KINGSTON, Ont. – With a 6-2 record and a +39 point differential, the Western Mustangs open ultimate frisbee team took another fourth place finish, this time at the Canadian Eastern University Ultimate Championships on Oct 4 and 5.
 
On Saturday in pool play, the Mustangs were off to a hot start, with 3 lopsided wins off the bat against Nipissing (13-1), Ryerson (13-2), and the Ottawa B (13-0). In their last pool play game, they faced off against the top seed in the pool and last year's champions Guelph.
 
Right from the first throw the game was a battle, with Guelph setting up a gritty zone defense that immediately generated a turn. Western's offensive line, led by captain Iain Mackenzie would battle back, playing physical defense and shutting down Guelph's deep shots, eventually working the disc up the field and to Mackenzie in the end zone to take an early lead.
 
The rest of the first half would be much of the same, with the two teams going blow for blow until the end of the first half with Western ahead 7-5.  The game would remain close until the last few minutes.
 
With Western up 9-8, Guelph would pull out all the stops to rattle off three straight points to take the game 11-9. Guelph went on to comfortably take their semi-final and final games on Sunday to win the tournament and secure the only nationals bid up for grabs at the tournament. Western, with the difficult loss, would face a gruelling four-game day on Sunday for a possible shot at a wildcard bid.
 
Western started off their cold, wet, and windy Sunday against an inexperienced but athletic Laurier team who played with intensity. Paced by first year Griffin Hale and veteran Andy Lu, the Mustangs would put Laurier away 11-6.
 
Their next match up would be the Ottawa Geegees. In an upwind/downwind game, Western's defensive line was the story, playing aggressive and high tempo defense to tire out their opponents and generate lots of turnovers. Often taking Ottawa's star cutters were Jake Bedore and Neal McKinnon, who played tireless physical defense and would run their matchups into the ground on offense.
 
Once the disc was in their hands, Western's defensive handlers, led by captain Brett Morris, would work the disc steadily upwind, often from their own end zone line, to punch in key break points against the Geegees. From there, Western's offensive line would close out the game, going unbroken with steady handling from first year player Geoff Seeman to take the game 10-4.
 
Next up were the Waterloo Warriors, who had already secured a bid to Nationals in Hamilton the previous weekend. The Mustangs would lead the whole way against a Warriors team without much on the line, comfortably winning 11-7. In the third place game, Western would face a rested Queen's team in their home town. By then, Western's difficult Sunday had taken its toll, and Western would fall 13-3 to finish fourth.
 
The Stangs get the next two weeks off, but come Friday, October 17, they are heading to Montreal where they will fight for one of the wildcard bids remaining for Nationals.