The Firedogs rolled into their first spring tournament short handed as they traveled to Ada, to compete in Ohio Northern’s indoor tournament. The Dogs were ranked second in a field of 8 and held the top seed in the B bracket. The format was simple enough for indoor; 5X5, 7 stall count, timed hour long games, and annoyingly low ceilings.
The first game pinned the Dogs against ONU B. We put out our first line of the season, a collection of vets: Yoder, Conor, Jay, Jake, DPD. Receiving the first pull of the year the dogs decided to make a statement, working the disc up the field effortlessly ending in a C-Brown to Jake huck to let people know that last season wasn’t the only year of the Firedog.
The Dogs took a 7-1 lead within 10 minutes and never looked back. This game was a great opportunity to let freshman in the game and see what they could do, and they all excelled. Pirate Will, Dan O, Jeff, and Ted all took it upon themselves to polish and define their roles in this game. The success of the team this year depends on the development of our freshman. The Dogs went on to win 17-3.
After a hour long bye, the Dogs played Chicago B. The year before at Regionals the Dogs played a heated game against a talented Chicago A team resulting in the Firedogs first ever Regional win. This game however was close itself as it was 7-7 half an hour into the game. The Dogs could not get any offense going and were plagued by turnovers everywhere. The lack of flow in the offense was directly a result of lazy practices in the weeks leading up to the tournament.
The Dogs needed to gut check. They put on the clutch line from the first pull of the ONUB game and switch Conor to hands and Yoder to cut. This seemed to work as the team looked like the Dogs of old rallying past Chicago B to win 15-9.
The Firedogs next game was one they had circled on their calendar since they submitted their
bid for the tournament. Kenyon had thrashed them, 15-5, in the championship of the 75th F.R.E.D in the fall. Kenyon in the past had been considered a pushover to much of the section, but this year that has completely changed as they are tooled by an incredibly talented team.
The Dogs came out and scored first on a Conor to Yoder huck immediately off the first pull. This wasn’t enough to spark the Dogs however as the Kenyon Serf went on a 3-0 run by capitalizing on defense and playing smart offense. Every disc that was in the air the Serf was claiming, and the Dogs were starting to see flashbacks of the 10-0 run that gave the Serf the huge win against them earlier that year.
Again the Dogs had to gut check. Yoder and Conor switched places again as a threesome of Conor, Yoder, and DPD used their experience to protect the disc and work it up the field. Great defense from the whole team especially freshman Dan Ott and sophomore Zak Gomes kept the dogs in the game. A 3-0 run led the dogs to take the lead 10-9 with 2 minutes left. The Serf would tie it up as time expired on a breakmark throw in the endzone. This would cause a 1 point, winner takes all situation.
The Dogs received the pull and worked it to half field before a C-Brown to Dan O huck to seal the victory. The win was a huge motivator for the Dogs after the trashing they received earlier in the year. It proved to them that they were going to be a team to be reckoned with at sectionals and that they had the heart they needed to win. The Serf were a great opponent and had great spirit for such a close heated game. The Dogs look forward to playing them again.
With the win, the Dogs took the pool with a 3-0 record and would be matched up against Eastern Michigan in the Semi’s. The Kenyon game took a lot of energy out of the short handed Dogs team however and in order to beat the EMU Hellfish, the Dogs would need help from their freshman.
They delivered. All of the freshman on the team stepped up and played as well as the vets of the Hellfish. Pirate Will made some good soaring D’s and Dan Ott had about 7 scores in the Dogs victory 16-11 over the Hellfish. Despite the high score this was some of the best defense the Dogs had played all year, they were hardly ever beaten to the force side, and most of the passes that were completed were ridiculous break side blades.
With the win in the Semi’s the tired, undermanned Firedogs were pinned against the hosting ONU Darkside. The Darkside had more then 20 men on their sideline and while the game was close for the first five points, the Darkside pulled away winning 11-16 of the Firedogs.
The loss to ONU showed a lot to the Firedogs about how important practice, conditioning, and flow can be especially in championship games. While the team did not get the first place finish they were looking for, they learned a lot about how good they are with the big win over Kenyon, and how much more they have to do with the disorganized loss to ONU.
The first game pinned the Dogs against ONU B. We put out our first line of the season, a collection of vets: Yoder, Conor, Jay, Jake, DPD. Receiving the first pull of the year the dogs decided to make a statement, working the disc up the field effortlessly ending in a C-Brown to Jake huck to let people know that last season wasn’t the only year of the Firedog.
The Dogs took a 7-1 lead within 10 minutes and never looked back. This game was a great opportunity to let freshman in the game and see what they could do, and they all excelled. Pirate Will, Dan O, Jeff, and Ted all took it upon themselves to polish and define their roles in this game. The success of the team this year depends on the development of our freshman. The Dogs went on to win 17-3.
After a hour long bye, the Dogs played Chicago B. The year before at Regionals the Dogs played a heated game against a talented Chicago A team resulting in the Firedogs first ever Regional win. This game however was close itself as it was 7-7 half an hour into the game. The Dogs could not get any offense going and were plagued by turnovers everywhere. The lack of flow in the offense was directly a result of lazy practices in the weeks leading up to the tournament.
The Dogs needed to gut check. They put on the clutch line from the first pull of the ONUB game and switch Conor to hands and Yoder to cut. This seemed to work as the team looked like the Dogs of old rallying past Chicago B to win 15-9.
The Firedogs next game was one they had circled on their calendar since they submitted their
bid for the tournament. Kenyon had thrashed them, 15-5, in the championship of the 75th F.R.E.D in the fall. Kenyon in the past had been considered a pushover to much of the section, but this year that has completely changed as they are tooled by an incredibly talented team.The Dogs came out and scored first on a Conor to Yoder huck immediately off the first pull. This wasn’t enough to spark the Dogs however as the Kenyon Serf went on a 3-0 run by capitalizing on defense and playing smart offense. Every disc that was in the air the Serf was claiming, and the Dogs were starting to see flashbacks of the 10-0 run that gave the Serf the huge win against them earlier that year.
Again the Dogs had to gut check. Yoder and Conor switched places again as a threesome of Conor, Yoder, and DPD used their experience to protect the disc and work it up the field. Great defense from the whole team especially freshman Dan Ott and sophomore Zak Gomes kept the dogs in the game. A 3-0 run led the dogs to take the lead 10-9 with 2 minutes left. The Serf would tie it up as time expired on a breakmark throw in the endzone. This would cause a 1 point, winner takes all situation.
The Dogs received the pull and worked it to half field before a C-Brown to Dan O huck to seal the victory. The win was a huge motivator for the Dogs after the trashing they received earlier in the year. It proved to them that they were going to be a team to be reckoned with at sectionals and that they had the heart they needed to win. The Serf were a great opponent and had great spirit for such a close heated game. The Dogs look forward to playing them again.
With the win, the Dogs took the pool with a 3-0 record and would be matched up against Eastern Michigan in the Semi’s. The Kenyon game took a lot of energy out of the short handed Dogs team however and in order to beat the EMU Hellfish, the Dogs would need help from their freshman.
They delivered. All of the freshman on the team stepped up and played as well as the vets of the Hellfish. Pirate Will made some good soaring D’s and Dan Ott had about 7 scores in the Dogs victory 16-11 over the Hellfish. Despite the high score this was some of the best defense the Dogs had played all year, they were hardly ever beaten to the force side, and most of the passes that were completed were ridiculous break side blades.
With the win in the Semi’s the tired, undermanned Firedogs were pinned against the hosting ONU Darkside. The Darkside had more then 20 men on their sideline and while the game was close for the first five points, the Darkside pulled away winning 11-16 of the Firedogs.
The loss to ONU showed a lot to the Firedogs about how important practice, conditioning, and flow can be especially in championship games. While the team did not get the first place finish they were looking for, they learned a lot about how good they are with the big win over Kenyon, and how much more they have to do with the disorganized loss to ONU.
Next weekend the Dogs will host 16 teams in its first Evan Matthew Reas Memorial Tournament.
