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| Photo by Purazar Bhadha (eFire Studio.com) |
For Ontario ultimate players, the 2nd weekend in July was your chance to GO BIG or GO HOME and so we find out what Glide's 2013 season was really all about. Spaced out nicely between Comedy of Errors and No Borders comes a tournament for Glide in which we've had growing success year over year (see our results page for details). In the ever-growing Mixed division, this year 15 teams were vying for 1 of 5 bids to NATS in Vancouver so as teams from across Ontario descended upon Kingston for the Ontario Ultimate Championships - or Regional's - despite the tremendously hot weather things got just a little hotter knowing that 10 teams would be sent home on Sunday afternoon not going any further with their 2013 season.
Our initial seeding was third overall, and that meant we were top of our pool - something that earns you a few select privileges, but also places a big target on your back for all the other teams gunning for your spot to claim those privileges you earned during the season leading up to Regional's; there will be little rest for many teams this weekend, especially Glide!
Glide's first game saw them match up against a team who knocked them out in the "game to-go" in 2011, Zen (12). The initial Saturday warm-up was long, intense and we were locked in and ready to go. Under the intense heat, and playing on a field that appeared to have much more than 4 sides, we ignored what we could not control and focused on playing Glide ultimate, one game at a time. We came out early and hit hard, going up a few points to start. In typical Zen fashion, they scraped and fought back and snagged a few points of their own, evening the playing field. After about 25 minutes into the game, we found the right gear and kept our foot on the gas, beginning to go 2 for 1 in the score column. Half had us up 7-4 or so. Hard-fought by Zen, but Glide takes this game 13-7 at point cap.
Able to huddle under our tent (Thanks Dom!) and seek some much needed shade, we had 30 minutes to prepare for game 2 of the day against our colleagues and hometown friends, Bigfish (14). As seems to be the theme with any Ottawa teams when they match up against one another, they came out firing on ALL CYLINDERS, and perhaps Glide took them a little too lightly (not taking any credit away from them however). 10 minutes after the horn sounds and the scoreboard is Glide: 0 Bigfish: 3. Timeout called and we regroup. We settle down, lock in and play some Glide ultimate. Fast forward and we're looking at a 4-4 score and our composure is keeping us locked in. Still lots of intensity from Bigfish with Gavin T. leading the charge, but a few unforced errors allow Glide to capitalize and punch in a few more points. Half-time goes to Glide, 7-5. Despite the awkward field dimensions and blistering sun, Bigfish still brought energy until the final point, a testament to a program moving in the right direction. Glide ends the game 13-9.
Glide's final game in the pool pitted them against another team who knocked them out in a "game to-go", only this time it was during last year's 2012 Regional's, Whiplash (5). Both teams were coming off a BYE so the legs should be as fresh as they're going to get; no advantage for either team. Time to see what is left in the tank! Although Whiplash took the final spot to NATS in 2012 out of Ontario, Glide enacted some revenge when they got a bid from a Quebec team that didn't attend and met Whiplash in Victoria and won 13-9. Here was game #3 between these two squads and 1st place in the pool on the line. Unfortunately, we were still playing on the same shortened field which means hucks from end zone to end zone were fairly common so defence had to be turned up by both teams. Points were traded for much of the first half. Afterwards however, it seemed Whiplash wanted it just a little more. The end result was a solid win for Whiplash - 13-8 - and one that took some of the wind out of Glide's sails. Whiplash and Glide swap seeds in pool play and that means a more challenging route for Glide as the crossover pitted us against the #1 seed in our opposite pool, instead of the #2. But we did not give up!
Low and behold, our other hometown colleagues who were the #2 seed in their pool beat the odds and became the #1, so once more the ultimate world finds a way to match up BFC and Glide. As noted earlier, this was sure to be a high octane thriller! Earlier on in the year and for the first time in the team's history, Glide took down BFC 13-10 at Comedy of Errors in Montreal. This however meant nothing at Regional's as both rosters were upgraded and both teams were hungry for an all important win. This game was great from the beginning, and having some decent wind introduced helped ensure that huck after huck wasn't going to spoil a great on-field game. There were some calls on both sides and game was played in typical BFC/Glide fashion, tight D and structured but innovative O. However, there were slightly different strategies employed from a game management standpoint as Glide's trademark "line rolling" was used while BFC had a more conservation approach with the men and women they utilized. Glide took it to half. Timeouts used strategically in the 2nd half as each team adjusted on the fly and there was some highlight reel play from both teams. Glide ends up 11-8 when the horn goes and BFC punches in the last point to end a great game, 11-9 Glide over BFC. Both teams were in the top 8 the next morning, so the game simply dictated who was going to matchup with whom.
After an awesome dinner and some water slide action at the Ambassador, we woke up Sunday morning finding ourselves matched up with the #1 seed in Ontario, Union. Oh, and the game was going to be streamed live with commentary too! We once again ran through our routine...nice warm up, good energy level and positive attitudes. We knew what we wanted to do and that was play Glide ultimate. Unfortunately for us, Union was also on point and raised the level of play right out of the gate. Despite executing the same plays that found us success on Saturday, we were unable to breach the line of defence Union put up and the halftime score was a first for Glide, down 0-7. It took some disciplined zone work from Darryl, Simon, Jaime, Lance and Steph to get into a position to allow Darryl to let loose some crafty blades down the sideline to break their zone initially and another cross field to open it right up where Mark was able to hit a wide open Lauren in the end zone for Glide's first point of the still-young morning. Skipping ahead it was a beat down by Union over Glide, 13-2, and proof that they are a legitimate threat to take CUC 2013.
Quickly putting the past behind us, we awaited our next opponent. On the line...winner gets a spot at NATS in Vancouver. We were matched up against Legen-Dairy, a team we'd never played before but one that came off a universe win over Whiplash 12-11 so we were excited to square off. Glide came out like a freight train! We were hungry for that bid to NATS having been denied three times (!!!) in 2012 by BFC, Union and Whiplash and this time we would not let that opportunity slip through our hands. Glide brought the energy, noise and fire that further helped us fuel our desire to get the big WIN and we found ourselves up 7-3 when halftime hit. Not letting the level of play drop, we pushed on and closed out the game 13-4 and guaranteed ourselves no worse than a 4th place finish at Ontario regionals!
Quick celebration and we moved fields for another game...the right to play in the 2/3 game, but the loser takes 4th and calls it a day. We were matched up with a team called Alliance (a YARR/Bulldogs hybrid). We've seen and played YARR before, having a winning record against them in 2011 with a few wins but a loss this year at Comedy of Errors had us proceed with extreme caution. Each team came out firing, knowing what was at stake, and it was Glide who took half but Alliance who mounted a comeback. Glide being up a few points with less than 10 minutes to go, a few mental lapses saw Alliance capitalize and tie the game at 11-11 when the horn went. Glide receives, begins the quest for the 2/3 game but a mistake close to our end zone allows Alliance to "turn and burn", extinguishing Glide's hopes of a 2nd or 3rd place finish. Instead Alliance takes the game 12-11 (ends up 3rd by losing to Surge) and Glide, while pumped about earning their first official birth at NATS, is a little disappointed at what could have been.
Overall the weekend was a success; we came to Kingston looking to snag one of the 5 bids to NATS and we did it. We dropped a seed in the process so it's clear we have some things to work on, but with No Borders coming up at the end of July and NATS in the middle of August, we have time to adjust and get better.
Well done everyone.
Glide on 3...
