Pres Day Recap

UCSD:
UCSD was a fun team to play against. They had some good players and some newer players, but they were very spirited throughout the game. THey mostly played a vert stack with looks to their two best cutters, #4 and #17. We played a poachy defense on their vert stack but they learned how to throw over and around our poaches. Their two handlers were also very good and relentless, always looking to get the disc back after a cutter got it. We didn't look too strong in this game, so I'm glad it was our first. We were able ot get our drops and bad throws/decisions out of the way so we could focus on our next games. We had a three hour bye at the end of the game due to being at the backup fields. So we went to Panera, had a study part/nap sesh, and headed back to the fields a few hours later

WESTERN WASHINGTON:
We Were able to see a little of the UCLA?Western Washington game and noticed that #12 on Chaos was involved in many of the plays. We looked to do a special zone focused on her but she was only played D points and then stopped playing for the rest of the game. We traded a few in the beginning but then were able to pull it out. Tee wind got quite strong during this game but we were able to work it upwind a few times for the breaks. Again, it was a pleasant game to play except for the cold rain that was beginning to form.

UCLA:
Two years ago, UCLA broke our hearts at Nationals. The few of us still on the team from that year remember that loss adn have always wanted to beat them since then. Additionally, one of our handlers, Finn, played there while doing undergrad so she especially wanted ot beat them. Flywheel came out strong and showed them that we were not going to be easily beaten. #23 is a great player. Not only does she have great throws and catching abilities, but she never let emotion get in the way. She was modest and friedly yet fierce and intense when she played. IT was a lot of fun to mark up against her. Additionally, #7 is a strong cutter and will draw the foul when looking to break the mark. Off a stopped disc they liked to get it to the breakside and off to a huck. They knew how to break a poachy zone against their vert stack so we stuck to man and threw a few various zones to mix things up. At the end of the game is whe the rain and hail started hardcore, making us very cold and uncomfortable.

WISCONSIN:
THe whole day we were really looking forward to play Wisconsin. We didn't play them at all last year and wanted a chance to play against a fellow Midwest team. Wisconsin had a bye before our game so while they had to warm up in the rain, they had not played for a while in the rain - which proved to be an advantage because they scored the first three. Flywheel was cold and wet and Wisconsin took advantage but Flywheel was not going to allow that to continue throughout the rest of the game. We fought back and traded points for a while. Towards the end of the game, the rain and wind had stopped but everyone was still really cold. The score was 5-7 when the soft camp went on making it a game to 9. We knew we had to fight and dig deep to win the game. After an extremely long point with great D's and fortunate drops by Wisco, we were able to pull out a point. Then hard cap went on making it a 6-7 game. Flywheel had to score the next point in order to force a universe point. However, Wisconsin was able to put it away. For the most part Wisco was looking to get it on the open side. A few times they went for the I/O or the around break, but really they were looking to the open side. Of course they hucked it deep a few times but did not always connect on them. They tried to poach off our handlers when we were on offense, but we were able to use that to our advantage. It was a sad loss but we were happy to get in the warm car and drive all the way back to San Diego - 2 hours away.

UNC:
After the pool play games on Saturday, we were seeded into a power pool with UNC, Wisco, adn UCSB. Our first game was against UNC who we had beaten at CCC in the fall by 3 points. We were excited to play them again because we knew what they liked to do on offense and defense and knew the matchups to take. However, UNC came out rolling and scored three quick points off of hucks, mostly from Leila. Then they came down in a zone that Flywheel had never really seen before. Mentally, we had dug ourselves into too big of a hole and played like we gave up. We started to get some offensive flow when we started opening the lines up more (definitely a learning point from this weekend). UNC's handlers loved to fake the forehand and then whip out a nice backhand huck. For the most part they played ho-stack looking to get it deep off of the hucks. Additionally they knew how to use the rules which definitely affected our team. We were bullied into a few calls and it got into our heads. Final score was 3-13. Handler Leila and cutter Britt were the two that played the best in that game against us. My freshman year we lost to them in Feb and beat them at Nationals. My sophomore year we lost to them in March and beat them at Nationals. I'm seeing a trend?

UCSB:
We were definitely excited to play Santa Barbara but our energy was a little low from the previous loss. Personally I've always enjoyed playing this team - they are spriited, run hard, fight hard, and work hard. We traded points in the beginning (5-7 at half) but the Skirts ran away with it 8-13. I sat out for that half due to my foot and quad hurting and tired to take note of that game. We played pretty good defense but could not capitalize on our chances. Our offense had hit a stall and plays weren't being run effectively, throws weren't being executed, and everyone looked a little sloppy. I was surprised to see Madaras (#14) handling for most of the game. I remember her being a dominant cutting force last year at Naitonals so we were prepared for that. She is s till a good player, but definitely more effective downfield. The game finally ended - blah.

SONOMA STATE:
The team had a motto going into this game: "Game time. Fun time. Win time" and I would like to say that it worked - but then I would be lying. We came out strong against Sonoma scoring the first few but their team kept fighting back. Brinn (#13) and Maggie (#4) definitely ran the show. Sometimes Brinn would handle and other times she would cut. They got it deep on us a few (too many) times to keep the score close. Additionally our defense was almost non-existent at times. There were many mis-ommunications that lead to easy scores for them, which is definitely not acceptable. We were ahead adn couldn't pull out the W. We lost on universe and boy did that hurt. We didn't allow for ourselves to be sorry for too long so we quickly decided on a taco place to eat, cheered for RIGOBERTO (the name of the taco shop), and drove off. The night ended in Flywheel bonding over M&Ms and lots of Flylove being shared.

ARIZONA:
Turning to the next day, we wanted our team to be happy about spending the money on plane flights. That meant we had to play well and (hopefully) win. I sat out all of Monday due to pain in my foot so I got to witness Flywheel's transformation. We played Arizona and won 14-12. Prelsnik (#%) is their main handler. She has great throws and pretty hucks. Their handlers looked to get it on the give-go and then to the huck. We opened up our lines completely because our starting seven just weren't getting it done the previous days. Our rookies played amazing and it was great to see that! Even though the score was close, Flywheel always felt in control and there was no "bad nervous" energy out there.

CARLETON:
This was, by far, Michigan's best game of the weekend. Flywheel came out strong and never looked back. We stifled them on offense with great handler D. This caused them to put up throws high in the stall count, but our positioning was just right in order to D them. They tried to throw a zone on us (something that destroyed us last year at Centex) but our handlers broke through it with ease. The team really came together during this game - the sidelines, the coaches/captains, the offense, and the defense. Final score was 13-5. It was a great end to the weekend - something that is going to propel us into Spring Break and then Easterns.

CONCLUSIONS AT THE END OF THE WEEKEND:
1. Our rookies are awesome. We didn't open up lines as much as we wanted to the first two days and that was our mistake. They proved themselves and I can't wait to see what happens at our next few tournaments.
2. For the most part, our zone offense was great. The past few years, Flywheel has not been able to break though zones. But this year - that is definitely different. The only team that caused us trouble was UNC. We figured out how to break their zone towards the end but it was too little, too late.
3. All of the teams we lost to were/are beatable. We weren't blown away by one team in particular. I can't wait to face them again after Flywheel has had some time to practice outdoors.
4. Our team is basically awesome. I was disappointed and upset after our loss on universe in pre-quarters but my team did not allow anyone to be sad or upset. We turned it around and had a great night. Additionally we had to play in the rain and hail and wind but no one really complained. FlyLove was all around.

Watch out Women's Ultimate - Flywheel is getting strong and ready for our tournaments and new opponents.