What a great start to the tournament!
Our Thursday international action was great. With Vancouver, Toronto, London, and Medellin all in house, we thad two really quality rounds of Ultimate today.
Round 1 started with Kie and Clapham United squaring off, and Canadian powerhouses Furious George and Goat battling on the next field over.
Clapham looked strong early, and took advantage of nearly all of Kie’s mistakes. Their height allowed them to dominate the skies, and their hucks were looking spot on. Up 8-3 at half, and 10-5 early in the second, Clapham look assured for victory. Then Kie threw into fifth gear and started getting blocks behind their incredible speed and their ability to get their bodies, whether vertical or horizontal, in front of the disc. They rattled off four straight breaks to tie it up at 10’s. They traded for 11’s, but the cap came on with the disc in Clapham’s hand and the Brits took the game on DGP.
The Goat/Furious George game looked intense from the beginning, with neither team willing to give an inch. Goat struck first with two breaks off the back, 2-0. The game’s momentum swung back and forth throughout the game, with Furious taking half 8-7, but the boys from Toronto finished strong with a two point margin at the end—the same margin they came out the blocks with—and won 12-10.
Round 2 saw Goat versus Kie, and Furious versus Clapham. Where Clapham seemed to let Kie back in the second half, Goat closed the door on the Colombians. After building a halftime lead of 8-3, Goat stayed strong the rest of the game, winning 15-8.
The Furious/Clapham matchup looked very similar on paper; big players throwing big. It was a shootout all afternoon, with each team hitting the endzones from 60 and 70 yards away. More times than not, Furious was able to come down with the disc. It looked like Clapham had less legs than Furious at the end, and the Monkey slipped away at the end. 15-13 Furious George wins.
Goat goes undefeated, Furious and Clapham split their games, and Kie goes winless.
All of these international teams, three quarters of which travelled many thousands of miles, seemed like they were just getting oriented to playing today. I expect they will be deadlier and hungrier in the days to come. Thursday was the prelude; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—that will be the real test.
