Comeback kids
Boston Invitational, June 24–25, 2006

After the sweltering heat of last year’s Boston Invitational, the rain was a welcome change at this year’s tournament. Despite a misadventure with Rachel’s car on the way to Boston, Stella made it to the fields bright and early for her first game on Saturday in the Elite Women’s division.

Playing against New York’s Ambush, Stella started out the tournament with a strong man defense. Ambush was no match for Stella’s athleticism, and the one-on-one match-ups went in Stella’s favour. She won her first game 15–2.

Stella’s second game was against Bnogo, an experienced team from Washington. Bnogo’s greatest weapon was their left-handed handler, who has a killer high-release backhand huck. After letting a few breaks out, Stella shut Bnogo down and used her superior speed to outrun and outplay Bnogo. Final score: 15–6.

After the first two games, captains Rachel, Baby D and Shannon Elliot brought back Stella’s tradition of awarding the offensive cape and defensive… pickle to the MVPs of the game (or two). Yes, somehow, between last August and Boston, the defensive horns morphed into a pickle. The cape for the first two games was awarded to Shannon Becker for consistent hard cuts and an incredible one-handed grab in the game against Bnogo. The inaugural pickle went to Kate Crump for fantastic shut-down D and some great defensive plays—when the opposing team actually dared to put it up to the woman she was covering.

After a bye, Stella cleated up again to face Montreal’s Storm. Ironically, this was the first dry game of the day. Stella worked well against Storm’s zone defense. That, combined with a cleaner end zone than in her first two games, allowed Stella to take the game 15–7.

For her fourth and last game of the day, Stella matched up against Boston’s Brute Squad. Brute Squad is a strong team that has only improved in recent years. This year, the team picked up several players from Boston’s former A women’s team, Lady Godiva. Brute Squad played an offensive spread, marking the first time this season that Stella had seen this offense. Brute Squad scored the first two points on Stella and proceeded to take the half 2–8. Stella regrouped and adjusted her defense to poach into the lane and shut down the spread. But Brute Squad came out strong in the second half and took the lead to 2–11. Stella never gave up, and with a phenomenal layout D from Shannon Becker, the team dug in and fought back with a strong zone defense, scoring six straight points on Brute Squad to close the gap at 8–11. Brute Squad ultimately won the game 11–15, but not before Stella successfully implemented a brand-new handler play which saw Lindsay strike for a point.

The Shannons walked away with the cape and pickle for the second two games—Elliot for her long, long hucks and Becker for the TSN turning point layout D bid.

Sunday morning was overcast but dry. For the quarter-final game, Stella faced off against Box Lunch from Denver, Colorado. Stella got off to a bit of a slow start and Box Lunch took the half thanks in large part to a number of break-force throws that Stella let out early in the game. Box Lunch used a spread offense that was similar to what Brute Squad had used on Saturday, and Stella used the half-time to discuss the best strategy to upset the Box offense. Rachel and Red Dog did a particularly awesome job at poaching the lane deep and running in for the kill when the disc went up to their women.

After soft-cap was called with Box Lunch up 7–11, they landed the next point, bringing the score to 7–12. But Stella responded by picking up the pace, and promptly scored the next five points to tie the game at 12–12. Unfortunately, after a heart-breaking point that saw several turnovers for both teams, Box Lunch took the game 12–13.

Stella moved on to the consolation bracket, matching up against Bnogo for the second time. Once again, Stella started out with less energy than her opponents, and Bnogo took the lead 2–6. But Stella had played this team before and knew that she was more than capable of beating them. She pulled it together and took the half 8–6. Stella didn’t let up in the second half and, with a combination of zone and man defense, and many long hucks, won the game 15–7.

Storm forfeited Stella’s final scheduled game of the tournament, leaving Stella with 5th place in the Elite Women’s division.

For Sunday’s games, both the offensive cape and defensive pickle were split between two players. Amanda and Nancy shared the cape—Amanda for her speedy strikes and Nancy for her endless cutting, both deep and under. The pickle went to Alex and Kate Crump (for the second time this tournament!)—Alex for her fantastic defensive grabs and bids, and Crump for continuing the same run-through and shutdown Ds that she showed on Saturday. (Honourable mention goes to Baby D for her outstanding work in the cup and her sick layout grab for a point against Bnogo. Who said handlers can’t strike!)

Given her last three games at Boston, Stella has her work cut out for her in terms of getting into the game early to avoid having to make a comeback. But Stella also proved that she has the grit and perseverance to keep fighting no matter what the odds.

Missing in action were Anne Mercier and Sully Duhaime.