Monday, August 10, 2009

QAR Finals Write Up by UPA

Final

The game consisted of four-time winners Disc Northwest and first-time YCC team Triangle Youth League’s Queen Anne’s Revenge. Queen Anne’s Revenge busted out their zone defense right away and took the first point of the game. Disc Northwest was confident and determined however and they took the lead away from Queen Anne’s Revenge. From the Northwest turnovers, long throws from Queen Anne’s Revenge were released to Hanna Gardner, giving them several points. They never gave up, but Northwest’s tough defense and persistent demeanor flooded the field and they took the championship with a final score of 15-6.

QAR Semis Write-Up by UPA

Semis

Atlanta’s Hotlanta vs Triangle Youth League’s Queen Anne’s Revenge
Hotlanta threw their zone defense on right away and it proved effective, leading to a turn and the first point of the game. Queen Anne’s Revenge answered, and the well-matched teams traded points back and forth. Hotlanta took half 8-6 and seemed focused, taking advantage of Queen Anne’s Revenge’s turnovers. The game was far from over though. Queen Anne’s Revenge’s Hope Thomson tipped the disc in a bobble and then caught it for a score. The hard cap was put into place and Queen Anne’s Revenge tied the game 11-11. It was universe point and both teams were pushing hard. Queen Anne’s Revenge’s Lindsay Lang threw it long and Meg Duffy caught it in the end zone for upset win 12-11.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

NCAS write up by UPA

Disc Northwest L-Pod vs. North Carolina All-Stars
Disc Northwest proved early on in this game why they are the number one seed and defending champions, as they cruised out to an early 6-0 lead and took half 8-2. The pressure was getting to North Carolina , who looked dejected and were generally lacking energy. During the halftime break the coaches tried to turn things around. “Our players looked tight early on. They had never played on the stage of YCC. We told them just to have fun,” said North Carolina coach Raju Prasad. The team made other adjustments including switching from zone defense to man and started to sub players in groups to utilize their specific talents. Halftime proved beneficial for North Carolina, and they played a stronger second half before succumbing to Disc Northwest 15-7.

Re-post of a write-up done by UPA found here: http://youth2009.upa.org/results/open

UPA Write-Up of QAR game against Minnesota

Triangle took on Minnesota, with a very effective offense taking them to a 7-2 lead. For the next point, Triangle’s #22 Shellie Cohen dominated on deep defense, attempting to finish the point with a long huck, just overthrowing Lindsay Lang. Minnesota worked back up the field for a score and took the next to cut the lead to 3, 7-4. Triangle took the last point of the first half and the first point of the second for 9-4, before Minnesota woke up with a stifling defense and two quick scoring throws to Erynn Schroeder, 9-6. Minnesota gave up an easy point for 10-6 before going on one more run, starting with a huck from Jenna Dailey to Mara Saltzman in the back of the endzone, and ending with Jenna driving the team into the endzone for 10-10. Minnesota ran out of steam to give the last two points to Triangle in the cap for a 12-10 Triangle win.

This is a re-post from the UPA Write-Ups.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Baker's Weekend Write-Up

Here's a note Baker sent out to the Listserv about TYUL events this weekend.

Hey all -


Part 1 - U-14

Just wanted to write and acknowledge the wrapping of TYUL's 2nd U-14 season. I heard great things from players, parents, and coaches - thanks so much for making this year a huge success.

We had our end-of-season tournament today, with Green capturing the crown over the Lt. Blue team 11-8. Navy Blue took third place over a short-staffed (but very game) Red team.

I arrived a bit late in the day, and when I arrived Green was up 6-3 at half. There was some wind and both teams were playing the deep game - throwing the disc deep to streaking receivers. This worked particularly well for Green and their tall line-up. In fact, they opened it up a bit in the second half, going up 8-4 I believe (possibly 9-4). However, Lt. Blue did not go away. They began to utilize some very nice in-cuts and swing passes to set up their hucks, and got some good looks. This sparked a bit of a run, down now only 8-10. There was tension on the Green sideline, but Zuercher and company rallied the troops and Green marched it down for the wind (sans turn-over), Evan (I believe) came down with the game winning catch over a jumping Blue defender (both sides played excellent defense throughout the match).

It was an exciting game, and it's great to see the ability and enthuisiasm present in all four teams (and their coaches!). 2010 should be exciting. Thanks again for support and enthusiasm from players, coaches, and parents. If you have any feedback for us we'd love to hear it.

-----

Part 2 - YCC (Youth Club Championships) - http://youth2009.upa.org/

As you probably know we have two teams playing in the U-19 National Tournament in Blaine, MN. We have a boys team (NC All-Stars) and girls team (Queen Anne's Revenge). These are players (and parents!) who have chosen to dedicate extra time and money to practices, traveling, and fund-raising in order to represent North Carolina. We're really proud of them and their coaches (who've also dedicated enormous amounts of time).

The tournament is going on right now. Since both teams are brand new they were seeded last in the tournament - but that's just prime potential for upsets! Queen Anne's Revenge has done just that, beating the Denver team 9-6 and narrowly losing to the number 1 team (Seattle) 6-10. At last update they were beating Minnesota 7-3. http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=33&id=6556

The NC All-Stars have an incredibly tough pool - Seattle, Boston, and Atlanta (all perenially National contenders). They lost their first two games, but as of last update are in a tight match with Atlanta (currently down 5-7) - http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=17&id=6555

Lindsey and Holly are doing a great job of providing some updates at the twitter feed - http://twitter.com/tyul (no need to have a twitter account to read - it's basically a blog with short posts)

Elimination play begins tomorrow morning at 8.30 AM. Join us in rooting on our local teams! (you can check out the rosters here to see if you have any friends or teammates playing: NCAS - http://www.upa.org/scores/scores.cgi?div=17&page=3&team=9781 ; QAR: http://www.upa.org/scores/scores.cgi?div=33&page=3&team=9784 )

And if you missed out in participating with YCC this year, don't worry - we plan on supporting and helping these teams every year.

That's all for now - after this weekend we enter a bit of a quiet time here at TYUL, but we'll be busy planning future leagues soon enough. If you have any thoughts (or want to become more involved!) let us know.

thanks,

Baker Pratt
TYUL Board

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Gearing up for YCC.

This weekend Queen Anne's Revenge and the North Carolina All Stars (TYUL's YCC teams) will be traveling to BLAINE, MN to compete for the national championship. Both teams have worked hard training this season and they have worked hard to raise money to travel half way across the country. We wish both teams luck and hope to receive constant updates from them....

U-19 Summer League Championship (Write-Up)

The U-19 division went great...very smoothly. We started the day on time! Imagine that! We did have a third field so we played all the consolation games (game for 3rd and game for 5th). It went a little like this...
Round 1:
Orange v White
Lt. Blue v Red
Lt Blue grabbed the reins of the game against Red pretty early despite having no coach and only one sub. They were pretty athletic and had a few throwers but it was their D that won the game. Red couldn't seem to get into a rhythm and was having trouble completing passes.
Final Score 13-7?
The game between Orange and White was a thriller and really fun to watch. Both teams had a pretty solid roster of really athletic players which made the game all about defense and big plays. Both teams struggled on the end zone line making judgement errors resulting in turnovers. However, most the time, both teams seemed to get the disc back with a crazy D of some kind. Players like Luke Hancock were laying out all over the place making sick Ds and grabs. The game came down to the wire as white tied it up as the hard cap horn sounded making it universe point. Orange decided to go for glory trying a full field huck play right after the pull. White denied that and then proceeded to work it down the field and marched it right into the endzone with Jillian making the final grab at the cone.
Final Score: 11-10?
Round 2:
Navy Blue v White
Green v Lt. Blue
Navy Blue had a pretty dominant season so I think everyone expected them to walk past White especially after their long universe point win in the first round and the fact that they only had one sub. White came out a little tired and ended up going down early in the game. But Shawn Roberts showed up at about halftime and seemed to give them the boost they needed. Blue was playing their usual steady game but were struggling against some of the firepower from White's multi-talented handlers like Ernest, Ian, and Tate. As these handlers started using the other players on the field, they slowly started to close the gap. Just as White had begun their last minute run, the clock ran out. The cap horn gave Navy Blue a chance to finish the game on the next point. They ran it like clockwork down the field and closed it out with as easy goal.
Final Score: 14-12?
Lt Blue also came into their second game a little tired. With only one sub and not enough handlers, they struggled out of the gate with Green's balanced handler set. Green's seasoned players like Kelly Weeks and Lindsey Lang poached like champs making it difficult for the Lt Blue players to find any space near the disc. However, their solid defense kept them in the game and within striking distance during the first half. The second half was a different story. After a small run to tie the game at 8s, the Lt. Blue team seemed to run out of steam. Green used their fresh legs and solid handlers to their advantage and closed out the game.
Final Score: 15-10
Consolation: 5th place game
Orange v Red
While the semifinals were being played, Orange and Red were battling it out for 5th place. It was a fun and hard fought game. The two teams seemed to be having a good time with it. Orange used their experience and athleticism to their advantage holding the lead for almost the entire game.
Final Score: 14-11?
Finals:
Navy Blue v Green
So, the two top seeds did find their way to the finals. The first 4 points set the tone of the game. Navy Blue showed their dominance from the very beginning making great plays and playing good solid D. Some key catches were made by Cody and Robert. Navy Blue played really well together and it showed. Despite some pretty good offensive moments, Green seemed to struggle with defense trying anything that might work from different forces to zone. But nothing seemed to stop the well oiled machine. Navy Blue finished out the game with a solid 7 point victory.
Final Score: 15-8
Consolation: 3rd Place Game
White v Lt Blue
Both teams wanted to play but decided on a shorter game due to their lack of subs and energy. It was a good game with the two teams pretty evenly matched. They traded points for most of the game and had a good time playing. However, this time White came out on the wrong end of universe point giving Lt Blue the 3rd place finish.
Final Score: 9-8?
Final Standings:
1st Place: Navy Blue
2nd Place: Green
3rd Place: Lt. Blue
4th Place: White
5th Place: Orange
6th Place: Red
Special Mention: A couple of players told me that Orange deserved the Spirit Award so congratulations to them!
A HUGE thank you to all of the coaches that came out and made this season a success. We really appreciate all the time and energy you put into this season.
Another thanks to all of the parents, family and friends that came out throughout the season as well as to the tournament. A special thanks to those of you who helped me set up, etc. this weekend. You all are terrific!
It was a great season and a great tournament. Thanks to the players that made it all fun to watch. I hope to see you on the field in the future!
Jen Waldrup
Vice President, TYUL