It was a beautiful day, a slight breeze in the air, 82% of Pick Em’s participants projected that we would lose, all in all, a perfect day for some Ultimate! As Commissioner Jeff Rose sounded the air horn, most of our plucky band of bugs had arrived, ready to match up against a team that had absolutely cut us up (pun strongly intended) during our 30 minutes of play the week before (not to mention all the other teams as well).
We won the toss and opted to start on Defense (a super strategic move made by two first time captains…of course…). With our one present FMP and fearless captain Jess ready to slay, our 6 person zone took to the field. And promptly got scored on…
After about 10 minutes or so, the rest of our team came crawling in, ready to shore up the line against a team that seemed even hungrier than us for points and a shiny win. With even numbers, we began to trade points with the ‘Flies, seesawing between our more huckery instincts and firm disciplined strategy. Shout-outs here to Jiggins for holding down the middle with solid handles and knowledgeable cuts, Zach S., Jake, and Andrew for great cutter hustle (accounting for 40% of our points no less) and finally to Brad, Steve and TK for a stunning display of handler coordination and patience during a particularly long point against the relentless Cutterfly zone.
We managed to take half 8-7 and started the second half on O (again, totally planned and…expected…). Somehow, we managed to find our balance of order and chaos, keeping keep our game tight and exploiting the few drops and turnovers that the ‘Flies had, and finishing with a 15-9 win. In addition, 10 out of our 13 present players had at least one point, and no more than two. Well done and great effort from all Caterpillars! We’ve earned our apples this week.
From the Cutterflies, kudos to Zach and Michelle for drafting a team that has the speed, depth of experience and raw power that tires me out just thinking of all the running I’ll have to do to guard/get away from them. Well done especially to Leah, with several key touches on the disc, consistent hustle and finding good space! And to Nes, operating as a steady force in the handler space and for leaving Jess P. in the dust to score off a deep huck in the second half! And finally, special mention to Bailey for just a stupendous bid to land in the end zone by mere inches. Well done Cutterflies!!!!
This has been our segment: “These Very Huckery Caterpillars cocooned the Cutterflies for a great season opener”. Tune in next week for things to get a little murder-y when we face off against the fearless Murder Hornets. Will we succumb to their stingers? Or will we slowly but surely…leaf them in the dust?