Ultimate "A" Team Amazes at Andover Invitational

Several members of the CSW Ultimate Frisbee A-team met at the lower CSW fields at 7:45 am on Saturday, April 26, ready and eager to participate in the 2014 Andover Invitational Tournament, in Andover MA. The team arrived at Andover around 8:30, with 30 minutes to warm up before their first game of the day. The rain started at around 8:45 am and did not let up for the entire day. Mixed the rain in with the 42 degree temperature, and you've got a tough day for Ultimate. However, the member of Uruk-Hai never dropped their head and remained positive throughout the day. 

CSW came out firing in their first game of the day, facing off against Somerville's B-team. With sound handling from CSW's Jacob Arons '15, Jason Bair '14 and Micah Rickles-Young '14, CSW ran away with a 11-3 victory. The next game pitted CSW against a very large Lexington High School B-team. With more than 30 players on the sideline, Lexington had loud cheers and fresh legs for the game. However, CSW remained patient in their offense and extremely hungry on the defensive front. Highlights came from cutters Emily McCarter '14 and Owen McCarter '17, as well as Will Blumenthal '16 and Aly Lapides '14. CSW cruised to an 11-1 win in the game.

The next three games saw CSW face off against East Greenwich, RI, Newton North, and Amherst's Varsity Girls' Team. The toughest game for CSW out of those three was the game against Amherst. Amherst is a very well-coached and well-disciplined team. They run a four-person zone defense and never make poor decisions with the disc on offense. CSW rose to the occasion in the game, using great dump and swing throws from their handlers to beat the cup and then occasionally taking advantage of deep cuts by cutters such as Max Miller '16.

After going 5-0 in pool play, CSW advanced to the Championship game against a very tough Lincoln-Sudbury team. CSW quickly fell behind in the game, going down 8-4 at half. Lincoln-Sudbury did a great job with their under cuts and the CSW defenders could not keep up with the first half speed displayed by LS. After a productive halftime chat, CSW came out firing in the second half and went on a unbelievable run to make the game 10-9 with only 5 minutes left to play. CSW used strong man to man defense from players such as Owen McCarter and Aidan Fitzgerald '17. However, there was just too little left in the tank after LS scored two more points to finish the game 12-9. 

Overall, Uruk-Hai had plenty to be proud of during their second tournament of the season. They went 5-1 on the day, losing in the Championship game by 3 points to a very strong and experienced team. CSW finished in second place out of the twelve attending teams. That is a great accomplishment!