2021 U20 Mixed National Champions
Seeds Broken In Mixed, But Pi+ Reigns Supreme
Out of all of the youth divisions, the mixed cohort saw the most movement. Three teams rose to the top, breaking seed along the way: no. 4 Lexington Pi+, no. 5 Atlanta flATLine, and no. 7 Dallas Skyline. Both Skyline and Pi+ beat top seed Madison MUFAbots. No. 2 Minnesota Superior also emerged victorious over MUFAbots in the crossover game, winning 12-11 on an intense double game point. Dallas Skyline took on Oregon Rapids, winning 15-9 for a spot in the other semifinal. But the Lexington group sprinted all the way through the finish line with a 12-2 win over Atlanta in the final.
In the first half of the semifinals, Superior was only able to put up one point against Lexington Pi+. Minnesota’s Brandon Else and Leo Dungan-Seaver commanded the downfield space, but their efforts couldn’t bring their team to score. Pi+ took advantage of their throwing prowess, led by Carter Hawkins’ deep looks. With their clean offense, Pi+ won the game 15-4.
Skyline brought the fight to the other semifinal game against flATLine. Dallas utilized their biggest deep threat Trace Cabaniss to help earn some points. But Atlanta’s defense put on enough pressure that the Texas team could not quite make it. flATLine ended the half up 8-4. Skyline fought hard to get back in the game, bringing the score to 12-10, but they brought the energy a little too late and lost 15-11.
Lexington Pi+ dominated the field throughout the final game against flATLine, not allowing a single score from the team from Georgia until the eighth point. Pi+ coach Paul Dutille attributes this to their zone, which made sure the disc didn’t get more than halfway down the field before a turnover. In addition, Kentucky relied on their clean offense and big throws that almost always ended in completion. Coming out of half, with a score of 8-2, both teams rallied to make scoring attempts. In the long point, players maintained patience, proving a closer game than reflected by the score. More than 20 minutes and one timeout later, Pi+ punched it in, increasing their lead 9-2. Atlanta never got another goal and the game ended at 12-2.
“[Atlanta] was never fully able to break our zone and the credit to that goes to our founder and coach Dave Wu,” said Dutille. -Ultiworld https://ultiworld.com/2021/08/17/youth-club-championships-2021-first-time-winners-in-every-division/ Watch the finals Pi+ vs flATLine here!
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