PENNSBURY: Falcons Capture Easterns Ultimate Title

Denny Bechis scores championship point for the Falcons

Last weekend (May 9-10), Pennsbury took the rubber match pitted against Amherst Regional (Massachusetts), the only team who's beaten the Falcons all year.
As these two teams played for their third tournament championship in as many weekends, this time for the Championship of the Eastern United States & Canada, 15-11, after beating them at their tournament the week before, and losing to them at the Falcons' own tournament the week before that, both by identical 15-9 scores.
Pennsbury's is a completely student run program, including the captain/coach Isaac Saul (the third Saul brother to captain the team in a row), while Amherst is a school-supported ultimate dynasty over 20 years old, fed by one of the only middle school ultimate programs in the U.S.A.
After Isaac won his first Easterns in '07, with his older brother Noah as captain, the Falcons lost 14 seniors and were not expected to contend for much of anything in 2008.
But Isaac and his co-captains Justin Baughn and Elijah Karoly reloaded the team, brought players up from JV to fill strategic spots and kept Pennsbury very competitive, finishing as the second best team in the east last year behind Columbia (from Orange, NJ, another legacy program supported by its school), with whom they have had a very spirited rivalry for the last five to six years. In fact, Pennsbury lost the semifinal game at Easterns to Columbia last year on Universe Point (sudden death) in a howling gale that made the game very difficult to play at all.
This year, both Amherst and Pennsbury cruised through Pool Play on Saturday, with Pennsbury allowing two teams just 3 goals, and the third only 2.
Amherst, winning by similar margins in their 3 games (all to 15), was widely expected to be the other finalist and did not disappoint. After re-seeding and pre-quarters late Saturday and early Sunday, both teams came back for quarters, semis and finals in 10:30, 12:30 and 2:30 games, again to 15.
After beating Needham in Quarterfinals by a familiar 15-4 score (our games with them at Amherst and Born To Dive were also 15-4) the Falcons had the highest point total scored against them all season by anyone other than Amherst, as Paideia School from Atlanta, GA brought a very young and disciplined team back in the 2nd half to get within 2 before falling 15-9 in one semifinal, while Amherst rolled over an undermanned and also very young North Hills (Pittsburgh) team, 15-3 in the other.
The Finals were all they were cracked up to be as the rubber match between these 2 teams, and as they had the week before in MA, it was Pennsbury who got off to the quick start, scoring first after each team turned it over twice, on a Justin Baughn to Denny Bechis pass. Pennsbury got a lucky break to get a 2nd turn and quickly went out 2-0 on a pass from Isaac Saul to Mike Auld, and the Amherst squad knew they were in for another brawl.
Denny Bechis was all over the field, scoring 2 goals and throwing 2 assists in the 1st half as the Falcons took what is, at this level, an almost insurmountable 8-3 halftime lead.
Mike Auld had 3 assists and a goal and Zach Kauffman, John Berger and Matt Bode each had a goal as well, complemented by 2 from Blake Hammer to round out the 1st half scoring.
Mike Auld, at 6'1", and 6'6" sophomore Amos Adams of Amherst had an intense battle all game, with Mike getting a key reception deep in Amherst territory that was quickly converted for a goal, one of his 3 assists in the fist half.
Amos had an equally spectacular grab on Mike in the 2nd half on a flying layout about 4' off the ground.
Pennsbury hasn't lost a game in which they had the early lead in almost 2 years, but Amherst made them work to keep it here, mounting a furious rally after halftime to get to within 1 at 9-8 before Pennsbury woke up in the second half.
Their escape began with a foul call on Amherst's Julian Summa by Matt Wilson, who called a hack on a reception attempt at the Amherst 10 yard line.
Players call all their own infractions in ultimate, and after a quiet discussion Julian accepted the call (he could have contested the foul and sent the disc back to the thrower) and Matt got the disc at the spot of the foul.
He made quick work of the goal, with a soft flick to Denny Bechis for one of his game leading 5 second half goals on a layout grab on the left side of the end zone and a 10-8 lead. After Amherst scored again to make it 10-9, Pennsbury came right back to go up 11-9 and then Mike Auld began closing the door with a huge D of an Amherst huk, (a 'bomb' in football) which he ran through for an upline toss from Zach Kauffman, then tossed the disc back to Zach as he streaked to the end zone for a goal and a 12-9 lead.
Pennsbury didn't look back, despite Amherst scoring on their next possession, as Denny Bechis had goal #6 on a runaway for 13-10, Matt Bode scored the 14th point for the Falcons after an Amherst miscue, and after Julian Summa scored the 11th and final goal for Amherst, Pennsbury closed it out on a throw by John Berger for the win, predictably coming on another great layout catch by Denny Bechis, and his teammates rushed the field to celebrate their 2nd Championship in 3 years over a very game and spirited Amherst team.
All that remains for Pennsbury this season is to win their fourth state title in a row, which they should do with relative ease this weekend in Lehigh, as their only serious competition will come again from North Hills of Pittsburgh, who gamely finished tied for third at Easterns, despite being in a rebuilding year.