| Colorado Cup 2008 Writeup |
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| Written by 808 | |
| Thursday, 14 August 2008 | |
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After an almost 2 month stretch of just practices and track workouts, YR took to the tournament field again at the Pleasant View Soccer Complex in Boulder, CO for the Open division of Colorado Cup. The team went into the weekend ranked second behind Madison Club. Pool B had a tough net of teams of Prairie Fire, Medicine Men, 99 Problems, and Last Call and YR aimed to finish in the top 2 to secure a spot in the championship semis bracket on Sunday. After an almost 2 month stretch of just practices and track workouts, YR took to the tournament field again at the Pleasant View Soccer Complex in Boulder, CO for the Open division of Colorado Cup. The team went into the weekend ranked second behind Madison Club. Pool B had a tough net of teams of Prairie Fire, Medicine Men, 99 Problems, and Last Call and YR aimed to finish in the top 2 to secure a spot in the championship semis bracket on Sunday. The weather on Saturday morning was high 90s, bright, and still winds as the team warmed up for their first game against 99 Problems and adjusting to the altitude effect on throws. YR came out strong on D putting on stifling marks and contesting the 50:50 jump balls the other team was throwing up. YR closed the game out 13-9. The next game against Medicine Men from Maryland was interrupted with a lightning delay, possession Medicine Men but a 9-7 YR lead. Players converged to tournament central to either drive off to get food or wait it out. After the brief storm passed both teams retook the field as Medicine Men hoped to capitalize on half of the YR roster missing. They had the disc on their own goal line but now faced a ferocious 20-30 mph upwind battled for 70 yards. YR forced multiple turns and eventually punched in the break. From there it was an upwind-downwind battle as YR executed key hucks and zone breaking throws upwind to take the game 13-7. The winds still raged as YR moved to the showcase fields to play their last two games against Team X and Prairie Fire. Team X, infused with a generous amount of Mamabird talent, ran the standard Colorado flood offense to isolate cutters and give them the entire field to work with. YR sidelines helped support the defense in containing this game at 13-8. The last game of the day pit the 1 and 2 seeds of the pool, YR against Prairie Fire from Kansas City. Both teams, undefeated so far, recognized the importance of this game to advance from the pool. In the end it was Prairie Fire's superior numbers and supply of fresh legs that won the game. Their quick handler movement and confident deep looks proved too hard to force breaks on or get the disc back when the O turned it. YR ended the day 3-1 and looked forward to the next day's final pool play game against San Diego's Last Call. Sunday morning the weather had calmed down and returned to the 90 degrees and sunny like the forecast had promised. YR started off very slow and found themselves in a 7-1 hole by half. The second half saw a much more fired up YR, gaining strings of breaks from hungry defensive hustle. Cap was approaching soon as YR just punched in another break to make it 10-12, game point still to Last Call. They worked the disc chilly and took the game 13-10, leaving a stunned YR to battle for no higher than 5th place. YR resolved to win out and played a strong game against Vancouver's Blackfish with smart matchups against their star players, 13-4. The last game of the tournament saw a rematch against Team X that both teams agreed on shortening to 11 instead of 13. YR carried the momentum from their previous meeting the day before and suffocated the Team X O lines to close the game and the day with a 11-6 win. A disappointing finishing but a much needed awakening for the young bay area team to take back. Up next on the tournament schedule is Discos Calientes in hot Chico and YR looks to repeat as champions to again take home the trophy case of Sierra Nevada Summer Ale. With full sidelines for a tournament so close to home, YR will settle for nothing less than a tournament win against tough competition like Monster, Rhino, and another shot to redeem losses to Last Call and Team Joaquin. Look for the YR/Rhino showcase game on Saturday night under the lights. |
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