After Saturday, the Northwestern men’s ultimate frisbee team faced an uphill battle to advance to regionals. On Sunday, it climbed to victory.
NU went 4-3 overall at the sectional meet, finishing sixth out of 14 teams and qualifying for regionals, which will be held this weekend at Ohio State. After going 2-2 on Saturday, NU reeled off back-to-back clutch wins on Sunday: a 15-2 decision over Purdue followed by an 11-5 upset of No. 5 seed Ball State. Had NU lost either game, it would have been eliminated from regionals.
“We came out firing on Sunday, ” team captain Arjun Venkatesh said. “It was one of the few times you could see the fire in everyone’s eyes.”
NU’s offense thrived despite heavy rain and 20 mph winds. Because it practices in adverse conditions on a consistent basis at home, NU has come to view bad weather as a significant advantage.
“Dealing with the weather in Evanston actually helps prepare us for some of these regional games,” Venkatesh said. “I’m hoping the rain is pouring and the wind is flying. That puts a smile on our faces.”
Sixteen teams will compete in regionals this weekend at Ohio State, with the top two teams advancing to the national championships. Although seeding has not yet been determined, NU expects to receive either the No. 10 or No. 11 spot.
Sweeping successes: With two consecutive doubleheader sweeps in the last week, the NU club baseball team (7-2) appears poised to defend last season’s Wisconsin-Illinois Baseball Conference (WIBC) title.
NU defeated Wisconsin-Eau Claire 1-0 and 11-8 on Saturday at Jones Park in Fort Atkinson, Wis., followed by two remarkably different wins against DePaul on Tuesday in Northbrook.
In Game 1 on Tuesday, NU beat DePaul
10-0, with senior Paul Jury throwing a complete-game one-hitter. Jury also struck out four and improved to 2-0.
The game ended after five innings by way of the 10-run slaughter rule. DePaul, which commited five errors in Game 1, has not beaten NU in the past three years.
Facing a pitcher it had never seen before, NU squeaked by in the second game for a 1-0 win. Sophomore Matt Luckham pitched the last three innings for NU, picking up the save in impressive fashion by striking out six.
NU will host a doubleheader against Columbia (Chicago) on Friday, beginning at 2 p.m. at Rocky Miller Park.
Every team qualifies for the WIBC postseason competition, a double-elimination tournament to be held May 3-5 in Madison, Wis.
Last season, NU went 18-3 overall and did not lose in four tournament games en route to winning both the regular-season and postseason titles. Wisconsin has secured first place with an undefeated record this season, but NU thinks it can repeat its tournament run.
“We’re as good as any team in this conference, and our confidence isn’t any lower than last year,” team president Luke Winn said. “We still expect to go to the tournament in a couple weeks and win it.”
Stiff Competition: The NU men’s rugby team faced competition that was bigger, stronger and more experienced last weeked – and the scoreboard reflected it. With seven of 15 starters never having played an official game of rugby, NU (0-3) lost 21-0 to Eastern Illinois and 27-7 to Southern Illinois.
Players from the opposing schools had three weeks of preparation entering the competition, but for NU, the games came after only three practices.
“It takes a while to learn this game. It’s not like baseball, where we all grew up playing it,” team captain Eddie Bluemel said. “It might be a year before we really understand.”
Despite the losses, NU is excited for Friday’s showdown with Loyola, a game that will determine who takes home the Northside Cup trophy. The trophy currently rests in Loyola’s possession, as NU has lost the last two meetings.
The spring 2001 matchup between the teams ended prematurely because of malfuctioning lights at Lakeside Field. And this fall, NU’s last score – which would have provided the winning margin – was nullified on a controversial call made by the officials.
“We want to get revenge,” Bluemel said.
The game will take place Friday at 7 p.m. at Lakeside Field.
