History: 2016 – 2017 Season
Roster:
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| Head Coach: Nick Kaczmarek* denotes team captain Assistant Coach: David Hogan, Marcus Ranii-Dropcho Team Manager: Jacky Chen |
Awards:
Callahan Nominee: Carl Morgenstern (5th Year/Grad)
Ultiworld Coach of the Year: Nick Kaczmarek
Ultiworld Defensive Player of the Year First Runner-Up: Michael Ing (Sophomore)
Ultiworld 1st Team All-American: Sam VanDusen (5th Year/Grad)
Ohio Valley 1st Team All-Region: Michael Ing (Sophomore)
Ohio Valley 1st Team All-Region: Carl Morgenstern (5th Year/Grad)
Ohio Valley 2nd Team All-Region: Sam VanDusen (5th Year/Grad)
Ohio Valley 2nd Team All-Region: Jonah Wisch (Senior)
Tournaments:
Skylander XVI: Edinboro, PA – September 17th – 18th, 2016
Alumni Game: West Penn Fields – October 9th, 2016
Classic City Classic LXXXIII: Athens, GA – November 5th – 6th, 2016
Steel City Showdown: Norwin, PA – November 12th – 13th, 2016
Florida Warm Up 2017: Tampa, Florida – February 17th – 19th, 2017
Stanford Invite: Fremont, California – March 4th – 5th, 2017
Easterns 2017: Little River, SC – April 1st – 2nd, 2017
West Penn D-I College Men’s Conference Championships: State College, PA – April 15th – 16th, 2017
Ohio Valley D-I College Men’s Regionals: Allentown, PA – April 29th – 30th, 2017
D-I College Championships: Mason, OH – May 26th – 29th, 2017
Pittsburgh-B
Pittsburgh-B Roster:
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| Head Coach: Michael Van Ness, Nick Bozich* denotes team captain |
Pittsburgh-B Tournaments:
Skylander XVI: Edinboro, PA – September 17th – 18th, 2016
Steel City Showdown: Norwin, PA – November 12th – 13th, 2016
Florida Warm Up 2017: University of Southern Florida, Tampa, Florida – February 17th – 19th, 2017
B-team Brodown 2017: Steubenville, OH – March 25th – 26th, 2017
April CWRUL’s 2017: Columbus, OH – April 1st – 2nd, 2017
Ohio Valley Dev College Men’s Conference Championships: State College, PA – April 15th – 16th, 2017
Ohio Valley D-I College Men’s Regionals: Allentown, PA – April 29th – 30th, 2017
Skylander XVI: Edinboro, PA – September 17th – 18th, 2016
Team X:
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh-X 1 – Penn State-Behrend 0
Championship Bracket (3-0)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-X 1 – SUNY Fredonia Y 0
Team Y:
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh-Y 1 – Brockport 0
Championship Bracket (1-1)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-Y 1 – Harambe Matata 0
Alumni Game: West Penn Fields – October 9th, 2016
2017 Alumni Game outside the Church Brew Works.
2017 Alumni Game dinner.
Alumni Game (0-1)
Final: Pitt Alumni 15 – Pittsburgh 13
Classic City Classic LXXXIII: Athens, GA – November 5th – 6th, 2016
Each year the Pitt Ultimate A team, travels to Athens, GA to compete in the Classic City Classic. For the team, this is an extraordinary bonding experience both on and off the field. Unlike previous years, CCC was not our last tournament this fall, and in turn served as the perfect venue to showcase the quality of the program, and the talent of the new recruits. We spread out playing time across the team by playing mixed lines of returners and rookies, and saw exceptional play from everyone. Now the roster has been finalized and Pitt A looks on to the winter season, a time for preparation and training.
Pool Play (5-0)
Pittsburgh 11 – Emory 7
Championship Bracket (0-1)
Quarterfinal: Virginia Tech 15 – Pittsburgh 13
5th Place Bracket (2-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Georgia 10
Steel City Showdown: Norwin, PA – November 12th – 13th, 2016
The 2016 Steel City Showdown champions, Pittsburgh.
Pool Play (7-0)
Pittsburgh 15 – West Virginia 8
Florida Warm Up 2017: Tampa, Florida – February 17th – 19th, 2017
For their first Spring 2017 debut, the Men’s Program traveled down to Sunny Tampa, Florida to compete in Florida Warm-Up.
After lots of turnover from the previous year’s roster, the team looked to re-introduce themselves to the world of college ultimate, which had all but written them off as contenders for a national championship come May.
Pitt came out strong against their first opponent of the weekend, Texas A&M, whom they handed a routing of 13-7. The starting D-Line in particular looked especially strong, scoring an amazing 5 break out of the 6 points they played.
From there, it seemed like there was no stopping the team, which went on to defeat long-time rivals Wisconsin, Carleton, and USF, to end the day 4-0 with a point differential of +23.
Saturday things slowed down a little for the Pitt squad, who went down early to FSU. After going into half 5-7, Pitt rallied back with a few breaks, and ended winning the game 13-11.
After FSU came the much anticipated rematch against Minnesota, who had eliminated Pitt the previous season in a thrilling semi-final game. Minnesota started the game strong, and took half 7-4, before the Florida skies opened up to a downpour which caused a 30 minute rain delay. Following the rain delay Pitt’s defense couldn’t seem to phase the Minnesota offense, which only had 1 unforced turn the entire game. Minnesota won with a final score of 13-8.
For final game of pool-play, Pitt faced UCF, the winner of which would make the championship bracket. After trading for the first few points, Pitt managed to string off a couple breaks and maintained their lead, taking the game 13-9 and earning themselves a bye to semi-finals on Sunday with a final pool-play record of 6-1.
With the sun shining brightly, Pitt faced a rematch with Texas A&M in their semi-final game. After going up strong in the first half, Pitt slipped up a little in the 2nd half, letting A&M string off 3 straight breaks before they could stop the bleeding. But Pitt’s big lead from the first half, as well as some resilience late in the 2nd half, the program managed to hang on to their lead and win the game 15-9.
The final would be another rematch against Minnesota, who had proved to be the strongest competition at the tournament. Fueled by their only loss of the week, Pitt came out firing, going up 5-0 after breaking the rattled Minnesota 4 times in a row. The first half ended with another Pitt break to make the score a whopping 8-2. Pitt’s O-Line remained steadfast throughout the game, and although they were not devoid of turnovers, they were always able to get the disc back. The final score was 15-7, with the O-Line did not get broken once.
Pitt came home Florida Warm-Up champions for the 3rd time in the last 6 years. After a dominant 8-1 overall performance and the +38 point difference, Pitt hopes to continue their strong play as they head to the Stanford Invite in a few weeks.
Pool Play (6-1)
Pittsburgh 13 – Texas A&M 7
Championship Bracket (2-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Texas A&M 9
Final: Minnesota
TAMPA, FL – Minnesota and Pittsburgh had the two best weekends at Warm Up and they were both deserving of their places in the final. What was surprising was how the game played out. Earlier in the tournament, #7 Minnesota dominated #13 Pittsburgh in pool play and had been the more impressive team throughout the tournament. Few would have predicted a complete turnaround and the 15-7 beat down that Pitt laid on Grey Duck.
Pitt dominated from the off and never looked back. Simply put, Pittsburgh’s offense came out playing crisp, clean ultimate, and Minnesota did not. On top of that, Pitt’s person defense was remarkable and it felt like they took away every single look from the Minnesota offense. But Grey Duck was also inexplicably sloppy on offense; throwaways and drops riddled their early play as they struggled to cope with Pitt’s pressure.
Before Minnesota could even get in the game, the score was 5-0. Even Pitt’s second D-line got in on the break party.
When Minnesota finally put a halt to Pittsburgh’s out-of-the-gates explosion, Pittsburgh’s offense came back on the field a little less crisp, but still got the hold to make sure Grey Duck didn’t immediately get back into the game.
In fact, Minnesota would never get back in the game. The Grey Duck defense, which had been so impressive all weekend, did not register a single break in the final. And after taking half at 8-2, the Pittsburgh D-line continued to apply the pressure and got two more breaks in the second half.
Jack Slevin (1 assist, 2 goals), Andrew Lehmberg (1 assists, 3 goals), and Thomas Edmonds (3 assists) were the stars on offense for En Sabah Nur, but the whole line played well and their defense when they did turn it was also impressive.
The D-line stars were Sam Vandusen and Saul Graves (game high 4 assists.) Vandusen was the only player all weekend to genuinely shut down Ben Jagt, using his physicality and strength to make up for his forfeiture of height to the Grey Duck star. He and Graves paced the devastating D-line offense all afternoon.
Pittsburgh’s defensive intensity across its roster was easily the story of the game, and it provided a stark contrast between the final and the first time the two teams met earlier in the tournament. Carl Morgenstern said of the difference between the two games, “Minnesota in the first game…came out with a fire we just could not match. In [the final], the O-line put together a stellar defensive performance. Everybody was hustling, everybody was working to get the disc back.”
Pitt coach David Hogan also saw a distinct difference between the two games. “Last game it felt like we didn’t really have a defensive identity. I think it was the team being on the same page and doing everything that their role required and not doing too much. I also think they just played better man D.”
“That’s an uncharacteristic Minnesota game. They’re not gonna be turfing swings again,” he continued. “But our O-line’s defense was playing very different. It was another thing of being on the same page, but they were just much more prideful. They had a lot more tenacity and grit and determination to get the disc back. That was a huge difference. The way they played defensively in that game was phenomenal.”
Minnesota’s Wyatt Mekler was very matter of fact after the game, willing to credit Pittsburgh’s impressive defense, but also critical of his own team’s play. “I think they were just working harder than us,” he said. “They were pressuring us really on the unders, on the deeps, on the handlers. They went on a run early and took the energy out of us. Between [their] poaching and working hard, we just didn’t have it.”
“The last two between us went our way,” he continued. “Today went theirs, so they had maybe a little more energy. I think it’s important for us to remember coming into any game that any team can win any day and you have to bring it no matter what. They definitely brought it. I think they showed us a little more that we didn’t see the last time we played that maybe we didn’t expect.”
Minnesota never did adjust to Pittsburgh’s better energy and different looks. Mekler identified a non-adjustment that cost his team the ability to stay in the game. “I think our handlers need to work harder. I think on the field we can cut harder and clear the space more. If we would have gotten in and out better it would have opened the field for our cutters and we just didn’t do that today.”
Hogan and Mekler both touched on the fact that Minnesota was far from their best. Especially early, the Grey Duck offense looked completely out of sorts. But Pittsburgh’s ability to take away virtually everything in the early stages forced that sloppiness and put the game away before it even got going.
Both teams said after that this game and this tournament weren’t about winning, but rather about learning and getting better for the rest of the season. And both teams will certainly have done that. But there’s no questioning that Pittsburgh has more positives to take away after this game.
It looks like their defensive unit will be one of the most dangerous weapons in the division this season if they can repeat performances like this one. Even after the players they lost from last year, Pittsburgh is still very much one of the best teams in the country, and they emphatically announced that with their utter domination of Minnesota in the Warm Up final.
Written by Daniel Prentice for Ultiworld
Stanford Invite: Fremont, California – March 4th – 5th, 2017
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh 13 – British Columbia 7
Championship Bracket (3-0)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 12 – Stanford 10
Semifinal: Oregon
Final point on periscope.
Final: Colorado
FREMONT, Cal. – In a physical and at times wild point-capped game, Pittsburgh En Sabah Nur edged out Colorado Mamabird 15-14 in the final to win the 2017 Stanford Invite. After the last major California tournament, Presidents’ Day Invite, felt inconclusive due to awkward format adjustments and weather challenges, it was refreshing to see the two best teams at the tournament go punch for punch after outlasting the field.
Northern California offered its share of wacky conditions (muddy fields, hail, wind, thunder, rain, sun, wind, in that order. All on Sunday), but tournament staff were able to shift the the game (and the women’s final before it), onto a more serviceable field that offered surer footing and fewer muddy uniforms. Unlike the conditions on the original showcase field, which was torn up enough to hamper cutting and cake game discs with flight-altering mud, the alternate field allowed the game to be played at a truer pace.
Colorado received first, benefitting from an out of bounds Sam van Dusen pull. With a side stack pull play working against a forehand force from Pittsburgh, Colorado worked patiently downfield to just outside the goal line. An around pass to the force sideline sailed out of bounds. Van Dusen stepped the cone, lined up a first throw to space, and it promptly bounced out of Callahan award nominee Carl Morgenstern’s grasp. Moments later, lefty Jeremy Harker hit Mark Rauls for the 1-0 lead.
With the rain mostly abated, the first point of the game set the tone for all 28 that followed. In spite of a bevy of both talent and turnovers, there were only three breaks in the game.
The Pittsburgh O-line gave up their own end zone turnover on the ensuing possession, but the Colorado D-line couldn’t capitalize. Bursting out of the vertical stack with a horizontal cut to the break sideline, Thomas Edmonds stabbed the first Pittsburgh hold over his bidding defender to tie the game.
Already at 1-1, the high level of defense played by both O-lines was on display. Already, neither team had been able to manage a clean score, and it mostly stayed that way.
“I thought both teams played phenomenal end zone defense. Just very markedly, Colorado’s end zone D is a step above anyone else we’ve played so far,” said Pittsburgh assistant coach David Hogan after the game.
Three holds followed, with defensive punches starting to land during a multi-possession point. It took a monster effort from Edmonds on an in-cut block to bring the disc back to his O-line, with fellow handler Jonah Wisch finding Jimmy Towle for the hold to make it 2-2.
“I thought our O-line played phenomenal,” said Hogan. “Their defense, especially, is just…haven’t had O-line defense like that in a while. And that is very noticeable.”
With a 3-2 lead, Colorado crossed Rauls over to the D-line and it paid off. After a Pittsburgh turnover, he flipped a short backhand to Isaac Chestler in the front of the end zone that nearly hit the ground. The observing crew stepped in for resolution and ruled a catch, securing the first break of the game for Mamabird.
Pitt broke back two points later, when Wisch split two Colorado defenders to find Dillon Tranquillo for Pitt’s first break, putting the game back on serve at 4-4.
Though other contenders had hung tight with Colorado during the weekend (namely UBC, who went nearly unbroken for their entire quarterfinal matchup with the eventual finalists), Pitt’s effort was already giving Mamabird their stiffest test of the 2017 season thus far.
“It was pretty contested the entire time,” said Colorado thrower Erik Hotaling. “I think both teams did a great job of keeping the intensity the entire game.”
Three points later, Van Dusen caught a centering pass from Saul Graves after a Colorado turnover. The strong and speedy lefty dialed up a downwind backhand that looked to be too far and tailing out of bounds, but Tranquillo shifted into his highest gear and tracked down the score to deliver Pittsburgh’s first lead at 6-5.
Through the end of the first half and long into the second, these two top teams continued to hold despite many opportunities for breaks. While known talent was was making the plays, new contributors were bursting onto the scene for both teams. Rookie Quinn Finer skied his way into the picture for Colorado off a fast break huck from Wes Chow in the first half. Pittsburgh O-line newcomer Julius Hubby put on a cutting clinic, breaking ankles as he continued to find space downfield.
For Hogan, the buzz around his team’s D-line coming into the tournament colored his expectations for the O-line. He had hoped to see growth, and got exactly that.
“They didn’t just stick with what worked at [Warm Up]. It was less [added] wrinkles and attacking more spaces,” Hogan said. “It was being able to…you’re running an option route with three routes rather than two. You’re able to attack deep, break, and force in the same cut based on what there is. And that’s what I was excepting from the O-line. That’s what I’m super happy about.”
The second half started off cleaner, with scoring coming at pace and the teams trading quickly in a brief lull amidst a storm of turnovers. The physicality never lessened, and Rauls broke from his typically smiley demeanor with an emphatic stare down of his Pitt defender after snatching a hold to tie the game at 8-8.
Late into the game, more Colorado O-line players snuck their way onto the D-line and while they managed plenty of opportunities to capitalize, the young Pittsburgh offense hung tough. Mamabird nearly sniffed out another break during what felt like a never ending point at 11-11, but Jack Slevin finally found Dylan Best for the hold and nudged the lead back out to 12-11.
Time wound down imperceptibly for the now-crowded sidelines which were sucked deep into the game’s back and forth energy and unaware of the hard cap. Observers needed to confer with both teams and inform the crowd, announcing that the opponents had agreed to play without a time cap, honoring the win-by-two rule and the game’s point cap, which was 15.
Fatigue finally started to set in late. On a Colorado pull play, Rauls shot out of the gate into the deep space with Morgenstern giving chase and calling for a switch. Pitt’s defenders couldn’t lock onto the switch fast enough, and Harker fired a huck. Rauls raced down to tie the game at 13.
Two quick holds later and it was double-game point: 14-14. Set to receive, Pitt opted out of sending out a kill line and sent their normal O-line out to get the job done, while Colorado brought Chow, Harker, Hotaling, and Rauls over to play defense and seek out the winning break going into the wind.
A short pull got Pittsburgh set up nicely and the O-line swung the disc patiently back and forth as Colorado defenders stayed tight down field. Edmonds found the disc in his hands on the break sideline facing a flick force. Chow was stationed last back for Mamabird, sitting underneath Kyle Hartley and betting that he could make up the ground if a huck went up. Edmonds confidently stepped into his forehand and fired a curving inside-out pass that zoomed high over Chow and tailed towards Hartley, who had taken off down the break side. By the time the disc landed in Hartley’s hands, he was all alone in the end zone.
Hartley’s winning catch was the exclamation point after another impressive tournament run from Pittsburgh, just two weeks removed from their tournament title at Warm Up. While the D-line might have walked away from Tampa with the attention, eyes should shift onto the O-line that so ground so tirelessly to earn back possession from a tough Colorado defense.
While Pittsburgh celebrated, Colorado rushed to their bags to start packing, wearing no post-game frowns that might be expected to accompany a difficult loss. In the end, Mamabird seemed pleased with the result.
“Super proud of this game. That’s the kind of fight that we want coming out against a team like Pitt after a long tournament. That’s absolutely what we want,” said Hotaling.
He was full of perspective. As sweet as the value of a tournament title may be – and Pittsburgh more than deserves the credit they’ll receive for pulling off their second straight in 2017 – the veterans leading this Mamabird team know that they need to learn how to take a loss on their way to another possible deep postseason run. This particular game, their first loss of the season, was as even a a game as they could have asked for.
“This experience is so valuable for Nationals and understanding how to fight in close games like this. That’s really what we’re looking for,” said Hotaling as he and his teammates smiled, posed for a picture with a brand new Spikeball set, and sorted themselves into cars to head to the airport.
Written by Simon Pollock for Ultiworld
Easterns 2017: Little River, SC – April 1st – 2nd, 2017
Pool Play (4-1)
Wisconsin 13 – Pittsburgh 9
Championship Bracket (2-1)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Stanford 10
West Penn D-I College Men’s Conference Championships: State College, PA – April 15th – 16th, 2017
Pool Play (5-0)
Pittsburgh 13 – Carnegie Mellon 7 recap
Championship Bracket (1-0)
Final: Pittsburgh 15 – Penn State 5 recap
Ohio Valley D-I College Men’s Regionals: Allentown, PA – April 29th – 30th, 2017
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh 15 – West Chester 3
Championship Bracket (3-0)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Case Western Reserve 9 recap
Quarterfinal: Case Western Reserve
D-I College Championships: Mason, OH – May 26th – 29th, 2017
Pool Play (3-1)
Pittsburgh 15 – Connecticut 5 recap
Championship Bracket (1-1)
Prequarterfinal: Pittsburgh 15 – Auburn 8 recap
Pool Play: North Carolina-Wilmington
Pittsburgh-B Tournaments
Skylander XVI: Edinboro, PA – September 17th – 18th, 2016
Pool Play (2-1)
Haggwas 13 – Pittsburgh-B 7
Crossover (1-0)
Pittsburgh-B 12 – West Virginia Y 11
Championship Bracket (0-1)
Prequarterfinal: SUNY Fredonia X 13 – Pittsburgh-B 8
9th Place Bracket (1-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh-B 13 – SUNY Fredonia Y 5
Steel City Showdown: Norwin, PA – November 12th – 13th, 2016
Pittsburgh-B at the 2016 Steel City Showdown.
At the end of this Fall season, we headed to Turner Valley to compete with many of the teams in our region at the Steel City Showdown. We had been putting in a ton of effort at practice in the weeks leading up to the tournament, which really showed in how Pitt B performed over the weekend. While we lost a couple close games, we learned from each and every one and moved forward as a team. We finished the weekend with a great win over Temple University on universe point, during which Alex Reiser finished his college career with a great sky for the final score. This weekend was a great finish to our fall season and now we can look forward to the upcoming work this winter. This winter, we will train as a team by doing multiple track workouts and film sessions in order to develop as a team. Personally, as it is my first year playing college ultimate, I look forward to seeing our team grow both as ultimate players and as teammates. Keep an eye out for Pitt B this spring!
Pool Play (3-4)
Pittsburgh Youth 15 – Pittsburgh-B 7
Pool Play: Temple
“Starting on D for universe, Handler D earns one. Hank hucks to Reisser for his last career point. That’s a game, that’s a career.”
Florida Warm Up 2017: University of Southern Florida, Tampa, Florida – February 17th – 19th, 2017
Pool Play (6-0)
Pittsburgh-B 13 – Florida State B 7
Emerging Powerhouse Championship Bracket (2-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh-B 15 – Miami 14
B-team Brodown 2017: Steubenville, OH – March 25th – 26th, 2017
Pool Play (3-0)
Pittsburgh-B 15 – Cleveland State 5
Championship Bracket (2-1)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-B 15 – California – Pennsylvania 6
April CWRUL’s 2017: Columbus, OH – April 1st – 2nd, 2017
Pool Play (1-2)
Pittsburgh-B 13 – Franciscan 2
Crossover (1-0)
Pittsburgh-B 15 – Kentucky 13
Championship Bracket (0-1)
Prequarterfinal: Vanderbilt 14 – Pittsburgh-B 11
9th Place Bracket (1-1)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-B 15 – Vanderbilt 13
Ohio Valley Dev College Men’s Conference Championships: State College, PA – April 15th – 16th, 2017
Pool Play (4-0)
Pittsburgh-B 13 – Ohio State B 9
Championship Bracket (3-0)
Quarterfinal: Pittsburgh-B 15 – West Chester B 0
Ohio Valley D-I College Men’s Regionals: Allentown, PA – April 29th – 30th, 2017
The B team had another great regionals. They only lost to teams who made semis or better. Also, the B Team beat Ohio in the 13th place bracket, 14-11. In 2012 and 2013 the A team was playing them in the regional finals.
Pool Play (0-3)
Lehigh 15 – Pittsburgh-B 4
13th Place Bracket (2-0)
Semifinal: Pittsburgh-B 14 – Drexel 12
Classic City Classic champions.
This year, after scoring their first point of the game against the A team, Pitt B was able to remove their shirts, pose for a team picture, and tweet it without needing to even call a timeout before the next pull. 2 years ago they needed that extra 90 seconds, but it’s down to a science now.