Dartmouth's men's ultimate frisbee team made history this season, winning the New England open regional tournament for the first time. The victory punched the team's ticket to the national tournament, where Dartmouth will make its second appearance in the history of the program.
According to captain Watson Sallay '08, this year's team is the best he has seen in his four years at Dartmouth, both on and off the field.
"In terms of on paper, this is the best team that Dartmouth has ever had, because this is the first team ever to win regionals," Sallay said. "We went to nationals for the first time five years ago, but that was when there were three spots, so winning regionals was really special. Off the field, this has been the best team ever in terms of becoming friends and teammates with each other on and off the field. It's a special feeling knowing that 20 of your best friends are also your teammates."
In addition to a number of returning upperclassmen, this season saw the addition of key players Misha Sidorsky '10, who transferred to Dartmouth from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst this year, and Carson Thomas, a graduate student who formerly played for Carleton College. In ultimate frisbee, players are granted five years of eligibility, which makes it possible for graduate students to compete.
Surprisingly, Carleton College, a small liberal arts college in Northfield, Minn., is an ultimate frisbee powerhouse. Carleton, currently ranked third in the nation, also qualified for this year's national tournament.
"People would like to play Carleton, because that's a school where we have a guy on the team that is close and connected with the team there," Sallay said. "However, there's not really one particular team we're looking for."
Dartmouth also received significant on field contributions from sophomores Graham Baecher '10 and Alex Kell '10.
"We had a lot of guys put in a lot of work, especially the [sophomore] class, who stepped up their play and ended up as huge contributors," Sallay said.
One of the factors that contributed to the team's strong performance this season was the unusually high number of players that stayed on campus during the Winter term.
"This year we lucked out with the [Dartmouth Plan]," Sallay said. "People are traditionally on in the fall, take winter off and then come back for the spring. If people are off in the winter, after spring break you only have a month or so to integrate the players. This year, most people reversed their D-plans so that they were off in the fall and on in the winter, so it was helpful in getting everyone to play as a team."
The Big Green breezed through the Eastern New England open sectionals, held on April 26 in Brunswick, Maine. Dartmouth barely broke a sweat in the tournament -- the team's closest game was a 15-7 victory over Bowdoin College in the championship game.
The New England sectionals were pushed back due to inclement weather, which was a blessing in disguise for Dartmouth.
"Sectionals were originally scheduled for two weeks before the tournament, but it got postponed to the week before because of the weather," Sallay said. "We were able to work on fundamentals and game-like situations, so that helped a lot."
At the New England open regionals, held in Lancaster, Mass., on May 3-4, Dartmouth got off to a smooth start, defeating Rhode Island, 15-9, and Boston College, 15-7. The games were played in wet, soggy conditions with overcast clouds, but the fields held up well.
"The conditions favored us because we're scrappy and love to lay out, so people were pretty comfortable playing on that surface," Sallay said.
In the semifinal round, Dartmouth faced a hot Brown team that had just defeated Williams, a squad that had made it to nationals last year. The Big Green was able to maintain its momentum from the previous two wins, however, and rolled by Brown, 15-10, to conclude the first day of play Saturday and advance to the finals.
On Sunday, with a bid to nationals on the line, Dartmouth faced Tufts, the highest-ranked team in the region. The Big Green defeated Tufts, 12-10, on March 23 in the College Southerns tournament in Statesboro, Ga.
Although two bids for nationals are granted from the New England region, the runner-up in the finals is not automatically given that bid. The loser of the finals win the loser's bracket to clinch a bid.
Tufts had a significant height advantage, but Dartmouth was able to counter with efficient passing and solid defense. Dartmouth came out on top in the hard-fought contest, winning 15-11.
"Our quality of play at regionals was some of the best play that we had seen the entire year," Sallay said. "Everyone was preparing for that one moment, and everyone just played to their limit."
Tufts went on to face Harvard in the championship of the loser's bracket. Tufts was not able to squeeze past Harvard, however, and lost the contest 15-11.
Harvard, the winner of the loser's bracket, will also represent the New England region at the Ultimate Players Association's college open championships.
For the regional tournament, the Big Green opted to wear PRIDE t-shirts in lieu of its regular uniform to show support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community during Dartmouth's PRIDE week.
"The idea came originally from Sam Haynor '08," Sallay said. "He just sent a blitz out saying that he had grabbed these 20 shirts and said that he wanted to use it for the team's uniform. People responded and were excited, saying that it was a great idea, so we wore them as our uniforms. On the men's and women's team, we have several gay and [bisexual] teammates, so it was special for them to see that the team supported them for who they were."
Sallay added that wearing the PRIDE shirts was symbolic of how the team has bonded this year.
"Another aspect that was special was that there were no numbers," Sallay said. "This year we built ourselves as a team and were not centered on one individual, so the shirts reflected that."
Dartmouth goes into the national tournament as the No. 19 ranked team in the country, with a 2,577 RRI. The Big Green is the third-lowest ranked team that has qualified for the tournament, ahead of Harvard and the University of Delaware.
The RRI is calculated in the same manner as the KRACH rating system used in NCAA hockey rankings. A team's RRI is computed by multiplying the winning ratio, which is the number of wins divided by losses, and the strength of schedule.
Nationally, the University of Florida has the top RRI rating with a score of 2,876. In the New England region, Tufts, ranked 18th, has the highest RRI.
The UPA College national championships will take place in Boulder, Colo., on May 16-18.
The University of Wisconsin will look to defend its title, while the tournament host, the University of Colorado, will look to avenge its loss in last year's finals. Last year's top four teams -- Wisconsin, Colorado, Stanford and top-ranked Florida -- are all back in the tournament, creating a deep field.
Since the national tournament is unfamiliar territory for the Big Green, Dartmouth has not set any tangible goals for the tournament, according to Sallay.
Sallay added that the team will look to liven up the tournament with its exciting play and fun-loving attitude.
"As a team, a goal is to represent the New England region well," Sallay said. "Also, teams at nationals tend to play very competitive, and although we're also competitive and focused, we'd like to have fun and bring something different to the tournament. We might try out some trick plays, but we want to make sure we're having fun."
