Snitch: World Cup Recap Part II
Welcome back. In case you missed it, or if you need a refresher, check out part 1 here. We continue where we left off.
Photo by Leslie Bartsch
Emerson College (Boston, MA): Achieved. I expected better of Emerson, but I don't blame them for failing to live up to my expectations. I thought Emerson would top Pool 4, and I also anticipated they would be eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen. They ultimately were defeated exactly where I expected, losing to finalist University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) 130*-50, an entirely excusable loss. However, Emerson failed to win its pool, going 3-1, after a narrow 100*-90 loss to University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA). Still, I'm prepared to give them a pass on that loss, simply because the USC team that beat them was a much better squad than I expected. Emerson successfully avenged its loss to University of South Florida (Tampa, FL) from World Cup V (when USF eliminated Emerson), and still advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after a 110*-60 Round of 32 win over Texas State University (San Marcos, TX).
Fleming College (Peterborough, ON): Underachieved. Honestly, this rating is incredibly difficult for me to give. In games they played, they went 0-3 with all three matches being blow outs, honestly this was expected. Their notable match though is one they didn't even play, a forfeit to Texas A&M University. A team source confirmed the decision to forfeit came from a combination of exhaustion, injuries, and knowledge that they were outclassed by their next opponent. Safety concerns should take priority, but from a gameplay perspective one generally expects teams to participate in every game, so Fleming's forfeit is disappointing. I think in retrospect this squad would have been better placed in Division II; ultimately because they forfeited they underachieved my expectations.Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL): Achieved. Florida State went 1-3 in pool play, with their lone victory being a 110*^-80 victory over Pot 1 - Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI). After winning their first game FSU failed to capitalize on any of their momentum, and dropped their next three contests, all of which were within snitch range. There are two ways to look at FSU's performance. On the one hand, they beat a Marquette squad that many (myself included) thought they would have no chance against. On the other, they started off 1-0 with arguably their toughest game out of the way, and failed to find another victory, even in winnable games. Neither a 1-3 finish nor last place in their pool is unexpected regardless of how they got there.
Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY): Underachieved. Many expected Hofstra to top their group, which they did rather easily, with all four of their wins coming outside of snitch range. However, their Saturday dominance was quickly washed aside in one fateful Sunday match, when they fell 70*-30 to the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR). I get that Arkansas may have been a stronger team than their seeding indicated, but anytime a 5-seed falls to a 27-seed it's a disappointment. Hofstra should have done better than their one-and-done performance in the bracket. Illinois State University (Normal, IL): Achieved. Unfortunately, there is not much to say about Illinois State. They seemed to be way out of their depth in this pool heading into the tournament, and the results confirmed this. They failed to seriously challenge any of their opponents, but can still be proud of the 80 points they scored against the University of Maryland (College Park, MD), in a 180-80* defeat, and their grabbing three out of four snitches. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD): Underachieved. This is a simple one. Johns Hopkins was perceived by many to be neck-and-neck with New York University (New York, NY) for the final bracket spot in Pool 3. In the end, Hopkins couldn't even stay within a snitch grab of their primary foes, falling 200*-130 in that deciding match. JHU did manage to grab the snitch against Texas A&M in a relatively impressive 130-90* defeat, but overall expectations would have seen them closer to securing a bracket spot, or even competing on Sunday.