Purpose and Season Thus

This blog is dedicated to, as previous players did before, chronicle the Pittsburgh Men's College team over the coming seasons. Done for the fans, the alumni, and for future alumni to be able to relive the old days or live vicariously through youngins.

Stop the Swill 2009
This was the first tournament for the oncoming rookies of the 2009 Pitt Ultimate class. For half, or less, of the team this was their first tournament. Composed of three returning players - David Zettel, David Hogan and myself (Andrej) - one alumni-ish player - Pat Hammonds - and the rest rookies, the team was set to play well, dominate and win the tournament.

John Hopkins - B 17 - 2
Each team in our pool was dubbed a 'B' team but none were. Penn turned out to be a vet team with two or three rookies. We were simply a rookie team. And the other two were the actual teams of their school with rookies. Needless to say, the game was a blow out. We played to seventeen. This turned out to be great as the rookies got to play an extended game against some sub par competition, basically getting some basics down and working out kinks. Nothing to note, other then a good first win.

Penn - B 17 - 2
This game i remember even less of then the one prior. They had one handler who kind of did things, but nothing to note. We played well, they played poorly. Their rookie class was leagues below ours and it showed as they could barely get one throw off.

Penn State - B 13 - 17
This was the competition that we, as vets, wanted for the rookies to have. It was contentious in play, not in calls, and every point was a battle. We took half, but were lulled into false sense of security. They rolled off four breaks at thirteens to win the game. The vets attempted to fight hard and show how to fight through adversity, but due to an earlier injury to Dave Zettel and a continuous injury to Dave Hogan, it was Pitt Rookies plus friends against Penn State A. We ended holding seed and going into the bracket.

Quarterfinals:
Delaware-Y 13 - 10
Delaware was a good team. Much like our team they were a rookie team with vets interspersed. It was a tough game and a physically demanding one. Delaware was very upidy and our rookies were having none of it. Most notably Robbie Shapiro gave 'googly' eyes to a Delaware player who fouled him and then called a travel. In the end it was a great game and showed the rookies how hard they needed to play.

Semifinals
Delaware-X 13 - 9
Sean Keegan, despite playing for the team we had just beaten, decided to join this rookie team as well. And his presence and the already chippy nature of the Delaware game made for an intense game. We worked hard and it paid off as we went on an early run to dominate the game. Zach Kauffman shut down Keegan around the disc and he was null, until Keegan hurt his back and had to leave the field of play. After that, it was a simple game with a deserved ending.

Finals:
Penn State 13 - 10
In the huddle on Saturday after the loss, we made a promise to not lose again, and to beg for the chance to play Penn again. Now with Dave Zettel back, Eddie Peters picked up for Sunday, and the rookies in a frenzy to show Penn that they got lucky, we were ready to dominate. The game was back and forth for a few points, but then the legs of the fifteen deep Penn team gave way to our no stop offense and defense. We cruised through the game after getting four or five breaks (they broke back late), and the rookies won their first tournament.

Ohio State Fall Brawl
This is from the Pitt-X perspective.

Toledo 13 - 6
Coming in with eleven guys, four guys who were considered rookies the team had an uphill battle in the tournament to begin with. Toldeo proved a good first game as they played to a warm up level to the cold Pitt players. The wind was up and down, the cold was numbing and aggravating. Simply put, we were better, so we played better and won.

Miami of Ohio 13 - 7
Seeded second we were set to play the number one of the pool in our second game. After a good warm up we were ready and firing. Key defense plays from Alex Thorne, a gnarly layout catch block, and solid first cutting from Ari Weizman set the tone for the game. On the other hand the Miami team was struggling to do much of anything. Their main handlers seemed content to playing a position game, in the upwind downwind, although position mattered little to the skilled throwers of our Pitt team.

RIT 13 - 4
RIT bagged their game against us. It wouldn't have mattered for them if they did or not, they had neither the athleticism or smarts to play against us. They stuck discs in dumb positions and easy areas for us to block them, on top of that they couldn't run with us. We played solidly and won easily. Apparently i made a sick catch to end the game. Take that Rochester.

Youngstown 13 - 4
Youngstown did not bag their game against us. They also yelled, this is our first tournament ever, at us. Unfazed, we won handily. They throw swilly hucks and we blocked them... a lot.

Ohio X 12 - 8
This was the game of the day. We knew they were going to be fired up as they lost to RIT, Miami, and Toledo, strangely. They were good, which compounds the puzzling ways they lost to the other teams. They played physically, had a few great recievers and a few good handlers. Our momentum started as i got a big layout D in the lane against one of their better receivers. After that the team got fired up and OSU couldn't move the disc. We gave up a break towards the end, but the game was securely tucked away as the cap went off.

Quarterfinals:
Micigan 12 - 8
There is/was a prequarters game, but it doesn't count. Considering they had a girl on their team, and they didn't want to play. Go Kent State. So we played Michigan. Off the bat, i was nervous considering their recent success, but after the first point we realized this was a new Michigan; a dangerous one, but not one of years past. They played well and had some big receivers, but they couldn't handle Alex Thorne's back breaking upwind hucks for goals. Our offense was smooth as Isaac Saul continuously hit Tyler Degirolamo for back to back to back to back O line goals. We won the game after the afore mentioned hucks from Alex as Michigan couldn't answer upwind. Great win. Hard fought.

Semifinals.
Tenesee
Eleven players, hovering barely above ten, Pitt was exhausted. After an o line turnover by myself right outside of the endzone, we as a team seemed to feel a wind of fatigue. Nobody could run, jump, think as we were getting beaten by ourselves more then Tenesee's double team zone. We took bad shots, didn't run hard, and played very poorly. But in all honesty, nobody really cared as we all battled cramps and exhaustion. This simply gave Tennessee a false sense of security to the upcoming Wilmington 8s. Beware Tennessee, we're out for blood.