With the regular season under their belt, NUT headed back to familiar Rantoul, Illinois to face off in Conference Championships. Some rain on Saturday dampened play but ultimately didn’t last long. NUT notched wins over Loyola and UIC, but then faltered against UChicago in the last game on Saturday. UChicago came out firing and forced NUT to play catchup for the rest of the game. With rain all night, Sunday’s games turned into muddy battles. NUT lost the 3rd place game against Illinois State, and found themselves forced against a wall, needing to play a game to go to Regionals to secure the 4th and final bid. With the season on the line, NUT pushed through the mud and never looked back and took down NIU 15-0. With the statement win, NUT took the last bid and punched their ticket to Regionals.
Trading the previous locale of Fair Oaks, Regionals was held in Ann Arbor this year. Regionals was all about embracing a blue-collar mentality and NUT’s season long goals of NUT v NUT and winning games to 1. With a 12-team tournament and a new format that favored winning the pool NUT beat GVSU and Michigan State to lock up a spot in Sunday’s bracket. NUT and friends enjoyed the rest of Saturday with a barbeque hosted by the hospitable Venegas family.
The Quarterfinals matchup was against Purdue. NUT fought hard and secured some early breaks to put them up. The second half featured NUT’s D2 zone line punching five breaks in a row to lock up the game, with a final score of 15-5. NUT moved up to the semifinal matchup against the familiar rival UChicago. Similarly to the Purdue game, NUT collected a few breaks early on. NUT’s depth was once again invaluable as both effective lockdown person defense and zone wore down UChicago. NUT claimed the right to fight for the region title with a 15-7 win. In the final, NUT drew Notre Dame, which had some familiar faces from the previous club season. The final was filled with spirited and intense play. Though NUT went up early, Notre Dame did not back down and fought hard in the first half. NUT took half 8-5. Notre Dame found new life in the second half and tied up the game at 10s. NUT felt the support of NUT fans and alums near and far and pushed back against Notre Dame’s string of breaks. A dogfight ensued to keep the game tied at 13s, and then after an acrobatic hold, NUT broke to win the game on a huck through double coverage. Final 15 -13.
For the first time in program history, NUT took 1st place in Great Lakes Regionals and earned a qualification for Nationals. This incredible feat could not have been accomplished without the support of the NUT fanbase and alumni network. NUT stands on the shoulders of giants with each year the program growing stronger.
NUT is excited to finally compete on the National stage, and we hope that you can continue your support for our program when we travel to Milwaukee for Nationals, May 25th – 28th.