Game 1, Cal

This was the Squids’ first game of the tournament, and Cal was a team that they had lost to previously. This game however, the Squids improved on their ability to move the disk at a lower stall. This made it easier to break the mark because the defense didn’t have time to set up. Tyler “SawSee” Bourke also led the team to break after break, getting many deep hucks, and Cal couldn’t keep up. Jonathan “PSI” McGurrin, as always, was taking on Carter LanKford, their best player. Spirits were up for most of the game judging by the talking and cheering from the sidelines. Near the end of the game Benjamin “Botta” Lamperti hit an amazing layout to give the Squids a chance at an extra game. The D line was able to force turnovers and get breaks through big hucks and the O line was patient and moved the disc quickly. The Squids were able to beat them in a good game, which gave them an excellent start to the tournament.

Game 2, Oregon State

The Squids started the game off up 3 breaks capitalizing off of dropped discs made by Oregon State. They lost their momentum however as the wind picked up and pressure defense allowed Oregon State to get multiple breaks of their own. There was also an atrocious foul call made that allowed OSU to convert on a break off of a foot block they got earlier. The Squids also struggled when they looked dump too late causing them to panic with the disc and make risky throws. This gave the team something to work on for the weekend, as they struggled to move the disc off the sideline quickly on O-line. OSU also played really strong open side defense stopping the Squids’ first few looks and forced them to look dump or throw a lot of breakside throws. Towards the end of the game OSU gained their confidence and started shooting it deep to many of their big receivers that were confident in the air sealing out the game. 

Game 3, Santa Cruz

After playing some solid frisbee against Cal and OSU, the Squids carried that momentum into their third game of the day. With a turn from the slugs right off the bat, they were able to convert and get a break for the first point of the game. Both teams fought with a lot of energy, but unfortunately, Santa Cruz was able to get a couple of breaks in the first half. The Squids were able to contend with them a little better in the second half. Bodhi “Cass” Brenner also hit an insane trailing edge bid to score on a deep huck from Tyler “Dumpty” Kurpanek. This was a game of amazing plays from the Squids, with Elliot “Crum” Wu making a goal line bid to score with a Santa Cruz defender on top of him. The Squids went hold for hold to end the game, ending 10-12, which was remarkably close against such a top-seeded team.

Game 4, Utah

The first game of day two was a must-win situation. If the Squids win, they move on to the prequarters, but if they lose they’re out of the bracket. To start off the game Dumpty made a massive layout catch in the endzone for the score off an errant throw. However, Utah was another team that liked shooting it deep. The Squids tried to counter this by having a last back in their defensive setup but throws were made to bidding receivers where the help deep had no play on the disc. The team seemed to still be asleep, making uncharacteristic turnovers and drops. They overall played very strong O and D but the reset poaches by Utah gave them some trouble and led to a few breaks. The d line got a few turns early on in the game but were unable to convert them. The Squids were a little frantic with the disc off a turn which led to a lack of conversion. This was not the start they wanted on the day, but their next game at Warren Field would prove to be more positive. 

Game 5, Stanford 

The Air Squids had something to prove coming into this ninth place quarters matchup. At SBI they played a close game against Stanford, but unfortunately could not convert on their D-Offense points. This game was different. The first D-point, David “Nette” Schwartz hit a huge layout D in the dumpset which was called back on a horrendous foul call by Stanford.The d-line got turn after turn, and  was able to convert on many of those opportunities. On the other side of the field, the O-line was easily converting, shredding the Stanford zone into pieces. Besides a few poor throws the O-line was clean the whole game. As the lead grew, some of the Squids big throwers such as PSI and Janeil “Cumin” Guada started to attempt huck after huck, although they got the disc back often. Later in the game, Stanford tried to come back with poor calls, but a huge bid into huck for the score by Bradley “Cosmo” Zanteson sealed the game. This was a statement by the Air Squids, decisively beating Stanford 12-7.

Game 6, Utah Valley

The Squids came into this game riding high from the Stanford blowout. However, they just couldn’t figure out how to focus on this important game to make it to ninth place finals. After a few clean holds in the beginning, the O-line started to make unfocused throws that led to turnovers and breaks for Utah Valley. D-line was able to get turnovers, but struggled to convert them into breaks, often making off-target throws in the wind or being unable to move up the field. They were ultimately unable to keep the momentum going from Stanford, and Utah Valley ended the game on an anti-climactic hold to win 13-9.

Game 7, Colorado State

Besides maybe an actual hurricane, this was the worst weather possible to play frisbee in. Spirits were already low from the weather, and with every point that Colorado scored, the Squids just dug themselves into a deeper and deeper pit of gloom. The torrential downpour made the disk incredibly difficult to catch, while the wind made the disk nearly impossible to throw with precision. In weather like this, it is very important to throw short direct passes to mitigate the effect of the wind. Unfortunately this was something that many of the Squids struggle with and will have to work on in the future.