This past weekend, Banshee, the women’s Ultimate Frisbee club team participated in the Spring Awakening tournament in New Jersey.
While the team participates in tournaments in the fall, the team’s competitive season really kicks off in the spring, with tournaments scheduled every weekend. This tournament was one of the few not held locally. The tournament, which was supposed to be held in Saratoga Springs, New York, was moved to New Jersey due to weather conditions. However, the conditions were not entirely favorable for the team in New Jersey, either, with cold temperatures and wind that caused the frisbee to have a mind of its own. These tough conditions hurt Banshee in their first day as the team lost all four games, falling to Bentley, Brown, Ottawa University and Boston University. Banshee struggled on offense, struggling to throw around defenders, as well as work the disc up the field and into the end zone to score.
After not scoring more than five points in any game on Saturday, the team stepped up their game, delivering on offense and defense in the four games played on Sunday. Banshee started the day off with a close, 9-8, loss against SUNY Albany. The tight game and strong offensive delivery translated into success for the rest of the day. The team crushed the University of Vermont in their second game of the day with a score of 13-2.
The same flow did not carry over into the third game against the University of Rochester. However, Banshee bounced back in its final game of the tournament, a rematch against local rival Boston University. Brandeis won this game 10-9.
“I am really proud of how Banshee played this weekend. One of our team goals was to grind through tough, long points and come out with the score. Our defense was extremely on point and ultimately allowed us to beat BU at the end of the day on Sunday,” said captain Clara Nice ’15.
The team will travel to Maryland this weekend for another tournament, where they will look to improve their offense. “The team’s greatest challenge right now is remaining disciplined near the endzone. We do an excellent job of working the disc up the field but we are often not able to convert that flow into points,” Nice said. The goals for this weekend are focused on perfecting their offense as they look toward preparing for the college series in April. However, the team is optimistic.
“This is definitely the best Banshee has been since I have been at Brandeis. We have incredible team depth and some really great coaches and I think all that will pay off,” Nice said.
