Lehigh Men's Ultimate Takes A Trip to Naitonals!
10/1/2013 10:27:00 PM | Recreation
The Lehigh Men's Ultimate team attended the Division III College Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this May. Though seeded twelfth of sixteen teams, Lehigh Ultimate ended up the tournament tied for 5th place overall.
During Saturday pool play, Lehigh matched up against number 1 seed (and eventual 2nd place finisher) University of Puget Sound. In a hard-fought game – which Ultimate news reporting website Ultiworld named one of the best games of the weekend – the lead changed hands multiple times after a series of 3-4 point runs. Lehigh was up 4-2, before Puget Sound took the half 6-8. A three point run by Lehigh made the game 9-8, later to 11-9, before Puget Sound took the game 11-13.
Following, Lehigh fell to number 8 seed Bentley College, 11-15. After going down 0-2, Lehigh put some points on the board, but with an overall score of 2-6. Though the offense eventually began to click, especially with the start of a weekend-long connection between senior Christian 'Chaz' Stephan and junior captain Nick 'Falcore' Mathison, it came too late, with Lehigh never able to overcome this four point deficit. The final pool play game against Rice University was filled with turnovers and poor execution. Lehigh squeaked out an 11-10 universe win to progress to the pre-quarter crossover game.
This final game against Wesleyan College was a battle of attrition, with both teams clearly exhausted from a day of close-scored pool play matches. Both sides relied on deep downfield cuts and long hucks. With a picture-perfect final point layout D by freshman Ziv 'McCoy' Arzt, Lehigh was able to pull ahead and win 13-10, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Sunday's quarterfinal match against Middlebury College mirrored the previous day's match against Bentley, with Lehigh falling behind 0-3, and later 1-5. While, again, the offense began to recover, Middlebury took the game 8-15. Middlebury would go on to take first place over Puget Sound in the DIII Championships finals.
In a consolation game against Claremont College, Lehigh capitalized on Claremont's physical and mental exhaustion from their previous universe point loss to Amherst College. Once again, Lehigh fell behind 0-2, before recovering and eventually winning 15-6, tying for fifth place overall.
Notably, Nick 'Falcore' Mathison was the tournament overall score-leader, with twenty goals. Mathison also tied for third highest defensive plays of the weekend, at eleven. Sophomores Shane 'Chipper' McDevitt and Justin 'Chalky' Carter followed shortly behind, with ten defensive plays.
See full footage of the Lehigh-Puget Sound game at: http://ultiworld.com/2013/05/19/diii-championships-puget-sound-v-lehigh/
2012-2013 Awards
Nick 'Falcore' Mathison, junior captain of Lehigh Men's Ultimate, was named Division III Ohio Valley Player of the Year for the 2012-2013 College Season, and member of the Division III All-Region team. Division III teams are those schools with fewer than 7500 students. Mathison was overall score leader at the Division III College Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Additionally, senior Christian 'Chaz' Stephan and sophomore Justin 'Chalky' Carter were named to the Division III All-Region second team. Graduate student and president of Lehigh Women's Ultimate Hana 'Scout' Harrison was named to the Women's Division III All-Region second team.
