North Central Women’s Regionals Preview

It may be poetic justice that the hottest region in the country was going to have snow on the ground for their Championship tournament. The North Central Region hijacked five bids to the College Championships, producing some of the top talent in the country. I’m surprised there hasn’t been an Ultiworld discussion over whether or not they are collectively stronger than the Northwest this season. The rise of Minnesota adds a lot of firepower and the mercurial highs and lows of Wisconsin’s season leaves you wondering what they will bring to the table should they be on the fields in Madison. The number of bids and the collection of top talent saps some of the excitement out of it, but seeing how these teams stack up against one another in Northfield, MN Cedar Falls, IA will be fun.

Here are the seedings (by my estimation) and pools:

1. Iowa State (WNC #1)
2. Iowa (WNC #2)
3. Carleton (WNC #3)
4. Minnesota (WNC #4)
5. Wisconsin (LS #1)
6. Wisconsin-Eau Claire (LS #2)
7. Northern Iowa (WNC #5)
8. Nebraska (WNC #6)
9. Luther (NC-III #1)
10. Wisconsin-Milwaukee (LS #3)
11. Winona State (WNC #7)
12. Minnesota-Duluth (WNC #8)

Pool A: Iowa State, Minnesota, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Northern Iowa, Luther, Minnesota-Duluth

Pool B: Iowa, Carleton, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Winona State

Pool winners play in Championship game and have locked up a bid. 2nd/3rd in each pool make the 2nd place bracket (winning their first game in this bracket locks up a bid). 4th/5th start in the 5th place bracket, losers from first round of 2nd place bracket drop down, and this is the final bracket with a bid. Last in each pool is eliminated.

Pool Play

Pool A

Iowa State’s Becca Miller lets go of a sharp high release backhand

Iowa State Woman Scorned comes into the Regional tournament the #1 seed, after trailing the region most of the season. To me, this never seemed a talent issue. Their coaches, the Seilers (Kevin and Lana), have had them building depth all season, not really concerned with margins of victory; just four of their wins came by 6 or more in the regular season. This allowed them to develop their young players, like freshmen Britnee Grimshaw, into solid contributors. The Four Horsemen of Scorn (I’m testing this out) – Sarah Pesch, Magon Liu, Cami Nelson, and Callahan nominee Becca Miller, all U23 selections – give them top end talent to match up with anybody, so don’t let their scores fool you. Even with an open rotation, they’ve beaten Tufts, Ohio State, and Carleton, championship-level opponents. Their vicious transition offense chews up yardage very quickly, with Pesch anchoring behind the disc. Nelson and Miller give them arguably the country’s best defensive pairing, and Liu is an elite playmaker. They went undefeated at Conferences, beating Iowa, Minnesota, and Carleton, and will look to do the same here.

Minnesota Ninja Ultimate has burst onto the scene this year, to the surprise of nobody in the know. The region has been sensing the rise of the program, who played well versus Iowa and Iowa State at last year’s Regional tournament. The buzz proved justified, with Midwest Throwdown serving as the breakout tournament. Their season has wins over three out of four of the other top teams in their region (they’re 0-1 vs. Carleton), as well as wins over UCF and Santa Barbara, and a strong Centex showing against Tufts. This deep team gets contributions from two sets of sisters: the DePalmas, Natalie and Emily, and the Regans, Emily and Greta. Downfield monster and U23 selection Sarah Meckstroth, Captain Andrea Crumrine, and 2012 FOTY Mindi DiPaola add more firepower to their arsenal. Both Crumrine and Natalie DePalma are 2012 2nd Team All-Region picks. With Coach Pat Niles running their show, the Ninjas are fully capable of breaking seed and being a 2nd seed in a College Championships pool.

Wisconsin-Eau Claire Sol has proven themselves a growing and regionally competitive program. In another region, without such impressive top end strength, they would be a team in the mix. However, in the North Central, they are a darkhorse. They’ve had strong performances in losses to Minnesota, Iowa, and Florida State, while taking Ws over Wash U and Emory. They’re an athletic group with good chemistry that allows them to excel in the inclement weather of the region. Brit Gartner anchors their offense, which may be at it’s best when she’s getting a generous amount of touches. She’s supported but veteran receivers Mariah Dorner, Estelle Taquet, and Emy Marier. If they catch a tired Minnesota or wildly inconsistent Wisconsin at a low point, maybe they can pull a shocker.

Northern Iowa Pandamonium will be looking to get a boost from being the hometown team, since the field site change, and to break seed. They’ve consistently gotten comfortable wins over the teams below them at Regionals, but have struggled to compete with teams above them. Their best win is over Missouri. They’ll need to push their game to a new level this weekend on home turf. Watch out for returning 2012 2nd Team FOTY Danielle Sweet to make an impact.

Luther Freya will be fighting to put up some good results and continue success from their Conference Championship weekend. They went 6-2 at NC-III Conferences, getting some big wins. They lost a weather-challenged 4-6 game at Southerns against Minnesota-Duluth. The end of Saturday this weekend will offer a chance for some revenge.

Minnesota Duluth will have a challenging weekend ahead of them, if their regular season results are any indication. They have some close losses and have a win over a FSU-B team that made Regionals. The caliber of team they will see this weekend, however, could make it hard for them to put up a ton of points. They have a win over Luther and a close loss to Winona State, so they will get some chances to come away with wins.

Pool B

Iowa Captain Anna Pritchard extends for a grab at Conferences

Iowa Saucy Nancy is the top seed in the pool and their results are those of one of the nation’s top teams. They have lost just one game out of region – a close game against Colorado – while besting the likes of Ohio State, Tufts, Georgia, and Virginia. “We are the strongest region,” claimed Captain Liza Minor, backed up by Iowa’s 8-5 record against the other top four teams in the region, “it will be a tough battle for each and every bid spot.” Nancy may be the region’s deepest squad, with top end talent like Chelsea Twohig and Minor, who are both versatile studs. Behind them, Bekah Hickernell, Jen Nowak, Audrey Erickson, and Anna Pritchard provide additional high quality depth. Of the teams I’ve watched this year, they also seemed the most comfortable with a variety of different looks on both offense and defense, giving them to ability to adjust to their opponents’ weaknesses. Iowa is the reigning champ of the North Central, and to them, that means something, Minor explained, “We still want to prove ourselves the best of the pack.”

Carleton Syzyzgy has put together a strong regular season for themselves that shows they have to be considered in the Regional title discussion. They have a pair of big wins over Virginia and wins over Ohio State, Central Florida, and Stanford. They’re kryptonite has been Iowa State, who beat them in the game to go last season and whom they are 0-3 against this season. Fortunately, Iowa State is all the way over in Pool A. They’re 2-0 against Minnesota and 2-2 against Iowa. Certainly, with senior handler Anna Reed, the team’s lone returning All-Region selection, they are capable of winning the pool. Reed has arguably the most explosive set of throws in the country. The talent around her, like veteran handlers Julia Snyder, Taylor Want, and Kirstie Barton, plus high impact cutters Grace Quintana, Flannery McArdle, and Marley Hartman-Filson, keeps teams from focusing on shutting down Reed while allowing Carleton to apply defensive pressure.

Wisconsin Bella Donna has shown us a little bit of everything this year. Their opener at Queen City had highs (a win over Virginia) and lows (and 6-9 loss to UCF). Midwest Throwdown saw them get whipped by Minnesota, lose to Kansas, and fall to Iowa, but they still took home a win against Northwestern. Then came Stanford Invite, where they rolled through some of the nation’s elite, slamming British Columbia & North Carolina, beating Washington, Stanford, and Santa Barbara, and coming within two points of beating Oregon in the Final for an undefeated win of the tournament. Hype and buzz shot up, but came right back down when Centex handed them losses to Santa Barbara, Stanford, and North Carolina. The ceiling here is very high, but they also have the potential to disappear against top talent. When things are working for Bella, it is often because majestic All-Region handler Rebecca Enders is calmly taking complete control of the pace of the game. She has a stable of athletic cutter/defender combos in Al Ellis, 2012 All-Region selection Biz Cook, and high flying Sara Scott. Anna Shanedling and Sydney Dobkin help Enders out around the disc. Coach Alex Snyder, one of the top vets in the Women’s club circuit, has had them running in rotation-specific lines this season, and it’ll be interesting to see if their roles are more defined and chemistry clicking because of that.

The Nebraska Cuddle Raptors are a team that is on the rise. In their three years competing in the Series, they’ve made it to Regionals twice. After not making it last year, they come in this year as the 8th seed. They’ve done well against their non-elite in region competition, but have some questionable losses, too. They’re a loud, spirited, high energy bunch led by Captains Emily Lander and Kathleen Lovgren. The Raptors are tall and athletic, able to snag discs and win hustle plays, and are happy to go horizontal when called for.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Black Cat Women’s Ultimate is coming into Regionals after a very strong Conference Championships showing. Their regular season results left something to be desired, but this is after the team set out to take on tougher competition this season. However, at Lake Superior Conferences, they were able to win almost every game on the way to a third place finish. They will need to play confident and aggressive to break seed this weekend, relying on the play of Taylor Koehling and Heather Anhen.

Winona State Bad Monaz already have some wins over the regional opponents they will see this weekend and it could be important for their chances. Their 12-9 Champies win over Minnesota-Duluth shows them they can compete this weekend, but it will be hard to expect them to make an impact in such a strong field.

Predictions

Pool Play

Pool A: Iowa State, Minnesota, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Northern Iowa, Luther, Minnesota-Duluth

Pool B: Carleton, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, UW-Milwaukee, Winona St.

Championship Final

Iowa State over Carleton

2nd Place Bracket Quarters

Wisconsin over Minnesota

Iowa over Wisconsin-Eau Claire

2nd Place Bracket – Semi & Final

Iowa over Wisconsin

Iowa over Carleton

5th Place Bracket

Northern Iowa over UW-Milwaukee

Nebraska over Luther

Minnesota over Northern Iowa

Wisconsin-Eau Claire over Nebraska

Minnesota over Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Final Thoughts

Alright, so that was confusing. Iowa State, Carleton, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota wind up your top five in that order. Iowa State, to me, is the best team in the region. Other teams might be deeper, but they’ve worked hard to develop their back end enough to keep up. Meanwhile, the Four Horsemen are unguardable. Even if a team holds them down, the Seilers will find ways to take use that group more effectively.

Iowa and Carleton are such a close pair, as their 2-2 record indicates. Carleton’s height and downfield play could mean trouble for Iowa. I’m curious who the weather favors: Iowa’s disciplined zone play or Carleton’s height and strong handling group? I think they split, like they have this year and like they did at Conferences.

I like Minnesota over Wisconsin in a general sense, but Snyder and Wisconsin’s experience can help them beat Minnesota at this point. It feels like a crapshoot when you’re prognosticating the Bellas.

It is hard to call – these teams have beaten each other all year – so this feels like guesswork, but rest assured these teams will emerge battle tested and ready to take on the country’s best.

QCTU Women’s 2013: 7 Stars Line

Queen City Tune-Up isn’t just a chance for the top team’s to begin marking their mark on the season. It presents an opportunity for the top players to assert themselves. New stars emerge in new roles, players return from injury, and others return more well developed after gaining additional experience. There were a number of talked about players in Charlotte this weekend, but there are only seven on a line, so I was forced to pick the seven that stood out the most. But I’ll show some love to those who didn’t make the list, too.

Without further ado, your first 7 Stars Line presented by Full Field Hammer (obviously, since it is here (man, this is turning into more ado than expected))

Anna Reed (Carleton) is probably the first name you’ll hear about from folks talking about this weekend, and that’s with good reason. She was one of two players that approached the term “unstoppable”. On Saturday – along with partner in crime, Julia Snyder – she showed a vicious arsenal of break throws, particularly an IO flick that works well with Carleton’s vertical stack. On Sunday, her giant hucks consistently got over the top of defenses, even if they knew they were coming. On defense, she put pressure on her girl and generated Ds that she could immediately pick up to get her offense moving. Watch out for this one.

Shellie Cohen (UNC) is the second player referred to in that “approached the term ‘unstoppable'” sentence you read earlier. The book is pretty similar to Reed’s, despite the fact that Shellie is tall and long while Reed is small in stature. Cohen has big throws and the Pleaides deep game was a weapon all weekend. She has the size to catch bad dump throws, forced by being matched up by the opponent’s best defender and it also helps her get off hucks against good marks. The Pleaides captain also showed off some touch with over the top throws against zones employed to slow down her huck game. I also should note that she is a leader. Rarely did 10 minutes go by when I didn’t hear her leading UNC in their signature “Raise Up” sideline cheer. I specifically remember her going through the high five line with her team, jumping up and down and smiling as she excitedly gave respect to her teammates. The video below shows her using her break throws to create scoring opportunities.

Shellie Cohen Highlights

Chelsea Twohig (Iowa) is a fairly well-known name already, making her name in both the college and club scenes. Her performance this weekend was the most complete of any player I saw. Despite showing her athleticism when on defense with nice layout Ds against some of the top players at the tournament, she could flip the switch to offense with a nice variety of hucks and breaks. Chelsea was just as happy to take the swing or the short gainer, though. She appears capable of filling any role on the field. Her playmaking ability – especially on defense – is the kind of thing you want to be there to see. In the video below, she shows off a break throw for a score against Ohio State.

Chelsea Twohig & Liza Minor Highlight

Rebecca Miller (Iowa State) surprised me a bit. I knew of her coming in, but didn’t expect her to stand out the way she did with studs like Magon Liu and Cami Nelson next to her. I was a fool! Miller asserted herself as a defensive dynamo. She isn’t super fast and isn’t big, but can match up with bigger offenders because she can be physical and reacts very quickly. That translates to her cutting after the turn, exposing defenders as soon as she spots a weakness. It fits perfectly into Iowa State’s transition offense. As a trio, she, Liu, and Nelson will be a serious handful for any defense that lines up across them.

Liza Minor (Iowa) is someone I’m thankful to have seen, because I didn’t know about her before. With as much playmaking as Twohig was doing, Minor managed to stand out anyway. Often she was on the receiving end of Twohig’s initiating throws (see video above, where she also gets the D), creating the separation necessary to continue to move the disc right away. That sort of player is invaluable to an offense. When there was a set mark, she wasn’t afraid to leave it in the dust with some nice break throws. She was a big part of Iowa’s run and has a very impressive skillset.

Alika Johnston (Virginia) is a young playmaker coming off a year of elite Club experience with Scandal and who fits in perfectly with her squad. Virginia’s 3-1 Saturday can be heavily attributed to the play of Johnston, who has the speed to get all over the field and get Ds in the under and deep lanes, including help and poach Ds. Virginia, in my mind, thrives on playing hard D and beating you after the turn before you can set, and Johnston is the engine that powers that gameplan. Without Johnston, I’m not sure Virginia wins a game. With her, they finish second in the pool.

Sunny Harris (Central Florida) can be fun to watch or a huge annoyance. She probably wants it that way. That’s because she plays aggressive, in-your-face Ultimate that is just as loud as she is. [Incoming pun warning] Sunny is the right name, because she is the source of fire at the center of this UCF team that breathes life into them. Harris was dropping in transition hucks, making hard upline cuts, and coming back to the disc. On defense, she was happy to grind against top players or patrol the deep position in the UCF zone, where she can command her troops.

Honorable Mentions

Lisa Couper (UNC) very nearly makes this list. She was a dangerous downfield weapon, but just as comfortable behind the disc.

Nina Finley (Ohio St.) had to step into a big role for Fever this weekend, with no Cassie Swafford and limited Paige Soper. Dynamic player, still so young.

Meeri Chang (Michigan) was one of my favorite players to watch this weekend. All quicks and lefty breaks.

Magi Neliu (Iowa State) How am I supposed to pick one of these two? Nelson was everywhere, especially on D, and Liu’s “get open under and then gain 30 yards to the break side” strategy is – shockingly – effective.

Julia Snyder (Carleton) only played one day, but it was a hell of a day.

Claire Chastain (UNC-W) is a player I wish I watched more. You never knew what throw she might make with the disc as she scanned the field, but she also had some huge layouts. You could just tell she’s a boss.

Plenty of players I didn’t get to see enough of to say, so feel free to shout them out in the comments or on twitter. Just to note on Wisconsin and Tufts, who didn’t get any players here, they had a pretty solid top 4 or 5 girls, so one player didn’t distinguish themselves. This gives a picture of some of the East Coast and Midwest stars to watch out for this year. Never to early to start campaigning for Callahan and All-Region…