St. Cloud Indoor 2010

Eauzone looked to kick off it's 2010 season this year by attending the St. Cloud State Indoor tournament held in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Parts of the tournament were good, parts were bad, and parts were kind of bloody. Overall, Eauzone learned that there is a lot of work to be done before the warm weather of March arrives.

Their first game took place on the turf of St. Cloud's Dome, against the Lucky Dog Alumni. Lucky Dog featured a few very experienced players, some of which have played on teams like SubZero. Even so, this was a game Eauzone was looking to win. Eau Claire took the lead and shortly thereafter half, at 7-5. Lucky Dog was down, but not done. After throwing a zone, Lucky Dog took the lead, and then the game, at 13-9. Eauzone's poor throws and decisions near the end zone were to blame for the loss, and both factors would continue to haunt them throughout the tournament.

After the loss, Eau Claire was up against Gustavus, followed by Mankato. Both opponents put up a fight, but in the end they both fell, 10-5. Entering their fourth game of the day, Eauzone was set to play eventual tournament winners, Winnipeg. Winnipeg, who was seeded second in their pool behind St. Cloud A, had several players who will be traveling to Prague this summer. Eau Claire wasn't sure what to expect coming into this game, but a 4-13 butt-kicking was what they received. Eau Claire learned a lot from this game, especially how a “flow” offense is supposed to look. The final game of the day lead Eauzone to play St. Cloud B, whom they beat 13-1.

Eau Claire finished their first day of competition at 3-2. It was a bland and mildly disappointing day, but things began to get interesting around 7 that evening. During the Gustavus game, first year player John Kelsey got his finger stepped on, and his fingernail torn halfway off. He bled through several bandages during the day, and that evening, he finally came to the conclusion that the only way to deal with his bloody fingernail was to tear it completely off. After a quick shower, John bit his lip, grasped his bleeding nail, and pulled. Then he pulled again. A few minutes later, the nail finally gave way. John, who would later describe the pain on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being not too bad and 10 as he'd rather be dead) as an 11.5, immediately punched a hole through the wall. After bleeding another half gallon and some bandagerial work by Anna Hettler, he decided to call it a night, and tossed in the towel for the tournament.

Eau Claire had work to do and something to prove on Sunday, and after a 13-4 victory over St. Cloud A, they got their chance. Up next, was Lucky Dog Alumni. Eau Claire started out strong, breaking the Alumni team twice, to bring the score to 4-2. But, like Saturday, Lucky Dog came back, scoring three in a row and taking the lead, 5-4. Both teams traded points, and after another Alumni break and a short discussion about the score, Lucky Dog took half 7-5. Eau Claire regrouped at halftime, working to prevent the deep strikes the Alumni relied on, and the throwing miscues Eauzone had shot themselves in the foot with. The second half began, and ended, much like the first. Once again, Eauzone fell to the Lucky Dog Alumni 10-12. Besides the absolute shredding of the cup in the first half and a late break in the second half, there weren't many positives to draw from this game for Eau Claire. Eauzone's final game was against South Dakota State, whom they beat 13-7, securing 3rd place at the tournament.

After it was all said and done, taking third place wasn't bad. But by no means, would Eauzone consider it good. Eauzone came into the tournament looking to find themselves in the championship, and fell two points short. Perhaps it was the sloppy defense on Sunday, or any one of the ridiculously high 73 throwaways Eauzone chronically suffered from throughout the tournament. Whatever it was, Eau Claire Ultimate has a lot to work on before March. Junior Cutter Kevin Skibicki put it best, when he said, “You can't consider yourselves good, until you start beating good teams.”