4/12/25 - Air Squids Move on to Regionals, Despite Some Ups and Downs

Day 1

Game 1 Vs Cal Poly-SLO  - 11-13 Loss

This game was one that the squids were most excited for, as SLO was the highest seed and team to beat in the section. With a focus on maintaining energy through warmups, we went into half up by three breaks, an amazing result. Unfortunately, in the second half, one break turned into a chain of them and we were not able to close out the game, letting them take the lead and win. Shoutout to Max “Agapito” Gibson for several great hucks into the endzone to Ethan “Tendy” Wang throughout the entire game.

Game 2 Vs Cal State-Long Beach - 13-0 Win

We came into this game disappointed that we had lost the morning matchup against the top-seeded team. However, the competition was at a very different level, as the team was much weaker than our normal opponents. We were still playing at our highest level and ensured that the game was over quickly, and the load was shared to the more junior players, allowing others to rest their legs. One of the stand-out players in this game was fish Tom “Dipsy” Duraisingh, who put up an immaculate upwind flick huck to Jonathan “PSI” McGurrin.  With dominance throughout the entire game, the squids recorded our first bagel of the year.

Game 3 Vs UC Irvine - 13-4 Win

This matchup was similar to the game against Long Beach, where the opponent was just outmatched. While slightly more competitive than the previous game, we were still able to distribute play time more evenly among the team compared to our more competitive matchups, even with windier and windier conditions making throws upwind a challenging feat for younger players.  Two of the points included amazing Callahans by Casey “Sabi” Loftus and Eli “Dewey” D’Amico.  Usually Callahans don’t happen at tournaments, but in one game we had two.

Game 4 Vs San Diego State - 13-5 Win

Coming into this game after two less competitive matchups seemed to be worrying our coach and captains. They made sure to give a good pep talk before the game to ensure we were focused. It worked, and we handled this game without much difficulty. There was a critical lapse in focus at the beginning of the second half where a centering pass by Trey “Zeta” Scheid was picked for a Callahan, and a miscommunication on offense led to us conceding two breaks in a row. After this hiccup we got back on track and handled the rest of the game. Despite his earlier missed passes in the game, Zeta was able to quickly bounce back after a timeout to help the team with assists and moving the disc up the field as the center handler.

Day 2

Game 1 Vs UC Santa Barbara - 11-15 Loss

We were not focused heading into this game and showed it by getting broken three times in a row to start the game, a worrying start to an important match against our rivals. We got closer to being down by one at half, after some amazing defensive poaches by PSI, but SB did not let up and continued to widen their lead until the end of the game. We kept our heads up though, as we knew a win in the following game would most likely set up a rematch to regain second place.

Game 2 Vs UCLA - 15-11 Win

After losing a game that we would’ve liked to win against Santa Barbara, we woke up a little bit and played much better in this game for the win. Shoutout to Tyler “Saw-See” Bourke for taking on the assignment of handler defense against some of their quick guys, as well as some great football-esque routes and catches to help the scoring of multiple break. Throughout the game, especially in the second half, team energy became very strong, and we pulled away with many good offensive plays by Sabi in both the throwing and catching of multiple hucks.

Game 3 Vs UC Santa Barbara  - 7-12 Loss

Heading into this game, the team all agreed that we wanted to beat Santa Barbara to get our revenge after they beat us earlier in the day. However, a lot of the team was tired, sunburned, and hungry from a long six previous games in the blazing sun of Irvine. Unfortunately, while the Air Squids started off with good energy, the team’s tiredness caused the energy to dwindle quickly into bad decisions, bickering with the opponents, and overall conceding lots of points. Not a great way to end the tournament, though Aidan "Hooch" Reedy-Schneider showed out after playing offense for a change and dominating deep shots.