Midwinter Meltdown 2009

We all drive up to Minneapolis on saturday morning starting at the
painfully early hour of 6am. to be honest i slept the whole way and im
pretty sure it was an uneventful car ride. We arrive in Minneapolis
around 11am to an unexpected wave of traffic and Minnesota fans. Turns
out they weren't all there to watch the ultimate tournament... there
was a basketball game (confirmed by an extremely rude man). So we have
some time to kill before our first game at 1 so we grab some always
delicious $5 footlongs from subway. We get to the field house and play
our first game against CDH, a "high school" team most likely on
steroids. It's a pretty even match and we play really well once we
warm up and pick up the intensity. Comes down to universe point at the
end and unfortunately they get it, ending the game 8-7. Our next game
is against Olaf. A slightly tougher team, we play well but end up
losing 13-7. Another good, competitive game that we were right in and
could have won if certain things had gone or way. Our final seeding
game is against probably the best team there, St. Thomas alum. Armed
with a lot of experience and a 6ft-5 tall girl, they were pretty tough
to stop especially going deep. Props to Jen and anyone else who
defended her. This game in particular emphasized the lack of height on
our team. Come on guys lets work on that. Anyways, we lost 12-5, but
it ended up being a decent game and by no means a blowout. After being
reseeded pretty low, we are matched against Minnesota. Completely
unexpectedly they throw a zone on the first point (apparently there
was slight wind in the field house?) but it works and we're shut down
for the first couple points. Once we adjust we are able to break their
cup and score a bunch of points, bringing us right back into the game.
Although we really picked up the intensity throughout the game, this
game really emphasized our need to come out strong at the beginning.
We ended up playing great and only lost by a two point margin, 8-6.
Our final game of the night was against Hopkins, and we were
determined to win. Momentum and intensity carried over from the
Minnesota game and we came out strong. Basically playing point for
point the whole game, it was a really well played game by both sides.
Probably our best game of the tournament, not only because we won
(7-5), but because every single girl on our team contributed to the
win and we really played as one cohesive team working together. Don't
forget Alyx's sweet backhand put to Jen in the endzone! So after that
it was about 9:30 and we are starving! Enter Perkins. As anyone who
was there can contest to, I was so hungry/happy, i almost cried when i
looked at the menu. Hands down best Perkins experience ever. After
stuffing ourselves to the point of nausea, we go back to tara/grady/
mary's house to do tequila slammer toasts and shower (well at least
most of us...). One by one we went to sleep and by about 3:30 i think
we were all basically in bed. After losing an hour of sleep, we were
up at the crack of 9am for our honorary iowa tailgate party. Pancakes,
bloodymaries, beer, and whatever that stick game is called. To tara,
grady, and mary: you guys are awesome!! Thanks for everything!...
Overall the tournament was a lot of fun and a really great learning
experience. Although we only won one of our five games, almost all of
them were good competitive games that we took a lot away from. The
rookies did amazing and I hope this encourages everyone to come out to
each practice with the drive and intensity that we had at the
tournament, especially in those last couple games. I think this
tournament showed us all that we have what it takes to be a really
good team...