By Alicia Davis – Contributing Writer
The UMF Ultimate Disc team recently participated in the Lobster Pot Tournament at Wainwright Sports Complex in Portland, Maine.
The team played four games on Saturday and won three of them. Saturday was a calm, cool day, which helped UMF beat out most of their opponents. The weather conditions on Sunday were much more harsh, with high gusts of wind affecting the players’ ability to throw. Despite the weather, UMF played three games and won all three.
UMF Ultimate Disc team at the Lobster Pot Tournament in Portland
Photo Courtesy of Sam Carignan
Overall, the UMF ultimate team took 9th place out of the lower men’s division despite being seeded 15th place, breaking seed by 6 places. Joe Brichetto, a UMF senior who will be playing his fourth year of ultimate, felt that the team worked well as a unit, which helped them be successful at the Lobster Pot.
“This is the best tournament the team has played at since my freshman year,” said Brichetto. “It was really vindicating for the senior players to now be the leaders who helped carry the team to victory.”
Sam Carignan, who will be in his third year playing ultimate, felt that this tournament was an important one for the team. “This weekend helped bind us together as a team,” he said.
Like Brichetto, Carignan also believed that the team worked well together. “I’m very proud of the team both on and off the field, because not only did we play physically well, but we kept the high ground and stuck with a good attitude,” he said.
Dan Abbatello, who will be playing his second year of ultimate, felt that this year’s Lobster Pot went much smoother for the team than last years.
“This year we played a lot better because we had a lot more numbers,” said Abbatello. “Last year, we went to the Lobster Pot with eight players, and seven played on the field. Having 15 players come down to the tournament this year really helped.”
Abbatello believed that the tournament was great for new players on the team. “This weekend was full of experience for our new players, giving them the chance to play at a competitive level,” he said.
“Ultimate is always looking for new members of any skill level,” said Brichetto.
Practices take place 3:30-5:30 Monday through Friday on Prescott Field. Practices are optional, so people can still play even if they do not go to all of the practices. For more information, contact co-presidents Cory McCullough at cory.mccullough@maine.edu or Tim Pacini at timothy.pacini@maine.edu.