NORCO, Calif. (Dec. 17, 2021) – There was no shortage of drama, but in the end on Friday, Oklahoma Christian landed right where it was expected – in the quarterfinals of the USA Ultimate Division III Championships.
The fourth-seeded Eagles, making their national-tournament debut, won a trio of taut matches at the SilverLakes Sports Complex, edging No. 9 Carleton (Minn.)
12-11, No. 16 Mary Washington (Va.)
12-10 and No. 5 Franciscan (Ohio)
15-13 to finish unbeaten atop Pool D.
As a pool winner, OC both advanced into the 16-team tournament's championship bracket and earned a bye into the quarterfinals. The Eagles will play either No. 6 seed Whitman (Wash.) or No. 14 seed Rochester (N.Y.) at 2:30 p.m. Central time (12:30 p.m. Pacific) on Saturday, with a berth in Sunday's semifinals at stake. Top-seeded Richmond (Va.) also is in OC's half of the bracket.
Whitman went 2-1 in its pool, beating Wesleyan (Conn.) 15-10 and Berry (Ga.) 12-11 before falling 15-3 to Middlebury (Vt.). Rochester lost 15-10 to Colorado College and 15-3 to St. Olaf (Minn.), then beat North Park (Ill.) 11-10 in its final match to become the lowest seed to secure a spot in the championship bracket.
OC now has won 26 of 28 matches this season. None have been more epic than the Eagles' final win Friday, over a Franciscan Fatal squad that won the 2015 Division III title and is a regular contender at the national tournament. OC opened the game with possession, which was fortunate, as neither team broke the other until the final point, when the Eagles did so to Franciscan to win.
Kyle Henke,
Evan Card,
Elliott Moore and
Michael Paniagua (among others) each made spectacular scoring grabs for the Eagles to put them ahead, only to see Franciscan immediately tie the game every time until the final possession.
The person running Franciscan's Twitter account had a prediction after the game, in response to a congratulatory tweet on OC's account: "See you in the finals!"
Against Mary Washington's "Mother of George" squad, the Eagles struggled to break away. OC led only 8-7 at halftime before earning a break to start the second half. Mary Washington then won two straight points to again tie the match, and the teams again traded points to make it 10-10.
Moore hit
Samuel Roberts for a score to put the Eagles back ahead at 11-10. Mary Washington advanced near the OC goal but turned it over on a high stall. The Eagles worked the disc back down the field and – after a timeout –
Emmanuel Kameri found Henke open for the winning score, as the game had been shortened to 12 points due to a time limit.
OC was fortunate to survive its opening match against Carleton's CHOP squad. Carleton seized control early and held what appeared to be a commanding 10-7 lead, with possession. But a turnover led to an OC score, with Moore connecting with Henke to make it 10-8. Another Carleton turnover resulted in another OC point when Moore picked up the disc and fired a pass to Kameri, who rose high to catch it.
Henke then blocked a deep pass attempt by Carleton and the Eagles slowly ground about 70 yards the other direction, with Paniagua hitting
Kevin van Roosmalen for the tying score.
A controversial point scored by Carleton – OC had claimed Carleton's thrower on a successful point, Alex Rafkin, had committed a foul, but withdrew the complaint after a long discussion, leaving CHOP ahead 11-10, with the game again shortened to 12 points.
But the Eagles came up with some more late magic. Henke found van Roosmalen open on a fast break to tie the match. A Carleton receiver then dropped the disc, opening the door for the Eagles to break and win. Paniagua caught a long pass to set up Henke, who connected with Moore for the winning point.
Carleton later beat Franciscan, sealing second place in Pool D. Franciscan also advanced into the championship bracket, while Mary Washington fell into the consolation bracket.
Besides Richmond and OC, No. 2 seed St. Olaf and No. 3 seed Middlebury also won all three pool-play matches to earn byes into the quarterfinals.
