Who are the best players in the New England region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
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Wellesley’s Josie Ku (butter) - an all-rounded handler/cutter/defender and wonderful captain for the team.
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Williams Nova has so many amazing players: Siri Bohacek, Ruby Gary, Lauren Lynch, Skylar Yarter, Joanie Cha, Coco Rhum, Robin Kitazono, and Annika Harrington absolutely deserve to be in the conversation!
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Mady Lander of Middlebury will lock down any team’s top offensive option
Coach for Brandeis Banshee here, so obviously some bias involved. Non-Banshees I wanted to shoutout: Butter (#87) on Wellesley was incredible, #24 and #15 on Amherst caused tons of problems for us in the handler space, and Gigi Downey (#89) on Mt Holyoke was the most dominant player I saw all weekend- should be first team all-region lock and may make an all-American team if Daisy Chain makes noise in Milwaukee.
On the Banshee front- Talia “Rolex” Jachimowicz (#6) should be a shoo-in for all-freshman. Don’t think anyone beat her in the air this season. Allie “Fresca” Mundis (#0) and Jackie “Gator” Mundis (#15) were our top cutting pair and were responsible for an absurd percentage of our scores. Nina “Mamba” Zhang (#28) was a monster handler defender. And Eve “Echo” Robinson (#40) and Xihu “Flame” Arfa (#18) absolutely dominated every matchup that got thrown at them all season long- should both absolutely be first team all-region.
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big bump. Banshee girls go hard
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Coach-
DONOVAN AWARD WINNER HUNTER LANG
Look, this man found time in December to be the engine carrying a team to semis AND coach Brandeis at the same time. You could see him literally run from games to fields to coach when he could.
Since then he has worked his but off with that program, helping them adjust on the fly, and encouraging them to grind through tough games. I have watched that team improve throughout a tournament purely through chalk talks he is giving between points/halves/games. So much talent that will be missed in New England as he departs to warmer weather
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Absolutely second this. Hunter was an absolute gem to have as a coach this year. He facilitated in developing a team culture that valued spirit and love for the sport as much as it valued becoming a competitive contender against other teams. Brandeis is definitely losing an integral member of the team. Any college program will be lucky to have him as a coach.
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Brandeis Banshee is a team full of absolute beasts! To be a national’s caliber team requires great leadership on and off the field, and I know that their captains Eve “Echo” Robinson (40) and Allie “Fresca” Mundis (0) provide just that. Both Echo and Fresca can dominate any match-up with their athletic ability and game awareness, setting an amazing foundation for team success on their field, as well as providing the hype and inspiration needed to come out on top of the games that come down to one team being more mentally tough that the other. Their leadership and presence will be missed next year, but I’m sure the team is ready to do what it takes to fill their shoes.
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Williams (nova) player!
Middlebury: Claire Babbot-Bryan (#2) deserves all the hype she gets. So fun to play against and does an incredible job moving between handler and cutter space. Absolutely impossible to figure out how to defend against. Kamryn You Mak (#5) and Keziah Wilde (#35) are also amazing players who both deserve a mention. I finally want to give a shoutout to Raechel Zeller, who is one of the most helpful and kind captains we have worked with. When we had to forfeit our second day of Regionals due to COVID, she took the time to reach out to us with support, which meant a lot as we were going through that difficult period.
Mount Holyoke: Moho came out with fire at Regionals and it was so fun to play a competitive and close game with them. #89 (Gigi?) had great throws and a high level of field awareness. Also super kind and fun to play against! Their tallest player (I don’t know their name, but they were wearing a five-panel all day at regionals if anyone wants to comment below who that might be) absolutely destroyed on defense with consistently perfect reads on the disc that quickly broke down our offense.
Amherst: Claire Jensen (#8) very obviously commands the handler space alongside #14 who has an incredible talent for the quick give-and-goes that make them impossible to defend against. With #82 ready to send some crazy bids to lock down those throws, SpaMo makes for a super fun team to play against.
On our own team, Siri Bohacek (13) absolutely deserves a spot on the All-Region roster. She’s guaranteed to come down with any disc thrown her way and is impossible to guard with her crazy speed and jukes. Also an absolute unit on d-line, where she locks down every handler she faces off against. In addition, Coco Rhum (31) will take d-line under her control until the point is scored. When cutting patterns fall apart, Coco is there with the strike cut every time to move it up the field methodically. Her decision-making ability is a testament to her many years of ultimate experience. For the All-Freshman team, Skylar Yarter (3) should be a top contender. Not only was she talented enough to be offered a U-20 National team tryout, but she also was a centerpiece of our o-line all spring. Her placement with the disc is amazingly accurate and she moves aptly between cutter and handler space. Finally, I want to plug Emily Stanger (2) for the All-Freshman team. Though she was barely able to play this spring due to injury, I thank God that she’s there every time I put up my worst hucks, because I am so confident that she will come down with it. She will certainly be a player to watch in the coming years as she continues to dominate in the deep space.
For the All-1st Year (Freshman) awards, are we only dealing with true first-year students, or is there a category for people who did not have any season at all last year?
Observations/Thoughts from the Williams (Nova) coach:
Middlebury: Claire Babbot-Bryan (#2) is an easy nomination for all-region. A dominant player in the region (and nation), Claire is always someone you have to game plan for, which says a lot at the college level. And while Midd did a great job of getting their entire roster a ton of experience this spring, both Kamryn You Mak (#5) and Keziah Wilde (#35) really stood out when watching Midd play, both being able to throw their teammates open, and make it difficult for their matchups on defense.
Wellesley: Playing against Wellesley earlier in the spring, Josie Ku (#87) really stood out on their team through their patience with the disc, despite the different zone defensive looks we threw at them.
Mount Holyoke: Man the difference one dominant player can have on a team. While Nova gave MH fits at sectionals with our defensive zone looks, it was a night/day difference at regionals once Gigi (#89) was on the field. Playing practically every point for MH, Gigi was a huge difference maker for the MH team with their patient offense and field awareness to know when to take off deep and trust her teammates to handle the disc.
Amherst: Claire (#8) and #14 were the two players we had made a note of going into every matchup against Amherst. Their trust and chemistry with one another really showed with their give-n-go moves that really stressed our defense (both zone and person).
From the Williams side of things, we had a ton of great play all season, but some specific players I want to shout out:
- Siri Bohacek (#13/73): Whether it’s the first point of the weekend, or universe point of game 4 on Sunday, you’ll find Siri constantly sprinting around the field, either cutting deep for a layout goal, or dogging her matchup to deny them any opportunity to touch the disc. Siri is one of the hardest working players in the region, if not the nation, always taking on the toughest matchups and never hesitating to give up her body for the disc. When she finally takes a point off, you can find her moving up and down the sideline, constantly communicating, encouraging, and teaching her teammates during practices and games.
- Lauren Lynch (#27): Lauren is your prototypical deep deep. Tall, heads-up, rangey, and D’s everything in the air that gets put up on a desperate huck. She is always quick to get the disc moving in transition and is always looking to take advantage of her mark to put up deep shots to Nova’s streaking cutters, so much so that teams are constantly having to transition to a flat mark to try and prevent her floaty hucks.
- Coco Rhum (#31): Whether it was skying players taller than her, throwing hucks to streaking cutters, or laying out to contest a goal, Coco made sure to stand out while on the field. While Coco has always had an amazing huck game, she really grew into a leader for Nova’s Dline this year, helping to get cutters and handlers up to speed on zone defense and transition offense over the course of the season. When the disc isn’t in her hands, Coco is constantly getting open for her teammates to offer them an easy reset, or taking off downfield when her mark isn’t paying attention.
- Skylar Yarter (#3): Coming from a YCC background, Skylar immediately stepped into a starting handler role for Nova. While she dreams of being a cutter, Skylar played a huge role on our Oline, constantly being available as a reset option, and wasn’t afraid to throw it over the cup to break down a zone defense. Defensively, Skylar consistently shut down her matchup, and always had her head up to help out on a floating pass to generate turns for our defense. While only a freshman for now, Skylar will continue being a matchup nightmare for opposing teams as they look for ways to contain her on offense, and avoid her on defense.
- Emily Stanger (#2): One of the quickest learners of ho stack flow I’ve seen from someone without any ultimate experience, Emily quickly got a handle of the intricacies of cutting within a ho stack, both cutting off of her fellow cutters, as well as knowing when to set up a deep cut for our handlers moving into power position. More than willing to lay out for any disc that looked like it was within reach, Emily will soon be a problem for opposing defenses over the next 3 years.
I know there are other great players in our region, but I just wanted to give shout outs to specific players we played against that stood out!
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