Ultimate frisbee flies at URI
Steph Landry
Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: Sports
Saturday morning dawned gray and cold as many members of the Holy Cross community slept in, however, one group of dedicated students was miles away in Rhode Island, braving the ferocious elements to represent our school at URI's fall Ultimate Frisbee tournament.
This co-ed tournament marks the first full-team competition for the Purple Heys this season. Experienced veterans and starry-eyed newbies alike departed from Hogan Campus Center at 7:00 a.m. and trekked to the fields of URI. Despite the rain and the cold, the Heys came ready to play. Solid warm-up time and enthusiastic cheers helped prepare the players physically and mentally.
Holy Cross took an early lead in their first game against an incomplete Bridgewater Ultimate squad, thanks in part to heads-up play from freshman Ben "Maximus" Crowe, who scored two consecutive points, and senior coach Dan "Gopher" Portnoy, who braved an injury to compete. During halftime, however, the rest of Bridgewater's team showed up, forcing the Heys to dig in and play with even more intensity. They managed to pull out a close 11-9 win against this number one seed.
Immediately following the Bridgewater game the squad faced the impressive force of Wheaton Ultimate. Holy Cross fell into a deep 1-6 hole at halftime, but the team refused to let the deficit affect their play. A passionate second half surge, led by veteran players Craig "Scrappy" Lowell '06 and Kevin "Big Bird" McCarthy '08, allowed the Heys to tie the score at 8-8 and give Wheaton a run for their money. Unfortunately, Wheaton squeaked by with a 10-8 victory, but a good game was played by all.
The third game against a formidable Southern Connecticut squad proved challenging for the Heys; even sick layout defense from sophomore Cassidy "Bluto" Edwards and solid handling from veterans Matt "Noah" Farina '06, Jack "Handy" Hanlon '06, and Corey "LoCal" Evans '08 were not enough to keep the team from falling to SoCo.
The Heys' final game against home team URI also resulted in an 11-6 loss despite strong play from all, especially the girls, senior Julie "Swiss Miss" Barry and rookies Katie "K-Zone" Irwin '09, Steph "Change/Annoyances" Landry '09, and Sally "Crushes" Hile '08.
Even though the results may not be what the Purple Heys had envisioned, they had fun playing and are looking forward to bettering their record in the coming weeks. Says Coach Dan: "Overall the tournament was actually a pretty big success. We can only expect to get better from here on out."
This co-ed tournament marks the first full-team competition for the Purple Heys this season. Experienced veterans and starry-eyed newbies alike departed from Hogan Campus Center at 7:00 a.m. and trekked to the fields of URI. Despite the rain and the cold, the Heys came ready to play. Solid warm-up time and enthusiastic cheers helped prepare the players physically and mentally.
Holy Cross took an early lead in their first game against an incomplete Bridgewater Ultimate squad, thanks in part to heads-up play from freshman Ben "Maximus" Crowe, who scored two consecutive points, and senior coach Dan "Gopher" Portnoy, who braved an injury to compete. During halftime, however, the rest of Bridgewater's team showed up, forcing the Heys to dig in and play with even more intensity. They managed to pull out a close 11-9 win against this number one seed.
Immediately following the Bridgewater game the squad faced the impressive force of Wheaton Ultimate. Holy Cross fell into a deep 1-6 hole at halftime, but the team refused to let the deficit affect their play. A passionate second half surge, led by veteran players Craig "Scrappy" Lowell '06 and Kevin "Big Bird" McCarthy '08, allowed the Heys to tie the score at 8-8 and give Wheaton a run for their money. Unfortunately, Wheaton squeaked by with a 10-8 victory, but a good game was played by all.
The third game against a formidable Southern Connecticut squad proved challenging for the Heys; even sick layout defense from sophomore Cassidy "Bluto" Edwards and solid handling from veterans Matt "Noah" Farina '06, Jack "Handy" Hanlon '06, and Corey "LoCal" Evans '08 were not enough to keep the team from falling to SoCo.
The Heys' final game against home team URI also resulted in an 11-6 loss despite strong play from all, especially the girls, senior Julie "Swiss Miss" Barry and rookies Katie "K-Zone" Irwin '09, Steph "Change/Annoyances" Landry '09, and Sally "Crushes" Hile '08.
Even though the results may not be what the Purple Heys had envisioned, they had fun playing and are looking forward to bettering their record in the coming weeks. Says Coach Dan: "Overall the tournament was actually a pretty big success. We can only expect to get better from here on out."
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