The Case Western Reserve University ultimate Frisbee teams capped off an excellent fall season last weekend with championship wins at their annual home tournament, Northcoast. The tournament included 20 men’s and 10 women’s teams and was held at the Cleveland Metroparks polo fields just 10 miles east of the CWRU campus.

The CWRU men sent two squads to the tournament; the A squad went 6-0 to take first place and the B squad went 1-5 to take 18th. During Saturday’s snow storm, the A team rack up two easy victories, defeating John Carroll 13-2 and Ohio University-B 13-4. The next day the Gobies defeated the Ohio State B squad 13-2 and Wooster 12-9. Afterwards they beat Eastern Michigan in the semifinals 12-7.

The final matchup, against North Park University from Chicago, was the toughest for the Gobies, but they came out strong to gain an early lead and won the game 13-6. This is the Gobies’ first-ever win at North Coast, and first overall tournament win in five years.

Co-captain Owen Mayer attributes the win to an improved defense. Defense is something many teams struggle with, and this season the Gobies have put an emphasis on it during practice. Mayer considers this year’s team “the strongest squad Case has seen in recent history;” he has high hopes for next spring, in which they will face other Ohio teams in sectionals and potentially earn their first bid to regionals in several years.

The Lady Gobies also went six for six over the weekend, defeating Syracuse 13-4 and Notre Dame 13-2 on Saturday, then West Virginia 13-0 and Oberlin 13-3 on Sunday. In the semifinals they took an easy win, 12-2, against Indiana University. Their last match was a close one against Ohio State, whom they narrowly defeated 8-6.

The win at Northcoast was a fitting conclusion to an excellent season: the Lady Gobies took second place at Whitesmoke, hosted by Notre Dame in early October, and third place in Ohio State’s Fall Brawl over fall break. Captains Noel Hanzel and Libby Lehman are very pleased with the team’s performance this season. They say that, although half the players are rookies, everyone is extremely dedicated and has been putting in the practice time required to build a great team. Right now, they consider the Lady Gobies “right up there with DI nationals-quality teams,” and are expecting great things next semester.

With three fall tournaments under their belts, the Gobies are gearing up for winter conditioning to prepare for the spring College Series, which includes sectionals and regionals against teams from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. They will also be hosting a tournament in Veale in mid-February.