Thursday, August 10, 2006

WJUC Schedule Preview (c/o Tony Leonardo)

This was posted to RSD two days ago in preparation for the WJUC tournament that will begin on sunday...

MONDAY

9am Canada versus Australia (Boys)
2pm: Canada versus Sweden (Boys)
Yes, Sweden has won a record SIX Junior Worlds tournaments but the
recent history belongs to the North American squads. Canada should be
in a comfort zone after a great tournament wake-up[ at the hands of the
Aussies. Sweden must not play flat to put a scare into Canada. In the
AM, the Australia match could be a lot closer that people expect. With
4 days stateside behind them, Australia should be well-prepared for the
time difference and truly amped to get their first game in.

4pm: USA vs Canada (Girls)
In Finland in 2004, Day 1, USA beat Canada 15-11. By the time the
tournament finished, they met in the finals and Canada walked off
champions with a 17-8 victory. Not too many of those 2004 players are
returning for either side, but the line has been drawn. This year Team
USA is coached by ladies behind the best club team in recent memory --
Seattle Riot. Surely coaches Vida Towne, Miranda Roth and Julie
Weese-Young and their bevy of Seattle players on the roster (I count 7
including O'Malley and Claire Suver who currently play for Riot) will
be familiar with Team Canada and their 8 players from Vancouver. It
should be great!




TUESDAY

Boys Rivalry Round: 2:15
Sweden plays Finland! These two teams meet in the finals all the time.
Finland has lately gotten the best of the swedes. Ikea vs Nokia.
Great Britain versus Australia! The former penal colony likes to rankle
the stodginess of their colonial ancestors. UK won 18-17 in 2004.
Colombia vs Israel! No rivalry yet for these countries, but coming in
as the low seeds and seeing international competition of this sort for
the first time suggests that this is the game where a team will get its
first W.

4pm: USA vs Canada (Boys)
Get ready for the fireworks. Ought to be some serious high-flying
action. Has this game ever disappointed since 2000 Worlds? No, right? I
don't even know who to call out for this one, just watch out for USA's
repeat contestant Darden Pitts playing in his backyard on fields he's
familiar with.

WEDNESDAY

9am: Canada vs USA (Girls)
Round-robin rematch. Ro-sham for shirt color anyone?

10:30am: Sweden versus Australia (Boys)
This seems like a game the Aussies would need to win to cement their
international standing as the third-best Ultimate country behind USA
and Canada (specious, I know).

2:15pm Finland versus Great Britain (Boys)
In the club division, the UK has surpassed FInland recently after years
of Finnish success. Finland has tradiitonally been stronger in Juniors
however This game should be a good one.

THURSDAY

9am: Spoiler Round
Semifinals is just around the corner on Thursday. These last pool-play
games shouldn't be make-or-break, but they could be when USA and
Australia tangle and Canada faces off against Great Britain. Expect a
scare but not an upset.

10:30 AM: Girls Semifinal #1 (1 seed vs 4)
12:00: Girls Semifinal # 2 (2 seed vs 3)

With four teams at the tournament, these semis will be the 3rd time
teams have played each other

1:30: Boys semi #1: (1 seed vs 4) According to seeding, this would be
USA versus Finland, but I wouldnt be surprised to see GB or Australia
here. USA will be here or, if they lose the Canada game, in semi #2.
3:00pm: Boys Semifinal #2 (2 seed vs 3). Seeding says Canada vs Sweden,
but like the other semifinal I think that any of the four teams in the
next tier (Sweden, Finland, GB and Austrlia) have a great chance.

FRIDAY
11am: BOYS FINAL
Would be shocking if this wasn't USA versus Canada.

1:00pm GIRLS FINAL
Would be shocking if this wasn't Canada versus USA

comments? opinions? I would like to know more about these juniors
teams!
Tony L.

1 comments:

tiinabooth said...

We just finished our two scrimmages with the Australian boys and girls teams. The ARHS girls beat the Aussies 12-9, with the locals leading throughout most of the game. I believe the Aussies did tie it up at nines.

I know more about the boys, of course, because I was coaching them. The Aussies went up 2-0 and then ARHS took the half 8-5. The Aussies fought back and tied it at nines when cap went on. The Canes then won 11-9.

Both teams from Australia will make some noise at Devens. The girls all seemed taller than our Amherst girls and are fearless. The Aussie boys run a horizontal and know how to take care of the disc. They moved pretty easily through our zone until the wind came up in the second half. I think that the opening Open game on Monday morning-Aussies vs. the Canadians-will be a great way to start the week of competition.

We had hundreds of spectators at ARHS and I actually got to kick the football team off the field at the beginning of the evening, which is always fun. By the way, both ARHS teams had college ringers, i.e. Emily Baecher/Shira Stothoff and Will Neff/Sam Roberts, as well as a few other college players.

Next up for the boys: Team USA on Saturday a.m. at their training camp