UNH hosts Ultimate Frisbee tournament

The University of New Hampshire played host to Dartmouth, Vermont and Middlebury on Saturday for some Ultimate Frisbee action at the UNH Student Recreation Fields. This was all a part of the USA Ultimate College Conference Championships, which saw UNH Ultimate Frisbee compete for one of the three regional bids available at the tournament.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the team was unable to secure a bid after losing each of its two games. Dartmouth placed first in the tournament en route to becoming conference champions, defeating Middlebury, 15-6, in its opening match before going on to beat Vermont, 15-10, in its second game. Vermont and Middlebury, whose sole victories came against UNH, secured the other two bids.

Despite UNH losing to the Catamounts, the Wildcats came into their second game of the day with hopes for a victory. The team’s energy was quickly felt, as UNH came out during its first offensive possession and scored with a long bomb down field that was caught in the end zone.

Middlebury was quick to respond, going deep to tie up with UNH. Middlebury then gained the lead, but the Wildcats were able to keep within at least two points throughout the entirety of the game.

After Middlebury reached eight points, with the score at 8-6, the two teams took a break at the halfway mark. It was after this break that the Wildcats came out with a fire under their bellies, forcing Middlebury into committing turnovers and blocking long passes in order to maintain possession of the Frisbee.

With the game reaching nearly two hours – games are played until one team scores 15 or the time has exceeded two hours – and the score tied up, 11-11, one score was all that was needed in order to claim victory. Unfortunately for UNH, that goal came when a Middlebury player was left open and was able to player was left open and was able to secure the disc for the victory.

The loss knocked out the Wildcat’s hopes of heading to the regional tournament, effectively ending their season. Despite the loss though, the love of the game truly shined through as the team shifts its attention towards next season and the recruiting effort that will follow with the hopes that the team can improve on the results from this season.

A part of that initiative will come when the UNH Ultimate Frisbee team holds a tournament, where people will be able to sign up as individuals and play with random teams. It is at that event where UNH Ultimate Frisbee will be bumping up its recruiting efforts.

“Looking forward to next year, [it’ll be about] trying to get a lot of recruitment, hoping to improve for next year,” Matt Allen, senior said.