The truth about this post is that I've tried to write it a couple times but simply don't know anything about these programs. So, I'll let you guys do the talking. The seeds are not up, so the numbering of teams is simply based on the current RRI standings.
It should be noted that a few of the following teams are currently at tournaments this weekend, including the Amherst Invite...
If one of the contributors from the East Coast is willing to do write-ups, it would be much appreciated by those from the East Coast I'm sure...
EASTERN OPEN TEAMS:
1. North Hills Boys (RRI: 2968) - Going 15-1 for their season, these boys are the team to beat. And though I'm not sure it is accurate, 16 of their 18 team roster are all seniors. Is this right?
2. Amherst (2902) - Going 3-2 at the Paideia Cup are the only results available online for this premiere team. Being led by veteran coach Tiina Booth will continue to give this program the edge they need to take those universe point losses to teams like Columbia and make them a W.
3. Columbia (2884) - Going to one more tournament than Amherst, the Columbia squad dominated the 3rd Annual Born to Dive tourney going 6-0 and taking the finals over Pennsbury 15-9. They are also the longest running program with a history that that goes back to the beginning... who else can brag about that? that's right, no one!
4. Paideia (2803) - Taking their only HS losses from North Hills and the Seattle Combo team at their own hosted Paideia Cup should be seen as one reason why this team should be feared. Also, is it just me, or is this the first time that Paideia is traveling out of state to attend Easterns? If so, props to them for finally making it to the big show.
(sorry to the below teams...)
5. Pennsbury (2789)
6. Martinsville (2744)
7. Longmeadow (2635)
8. Woodside (2610)
9. Beacon (2609)
10. Memorial (2555)
11. YHB (2487)
12. Urbana (2445)
13. Home School (2405)
14. University of Nashville (2389)
15. Ridgefield HS (2365)
16. Northfield Mount Hermon (2338)
Friday, May 02, 2008
Easterns Open Preview
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49 comments:
North Hills does have a roster of nearly all seniors, but they also have an impressive JV team.
Pennsbury beat Amherst at the Amherst Invite, and the winner of their game vs CHS (the third in as many weeks!) will likely take the second seed, with the loser in third and Amherst 4th.
That would make a killer pool with Amherst and Paideia duking it out to see which team avoids a prequarter matchup.
Yeah i feel that Amherst is a little overated as a number 2 seed in the discussion, and after today Amherst is gonna be notched down to 4 or 5 in my book..
Top 4 for me-
1. North Hills
2.Columbia
3.Pennsbury
4/5. Amherst and Paidea
Semifinals at Easterns is gonna incredibly tight..
CHS over Pennsbury 15-11 in the finals.
North Hills
Columbia
Pennsbury
Amherst
Paideia
----
Huge drop-off in talent
from what I've heard Longmeadow looks good and I think Woodside can surprise some people. I don't think the talent drop off is as big as people think its going to be.
Ok.. I would like to respectfully disagree with that statement.
Longmeadow only managed 1 point on Amherst, and 5 on Columbia-- A.k.a. Beat
Woodside although a slightly more reasonable pick had only managed 5 on Columbia and the 9 they scored on Pennsbury was hardly a close game if you watched it.
The drop-off is huge.. and the top 5 will be the only ones bringing a competition.
How does Amherst get such an inflated rating.. they have 2 losses to Columbia and 1 to Pennsbury.. it makes no sense and they don't deserve preferential seeding to give them an unfair advantage.
as much as i try to stay our of these blogs i do feel like i need to say something in Longmeadow's defense. Although we only managed to get 1 point on Amherst we were playing one of the worst games we've ever played and im not trying to make an excuse like "oh we would have won but we were playing awful". Amherst defiantly deserved to win but we were not playing well. Also, in the Columbia game, the score did not depict how we played against them. You can ask anyone on that team. also, For the beginning part of the game we were trading points and then we would work it up the field and throw it away on the goal line. Columbia defiantly deserved to win, they are an amazing team this year and they are going to be hard to beat. I wish everyone else the best of luck at Easterns too.
Ryan Rzepka
#3 Longmeadow
Also in Longmeadow's defense, after talking toa few Amherst players, they said that Longmeadow was simply playing poorly. I think that although they may not beat teams like Pennsbury, North Hills or Columbia, Longmeadow will show some solid ultimate at Easterns.
And I think North Hills will take this year.
Ryan Holmes
#15 Needham
Amherst is 1-1 against CHS. They lost in pool play by 1 at the Pcup and then beat them by a few in consolation.
Longmeadow was w/o their worlds player for what thats worth. The trading of points lasted only until about 3-3 when chs became dominant.
Seedings should be 1-North Hills, 2-Columbia, 3-Pennsbury, 4-Amherst, 5-Paideia. North Hills is the obvious one, remaining undefeated by any Easterns team. Columbia lost to ARHS in consolation but won when it mattered, and must be seeded above Pennsbury for their 3-0 record against that team. Amherst, similarly, must be below Pennsbury because of their 14-11 loss this weekend, but beats out Paideia for the four seed because of a more impressive finish at Paideia Cup.
i feel north hills didnt go to AI bc they were scared to play the top east coast teams again.... Saying they are the team to beat is false and would also like to say that there are 5 teams to beat, but columbia being the top team to beat.... a combination of Zander, jr worlds player josh, and brain walters is a deadly team... and the best player on n. hills couldnt touch zander
id second that ----
dont forget pennsbury beat north hills in the finals of tidewater tuneup this fall.
easterns is up for grabs and seedings mean nothing
I am guessing north hills went to Hopkins this weekend for a fun and and easier tournament than the Amherst Invitational. They were probably just looking to play some ultimate leading up into their most important tournament of their year. I think that north hills is able to match up pretty well to CHS's line up, with players like #19 and then colin connor. Then throw #0 and alex thorne into the mix. It will prove to be one very exciting weekend.
The best thing about this weekend is that really any of the top 5 teams have a shot at winning the tournament.
NH has beaten every top 5 team in this group but has lost to pennsbury.
Amherst has beaten CHS and then lost to them one game, also has lost to NH.
Paideia with such a strong program is always a threat, but I know they have lost to NH once this year, in a very tight game down at Paideia Cup.
And Pennsbury, with thier victory over Amherst this weekend and their win last fall will certainly have a very good chance at winning this weekend.
I would like to point out to those who say seeding doesnt matter.. it really really does.. If any of these top 5 teams met in Quarters Then Im sure they would be tremendously tired after that matchup. And to win they would probably face an equally tough team in Semi's and then in the Finals. Seeding can put teams in position to win and thats why many college teams work so hard in producing winning records with High RRI's. I hope the seeds are drawn up correctly because as of now i dont think Amherst should be above Pennsbury or Columbia.
How I would seed:
North Hills
Columbia
Pennsbury
Amherst
Paideia
Longmeadow
Woodside
Memorial (because I think Columbia, Pennsbury, and Amherst would all beat Cathedral)
Beacon
Yorktown-HB Woodlawn
Urbana
NMH
Holy Family (w over Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe who have win over USN)
USN
Ridgefield
Martinsville
one word: the whisk!
Can anyone who was at AI comment on the semis and finals? Competitive games?
from the outside looking in, NH seems to have a better response from the West Coast side of things. last year they were given horrible spirit and marks from just about every team and their reputation fell (at least on these boards). Now this year they have played tight games against both coasts and haven't received the same "their spirit is atrocious" comments
I think seeding doesn't matter as much as we give it credit for. Last Columbia beat YHB 14-12 or 16-14 or something like that and then took Pennsbury to universe point. The great teams can win several intense games in a row. That's what makes them great.
Why were the trophys so terrible for everything except spirit. Prob Booth switched it once her team was not in the finals.
I was at AI.
I didn't watch the semis, but I did watch the finals very intensely. The game really could have gone either way. Columbia is a full team of extremely athletic players. They managed to have an open man deep almost every point. They had an easier game before the final also, playing Longmeadow, while Pennsbury played a hardfought game against Amherst. I think that had a noticeable effect on play.
Pennsbury lost the game mentally. They played with Columbia, even taking the lead in the first half. It was a lot of dropped discs and unforced turns that put them a few points behind and they just never got back. I think they can certainly beat Columbia given another chance. A game of Pennsbury vs Columbia can go either way.
AI- The semis on one side was a blowout Columbia over NMH like 15-2or something rediculas and Pennsbury over Amherst 14-11.Pennsbury vs. Amherst is the only semis game to be spoken about and it was finaminal. Pennsbury had the lead for most of the game but Amherst continued to fight getting as close as 12-10...Some key players of this game were Isac Saul as usually with many beautiful hucks. Another key player was Denny Beaches who scored atleast 7 or 8 of their points. Some key players for Amherst #5,#12& #25 with alot of patience and hard D. Defence began to collapse towards the end of the game for ARHS though wich were forced to go zone for the first time all game, not being able to handle the matchups. This game was easily the best game of the entire weekend.
The finals was also a very intense game to watch two rivals in Pennsbury and Columbia battle even though CHS seemed to have most of the control. PHS came out quit flat, but also may be due to the almost 4 hour wait for the finals game after the semis. Some key players for CHS were of course zander who played outstanding defence and also had many nice puts, and josh who managed the offence very nicley. A key player for PHS was once again Denny Beaches who got ups and many lays for an awesome performance. Eventually CHS became to much for the PHS offence causeing them to quickly wore down after the half but still put up a great fight!
Not to add on to the rude comment left before but it was kinda fishy that the spirit awards were two foot tall trophys and "accidentlly" had first place written on them and the champions of each bracket recieved only a trophy disc? Not to mention that two of the three spirit awards (huge trophys) were givin to Amherst Jv A & Amherst girls.
Congrats to CHS for becoming the first team besides Amherst and Paideia to take AI!
Good luck to all at easterns!
why do anonymous posters feel the need to keep reminding us that a pennsbury chs game could go either way? theyve played 3 times this spring, and each time CHS has won. The last time they beat CHS was in the fall without Zander, or Brian. If a team loses every time to another team, it's clear, it can't go either way.
Actual seedings:
North Hills
Columbia
Pennsbury
Amherst
Paideia
Longmeadow
Memorial
Woodside
Beacon
YHB
NMH
USN
Urbana
Holy Family
Ridgefield
Martinsville
CHS didn't have too much of a pushover with longmeadow, it seemed they had starters in for almost the whole game and only started to let up with 1 or 2 points to go
its spelled "Defense " use spellcheck u idiot. chs did not play nmh
Come on now. Ultimate is supposed to be fun, and usually more intense than any other sport but just because someone got the game wrong,CHS vs Longmeadow instead of CHS vs NMH, you don't gotta call him an "idiot" just ill- informed.
The seedings seem to be pretty well placed. I am excited to see the Amherst Paideia Game 3rd round this saturday, both teams are extremely fundamental and have a lot of team chemistry while other teams like NH and Pennsbury seem to only have a few play makers going for them.
And in Longmeadow's Defense, a team as young as they are(6 yrs.. or something?) have made some huge strides to make a name for themselves in the Ultimate spectrum and they deserve to be at easters this weekend.(especially without a coach/being run by 4 of the captains.) Hoorah Longmeadow!
columbia wins over north hills in the finals 15 - 13.
North Hills has been around for 5 years and only had a coach last year so while Longmeadow is able to do well for being young and with the lack of a coach, other teams like North Hills can do it better.
AI was a well ran tournament and Pennsbury came down with the flu and was missing players in there first and second games against Columbia. Also both games could of went either ways. Metro east takes easterns NH wont be able to hold Pennsbury or Columbia
North Hills is one of the most incredible teams I have ever played against. They are all big and strong and can all jump super high. Right now I think they are the team to beat. They lost to the Seattle all star team at pi cup in the finals, but they also beat them earlier in the tournmanet.
Simon Gottlieb
24 HURT
talk is cheap boysss
All this hype about North Hills is unreal...Truth is Columbia is the team to beat...not even coming from a chs player but there whole team is just so solid...i dont beleive north hills and columbia have met this year but i beleive columbia will run them just like they have with the rest of there competition so far...i would rather see any other team then columbia at easterns besides in the finals...by the way i was also at amherst this weekend which was one of the best tournaments i have been to with the only flaw being those huge spirit trophys accidently saying first place is some of the biggest bs ive seen.
Just to clarify, that comment did not come from a CHS player. I have checked with the team and they are still standing strong on their no post rule.
Amherst was a fantastic weekend with tons of hard games. I was very impressed with all of the teams there and the gap between teams have really shrunk.
I would also like to thank Tiina, Jim, and the Parents of Amherst who ran an AMAZING tournament!
See everyone at Easterns, which will be a great show of 16 solid teams.
Anthony Nunez
Columbia High School Coach
North Hills-Great team will be awesome at easterns and put up some fun highlights.
Columbia-Not the team to beat at all, they had the easier schedule/semis and were well rested in facing Pennsbury.
Pennsbury- The real team to beat, Chez having the Flu hurt them so much he prob would have skied Zander more times in that final had he not been throwing up all weekend.
Amherst- Going to the final nuff said.
Paideia- Hard pool at Paideia cup, and will be a fun game to watch against Amherst.
Long Meadow- The sleeper pick, they will be ready to go and step up. Missing Tommy hurt them this weekend and he is deadly.
Woodside- A quarters team def, and will be real sick nasty on defense.
Madison- Could upset CHS on day one, and will give them a hard fought fight.
My pick is Amherst losing to Pennsbury in the finals.
Jake
there was a 4 hr + break between semis and finals @ AI. Everyone was well rested.
So lets review the myriad of excuses given to justify pennsbury's loses
1.they had the flu
2. They weren't rested, despite a 4 hour break
3. They didn't play well, but it was unlucky
4. Things could have gone either way
When they lose to Columbia at easterns, I look forward to a new set of excuses. It could have gone either way.
How is Beacon?
just to clarify, im pretty sure nobody from pennsbury has made any of those excuses, we hate this thing.
Don't listen to anything by the name of Jake...It is just Jake Antonello who is strictly unit and doesnt know anything he is talking
oooooooo goooood ol' blogspot place where all of ultimate can talk the talk but cant walk the walk...Bringin home Easterns to the real East side.....
doesnt pennsbury have some kid whos in his like 5th year of highschool?
thats not true and you shouldn't make up things like that cause you get SNUCK
Wow there is alot of talk and hype in this years upa high school easterns... In fact talk is cheap and it will all be settled on the feild in less than 90 hours.
#72
Justin Principi
Pennsbury Peyote
Btw i have been to AI for the last three years and each year it was great
I only wish the bottom half was a bit stronger...
Anybody know why Lexington Catholic and LC Bird were no goes? Especially LC Bird, they beat Urbana and YHB pretty solidly.
And what's the deal with Martinsville? Anyone ever played them? Do they actually exist?
Lex Catholic has graduation this weekend, so they couldn't go.
In the lower matchups, watch out for Ridgefield HS to break out of their 15th seed. Playing for the team in the next town over, as well as the only other competitive team in the area (John Jay), we've played them many times and while they lack the depth of the bigger programs, they have an insane handler and they have extraordinary command of scoobers/hammers/blades, which causes fits against a cup.
Ugh, the pain of having been denied a bid...
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