Right out of the gates we were matched up against the 2012 CUC champs, Odyssee. They proved why they were the #1 seed going in with aggressive defence and smooth offense, however GLIDE stuck around for a bit but on a rainy Thursday morning, and this game started to take its course after 30 minutes. Unfortunately, GLIDE simply didn't have the firepower this morning... ending the game with a 5-15 loss to the champs.
Moving along and refocusing on our next match with Rogue Hippo, GLIDE came out firing and at half time, it was still anyone's game. There wasn't more than a 2 or 3 point lead by either team at any point in the game and it came down to the final minutes with this one. Hard fought and spirited, this one was a back-breaker for GLIDE in the end with a universe 11-12 loss.
The final game of the day was against The Animals, a team we saw 3 weeks earlier at No Borders that we managed to take down with a convincing 15-5 score. However this was Nationals, and every team amps up the juice so we were expecting nothing short of a great match between both sides. This one was played in some more light drizzle and on artificial turf, so take that for what it is. GLIDE got off to a quick start in this one, and while the Animals kept it close at times, the half-time score saw GLIDE up 8-4 with an eventual 15-8 win to ensure they weren't sent down to the bottom pool after the first day - something that happened at CUC '12.
Regrouping and ready to take on day 2 in the Powerpools, our road was significantly more difficult. First up was Union, a team we got flattened by at Regional's a month earlier. We dug down, turned up the juice on the field but their MOJO was clicking at every level and in the end the loss wasn't as bad as Regional's, but a 3-15 loss isn't really an improvement over a 2-15 loss a month prior. Time to lick our wounds and look to the next game GLIDE - those guys were tough, and it is no wonder they moved all the way to the top of CUC 2013!
Skysharks were waiting for us, a team we had never played at all, so both teams were eager to see what the other was all about. They came in with a higher seed and having finished fairly well at CUC '12, we knew this was another high-powered team - that and their main handler was an ex-Furious player. This was a good game from start to finish, and while they were a few steps ahead of us on the field, on a different day in a different place the outcome certainly could have been different. Skysharks takes this one and GLIDE goes down 9-15.
Our final game on day 3 saw us up against Wreckhouse - a team we'd split with so far this season (they beat us on universe at Comedy of Errors 11-10 and we returned the favour the next day, 10-9). It's always a great match-up with fellas from NFLD! Both teams knew what was on the line and brought their A games. In the end it would be another heartbreaker as GLIDE falls 11-14 to finish the 2nd day at 0-3.
The third day saw us matched up against the other mixed program from Ottawa, BFC. Both teams always seem to rise to the occasion when we play each other, although GLIDE so far this season had BFCs number having beat them at Comedy of Errors 13-10 and at Regional's 11-9. On this day both teams were hunting for a much needed win and in the end it was GLIDE who took the game 12-9. BFC ended with a marvellous "spirit-circle" which allowed each team to reflect on the game, share some time together as friends and colleagues both making the long trip from Ottawa and to wish the other best of luck for the rest of the tournament. Classy stuff!
Using the momentum, we were pitted against The Alliance, a team that finished above GLIDE at Regionals. It was a chippy game from the beginning and within minutes neither team was happy with the other. It was a heated affair and after all the dust settled, GLIDE got their revenge from the Regionals loss and took the game 13-11 to setup the game for 9th place.
At this point GLIDE had already done better than any previous CUC tournament we've attended... but we weren't content with just finishing 10th, we wanted to win the lower bracket and finish inside the top #10 in Canada and finish our tournament on a high note (3-0 on Saturday). Our final opponent was NoBS and we had seen them at No Borders 3 weeks earlier (GLIDE took that game 11-5). With that said, the team came out guns blazing! It was on from the first pull and although we traded points most of the way, GLIDE had a little more left in the tank and ended up victorious with a 12-10 win!
We finished 9th in Canada (seeded #9 so we held), went 4-5 at the tournament and had a tremendous blast in the process. The team bonded like never before, we learned a lot and more importantly we proved to ourselves that we belong on the big stage! Exciting times for a program that is just 3yrs young and if this 9th place finish is any indication of things to come, GLIDE is certainly trending in the right direction! Thanks for the memories Vancouver and hopefully see everyone in Waterloo @ CUC 2014!
