8 - 4 is dangerous

So we rolled up to Marist to jam on their turf field. Eventually everyone made it but it was touch and go for a while. Game one was a demonstration of our need for a more comprehensive warmup of some kind. I was not ready to play at all and I was not the only one. I may have been layout d'd by Robbie Kohler. For the first few points we played possession ultimate and were quickly down 4 - 0. Finally David decided something had to be done and cut deep for the instant jack 4 - 1. Marist scored some more to make it 7 - 1 (I think). Chich rightly decided that going down at half 8 - 1 would be horrible and torched his defender all over the field before catching a sweet put thrown by some tall guy that had the Marist sideline oooing.

Out of half Marist scored some more before the Gunx finally found some energy and got rowdy for a few points. By the time the dust had settle it was 15 - 6 in Marist's favor or something horrible like that. However, our intensity was starting peak and we were set to play Bard right away. Slip told me that Travis was predicting a blowout victory and that was all it took. All the indecision and fatigue and nerves from the last game sort of melted away.

Bard came out fighting and scored the first point. We answered back and it was shocking how easy it was. Bard scored twice more to make it 3 - 1, and held the lead until we tied it 3 - 3. At that point we were going crazy and getting d's all over the place. At 5 - 3, we were going nuts. Bard scored again, and then we took half in a blowout 8 - 4.

During the halftime huddle I paraphrased the legendary Billy O and shared with the Gunx that 8 - 4 is the most dangerous score to be up by at half. Indeed that proved to be true. We traded with Bard out of half but then they scored a few to make it close. At 9 - 8 the hard cap went on, we went up 10 - 8, they tied it at tens and things were looking dicey but we pulled out for the 11 - 10 hard cap win. It is a shame we did not get to finish the game but I am confident we could have won it to 15 as well. Our intensity was crazy, we were getting d's all over the place, and they had to respect our deep game.

Things that worked:

Doober and Stephen sub calling. They worked well together and called great lines, particularly in the Bard game. As Stephen put it, Doober sees the macrocosm of the game and the overall changes and strategies that need to be implemented, while Stephen sees the microcosm and can work very well with individual players to maximize our success. Or something like that.

Deep cuts. People were torching their defender deep and getting so open that we just had to jack it to them. David's deep throws were buttery smooth and I made a few myself...

Defensive intensity: The first half against Bard was crazy. Everyone got their hands dirty getting d's and running hard against Bard's quick cutters. We got fired up and went nuts.

Things to work on:

Consistency and complacency. We need to be able to play with energy every game including the first, and we need to stay up when we win. A few people thought it was halftime at 6 -2, to which I replied "you think you've earned half yet? Get some more D's!" In short, we have a hard time playing well consistently, and when we do we think we've earned the win before the game is over. Fuck that. I believe the remedy for both problems is practice intensity as advocated by Doober. We shall see.

The biggest highlight of the day in my mind was the people who stepped up and played far beyond what they were capable of last year. A lot of our players who were one trick ponies last year can now play on either side of the disc and have really rounded out their games. I'm looking at E Herbst, Brad (who was open literally at will all day), Chich (he can handle, true story) and Kelsey (she caught five goals against Bard and that number would be higher if I could throw better) in particular, but everyone stepped up and showed what they are made of. I m super pumped to watch everyone develop over the course of the season. In my opinion we played better against Bard than we did at sectionals last year, and it was our first scrimmage of the season! Not only that but we were without the talents of such studs as E Mullen, the Hammer, Doober and the Mackrhiener, as well as the missing in action BJC.

This season is going to be a blast.
I'm off to practice.