Horsecows Tour Southern States to Open Season

After a part-frustrating and part-encouraging weekend in South Carolina the first weekend of Spring Break and a week of ultimate in Savannah for half the squad, the Oberlin Flying Horsecows came together in Greenville, NC and found a lot of what it was that they’ve been looking for since September. 
In what was by far their best tournament showing of the year, the Horsecows showed the ability to blow out lesser teams and to stick with the nation’s best, two things that they have rarely been able to do this early in previous seasons. 
The first game set the Horsecows up against the tournament hosts, East Carolina University. Oberlin had never won against the former two-time national champs, but came out confident and fired up, with good reason. Behind a punishing zone defense, the Horsecows rolled over the Irates for an 8-2 lead at halftime. The decibel level of Oberlin’s sidelines far outstripped that of ECU’s (which included many of their parents), and the ’Cows reached deep into their reserves with continued and impressive success throughout the game. 

After averting the typical Oberlin slow start to a day, the ’Cows also went against the equally typical and even more frustrating tendency to blow halftime leads and momentum. They continued rolling through the second half, allowing only one score en route to a 15-3 victory, their biggest of the year. One of the game’s most impressive plays was made by first-year phenom Will “Miller” Miller, who skied two players, including ECU’s captain, for a crucial score early in the game. In addition to hot play from nearly every player, the ECU contest featured the return to tournament action of junior Isaac “Inky” Deter-Wolf, who responded by scoring to cap his first point of play, and also saw the return of fellow-junior Adam Marvel, who was impressive throughout the weekend. 
The day’s second game pitted Oberlin against Wake Forest University. The ’Cows had easily beaten Wake the previous year at Ultimax, but found the team much improved from a year ago. Oberlin came out strong, but the athletic Wake team was not going to go away easily. The ’Cows maintained control of the game despite increasing fatigue under a punishing and unfamiliar sun, taking half at 7-4. Oberlin maintained deep rotation through the second half and was able to close out the game 15-7.
Oberlin’s Horsecows found themselves in an unfamiliar position going into the day’s last game against the College of William and Mary; that is, in a battle for first place in the pool. The ’Cows had also gone up against William and Mary in the 2000 edition of Ultimax, and lost, so there was a score to settle. 
The ’Cows came out strong at the game’s outset and controlled the action early, taking the early lead, 6-4. William and Mary, like Wake, was an athletic team, but unlike Wake was able to capitalize on Oberlin’s mistakes and stormed back to take control of the game and the lead. After taking half 8-7, William and Mary continued to roll with a zone defense that the ’Cows simply couldn’t figure out, and Oberlin found themselves down 13-9. The ’Cows were able to awaken from their mid-game slumber and pulled to within 14-13, but were unable to pull even as William and Mary took the victory, 15-13.

The clouds which had been gathering all day continued to descend upon Greenville as the Horsecows departed for their night’s rest and NCAA Tournament-watching. Midway through the evening, the sky burst suddenly and poured monsoon-caliber rains upon the city. By the morning, there was enough standing water on the fields to delay play and move all games from the primary fields to the secondary fields. Oberlin, seeded second in their pool, was to face off against defending national champions Brown, who had finished third in their pool. 
Were the Horsecows scared? Nay, they were not. After receiving the pull, Oberlin marched down the field in a few throws and put in a score. Brown responded in kind to pull even at one. The ’Cows turned the disc over and Brown converted to take back the break and go up, 2-1. The teams traded points with Brown pulling ahead by one more to 5-3. The ’Cows responded with a score to bring it to 5-4 and Brown scored again to make it 6-4 and threaten to take it to half in the game to 13. The Horsecows marched down for a score to come within one, and followed the possession up with a series of impressive defensive stops that eventually culminated in an Oberlin score to draw even at six. Brown took half at 7-6, but Oberlin clearly had the momentum. The champs had perhaps come in a little over-confident, and Oberlin’s tenacious defense sustained the effort in the first half. 
Coming out of half, the Horsecows pulled to Brown, but were able to force several turnovers and put the score across to tie the game at seven. Then, inexplicably, the bottom fell out of the Horsecows’ effort. A series of mistakes, bad breaks and a general loss of intensity conspired to sink the OC effort, as the ’Cows fell by a count of 12-8 on a 5-1 Brown run to end the game.
Much confusion followed and Oberlin eventually, after several hours wait, squared off against an injured and depleted University of Virginia squad. This time, it was Oberlin that came out overconfident, as the Roadhead Warriors struck out to a 5-1 lead. In a game to 11. Oops.
After a timeout and some inspiration/exasperated yelling, Oberlin was able to pull its act together, and took half 6-5. UVA was not going to go away, either, sticking with the ’Cows through the second half and even tying the game up at nine. But Oberlin once again regrouped and rattled off two straight points for the victory.

And that was it. The Horsecows packed up and headed home, again in pouring rain, to arrive at Oberlin in the wee hours of Monday morning.

The first weekend of Spring Break saw the Horsecows play inconsistently but with signs of the skill that would prevail the following weekend. At Spud in South Carolina, the ’Cows took down Georgia’s B-team 13-2 and Guilford College 13-3, but were unable to pull out a victory in a close match against Williams, losing 13-10. The second day was one of disappointment, as Oberlin got crushed by Middlebury College, 13-4.

The Horsecows had also competed in the Boxcar tournament in Kalamazoo, Michigan the weekend previous to Spring Break, on Saturday March 17. Staying for only one day, the ’Cows trounced the mediocre competition with a heavy rotation of rookies. Oberlin prevailed in that tournament over both Western Michigan and Michigan State by the score of 13-6, and over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater by a score of 13-4.
The Horsecows now enter into the heart of their season on an encouraging upward swing. Along with the women’s team, the Praying Manti, they will host the Great Lakes Invitational this weekend on North Fields. Both days will feature plenty of exciting ultimate.

Jacob Kramer-Duffield is a member of the ultimate frisbee team