Flying discers ‘rolled with’ last-minute tournament overhaul

Even before the first toss-off of Saturday’s tournament, a test of adaptability befell every team in the Triangle Ultimate 15-and-under Open Division III. A late change in participation numbers prompted a tweak in the event’s format and in every party’s schedule.

“We just rolled with it,” said Luke Rugani, coach of the Montessori Community School team.

Originally, Rugani and the MCS Mustangs were to constitute one-quarter of Pool D, which would join Pool C in a playoff based on preliminary results.

Then one of the teams in the opposite pool withdrew, shrinking the collective division from eight to seven clubs. Accordingly, the itinerary shifted from a morning of back-to-back-to-back round-robin engagements and afternoon of three playoff rounds to a daylong table run. Everyone had a turn facing one another, and each garnered a bye hour.

“We’re still playing the same number of games,” Rugani stressed Saturday morning. The only difference was that, as part of the overhaul, each match would run for 45 minutes rather than the standard 50.

But the Mustangs made the most of their minutes, to say nothing of their bye, which fell in the second hour of competition. Coming off their regularly scheduled tournament opener against St. Raphael, they rested their legs and warmed up for the Roland Grise Knights.

With all three teams taking turns engaging one another on the 13th out of 13 pitches on North Carolina State University’s Miller Field, a broader sideline was more conducive to passing the break productively.

When the Mustangs were summoned back to action at 11 a.m., they capitalized on fresher legs. Four unanswered scoring plays rewarded a slew of swarms deep in Roland Grise territory and ultimately proved the difference in a 6-3 victory.

As it happened, that was the Mustang' second win out of six, as they would continue to run the table after their lunch respite.

“There may be no greater joy as a coach than watching your kids learn to truly believe in themselves, work together and gut it out to the end,” said Rugani. “MCS did that on Saturday.”

But in between, when the clubs convened at midfield after the final play, MCS personnel complimented Roland Grise’s hustle and transition game. Those assets yielded several rapidly developing threats before the Mustangs’ goal line, sometimes culminating in defensive heroics.

The conference culminated in a collective, on-cue “Great game!” shout, which Rugani preceded with a directive to the Field 13 congregation.

 

“Make sure everyone on Field 1 can hear it!”

“There was no shortage of great sportsmanship on the field today,” Rugani later remarked, “and the exchanges by the kids in the spirit circles following each match were uplifting. Great plays and great effort were celebrated and competition dropped out of focus.”