07/08/2023
After a prolonged break due to COVID, Blackfish finally returned to Eugene, Oregon for Summer Solstice. With the cancellation of Flower Bowl this was their first tournament of the season. Blackfish came in to the tournament with a lot of new faces and a lower than normal seeding. The team was excited to play.
The first game on Saturday was against Heartbreak from Idaho. The D line started the game with purpose and put away a break on the first point of the game. After trading points, the D line went on a 4 break run to widen the gap. The O line played very efficiently and were not pushed very hard. The D line added 2 more breaks in the second half and Blackfish won 12-5.
The second pool game of the day was against Green River Swordfish. A team from California that Blackfish had played in the past. The teams started out trading points. The Blackfish defensive unit started applying more pressure and earned 2 breaks in a row. Swordfish dialed up their intensity to match Blackfish and the teams traded points until half. The Blackfish O line was rolling on all cylinders while the D line was forcing Swordfish to earn every point. Coming out of half, the D line wore down Swordfish and scored another break. After some more hotly contested ultimate the D line got 2 breaks in a row and Blackfish won the game 13-8.
The last game of the day was against SOUF, a young, fiery team out of Seattle. Blackfish was able to open the game with a defensive break, but SOUF battled back. Taking advantage of some unforced errors, SOUF was able to break the Blackfish O line 2 points in a row. The game was quickly getting heated with SOUF pushing for their first win of the day. The Blackfish offense settled down and efficiently marched the disc down the field for goals. The Blackfish defense clamped down and forced 2 more breaks before half time. Coming out of half, the entire team raised their intensity and shut out SOUF entirely. The D line scored 3 straight breaks to end the game, 11-6 for Blackfish.
Sunday started off with a pre-quarters match up against Sawtooth from Idaho, who had been in power pools all day Saturday. Blackfish came out hungry for the upset against the higher seeded team. The Blackfish defense was able to pressure early turnovers from Sawtooth, and with short fields converted 2 early breaks. After trading 2 more points, the Blackfish D line was able to punch in another break off a Sawtooth error. The Blackfish offense was steady and both teams continued to trade points until close to half. Sitting at 6, the Blackfish offense had a couple unforced errors that resulted in 2 quick breaks for Sawtooth. After taking a moment to settle things, the O line punched in a goal to go up at half 7-6. Entering the second half, the intensity was high. The Blackfish offense was clean on all their chances and the D line earned 2 more breaks. In the end, it was 13-9 for Blackfish.
The win against Sawtooth put Blackfish into quarters against Sockeye. The roster for Sockeye had quite a few tryout prospects, but they were ready to play. Sockeye opened the game with a hold and then immediately forced a break. After trading a couple points, the Blackfish offense seemed to be showing nerves and gave up 2 consecutive breaks. Things settled down and the teams traded goals until half. Coming out of half, both teams traded goals. The Blackfish defense was playing tight but were unable to convert a couple break opportunities. The Blackfish offense continued to play well against Sockeye's pressure defense. As the end of the game approached, Sockeye was able to force 2 more breaks and took the game 13-7.
The loss to Sockeye put Blackfish into the semi-fival bracket against Zyzzyva out of California. The 2 teams came out trading points, until the Blackfish defense was able to force a turnover on a hanging huck. The D line quickly took advantage and earned the first break of the game. The very next point, the D line applied pressure immediately off the pull to force a turn in the windy conditions. Taking advantage again, Blackfish earned a consecutive break. Zyzzyva stepped up to the challenge and raised their energy level in the game. After a hold from their offense, their D line pressured Blackfish into several long, multi-turnover points. The end result of both points were 2 consecutive breaks for Zyzyvva. The defense for both teams was intense and 2 more breaks were traded before Zyzzyva took half 7-6. The second half was a similar story between the 2 evenly matched teams. Close holds from the offenses and pressure defense from the D lines. The teams traded goals and breaks and the game was pushed to universe. Blackfish pulled to Zyzzyva for the last point of the game and applied some tight person defense. The Zyzzyva offense was super clean and used small ball to push the disc down the field and take the win 11-10.
After a second consecutive loss, Blackfish was now in the game for 7th against Skipjack from California. Both teams were starting to show fatigue from a long tournament weekend and were not at the top of their game. Several points in the first half came at the end of multi-turnover points. Neither team was able to generate a break despite many opportunities to do so. The second half was more of the same with both teams trading points in a chaotic game. Once again Blackfish was pushed to universe, pulling to win the game. With the game on the line, both teams had turnovers off unforced errors. Finally, Blackfish was provided a short field off a Skipjack huck that never came back in to the field of play. After a quick short passes, a hammer over the top gave Blackfish the break and the win 9-8.
Overall, Solstice was a positive experience for Blackfish with lots of solid play from the veterans and positive growth from the rookies. Blackfish plays next at BC Regionals.
