Hey Folks-- Great effort out there today, even though the last half of the second game didn't exactly go as we would have hoped. For those who weren't able to come, we avenged our earlier loss to Seven Dirty Words by defeating them by a score of 15-10 in our first game of the day. In the second half of the doubleheader, we came out strong, but in the end ran out of energy and lost to Disc Toast by a score of 08-15. The day began with our second shot to beat Seven Dirty Words, after having lost to them 14-15 in our first game of the season, playing a man down no less. This time, we had a full complement of players, and started off strong by jumping out to an early 4-1 lead on the strength of our cup defense and our endzone offense. However, we had some early trouble putting Seven Dirty Words away, and were only up 8-6 at the half. Still, we never gave up the lead throughout the entire game, and finished the game on a 6-1 run that let us win by a score of 15-10. We headed directly from our first game to the second one, and came out strong against our opponent, Disc Toast. We again jumped to an early 4-1 lead, only to see it vanish after our first time out. Still, we were able to regroup, and at half we were leading Disc Toast by the comfortable margin of 8-5. And then we hit the wall. Already suffering from several injuries, and generally tired out from the lengthy first game, we were unable to get into the endzone again and finished the game with a disappointing loss of 08-15. We definitely had our chances, but our energy level just couldn't keep up with the fresh legs of the other team. Still, it was a fun game, and we know we can beat this team under normal circumstances. As far as our Offense goes, we did a reasonably good job moving the disc down the field in the first game and the first half of the second game. We had some nice long plays, some beautiful grabs, and a good amount of patience in breaking Seven Dirty Word's cup and Disc Toast's man offense. However, our offense completely collapsed in the second half of the game against Disc Toast. We had trouble catching, making good cuts, and our throws were a little bit off. The sloppiness of our play was largely due to how tired we were at that point in the game...still, its definitely something we need to improve on in next week's multiple game format. In terms of the Defense, our cup was dominant again in the first game against Seven Dirty Words. We generally speaking were able to force turnovers, though we could have used a little work at times in various parts of the cup. Still, a good effort that really served as the foundation for our win. In the second game, we played a mix of cup and man defense, and we actually played pretty well at it most of the game. It wasn't so much our defense that let us down in the second half against Disc Toast...it was more our offense that hurt us. Still, you could tell we were tired by the second half of the last game, which is perfectly understandeable under the circumstances. In terms of individual efforts, everyone played amazingly well today, even when we started to wear out in the second half against Disc Toast... great job out there! Some plays of note include: Sean: The birthday boy came out strong in the first few points against Seven Dirty Words, helping us score one of our first points with a wicked backhand to Kemp in the endzone. Unfortunately, he hurt his back shortly thereafter, and could only play in the last points of the Disc Toast game. Still, a strong effort out there today! Rest that back for next weekend, Sean! Megan: One of the most team spirited members of CUltimate, Megan really helped rally the team today even during the second half of the Disc Toast game. In addition to her great team spirit, Megan did well both as a wing and in the cup, and made some nice cuts and grabs. Great job! Anya: One of the 3 M's in the cup for much of the day (Maine, Marroni, and Michelle), Anya played well on both sides of the game. In the cup, she put on some nice forces that helped result in turnovers, and on offense she made some nice falling grabs and some beautiful passes as one of our most reliable handlers. Michelle: Another of the 3 M's, Michelle played amazingly in the cup, staying in it for much of the day and helping shut down Seven Dirty Words. In addition, Michelle made some excellent grabs on offense that would have been tough for anyone to catch. Great job out there! Jeanie: Jeanie helped the team out all over the place today, as she played a pivotal role as a wing in the cup defense, and made several important grabs that moved our offense down the field. Along with these catches came some really nice follow-up throws. Nice effort! Erika (with a "k"): Erika had a great game in her second weekend of WAFC play. She was awesome on defense, both as a wingman and in the cup during our zone defense, and as part of our man defense later in the day. She swatted several discs out of the air, constantly got herself open deep down the field, and made some really nice grabs, including more than one in the endzone. Great energy and spirit! Kemp: Every weekend, we're more and more impressed with Kemp's ability to rule the skies of Anacostia. Not only did Kemp account for our first 3 points of the game against Seven Dirty Words, but he kept making amazing leaping grabs, some in the endzone. In addition, Kemp played amazingly as both a wing and a deep in the cup, as he knocked incoming passes out of the air as the disc hung above his opponent's outstretched arms. Great job- although Dave never wants to hear anything from Kemp again about dropping easy passes in the endzone :) Ray: Crouching Tiger Hidden Ray came through again this weekend as he made a full-fledged return. Not only did Ray make some amazing poaches in knocking down opponent's throws, but he also made some really beautiful cuts and catches that helped us sustain our offensive drives. Great job out there today Ray! Dave: Before succumbing to a back injury, Dave helped the team out by doing some nice popping on offense and some good work in the cup on defense. He caught a few important endzone catches, including a hammer from Maloney and a pass from Galen that Dave caught by falling down. Also, nice work knocking down several passes while in the cup. Alan: As always, Alan helped lead the team's attack on the field. As a handler, he helped maintain our offense even when it started to fall off in the second half against Disc Toast. He had a number of beautiful throws, including a few nice ones into the endzone. On defense, he helped shut down our opponents long throws in his role as deep deep and short deep. Great play as always. Tim: Nice playing as a wingman in the cup defense. In that role, Tim helped to cut off throws in the middle, and in fact had several disc knock downs which helped lead to scores for CUltimate. In addition, Tim had some really nice cuts and catches, as well as a few nice throws that helped us get into the endzone. Great job! Galen: As always, Galen came through as one of our most reliable mid-to-deep throwers, completing several long passes including at least one in the endzone. He also made some really nice cuts to get the disc, and really helped the team out in his role as a handler. Nice playing! Sarge: Great spirit as usual from Sarge on the field, and nice all-around playing out there today. Sarge made some nice grabs, scored a few points for the team, and helped come through when the team needed someone to handle the disc effectively. Nice job on defense as well, and a fine job overall. Maloney: The people want a hammer! In addition to throwing and completing that most frightening of throws, Daddy really had a stabilizing presence for the team on the field. He played nicely in the cup, made some really nice runs and cuts, and handled wonderfully. Thanks for coming out, Tim! With this weekend's doubleheader, we closed out our regular season schedule. Our record for the season was 6-3, with an impressive point differential of +21. We should definitely be one of the top seeds in the tournament with a record like that, and we can also go into the final competition next weekend knowing that we could have beaten all 3 teeams that we lost to during the season under normal circumstances. Great regular season folks....we are definitely one of the top contenders for this season's championship. We'll email you as soon as we know what the tournament format is going to be like, in addition to posting the information on the team website. Anyways, nice playing out there today... you guys really showed some heart! Dave and Alan