Highlights from Burning Couch vs. Magnum - 2010 UPA Michigan Sectionals
YPSILANTI, Mich. - Burning Couch from Michigan State University is the reigning king of Ultimate in the Michigan Section after defeating Magnum from the University of Michigan 15 to 14 at the 2010 UPA Michigan College Open Sectionals.
"We wanted to win the entire tournament. We were expecting to win, we really were." Brad Mordstadt is a freshman on the Burning Couch team. After breaking his ankle earlier in the season, Mordstadt was sidelined for the year. He now attends tournaments, providing general support and taking statistics for fellow players.
"We played them twice this year. We beat them both times," Mordstadt said. "Granted both squads weren't at full capacity for both games," he quickly added.
It was 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 18, the weather was sunny with light wind from the north, northwest direction. Throughout the day, the wind had been gusting, but compared to the first day of the tournament, Saturday, it was light, facilitating numerous upwind breaks.
The weather was pleasant for the championship game: sunny with light wind from the north, northwest direction. The wind blew throughout the day, but it was light compared to Saturday, the first day of the tournament.
Magnum received the initial pull, but quickly fell behind a couple breaks. Both teams played with intensity and focus, but Burning Couch was dominant throughout the first half. They took a lead of three points into the break, after which they would receive the disc.
"We came out really flat against State in the first half," Jeff Pape, a junior playing for Magnum said. "They came out really aggressive and capitalized on our turnovers."
Magnum had played a close game with Kalamazoo College the day before in pool play. Magnum, a much higher ranked team, had allowed the game to reach universe point before beating them 13 to 12.
The second half of the game was even more intense. After trading points for the majority of the half, Couch started to slip a bit, but held a dominant lead of 14-12, receiving the pull with time running down.
Magnum broke them. And then they broke them again to tie the score at 14 with the hard cap on. When the hard cap comes on, time is up and the next point, provided it doesn't result in a tie, decides the game. During the tying point, there was an argued foul called by Derek Towster, a junior playing for Magnum. At this point the UPA Sectional Coordinator, Jason Schmidt stepped in, clarifying the rule pertaining to the foul to make sure the outcome was correct.
"It was a lot closer than the other two for sure," said Mordstadt. "There was a lot more excitement."
The last point was loud, with cheers coming from both teams on both sidelines. Magnum had to force a turnover, then score an slight upwind break to win the game. After receiving the disc, Couch worked the disc two-thirds of the way down the field before the disc was turned over. Magnum quickly headed back the other way, but was unable to make much headway due to heavy man-defense pressure from Couch. After several cuts out of their vertical stack and several resets, Magnum put up a huck that floated a bit due to the wind. Several offensive and defensive players converged on the disc and no one was able to catch it.
Burning Couch quickly took advantage of Magnum's position and forced the disc down field and down wind as quickly as possible. After a nice flow down the sideline they scored the winning goal on a relatively easy pass in the right side of the end zone.
The final score, Couch 15, Magnum 14.
"It's like shooting the golden goal," Mordstadt said. "We've all experienced universe points before, but nothing like against a rival like Michigan, especially going to regionals."
The game likely decided which team will be the first seed at the 2010 UPA Great Lakes College Open Regionals. This year the tournament is held May 1-2 in Bloomington, Ind., with the top two seeds advancing to the UPA 2010 College Championships
"I went to MSU for five years, and played for five years," Schmidt said. "I was hoping for a Michigan State victory or a U of M loss, the second most preferable thing. But," he quickly added, "as the sectional coordinator I just want to make sure the event itself runs smoothly, everybody plays enough ultimate and everybody is happy."
This is the first year that Burning Couch has won the UPA Michigan Sectional Tournament.
Here you can see the nearly completed tournament bracket with the results from all but the last round written in.
See results from the tournament here. See more information about how the 2010 UPA championship series works here.
-By Michael Dishaw
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