Community Quidditch Team of Providence, RI
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Last Sunday, the India Point Ashwinders (8-7) played against the Harvard Horntails, in addition to an unofficial match against an MIT/UMass/Harvard mercenary team.
The Ashwinders got off to a bad start in their first game of the afternoon, with the Horntails scoring an easy goal mere seconds after “Brooms Up!” was called. Harvard’s players quickly gained momentum, while IPA was often unable to enter the zone let alone generate scoring opportunities. Although the Ashwinders were able to gain Bludger control for much of the game, the other team’s Beaters kept them too busy to use this advantage. Meanwhile, the Harvard Chasers’ experience was clearly evident in their ability to find many opportunities to score with precise passes to the hoops and swift drop-ins. The game ended when the Harvard Seeker caught the Snitch, with a final score of 210*-0 Harvard.
RECAP: HARVARD
IPA’s second game of the day was an unofficial match against the MIT mercenary team. To make the most of the informal game, some of IPA’s players decided to get experience in different positions. Chasers Monica Chin and Leah Jones, and Seeker Jeffrey Blum all spent time as Beaters, while veteran Beater Amanda Lepelstat played in her first game of the season after returning from an injury. The Ashwinders had much more success in the offensive zone, generating several good scoring chances. Incredible saves by the Keeper from UMass kept the score rather low however. The game was within Snitch range but IPA did not come away with it and the final score was 80*-30 MIT.
The third game was also IPA’s second official game against Harvard. Early on, Chaser Derik Wagner was able to score to put IPA on the board on a mid-range shot from behind the hoops. The Ashwinders also improved their passing significantly compared to their first match of the day. Though they only scored one goal, IPA was able to keep Harvard down to half of the number of goals scored in the first game thanks to a much more cohesive effort by the Beaters. The final score was 120*-10 Harvard.
In the interest of time, Harvard surrendered the final official match of the day. The forfeit was recorded as a win for the Ashwinders with a score of 150*-0 IPA.
Even though the Ashwinders lost twice against Harvard, their play vastly improved throughout the day, especially in terms of confidence and aggressiveness. In particular, Chaser Tyler Poole’s tackling helped slow down the Horntails’ Chasers.
This weekend, both teams head to Rochester, New York for Northeast Regionals. India Point will play in a pool on Saturday that includes the University of Rochester Thestrals, University of New Haven Nightmares, the Hofstra University Flying Dutchmen, and the Boston Massacre.
