For the playoffs recap, we have two guest writers (Michael and Ben).
In the first game of the semifinals, blue narrows lose to orange on universe as narrated by Michael.
First game of our season that started on time. Both teams have players trickling in as the game goes on. Stephanie arrives and gets cleated just in time for the first point. Blue team comes out pretty hot and takes a 3-0 lead. Alec shows up and gets a nice layout D on an under. Orange team ties it up and the game stays close until the end. Highlights along the way: Nice huck from Paolo to Jenny. Kyle makes a sweet layout grab to save possession in the red zone (his first of the season. Peaking at the right time!) Remarkable patience and poise from relatively new players Gab and Catherine. Blue team is up at intermission, we have enough time to play out the rest of hard cap. Jonnie wonders aloud if the game has implications on whether we play the next game. He seems to be the only one on the field that doesn't realize we're in the semis. Orange equalizes for universe on a high stall scoober from James that Spencer d's away from the first receiver, but in to Peggy. Blue team receives and turns it over. Contested "force out" call by Matt against Spencer saves possession for Orange. James to skying Matt for the W and Orange advances to the finals!
In the second game, White won a tight one vs Pink.
Pink opened on D and came zone. White worked it patiently 65 yards downfield. Pink had a seamless transition to man punctuated by a layout block from Nolan on a handler cut and worked it 70 yards to open with a break. White strung together three goals in a row off to take a 3-1 lead. Jaime Benites came up with a couple of big plays for holds but White ended up taking half at 5-3. Coming out of half, Pink ran an uptempo offense with quick give-gos and hucks to and from Nolan, Jaime and Viktor to keep it close, but White's side-stack offense featuring Kristin, Ben, Dan Wilson and Carter was equally efficient. Daniel from pink ramped up the defensive pressure and a redzone catch by Ben was ruled barely out of bounds, but white was able to force a turnover and get the hold. Pink brought it as close as 8-7 off of a big Jaime layout, but White was able to convert on consecutive points to Clemson and Huffman. Shawna came down with a big sky to close the gap to 10-8 but White was through to the finals
In the finals, White ended up triumphant over Orange!
This high-flying finals game featured many quick scores. White, missing several key college players, deployed a dominant side stack offense against orange and frequently scored in five throws or fewer. Orange, similarly missing standouts Mason Johnson and Tim Slade, struggled to answer back. The early points were a whirlwind of action as White jumped to a 4-2 lead. At this point, Tim Slade (unavoidably detained by work duties) arrived in an effort to lead his undefeated teammates to victory. Carter hucked a backhand to Ben just past a diving Alec to take half, 5-3.White secured the offensive hold coming out of half and pressured an overthrow off the pull on the following point. Kristin ripped an audacious red zone hammer that dropped into the break side corner for Carter to take a crucial 7-3 lead. Not to be outdone, Orange ramped up it's defensive intensity. Tim came up with a layout block off of Kristin's centering pass. A stall 9 redzone throw missed it's intended target but was saved by a huge layout from (Player on orange? @Tim Slade) for a break. Ben hucked a backhand endzone-to-endzone to carter to maintain the lead at 9-5. However, Tim and Dan's orange team came roaring back to 9-7 off of an Alex block on an Audrey in cut, with Matt T finding the endzone on a James deep shot.Desperate to maintain the lead, white dialed up the trusty side stack and Ben sent a laser flick to a streaking Eric Huffman to score in double coverage. Orange held the following point, but White's consistency was too much as Juice surgically picked apart the help defense with a leading flick to Tommy Jackson for the 11-8 win.
Overall, it was a fantastic way to spend Monday nights this summer. I hope to see many of you out at fall league starting this october