Stella meets her goal: Top two in Canada
Canadian Ultimate Championships, HalifaxNS, August 17–20, 2006

Nationals—the final tournament of the season. Amid rumours of hurricanes and tsunamis, Stella bravely began trickling into Halifax starting on August 12. Fortunately, the rumours were wildly off base. After a little rain earlier in the week, the weather was ideal by the time the Canadian Ultimate Championships (CUC) kicked off on Thursday, August 17—mid-twenties and sunny.

Stella started the tournament at one of the satellite fields which was a good half hour’s drive from the host hotel. Her first game was against Halifax’s own Salty. The teams last met in 2005, and Salty made it clear from the beginning that her players had improved a lot since then. Stella also spent a few points shaking off the dust and getting used to playing together again, after having been short several key players during the last week of practise leading up to the tournament. Playing mostly man defense against Salty, Stella let some breaks out early in the game. But she had success against Salty’s zone defense, breaking through the middle of the zone and sticking with short, crisp passes as the wind picked up. Stella’s iso endzone also proved very effective against Salty, and Stella took the game 11–6.

After a bye, Stella faced off against QUB from Quebec. QUB forced Stella backhand all game, which Stella quickly adjusted to. She ran several handler plays on offense, and shut QUB down with a 2-3-2 zone defense to take the half 8–1, with Danger scoring on a double happiness after getting a D on the first pass. In the second half Stella brought out her long game, with Magoo and Elliot putting up several great hucks and Rachel Robichaud making a sick layout bid to score. Stella won the game 13–2. The first offensive cape of the tournament went to Magoo for her incredible long throws—although Rachel got an honourable mention for her layout grab. With the defensive pickle in retirement, co-captain Elliot snagged the inaugural defensive “Batman Frisbee Disc” for her fantastic heads up defense.

Next up—another bye! Stella stopped by the Scarlett sideline to cheer her little sister on in her game against Toronto’s Snatch, before warming up for her match against Calgary’s Flo. Flo entered a roster of about 17 players for CUC, but by the time they arrived in Halifax they had only 11 players. Someone forgot to tell Flo that they should have been more tired by the time Stella lined up across from them. These tireless amazons played a gritty game and capitalized on their height to put up a great fight. They pulled out their long game against Stella’s zone defense, but Elliot stopped them every time with her fantastic reads and ups. Flo returned the favour by playing a 4-2-1 zone against Stella, but it wasn’t enough to slow Stella down. She took the game 11–7, with Elliot throwing the game-winning point to Baby D, who chased the disc down despite getting a severe calf cramp midway through her cut.

After the game, Flo awarded Elliot the MVP white cowboy hat for her fantastic defense. The defensive “Batman Frisbee Disc” went to another co-captain—Baby D for her spectacular Ds in the air. The offensive cape went to Maia for her consistent swing cuts.

Friday morning brought another mild, sunny day but with more wind than on Thursday. Stella’s games were in downtown Halifax, on the same central fields as the open teams, so she showed up early to cheer for Phoenix as they defeated New Brunswick’s SWASS. As Stella warmed up for her game against Toronto’s Lilly, one of the SWASS players cried out: “Oh my god, there’s that team again! They are amazing! Where are they from?” To which an onlooker replied: “I think they’re from heaven.”

But Phoenix was quick to correct them: “They’re from Ottawa.”

Warmed up and raring to go, Stella’s heavenly bodies came out strong against Lilly. With a solid 2-3-2 zone defense and some great strikes, Stella took the half 8–1. Near the end of the second half, Lilly started switching up the force and took the opportunity to score a few points while Stella adjusted to the switch. But Stella quickly cleaned up her act and finished the game 13–4. The offensive cape went to Danger for her long hucks and strikes. Emily came away with the defensive “Batman Frisbee Disc” for her countless run-through Ds in the zone.

After going undefeated in the first round of pool play, the teams were re-seeded and Stella was put into a power pool with Lotus, Storm and Flo. Having already defeated Flo, Stella faced off against Storm and Lotus. First up was Montreal’s Storm who showed up ready to play and didn’t let up until the game was over. Stella showed Storm several zone defenses, including 2-3-2 and a variation on FSU. Storm’s response was a bracket defense that kept at least one defender in the deep lane at all times. Stella worked her way downfield by swinging the disc and running slant cuts with the poached break-side cutters. Becker and Lindsay helped ensure a win with their crazy layout Ds, and Robichaud had a huge impact with her insane grabs, out-of-nowhere Ds and a sick layout to score the final point. Stella finished the game 12–9, and Rachel took home both the offensive cape and the defensive “Batman Frisbee Disc” for her exceptional game.

For her final game of the day, Stella faced off against Toronto’s Lotus. Lotus was fired up to beat Stella, having lost to her at every other tournament this season. The wind picked up for the late-afternoon game, so Stella continued to zone her opponent, forcing Lotus to put up a lot of swill. But Lotus’ receivers came down with some exceptional grabs and they took the half 6–8 over Stella. In the second half, Lotus kept up their junk defense, taking away Stella’s long game and causing confusion up-field. Stella put in a great defensive effort, with phenomenal layout Ds from Red Dog and Sully. But Lotus finished the game 7–12 in her first win against Stella in over a year.

Unfortunately for Stella, Sandra Shaddick had to fly back to Ottawa on Friday. But just in time for Saturday’s playoffs, Stella was rejoined by Anne Mercier and Alex Benedict, who, along with Carrie Lugg, had just won silver at the World Junior Ultimate Championships in Boston. After a hard-fought battle that saw Anne score five chest-height layout Ds, they lost 14–13 to the United States in a half-hour long final point.

Stella had a solid win over Toronto’s Eve in the quarter-final, playing zone in the increasingly strong Halifax wind. Eve tried to put the disc up, but Stella got in and Dd them nearly every time. Final score: 15–3.

After winning the quarter-final, Stella went immediately into the semi-final match against Flo. Impressively, the 11 Calgary women showed no signs of fatigue. They brought out an aggressive zone defense against Stella and scored many points thanks to several breaks and their exceptionally tall receivers. Stella answered with both zone and man defense, playing zone in the windier points and man the rest of the time in an attempt to tire Flo’s small roster. Stella’s persistent defense, as well as her excellent flow in the zone and a strong sideline that was stacked with encouraging GOAT and Firebird players, won her the game 9–7. This time, Flo awarded the MVP white cowboy hat to Rachel Robichaud, who also won the offensive cape for her hard cuts and smart throw choices in the windy game. Magoo won the defensive “Batman Frisbee disc” for her hot layout D in the endzone in the game’s final point.

On Sunday morning the weather showed the first signs of turning ugly, with a heavy, overcast sky. But despite the dark storm clouds, the day got off to a cheerful start. To toast the final game against Lotus, Anne Mercier won the women’s huck competition with a 72-yard put. Then Stella finished her warm-up and took the field against Lotus.

Stella came out strong and scored the first point of the game. But Lotus was fired up and took the next two points for a 1–2 lead against Stella. For the rest of the half, the teams traded points as the rain started pouring in. Stella played mostly zone defense, and Lotus showed Stella a mix of zone and man defense, including a taxi zone that effectively confused Stella’s offense. Lotus took the half 8–9 over Stella.

In the second half, Stella started out strong and quickly tied the game again at 9–9. But Lotus scored the next point, and soft cap was called with Lotus up 9–10. Lotus scored again, taking the match to game point. Stella dug deep and worked the disc down the field. But after several turnovers for each team, Lotus took the game, and the national title, 9–12 over Stella.

It was a disappointing loss for Stella, but the team met her goal of finishing top two in Canada, with two new captains and a roster that was comprised largely of rookies. With so much young talent, the future looks good for Stella.

Missing in action was Carrie Lugg; injured was Alex Benedict.