Huck Finn marked NUT’s final regular season appearance. After trudging through rainy practices in Evanston, the sunny skies of Missouri were a welcome change. NUT was seeded in one of the power pools meaning that Saturday consisted of 3 pool play games and one crossover game that was the prequarter round of the championship bracket.
NUT started off Saturday against a familiar regional opponent, Illinois (though this was NUT’s first game against them this season). Though NUT claimed the first break, Illinois followed up by rattling off a few breaks in a row in a disappointing first half. NUT regained momentum in the second half, but the deficit was too great. NUT then squared off against Auburn, and kept it close until the end of the game where Auburn pulled away and claimed the victory over NUT. In the last pool play game, NUT played Colorado State. After tying the score up at 13-13, CSU secured the victory with two breaks. NUT’s crossover game was against Lehigh, and both of NUT’s d-lines were able to rattle off breaks for the victory.
Sunday morning marked the Quarterfinals round of the championship bracket, where NUT played Minnesota for the 3rd time this season. With high energy and momentum, NUT fought hard through the whole game, but Minnesota was able to pull out the victory. NUT’s next game was a rematch with CSU. Unfortunately, NUT couldn’t find a rhythm and played from behind for most of the game. NUT’s last game of the tournament was against another familiar opponent, Chicago. The game was all holds until the final few points in which NUT broke to pull ahead and claim the W for 7th place.
Though NUT’s offense faltered this weekend, the second defensive line (D2) had a great weekend, characterized by lots of growth for younger players. NUT will begin the series starting with Illinois Sectionals the weekend of April 22nd and 23rd.