NORTHAMPTON — Amherst Regional took first place in the boys division for the second straight year, while Northampton was the second in the girls division at the fifth annual Pioneer Valley Invitational ultimate tournament, Sunday at the Oxbow.
Amherst reached the finals by defeating Montpelier, 13-6, in the quarterfinals and Cape Elizabeth, 12-7, in the semifinals.
In the championship game, Amherst faced Middletown in a rematch from pool play on Saturday, when Amherst escaped with an 11-10 win.
Sunday’s title game was just as close, with Amherst winning 8-7 and taking home its second straight Pioneer Valley Invitational title.
“We didn’t really talk so much about a specific strategy that would be necessary for the finals,” Amherst coach Joe Costello said. “We really try to approach each game with no expectations and then adapt and do what’s required to win the game.”
Right before the first half came to a close, Amherst took a 7-6 lead in what had been a back-and-forth game.
“That Middletown team has a really strong zone defense, so we had to approach it with our very best zone offense,” Costello said.
Added Amherst senior Peter Treyz, “They play one type of defense very well. We played our same game the whole time, basically just taking our time and working our way up (field).”
Wind played a factor as both teams took a more conservative approach to moving upfield with short passes, and less chances taken downfield.
“We practice so much for it,” said Amherst junior James Cairn on the wind conditions. “Our team mentality is (focused on dealing with) uncontrollables and wind is an uncontrollable (factor) so I don’t think it had a big effect on the team.”
Northampton went 0-3 in pool play. Amherst went 3-0, beating Masconomet (13-3), Montreal (13-12) and Middletown (11-10).
“We just grind at practice, and we let them see it on the field,” said Cairn on the team winning its second straight Pioneer Valley Invitational after losing 15 seniors from the season before.
Northampton made its second straight appearance in the championship game after beating Columbia (11-6) in the quarterfinals and Ottawa (10-6) in the semifinals.
The Blue Devils faced Ingraham, a team from Seattle, in the title game.
Northampton had the lead for the majority of the game, but a late push by Ingraham forced overtime, where Northampton lost 9-8.
“Tournaments are so hard because it’s so many games in a row,” Northampton coach Clarissa Lyons said. “Each game we kind of reset, we say, ‘Hey, this is Game 1 and it’s 0-0’ and we kind of forget about what’s happened so far, forget what the other team has done, and bring everything we can.”
Ingraham’s defense made it tough for the Blue Devils.
“They certainly had a lot of athletic defenders who put a lot of defensive pressure on us,” Lyons said. “We felt that all game.”
The Blue Devils went 3-0 in pool play on Saturday, defeating West Windsor Plainsboro South (10-9), Newton North (10-7) and Ottawa (11-6).