What’s better than a Frisbee game? MORE Frisbee games!! On Friday, D.A. Ultimate played a bonus game against our friendly rival, Eagle Hill. Coaches from both teams watched the weather all day, remembering last year’s fateful match when the skies opened up just a few points in and the rain fell in sheets while we sprinted the quarter mile to shelter. Mother Nature was kinder to us this year, offering little more than a downfield breeze as a challenge to our throws.
We were down five field players for a variety of reasons, but a majority of those benched players, along with our trusty manager, Sarah Sookoo, along with a good handful of fans, cheered the team on for the duration of the game. Eagle Hill surprised us with three out-of-the-gate touchdowns, but Alejandro Simon and Captain Forrest Gao stepped up their game and executed a smart goal that turned the tide. Kass Gifford’s long huck to Captain Jerry Huang, and Kass’s assist to Alice Ai (nice goal, Alice!) evened out the competition, and that’s when the team settled into more confident, organized plays.
One of the many positive aspects of the game was the variety of players with key strategies or moments on the field. In addition to the five field players I named above, Jeanlukas Meza, Elena Tskhvitaria, and Jeff Wang also scored goals against Eagle Hill. Additionally, Zhexuan Li had at least two slider catches and one catch that seemed impossible after a heart-stopping bobble. As one player put it, “Zhexuan put his life on the line so as not to disappoint his team!” Alejandro also had a slider catch, and Jeff looked like a gymnast with a catch-and-roll move that’s starting to become the norm. Defensively, Jeff knocked down the disk in the opponent’s endzone no fewer than 4 times in this game, “snatching victory from the jaws…”, as it were.
And snatch the victory we did. Elena did an awesome job against a much taller opponent, challenging him when he crowded her position. Forrest had great hustle, playing a cup that was hard to beat. Offensively, our team looked great (especially in the second half), and coaches applaud players for growth over the course of the game. Many thanks to our fans, to photographer Matt Risley, and, of course, to our noble opponents: the players from Eagle Hill.