No. 32 Case emerges from group of death unscathed, finish 6-2
The Case Western Reserve University Fighting Gobies Ultimate Frisbee team kicked off its spring season with a second-place finish in the 69-team field at the Chicago Invite, one of the biggest tournaments in the world. The Fighting Gobies finished the weekend 6-2 overall, falling in the tournament finals to Oregon State University, 12-10. Case is now 11-4 on the season.
The second-place performance rocketed the Fighting Gobies up the USA Ultimate performance rankings. Case shot up 61 spots after the weekend to the 32nd position, Oregon State jumped 20 spots and are now ranked 27th.
This was the fifth annual Chicago Invite. The Fighting Gobies finished 23rd in 2012.
Collegiate ultimate Frisbee is governed by USA Ultimate. Case is a Division I school and competes in the Ohio Region.
The Fighting Gobies were tasked with one of the hardest opening groups in pool “D” as they were matched up with eventual champion No. 27 Oregon State (13-7), No. 25 Carnegie Mellon University (16-4) who finished third, and No. 90 Michigan State (8-12). The matches proved to be extremely even between the groups, and coincidentally, the tournament’s top three teams. Case, Oregon State, and Carnegie Mellon University each finished 2-1 in the group stage while Michigan State finished winless at 0-3.
The Fighting Gobies topped the eventual champion Beavers 11-9 in their first game, but fell in their second to the eventual third place Tartans 13-9. Despite Michigan State losing their first two matchups, they still gave Case a run for their money as the Fighting Gobies managed to hold on for an 11-10 win. In the group’s other final match, Oregon State knocked off Carnegie Mellon 9-8, leaving the top three teams in a tie atop Pool “D.”
Case then won the opening match of the first-place bracket with a comfortable 11-8 win over the University of Iowa (11-10). The Fighting Gobies would pick up dominating wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals with a 12-6 win over No. 24 University of Missouri (19-4) and a 10-2 win over No. 39 University of North Texas (12-3). With a ticket punched to the tournament championship, the Fighting Gobies looked over to the other side of the first place bracket where Pool “D” foes Oregon State managed to top Carnegie Mellon 11-8 in the other semi-final.
Despite opening the tournament with an 11-9 win over the Beavers in the team’s first game, Oregon State would even the score and earn the title with a 12-10 victory in the championship match.
Carnegie Mellon would top North Texas 8-7 in the third-place match.
The Fighting Gobies will be back in action when Case hosts their annual CWRUL memorial tournament on Apr. 6-7 at the Chagrin Polo Fields in Hunting Valley, OH.