The NorthEast region held a 16-team double elimination tournament to determine who would earn the three spots to nationals. Unfortunately, efforts at getting a full 16 teams failed and so play went on with 15 teams. The fields at Stanley Park in Westfield, MA were beautiful and spacious (though a bit hilly in places) and the weather cooperated after giving us a scare all week before.
On Saturday, the captains meeting was held in pouring rain. Yale (#1 seed) had a first round bye. The rest of us grimly thought of the prospect of playing in crummy weather. After a late start, the first round began and it rained intermittently. Wellesley (#10) played a hard game against Wesleyan (#7) and stayed in the game till near the end when Wesleyan pulled ahead for a 11-8 win. R.P.I. (#11) played a great game against Dartmouth (#6) racking up 8 points to Darmouth's 13. The only upset in the first round was Amherst (#9) over Columbia (#8). This was the longest game in the first round as the teams traded points and strategized to see who would stay in the winner's bracket. Amherst finally came out on top 13-9.
By the second round, the sun came out and the grass was even dry! M.I.T. (#5) upset Tufts (#4) 12-7 to earn a spot in the winner's semifinals. In the closest game of the tournament, Brown-A (#3) and Dartmouth (#6) dueled for the second semifinals spot (Yale and Cornell were a given). After exchanging points for a long time, Dartmouth pulled ahead to a 12-9 lead with the game capped at 13. Brown-A vailantly prevented Dartmouth from scoring a game-winning point by putting in 3 goals in row before Dartmouth put the game away. Both teams played their very best and gave the crowd (most of the tournament) quite a show. In the loser's bracket, there were no close games but one surprise as Williams (#14) upset R.P.I. (#11) in a decisive 15-3 win.
In the third round, Yale handily beat M.I.T. 15-5 to earn a spot to nationals. Cornell followed suit and handed Dartmouth a 15-3 loss to earn another spot to nationals. In the loser's bracket, competition was much more intense as teams tried to earn spots in the quarterfinals. Columbia (#8) gave Wesleyan (#7) a run for their money losing by only two points, 13-15. Wellesley (#10) also gave Amherst (#9) a tough time as the teams traded points until Amherst finally ran away with the game finishing 12-8.
In the loser's bracket semifinals, Brown-A (#3) defeated Wesleyan (#7) 15-1. The game between Amherst (#9) and Tufts (#3) was closely contested. Both teams were in the running for the win until the end when Tufts pulled away to finish the game 13-9. This was another really long game that ended as the sun was going down.
On Sunday, despite the pouring rain in other parts of Massachusetts, Westfield remained dry. The ultimate gods smiled upon us and gave us temperate weather-- not too hot and not too cold. Yale and Cornell played in the winner's bracket finals. The game remained fairly close until Yale captain, Anne Lightbody, injured her knee and had to sit out the rest of the game. The score went from 9-7 (in Cornell's favor) to 17-8 as the Wild Roses earned the number one spot in our region.
In the loser's bracket, Dartmouth beat Tufts 15-5 to earn a spot in the finals. The Brown-A vs M.I.T. game was much more hotly contested as the teams traded points at the beginning of the game. The score was 2-2 after the first 30 minutes. However, M.I.T. gained a lead by the half at 8-3 and every point afterwards could have gone either way though M.I.T. won 13-6.
M.I.T. played Dartmouth in the loser's bracket finals to see who would earn the NorthEast's third spot to regionals. While there had been great plays throughout the tournament, both teams really turned it up as this was THE game that counted. There were a number of spectacular layouts and defensive plays as both teams tried to keep an edge up on the other team. While the score remained close throughout the game, M.I.T. did build up a 8-4 lead by the half. The teams traded points until the score was 13-9. Darmouth then rallied to bring the game to 14-12 before M.I.T. scored to end the game and earn their first trip to nationals.
The final results from the NorthEast are 1. Cornell, 2. Yale, and 3. M.I.T. Good luck to them at nationals!