DYLAN FORMAN
Staff Writer
On Saturday, the Fredonia Ultimate Frisbee team traveled to Rochester to compete against several other schools including Geneseo, Cornell, RIT and Le Moyne.
The men began the day by playing Le Moyne College. The game remained close throughout as the teams were tied at 12, facing ‘universe point.’ This is when the game is tied at 12 and the next team to score wins the game. Unfortunately, Fredonia was unable to defeat Le Moyne; they lost on universe point with a final score of 13-12.
Later in the day, Fredonia competed against one of their biggest rivals — SUNY Geneseo. After having lost to Geneseo several times in a row, Fredonia came out firing. With the score 12-11, the Blue Devils trailing, sophomore Brendan Law scored a point to tie the game up at 12.
Facing universe point for the second straight game, Law scored again to give Fredonia the huge win, 13-12, over Geneseo and defeat them for the first time since April of 2013. Senior team captain Tyler Davis called the win “the biggest victory we’ve had in years.”
Riding on the emotions of the big victory over Geneseo, the men then played against Cornell’s B team. Firing on all cylinders, Fredonia dominated Cornell and won by a wide margin, 13-6. Then, in their last official game for the tournament, Fredonia beat a strong RIT squad by a score of 13-9.
Senior captain and team leader Dylan Leitner spoke about the day’s performance.
“We had a tough loss against Le Moyne to start out, but the guys responded beautifully to beat some very good teams.” He continued, “After beating Geneseo, it felt like nobody could beat us. If we can keep playing like this, and stay healthy, there’s no telling how far we may make it in the spring.”
Then, with the official tournament over, the fun began. A crowd of Fredonia Ultimate Alumni came out to play against the current group. It was great for the club program to have all of the younger members meet and compete against the older alumni, several of whom were on the original Fredonia Ultimate team just 10 years ago. Among the alumni present was Dan Pitnell, class of ‘08, who was the original founder of the Fredonia Ultimate Frisbee team.
“The alumni game was one of the best experiences for everyone,” Former Fredonia team member Zack Law said. “To play with the people who laid the groundwork for you to succeed is something you just don’t get to do everyday. It’s something people will remember and it motivates and inspires success.”
Next weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the first frisbee tournament that Fredonia ever competed in. Fredonia will play in one more tournament, later this fall, and then will be off until the spring, when they gear up to make a run at the National Championships.