3/29/2025 - Squid LITE Tries Their Luck at Sinvite 2025

The last weekend in March saw Squid Lite take their talents to Sin City for Sinvite 2025. The team made their way up after a much-needed spring break, where Squids and Fish alike had time to rest their tentacles for the last half of the season.

Lite woke up early for their first scheduled game against BYU B, reaching the fields and starting warmups well before other teams even made the field.  The game began but it looked like LITE was behind from the start. Though there were many instances of great defense and solid marks, LITE’s throws were subpar and the offensive system looke chaotic. Though we fought hard, BYU was able to capitalize on the mistakes that were made by LITE enroute to a 13-1 score, where the game felt like LITE was always two steps behind and were tripping themselves up. A notable moment in that game was the unfortunate loss of a few players to injury and fatigue, which hindered the Squids for the rest of the tournament.

However, this did not stop Squid LITE from returning stronger than ever for our second game of the day against SDSU B. With the knowledge that all we could do was go up from the last game, Squid Lite came out guns firing and arms slinging. With the constant leadership from veterans like Rishi “Limbo” Carlton and Hillel “Gambit” Avital, LITE was able to take an early lead heading into halftime. One aspect that LITE excelled at was breaking the cup that SDSU had when they ran zone. However, after halftime, SDSU came back with some effort and they started to chip away at the lead. However, with great defense from Ruben “Eeyore” Gonzales and Joe Hunt, LITE was able to outlast them to the soft cap. On the last point, Krishna “Jamba” Jamakhandi forced a D and caught it, an aspect that LITE was lacking during the tournament and threw it into the endzone, where Eeyore caught the disk for a game sealing goal.

The third game of the day was against Northern Arizona, a team that LITE had never faced in the past tournaments. The game was close, as LITE was able to keep up with athletic NAU players throughout the first half. However, as they threw a zone at the LITE boys, Lite was unable to break the cup due to the long legs and arms of NAU and went down after halftime, losing 13-7. Key performers during this game included Vivek “Yuti” Gadicherla and Gambit, who were able to run an effective handler set during zone, where they were able to crash the cup and gain a few yards when NAU threw a zone. However, this was short lived as the long arms of NAU forced many Ds when LITE crashed the cup, leading to scores on the other side.

The last game of the day came against a familiar foe in USC B. The main obstacle for the Squids was the myriad of injuries that plagued the Squids throughout the tourney. At the start of the game, the Squids had a respectable 19 players, but by the end, LITE was trotting out a measly 11, as many of the Squids were unconditioned due to the Spring break prior to the tourney. However, this didn’t stop many of the Squids from leaving it all on the field. Eeyore especially showed out, leading the team on the defensive side of the game. The game was a story of zone defense as well, however LITE had finally cracked the code. Through the insane throws of Gambit and Yuti, hammers across the field allowed for easy gains that broke the zone. There were many instances where Gambit threw a cross field flick to Amogh “Papa Perc” Ramachandra for a goal that kept LITE in the game. A huge moment came when Perc generated a D at one end zone and caught the disc at the other end zone courtesy of Yuti. However, due to the sheer loss of players, LIte lost to USC 13-8, where it felt like the Squids just needed more players, closing the day out with a record of 1-3.

The Squids were hungry for a win on Sunday. Starting the day off with a win meant they would have the chance to advance to the finals. LITE would face off against the University of Arizona Sunburn. The Nevada sun was shining just as brightly as the day before, but unlike Saturday, strong, dry downwinds had started to pick up. This created a significant advantage for whichever team was playing north at any given moment. The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with the downwind team capitalizing on the conditions. Arda “Baby Maz” Gurel, Eeyore, and Zachary “Remi” Rosen all secured catches in the end zone. The highlight of the half came when Limbo made a one-handed grab on a long huck to keep possession alive. LITE entered halftime with plenty to be proud of—the score was tied 4-4. Offensive possessions were ending in scores, and they weren’t giving Sunburn any easy points. The second half started with a quick break from the Sunburn. Then another. And another. Possibly injured and fatigued from the previous day, LITE could not match the intensity of the Sunburn. The deep hucks that were successful in gaining yards in the first half were not coming in the second half. Breaking the Sunburn zone defense was a tall task in the wind, and mistimed cuts and the lack of open space exacerbated LITE’s struggles. So while the Squids’ defense challenged Arizona’s offense just as much as it did in the first half, it did not end up translating into scores. LITE fell 10-4, but with hope of closing the day out strong.

It was going to be the LITE versus the SDSU Bomberos to close out the day. They were familiar foes from the day before, which gave Squid LITE confidence heading into the match. Unlike the Arizona zone, LITE had success breaking through the first line of the Bombero’s defense the day before. Now the question was: could the LITE repeat its success, this time with winds? The match started with two brutally long points with multiple turns. The downwinds that were there to start the day became a brutal crosswind for each team’s respective handlers. Strategically, LITE set up to force the Bomberos to throw straight into the wind. It was clear the game was going to turn into a long, hard grind for both sides. Similar to the game against the Sunburn, handlers were letting the disc fly when they had the chance. Kit “Rocky” Bailey caught an endzone huck while Joey “Fan Fan” Toscano filled a statsheet with a D and goal all in the same possession. Remi and Gavriel “Barkle” Feria set the tone on defense by locking down handler dumps and forcing errant throws by the Bomberos. Similar to the previous game, the Squids were faced with a challenge. Breaking out of SDSU’s zone defense was a struggle. The deep hucks were getting eaten up by the wind. Needing a hold to save their hopes of winning, down 6-7, the Squids were unable to convert after several endzone chances. LITE fell to the Bomberos 6-8.

Sinvite tested the Squids. With a small roster and facing heavy winds, LITE competed down to the wire with every team. The disappointing results provoked a big takeaway the team needed to face before embarking to Bakersfield for Dev Regionals: mental and physical strength needs to be pushed to its limits in order to win. Falling to teams in down-to-the-wire matches has been a persistent struggle for the entire season. The next two weeks of practice will require the best out of the Squids to prove we can win games against some of the most competitive teams in the Southwest region.