four games on Saturday against teams in their pool: Carleton College, University of Indiana-Evansville, Western Illinois and Wash U. The team picked up wins over Carleton, Evansville and WIU, but lost to the host Wash U. By winning three of the four games, SLU won their pool and earned a bye in Sunday’s quarterfinal round.
Saturday, Carleton and SLU traded points early in the game and were at a 3-3 stalemate until Carleton pushed ahead to a 7-5 lead at halftime. It was decided that the game would end when one team reached 11 points, and at one point, Carleton seemed to have clinched the game at 10-7, but SLU rallied and scored four straight points to pick up the win.
SLU was led offensively by Travis Schrage and Kevin Cunningham, while Kent Karuth and Paul Grant picked up several assists. In the backfield, Phil Thornberry anchored the defense.
On Sunday, SLU had a rematch with Carleton in the semifinal round, but Carleton was feisty throughout the entire game and would not go away quietly.
“We didn’t look too hot,” Grant said. “We switched to more of a zone style of defense and stopped [Carleton] from scoring, but we just got tired.”
SLU seemed to hold an advantage early in the game as Cunningham and Schrage tag-teamed Carleton’s defense to put SLU ahead, but as fatigue set in, SLU began to lose control of the game.
“We tried to move the game along so fast that we couldn’t keep up,” Grant said. “We needed to slow down and play our style of game.”
Carleton finished off the match after a late-game surge 13-7.
The tournament marked the last before the sectional competition. After sectionals, the top four finishers earn a spot in the regional tournament. Regionals will be held the weekend of April 12 in Columbia, Mo.
“[This tournament] was a great way for us to see what we need to work on,” Grant said. “We need to work on getting back into shape, making harder cuts and playing better defense. Now we pass a lot, we’re not patient when we get the frisbee.”
The women’s ultimate team had a difficult weekend in the tournament, picking up a lone win over the Bad-Monev team, which was comprised of members from several different teams.
Shannon Nealon and Kasey Sudkamp steadied SLU’s offense by picking up several assists and leading the team in scoring, while Kristen Schaefer steadied the team defensively.
Later, against Iowa State, SLU did not fare as well and lost, but managed to play competitively with the highly-respected team.
“We were down by only two, which was a huge deal for us, since they just took first place (in a tournament) in Savannah, Georgia,” said team captain Kate Oland.
The team was helped by the presence of six new players who gained quality minutes over the weekend and are expected to be solid contributors in future tournaments, particularly on defense.
“All of the new girls did very well,” Oland said. “At one point, we had all new girls on the field, and they made some good defensive plays.”
The team will play again next weekend in a tournament hosted by Kansas University, where they will likely face strong competition, including their local rival Wash. U.
“We need to improve on the basics. If we can work on key concepts and fine-tune them, we will play much better,” Oland said.
