Scorned started the season with a majority of our players from last year returning. Last season we graduated (like for realsies) Lauren Theile and Chelle Johnson, but we are looking forward to the return of Magic Liu, Britt Schenk, and Sarah Hoistad in the spring! As a result of these losses, we decided we should recruit some more rookies to join the family!
After doing some recruitment and team building research, we started the year strong with about 15 rookies! (this is a lot for us) The sweet thing is most of them have stuck around, and ALL of them are lookin' great! In fact, we had enough to go x/y (for the first time in WS history) to a tourney this fall!
Our first tournament this Fall, was Elephantitis in Grinnell, Iowa. (this tourney was forever ago, and I don't have exact scores, just a bad memory, sorry.)
With a strong line of more than 20 girls and around 8 rookies, we were extremely excited to toss the new girls in and see what they got. Our first game (I think) was against Sticky Tongues and was filled with an abundance of trash talk between the Pony Keg girls from both teams. Keeping the rotation pretty wide open and pushing our rookies to prove themselves, we traded points for the majority of the game. Even though many of the girls had only been playing a week or two, our flow was fluid and movement of the disc was not a problem. Although Scorned fought through the rain and wind, Grinnell fought harder and took the game with a win by two. Rookie, Cami Nelson, had an insanely sick D on the end zone line that led to a scary time period where we though she broke her arm, but thankfully (after a couple quick X-rays at the hospital) she escaped with just a bone bruise and played in games the next day...what a baller, right?
Although coming off a loss, Scorned was very pleased with the rate of play and level of improvement throughout our game. We walked into our second game versus Gustavus Adolphus with our chins up. This game was a lot of fun and the Outskirtz' ladies were total ballers! The team played hard with a close to (if not completely) savage rotation. Scorned walked away with our first win of the season after a fun game in the drizzle.
Our third game was against our friends from Luther. One super fun and exciting fact about this team, is that they finally have a team name! It is Freya. The game was close with both teams trading points throughout the game. Both teams were looking large and playing the entire rotation to build depth in our programs, and the game came down to universe point with Woman Scorned squeaking in one more score upwind to take the game.
After the game, we had a bye which turned into an extended bye due to storms, which eventually just ended the day. The last round of cross overs were canceled and we headed to the showers. While the rain continued, Scorned headed to the great town of Belle Plaine, Iowa-Home of Lindsey Gapstur (me). Scorned got to experience the BP Bowling alley where we ran into half of my town and everyone stared at the girls wearing weird sweaters (Annihka & Daisy) and those of us wearing ultimate gear still. Although the rain was enough to drive most of the older, lamer girls to sleep indoors in BP, our ROOKIES demanded to camp at the party so that they could win the party...and win the party they did! As if we weren't proud enough of how they played, they went and completely stole our hearts with a party win at Grinnell!
The next day, we swung by the camp ground to grab the victorious rookies, and headed to the smell that is Grinnell for bracket play.
Our first game was against UNI Pandamonium! They have the sweetest team name. This was another great game despite the rain, and after expanding our field from about 50 x 25 yd, to 50x 35, playing through the puddle of an end zone became a lot more fun. Scorned used the game to get together and work out some kinks. Panda played a great game and we look forward to seeing their program grow and joining us in the series this spring.
In the semi's game we met Saucy Nancy Y. This team has spent the past few years growing and giving us trouble at every new match up. With a total of 7 games played last year, we are no strangers and every game if fought with heart on both sides of the disc. Keeping our rotation open, we fought through the first few scores trading points pretty close. Although scorned fought hard and made adjustments, we could not break through Iowa's zone and Saucy took the game pretty handily.
Although coming out of a loss, Scorned's spirits stayed high and our girls kept playing hard and we came back to win our game for third place against Winona.
The weekend was a mind melting amount of fun and the team had a great time bonding and playing some disc. From the start, we could tell that this year is going to be no ordinary year for Scorned. We have strong leadership, excited rookies, an abundance of talent, and a team mindset ever seeking improvement. Woman Scorned is ready to feel the love and unleash our fury!
<3 Gapstur and Kaira
ps. Look for more blogs about Exit 69 and No Wisco soon, but let's be honest, probably not real soon.
