Weekend Preview-Charleston Last Call

This weekend, Eau Claire will be playing in Charleston, South Carolina for the tournament: Charleston Last Call. Eau Claire is coming into the tournament seeded first overall, with Kennesaw State, Appalachian State, Charleston B, Guilford College, and Tufts C supporting their pool.

Eau Claire is looking to improve on their last two tournaments this weekend in Charleston, and leave with many victories, and hopefully as tournament champions. This weekend is also highlighted by the teams’ neck beards, which will certainly be documented. This weekend is also the beginning of Eau Claire’s spring break. After the tournament on Sunday, Eau Claire will be retiring to the old hide-out—Tybee Island—in Georgia.

All of these things are on Eauzone’s mind, but above all, everyone is hoping that once, just once, there can be a tournament that is warm and dry. With any luck (30% chance of rain over the weekend), it might just happen.

Feel free to follow Eau Claire game by game this weekend at:
http://twitter.com/eauzoneultimate

Feel free to follow the Charleston Last Call:
http://scores.upa.org/scores/#college-open/tournament/6725

It Was Snowing

Like many other tournaments around the nation this spring, Chicago was cold, rainy, and windy. But it was also snowy. The weather was less than ideal, but 64 College Open teams showed up anyway, ready to face their opponents (and the weather) in the third annual Chicago Invite.

Warming up against a strong downwind, Eau Claire was set to see the Canadian team, Queen's-Kingston, first. Eau Claire lost the flip, and was looking for a break early on. But it was Queen's-Kingston that achieved the first upwind point. Fortunately, Eau Claire was able to rally, and responded with an upwind break of their own. The rest of the game, however, ended up with both teams trading until hard cap, and Eau Claire lost, 8-9.

Up next, was Eau Claire's only loss from Frostbite, Wheaton Illinois. Wheaton, just finishing a strong win against the one seed overall Ball State, had seen Eau Claire's zone before, and was ready for it. Eau Claire won the flip this game, and started with some great offense. Wheaton responded with some patient offense of their own, and eventually scored the first break of the game. Eau Claire responded in the same fashion as before, answering with a break of their own, to retake the lead. Eau Claire finished this game off by the hard cap and won, 9-8.

The final pool play game of the day was against number 1 seed overall, Ball State. Eau Claire lost the flip, and started the game on defense. With the wind not letting up, Eau Claire knew they would need a break to get the victory they were looking for. And several times, they almost got it. Eau Claire had the chilly offense they needed to get that elusive upwind point, but bad throws, and several other mishaps kept that point just out of reach. Ball State was able to win the game at hard cap, 9-10.

Eau Claire ended pool play at 1-2, and their seeding came down to point differential. Fortunately, Eau Claire was able to snag the third seed in the pool, which lead them against Sectional Rival Wisconsin B. Eau Claire won the flip, and started the game off strong by scoring the first point within seconds. The rest of the game, however, began to slow down. Points dragged on between 15 and 20 minutes in length, and it was soon almost time for hard cap. Eau Claire managed to get an upwind break, but Wisconsin B answered with a strong break of their own, just before hard cap. The game ended in an Eau Claire victory, 6 to 5.

Eau Claire headed back to the hotel cold, hungry, and wet. Unfortunately, the fields (most notably, the parking area) were losing grass fast, and the tournament director, Luke Johnson, felt obligated to call the tournament before any Sunday games were able to begin. Eau Claire finished the weekend at 2-2, in possibly the worst Ultimate weather Eau Claire has ever seen. It was a good weekend in that Eau Claire was able to test their resolve, but next weekend (Charleston Last Call) will hopefully be warmer.

Weekend Preview-Chicago Invite

With the Chicago Invite only two days away, it is time to stop thinking about Frostbite, and start looking forward to the games this weekend. After a lot of shuffling around, it appears that the pools are finalized for Saturday's play, and Eau Claire has found themselves in arguably the most difficult pool at the tournament.

If the seedings remain the same between now and 9am on Saturday morning, Eau Claire will play Queens-Kingston to begin the Chicago Invite. Although Queens-Kingston(16th overall) is the four seed in the pool, this game is going to be no push-over. Queens-Kingston has quite an impressive track record, including a 22nd overall finish in the UPA standings last year, and 2 National Canadian Championship wins in the last three years. This is going to be Eau Claire's first real test against a power-house.

Up next, Eau Claire will be playing against the team that caused their only loss at Frostbite—Wheaton Illinois. Wheaton (9th overall), has lost to Eau Claire only once in recorded history, at Missouri Loves Company in 2008. Eau Claire is looking for revenge this game, and a chance to prove themselves after a devastating loss last weekend.

Eau Claire's final pool play match will be against Ball State, the number one seed in the pool and the tournament. Ball State has recorded some impressive wins so far this season, but Eau Claire is looking for the upset they know they can bring.

Eau Claire is coming into the tournament seeded 8th overall, and 2nd in their pool. If they can win their pool, they will find themselves in a showcase game Saturday evening, against the winner of Pool C, which is enshrouded in the large shadow of Michigan State (3rd overall). Other notable teams at the Chicago Invite are Wisconsin-Whitewater (2nd overall), Minnesota-Duluth (4th overall), North Park (5th overall), and Wisconsin Milwaukee (6th overall). Eau Claire is hoping to break seed again, and maybe this time, surprise a few more teams.

The Chicago Invite:
http://scores.upa.org/scores/#college-open/tournament/6692

Follow us on twitter game for game this weekend:
http://twitter.com/eauzoneultimate

Frostbite Review

It was cold. It was rainy. It was windy. And it was muddy. The weather was similar to Frostbite of the past. But this year, Eau Claire's results were much, much different.

Eau Claire had the opportunity to play North Park for their first game, a solid team who had already recorded a win over Wisconsin this year. The game began with a battle between defensive zones, each team trying to take advantage of the strong crosswind. Eau Claire and North Park traded points until 3-3, when Eau Claire's zone began to cause trouble for the North Park handlers. A North Park stall nine high release backhand hit the wind wrong, and fluttered in the air just long enough for an Eau Claire defender to come down with the disc in North Park's endzone for the first break (and first callahan) of the day. Eauzone built on that momentum and took half, 7-4. Coming out of half, North Park got two quick breaks, bringing the game within one. Eau Claire answered right back with two breaks of their own, bringing the game to 9-6. After another turn from North Park, Eau Claire had a chance to punch their game total into double digits. An Eauzone handler put up a stall eight break throw into the wind, and an Eauzone cutter had a beautiful lay-out basket-style catch in the end zone, bringing the score to 10-6. But wait—a North Park defender saw it differently. This lead to the longest “discussion” of the day. Eau Claire and North Park argued back and forth for over five minutes, dropping key rules vocabulary like, “best perspective,” “possession,” and “outside of the playing field proper.” Eventually the disc was brought back to the thrower. Eau Claire turned the disc on the ensuing tap-in, and North Park capitalized on the mistake. North Park was able to sneak in one more point before hard cap went off, ending the game with an Eauzone victory, 9-8.

After their first win, Eau Claire was matched up against Arkansas, which may have been the game of the weekend for Eau Claire. Arkansas jumped out to an early lead, showing veteran handling and taking advantage of the holes in Eau Claire's zone, leading 2-6. Eau Claire needed something to happen, something big—preferably, a five point run to take half. Eau Claire scored not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 points in a row, doing what needed to be done, including yet another callahan, taking half 7-6. Similar to their first game, Eau Claire built on this mo, leading Arkasnas for another few breaks, to a score of 11-8. With victory in their grasp, Eau Claire began to look forward to the next game, and perhaps a few points too early. Arkansas fought back strong in a valiant effort to make up for the breaks they lost in the first half, but it was too little too late. Once again, due to the hard cap, Eau Claire won the game, 11-10.

Eau Claire's final pool play game was against Nebraska. A win here would solidify Eau Claire as the number one team out of their pool. Eau Claire fell short one break early, but did what they had to do to win the game at 9-5. Eau Claire's final game of the day lead them up against Milwaukee, whom they had seen this fall. Eauzone took that game with a 13-4 victory.

Eau Claire finished Saturday with a 4-0 record, beating some solid teams throughout the day. After the games, they found the local Cici's, gorged themselves on the never-ending pizza buffet, and went back to their hotel. There, they attempted to watch the filming of the North Park game, but Brian “someone walked in front of me” Franson's attempts at filming were...okay...so the team hung out for a while before hitting they hay.

Sunday morning came a little too early for some (day light savings), and before they knew it, Eau Claire was back on the fields. Their first game of the championship bracket was against Wheaton Ill, a team whom Eau Claire lost to a few months ago at Missouri Loves Company. If someone had a boom box on the sidelines, there would have been some dark, ominous music playing, because this was the worst Eauzone played all weekend. Wheaton and Eau Claire came out of the gate trading points until the score was 2-3. On the ensuing offensive possession, and Eau Claire handler put a throw up into the wind, and similar to the North Park game, it hit the wind wrong. It stayed in the air just long enough for a Wheaton player to come down with it in Eau Claire's end zone for a break and a callahan. Wheaton continued to rally, and took half 4-7. Coming out of half, Wheaton took another few breaks, and Eau Claire's offense could not seem to get going. The sidelines weren't in the game, and the players weren't in the game. Eau Claire was beating itself with silly drops and unforced throw-aways. Wheaton continued to score to game point, making it 6-12. Eau Claire put on their universe line in an attempt to make an Arkansas-style comeback, but it just wasn't enough. Eau Claire lost the game, 9-13.

Eau Claire had a lot to think about after their second loss to Wheaton of the year, but they had more games to play. Eauzone was to go up against St. Louis next. Eau Claire put their loss to the back of their minds and focused on the upcoming game. In a great turnaround of attitude, desire, and poise, Eau Claire beat St. Louis 13-2. Eau Claire was set to see Northern Iowa next, and played that game in the same style, winning 13-8. The final game of the day was against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but certain circumstances (a 13 hour car ride) lead to a Milwaukee forfeit.

Eau Claire ended the weekend at 7-1, taking 9^th place in the tournament. They broke seed by two, and besides their one loss, Eau Claire played very well. Eau Claire learned something about themselves this weekend. They learned that they can win in close games, that they can get ahead a few breaks and not let teams back in the game. But most importantly (and possibly most excitingly), Eau Claire learned that even when down, they are not out, and that they can come back against some very good teams. Eau Claire is looking to take what they learned this weekend, bring it to the Chicago Invite next weekend, and improve on their Frostbite results.

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Weekend Preview--Frostbite 2010

North Park. While that name might not raise your adrenaline like “Iowa State” or “Wisconsin Milwaukee”, you should probably get used to it. Because that is who Eau Claire has the pleasure of matching up against at 9am on Saturday morning. The overall 3 seed at Frostbite. The North Park Lost Boys.

Eau Claire has played North Park once before at Frostbite in 2008, and recorded a 5-8 loss during a cold, blistery, snowy game. However, the most recently recorded game between the two teams came last year at DIII Nationals, where Eau Claire beat North Park 13-5. Even so, as any returning player from Eau Claire can tell you, a single year can make a huge difference, and Eau Claire’s 2009 roster is much different than their 2010 roster. If Eauzone is looking to make the noise they know they can, or even break seed, they are going to have to bring their A-Game.

The second team Eau Claire will play is against is Arkansas (6th seed overall). Eau Claire also played Arkansas at Frostbite in 2008, recording a 6-10 loss. Eau Claire has only seen Arkansas once since then, and that was a few months later at Music City Tune-Up, where they recorded a win. The final pool play game of the day will be against 14th seeded Nebraska. Eauzone will have either one or two crossover games leading into bracket play on Sunday.

Eau Claire is coming into Frostbite ranked 11th overall. Other notable teams at Frostbite are Wisconsin Whitewater (4th), Wisconsin Milwaukee (5th), Iowa State (7th), and Minnesota Duluth (10th). For Eau Claire, Frostbite will be, above all else, their first real test of this year. After this weekend, Eauzone will find out where they stand in their section and region, but most importantly where they stand with themselves. Eau Claire will finally know whether or not they are ready to make some noise.

You can view the full tournament standings and rankings at:

http://scores.upa.org/scores/#college-open/tournament/6811