All-Region 2017: Ohio Valley (D-III Men's)

[Wormfood]

Hi everyone! Max Franklin from Swarthmore here. I made a short post earlier, but I’d like to make a longer one shouting out some people.

Wooster: Danny Lynch was so challenging to guard this year, and he was even more unguardable this year. Whether cutting or handling, he was able to make big plays and rip through our defense. Emilio was also very solid.

Xavier: I didn’t get his name, but #13, the lefty handler, made some incredible plays. Xavier’s offense definitely ran through him, quite effectively.

Susquehanna: Justuce was the heart and soul of this team. His flick hucks are money.

Ship: No one player really stood out to me on ship. They had one tall handler who was good, I remember.

Haverford: I, and everyone else, already mentioned Calvin, so I’ll let that go. Lucas was definitely the Donks’ #2 player this weekend. If you somehow manage to stop his cuts, he burns you with his throws. A nightmare to guard.

PhillyU: James is tall. James is fast. James has good throws. He really needs to stop beating our defenses so badly.

Finally, a couple shoutouts for people on my team:
Lee Tarlin was the most dominant player for us this weekend. His relentless cuts and incredible grabs paved the way for most of our scores, and his backhand hucks were amazing.
Sam Gardner was such a reliable cutter, as he has been since he joined the team. However, he became a truly hybrid threat this weekend, adding great throws to our handling corps.
Muha Haque had to do so much for our handling line this weekend, and he delivered big time. He showed off some astounding breaks and hucks while playing great defense.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who wished me a fast recovery this weekend. Y’all are the best and are part of the reason why I love this community so much. Great regionals, everyone!!

[cristianadams]

Cristian Adams, one of the handles for BLOB Ultimate wanting to put my opinions in.

JAKE LAMIER Senior: An absolute threat on the field not only physically but mentally. His experience, play calling, and field awarenesss make his a dominant threat on defenses especially when leading a BLOB zone line from the deep position. His physical ability makes him a very active handler with quick throw and goes that put him into a position to launch some deep bombs with his notoriously dangerous lefty throws. He has also been known to charge down field and make himself an incredible threat winning many sky battles. A 100% candidate for player of the year.
ERIC COGLIANESE Sophomore: BLOB’s main cutter threat has made incredible strides is game this year to add to his already incredible athletic foundation he showed last year as a freshman. He has gained a lot of experience and boasts the most points scored by the BLOB roster this year as well as one of the highest assist caps with his incredible field awareness and being able to connect to down field cutters. On defense he has no fear in taking on a team best offense cutter and more often than not completely shutting him down for aggressive defense and sometimes going full horizontal or meters into the air to make a difficult play. This man is a threat on the field at all times.
WILL KIETEL Sophomore: One of BLOBs more underrated players has made incredible strides in his game this year. Plagued with many injuries last year he has shown that the sky is the limit with his performance this past spring. Being an aggressive handle/cutter hybrid with great field awareness, reliable throws, and most importantly the ability to create quick chemistry with his teammates to make an offense or transition defense flow to quick scores. On defense he boasts a similar style to Eric with quick feet and no fear in laying out to make a stop. Watch out for this young man, he will score/D you with a big goofy smile on his face.
THOMAS JUDY Sophomore: Seen as a playmaker for BLOB Ultimate, this young man boasts one of the most extensive ultimate careers out of any player on this roster. Coming out of Madison, Wisconsin he has played club ultimate for almost a decade and is an extremely cerebral and experienced player. With a tall and lanky build standing at 6’3 he has a lot of the gifts a great player needs. Quick feet, sharp cuts, big skies, deep bombs, solid pulls, and accurate throws. But the narrative starts for this man is most accurately seen with his ability to be at the right place at the right time. This handle/cutter hybrid knows when to cut, where to cut, and where to direct his teammates at every moment during a point. On defense he can dissect and opposing line after a single point and make adjustments to ensure that his mark does not get this disc. He has a bright future, the sophomores at BLOB ultimate will make a run someday.

[lucasrichie]

What’s up guys, Lucas here from Haverford. A lot of the previous posts have been spot on. There’s definitely a lot of awesome talent and a lot of dudes are very deserving of an all-region nod. I just want to quickly highlight the guys who I think deserve the most consideration for POTY:

Dan Lynch - Wooster I want to give a major shout out to this dude. Dan played harder this weekend than anybody else in the Division. In addition to being very talented and very athletic, this guy worked his ass off every point. He put his body on the line for every disc, on O and on D, to will his team back into the semi-finals game (and I’m assuming in his Quarters game as well). I can’t remember a single cut on D where Dan wasn’t either getting the D, or just finger tips short after laying out… And, during what was definitely a very chippy and at times controversial game, he was able to keep his cool and a smile on his face as well as any guy on the field. He seemingly plays Ultimate for the right reasons, and put on one hell of a performance today. If it’s about individual effort, gotta give it to this guy.

Dom or Jay - Franciscan Playing a deep and talented team like Fransiscan, it’s harder to judge individual talent. A number of their players can beat you in a variety of ways. That being said, it all starts with Jay and Dom. Jay has the nastiest high-release flick hucks and dominates in the air. Not sure how other teams fared, but he made me feel like I was 5’2". A lot of guys have throws, but Jay was incredibly tough to guard and in my mind the difference maker on the best team in our division. That being said, Dom’s ability to get open, spread the field, and make plays on the disc is incredible. He’s able to put great touch on his throws, and he’s a super smart player who rarely makes a mistake. Both would be deserving, of the two, I’d lean towards Jay.

Calvin Trisolini - Haverford Calvin has the best throws in the division. Routinely pulls it deep into the endzone, and rarely pulls it out of bonds. He’s able to drop full field hucks on a dime from almost anywhere on the field. His deep throws gave us a chance in every game this weekend. He would routinely force teams into heavy brackets or zones, only to torch teams with his array of lefties, hammers, and other breaks. In our three games today, Calvin took three points off and played hard shutdown D on whoever he wanted. No player this weekend had a larger contribution or more winning effect on his team than Cal, he played great and carried our squad. For an analogy, if Dom’s the Steph Curry and Jay’s the KD of our Division, Cal’s the Russel Westbrook (except in the reality where he advanced to the conference finals).His regionals performance was an incredible effort, and enough to earn him serious consideration for POTY.

Awesome weekend, looking forward to one more year.

[dlynch17]

Great weekend everybody, Dan Lynch (#34) from Wooster. A lot of this will be restating what other people have already said, but the level of play of a lot of people in our region deserve multiple shout outs. I am going to do this in 2 posts, 1 for my own team, and then 1 for the whole region.

Starting with my own team:

Emilio (#11) was a killer handler all year. With me and him back handling for the O-line, very few teams were able to stop our give-n-gos. His hucks were huge all year.

Michael “Sprinkles” Herman (#42) played both ways as a cutter and was a huge defensive presence all season.

Jalen Lee (#13) has really grown as a player the past 4 years, going under the radar the past 4 years. If there was an all-defensive team, he would need to be put on it. Against Messiah in the Quarterfinals, Peter Burt was killing us and I stuck Jalen on him for every D point. Not only was he killer on D, but he always managed to make huge deep plays and sky people despise being like 5’7.

Lastly, Aidan Mackenzie (#12) and Gregory “Gregor Airlines” Bell (#5) are both deserving of All-Freshman. Aidan was our main puller on defense, consistently placing the disc deep in the endzone, while being a killer deep-deep and deep threat. Gregory is a lock down defender getting numerous Ds who played his role on Offense and rarely turned the disc.

[dlynch17]

Couple disclaimers: First, I did not play Franciscan this year (though I wanted to). Second, I tend to give all-region recognition to those who I believe really stand out and change the game, who made me say as a captain “if we do not stop this guy, we are not winning.”

1st-Team in not particular order
Haverford - Calvin Trisolini (#33): Everyone has said it about him. He single-handedly destroyed us last year at regionals, and our game plan revolved around stopping him and forcing their other players to beat us… we did not succeed in that, which goes to show how good of a player he is. He has a rare ability to be highly competitive and spirited in a way that you do not hate him for beating you.

Franciscan - Dom: Did not play him this year, but I am sure he deserves it.

Franciscan - Jay: Didn’t play him this year, but remembering him from last year. I found him to be an even bigger threat than Dom when we played him, which is obviously saying something.

Xavier - Jake Lamier (#13): We played together in high school and have competed against each other every year for 4 years. Has spearheaded his team as the obvious leader and a huge threat with his dangerous throws. His bladed over the zone are crazy.

Shippensburg #18 (not sure of his name): This guy absolutely destroyed us. Has a level of athleticism that might be unmatched in the region.

Messiah - Peter Burt (#69): It has all already been said about him. As I said in my previous post, our whole game plan in the quarterfinals revolved around stopping him, correction, slowing him down. Great throws, great cuts, and insanely athletic.

Wooster - Dan Lynch (#34): Do not really believe in nominating or talking about my own accolades for an award/honor, but I do believe I am deserving of being placed here. Plus, I have played with a torn shoulder since Sophomore year.

2nd-Team

Wooster - Emilio (#11): Truly believe he is one of the best handlers in the region. There was not a single person able to guard him consistently in the handler set. He as the uncanny ability to complete passes with pinpoint accuracy so that even the most tightly guarded player will still get the disc.

Oberlin - Toby Harvey: Extremely athletic handler with great throws. He hurt us big time this year and we constantly had to place our best handler defender on him.

Haverford - Lucas Richie (#42): Everyone knows Calvin, but he could not have led Haverford to the finals without 42. We gameplanned around making sure Calvin did not beat us, but whenever we were able to stop Calvin, Richie just made the plays instead. Also, same as Calvin, he had a great combination of spirit and competitiveness that is rarely found in players.

Messiah #17: Great cutter with good deep looks. We had to make sure that when he caught an under we were going straight up to prevent a huck to Burt.

This is about all I have. I am sure another Franciscan player or 2 belongs up here and I probably missed a couple other good players. It has been great playing against all of you for the past 4 years

Also, kind of forgot about POTY. If we are going off regionals performance, I would say it has to go to the best player on one the top 4 teams. Calvin was the best player we played against. So, I would give it to him, but I am sure Dom also has a claim.

[Zacsands]

This is Zac Sands #22 on Shippensburg. There are a handful of players on Shippensburg that I would like to mention for All Region. I feel like since Ship is new to DIII this season, our team is not very known and hasn’t gotten many mentions. Here are the players below.

Jake Doyle #18 - He is coming off a torn PCL but even with the injury he is still an unstoppable force on both offense and defense. He is a very skilled player that that can tear through defenses with his ankle-breaking cuts and is a threat both downfield and handling with an insanely powerful backhand huck.

Eric Scanlan #1 - Eric works like a well-oiled machine; He is the most in shape on the team so we can always count on him for big points because he never gets tired of running. He is an awesome athlete and runs that can run like a horse. A very tough defender and very consistent on offense.

Bryan Walter #13 - Bryan is our main handler with quick feet and unbelievable throws. You can catch him making eye opening hucks or shredding apart a cup in a zone defense. There aren’t many handlers quite as talented as Bryan in this region.

Spenser Strickler #14 - Spenser is another O-line handler who can be seen making big time hucks for big points. He has a very powerful backhand. He also has very consistent throws.

Garrett Hall #7 - Another O-line handler. Very quick and smooth on the end zone line with dump/swings. Has great throws and good hucks

Brayden Tiner #11 - Brayden is just an all around athlete. He is very difficult to guard and his size, speed, and athleticism make him a big downfield threat.

Josh Walther #8 - Josh is the captain of our defensive line and one of the toughest defenders I’ve ever played with. We can count on Josh to match up on the best player on the other team. The kid plays bulldog defense and is very competitive. One of the toughest defenders in the region.

Freshman:

Chris “Riggins” Wurtz - New to the sport but he had run cross country in high school so that’s a big bonus. He plays tough defense and does whatever he can to get the D.

Zach Hunsberger - Zach had some experience playing ultimate in high school. He has good throws and makes time big plays. He will most likely be the future main handler for Ship in the next few years as he develops more into the offense.

[sstrickler71]

Spenser Strickler here from Ship. In addition to what was said above about Ship players I would like to add Zac Sands to the list. Zac is our Donovan nominee and he proved it this weekend with how well he played. He consistently made big play after big play. In our biggest and most intense game of the year against Franciscan, he made big play after big play. He made the biggest impact on our team. Teams would put their best player on him and he would still get open at ease. He should definitely be an All-Region player and in consideration for Regional Player of the Year.

[Jslamier13]

Back again to comment on some additional players for teams we played against this weekend.

Susqquehanna: Justuce Man, what a great, spirited player. He led his young team with amazing dimes and great knowledge of the game. I’d love to see what he could do on a more developed team with additional threats around him. No matter what the situation was, he was just a great guy. Props to his ability to change the game, and his spirit.

Haverford: Calvin My vote for our regions POTY. Last year it was a great pleasure to go head to head with Calvin. As Lucas has pointed out, he is the Russel Westbrook of our region (with some LeBron passing, sorry I’m a Cleveland fan haha). He improved his game once more and tore us up like crazy. Incredibly humble, spirited, and just a great guy to have a conversation with. Doing it all from start to end, it would be a shame for him not to receive the award.

Swarthmore: Lee Was a great guy to try and stop on the inside. It was a shame that Max wasn’t able to compete this weekend, but Lee made his team just as deadly. He was our main target to stop and yet still found a way to get open.

Shippensburg: #13 Unfortunately I wasn’t able to grab his name. On a deep, athletic roster such as Ship, it’s hard to stand out. I ended up having to sit out the majority of the game due to injury but when I was on the field, #13 was the engine that drove Ship’s offense against us. He has silky throws and is very active within the handle set. He was great competition!

Wooster: Emilio I’ve mentioned Danny before, but Wooster wouldn’t have made the semi’s (almost finals) without Emilio. He’s grown so much over the years and has really become one of the top handlers in the region. From a throwing standpoint, our goal always was to get the disc out of his hands. Regardless, Emilio still found a way to get the disc in his hands. Impressive performance this weekend and deserving of an All-Region award.

Cedarville: Josh Shammy Someone that has gone completely under the radar is Josh. Josh is that super long, lanky kid that has some incredibly silky throws. On the defensive side, he’s that guys in the middle of the zone that just finds a way to get a hand on the disc. He’s incredibly spirited, competitive, and polished. He’s another guy that has grown oh so much over the years and has left his imprint on Cedarville. Someone I’d consider on the 2nd team.

Again, I’m sure I’ve left some guys off this list and the one I made prior. Regardless, I’m incredibly thankful for the great competition and friendship the OV has given me and Xavier. Best of luck to all graduating seniors.

Cheers,

Jake Lamier, captain of Xavier BLOB

[notathrower]

Alrighty folks. Max, Haverford Alum, the kid that was yelling too much on Sunday (sorry, really fired up for my team). In my all-region suggestions, I will not be using the word “unstoppable”. In fact, I will try to refrain from hyperbole and superlatives. In this way, I hope that we can truly analyze the regional players’ skills and contributions to their team and properly approach the decision of an all-region team. I’m not going to mention anyone I didn’t watch play this weekend, as I think it is unfair to make assumptions based on reputation.

All-region (in order of when Haverford played against them on Sunday):

Calvin Trisolini (Haverford) Donovan Nomination Video:
Going to start here cause his video hasn’t made it onto this thread yet. Calvin isn’t the “Nethercutt of D3” or whatever elite-level comparison you want to make to try to bolster up a player. He is the Calvin Trisolini of D3 and what he does on the field is original, effective, and exceptional. He has proven himself at the club nationals level and helped lead Haverford to their highest finish in program history this past weekend. AMP coach Patrick Sherlock’s comments in the video will describe Calvin better than anything I will type here. Go watch it.

Toby Harvey (Oberlin): Only caught the 2nd half of this game, but Toby played with spirit, a solid offensive arsenal, and fundamental defense. From what I saw, his team fed off his energy, and he lead a very competitive and spirited team.

Dan Lynch (Wooster): Clearly a central cog to their offense. His dump cuts are very aggressive and decisive. A reliable reset that prioritizes quick, constant flow of the disc. Works through defensive switches nicely and flusters unprepared defenses. He benefits from having a strong co-handler core that accentuates his impact on the game. I did not see many hucks or breaks, but his speed and feel for the pace of the game certainly reduces the necessity of these when Wooster can just rapidly walk the disc up the field instead. Made solid blocks off his field vision and smart defensive positioning. Big fan of the pink hat.

Emilio Bartlett (Wooster): This is kind of a baggage deal with Dan Lynch. These two do the heavy lifting and synergize well. I think if you are going to recognize Lynch’s impact, you must acknowledge Emilio’s. His play, albeit quieter, enables Lynch. He has very patient and well-executed break throws, often making the smart pass off the trap side and opening up Wooster’s handler space (again, their bread and butter).

Dominic Schuster (Fransciscan): I won’t use the “U” word, but the game plan against Dom is always to contain him. He is too experienced and natural at the game to take away all the options. It’s a downright pleasure to watch him play and challenge his opponents. He has only gotten better each year. No longer wears a pink hat though, so that’s kind of a negative.

All-Freshman (sorry other teams, I don’t know who your freshmen are):
Jake Murray (Haverford): Jake accounted for the most receiving yards in Haverford’s finals game against Franciscan. He has a knack for finding the open space and more importantly timing his attacks to maximize yardage and separation from his defenders. He does not shy away from making up-field throws, breaks marks for positive yards, and shows a general offensive confidence that is impressive for a freshman. His defense on reset options is strong. He maintains balance and challenges space well. He had a notable showing against the handlers in the 2nd half of the Wooster game which generated multiple high stall situations.

Lastly, I think these forums are best used as a discussion. Let’s not just be an echo-chamber (though I know all my picks have been mentioned before). Tell me why I’m wrong, tell me why I should add X or remove Y.

[davidbehrmann]

Hey everyone, great weekend. David Behrmann #10 from Muhlenberg College here again.

A few players really stood out this weekend on the teams that we played against.

Oberlin: Toby Harvey #10, a fast handler with great throws. Easily broke his marks and got away from his defender when he wanted.

Messiah: Peter Burt #69, not any big skies against people like I have seen before but he did not drop the disc and his throws were on another level.

Josiah Peck #6, he did a little of everything against us, he is a great handler and makes great throws and great decisions the entire game

Susquehanna Justuce Sturtevant #11, his flick hucks are on another level and when we took those away he used his speed and high-release backhand to continually work us

Phil U James Pollard, his presence is enough to make throwers second guess deep shots. His throws are always smooth and exactly where he wants them and his ability to sky someone is incredible

Ryan Bukovsky #4, a lefty handler and his throws are one of the best on his team, the team struggled even with James when he wasn’t on the field, he is quick to release the disc and get it back and is able to tear apart zones with his throws and speed

Great weekend by all and congrats to the teams that accomplished what they wanted. As a senior I want to say this was the most fun year for ultimate and good luck to teams in the years to come.

[calvin]

For these awards, I focused on each player’s impact on winning in the college series. That means that players whose teams that finished near the bottom of regionals had a much harder time making the cut for me. I also valued performance over talent. If a talented player had a smaller impact on his team’s ability to win than he would at his best (he “underperformed”), and a less talented player stepped up and gave a strong showing to bring his team to their ceiling (he “overperformed”), I gave the spot to the “weaker” player. Guys who missed time in the series due to injury or circumstance were also bumped down (sorry Max/James). There are lots of people who are good enough to be on this list. I think our region has 10+ players who are deserving of a 1st team spot, and more than 20 who should be recognized on the second team.

Here are my picks (not in order):

1st team:
-Dom Schuster
-Jay Ratajczak
-Zac Sands
-Jake Doyle
-Dan Lynch
-Lucas Richie
-Calvin Trisolini

2nd team:
-Toby Harvey
-Jake Lamier
-Peter Burt
-Lee Tarlin
-Justuce
-Emilio
-“Defensive menace from Franciscan” - I’m not exactly sure what this player’s name is, but Fatal had one dude who played excellent, excellent defense. One of the best individual defensive efforts I’ve ever had to play against. I think it was either #11 James Downs or #21 Louis Hesler. Can anyone from Franciscan confirm?

HM: Max Franklin (Swat), James Pollard (Philly U), Jordan Acker (Haverford), Aaron Olney (Messiah), David Behrmann (Muhlenburg), Stephen Babcock (Franciscan), John Paul Bort (Franciscan), Jacob Arons (Oberlin)

Please discuss/tell me why I’m wrong before I vote! Who did I snub? Who should I bump?

[calvin]

Update: Toby Harvey from Oberlin has let me know that the Franciscan guy I was thinking of is probably James Downs, which sounds right. James made my life very difficult. Defense alone wouldn’t usually be enough for me to consider someone for this, but this Downs was exceptional. Did anyone else face off against him? Or have a different experience?

[Wormfood]

Two more entries for the HM list: Swat’s Muha Haque, who stepped up during regionals to take over our offense from the backfield, and your own Gabe Halperin-Goldstein, who may be the worst player on your team, but is still a powerhouse who is one of the smartest handlers I’ve ever played against

[scapegoatforlife]

Jonathan Hoffman, coach of Shippensburg

Our first foray into D-III competition resulted in an awesome weekend of Ultimate. Our semifinal game against Franciscan was one of the best games I’ve had an opportunity to be a part of. I’m going to take Charlie Hoppe’s approach and break this into two posts, the first highlighting players from Ship and the second with some thoughts on those we played against or saw.

Swarthmore and few others highlighted the difficulty with attempting to stand out on our team, particularly with us being new to the scene as part of D-III. We had great depth this year which allowed our top players to share the load with key role players. Check out Zac Sands post above for a breakdown of the full top players that deserve to be mentioned. I’d like to key in on a few players for Ship that really allowed us to perform at a high level all season and make a run at Franciscan on Sunday.

Zac Sands - 22
Donovan Award Nominee
Zac’s Donovan write-up goes into detail on why he is a worthy nominee but his play this weekend absolutely solidified it. He was a major force to be reckoned with against Franciscan, using his speed and athleticism to open up our deep game. He scored at least 9 of the 14 goals in that game, many of them highly contested or even double teamed. When he wasn’t scoring off a deep huck he was working the end zone set with quick cuts both up line or break side, always finding a way to get open for the goal.

Bryan Walter - 13
Xavier captain highlighted the key role that Bryan played on our team. He is our primary handler on offense, facilitating the disc when needed while also hitting massive hucks or huge hammers. His presence was sorely missed in our early games Saturday when he was taking the police exam, particularly against Haverfords highly effective junk defense (hence why Calvin is probably unfamiliar with him).

Additionally, as has been mentioned before, Jake Doyle #18 deserves consideration for adjusting his role due to his knee injury. While he wasn’t the force in the air that he normally is, his ability to get open and then find the open deep cutter was unparalleled for us and often let our offense off the hook when it was stagnant.

Freshman of the Year
Zack Hunsberger
Zack played an increasingly vital role this season as a D line handler where he really he came into his own defensively. He matched up against Peter Burt in the finals at Conferences vs Messiah and then again several times on Dom in the semis at Regionals. He isn’t yet known for massive layouts but his tenacity helped bring us back from a 6-9 deficit and helped earn several breaks throughout that game.

Chris “Riggins” Wurtz
Zac mentioned Riggins but he’s worth highlighting again here as another key freshman that earned significant playing time. Having started the season never having played before, he quickly become one of our primary defenders. His athleticism allowed him to make up for any inexperience and as he learned the game he became a real threat on offense once he generated a turn.

[scapegoatforlife]

Jonathan, coach of Shippensburg - back again to highly some others around the region.

Franciscan
Dom - Much has been written about Dom and nearly all of it is true. While we were able to contain his impact in some regard, Dom was on the field nearly the entire game and a quick scroll through the twitter account will show how instrumental he was in their victory.

Jay - As impressive as Dom was, in our game against Franciscan it was Jay that sealed the deal int he semifinals. His presence on defense led to multiple layout catch blocks, including one on the goal at 14 all that would have given up a potential break to game point had it not been for his impressive defensive stand.

Haverford
Calvin Trisolini - his throws are legendary at this point and his impact on his team is without question. First team all region is a lock here.

Lucas Richie - his defense and disc skill set him apart and really caused us issues, leading to several breaks

24 - Unfortunately I am not sure of this guys name but his presence against us was worth noting. There were several points where we felt we had contained Haverford only to have him come out of nowhere for a big goal.

Wooster Dan Lynch - “Pink Hat” - having forgotten to get names this weekend, I’m going to assume that Dan was the primary threat that we keyed on during both of our match ups.

Messiah Peter “BA” Burt 69 - in our final match up at Conferences, BA single handily kept his team in the game and nearly led them to victory. He made incredible play after incredible play, both in the air or with awesome throws.

Messiah Aaron Olney - 17 - Aaron was the other person on Messiah that we always had to make sure we knew where they were and had a match up on or we’d find him streaking deep or putting a big throw out to space.

Cedarville Perhaps someone can help here, but Cedarville had a blond haired cutter that really found a way to always get open. They had a good run and his contributions were certainly worth noting in the games I got to watch against us and in several points in pool play.

Susquehanna Justuce Sturtevant - Justuce has been building a team at Susquehanna that can compete from the ground up and his leadership and skill paid off this year with the teams first trip to Regionals. Having played against Susquehanna myself back in the early 2000s it is great to see them back competiting at a high level.

[scapegoatforlife]

One last note - I think we should all agree next year to earn a second bid to Nationals for Ohio Valley. I’ve been following along since my time as regional coordinator and it’s past time for 2 teams to be represented on the national stage. With hard work and a nice smile, if we all chip in I think we can make it happen.

[lucasrichie]

24 on Haverford is sophomore cutter Jordan Acker. Far and away our teams leading scorer all weekend, and the hardest worker on our team. Definitely deserving of recognition for his play this spring, and a player to watch over the next couple of years.

[keitelw]

Hello everyone, happy finals week… My name is Will Keitel and I am a sophomore handler at Xavier. I would like to nominate Jake Lamier for all region. He was the lefty handle for BLOB in case you all don’t know his name. Jake was without a doubt our best player and biggest reason why we made regionals this year. What you all know is that he is a hell of a player. What many of you don’t know, is that our second best player and our other main handle broke his wrist in March and was out for our last three tournaments (including conferences and regionals). This didn’t stop Jake from dominating games, even though he would have the opposition’s best defender on him every time. Jake should be all region because without him we don’t even make it to regionals, let alone compete in it. I don’t have as much analysis for other players from the region, will leave that to everyone else. My opinion is very biased, but without Jake our team would have been booty.

[doyleroolz18]

Hey there, Jake Doyle #18 of the Shippensburg Scapegoats here. I’m just going to go over some of the people who I think deserve this accolade. Many of this has already been said so bear with me.

Zac Sands #22: Shippensburg
I’ve played ultimate with this kid since junior year of high school and since that time he has been a force to reckoned with. Like most, Zac started as a cutter but once he got to college he was thrown into the handler position where he had to quickly learn how to adjust his entire style of play. Having that under his belt really makes the kid a valuable player because he can tear you up in the backfield one-second going every other with the disc, then the next he’s catching a deep ball in the end zone with his defender 10 yards behind him. If his offense impresses you, his lock-down D will blow you away. Even though it has already been said, I feel like I need to add the fact he scored 9 goals, threw a few assists with a couple of Ds sprinkled on top against Franciscan. Definitely a lock for 1st team.

Calvin Trisolini #33: Haverford
Honesty hadn’t even seen this kid play until we matched up against Haverford in pool play of Regionals. His throws are on another level. Obviously those HUGE deep balls were very impressive but it was more than that. He really put the disc exactly where he wanted to just about every time. On top of it all, he was a super genuine dude, which made losing to them a little more bearable lol.

Dom Schuster #22: Franciscan
Not much more needs to be said about this kid. Even when you don’t think he’s contributing as much you look at the stat line at the end of the game to show he was involved in at least 80% of the points they scored. Gets open whenever he wants to and throws to wherever he wants to.

Bryan Walter #13: Shippensburg
Obviously a bit biased towards my fellow goats but this kid runs our offense. Shippensburg is just a different team without him on the field. He can take over the offense with some give and goes up the whole field or he can hang back and facilitate with his big throws and insanely precise hammers. The scapegoats will have a tough time filling those cleats next year.

Eric Scanlan #1: Shippensburg
The kid goes to the gym on Sunday night just after playing a tournament that same weekend…
He’s hands down the most dedicated player on the team and is a total rock on the field. His endurance means he can run for days but it also speaks to his mental toughness and ability to make good decisions during those long rigorous points.

[stephenbabs]

Hello everyone, this is Stephen Babcock #3, captain of Franciscan FATAL.

First off, I want to say thank all of you who have made Regionals possible the last three years. It’s been a privilege to play against you all the last three years. Unfortunately, I’m moving on to the University of Notre Dame next year and haven’t decided whether I’ll continue to play ultimate. But I’ve really enjoyed playing against you all and playing with Franciscan these last three years.

Anyways, to move on to who I would like to nominate for All-Region and Player of the Region.

Dominic Schuster #22:Franciscan FATAL
Obviously it would seem as if I’m biased, but being able to play with Dom since I was in grade school has been a complete privilege. I honestly think he may be best complete player out of anyone I’ve ever seen play the game of ultimate. Many of you have said it…you try to contain him, but he still manages to impact the game. I’ve honestly only been scared to guard two people in my life…Dom and Jay. It’s the worst having to guard them in a scrimmage, so I feel somewhat for what you guys have to go through when you against them. What a truly amazing player and friend! I couldn’t be prouder of what this guy has accomplished over his career, especially here at Franciscan with me!

Jay Ratajczak #34: Franciscan FATAL
Jay has a way of taking over games whenever he wants to and imposing his will. Shippensburg was one of the teams that experienced this at Regionals this year. He’s an amazing player who always, always makes the play that you need him to make. He’s one of the most spirited guys I’ve played with. I think that Dom or Jay should receive the Player of the Year for the Region. Not because they are on the same team as me, but because they have been able to lead this team to three consecutive Nationals appearances. They are truly special players!

James Downs #11: Franciscan FATAL
Calvin, you mentioned that defensive menace that we have…yeah, it’s James Downs! In his first year playing ultimate, he has been a monster on the defensive end! Often letting me know that he’ll cover the other team’s best players in order so that I can have an easier match up and so that I don’t burn myself so that I can play offense. James has been great this year, and it’s awesome to have a player so great as Calvin recognizing what James has accomplished.

Calvin Trisolini #33: Haverford
Calvin is one of the best throwers I’ve seen in the college level. Puts the disc wherever he wants and is one of the most humble, authentic guys I’ve had the privilege to play against. Other than Dom and Jay, probably the best individual player I’ve seen this year (and possibly will see this year).

Zac Sands #22: Shippensburg
Holy cow! We switched like 5-6 of our fastest guys on Zac and it seemed that whenever Shippensburg needed a score in our semifinals game against them, Zac delivered. One of the nicest and coolest guy that I’ve had the privilege to play against. Didn’t realize until I read up about Zac that he’s a junior…he’s gonna be good next year! Watch out!

Again, thank you all! I hope that next year that the Ohio Valley can grab 2 bids…we truly deserve it! We shall do our best to do the Ohio Valley Region proud in two and half weeks in Lexington.