Atlantis Recap (team listserve version)

ATLANTIS 2006 RECAP
5-2, 3rd place out of 13 teams

Thanks to the captains for remembering a lot of the details. Sorry for any that we missed...

For starters, a little perspective... here's a comparison of how we fared last year vs some of the same teams we played last weekend.

LAST YEAR:

Duke 11, NYU 1
Bucknell 13, NYU 2
GW 12, NYU 1
Cornell 13, NYU 0

LAST WEEKEND:

NYU 5, Duke 3
NYU 11, Bucknell 5
NYU 9, GW 6
NYU 12, Cornell 10

POOL PLAY

NYU 9, GW 6

We were the top seed in our pool, yet oddly we opened play vs the second seed. With the high winds dictating the style of play, it was a back-and-forth game. We came out strong, 2-0, then GW scored 4 unanswered. As we began to realize that we couldn't afford to turn it over on our own half of the field, we became more effective with our Express play, and we hunkered down on D, both the trap cup and the force straight-up man. Lisa skyed the crap out of someone for a goal, and Amanda made a ton of key grabs and D's on deep passes.

NYU 5, Duke 3

By the score, you wouldn't realize that Duke isn't as good as GW. After going ahead 3-1, we struggled to complete passes in the wind. Duke, realizing they couldn't move the disc against our D, hucked it early and often to gain field position. After a 30-minute point, we found ourselves up just 3-2 with the cap on. We responded by holding serve on the down-winder. And finally, after a long, sloppy game, we ran a perfect in-cut, dishy, huck play for the game-winner, giving us something positive to build on. Mia and Lisa had several handblocks. Unfortunately we lost captain Amanda to a sprained ankle, but not before she pulled down a ton of swill to ensure the win.

NYU 13, Messiah 5

Messiah is a fairly new team, but they had a few throwers. The wind was still a force to be reckoned with, but it lessened slightly, allowing us to get our man offense flowing with several pretty goals. Everyone contributed and we soundly beat a team that could have given us a closer, more tiring game had we let them. Krisztina, Mia and Lisa had some nice puts. Our newbie, Veronica, got her feet wet in her first ever tournament. Yon ran hard in the zone, keeping the Messiah handlers trapped.

CROSSOVER GAME
UDel 11, NYU 5

UDel, a Nationals contender, used their pinpoint throws, speed, and explosive transition game to build an early lead. They were running a spread offense, swinging the disc and exploiting the gaps in the middle of the field (as our busdriver astutely pointed out), so we called timeout for a refresher of the lane-poach defense we practiced. Sure enough, we totally stymied them, shutting down the passing lanes and getting the D's to tie it 4-4. Krisztina had the catch of the tournament with a fully extended layout goal (one of her many layouts on the weekend). Kristin had a great D in the endzone. Claire was knocked loopy for a few seconds, but managed to tough it out and play through several different injuries throughout the weekend. We might have taken half if not for a few drops in the endzone and botched endzone plays... Lesson learned: We must execute our goal-line offense, take a timeout if necessary -- the hunger for goals is great, but we need to be patient, not in Express mode. Unfortunately the cap went on, cutting the second half short. Otherwise we were capable of coming back. UDel is good, but we can play with them.

Undefeated in pool play = first-round bye on Sunday. What more reward for your hard work do you need than two extra hours of sleep!

SUNDAY

QUARTERFINALS
NYU 11, Bucknell 5

Based on their pregame chatter, Bucknell apparently thought they'd have no trouble beating us. With a name like Peace Frogs, they deserved a thrashing. A lot of teams would have been sluggish in the first game of the day, after a first round bye, but we came flying out of the gates, particularly Ellen who caught our first 3 goals. After taking half 8-2, the game was ours. Bucknell tried to run a spread, but we were ready for it.

SEMIFINALS
Swat 15, NYU 4

If you're going to lose, you hope it's at the hands of the eventual champs. Swat played us like champions, and sure enough, they romped on UDel in the finals. They have speed, throws, depth, and smart players. But we showed flashes of the same things. Again, we have to take advantage of our goal-line opportunities against good teams who won't just give us the disc back. There was minimal wind, so we needed to work it up more patiently. In our previous games, we didn't get burned when we turned it over on hucks because we knew we'd get the D, but against a team like Swat who can score from anywhere on the field, we have to value the disc on O. We also have to recognize poaches on the pull plays and swing the disc back to the #1 handler. In general we need to look to our dumps more. Bethany, who had been making great cuts all weekend, was sidelined the rest of the day with a muscle pull.

3RD PLACE GAME
NYU 12, Cornell 10

We were so proud of the effort here. Cornell, like us, had suffered a few injuries earlier in the tournament, but they're still one of the top teams in the Region. The NYU men's team gave us a boost with their vocal support on the sideline, and we seemed to catch our second wind. At times the offense was a thing of beauty, including one dishy pass to Mia who hucked it to Ellen in stride for the goal. Claire somehow caught a total blade over her shoulder, wide receiver style, for a goal. Linh and Mia ran several awesome Broadway plays, including one to take half 8-6 coming out of a timeout. The game was capped at 12 with us leading 11-7. We got a little over-anxious and Cornell showed the resilience characteristic of a good team to cut our lead to one before we finally put it away 12-10. The game was a fitting way to end the tournament, because it required us to execute almost everything we've learned to this point, and we had to keep our composure and gut it out. Everyone was sore and tired, but we out-hustled Cornell (that's why we do so much conditioning... it's worth it!) Sarah, ran... and ran... and ran, tirelessly playing nearly every point, bidding left and right, constantly wearing out the defenders, like she did all weekend long. And Mia deserves special props for making one amazing layout d/catch after another. Taking your game to another level in big games is the mark of a special player.

OVERALL

Again, we were very proud of the effort, mentally and physically. Everyone is starting to really grasp the offense. It's just a matter of playing more games. Think of how much we've progressed since the Fordham game a week ago! And think of how much better we'll be by Sectionals!

Handlers, way to step it up and take charge -- a big improvement from last week. Franzten was especially good at setting the stack as the Ace, and making sure everyone was where they need to be. Our hucks still need a lot of work. Also, as we work it upfield, we must look to our dumps more, especially when they're poached. Remember to cut after every throw, and use two hands to catch whenever possible.

Cutters, as we get more comfortable with the offense, you'll get a better sense of when to look upfield for a continuation throw and when to look for an immediate dishy or dump. Sarah and Bethany were especially good hitting the dishy or being patient while the dumps got open. Generally, there were a lot of great cuts. It's tough to practice reading discs in the gym, then doing it in windy conditions. Ellen has quite a knack for scoring goals, and setting Sarah or Claire in the lane on the trap sets worked well. Our newer players need to be more aggressive when going for the disc. When we get a D, someone needs to break long for a quick-strike transition option.

Defense, very nice. As we said, the D vs the spread was terrific. And our straight up marks gave most teams fits. We need to call a force side near the endzone. We also need MORE UP CALLS! When the person you're marking makes an upfield throw, yell "UP!" and the sideline should echo it. Conversely, the upfield defenders need to keep an eye on the handler so they know when and where the disc is being thrown. Our players on the sidelines need to be more active at all times. Mia got a ton of handblocks and Linh, who played more points than anyone, did an awesome job of shutting down the opposition's dump.