The men's and women's ultimate Frisbee teams concluded their regular season on a high note last weekend. Both teams won the second annual Garden State Open Tournament, and neither lost a single game.
The men are now ranked No. 5 of the D-III schools nationwide, and No. 66 overall. Not to be bested, the women's team is ranked No. 41 in the country and No. 6 for D-III. Both squads finish the regular season undefeated.
Stoned Clown, the men's ultimate Frisbee team, played seven games and defeated each of its first four opponents by margins of 12 points or more. With the victories, the team has now won 20 matches in a row.
"We definitely came in with the goal of winning the tournament," said captain Dylan Kane '12. "But I think we were surprised that we did so well the first day."
Stoned Clown beat Messiah College and Queens-Kingston to face Stevens Tech in the championship, the team's most challenging game of the weekend.
"We were on a huge winning streak, and so if anything, going into this tournament we knew the competition was not going to be as tough as we've been seeing," said captain Bill Page '13. "I think we could have been a little humbler" going into the finals.
When the team was down a point in the game's closing moments, the men rallied to tie the game. Nick Benfey '15 then made "an amazing layout catch in the end zone" that tied the teams at 12 points, said Page: "He was right at the edge of the end zone and he dove for the Frisbee and caught it."
The game entered a universe point situation, in which the first team to score would win the game. Stoned Clown pushed Stevens Tech to its goal line, and Page intercepted the disc in the end zone to score the game-winning point.
"That was very exciting because in past years we haven't been very good at winning close games," said Kane. "We've really improved at that this year."
The women's ultimate team, Chaos Theory, also had several high points throughout the tournament, winning all seven of its games. It was the first time the team had beat some of its weekend opponents.
Chaos Theory defeated Princeton 13-4 before going on to win against Yale 15-5 in the championship game. This is the first time the team has beaten either of these Ivy League squads.
"Coming off how well we did in Savannah" said captain Sadie Nott '12, in reference to the team's spring tournament in Georgia, "I knew that we had some confidence and energy to take us where we've never been before, but I certainly didn't expect" to win every game.
Chaos Theory relied on its older members to carry it through the tournament. Of the 18 people on the team's A-side—or traveling—team, 11 are seniors and five are juniors. Nott noted that the team's older core "in part contributes to how successful we've been."
"There are seniors who can direct plays and help out," captain Liz Leon '12 said. "You can kind of leave it in the hands of anyone and feel secure."
However, even the younger players helped the team succeed.
"Everyone on the team contributed in their own way," Leon said. "I can remember instances where everyone had big plays."
As both ultimate teams approach the closes of their seasons, regionals and nationals are looming. Bowdoin will host the NESCAC tournament next weekend, which will determine the northern New England teams that will move on to the regional tournament.
"Everyone on our A-team has set their mind on that goal" of making it to nationals, said Page. "If we advance in regionals, it'll be a close call. We'll have a hard game to qualify for nationals."
Last year, Chaos Theory lost in the qualifying game for nationals.
"I think it's kind of a goal we've set," said Leon of nationals. "It's at a different stage this year because we are beating the teams that we haven't beaten before because our class is so strong."
"It just seems that all the stars are aligning for our senior year," said Nott. "It seems like now is the time to do it."