2010 Boston Invitational Tournament Recap
Truck Stop Finishes 3rd in first tourney of the season
This weekend marked the inaugural appearance of Truck Stop 2010, a new squad featuring some familiar faces and some hungry new talent. Our first tournament as a team and a chance to see how we stack up with the big boys.
First up: PoNY, a perennial East Coast rival. The Truck started on D and attacked the first point with a fan-friendly matchup between former Twisted Metal teammates Ben Faust and Brian Stout - an early battle that trended in favor of the Truck. We converted the turn to go up a break early, and then took advantage of a flawless first half by the Truck Stop offense to maintain momentum. A late lapse brought PoNY back to striking distance before Truck closed it out for the 15-13 win: a good start to a new year.
Next up: the first of several Canadian matchups, against Quebec-based Phoenix. Another good game - no easy ones at this level. In a theme that would recur throughout the weekend, Truck dominated the air, pulling down hanging hucks and setting a formidable tone for the deep game. The Canucks played a handler-heavy game with lots of give-and-go, but eventually some hard dump D and more pressure on the marks enabled a couple turns and subsequent conversions as the Truck closed out another close game: 13-11, good guys. This game also showcased the debut of new Truck acquisition Adam Sigelman (a pickup from Ironside, along with Ryan Todd - both of whom will be joining the Truck full-time after Prague), who introduced himself to Truck teammates with a massive layout poach D to break the game open. Welcome aboard the revamped Truck.
The marquee matchup of the day, a year to the day after the contested battle of 2009: GOAT. GOAT always presents matchup problems on defense because they have the enviable combination of raw speed (that gentleman of south Asian descent), precision throws (Hassell), size (half their team), and the deep threat (Ochterluny et al). GOAT struck early, taking advantage of early season miscues to reel off consecutive breaks en route to a 3-0 lead. The Truck finally got into gear, climbing back into the game to bring it to 11-10. But there it would end, as the GOAT again capitalized on Truck mistakes to break twice for the win: 13-10. The final score belied the intensity of the game - no doubt the first of several matchups between Truck and GOAT this year.
The story of the day, however, was the emergence of the man known only as Jraffe. Without two primary handlers (in the form of lefty duo Sean McComb and Alan Kolick), Jraffe stepped easily into the primary role, launching backbreaking flick and backhand hucks to repeatedly punish opponents. The Truck Stop offense began to complain of boredom after the third consecutive one-throw point.
Sunday opened with the quarterfinals, against yet another Canadian team: Mephisto. Another strong performance for the Truck, with the stingy offense possessing the disc well throughout the game and the D stepping up to produce crucial breaks when needed. With the score 12-11, the time came for the D to make a play. Tommy Nicholson rose to the challenge, lunging between two Canucks to produce a clutch D and giving Truck the breathing room to put the game away. Honestly, though, it's hard to remember too much of this game because we all knew it was a prelude to the main event: semifinals against New England powerhouse Ironside. As we finished out the game 14-11, we wandered one field over to watch Boston duel it out with Phoenix on double game point. Despite turning the disc over after receiving, Boston battled back and emerged victorious, setting up what this biased observer would call the game of the tournament.
Ironside also presents matchup difficulties... for any team. The offensive one-two punch of Danny Clark and Jeff Graham, coupled with one of the most dangerous handling squads in the game... makes for a difficult defense assignment. Their D, anchored by twin pillars Colin Mahoney and Will Neff who present attractive targets on the turn for huckers Teddy and Muffin. Fortunately, the Truck rose to the challenge. Bobby Gordon played an outstanding game, winning an early matchup against Graham to pull down a hanging huck for a huge break. Duke, another new acquisition in 2010 (formerly of PoNY) played some huge points, producing a hand block and playing effective D on some of Boston's big downfield cutters. Truck battled to go up a break into half, capitalizing on big plays in the end zone in the form of massive layout catches, including one brute by sophomore Trucker Jeff Wodatch.
Boston regained the momentum coming out of half, breaking to take the lead 10-9. And then came perhaps the most fan-friendly matchup of the tourney, pitting Boston giant Colin Mahoney against Truck standout Gorgeous George. A deep flick huck gave George position, they both went up: and came down with it together. Colin, on D, called strip - and sent it back. But entertaining nonetheless, and Truck eventually converted. As GOAT vanquished Philly on double-game point a few fields over, the Boston-Truck game came down to the wire: double-game point. Boston receiving. The most intense point of the game unfolded, with Truck playing ferocious man D - 6 throws, 4 layout bids. Finally, Jeff Graham tried to sneak upline for the score only to have a horizontal Bobby Gordon reach in to pick up the clutch D... called back on a foul. A few more passes, and finally a touch break throw gave Boston a hard-fought victory.
Solid first tourney: doubly so considering that we were playing without our two primary offensive handlers, our primary O cutter, and one of the new anchors to our D team. Will be exciting to field a unified Truck squad... though unfortunately that will probably have to wait until Chesapeake. But next up for the Truck: Colorado Cup in Boulder... a short month away. And the Truck is ready to roll.
For full tournament results, click here: http://scores.usaultimate.org/scores/#open/tournament/7557