UPA 2003 COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Brown University
How they got here:
1st in New England Region
Scouting Report
After a one-year hiatus, Brown seeks to reassert itself on the national stage. This year Tom Matthews joins DoG teammate Nathan Wicks on the coaching staff for B-mo; club ultimate players and fans will recognize a number of hallmarks of the DoG style of play that have been adapted to this team.
Josh Ziperstein (#2) and Will Arnold (#20) both come off a club season with DoG and both have added veteran savvy to go along with their sheer athleticism. Both of them are exceptionally quick, difficult to cover on offense and constant threats to manufacture diving blocks on defense. Arnold has also become a lethal hucker as well. Dan MacArthur (#10), Paul Vandenberg (#25) and Jon Jay (#47) are skilled at keeping the disc moving on offense. Complementing them are a host of talented big men such as Mike Franz (#16), Neale Mahoney (#17), Jake Keeler (#42) and Ross Loomis (#58).
Offensively, this team displays the patience of Job. If you shut down their plays off the pull or stop their long cutters, they will be content to take short gains and dump-swings all day. Every player is capable of throwing the break-mark swing pass, so it is not enough to defend the field vertically against Brown--teams must defend the field horizontally as well. Defensively, Brown brings the whole bag--force one-way, force-middle, clam, cup zone, 1-3-3, trapping zones, zone-to-man, you name it.
The most notable chink in Brown's armor may be their lack of Nationals experience--only six players have been to Nationals before--but they have a number of big regular-season wins this year against the likes of Oregon, Carleton, Williams and UMass. This year Brown plays in the notorious D pool with #4 seed Wisconsin and #9 seed William and Mary. If they don't play well, Brown could lose to both teams and end up 3rd in its pool, effectively dashing its chances for the title. But Brown also has a good chance to go 3-0 and secure the coveted prequarters bye. With their top-notch coaching staff, count on Brown to be ready to do battle at Nationals.
Self-reported stats
Big season wins:
Brown 12-Oregon 11 (Stanford Invite),
Brown 15-Humbolt 13 (Stanford Invite),
Brown 12-UC Davis 9 (Stanford Invite),
Brown 13-Carleton 12 (Easterns),
Brown 15-Williams 11 (Regionals),
Brown 17-Umass 15 (Regionals)
Big season losses:
UC Berkley 13-Brown 10 (Stanford),
Stanford 15-Brown 7 (Easterns),
Texas 15- Brown 13 (Easterns),
NC State 15-Brown 13 (Ultimax)
Players to watch on offense:
2, Josh Ziperstein, Sophomore, 5'10"
8, Reid Hopkins, Freshman, 6'0"
10, Dan MacArthur, Sophomore, 511"
16, Michael Franz, Grad, 6'4"
20, Will Arnold, Junior, 6'0"
25, Paul Vandenberg, Sophomore, 6'1"
47, Jon Jay, Junior, 6'0"
Players to watch on defense:
2, Josh Ziperstein, Sophomore, 5'10"
7, Ben Galeota-Sprung, Sophomore, 5'8"
10, Dan MacArthur, Sophomore, 5'11"
17, Neale Mahoney, Sophomore, 6'3"
20, Will Arnold, Junior, 6'0"
21, Kevin Loo, Senior, 5'8"
42, Jake Keeler, Senior, 6'4"
58, Ross Loomis, Junior, 5'11"