"BLACK TIDE ROLLS ON"
1998 COLLEGE NATIONALS
MAY 29–31, BLAINE, MINNESOTA

FRIDAY
Round 1. Begin! Number 1 seed Stanford Blood came out strong against bottom seed Iowa Ihuc and won 17–5. Rice University showed some verve against familiar 4 seed Colorado Mamabird before falling 17–10. North Carolina State Jinx defeated the Harvard Dukes 17–11.

In Pool Two, second seed Carleton CUT defeated Yale Superfly 17–5 and University of California–Santa Barbara Black Tide managed to withstand a determined East Carolina Irate team with a 17–12 victory. It was 6 seed Brown University versus 7 seed Louisiana State that proved the matchup to watch.

Led by Callahan winner Brian Harriford, LSU was able to come out strong and spirited against first-timers Brown University. LSU won 17–14 and mixed up the pool a bit. Both teams would be involved in semifinal-determining matches on Saturday.

Round 2 (of 5) seemed like it would be a big round for teams looking to make Sunday play. The top seeds in each pool faced off to see who would emerge undefeated after Friday play.

Pool One featured Stanford versus Colorado. The teams have matched up twice times this season (Colorado 2–0) and mirror each other in many ways. Both have great bench depth, an experienced starting seven, and similar offenses. Colorado jumped out of the gate 7–4 before Stanford rallied with two more and Colorado countered with two to take half 9–6.

The game was an upwind/downwind one as strong breezes from across the northern plains swept the fields. Stanford got points back after half and closed at 12s with a tough upwinder. Colorado returned with a lucky upwinder; Stanford countered to tie at 13-13.

Both teams turned to the huck on the next point. It was one throw and out on both sides as neither downwind not upwind cranks could find their target. After eight Stanford turnovers and nine Colorado giveaways, almost all on unwarranted bombs, Stanford was able to score, 14–13, capped game to 16.

With the bad throws out of their system Colorado patiently worked the disc for a score to tie 14–14. On the next point, a Stanford miscommunication on their own line led to a throwaway. That may have been the game right there. Colorado scored easily to retake the lead and game point at 15–14.

The Mamabird came out in zone defense, switched to man and got what they wanted: a big layout block from Brian "Senator" Mulvany. They converted to win the showdown 16–14 and finish the day comfortably 2–0.

"I'm happy they stopped playing zone," commented Colorado coach Wes Williams after the victory. Williams also credited time-outs saved for the end of the game for the hard-earned victory.

Pool Two was witness to a repeat of 1996 finals on the same Blaine fields. Hometown heroes Carleton College were unable to defeat Santa Barbara then and they were unable to do it now.

The sidelines were packed with Carleton fans, parents, and other spectators from the Minnesota area. But it was not to be for the hard-working CUT team. A big upwind score from UCSB put them ahead to stay at 3–2. Again, with the score 7–6, UCSB was able to score an upwinder to 8 and then take half 9–6.

Carleton tried to regroup but could not cope with UCSB's superior confidence and determination. CUT was looking for revenge while Santa Barbara played unconcerned. They just wanted the victory.

The Black Tide came out with a zone to start the second half and successfully stymied Carleton, forcing several bad throws and dropped passes en route to four unanswered points and a 13–6 lead before a silenced crowd. Carleton made one last push to close to 13–9 before UCSB came together to finish the game 17–11.

The other games saw NC State come from behind to defeat hard-running Iowa 17–12 and Harvard squeak by Rice 17–14. Pool Two featured Brown over Yale 17–10 and LSU emerging with a victory over always tough-to-beat East Carolina 17–15.

Friday speculation (always a fun sport) picked LSU and NC State as the teams to watch for upset possibilities on Saturday. Both teams ended the day at 2–0 and both faced the top Pool seeds Saturday morning and in the third pool play game of the day. UCSB and Colorado were sitting pretty at 2–0 after having defeated rival top seeds, while Stanford and Carleton had the inside track to repeat semis appearances.

SATURDAY

Teams were greeted 9am with thick rain and vicious gusts of wind, not to mention lightning. Play was suspended until the storm passed at 10am. Several bursts of lightning an hour later would call for another 20-minute postponement, effectively a natural half-time for the games. Games were shortened from 17 to 15.

One team showed a little lightning on their side.

Carleton may not have been prepared for the unwavering concentration of the Brown Badfish. After all, this was the first Nationals appearance for the Ivy League school and they were coming out of the Northeast which was rumored to be weak this year. The huge Carleton sideline dwarfed the dozen Brown faithful. But Brown showed remarkable faith in their game. Staying close early, they clawed their way to a late lead and put the fear in CUT.

Carleton led 9–7 when Brown made their move. A score, followed by an upwind swill catch by quick-thinking Fortunat Mueller, and the ensuing downwind goal put Brown ahead 10–9 in a game advancing quickly to a cap.

Brown forced another Carleton turnover and had the opportunity to score a key upwinder and take a two-goal lead. But they stuck with a huck gameplan and failed to convert. Carleton scored with a burst of crowd support. Brown, undeterred, returned the favor with a downwind score for a 11–10 lead. The hard cap was enacted, game to 13. Carleton scored the downwind point, but Brown received the pull and sent a pretty downwind huck to Mueller to keep the lead. Carleton knew they were in trouble now.

The fans were going crazy. Carleton still had plenty of reserves, willpower, and Ultimate playing ability. They were going to use everything they had to psyche Brown out of their game. They scored easily on the downwind to tie at 12s, game to 13. But now they had to stop Brown and get the upwind goal. The noise level was fierce when Brown received the pull. Tension everywhere enveloped the game, everywhere except on the field.

Patiently, the Brownian Motion squad moved the disc. And patiently they scored. And elegantly they earned a huge victory and a sudden shot at making semifinals.

"That was the most intense game!" commented the stat-keeper afterwards.

In Pool One the NC State Jinx squad faced their first big game of the tournament against number 1 Stanford (the fourth time the teams had met). They needed a victory here or against Colorado in the last game of the game. But the conditions may have been too prohibitive for NC State.

"We didn't have wind all season long," explained Jinx coach Brian Dobyns.

Although they practiced a zone defense in preparation for Nationals, there was little they could do in terms of experience. Stanford was able to score five upwinders to NC State's two, and the final score was 15–8.

In other games, Colorado defeated Harvard 15–10 and Iowa eclipsed Rice 15–11 for their first Nationals victory ever. In Pool Two, UCSB quickly doused LSU's upset hopes with a 15–7 victory and East Carolina finally got in the win column with a 13–7 game over Yale.

Round 4 commenced at 1:30pm. In Pool Two LSU faced another real chance at pulling off an upset victory to advance to semifinals. Unfortunately they faced an extremely angry Carleton team coming off the shocking loss. LSU could not generate enough offense around Harriford as Carleton focused on him and shut down the whole team. They pasted the Southerners 15–5.

In Pool One, Stanford cruised by Harvard 15–5, Colorado posted their third 15–10 score, this one over Iowa and NCSU coasted past Rice 15–7 looking towards the matchup with Colorado.

UCSB defeated Yale 15–8 in Pool Two. The last remaining game, after everyone had finished playing, was fierce East Carolina and cool Brown in a battle to the finish.

The teams did not take to each other. Brown's spirited good guy captains Andrew "Hootchie" Schwartz and Fortunat "Forch" Mueller were polar opposites to the Irates' hotheaded guns Mike Wiegand and Josh Poucher. Incidentally, all four could play comfortably with the Flying Dwarves under 5'6'' team. They also happen to be awesome players and team leaders.

The game was tight throughout, as expected. At 11–11 the game got even tighter as ECU initiated the frequent travel call. Upheld by the observers, the travel calls (I counted close to 10 in one lengthy point) slowed the game down but remarkably had zero effect on Brown's composure.

It helped ECU though. They seemed to enjoy getting angry off their own calls and used the adrenaline to convert several hot points, including two identical 40-yard backhand beauties for scores by Wiegand. The last one put ECU ahead 14–11 in a game to 15. Brown now needed to convert two upwinders to tie.

It looked grim for Brown's chances at semis. A loss here would mean they would have to defeat UCSB for a tie with Carleton. And it looked like they had very little chance of scoring five of the next seven points, three of them upwinders.

"I felt that we were in control of our destiny. We could score every time we got the disc. They were definitely going to give us the disc once a point," countered Mueller.

Brown scored the upwinder after the pull. On the next point, ECU turned over the disc and Brown scored the downwinder to close to 13–14. Now all ECU needed was the downwind score to win the game.

Led by Justin "Crafty" Safdie, Brown played crafty. They looked like they didn't care if they lost the game. They responded amicably to continued travel calls. But inside they were calmly focused on winning. It almost seemed like Brown baited ECU into expending all their emotions before the game was over.

Sure enough, ECU threw the disc away twice and Brown had possession with a chance to force the game to 16. Safdie caught a big upwinder to tie the game and ECU's game-point advantage was erased, 14s all and a race to the hard cap at 16.

With raucous sideline cheers of "All Day All D, All D All Day" and my ten dollars riding on the game (this time siding with the Northeasterners), Brown forced another turnover from the suddenly quiet ECU team. They converted on a Forch to Safdie connection for a huge 15–14 lead.

Finally, East Carolina stopped the bleeding on a tipped layout catch by Wiegand and it was 15s, next point wins.

"It's funny, because we're a young team, but we've got a lot of guys that have played a lot of Ultimate, in high school or whatnot, and have been to Worlds and Nationals. We put those guys on the line and they knew what to do," spoke Mueller about the lineup used at the critical 15–15 mark.

Still, Brown would make it quite exciting, turning over the disc several times themselves, including on their own goal-line. But ECU seemed to have lost their fire. They threw the disc to Schwartz and again Brown had the opportunity to post their second one-point victory of the day.

Forch picked up the turnover and sent the disc into the endzone. It was easily caught and Brownian Motion swarmed the field in celebration. A last-ditch attempt by ECU stood in the way however. A travel call had been made and it was up to the observers. Only one of the four observers saw the play. He signaled "no travel" and the game was over.

After the game, he commented on the number of travels, saying that he had been particularly vigilant of moving feet since the rash of calls. He was intently watching the pivot foot on the game's final throw and was able to make the correct call.

"The ECU guys were tired. They didn't want to play D. We made them run," said Mueller after the game.

Brown now stood 3–1 with UCSB up next. A win over the Black Tide would put them in semis. Carleton and LSU were 2-2 with Carleton facing the Irates and LSU playing winless Yale. In all likelihood, if seeding held, Carleton, Brown and LSU would finish 3–2 and it would go to point differential for semis advancement.

Round 5. The final round of pool play. Smart teams know that the third game of the day, the fifth of intense Nationals play, is the game that separates the pretenders from the contenders. No doubt Colorado was aware of NC State, but they might not have expected just how much preparation the Jinx team had put into the final game of the day.

The early rumor (not the only one to spread misinformation) was that NC State had to win by more than five points to qualify for semis with favorable point differential (a NCSU victory would put them, Stanford and Colorado at 4–1). NC State was fired up to play their "game to go."

"They really like a nice long, wide swing around instead of working up the line. So the first thing we did was drop the mark back a step to force them to throw upfield. And then we knew that they like to come back to the disc, so we played denial defense, put our defenders in front of their cutters. They had to work very hard to get anything easy," related Jinx coach Dobyns about the team's strategy against Colorado.

NC State also used a novel four-man cup against Colorado that seemed to work in the game, generating some favorable possessions for them. Still, the score was tied early at 6s.

"The four-man cup. We didn't have wind all season long. I made these guys play the cup in practice because I knew there would be wind here. It picked us up four or five points in the beginning of the game," commented Dobyns.

He added, "We played with a sense of a mission. We've worked a long, long time with the goal of playing on Sunday. We had been able to rest our better players in the second game of the day [against Rice]. That was key. For the last five points, we were able to leave our best players on the field and they still had legs."

NC State got a big boost to end the first half. An errant throw heading out-of-bounds was tracked down by Senior Bobby Croom. Croom flashed back to team practices that could only end with a completed "greatest" play. Even though he was the most vocal disapprover of those practices, he was able to prove its worth when he thought "greatest" all the way and completed the pass to teammate Roy Attride for an exuberant half-time break and three-goal lead.

The intense play and strategic planning of NC State propelled them to the victory they were seeking. They downed Colorado's Mamabird 15–9.

Still, no one was quite sure who would advance. It took 20 minutes for the UPA officials to come back with the results: NC State had needed only the victory to advance. They were in, Colorado was out and Stanford was the top seed.

Rounding out play, Stanford beat Rice 15–7 and Harvard earned their first Nationals victory with a 15–10 score over Iowa. In Pool Two, Carleton put as many points on the board as possible by waxing deflated ECU 15–6. UCSB would not fall prey to Brown and won 15–8 and Yale defeated a weary LSU squad 15–3 for their first Nationals victory in two years.

Wait a minute. LSU, seeded 7 overall, was supposed to defeat 11 seed Yale. Instead they appeared tired and played all of their players in the final game. Did they tank the game? Did it matter?

Yes, it did matter to one team–Carleton. But, no, I don't think they tanked the game. They certainly didn't play as strong as they could have, but that can happen. Yale was psyched to get a win and psyched from watching fellow Ivy Leaguers Brown escape ECU on the same field. LSU was tired and had nothing left to fight for.

No matter the cause, the LSU loss spelled doom for Carleton. Counting on a three-way tie, the CUT men thought they would make semis based on point differential between them, LSU and Brown. But the LSU loss meant that only Carleton and Brown would end up with 3–2 records, and in head-to-head play Brown had bested Carleton.

It was a bitter pill for the Carleton faithful to swallow. "Heartbreak Hotel," commented one CUT alum. They were not going to have a chance to win Nationals in their home town.

The semifinals were set. Two-year defending Champions UC Santa Barbara Black Tide faced the hard-working NC State Jinx. Top seed and last year's runner-up Stanford Blood squared up against this year's Cinderella, Brown University.

SEMIFINALS

STANFORD vs. BROWN

Brown had relied on an unwavering faith in their remarkable run to semis. They have a talented team, but they are also very young. One thing they need to be especially concerned with is turnovers. They have the skills to match up with most teams, but a rash of giveaways can doom them to an untimely demise.

Stanford stars fifth-year player Mike Payne, a collegiate veteran who's cool under fire and quick with the disc. Plus I think he's older than me. He's been there, done that, bought the disc, etc.

"It's all a game of psyche," says Payne.

That and depth.

The Stanford roster lists a whopping twenty-two players, including nine seniors and seven Grad Students, most of whom presumably played with the team last year (or with the JV squad.)

Brown features three seniors and two grad students.

This was Stanford's eighth Nationals semifinals appearance, dating back to the first UPA-sponsored tournament in 1984. Last year the team finished with a 35–2 record, a Callahan winner, and a birth in the finals.

"[The program] really started two years ago when we got a lot more serious and started being strict about the fundamentals of the game," explained Brown co-captain Andrew "Hootchie" Schwartz, "An old school at Brown liked to hang out and drink beer. They thought Ultimate wasn't a real sport."

Hootchie and fellow captain Fortunat Mueller learned the game at Scarsdale High School from then-coach Jon Gewirtz. They were probably playing catch during lunch hour when Mike Payne was playing top level collegiate Ultimate.

Brown has some great players. Most of them will be back next year and maybe they can make semifinals again. Maybe not. It's a tough road to make the "final four" in a sport with 150 collegiate men's teams.

But they were going to need a miracle to stop the well-oiled Stanford machine in this year's semis.

The game started off well for Brownian Motion as Stanford matched Brown's output of turnovers. Brown leaders Mueller and Justin Safdie were able to connect for early points, and the freshman from Paideia High School, Kyle Weisbrod, got in on the action with a score and a throw for a score, the last one putting Brown ahead 4–3.

But Brown could not find a way to stop Stanford's offense. Whether with or against the wind, Stanford rarely turned over the disc en route to scoring. They used 23 passes against the zone to tie the game at 4s, then fired off quick hucks to score the next two.

Stanford's superior throwing abilities and bench depth started to take over. Unlike their women's team, the Stanford men's first half saw 11 different players involved in throwing and catching scores. Many came off of the long bomb, which Stanford seemed capable of completing no matter the conditions. They led at half 10–6.

Brown could not get on track in the second half and again Stanford spread the wealth. Payne found Omar Atesman in the endzone on the huck. Christian Dodge slipped one to co-captain Alex Young. Justin Deng hit Mike Whitaker. Co-captain Dan Eisenberg found PhD candidate Mike Chevalier for a score.

By the time the flurry was over, Stanford had run off five straight points on eight possessions to open the second half and lead 15–6. From there is was just a matter of closing out the game.

Brown actually outscored Stanford from that point out. But the damage had been done. A couple of Payne to Scott Johnston connections finished the game for Stanford, 19–12.

For the stat column, Forch tallied 6 scores and 3 throws for scores while Safdie and Weisbrod combined for 3 scores and 6 throws for scores. Lookout for these players next year. They will all return.

UCSB vs. NCSU

One team North Carolina State hadn't played all season was UC–Santa Barbara. One team North Carolina State didn't want to face in semifinals was UC–Santa Barbara.

"I think teams are ready for us to beat them and as soon as we show a little mustard they roll over," spoke Black Tide co-captain Greg "Hollywood" Husak.

Well, you don't roll over a team from North Carolina that easily. But NC State was facing one major force they had little experience with–the wind.

"They would throw the disc to the downfield corner and put all the onus on us to get back upfield. And we couldn't do it," said veteran NCSU coach Brian Dobyns.

NC State calls Raleigh home, and Raleigh is located pretty much in the center of North Carolina, maybe three hours from the Atlantic ocean and three hours from the Smoky Mountains. It's pretty flat in Raleigh. Not much wind activity going on.

Santa Barbara, if you've ever been there, is pretty much its own small island jutting into the Pacific Ocean. There's not just wind, there's ocean wind and it comes from every direction but East, where the island is actually connected to the rest of California. Some say the connection is thin.

"We're used to it [the wind]. A lot of teams put zones on us. But we're confident throwers," says UCSB co-captain James Studarus.

The game was played almost entirely with zone defenses. NC State again used the four-man cup, causing trouble for UCSB. Santa Barbara's zone, too, was tough to break for NC State.

It was so difficult for both teams to score upwind that only four points of thirty-three total were scored against the Northern gusts.

UCSB recorded the first one after Studarus found Tommy Burfeind in the endzone on a big huck to go up 4–2. UCSB scored the downwinder as well and posted an early three point lead. But NC State got their first (and last it would turn out) upwinder a few points later on a catch by Bobby Croom. On the next possession, UCSB scored an upwinder right back and the lead was returned to UCSB. The game continued with downwinders until half, UCSB leading 10–7.

NC State's top players Brian Snyder, Chris Hinkle, Kevin Kusy and Roy Attride kept them in the game, while Studarus and Husak put major points on the board for the Black Tide.

The second half would prove remarkably similar. NC State received the pull to start and scored the downwinder. Five downwinders later with the score at 13–10 UCSB, Husak found Studarus in the endzone for a key upwinder. That was all they really needed.

NC State could not return the favor. UCSB completed the two-point play with the downwinder and held a late 15–10 lead.

From there the teams traded points. The final tally was 19–14 in favor of UCSB.

Said Studarus after the game, "State had a really good four-person cup. And if it's windy that four-person cup is pretty crucial. We had a little difficulty adjusting to that. I give credit to them."

In the future, Dobyns vowed to take his Jinx team to practices in windy Wilmington. Despite the five weeks of preparation for Nationals, including learning the four-man cup, there is no way to get used to playing in the wind without playing in the wind. It also explains the toppers they were throwing in their match against Colorado.

Added Dobyns, "Everybody is really disappointed about the loss. But frankly, you have to take steps. Nobody gets a free ride."

INTERLUDE

It should be noted that Brown bested all other teams in the cheer category. Before finals, the Brown team encircled UCSB and exalted their skills with an Ultimate remix of Sir Mixalot's 'Baby Got Back.'

Here is a mere part of it:

I like big hucks and I cannot lie
You other players can't deny
When a disc goes up and it's flat and it's straight
And that round thing's in your face
You get HO,

When it's right off the flow,
Cause you noticed that huck did suck, so...
Deep in the zone I'm standing,
The Hammer I am demanding.

Oh, Black Tide, I wanna run wit ya,
Won't call no pick-uh.
My sideline tried to warn me,
But that inside-out makes "M-m-m-me so horny!"

FINALS

These two teams know all about Nationals Finals. Stanford's been there. Five times in fact. They won the very first Collegiate Nationals in Somerville, Massachusetts, 1984. They've been the bridesmaid ever since.

UC Santa Barbara has been there. This was their seventh appearance, one more than Stanford. They've won it five times, including victories over Stanford in 1989 and last year.

What about last year? Would it affect the play this year? There are plenty of players on both sides who remember the game.

"There's a big element of changing your game to fit the situation. For instance, in last year's finals we changed our game and didn't play the game we had played all year. It's all about playing our game, running hard, and not being fearful," says Stanford's Mike Payne.

Responds UCSB's James Studarus, "We play Stanford a lot. They know us. They know what we like to do. But we're just going to do our thing."

OK, both teams are going to "do their own thing" or "play their own game". Got that. Anything else to look for?

Payne outlined a game plan for Stanford; "Swinging it to the man that's poached. And when on D, we're probably going to front them a lot. They don't have the deep capacity they once used to."

Studarus wouldn't go into specifics, "I give credit to them, they're great players. But we're the Black Tide. When it comes to Nationals, that's our tournament. We've won Nationals five times and Regionals once. We don't train for Sectionals or Regionals. We peak at Nationals."

The teams had to wait a good two hours before the final could begin. But it wasn't in vain; they got to watch one of the best women's games ever.

Would UCSB repeat history or would Stanford's strong game unseat the defending champions?

Stanford pulled to UCSB, facing the wind. UCSB scored quickly on a Studarus huck to Mike Hall. Two Stanford turnovers and a UCSB block led to two more Black Tide points, both caught by senior Jim Regetz.

"We wanted to come out strong and get the emotions high and just sort of ride the wave and hope that we could psyche them out in the end and psyche ourselves up to play well," explained "Hollywood" Husak.

They got good jump out of the gate. Could Stanford cope with the loose and confident Black Tide style? Would they tighten up and fail to play "their game"?

Not with Mike Payne on the field. Payne carried the team in the first half, mainly on impressive hucks that were chased down by different Blood players. That trend would continue in the second half.

As the day eased towards 4pm the winds subsided a little and the downwind/upwind designation lost its importance to these veteran teams. Stanford put in the next two points to close to 2–3. The game was on.

Husak and Regetz were involved in the next five Black Tide points, all in quick succession. Payne kept Stanford in the game, throwing six of Stanford's eight goals by half-time.

Both teams scored with regularity in the first half. Black Tide veterans Husak, Regetz, Studarus and Glimme spread the wealth as they worked patiently against the zone and confidently on downwind hucks. But they were unable to put Stanford in a first half hole like they wanted.

Instead, half-time found the Tide only up by two, 11–9. This game wasn't going to be a psyche-out victory for UCSB. Mike Payne and Stanford were not falling for that.

A block led to a UCSB score to start the half. Stanford immediately rallied, courtesy of silly Tide mistakes. A big huck from Justin Deng to Jon Zalisk closed the gap 10–12, then a UCSB throwaway on their own goal-line led to an easy Stanford upwind score (the wind had come back strong to start the second half.) Two big D's, one by Husak and the other from Blood's Mike Chevalier returned the disc to Stanford. They tied the game on an immediate Payne huck that Matt Broaddus was able to pick up after it went awry.

The Tide countered with two more and it was 15–13, UCSB. Stanford needed a little luck on the next play as Zalisk caught a tipped pass off a stall 9 throw for the score. At this point the game began to get sloppy.

Both teams were running out of gas. Payne had been carrying the team up to this point, with help from sophomore Zalisk, whereas Black Tide felt comfortable having Dan Wachter, Husak, Hall and Studarus handle the disc. Jim Regetz and Adam Glimme also came up big for UCSB.

But Stanford would not die. UCSB failed to convert an upwinder on the goal-line, allowing Payne to loft a big forehand down the field. Although covered, Blood co-captain Alex "Sticky Fingers" Young fingertipped the disc in the air and landed, miraculously, in the endzone to tie the game at 15s.

A Tide turnover on the next point gave Stanford an opportunity to score again, but they could not put it in on the goal-line. They were giving UCSB too many chances, and that was dangerous. UCSB and their hat-wearing, beard-growing, yellow-shirt wearing selves were getting fired-up again, ready to win the game. They scored to take a late 16–15 advantage.

Mike Payne came right back with a big huck for a score, tying the game at 16s. I'm not sure that anyone could have stopped him from putting the disc up.

Payne was also guarding Studarus, and he did an excellent job of shutting him down. And Hollywood Husak, unbeknownst to everyone, was playing with a badly injured ankle. The Tide was going to need other people to step up.

"Honestly, I thought they might roll. I was a little worried. But then we just put in our veterans and we got a lot of experience in and they played veteran-like, sucked it up a little bit, got two discs back, and didn't turn it over too much," said Husak.

Seniors Jim Regetz and Adam Glimme did just that. Regetz connected on a layout bid in the endzone to give Tide a one-point lead. The next point seemed to relive Stanford's earlier loss to Colorado: a Payne to Dodge miscommunication led to a turnover. UCSB converted and led 18–16 in a game hard-capped at 20.

Stanford felt comfortable putting the disc in the air, so why not do it again? So what if it was upwind? Scott Johnston came down with the swill in the endzone to narrow the gap for Stanford, 17–18, and force UCSB to score an upwinder.

The Tide couldn't hang onto the disc, but they were rescued by a Studarus D block, then a great last second knock-down from Glimme on a Stanford huck. Dan Wachter patiently guided the offense through the Blood zone and they scored for game point at 19–17.

It was a huge point for the Tide. Stanford had the opportunity to tie the game going downwind, but instead forced two throws, allowing UCSB to take the turnover and score going upwind.

You could sense UCSB revving up to put the game away. They were pulling downwind to Stanford. A patented Payne huck would not be easy going upwind. Still, Stanford had more than a chance. But not if Jim Regetz could help it. He saw an opening and took it, making a huge layout block nary 20 yards from the Stanford goal line. UCSB had the disc with an easy chance to win the game.

Husak called time-out. Play resumed with all the fans on their feet. It looked like an isolation for Regetz, to reward him with the game-winning catch. But he was covered well, so Husak let loose an inside-out forehand out in front of him. Too far in front. Regetz had no chance at the disc. But Adam Glimme came charging from the back of the endzone and the disc landed comfortably in his arms. Point, match, game, Championship for the University of California Santa Barbara. 20–17.

"That was pretty fortunate. It's nice to have teammates like that that are going to pick that stuff up for you," said Husak after the game, unwrapping a swollen ankle the size of a grapefruit.

"That [swill catch] hurts, but it takes nothing away from UCSB. That's the way things go in Ultimate. You have your ups and downs, you have the wind take it one way, and that one went their way. It hurts, but it doesn't hurt any more than if they had converted on a spectacular play," commented soft-spoken Alex Young.

UCSB Black Tide completed their second three-peat. Only one other team has managed to win Nationals more than once.

This season was dedicated to Mark "Sammy" Samuel, a member of last year's team who died tragically during this past summer.

"Every time we were down or lacked attention, it was 'Ok this one is for Sammy'," explained Studarus.

The rivalry between Stanford and UCSB will no doubt continue.

"I love going to war with these guys," relates Husak.

"Hats off to Santa Barbara. They're a great team," says Young, "But we're going to keep our heads high. The nice thing about our team is everyone plays Ultimate because we love the game and we love each other."

It was a good game to watch. The spirit on both sides of the field was more than exemplary. There were few foul calls.

Congratulations to all teams. I had a grand time watching the different styles from across the nation and excellent play throughout.

This was written for the UPA Newsletter.

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