By Tommy Carrico, staff writer
The Ultimate Frisbee championship will occur on Friday at Melas Park. Check out this story to read more about ultimate frisbee.
Picture courtesy of @frisbeeprospect on twitter
After dominating the league for five straight weeks, the Bees, with 17 wins and 0 losses, had nothing to fear as they stepped onto the field for last Friday’s week of Bracket-Busting matchups. After all, the team of seniors features some of the most esteemed athletes of Prospect High School; they weren’t undefeated for nothing.
However, after sophomore Chase Larsen caught two touchdown passes for his team, Juice, the senior squad felt panic for the first time all season. Rushing to start up their incredible offense, the Bees were able to score once, but Juice defense cracked down hard until the final buzzer.
With a score of 2-1, Juice became the first team this year to take down the once-thought invincible team.
“We didn’t do anything special, just stuck to the game plan,” said Juice player Marco Shaw. “The team is really coming together to work as a unit, [and we are] utilizing every player on the team.”
After the loss to Juice, the Bees were upset again, this time by 2 seeded Dream Team, adding to the already disappointing day for the team.
However, Bees player Brian Cole believes that a possible rematch with either Juice or Dream Team in the championship would happen a little differently.
“[It was] probably just a lack of communication and being frustrated when things weren’t going our way,” said the senior. “We will get some practice in in the next couple of days so that we make sure what went wrong on Friday doesn’t happen again.”
The Bees and Juice aren’t the only teams expecting deep playoff runs; according to Benchwarmers junior Mike Murauski, his team is looking to make a deep run despite their 5 seed.
“We’re feeling pretty good,” Murauski said. “[We have] a definite shot to win it all if we just play our game.”
Murauski’s statements may be bold, but they are valid nonetheless; with upset victories against 4 seed Fantasy Frisbee and 2 seed Dream Team last week, the Benchwarmers have a shot to make a big statement this Friday.
As for the women’s bracket, players are displaying similarly high expectations as they enter the tournament.
“We are feeling very confident,” Senior Kristina Suto of XX Chrome said. “[We] believe that we’ll bring home the trophy.”
Suto and her team may be entering the tournament as the 1 seed, but that’s not to say that their competition doesn’t have similarly high expectations.
One team in particular that could shock the league is the 6 seeded Orchachicks. Despite being the lowest seeded team in the women’s bracket, many of the team’s losses are from forfeits.  This is due to a majority of the team’s football game obligations as Dance Team members, according to Junior Sarah Eyles.
What makes the Orchachicks stand out is the fact that they are one of the only female squads made up of veteran players. According to Eyles, the key to Orchachicks’ success on Friday will simply come down to the presence of “more experience.”
One thing will be for sure when the 20 teams step onto the field on Friday: everyone is playing to win. With upsets occurring every round last Friday, no matchup should be taken for granted. In a league where every team has incredible faith in their potential, this Friday will be sure to bring out the best in everyone.
“There are no upsets,” Murauski said. “We’re the team to beat.”