ATHLETICS

Xavier Ultimate Wins 2 Out of 3
Shana Watts, Xavier Ultimate Player

Posted Friday, 08-Sep-2006 10:08 AM

      Last August 27, 2006, Sunday, the Xavier Ultimate Frisbee team trooped to Ateneo de Manila University to participate in another set of Frisbee games.

      Losing our first two games in the Habagat Ultimate Frisbee League in the first week of the game, the Xavier Ultimate Team came with renewed spirits this time.

      True enough our team emerged as winner in two out of the three games we played that day and here is an account of that cheerful Sunday.

Xavier vs. UP – SPO3

Score: 10-9

      Fresh for our first game of the day, the team provided a burst of offensive energy that propelled us to an early lead against UP’s SP03. However, the opposing team caught up quickly through their incessant calling of fouls. By the end of the hour, the score was tied at 9, making it a golden goal situation. More than ever, our team captain, Perkin Chai (XS '05), and our coach, Mr. Simon Mendoza (HS Social Science), drove us to play a hard offense and an even harder defense. Man of the match was Andrew Chan (H4A), who scored 5 of our 10 points, including the game point. Kudos as well to Mr. Mendoza for jumping almost twice his height upon victory!

Xavier vs. DLSU – UOD (Ultimate or Die)

Score: 9-8

      This game was down to the wire yet again, with our team and DLSU’s UOD evenly matched at 8 all by the end of the hour. We must now point out how these are the times when the Xavier Ultimate Frisbee team truly shines. It was also during this game that the Disc Devils stepped in to help refine our techniques and boost our morale. With our hard-nosed determination and the Frisbee prowess of the famous Devils on our side, there was no way we could’ve lost. Alvin Ang (XS ‘93) led both Xavier Ultimate and Disc Devils teams in cheering and gave pep talks, while Derek Ramsey thought up new plays for us to stump the opponents. Our team suffered mild disappointment at one point, when UOD called a foul after Kaiser Sy (H4C) had caught what we thought to be our winning point. The short-lived anticlimax ended when Agu Veloso (XS '06) scored the game point, catching a long pass from Perkin. This time, we really had something to cheer about.

Xavier vs. TODA 1

Score: 5-11

      The team met its match in TODA 1, who scored three early goals. We fought hard to grind them down with our defense, but they rallied just as hard with their powerful hucks and skilled long catchers. By halftime, we had a 6-1 deficit. To remedy this, our guest coach, Derek, taught us another ingenious play, the “cup,” which helped prevent our opponents from throwing any more hucks, and allowed us to trap the disc in one line on the field. This left more room for mistakes on their part and allowed us to get a few more points in. However, our exhaustion from the first two games caught up with us, and TODA 1 scored their 11th point in the last 5 minutes of the game.

      Some say that victory isn’t as sweet if one hasn’t tasted a loss. Winning two games out of three is pretty sweet for the only team full of rookies in the league. Over and above that, we left the field last Sunday with new plays, techniques, good exposure, and one great experience as a team.

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