The Oregon ultimate Frisbee club continued its rebound from a disappointing start to the season with a fourth-place finish at the Centex tournament in Austin, Tex., March 25-26. The field at the prestigious competition featured nine of the top 10 teams in the nation. The result at Centex propelled the Ducks to a No. 8 national ranking, which will carry into their sectional tournament in Chico, Calif., on Saturday.
Oregon arrived in Austin with two tournaments already in the books, first a five-win, four-loss showing over a three-day span in Las Vegas in February and a ninth-place finish in a 16-team field at the Stanford Invite tournament March 4-5 in Palo Alto, Calif. Most of the Ducks’ defeats in these early tournaments came at the hands of national powerhouses such as No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Stanford.
Oregon’s journey to Austin turned out differently.
“We finally came together and played like we knew we could,” club coordinator Dusty Becker said.
Despite being seeded fifth in a six-team pool, the Ducks went undefeated in the preliminary stage, reeling off five straight wins. The streak included victories over No. 7 British Columbia (14-13) and No. 11 Michigan State (15-13).
In the quarterfinals, the Ducks met the Georgia Bulldogs, who had defeated them by a score of 15-10 in Palo Alto three weeks earlier. Oregon turned the tables on the Bulldogs, almost reversing the previous scoreline in a 15-11 win.
Second-ranked Wisconsin awaited the Ducks in the semifinals, and with a current record of 32-2, the Badgers represented a step up from already challenging competition. Wisconsin took the match by a 15-9 score, sending Oregon to the third-place consolation game.
In that match, the Ducks faced off against No. 3 Colorado. The contest was tighter than the last, but Oregon fell 15-11 and returned home in fourth place.
“No one expected us to do this well,” Becker said.
Along with its successes on the field, Oregon’s ultimate club has experienced growth in recent years. The Ducks have 26 members on the “A” squad and enough participants to fill out a “B” team as well. The club operates without a nominal coach, leaving the players to manage themselves. This policy reflects the relaxed nature of the sport, which features no officials and allows the players to call their own fouls.
“The best thing about ultimate is the spirit of the game,” Becker said. “Everything is worked out by the players on the field.”
Oregon hopes that the rest of its season will work out, starting with its sectional tournament on Saturday. The Ducks are favored to prevail as the top-ranked team in their 11-team section. Oregon’s closest rival, Lewis & Clark, is ranked 64th in the country. With a placing at the sectional tournament, the Ducks will appear at the regional competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, April 29-30.
Beyond that lies the national championship tournament. Although Oregon has not attended the competition in recent years, the club hopes that this is its season.
“We haven’t gone in the last few years,” Becker said, “But we’ve shown we can play with anybody.”
Ducks continue hot streak with fourth-place showing
Daily Emerald
April 4, 2006
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