PoNY heads to Seattle (with just over half its roster) for their first ever test against West Coast teams. Some game-by-game thoughts.
Saturday:
Pride 13, Condors 10: We had the butterflies early in this game, making uncharacteristic execution errors and playing outside of our system. Luckily, though, our defense was solid, our offensive D got the disc back when we turned it, downfield defenders started giving help defense on hucks, and the Condors made errors when we took away their first option. We played slightly cleaner offense in the second half, which was good enough for the win.
Pride 12, Sockeye 13: We jumped out on Sockeye with two early breaks. Our defensive O didn’t look super pretty, but we made plays for each other to convert Sockeye turnovers into PoNY points – especially Duke, who made at least three big plays, using raw speed and desire. Our offense didn’t get broken in the first half: we sliced the Sockeye zone for the first couple of points, getting the disc back on D after our few turnovers, and confounding the west-coasters with our vertical offense. PoNY takes half 7-5. In the second half, Sockeye ratchets up the defensive pressure – we knew it was coming – and refocuses on offense. Our D still plays great, but Sockeye gets smarter and crisper with the disc. Our offense gives up a couple of breaks early in the half, but, because we started the game receiving, we’re still on serve to win the game. PoNY offense receives on double game point, we work the disc downfield with underneath cuts until we’re about 20 yards outside the endzone. Burkly streaks for the score, 5 yards ahead of his man – a great cut – but BVH doesn’t have quite the right angle to justify the throw. Sockeye defender gets the D, turnover. Sockeye works the disc, hucks to Nord, runs endzone offense for a few passes, then scores. PoNY doesn’t win, but we do give the defending national champions their closest game of the weekend. We learn some tough and some important lessons. Our system is starting to gel, but we also have Ponies who, when they need to, can MAKE PLAYS. Moreover, we learn that to close games against top teams, we must do the littlest things right at the biggest moments.
Pride 13, Rhino 10: I don’t remember too much about this game, except that we won on defense, which was sweet. Also, Brando and Web played great endzone offense with righty and lefty high-release breaks, prompting one Rhino player to yell at his teammates, “We need to decide which high-release we’re going to take away!”
Pride 11, Revolver 13: We took half 7-3, playing efficient offense and good defense. Then we ran out of gas. By that point, we were down to about 14 healthy Pones. We kept playing with intensity, full effort, and a good level of execution, but Revolver was coming off a bye, and they outran us for the comeback win. They are also a top-ten team, and we must learn to play under pressure when tired.
Sunday:
Pride 4, Furious 13: Like our first game of Saturday against Condors, we started this one with only a half-way level of focus, execution, and playmaking. Unlike Saturday, Furious was a much better opponent. They applied very good defense from the very beginning of the game, and converted PoNY turnovers into Furious points by taking advantage of height mismatches and hucking to their tall guys. Our receivers weren’t making plays on the close discs, and Furious defenders were. Our throwers weren’t adjusting, either. Our D got some turns, but couldn’t convert them into points. (This was our only game of the weekend where our D team was shut out.) We made a few good plays to begin the second half, and for a moment it looked like we might go point for point with them – but Furious was more established in its rhythm, and we couldn’t match their consistency on offense or defense.
Pride 13, Voodoo 9: At Alex’s direction, we temporarily put the Furious game out of our memories and fired up for Voodoo. Voodoo played a good poachy defense to generate some early confusion and a turnover or two. Our offense adjusted by switching to horizontal, which we played well for the rest of the game. Our D applied good pressure and we knew it was only a matter of time before the run started. That happened with Gore getting a sweet high diving block to open the floodgates. We stayed intense through the game, made big plays, executed our offense, and used our sidelines to keep the momentum. The D team’s offense, in particular, looked the best it has all season: they got the disc moving off the sidelines well, took good chances with hucks, and worked the disc underneath by using deep cuts to open in-cut space. A good, complete game by PoNY against a good, athletic opponent.
We now move into the break with some highs and low and plenty of hunger. We will lick our wounds, continue to get in killer shape, and come back for the home stretch. 1..2..3…Pride.