Easterns 2019

The last weekend of the regular season was finally here, and Burn was headed down to Myrtle Beach, SC to duke it out with some of the top teams in the nation before heading into the post-season. Making the five and a half hour drive down to the beach on Friday, we all made it to the hotel just in time to watch the Hokies almost upset Duke in the sweet sixteen, possibly getting a noise complaint from other guests in the hotel because of the excitement.

Saturday - Once again granted a first round bye, we were able to sleep in until almost 9 before getting to the fields for our first game against Harvard. We took a lead in the first half and held onto it for the rest of the game, winning 13 - 9. Our second game came against the top team in the nation (at the time), UNC Darkside. We had so much energy we broke three times in the first half and took half 7 - 4 with what was probably the prettiest layout D of the weekend (shout-out to Colum "Beast Jr." Bergeron). However, UNC came out fiery in the second half and erased our lead pretty quickly, overtaking us and then defeating us 11 - 13. Following the close loss we had to face another perennial Nationals contender in Carleton and couldn't keep up with their fast pace, losing 7 - 13. Our last game of the day was against Georgia, who loved to play a smothering zone that really slowed down the game. Our offense struggled to work it through their tricky zone and ended up giving them the few breaks they needed to win another close one 10 - 12.

- Burn at Easterns 2019 (photo credits to the McLeans)

Sunday - Bracket play started Sunday morning with a fun and competitive game against Auburn. We broke away early but they came back and took half, then we traded a few late breaks and managed to force double game point but couldn't get the D and they won 12 - 13. We dropped down in the bracket to play Northwestern next, and came out a little lackluster in the first half, letting them take a small lead into halftime. We made a few adjustments at the half, solving their zone defense and playing better offense after forcing a turn to bring us back into the game and take it to another double game point (meaning shirts off on the sidelines). They threw it straight to our defense and we managed to break for the win 12 - 11. Our last game of the weekend was against William and Mary, our bitter regional rival by this point, who we are 0 - 7 against over the past two years. With a few injuries on both teams, we manage to negotiate a shortened game to 11 instead of 15. Once again we had a little trouble in the first half beating their zone and they took half up two. They never looked back and we never got back into the game, unable to convert any breaks on defense, leading to a deflating loss 6 - 11 to end the weekend.

Overall it was a great weekend for Burn (even if the 2 - 5 record doesn't show it) as we played the best we have all year and seem to be peaking at just the right time for the post-season. We finished 14th, breaking seed and finishing higher than we have at any tournament so far this year.

Special thanks to the few alumni that came down to support us, we really appreciate it!! Next tournament is Sectionals in Lynchburg, VA, April 13th-14th. As long as we finish top 5 there we will also be competing at Regionals in Axton, VA, April 27th-28th where there will be two bids to Nationals up for grabs. Stay tuned throughout these next few weeks to see how we finish our season this year!