This past weekend, Dragon Coalition competed in their third regular season tournament, Stanford Invite. Notorious for the smell of cows and fields that are more yellow than green as well as windy and cold conditions, this tournament still draws some of the best teams in the nation. Coming in seeded fifth, the Dragons had something to prove. 

On Saturday morning, their first opponent was Tufts, the team that ended the D-Cos’ bracket run in 2020. Seeking redemption, D-Co was ready for a long, hard fight. Initially, both the fourth-seeded Tufts and D-Co went back and forth, trading scores but the D-Cos ramped up the energy to secure a win, 9-8. The next opponent was Texas, the ninth seed, known for being tall, athletic, and fearless. As tall and athletic as Texas was, D-Co’s steady offense and relentless defense won out, 12-7. Having already won the pool and secured a trip to quarterfinals, D-Co ended their day with an extra crossover game against BYU. D-Co took this opportunity to give their newer players more touches which worked in D-Cos favor, as they took the game with a score of 10-5. Cameron “Cheezus” England made some excellent cuts deep and was a consistent defender; similarly, Kaitlyn “Chego” Straight was a massive deep threat and brought her A-game to the tournament this weekend. 

Sunday marked the beginning of the championship bracket with quarters against seventh-seed Colorado, a team known for their physicality. Having played this team in the pre-quarters of Nationals in the fall, the D-Cos were looking forward to a rematch. Both teams went on short runs until the Dragons saw their second universe point of the tournament. After an absolutely clutch play from Lauren “Linux” Hanna, D-Co managed to score the 8-7 win and a ticket to semifinals. The number one seeded University of Washington was D-Co’s next matchup. UW Element came on strong with a break, but then Jessica “Soren Flyan” Wan managed to reel the flow of the game back in by catching a monster huck thrown by Ava “Raffi” Hanna. The Dragons roared to a victory from there, winning 11-8. Finals saw competition with another out-of-region crowd favorite, Carleton Syzygy. D-Co took the chance to give some newer players valuable D-line experience, and started the game with a few breaks, taking half 7-4. However, Syzygy gained foothold and managed to overtake the Dragons, finishing the game strong with 12 to D-Co’s 10. This game saw a lot of intensity with Shaina “Noggin” Jewett-Wolf snagging a layout D against Carleton. 

Breaking seed by three to get second place, D-Co is looking to use this momentum to launch themselves into their last regular-season tournament, Northwest Challenge, three weeks from now.