Fall so far

The fall season so far for the Firedogs has been successful but slow. The team has seen quite a few very close games against very good opponents, and has worked hard in practice and games to implement new offensive and defensive strategies. The team as a whole is growing with both its abilities on the field and its knowledge of the game. It’s been a new approach for the Firedogs, but the ultimate goal is still the same, a Regional birth.
The Dogs have really taken a step back early on this year and have decided to use the fall as a learning experience for their younger players. Seeing how far the freshmen and sophomores have grown already in the first two months of the year, it’s looking like it is paying off. The freshmen’s forehands are far more advanced than classes in the past, and the sophomores are learning how to contribute at a high level.
Opportunities for the youngsters to step up into new roles have been plentiful as injuries have marred the firedog veterans all fall. Junior cutter Jake Barnett was lost for the fall after a terrible ankle injury at Wright State, Senior Will Kenney hurt his ankle early on at the Miami tournament, and sophomore Will King Condit broke his wrist. While it is frustrating to not have been able to put the entire Firedogs team on the field together yet this fall, the team hopes to be fully healthy and ready to go by the spring.

Miami Boogie Summer Cooldown

The Dogs first game was against a Miami split squad, the “Miami Dolphins.” OWU came out hard and took the early lead with good handler play from their seniors and conservative cutting from the younger players in the stack. With solid play through the first points, the Dogs looked to run different offenses then their traditional ho-stack. For the first time all year OWU showed a side stack with two Iso’s, along with two handlers. The Dogs were able to use this look to work the disc up the field, isolating their best players, and score with ease.

Things were going the Firedogs way until Senior cutter Will Kenny went down with a sprained ankle attempting to make a D on a deep throw to someone else’s man. With this score, and the crushing blow of the Dogs losing one of their senior leaders Miami went on a 8-5 run and took the game 15-12.

The Dogs played sectional powerhouse Ohio University in two games over the weekend. Both were incredibly close, highly contested games that eventually went down to universe point. While the Dogs inevitably lost both these games, it was the best offense and the most heart the team had shown since their D-III nationals run in 2007. Everyone from the seniors to the freshmen played huge and while they ultimately came up short, they all had a lot to be proud of. Senior Will Yoder and freshman Eric Charett came up huge on D all game, while Junior Jake Barnett scored 8 of the teams 15 points.

The team finished the weekend 2-4 with wins over Denison and Earlham, and close losses to OU twice and Miami X and Miami Y.

Case Western North Coast Open

Due to injuries and illnesses, the Dogs were only able to muster up enough to have a savage roster the morning of North Coast. The Dogs sported 2 seniors and 5 freshman in what became a learning experience to say the least. While the freshman improved tons, it was not a pretty weekend in the win loss category.