Men’s Ultimate Frisbee closes out fall season with dominant performance in Northeast Classic
Photo of SUNY Geneseo Men’s Club Ultimate Frisbee team courtesy of Jack Kirby
SUNY Geneseo Men’s Club Ultimate Frisbee (Snail) traveled to Saratoga Springs, NY to take part in the 2022 Northeast Classic tournament this past weekend. The tournament, put on by the National Ultimate League, consisted of 22 of the top college programs in the region all competing for the top spot. Snail came out slow to start on Saturday, Nov. 5, but picked up the pace to end their weekend with a fourth-place finish after some outstanding play on Sunday.
Snail opened the tournament with a tough 10-8 loss to the Rochester Institute of Technology’s team (Spud) with some strong support from Snail alumni. They moved next to face Army in a game highlighted by a huge sky (a play in which both an offensive and defensive player jump for a disc with one of them coming down with it) by junior Sam Moritz. Snail fought to within one but ultimately dropped their second contest 10-9.
The weekend turned around, however, as they were able to grind out a victory against Penn State B-team LoveTap. The team was able to work out their strategy on defense as their offense stayed strong and they came away with the victory 10-7. Snail came out just as strong in their next matchup against the University of Albany’s Scam, as veteran Kevin Shepardson took control in his last tournament. He was able to find the endzone himself after throwing up multiple high-release flick hucks to connect with rookie Noah Ofri-Ackman. It was an all-encompassing effort for Shep as he led the team to a 9-7 victory in Albany’s only loss.
Snail’s 2-2 record on Saturday was good enough to provide them with a first-round bye in bracket action on Sunday, Nov. 6. The team opened their Sunday cruising past the Skidmore Wombats as senior Chris Ventre was able to return from injury to join fellow captains Jack Kirby and Jon Kelsch in leading the charge. Rookies set the precedent in the match as freshman Luke Widor scored on multiple long catches and Brian Gonzalez made his mark chasing on defense. Both aided the squad to an emphatic 10-3 victory in their first bracket match of the day.
The win was enough to advance the team to a quarter-finals matchup against the Wesleyan Nietzsche Factor. Wesleyan came into the day as the top-ranked team in the entire tournament after taking down powerhouses such as the University of Rochester and Yale, among others, on Saturday. Snail knew what they were in for and faced the challenge head-on looking to avenge their loss against Wesleyan last year. The sideline energy was unmatched as the team took an early lead and looked to expand throughout the first half. Late in the game, a huge pull from Ofri-Ackman into the endzone to start a point led to a stellar block by Kelsch on the centering pass from the opposing team. The play led to another point for Snail as they held on to complete the upset 11-10.
The team capped off their weekend with a semi-finals loss to RIT, but not without providing some highlight-worthy plays first. Kirby and Ofri-Ackman were able to work through the Spuds’ defense with some textbook handling skills. As the game progressed more of the rookies were able to showcase some of their skills with Colby Dreschler throwing up multiple long hucks to teammates downfield. Jake Park concluded the action with a long-awaited hammer throw to fellow rookie Andrew Thompson for a weekend-finishing score.
All of Snail would like to again thank senior Kevin Shep for his years of commitment and leadership and wish him all the luck in his future endeavors. As he noted on Sunday, the team’s effort in their final tournament of the semester sparked even more hope for the spring season and beyond for Snail, as they will continue to work hard and progress. The team encourages any students interested in joining to follow @geneseo.ultimate on Instagram or to come out to practices on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 3–5 p.m. on the Letchworth Fields.