Who are the best players in the Metro East region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
Hi my name is Cait, and I played for Marist Red Foxes this year. Let’s get started with this statement. It’s is a true travesty that this unbelievably talented Marist ultimate didn’t make it out of sectionals. They are stacked and something must’ve happened for them to lose to the other inferior teams. They have multiple, I repeat, multiple all region players and a depth that cannot me matched. With that being said let’s highlight some of Marists stand out players.
Kristin “no ankles” Ponterio. Unguardable comes to mind when you see this junior play. Just looking at her 7’0" frame you can tell this woman will sky anyone. You wouldn’t be wrong. I will launch 50/50 discs her way 100% of the time. If you don’t place any deep help your team will end up on the wrong side of a highlight tape. She played sectionals with two sprained ankles and still dominated
Nicole “the bolt” Ferone. if you see Nicole across the line don’t guard her. She will run you off the field. I’m serious this woman is relentless. In cut after in cut, it will make you question your existence. This does not mean she has no deep game. If you let Nicole expose you she will. Sh has an unbelievable read of the disc and will come down with 50/50’s at a jarring pace. This womans has hands of magnets.
Analise “MVP” Polinsky. I’m just putting her on here because she’s wicked hot
And finally I want to say something about myself, Cait “the beast” Myers. I played my heart out at sectionals and nbd but I fucking killed it…to say the least. I made amazing plays and had some incredible Ds and was told from multiple sources that I am the glue of the team. Lastly I want to dedicate my season to Noah Fay. He gave me the strength to get through all the adversity.
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this post is either totally devoid of self-awareness OR a quality shit post. let’s hope it’s the latter.
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This describes every all-region post made by Marist players & coaches. It’s starting to look like the former.
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Hey All. I play for SUNY Oneonta and would like to shout out some people
first on our team I would like to mention our senior captain Amanda Mchale (#6). She is 100% the most solid woman to play with on our team. She handles because our team needs the stability back field but she also will drop back and break your ankles cutting. She puts dimes to you short and deep, and will easily break any zone with her scoobers and OI flicks with no problem. Her knowledge and undying love of ultimate inspires the rookies. She is an asset to our team, has amazing sportsmanship, and excellent communication.
Claire Curtin (#69) is an incredible sophomore cutter who will catch whatever garbage you throw at her and will completely disregard her body to make sure the disc is in her hards. Carolyn Adams, sophomore, (#4) can get open no matter you guards her. She is filthy with the in cuts and can put some great throws deep. Finally Skylar Van Nostrand, junior, (#36) has been an incredible wingman to me in the middle of the field as a strong adaptable speedy cutter. She and I are somehow able to read each others minds and whenever I miss a catch she is right behind me to collect it. We have incredible assists to each other point after point. Each of these 3 cutters has amazing stamina and sportsmanship, and they keep my old ass young.
As for other teams I can say with full confidence that #10 on Colgate shines amongst the rest. She is an amazing leader with great handling skills to break any zone and has impressive stamina and ideas backfield, as well as excellent communication to her teammates.
Maddy Punnet (#14) on SUNY Geneseo is also an incredible player and works the disc up the field slowly with ease and is incredibly knowledgeable about the sport.
I have not had the chance yet to play against RPI this spring, but I have no doubt that Makayla Wahaus on RPI Strut is a force to be reckoned with. She is short, but do not underestimate her ability to run circles around you and handle like a beast. Wind does not affect her game play at all and she will out-read any tall girl to catch a disc.
-val
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Last minute attempt to get this thread as chatty as the men’s…
RPI Strut didn’t have a chance to play many other Metro East teams this season apart from sectionals, so I don’t have much to say on many teams in the Western NY conference.
To start by highlighting some other players:
On Wesleyan, #33 Lily Gould is an incredible all around player. That girl ran circles (literally) both games we played against them that weekend and never seemed to slow down. Her and #25 Syd seemed to be the rocks of their team and the other players put complete trust in them. For a team as strong as Wes, to have two players that stand out that strongly means a lot.
On Skidmore, the standout gal was definitely #18 (I believe) Isabel. My freshman year we played Skid and could barely shut her down as a cutter, and she’s only gotten better (seriously our one saving grace two years ago was that she would always dump it back to a handler but now she throws upfield all the time. like, fuck). She was the girl her teammates looked to throw to, either for a strike cut or some stupid over-the-stack weird OI break flick. She caught anything that came her way and figuring out how to mark her was a puzzle.
Time to toot my own team’s horn:
Makayla Wahaus is easily and objectively the most consistent handler in D-III Metro East, and likely pretty high up there across the nation. There’s nothing to say about her hucks other than “more, please.” She catches everything near her and never throws away an easy incut or upline (unless she’s laughing too hard at me being an idiot). In D-III women’s, to have a player on your team that you can honestly say never makes easy mistakes can make all the difference.
Lindsay Zadunayski is an incredible all-around player. I think half the time she marks it ends in either a stall 9 huck or a handblock, and she will immediately make a perfect cut off the turn. By the time other players are setting up in a stack or the other team is setting up on defense, she’s already done with her cut and has the disc in her hands. (That said, easily the highlight of sectionals was the role-reversal huck to Makayla “I guess I’m cutting deep now” Wahaus.)
Finally, our captain and handler and always-deep deep deep Nancy Bush. Her upline strikes are so perfect there isn’t much to say about them. Playing with her deep in our zone is a relief every time a huck goes up. She can read the disc like a champ and will always get there in time to get the D. She never catches her ds, but honestly I can live with that because she does everything else so incredibly.
Regionals is gonna be a tough one. Sectionals was a hard-fought tournament and I’ve seen and heard only good things about Geneseo and Oneonta. Gonna be a wild one boys&girls lets yee this haw
Before regionals this weekend, I’d like to nominate a couple of girls for the Metro East All Region team as the coach of RPI:
Makayla (RPI #18): Makayla continues to be one of the key handlers for RPI Strut. Between her grass skimming breakthrows to her offhand hucks, she is a player that teams need to specifically game plan for if they hope to contain her and pull out a win against Strut. Between the 3 tournaments Strut went to this spring, I think opposing teams have probably run less than 10 points of zone, as they quickly find out that there are too many holes in their cup when trying to contain Makayla.
Candy (#73): One of Struts key playmakers on offense, Candy consistently wins her matchups as a cutter and then has the throws downfield to continue the offensive flow. When she isn’t cutting, you can find Candy handling and throwing to cutters with her arsenal of throws, whether its a fast IO flick break, a high release backhand, or a (questionable) stall 0 hammer. Be sure to come watch her play at regionals, but keep your head on a swivel on the sideline when she’s pulling the disc.
Lindsay (#17): Lindsay has evolved from primarily a deep cutter to a dominate cutter that can get open at will. One of Lindsay’s best skills on the field is understanding where the open space is developing and setting up her defender to attack that space. Defensively, Lindsay is tasked with (and succeeds) in shutting down an opposing teams top player point after point. RPI asks a lot of Lindsay to play point after point of shutdown defense, and she has been up to the task game after game.
Sam (#11): While often over looked, Sam may be one of the most all around complete players on Struts roster this year. Sam has been asked to play nearly every position on both offense and defense for RPI, depending on what each line needed. Sam has grown to be a dependable downfield cutter with the throws to continue the flow down the field, as well as the awareness on defense to shutdown her girl.
Amy (#4): One of Struts key cutters and zone defenders, Amy has truly grown as a player since her freshman year. Her knowledge and understanding of Struts offensive and defensive systems has been vital in bringing the freshman class up to speed, as she is able to consistently reposition and talk to her teammates on the field mid-point. If you see Amy this weekend at regionals, be sure to encourage her to layout for the disc!
Serena (#25): Serena is only a freshman for RPI, but she is certainly a FOTY candidate. While she came to the team in the fall as a brand new player, and had to be “encouraged” to come to her first tournament, Serena has made an immediate impact on the field as an impact defender in RPIs multiple zone looks. Offensively, Serena has provided RPI with more handler depth with her confident upfield throws and reliable dump cuts. Look out for Serena to develop into one of the regions better defenders the next couple of years.
Nancy (#2): Commonly seen planted deep in RPIs zone looks as the deep deep, Nancy really restricts the playable space other teams have with her range and aggressiveness in attacking any throws that go up near her. The vocal leader of the team, Nancy plays nearly every point for RPI, as she does her best to pad her yardage thrown stats by D’ing the disc back towards her own endzone. Unfortunately, she was unable to unlock her full potential because her second half never materialized…
Abby (Hartford #34): While unable to submit her transfer papers to RPI for this season and complete the unstoppable force known only as “Nabby” with Nancy (RPI #2), Abby was forced to remain at Hartford and lead a young team. A confident leader both on and off the field, Abby is a deadly cutter off the disc with her arsenal of fakes and spirals to get open. With the Hartford program slowly growing, watch out for Abby to lead the program next year as a senior.
Annie (Vassar #99): As an opposing coach, Annie makes me nervous every time her team gets her the disc. With both capable breakthrows and hucks, Annie puts pressure on the entire defense to play honest defense as she will find the weak link in the defense and attack it for Vassar. From playing against her over the years, she is always motivating her team whether she is on the field or on the sideline, and she has certainly left her mark on the up and coming Vassar team.
Nola (Vassar #25): Getting to watch Nola play at sectionals, I was very impressed with how comfortable she was catching and dumping the disc within our (RPI’s) cup. She really stressed the defense for the points that she was on the field as she was constantly inside of the cup moving the disc back and forth across the field. She’ll be a fun player to watch develop over the next couple of years as well.
Hey everyone! I am one of the captains for SUNY Geneseo and I want to generate some more hype into this thread, so I apologize if it’s a little lengthy 
There are so many amazing players in this region and it’s so cool to play with all of these knowledgeable and passionate players.
Since it’s fresh on my mind I wanted to start off by congratulating Wesleyan on representing the Metro East at Nationals this year. The game was bittersweet, but I was so happy to see players on both teams giving it their all to play a spirited game of pure ultimate. The players that stood out to me the most were Sydney #25, their captain Lily #33, and #22 (I’m sorry I never caught her name). Sydney’s up-lines were near impossible to defend due to the pure speed and perfect attack points of her cuts. This player can seriously do it all on the field as a handler and cutter and does a great job maintaining momentum on the field for her team. Lily is a huge threat on both offense and defense, and she is amazing at getting open as a cutter against one of our best defenders and has some amazing layout catches as well. She also has positive energy that is contagious and sincerely admirable. Finally, #22 has insane bursts of speed that cannot be compared for both her up-lines and on defense. Overall, Vish got it goin’ on. Much love for them.
Next, Oneonta’s gameplay this season was a force to be reckoned with and they had the chilliest (and most frustrating) zone to break, in my opinion. Any team in the region knows that lots of strategy was needed to play against them. I apologize in advance for not knowing names, but their captains #10 and Amanda McHale (#6) were Oneonta’s two power houses on the field with big throws and smart offensive play against our zones. Amanda has a super solid high-release flick that can get by any mark no matter how you adjust it. Deep-deep player #8 is one of the reasons why their zone can contain a team for as long as they do. Escargot looooves a good deep look, but #8 excelled at making this super difficult for us with great positioning and calculated jumps. Claire, #69, also has solid cuts and deep looks for their team and is always one to layout for a low throw. In Oneonta’s zone, Claire plays a crucial role in adding pressure to handler swings and does really well in that position.
On Colgate, captains Laura Patak (#22) and #10 are incredible leaders and it was so exciting to see their team thrive this year. Even though they have a team on the smaller side, Colgate will kick your butt in going deep and running discs down. Every single player is conditioned to the nines. #10 has sharp, fast, decision making abilities on the field and rarely makes a mistake. Laura is the core cutter of Colgate and can easily be found open in the holes of zones or simply getting open against person defense. She is extremely athletic and a smart player who can expose any open space on the field.
Finally, I’d like to shout out some players on my own team who I believed served as our backbone this season.
You can’t talk about Escargot without talking about Maddy Punnett (#14). You just can’t. She is one of the strongest handlers in the Metro East and has the best decision making of any player I’ve ever seen play. Punnett has a scary calm that seems to take over her body and create an ultimate-machine. She is both physically and mentally tough and can take down any player 1v1. Punnett creates strong connections with every player she’s on the field with and can throw deep hucks in any type of weather. If anyone on Escargot is in a tight situation or a high stall count, Punnett will get open for that player even if the other team knows she’s going up-line or dump due to her crazy acceleration. On defense, Punnett has countless layout D’s in person and is the core of our zones. She makes deep looks impossible to throw with her strong ability to read discs with insane accuracy and killer instinct to attack everything in the air. Other teams are thankful that she’s graduating, because Escargot won’t be the same without her.
Senior Captain MK Hilton (#19) is a core part of Escargot and scores of over 50% of our goals (and that’s not an exaggeration – a little short if anything). MK can fill any role that the team needs, whether it’s on defense in person or in zones, or as an offensive deep look or popper. She has natural athletic ability and ultimate IQ to read any disc that has been put deep. Don’t only expect her to hang out in the endzone though – she can outrun anyone on an in-cut and has impeccable field awareness to find open spaces. MK is a key part of Escargot’s continuations and is insanely chilly with a disc and acts as though she’s not even being marked. There is absolutely no one with as strong as a focus like MK, her spirit is always high, and I have never seen her play a bad game. The consistency of her game play and her overall ability to play any position on the field should guarantee her a spot on All-Region.
Junior Captain Camille Montalbano (#10) is another player on our team who deserves a huge shout out. This girl can run for days and has incredible skill in crashing zones, finding spaces, and exposing them. She is the master at running circles around people and then getting a quick continuation back to a handler or down the field to MK or senior popper Nicole Horn (#6). Before points, Cam is always purposefully matched up against another team’s fastest cutter and excels at adding the pressure to another team’s go-to player. She is also essential for Escargot’s zone defenses as the mid-mid and voice for the whole field. Cam can run across the field effortlessly and prevents handlers from doing anything but swing the disc. Every game Cam gets better and is a major threat to any team.
Junior Liza Amirault (#18) is the epitome of a strong D-line handler. She has incredible pulls and flick hucks that helps Escargot get it off our endzone and in any tight situation. Teams quickly learn to prevent her no big – but she can still easily get around any mark. Throughout the years, Liza has learned to tame her powerful throw to be completed with perfect accuracy to cutter Abby O’Brien (#26) who have forged an unbeatable connection to each other. On defense, Liza can play both at the top or very back of our zones and has a strong presence with her quick bursts of speed and loud voice. Players from other teams also know her as one of the friendliest people to walk the earth, which speaks highly about her character.
Finally, I would like to mention players Nicole Horn (#6), Kaitlyn West (#7), Abby O’Brien (#26), Maria Papas (#33), Isa Higgins (#77), and Tess Robinson (#27). These individuals were all new players last year but now provide for Escargot’s endless depth of strong players. They each have shown incredible growth and have developed unique assets that are essential for Escargot’s strength.
I am so happy to have played with and against so many talented players and cannot wait to see what the future brings! –Steph (#13)
Kyle Morgan checking in here. I got to witness Geneseo Escargot’s games on Sunday against Skidmore, Oneonta and Weslyan. I also took some time to watch the Weslyan-RPI semi’s game.
Sorry to say, but I was really not impressed with Candy’s (RPI #73) play in the Weslyan-RPI semi. Lots of folks had mentioned her name and pointed her out as a dangerous cutter. She looked very uncomfortable with the disc and turfed more than one open side swing. Maybe just an “off” game? Makayla (RPI #18) was masterful against Weslyan.
I’m all sorts of biased but it is clear that no individual is more critical to the team’s success than Maddy Punnett (Geneseo Escargot #14). Maddy gets the job done on defense, she hucks well and is always available for a reset. Easily the most dominant player in the Region.
Liza Amirault (#18) is Maddy’s foil on the D-line: she sits in the zone as the free safety and hucks as soon as she is able to. MK (#19) and Abby (#26) were Escargot’s most effective cutters this past weekend.
Skidmore was incredibly talented. Skidmore had a redhead cuter with unbelievable speed and hops. She was able to win all her matchups. Beyond that Skidmore had a solid core of 3-4 handlers that were comfortably completing multiple 20-yard swings. Sorry I didn’t catch any names!
Unfortunately, Oneonta was short-handed and the wheels fell off in their semi’s matchup with Escargot. #10 and #6 were adeptly navigating the Escargot zone, but the team was so gassed they were unable to keep up on defense following an errant throw or drop. #8 defended the deep space very well for them.
Weslyan also looked gassed at the start of the Regional final. Escargot seized their first opportunity for a break. 1-0 adv. Escargot. Unforced errors continued to plague Weslyan, but they earned their break back before halftime. 8-7 adv. Wesylan. Soft cap went off during halftime. Weslyan looked like a new team out of half. They broke twice to make the score 10-7. Hard cap sounded and the game had been won, but true to form Escargot got the final goal and held their heads up high.
Lily (Weslyan #33) was an important contributor for Weslyan, but the tall blonde (didn’t catch her name!) wearing the BUDA jersey seemed to be their most effective player. She commanded the D-line offense and went every other when necessary.