Women’s Division Friday Pool Play Coverage
by Lindsey Hack and Katherine Wooten

Round One:

Colorado/Dartmouth: The most exciting game of the morning was Dartmouth vs. Colorado, with Dartmouth almost unseating Colorado from the top spot in Pool D. Jumping to a 2-0 lead early, Dartmouth nickel and dimed the disc, taking
advantage of a slow-to-start Kali defense and taking the first half 8-7. Lakshmi Narayan (66) had some well-timed hucks to open up Dartmouth’s deep game early on. After half, Colorado still couldn’t jumpstart their defense, with Dartmouth frustrating them at every opportunity. A nice defensive tip by a Kali player was picked up by Dartmouth’s Nora Johnson (16), who promptly threw for the score. The next point Dartmouth gets a turn near the endzone and has an easy score to make it 13-9. Realizing they are in danger of losing, Colorado starts playing like they mean it. Carolyn Matthews (42), with a spectacular, trailing-edge, across the body layout score begins the comeback for Kali and closes the gap to 13-10. After that, Alex Snyder (4), Anne Pogoriler (15), Shalini Low Nam (26), and Matthews use the spread offense to turn Colorado around and score the next 3. Tie game, 13s. Now the battle begins, but Kali has the momentum and they keep
it to the end, taking advantage of every Dartmouth mistake. Colorado finishes on top, 16-14.

Washington/Cornell: This game started out completely stagnant, with multiple throwaways on both sides and stoppages of play during the first few points. Cornell goes up 2-0, but the rest of the game belonged to Washington. Lisa Niemann (3), Emily Doubt (6), and Miranda Roth (25) took control of the Washington offense, and on defense the team settled into a rhythm that they kept for the rest of the game. After scoring 6 straight, UW looks fresh and Cornell is sucking wind. Cornell has some high points, like a sweet layout from Kristine Spekkens (4) and wide open receivers downfield, but the throws aren’t connecting and Washington takes half 8-4. Second half is more of the same, with great dumps and breakmarks from the Washington handlers and errant passes from Cornell. Nobody can seem to stop Miranda’s backhand hucks, and Washington takes the win, 15-7.

California/Northwestern: California got an early lead here with both teams throwing zone, despite minimal wind. The ladies from Berkeley are obviously more comfortable handling in the zone and that made the difference. Cal takes half fairly quickly and comes out of the huddle ready to tack a few more scores onto the total. For Northwestern, Vanessa Farjado (21), Candice Tse (1), and #5 worked the disc well, but Cal was a little deeper with throwers. Kath Ratcliff (13) and Natalie Wu (17) were dominant for Cal on offense, with Ratcliff finding Wu open in the endzone a number of times. Final score: Cal 15, Northwestern 7.

NCSU vs. Brown - NCSU did exactly what they said they were going to do - they went big and they went often. The Doyle (#1) to Chauvigne(#22) connection was working and Brown really struggled against the classic Carolina straight up mark. Despite Rebecca Simon’s (#13) sound handling for Brown and plenty of contribution on D from Cate Brown (#54), they could not pull much of a run together after half, which NCSU took 8-2. NCSU went on to run away with the game with a final score of 15-7.

Iowa vs. Texas A&M - Texas A&M had minor problems with red zone offense and that was all it took for Iowa to run away with this game. Iowa runs a very open offense that encourages the huck, but if it is not there, they are perfectly fine with the 25 yard gain underneath game. The team really runs out of Tammy Kampfe (#42) and her flick hucks. A&M’s Shannon McLaughlin (#2) is a solid handler with moderately accurate long throws, but there definitely was not a deep enough supporting cast to make this an interesting game. Iowa takes the game, 15-7.

Stanford vs. MIT - Ah, presenting the excitement of round one. MIT finished third in what was rumored to be an uncharacteristically weak NE region - but no one told MIT that. MIT hung with Stanford during the first half, Stanford took half 8-5, and then the fun began. Nancy Sun was absolutely huge for MIT. She has killer break throws, smart reads on the disc, and solid backhand hucks. Basically, Sun was breaking the mark consistently for scores and Stanford looked very tired and caught on their heels. Stanford was dropping discs in the endzone, getting broken, and getting Ded by MIT’s Taylor Schildgen (#27). At one point, the score was tied at 11s and Stanford was trying everything imaginable to make a run. Stanford finally put together a couple good offensive points and brought it to 14-12 with a break mark throw from Enessa Janes (#7) to Jenny Burney (#23). MIT’s run was over, Stanford scored again, and the game was finished, 15-12.

Round Two:

Carleton vs. Rutgers - Rutgers’ spread offense did not really work against Carleton despite Linda Dolan’s (#9) and Stacy Sarvis (#11) decent hucks. It appeared that Rutgers just did not have the receivers for that particular offense. Carleton’s Chrissy Lee (#27) is the foundation of Syzergy and she is not only a really consistent handler, but she makes big plays happen with her movement. When big Ds from players like Caddy Cadwallader (#7) and huge endzone layouts from Becky Craig (#32) were added to the picture, Carleton basically ran away with this one - 15-5.

Washington vs. MIT - This game really tested the deepness of MIT. If they play Washington as well as they played Stanford; a W may be in order. This game may have been the first hint to all the spectators and fans at home that UW may be possibly stronger than Stanford. MIT came out running hard and the score was once 4-3 UW. The patience of Angela Tong (#23) kept MIT in the game against UW’s four person cup zone. Then MIT started to look a little less fresh, and players like KrisAnn Shmitz (#22), Miranda Roth (#25) and Melina Coogan (#17) began to connect for big scores. MIT did not have an answer for the versatility of Roth, and although there was a small comeback (11-7 UW at one point), UW eventually ran away with this one. 15-7.

Texas vs. Purdue - Purdue gave Texas a run for their money in the first half. Purdue’s Katie McKain (#8) and Michelle Groscost (#40) work a really tight give and go offense that can be really effective - when legs are fresh and the deep shot is a viable option. Eventually Purdue started to become tired, forced one too many dump cuts, stopped going deep, and the result: Texas only had to work it half the field at most for every point they scored in the second half (Texas won 15-8). Texas did have miscues near the endzone, but all it really looked like was a powerhouse team getting rid of the national’s jitters. Expect Cara Crouch (#5) and Co. to come up big on Saturday.

NC State/Texas A&M: NC State is all business in their second game of the day and A&M can’t do much to stop them. Misfires by an inexperienced Sky U squad give the disc back to NC State frequently and NC State, for the most part, takes advantage of it. State goes up 6-0, but not without some unforced errors of their own. A&M’s Cassandra Cotton (21) has a nice layout for the score to make it 7-2, and Emily Riley (17) is handling well for A&M. Sky U gains more control in the second half, but Molly Doyle and the rest of Jaga cruise to a win anyway, 15-6.

Iowa/Brown: Few teams have been able to run with Iowa this year. They are fast, and have the advantage of having played with each other for 4+ years. In particular, Mary Oppold (5), and Jen Brown (21) are all over the place, creating blocks and running down throws from Tammy Kampfe (42). Of all the handlers in Corvallis, Rebecca Simon (13) is certainly one of the most experienced and has some of the best control with the disc. Even so, Brown had some problems converting scores near the endzone; they could work it 60 yards down the field, but somehow getting it across the threshold was a problem.
Iowa pulled steadily away from Brown, taking half 8-3. In the second half, the game is already out of reach for Brown, and Saucy Nancy is even more intense, refusing to let the disc touch the ground. Final: 15-7.

Stanford/Cornell: This game is Stanford’s most relaxed of the day, and it shows. Getting an early halftime lead, 8-2, Stanford utilizes their spread offense and runs primarily
through Jenny Burney (23). After half, Cornell takes some chances and tries to close the gap. Rachel Robinson (3) has a sweet flick to Sadie Perkins (10) to make it 8-3. Robinson
has another nice grab in the endzone three points later to close it to 9-5. Towards the end of the game, Stanford is able to sub much more and stay rested, but less-than-stellar
handling keeps the points long and hard. Cornell has moments of beautiful flow, and it was frustrating for them not to have more points on the scoreboard. The last point is a turnover competition, as each team struggled to put it in. Finally Stanford scores to finish, 15-5.

Round Three: 

Washington/Stanford: This turned out to be the game of the day, with Washington upsetting top-seeded Stanford 15-9. Washington is VERY fired up here, going up fast and early 4-1. Miranda, Annika Rudback (47), and Lisa Niemann (3) shred Stanford’s cup repeatedly, with Miranda nonchalantly throwing blade-y flicks over the top of the cup and laser breaks through the middle. Stanford cannot answer back for much of the game; as they lose points they begin to lose energy and start to make uncharacteristic errors. Drops and throwaways get into Stanford’s head and Washington is getting even more pumped up. Singing everything from Jay-zee to Spice Girls the UW women were hyper and having a blast. Stanford’s zone would be solid on any other team, but here they cannot stop Washington and the score reflects the disparity in energy levels. UW wins 15-9, Stanford drops seed.

MIT vs. Cornell - MIT continued to roll despite their close and unfortunate losses early in the day and takes this game 15-5 after taking half 8-3.

NCSU vs. Iowa - Although this game was probably the most hyped up game of pool play, it certainly did not live up to its expectations. The game began as a huck fest. At times there were hucks to specific receivers and at times there were hucks to basically no one. Iowa cleaned up their game quicker than State and the rest is history. NCSU looked tired and was caught more times than not trying to catch up when Iowa transitioned to offense off of a turnover. During this round, the wind had picked up and made the game a down wind/up wind game but Iowa scored up wind almost as effortlessly as downwind. Tammy Kampfe(#42) again led the charge with big flick hucks and effective handler movement. Iowa never stopped running on O and kept up the pressure on D. With Kris Tiedt (#12) getting huge Ds and relentlessly cutting deep for Saucy, Iowa looked practically unstoppable. The ladies from the Central region took the game, 15-8.

Brown vs. Texas A&M - Texas A&M got better and better with each passing round. This game saw more effective hucks from Shannon McLaughlin (#2) and Christina Choffel (#2), but it was not enough to overcome Rebecca Simon (#13) and the Brown ladies. #28 from Brown also added notable grabs and was receiving the disc practically every other throw during some points. At times, Brown executed an offense that was very disciplined at characteristic of the northeast - dump, swing, to the continuation cut up the break side. Brown pulled this one out - 15-12 after taking half 8-3.

Purdue vs. Rutgers - Purdue only brought 12 players with them this weekend - and it started to show in this round. Although Rutgers held in there (Purdue took half 8-7), Brickhouse began to work it up field with more precise forward throws. The points became shorter and it saved the legs of a few Purdue receivers. Linda Dolan (#9) of Rutgers had a few beautiful upwind hucks, but it was not enough. Purdue ended up taking this one 15-9.