Thursday afternoon the new look Maple Grove Ultimate Team made its way down highway 169 to face off with state runner up Edina. The weather and conditions were as frustrating as a typical Minnesota spring. Upon arrival, the field was still covered in ice causing incompletions and falls on both sides. The rain was heavy at the beginning of the game and turned into a thick snowfall by halftime.
Despite the weather, despite the new personnel (only 5 returners), despite the new coach, the Maple Grove Ultimate Team's culture hasn't changed a bit. The team walked onto the field with about half of the team in cleats the other half not even in tennis shoes. No one had matching uniforms, and the pregame cheer?... Sandlot Squad. This team still holds the same core value: Go out and have fun.
The look of the team was the same, the values of the team were the same, the cheer for the team was the same, but what about their play? Nate was unable to attend leaving only four returning players on the field out of 14. Maple Grove received the opening pull, and the first throw was a full field huck from Dylan to Mitchell 1-0 Maple Grove. Mitchell ran uncontested up the sideline and made a beeline for the end zone as soon as Dylan picked up the disc.
Edina expected a stack or set play and were surprised by the early ambitious attempts. The game continued to steer Maple Grove's way as Edina had difficulty adapting to their style 3-1 Maple Grove. That's when the cold set in.
The handlers began to freeze up and started missing on deep connections and reset throws. This led to long turnover ridden points in the first half as the game started to shift in Edina's favor. Edina took half 7-4 and ended the game 13-5. Despite the lopsided point total there were nothing but positive takeaways for a young team going against a perennial state title contender.
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