Wilmington 8s recap: Day 1

The first van, the one I was in, left around noon on Friday and strolled into our Super 8 around 10:30 or so later that day. And thanks to Ari's mustache, we didn't end up with any tickets on the way down there. Almost everybody was asleep within a half hour.

First games for the UOA Wilmington 8s Tournament started at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. That means we leave hotel by 7:15 and get to the fields one hour before game time. Saturday was by far the toughest day out of any of the teams schedule-wise, as we played some great competition all four games.

Pitt vs. Tennessee (W 15-10)
This was a good wake up call for us, as Tennessee went on to beat Florida in the third place game. I don't remember too much from this game, but I'm pretty sure we were in control of the game the whole time. It was a hard game, but all of them that weekend were, but I think we all felt confident during this game and came away with a nice victory and a 1-0 start to the weekend.

Pitt vs. Florida (W 17-15)
I don't even know where to begin with this game. Although the 5th seed at this tournament, they played anything like it. Remember, this is a team that only 2 years ago was a few points away from a UPA College Championship (they lost to Wisconsin 15-9 in finals). Florida is tall. Like everybody is tall. And they're all pretty athletic. And all have good throws and play a physical game, especially on defense.

But so does Pitt. We weren't as tall as Florida, but we made up for it our athleticism. Our team has a lot raw athleticism this year and a lot of players have stepped up and become very skillful with the disc. This all makes for a great team.

That said, Florida jumped out to a nice little lead in the game. I don't remember the exact scores, but I know they took half and probably had a two or three point lead at various times throughout the game. I think they were up something like 12-10 or maybe 13-11 (I know, I should have posted right after the tournament) when our defense turned it up. Guys were bidding and our athleticism just took over the game. We were in better shape and were able to shut down Florida - point after point. The game is eventually tied at 14s and we head to overtime. At 15s, the game was capped to 17. Our offense gets us a point to take at 16-15 lead. Our d-line, which improved so much during this game and over the course of the weekend, got the disc back and put it in for the score.

Pitt wins, 17-15. What a great feeling, but it was only team number 2 on our way to a championship.

Pitt vs. Cornell (W 15-13)
Florida is a great team and it made for a great game and even better win. Cornell is a very strong team as well and it showed in our (first) matchup against them in this tournament. Just to look back, in MetroEast Regionals last year, Cornel defeated Pitt pretty handily. But in quarterfinals of the 2009 UPA College Championships, Pitt came back and upset Cornell, 15-13. Needless to say, this is one hell of a rivalry and anything goes when these two teams play each other.

In this game, I don't think either team had more than a 2 point lead at any point and breaks were few and far between. I wish I could remember, but I think Pitt took half 8-7 off a break and was getting the disc out of half. I think we took a 9-7 lead and then points were traded until Pitt came out with a 15-13 win. I don't remember how each point happened and what the leads were, but I do remember it being a great game and celebrating pretty well after we beat them. There's nothing like watching Cornell lose, while we improve to 3-0 on the day.

Pitt vs. Virginia (W 15-11)
This should have been a much close game considering Virginia won the Atlantic Coast Regionals last season, but they had lost an earlier game to North Carolina and looked somewhat depleted on the sidelines. Because of this, Pitt, like our game against Tennessee, controlled the game from the beginning. Our theme throughout the day, and what looks like is becoming our theme for the season, is to finish teams. Whenever we got a nice lead against Virginia, the mindset is to finish them off. Don't let them come back and give them hope. Don't let them score easy points on us. Ramp up the defense, bring the intensity and take them out. That's what happened in this game and we finished day number one with a great 4-0 record.

After the Virginia win, we headed out to Salt Works, where we ate some great food and had a good time, taking a breather from day two's games. After getting back to the hotel after eating, showers and a quick candy run, everybody was pretty much passed out by 9:30 or 10:00.

Day 2 recaps will come soon.