Northwest challenge is a highly competitive Ultimate Frisbee tournament, where teams from all over the country compete to prove that they are the best of the best. This year, Northwest challenge had only one pool to optimize matchups that haven't been seen yet thus far in the season. Although it was exciting to see new teams, this formatting forced UC San Diego to play the top 3 teams in their first three games.
Day 1 started later than usual. Game 1 was at 2pm and UC San Diego played a familiar face in University of British Colombia, the team that knocked them out the previous year at nationals. The game started with UC San Diego leading, but eventually, University of British Colombia fought their way back and won the game 15-11. The next game was against UNC at the Moda Pitch Memorial Stadium with the Space Needle in view! UNC played with an athleticism that UC San Diego has yet to face this season and won the game 15-8 but it was the most spirited match-up all weekend.
Day 2 began with a game against Ohio State. UC San Diego began with a quick few scores, but again, ended up losing the game. The second game was against Dartmouth, the reigning champions two years in a row. A hard fought game, exchanging scores lead to UC San Diego first victory of the weekend with the score of 12-10. In Game 3, UC San Diego followed up with another win defeating Oregon with a score of 11-10.
Day 3 was bracket play, with UC San Diego fighting for 5th place. The first game was against Stanford. It was a windy and close encounter but UC San Diego managed to pull through, winning 11-9. The next game was against Western Washington. A hard fought game ended with a UC San Diego win of 14-10, meaning that UC San Diego clinched 5th place!
