We’re Going To the ‘ship!

SERF dominated the competition at Ohio Valley Division III Regionals this weekend, outscoring our opponents 96-53 on the weekend and not allowing any team to put up double digits on us.

Brendan O’Connor ’12 with the around-break against Lehigh

An exciting tournament with lots of upsets, Messiah finished first in Pool B over Ohio Northern and Denison, only to be knocked out in the semifinals by Lehigh (14-11) after allowing Wooster to mount a strong comeback in the quarterfinals (14-12). ONU’s loss to Messiah put them on our side of the bracket, creating a rematch in the semifinals of our game in the Ohio D-3 Conference Championship finals, when we scored three breaks in a row to come back and beat ONU 11-10. This weekend, however, we took care of business, routing Darkside 15-8. (Balance was restored to the Force.)

In the finals, we played our second game of the weekend against Lehigh, who came out strong — but not strong enough — against us in the first round of pool play on Saturday, only to drop their next game, against Xavier. In the games leading up to the finals on Sunday, however, it was obvious that a different team had come to play. Still, SERF took half on Lehigh in the finals 8-1, establishing a more or less insurmountable lead. It must be said, however, that our opponents took advantage of every lapse of focus, every dip in concentration, scoring 7 times in the second half to make the final 15-8. (One area in which SERF did not once falter was its unfailing response to Lehigh’s traditional cheer, “B-T! I-M-F!” with our own cheer, “Respect! Women!”)

The future of Ohio Valley D-3 ultimate looks bright and we are excited for the opportunity to play against these teams again next year. For the moment, however, we are simply ecstatic to be attending Nationals in Appleton, WI in three weeks. See you there.

2012 Ohio Valley D-3 Regional Champions