Quick summary of NW Regionals (Salt Lake City - October 3rd/4th):
Psycho held seed on the Saturday in their pool, and won the cross over game (made it through the first round of elimination) Saturday afternoon.
Sunday morning promised snow, rain, and cold unpleasant temperatures all around. After starting a game against the local Salt Lake City "Golden Spike" team, the game was postponed due to lightning. The score at the time of the lightning call was 3 -2 Golden Spike, neither team having given up a break. I was slightly worried that they would have to take drastic measures like determining results based on incoming rankings, but luckily, they got the game going after an hour's delay. Psycho scored make it 3 -3 and then D-line broke Spike a few times to take the lead, and the win. This win put us in a "game to go" against "D'oh!". We were not able to take the win in this one, a combination of D'oh playing well and a lull in Psycho's focus perhaps. But, it set us up for a back door route towards the 3rd qualifying spot for UPA Nationals.
We played Night Train in "the game to get to the game to go" and came out fired up after our loss to D'oh. We ran hard and they did not match our energy. Meanwhile, Golden Spike (from our first win of the day) was in a battle with a team called CTR. We were to play the winner of that game for the 3rd coveted place to Florida. Both teams are formidable opponents and fought hard, in the end CTR took the win.
Psycho carried the momentum from the game against Night Train into the final game and got up early. CTR didn't make use of their female players as much as they should have, and their break-the-mark initiating throw was fairly effectively shut down. They managed to come back a little towards the end but it was not enough. The final point was scooped up by Wendy Sligl in a beautiful lay-out grab to clinch the 3rd spot out of the NW Region, and the final bid to go to Sarasota, Florida for the UPA Championships.
Thanks to everyone who has been following and supporting Psychoplastique, keep it up! Everything from attending Pre-Fall Brawl, to coming out to scrimmage when asked, or regularly showing up for practices, or through emails or even just following our results and cheering internally.
Jen