NUT wins Western Illinois Classic

Hey Everyone,

We took a team of mostly rookies to the Western Illinois Classic this weekend. Everyone who had a conflict and couldn't come missed out, because we went 7-0 and WON THE TOURNAMENT. In every game, even the finals, everyone got good playing time, so lines filled with mostly rookies won a majority of the points in these games. There was only one time all weekend where we put in a stacked line more than a point or two in a row.

Saturday:

Game 1: NUT-Y vs. Southern Illinois -- 9-8

Game 2: NUT-Y vs. Illinois Wesleyan -- 13-0

Game 3: NUT-Y vs. Eastern Illinois -- 11-10

Game 4: NUT-Y vs. Bloomingdale -- 13-4

Sunday

Game 1: NUT-Y vs. Illinois-Y -- 15-5

Game 2: NUT-Y vs. Southern Illinois -- 15-6

Game 3: NUT-Y vs. Eastern Illinois -- 15-12

Props to everyone who came out this weekend and played well!

Play with NUT in 09/10

Welcome, freshmen, to Northwestern. If you are interested in playing ultimate at Northwestern this year, you're in the right place. The Northwestern ultimate club team is a great way to have fun with ultimate and meet new people who share your interests.

Though we take the game of ultimate seriously and strive to reach the highest levels of play, our program in the fall is open to everyone. Whether you have played 4 years of high school ultimate, or you are just learning about the sport now, you're welcome to come to our fall practices and learn more about how to play ultimate at the college level. We practice and play tournaments year round, leading to the UPA college series in the spring.

If you would like to receive information about pickup games early in the year, practice schedules, and ways to meet both current NUT players and other freshmen interested in ultimate, email northwestern.nut@gmail.com (preferably from your northwestern email address). We will add you to a listserv that is used solely for the dissemination of that sort of information. If you don't want to be added to the listserv, but still have questions you would like us to answer, feel free to email us anyway.

Great Lakes Regionals this weekend

It is almost gut-check time for NUT as we prepare to make our run at a Nationals bid. Early talk has us seeded anywhere from 8th-12th. More to come later in the week.

NUT-B wins Central Plains D-II Sectionals

[Should have put this up sooner!]

Big props to our B team for taking home the Central Plains D-II crown. Our section is one of the biggest in country, and this year some teams played in a separate tournament over the same weekend.

In its first year of existence NUT-B took down other local B teams and lesser programs en route to the title. There was talk of a D-II Regionals, but unfortunately the East Plains Sectional Coordinator could not get together a D-II in his area.

Having the numbers and depth to field two competitive teams this year has been a huge step forward for our program.

NUT finishes 5th at Sectionals

NUT survived a grueling Central Plains Sectional to advance to the 2009 Great Lakes Regional. NUT came in seeded 4th overall and finished the tournament 5th. A textbook Saturday in the Naperville sun devolved into a sloppy Sunday that matched the rainy weather.

SATURDAY - Pool play, games to 11

Valparaiso: W, 11-3
A nine-point run starts the day off right.

Northern Illinois: W, 11-4
A combination of NUT defenders shuts down their go-to handler.

Knox College: W, 11-2
NUT jumps out 7-0 and never looks back.



Notre Dame-B: W, 11-0
We get accused of spiking it too much, and therefore being "douche bags." Woops?

Indiana: W, 11-5
Our big game of the day, against the two seed in our pool. We go up 5-1 by forcing turns with our man defense and playing flawless, quick-hitting offense the entire game.

[Macaroni Grill = awesome dinner. Chef's Trio is the way to go]

SUNDAY - Bracket play, games to 15

Univ. of Chicago: W, 14-11

NUT can never just put away the Junk in the first game of the day, but with the win we qualify for Regionals.

Notre Dame: L, 15-7


Against the number one team overall, injuries, other factors and Notre Dame's play-making finally catch up to us. They go up 5-0 and cruise to the win.

North Park: L, 15-8
The wheels really start to fall off against the overall three seed.

Indiana: L, 15-10
The final disappointment. In a complete flip of Saturday's win, our offense was stagnant and mistake-ridden. We fail to hold seed and finish fifth.

*******

With three of our top players injured and out of action for Sunday's games, we had a very disheartening slide to fifth place. But luckily we have two weeks to heal up and prepare for the Great Lakes Regional. The road to natties still lies ahead.

To see a full album from the U. Chicago and Notre Dame games, click on the photo/link below.

NUT at Sectionals 2009

Central Plains Sectionals this weekend

NUT begins its stretch run of the season tomorrow in Naperville, IL, where it will play in the Central Plains Sectional. NUT comes in seeded 4th overall out of 24 teams. Here is our schedule for Saturday's Pool Play:

Round 1: Valparaiso
9:00am-10:30am

Round 2: Northern Illinois
10:45am-12:15pm

Round 3: Knox College
12:30pm-2:00pm

Round 4: Notre Dame-B
2:15pm-3:45pm

Round 5: Indiana
4:00pm-5:30pm

*******

Depending on the Saturday results, we will potentially see U. Chicago in the first round of Sunday's bracket play, with a chance to face Notre Dame in the semi-finals of the Championship Bracket.

NUT goes 6-1 at Huck Finn

In our last tune-up before the Series, NUT had an impressive showing at Cultimate's first ever Huck Finn Tournament. We finished 6-1 down in St. Louis, including wins over potential Sectional and Regional opponents. We won all six of our pre-scheduled games before falling to a tough Kansas squad in our re-seeded game.

SATURDAY

Truman State: W, 13-9
Revenge for our loss to these guys at MLC back in the Fall.

Michigan State: W, 13-6
Take half 7-1, as they have no answer for our suffocating zone defense.

Bye

Iowa: W, 13-8
A huge win against a potentially Nationals-bound team. NUT takes half 7-5 and closes it out in a gritty zone game.

Indiana: W, 13-7
Actually go down 7-6 at half, not playing with the same fire as the Iowa game. But in the second half we wake up and blank them, 7-0, to win the game and stay undefeated.


SUNDAY

Purdue: W, 13-3
Not much to say except a great start to our second day.

Missouri: W, 13-8
Similar game to Indiana the day before. Mizzou worked our 2-3-2 and took half 7-5. But a switch to cup and better offensive movement turned it around, as we won the second half 8-1.

Kansas: L, 12-8
Too many stupid drops and throwaways doomed us against this talented team. We had multiple turnovers just outside their endzone, a few yards away from scoring and potentially changing the outcome of this game.

*******

Still a successful weekend overall for us, giving us the confidence and game experience we needed just before Sectionals.

NUT goes on Spring Break

NUT finished 3-3 overall in our first tournament of Spring Break, Georgia Southerns. Disappointing losses to Williams on Sunday and Central Florida the day before. Click on the photo below to see a slideshow from our game against South Carolina.

NUT at Southerns 2009

In our second tournament, we were 2-0 in the slop of Roll Call. Cultimate was forced to cancel the rest of this tournament because the fields were so torn up. Instead, we spent our evening eating crab cakes and bonding as a team.

Scrimmage against Loyola tonight

Loyola University's Darkwing will head up to Evanston tonight for a Spring Break tune-up scrimmage. NUT and Darkwing will potentially see each other later in the Spring at Cultimate's Huck Finn and the UPA Central Plains Sectional.

In a scrimmage two years ago - won handily by NUT - Loyola had the audacity to make this video. Just kidding, they are a fun team to play ... but we're going to make sure to have a camera or two of our own there tonight.

Look for a highlight reel later in the week.

Video from Trouble in Vegas

NUT attended Trouble in Vegas 2009 way back in February. Besides trips to In-n-Out, walking the strip and testing our skills at the Blackjack tables ... we also played some Ultimate!

Here's a compilation of points from Friday and Saturday (before the torrential rains hit). A lot of these points feature another win over rival U. Chicago.

The first ever NUT Combine

NUT introduced a new event to the Winter practice schedule this year: the NUT Combine. Just like the NFL's version, we timed our 40 yard dashes, shuttle runs and measured our vertical leaps. We added one event--hucking distance--you probably didn't see Matthew Stafford and Michael Crabtree competing in.

After doing the initial Combine early in January, we did the follow-up one on Wednesday March 4. Here are all the results, including people's improvements over the last two months. [Note: the vertical leap results are a little skewed. For example my total height stayed the same but the reach of my arms got three inches shorter?]

Upcoming Schedule

SPRING BREAK:

College Southerns
Statesboro, GA
March 21-22

Roll Call, D.C.
Washington, DC
March 28-29

SPRING:

Big Ten Championships @ Huck Finn
St. Louis, MO
April 4-5


UPA SERIES:

UPA Central Plains Sectional
Naperville, IL
April 18-19

UPA Great Plains Regional (if qualify)
Oberlin College, OH
May 2-3

UPA College Championship (if qualify)
Columbus, OH
May 22-25

State of the Team - February 2009

Halfway through the 2008-2009 ultimate season, the Northwestern Ultimate Team is stronger and more dangerous than ever; ready to make noise in the Great Lakes Region.

The team graduated just four players from its 2007-2008 squad, leaving a strong core of upperclassmen. The program was also infused with the largest rookie class in recent years. For the first time in NUT's history, we've had the numbers and dedication to sustain an A and B team.

In the fall, the A team traveled to Exit 69, No Wisconsequences and Missouri Loves Company. The B team headed to Glory Days and Fall Out.

With the winter closing in on the Chicagoland area, NUT headed inside and into the stretch run leading up to the UPA series. In early February the team traveled to fabulous Las Vegas for Cultimate's annual Trouble in Vegas tournament (above). NUT finished 6-2 overall, won the Hearts Bracket but unfortunately got knocked out of the fight for a bid to the Championship Bracket.

72 days remain before the Great Lakes Regional. Time to get back to work and make sure we are the best team we can be by that weekend in May.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the Northwestern Ultimate Team's blog. NUT will update this website with team news, results and information. We'll also throw up player bios and other random material. So come back, enjoy and help support the boys of NUT!