NORCO, Calif. (Dec. 20, 2021) – On the big stage on Monday, Oklahoma Christian's offense proved nearly perfect and as a result, the Eagles are headed back home as national champions.

In the title game of the USA Ultimate Division III College Championships, fourth-seeded OC didn't suffer a single break en route to a 15-12 win over third-seeded Middlebury (Vt.) on a sunny morning at the SilverLakes Sports Complex.

OC, playing in its first national tournament since its innovative scholarship Ultimate program started with the 2019-20 season, won all six games in the event, beating the No. 1, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 seeds along the way. Coach Garrett Taylor's Eagles won 29 of 31 games during the fall semester and 16 straight postseason matches after dropping their opener in the Ozarks Conference tournament. The Eagles won four of their five fall tournaments and were second in the other.

It's the first national title earned by an OC club sports program and the first national title won by any OC squad – NCAA or club – since fall 2012, when OC's men's golf team won the National Christian College Athletic Association crown.

"It's awesome, right?" said OC junior Elliott Moore of Austin, Texas. "I showed up in the spring of 2020, the semester after the program started, and that was a buzzkill (when the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). But building up the depth, having the time to work here (on) just the basic stuff to bring a bunch of guys who really didn't know how to play Frisbee to a championship-level team in a year-and-a-half, two years, it's amazing."

As they have all season, Moore and Kyle Henke led the Eagles against Middlebury, which won the most recently contested Division III national tournament, in 2019. Moore had six assists while Henke, a graduate student who's also from Austin, had five assists to go with two goals. They hit their share of long passes for goals, but when those opportunities weren't there, they kept the disc moving around the field to set up short scores.

Among the beneficiaries of that style of offense were graduate student Michael Paniagua of Houston, who scored three goals, and freshman Evan Card of East Hartford, Conn., who scored four goals. Caleb Lance, a senior from Memphis, Texas, who hadn't previously scored in the tournament, caught the game-winner from Henke.

OC gave the Pranksters only two opportunities for a break, both on the same possession. Middlebury failed to convert, with Moore eventually ending the point, throwing a hammer pass to Card in the end zone to put OC ahead 7-6. The Eagles, who received the opening pull, never trailed in the game.

"It's just really cool to get to be a part of these guys' lives," Henke said. "We've got a guy from Kenya, guys from Connecticut. These guys don't get an opportunity to be on this stage if we don't have this scholarship program going, so it's very exciting for those guys. It's good to be a part of that excitement. It's so, so fun!

"Our depth was very good. It's a lot of fun to see those guys shine. This is their stage, moreso, and it's really, really exciting to see those guys excel."

Walker Frankenburg (two goals, seven assists) and Max Hanscom (seven goals, one assist) were Middlebury's primary threats and they kept the Pranksters within shouting distance all the way, but Middlebury's defense wasn't able to solve the riddle of OC's offense.

OC took the lead for good at 8-7, when Moore hit Henks on a cross-field shot to send the game to halftime. The Eagles earned their first break on the opening pull of the second half. The Pranksters received but threw an incompletion into the end zone. Henke caught a long pass and was called for traveling, but quickly reset the point and fired a deep pass to a wide-open Paniagua in the end zone. A game observer overruled when Middlebury protested and the Eagles led 9-7.

The game continued on serve until Middlebury, trailing 12-10, threw low into the end zone, giving the Eagles possession. Samuel Roberts, a freshman from Willington, Conn., passed to freshman Emmanuel Kameri of Naivasha, Kenya, and Kameri fired back to Roberts on a give-and-go goal that made it 13-10 that essentially ended the Pranksters' hopes.

Middlebury held on its final two pulls, but so did OC. Moore threw a long pass to Henke, who flipped to Costello to make it 14-11. After Middlebury scored on a long pass from Frankenburg to Hanscom, OC quickly worked up the field, nearly reached the goal line, then retreated a bit before Henke hit Lance in the front left corner of the end zone.

During the ensuing celebration, junior Kevin van Roosmalen of Rosmalen, Netherlands – who had made a great catch for a goal after a Middlebury defender had tipped away a pass into the end zone intended for Moore – planted an OC flag at midfield.

The championship won by OC was for calendar year 2021, since the usual USA Ultimate tournament in the spring had to be postponed due to the pandemic. There will be another national tournament in a few months and Moore made a postgame promise.

"Wait till the spring," he said. "It's not a one-and-done."

Read the Ultiworld.com preview story here. 

Read the Ultiword.com postgame story here.

Game broadcast can be viewed here.