Purple Cranes – Game One
Purple Cranes v. Black Owls
Final Score: 7 – 3
Week One had a staggering 4 or so Cranes ready by the allotted game time – it’s a good thing the Owls only had 6. Despite the Gainesville traffic and late arrivals, the game started off hot at 6:15. While there were some deficits in the Purple roster, there were not many in the gameplay. The Cranes were connecting on both sides of the disc, getting run through blocks on D and huck plays off of the turn (the lack of real wind was definitely a factor here). The plan on defense was a simple “lock down your matchup” and DON’T LET JOE HUCK IT (spoiler: he did). It was a great game on both sides that ended with the hard cap (and some nudging by the Green Tortoises, Lucas).
MotM (Moments of the Match)
Cranes
Nevin Legare calibrated his flick huck (finally) and connected on a long bomb to Annika York for a huge score.
Benjamin Adair was out there doing it all, his bookends being a statement to his amazing performance.
Rachel Stewart kept on getting huge unders from 5, playing a huge role in keeping the small-ball style offense efficient.
Owls
The Joe Fluery to Ellie Thomson proved to be as lethal as is often claimed. Ellie’s deep cuts were often met with a deep shot from Joe, opening up the under space with the threat.
Brian Choi was the Owl’s answer for Benjamin Adair, with his plays on both sides of the disc. He was always a threatening presence on defense and an amazing pressure valve on offense when things would get stagnant.
Purple Cranes – Game Two
Purple Cranes v. Green Tortoises
Final Score: 7 – 9
Playing against a Kate and Dustin Travaglini led team is never an easy feat. This sentiment rang especially true for this match. Despite a common belief that the Tortoises would come out in a zone (Ricardo DeLeon owes me $15 for that one), they came out in a man-on-man, win your matchup defensive set. We reciprocated but with the nuance of please don’t let Dustin get to his backhand. Please. Overall, it was a hard fought, back and forth game from both sides; despite our best efforts the cliche proved why it existed. Slow and steady won this race. The consistency of the Tortoise’s veterans was a bit too much for the Cranes to handle this week but whenever there’s another day, there’s another opportunity.
MotM (Moments of the Match)
Cranes
Dheeraj Pedada, have yourself a day young man! With what many are calling his “magnum opus” of frisbee, Dheeraj led all scorers with 4. With this solid performance, he placed himself as the leading scorer of all MMP’s for the first week!
David Jiang showed composure that is simply unheard of from new players. While pinned on the force sideline, fighting the wind, and a junky-trap set David found a stall 9 blade flick to keep the game tight.
Ricardo DeLeon showed off just why he was a consensus first round pick this game. Leading the Cranes with 3 assists, he demonstrated the importance of a veteran player (and thrower) when it comes to GNVUlty.
Tortoises
4 words, two names. Kate and Dustin Travaglini. These two are amazing players in their own rights but when together on the field, there isn’t always so much you can do. The only caveat I have to say here was that Kate squeezed a few extra assists from Dustin leaving his hucks about 2 feet short of the pay dirt.
Caio (Skyaio) and Lucas Rudloff demonstrated their twin connection. An ill-advised hammer on the goal line from the former twin marked the return of Skyaio; posters of Aymo getting skied will be available soon!
All in all, week one was a huge success! Our team was able to build some much needed chemistry and dial in some of our throwing/catching errors.
The road to the Finals starts now!
-Aymo