After the 3 and a half hour car ride on Friday packed in the back of a van with four people, we arrived at our Holiday Inn in Rhode Island only to be promptly kicked out because someone (on a different team) thought it would be funny to pull the fire alarm. We decided to take shelter in a nearby Chili's, then slept early in preparation for the big day ahead.
Waking up at 5:45, we raided the free breakfast and headed out to Fort Adams. It took us embarrassingly long to get there, considering it was only twenty minutes away and on the same island, as we hit three dead ends, went on the wrong island, and crossed a bridge only to immediately turn around and cross it again; all while a car from RIT was following us.
After missing the Referee meeting by 45 minutes, we pitched our tent and started warming up only to be interrupted by a long (and very very cold) opening ceremony that consisted of us walking a circle around a fort then listening to a team (possibly Harvard but I'm not so sure) sing the Star Spangled Banner.
Our first game, as always, didn't fare so well. While we beat Hofstra many times at their own college, they seemed to go all out today. The score was 170 - 40 when our seeker Andre Zagelbaum made an excellent diving snitch grab, but landed on his shoulder bumping the score up to 170 - 70. Our team was immediately on the scene as he was helped up and the medic was brought to the pitch. Fearing a broken collarbone, we has sent to the medic tent where he rested. This was a great loss for our team, as our best seeker was unable to play for our most important tournament to date.
After a few games that I've been reffing in between without break, I was told to warm up then move to the pitch on my left. Our next game against Geneseo, a team known for playing questionably rough, was too close. We were leading 60 - 40 when one of our chaser dropped an F bomb and was given a red card. This rule was new for all of us, especially since we were given no warning when this normally back-to-hoops offense became one capable of a red card. We took the card respectfully however, and Genseo took the advantage to catch the snitch bringing the score up to 70 - 60 in their favor.
Some more games to ref (mostly Harvard) and we're up against the Rhode Island Ridgebacks. While this team is from Rhode Island and probably well rested, we were able to beat them 160 - 0 with no problems.
This easy victory brought us back on track and gave us confidence for our next game against University of Vermont, which also has a reputation of playing dirty. Once again, we were able to beat them without a hitch: having a final score of 140 - 30.
The U of V game was our last of the day, and set out place in the brackets for the next day. Because we won 2/4, we were placed against RIT for the first game the next day. It is this game that determined whether we were going to World Cup VI or not.
We all headed back to the hotel, had a meeting discussing our problems that day and the game ahead, then slept around 10:00 as we were all pooped. We were able to wake up slightly later the next day, then checked out and headed to Fort Adams for the last day of regionals and our determining game.
Because our seeker Andrew was out of commission, Shenuque and him briefed me on techniques and gave me the yellow headband. Our game started, and I ran to the sidelines to meet the opposing seeker. After the seeker floor was over, we were released and started searching for the snitch. We immediately checked the tents, then went around the outside of the fort. Because I was thrust into the seeker position, I didn't know the snitch boundaries. Unfortunately, the RIT seeker didn't either and we ran too far out. We headed back and I could hear my team screaming my name. Unfortunately the other seeker was a long distance runner and wore me out on the way. I quickly subbed with Shenuque and he caught the snitch within 5 minutes. Four whistle blows, the team ran up to him screaming, the score was 80 - 30, we won.
We couldn't relax just yet though, we still had more games ahead of us. We prepared to face one of the toughest teams there is, Boston University. It was a very tough game and I ended up getting my first yellow card for tackling a chaser over some chairs resulting in making a previous injury worse and breaking her knee (but swearing gives you a red card??). We grabbed the snitch bringing us up to 40 against BU's 160. After the game I worked things out with the injured chaser, and we sat back to watch BU fight its way all the way to the finals, claiming the title of best team in the Northeast.
We have a lot of work cut out for us for the World Cup in Florida, but practices will get tougher, we'll train harder, and by the time April rolls around I'm sure we'll be ready to take on the toughest of teams.
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