Mean Green takes mean match from CSU's Hibida

mgsteve · March 30, 2004

Club game of the week

By Peter Scalia

March 29, 2004

Cold weather and a bad wind capable of making a Frisbee take off and fly away did not prevent the Rocky Mountain Invitational from taking place this weekend. CSU's club ultimate team, Hibida, hosted the tournament, going to battle on the intramural fields against other participating schools. Games started on Saturday and ran until Sunday afternoon.

"Our Tournament always seems to fall on the two worst days of the year," said Hibida member Tony Petraglia of the weather conditions.

In one situation the opening punt between the Hibida B squad and the Wyoming Cowboys saw the Frisbee catch some air, fly across the IM fields past the intersection of South and Meridian Drive, and slam into a parked Suzuki Samurai in the Newsom Hall parking lot.

Both Hibida squads performed well in the opening day of competition with Hibida B going 2-1 and Hibida A going a perfect 3-0 with wins over University of Denver, North Texas and Oklahoma.

Sunday looked bright after Saturday's performances, but it quickly turned sour for Hibida B. The team faced Colorado School of Mines for the first round of the elimination tournament. Mines made quick work of the B squad. Hibida A had the University of Nebraska in the first round and took care of the Cornhuskers to move to the semifinals.

The final four of the RMI featured Mines, Colorado-Boulder, Hibida and North Texas. Mines made quick work of CU-Boulder 15-5.

Meanwhile North Texas earned its bid to the championship game with a heated 12-9 win over Hibida.

North Texas opened scoring in that game with two quick scores. Hibida battled back and made the score 2-1, the Mean Green went right back to work and made the score 4-1. Hibida called time out and came out smoking going on a 3-0 run to even the score.

With the score tied at four, North Texas took the Frisbee down the field and once again scored twice in a row pushing its lead back to 6-4.

Hibida got the Frisbee and with short passes, made North Texas play up on defense. That's when Hibida went deep, scoring on a remarkable catch by Eric Vaughn. Both sides turned the Frisbee over and North Texas found the goal again, making the score 7-5.

After getting the Frisbee, Hibida made a pass that was swatted by a North Texas player, but on its way to the ground the Frisbee caught some wind and landed in Vaughn's hands again.

After nearly five minutes going back and forth, Hibida tied things up with a short throw. North Texas broke the tie and sent the game to half time with the score 8-7.

Coming out in the second half, North Texas scored quickly and tempers flared as the Mean Green scored again for their biggest lead of the game 10-7.

"They have players on their team that aren't even in college," said Ben Aldridge of the reason for elevated tempers.

CSU traded points with the Mean Green, but could not cut into the lead as North Texas scored 12 goals for the win while CSU could only muster up nine.

Colorado State Collegian