Revolver – Northwest Regionals – Day 1 (Saturday, October 1, 2011)
Ten teams, including four of the top-ranked teams in North America, fight for two bids to Nationals. The weathermen forecast rain today, but the gray clouds never fell while we played and the wind was negligible until mid-afternoon. The scheduled format was a little unusual, pitting the first and second seeds against each other first. So…
Game 1 – 9:00a v. Rhino (Portland, OR)
A couple of Rhino players were suspended for three games due to roster mishaps from Sectionals and Rhino sat most of their starting line-up almost the entire game. We took half 7-2. Jonathan Hester had a nice double happiness on a deep D and then caught a huck from Mac Taylor out of half. Rhino’s Bryson Uhrig-Fox caught an impressive goal over Patrick Baylis that energized his team. Revolver up 12-5, Rhino finally brought out an O-line with some match-ups that we had planned for, so we sent a zone down on the pull. On an unlucky play, Eric Halverson laid out and snared a catch block on an attempt to swing around the cup but Rhino’s Grant Cole caught his leg underneath. Nobody heard a pop but Cole’s knee was badly injured — we all hope it’s just a sprain. Halverson threw an upline forehand to Nick Chapman for the bittersweet game-winner.
Game 2 – 10:45a v. Dark Star (Eugene, OR)
These guys jumped out to a quick, startling 2-0 lead as Dark Star broke our O-line twice, including a near Callahan. We erased those breaks quickly but then traded out to half for a 7-6 lead. They made unusual throwing choices that we hadn’t expected and caught us unaware several times. We barely recognized any of their players but their athleticism kept them in the game for a long time. Once we got a 9-8 lead we scored the rest of the points and won 13-8 after Eric Greenwood accidentally got a D with his head (it’s hard to describe…), in what would prove our toughest game of the day.
Game 3 – 12:30p v. Boost Mobile (Bay Area, CA)
Vowing not to fall victim to a slow start like the previous game, the D-line broke on the first four points and took half 7-1. Boost usually connects on their deep game but they weren’t today, so we took advantage, partly by pressing them with a zone defense. It turns out that we didn’t require much of the O-line this game as Revolver rolled to a 13-3 win.
Game 4 – 4:00p (scheduled) v. Downpour (Seattle, WA)
These guys were young, athletic, and excited but possessed little experience. We opened the subbing and pushed to a 12-0 lead before Downpour finally punched in a goal using one of their two giants. We staved off the rain just long enough to wrap up the 13-1 win.
As the sky began to sprinkle we left the fields, showered quickly at the hotel, then headed north to Bob’s Burgers for some college football and team dinner. We’ll be resting up tonight in anticipation of a brutal elimination day at Skagit River Park tomorrow, where the weather should be partly cloudy with a high of 62. Somehow we’ve managed to avoid meeting Sockeye all season, but that all changes as the rivalry renews in a breakfast semifinal. Bagels and lox? Time will tell…