Regionals Recap

October 7th, 2009

A journey that began in the early spring finally cultivated into Pike coming together in a thrilling and hard earned victory over Los in the 3rd place game to earn the final bid from the Mid-Atlantic region to the UPA Club Championship in Sarasota Florida.

Coming off a compelling victory over sectionals rival Forge in the swamps of New Jersey, Pike looked to extend their momentum leading into the regional tournament on the battlegrounds in Fredericksburg Virginia.

Seeded 3rd, Pike looked to validate themselves and prove that they belonged in that elite group of teams that would advance to nationals.

Pike started Day 1 against 14th ranked Wilmington. Pike was slow out of the gate but as the game progressed, Pike proved to be the better team as they capitalized off the mistakes of Wilmington and put them away relatively easily 15-8. In what would be the first of 3 epic match ups with regional rival Los, Pike looked to avenge an embarrassing loss to them in the 2008 regional tournament and prove that they were the better team. Pike jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a quick break. Los responded quickly and began to get their D-Line going. The Los defense suffocated the Pike offense taking them out of their comfort zone forcing the Pike O-Line to make bad decisions with the disc. The Pike D-Line battled but had trouble stopping the deep game of Los. Going down 8-5 at half, Pike came out fired up as the offense began to gel. Tom Carroll and C.J. Kozarski were important cogs in the Pike offensive machine and played exceptionally well making big plays all game. With the score 13-11, the Pike D-Line forced multiple turns on a marathon point that took everything both teams had. In the end, Los grinded out the point to avoid the break and eventually went on to win 15-11.

Let down and disappointed, Pike moved on to their next game knowing that they must win out the rest of the day to stay alive and gear up for the eventual challenges that they would face on Day 2.

Pike staggered into their next game against inner city rival Philly Love. Pike came out flat in the game with a severe lack of energy, clearly suffering from a post Los hangover playing down to Love with lackadaisical offense and lazy defense. Pike pulled it together with a second half run pulling away in a capped game 14-9.

In the final game on Saturday, Pike would face a familiar foe from Baltimore. Medicine Men came out hungry and took it to Pike with a couple nice hucks and surprisingly patient and effective offense. In a repeat of the Philly Love game, Pike played down to their opponent and struggled mightily barely taking half 8-7. Pike bore down in the second half and grinded out the necessary points to beat Medicine Men 15-10 and advance to Sunday. Pike regrouped after Saturday knowing that bigger challenges and a potential bid to nationals awaited them on Sunday.

Pike arrived at the fields on Sunday geared up to play X-Rates, a team they went winless against in 2008, and move one step closer to a trip to Florida. Pike got the bad news that D-Line veteran Raph Vangelista would be unable to play Sunday with a foot injury but reinforcements arrived in the form of O-Line cutter, Nick Malinowski.

After a lackluster warm-up, Pike tripped out of the gate and stumbled to a 5-2 deficit. The O-Line had trouble moving the disc while the D-Line could not get a D let alone a break. After a D-Line punched a goal in receiving the disc, the Pike D began to get their 1-3-3-zone going. Veteran leadership and grit from D-Liners Tous Careathers, Jon Fink, Tim Johnson, Ellis Kim and J Dono swarmed and overwhelmed X-Rates while young and up and coming rookies like Shaun Krieger and Jason Kunsa converted D’s into scores. Pike closed the half on a 6-1 run and looked to ride their wave of momentum. Pike came out of the half fired up as the offense worked off the energy from the D-Line and began to wear down the X-Rates defense. Handlers Ian McClellan, Alex Kinsey and Dusty Rhodes began to connect frequently with downfield cutters Art Shull and C.J. Kozarski who were making huge grabs in the end zone. The D-Line also continued to get D’s from their swarming zone and collected a couple more breaks in the second half to finally put away X-Rates 15-9.

In what was easily the best game of the weekend so far, Pike geared up for a rematch against Los for a chance to get revenge and advance to play the loser of the Ring vs. Truck final.

While the offense was less than stellar, it was the defense that let Pike down in the rematch. With a mediocre at best effort, Pike could not respond to relentless pressure from Los and a constant huck game that had Pike D players chasing discs over their head. Without a single break, Pike broke down and looked overwhelmed by a Los team that wanted it more and played like a team ready to make dents at Nationals.

After watching Truck take out Ring on universe point to win the region, Pike had to pick their heads up quickly to keep their season alive and hope to salvage their goal of making Nationals with a rematch against X-Rates. O-Line put Pike on their shoulders and carried the team to a tight but convincing win over X-Rates 15-11. A scary moment occurred in the second half when defensive stud Leon Chou was hit in the head on a collision going for the disc. His constant pressure on handlers and speed on the D-Line would be tough for Pike to replace.

Pike moved on to face Los again for the third and final time with everything on the line. One game left, winner takes all in a battle for the third and final bid to the UPA Club Championship. Pike had already lost twice to Los but seemed ready to respond to the pressure of the game to go and to counter a Los game plan that had already beaten Pike twice.

The Pike offense stalled the first point and gave Los early momentum and a quick 1-0 lead. Knowing that they had to play better, the offense clicked with movement by the handlers and huge plays from the cutters. Justin Illuzi was getting open under all game while the big three of Shull, Malinowski and Kozarski were finishing off points with big plays downfield. On the D-Line, the intensity and fire that carried Pike all year was showing again. Defensive guru Jeff George called for the D-Line to force middle the entire game to take away the huck game of Los. Pike got an early break to put the game back on serve and with the score 6-5, Pike grinded out the point after Dave Baer connected for another assist to take a 7-5 lead.

To advance to Nationals, it would take Pike everything they had. Overcoming adversity, Pike took half 8-7 with inspired and tenacious play.

The second half saw Los break the Pike O-line to take a 9-8 lead. With the score tied at 9, the Pike D-Line would stage a miraculous run for the ages that would propel them to the cusp of a Nationals birth. D-Line handlers like Ross Littauer, Nick Ongpauco, Aman Nalavade and Alex Grin kept the pressure on the Los handlers with the force middle allowing downfield defenders to make plays and cause turnovers. After a break to take a 10-9 lead, Krieger made possibly the play of the season with a Callahan to give Pike an 11-9 lead and completely took the wind out of Los. Pike would run off 3 more breaks in a row for a 14-9 lead. After a brief hiccup by the O-Line, the score was 14-11 when McClellan unleashed a ridiculous full field backhand that curved ever so beautifully down the home sideline into a sliding J Dono giving Pike an improbable and exhilarating victory over Los sending Pike to Nationals.

Pike has gone through many ups and downs throughout the season, very evident by their play in this tournament. While Pike may be considered a streaky team, the talent on the team is undeniable and a team first motto is the essence of a Pike team that always plays with heart and emotion. Pike came together when it mattered most, with everything on the line and answered the call while silencing the doubters. Pike fought for everything this weekend and every teammate picked each other up when it seemed that the season was spiraling downward.

With 16 newcomers to the Club Nationals scene and a group of savvy Veterans, Pike will be an exciting team to follow in Sarasota and the future bodes will for a team that will continue to get better as the youth of this team continues to thrive.

Sectionals Recap

September 25th, 2009

Pike enjoyed a successful weekend on the rolling hills of the Turkey Swamp. After a month of sparsely attended practices, and short a few key players, few Pikes had a good grip on what to expect as the team slid into the series following an up-and-down summer season. Anticipating going absolutely SACPOP on some local rivals on sectionals Saturday, Pike got caught in a bit of a trap game early Saturday morning and lost to a motivated, hungry, athletic and marginally skilled UPITT team whose best player was 16 years old.

Although obviously frustrated, the veterans helped the team regroup, and Pike took down Roots, Penn State and fan favorites Fantastic Fighting Frisbee Force with ease.

Due to the loss on Saturday, Pike’s spot in the finals was in jeopardy, even after two more quick wins Sunday morning. However Roots took down Pitt in the best game of the weekend forcing a three-way-tie and allowing Pike to move on thanks to a healthy point differential.

Having lucked into the finals to face Forge on a technicality, Pike was determined to take nothing further for granted, a point driven home in the finals pregame huddle by JG – in search of his tenth sectionals bracelet.

Pike opened the final on O, but after Malinowski got free in the endzone, he gave only about 90 percent effort on a snappy backhand huck and came up short, committing a turn which Forge converted for an early break. After going down 3-1 Pike took a twenty to regroup and returned to the field focused taking control of the game to lead 8-4 at half. While the O-line was not as crisp as they might have been, solid defense after turns kept the Forge D-line out of the endzone, while Pike’s D-line was tenacious and on the field for the majority of the second half. After wrapping up a 15-7 win, Pike has two more weeks to prepare for regionals, where they hope to take care of business against other second-tier elite teams like Los and Forge to earn a shot at knocking off Truck or Ring, who have represented the region at nationals for the past several seasons.

Chesapeake Open Recap

September 1st, 2009

Going into the Chesapeake Open, Pike had a point to prove. Just as at the New York Invite, Pike was not in the Elite bracket. Unlike at the New York Invite, however, this time there would be no chance to play up into that bracket. This meant that Pike’s goals were clear: win every pool play game, win the crossover game, win the first game Sunday, win the second game Sunday, win, Win, WIN…you get the idea. Win.

After Saturday’s first round bye, Pike came out a little slow against Eastern Motors FB, going down at half 7-4. A few missed chances by the Pike O-line, and the D team missing their typical fire seemed to be the probable cause. After refocusing at half, Pike came storming back to take the game 13-8. In the next game, Pike torched Colt-45, winning 13-2. Then, in the hardest fought game of the day, Pike faced Dallas-based Grit. Some big grabs by Grit’s #19 had them ahead by a few points late in the game when the cap went on. Pike fought back to tie the game and send it to double game point. Another huge catch by #19 handed Pike their first loss of the tournament, but due to Grit’s loss to Eastern Motors, Pike was still first in the pool. This meant a matchup with regional competition X-rates, from North Carolina. Pike came out strong in this game and never looked back winning by a score of 13-6. Pike retired for the night thinking about their successes and failures from the day, had some delicious food and beer at the Dogfish Head Alehouse, and prepared for Sunday.

The first game Sunday morning saw Pike facing off against Medicine Men, a team they seemingly face every tournament. Pike led end to end in this one, though the game was tight towards the end. A few strong defensive points by Pike ended the game at 13-8. The next game would bring a rematch with Sons of Liberty, to whom Pike lost at the Boston Invite on double game point. Sons of Liberty went up a break or two early, but Pike fought back, eventually tying the game as the cap went on at 10-10. Several huge D’s and grabs by players like #21 Jake Rainwater and #16 Art Shull were pivotal in this game. Pike took the next point on a break, Sons of Liberty scored, and again it was double game point. Pike then took advantage of a poor pull by Sons of Liberty to take the game on a nice layout grab by #32, C.J. Kozarski. On to semis.

The semi-final matchup meant another game against a team that had started the tournament in the elite bracket. This time it was Tanasi, from Tennessee. Pike dropped a few points early, but fought back on the strength of some great individual and team efforts, including 2 layout catch blocks from #89 J Dono. The cap went on at 9-9, setting up a tight finish to an intense game. Tanasi scored on offense, followed by Pike’s O-line taking care of business and doing the same. Double game point, for the third time this tournament. Pike’s D-line played ferocious D, forcing several contested throws, but could not get the block. Tanasi ended the game 11-10, sending Pike home. Pike has 3 weeks before sectionals, and has a strong sense of what works well and what things the team must work on. After a few more practices, Pike will be prepared for the challenge of the Club Series. As always, we will approach this challenge with the Team First attitude that is Pike’s mantra.

NY Invite Recap

August 13th, 2009

Pike made the trek to the inaugural NY Invite in Middletown, NY with the goal of finishing 4-0 in our pool on Saturday and winning our crossover game on Sunday morning to earn our berth into the quarterfinals. On Sunday morning, with the first hurdle... uh... hurdled, we faced off vs Phoenix as the rains came. After building a small lead in the second half, Pike staved off a late Phoenix rally to win 15-13.

Mission Accomplished.

After our mission was accomplished, it came to our attention that there were more games. In our first matchup of the season with PoNY, we took half at 8-7 before they ratcheted their defense up and closed the game with an 8-2 run to win 15-10. Our loss set up a(nother) rematch with Mephisto. As the rains reached monsoon warnings, Mephisto stuck it to us to the tune of 10-4 before all games were wisely called off in favor of field preservation.

Now that Pike knows where the 2009 journey begins, we will use the time-tested crucible of grueling August practices to prepare for our next challenge: The Chesapeake Open.

Only Defeat the Dragon You Face

July 31st, 2009

Pike's braintrust has made the tough decisions, the Spring Season has ended and July has been off.* Pike's Fall Season** begins with trip north to the NY Invite, hosted by notpink PoNY.

This, Pike's first non-tryout tournament, brings a welcome challenge: Due to two Spring Season losses each to Wiretap and Mephisto we are in the bottom pool of a 3-pool, 15-team power-pool tournament. The gist of which is that while the teams in the A&B pools (Seeds 1-10) need only show up to secure pre-quarters berths (If they finish 1st or 2nd in their pools, they earn a bye to the quarters), Pike and the teams in Pool C (Seeds 11-15) must finish 1st or 2nd to earn pre-quarters berths.

With a roster of 18 returning Pikes, 2 Pikes returning from hiatus and 6 New-Pikes, Pike's 2009 bar is set very high. The NY Invite results will determine both the distance and best path to Pike's peak. The journey begins again.

*- Save for the many many lines crossed at Wildwood.

**- Pike is aware that it is currently Summer and not Fall and of the resultant incongruity of playing the Fall Season during the Summer. Pike maintains that this is irrelevant and asks that you kindly R-U-N-N-O-F-T already.

Unproven & Un-Tested

July 31st, 2009

For the first time in a half decade, Pike has returned nearly all of its roster from the previous year and has further built upon last year’s growth by bolstering the ranks with some exciting young talent and a little bit of cagy veteran leadership. This combination of hard-earned chemistry and veteran experience with some incredible new athleticism has revitalized the team making Pike an exciting team to watch. Still largely unproven in match play, Pike is heading into to the NY Invite with a bit of chip on its shoulder. Aware that respect must be earned and eager to earn that respect, Pike will approach this tournament the same way we approach every workout, every practice, and every game: Team First! This selfless attitude is what Pike was founded upon and it’s what makes Pike a team worth playing for. With everyone striving as a team and for what’s best for the team, we continue our journey to tap into and finally realize the boundless potential of our 2009 roster.