Western Massachusetts ultimate team makes history at Youth Club Championships in Colorado

By GARRETT COTE

Fifteen local girls ultimate athletes competed at the Youth Club Championships (YCCs) in Aurora, Colorado last weekend. Players from Amherst, Northampton, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts, Deerfield Academy and Four Rivers made up the team that traveled out West. This team has been together for nearly a decade as it was created in 2017 by head coach Leila Tunnell and administered by a local organization called “Valley Ultimate.”

The group of 15 represented western Massachusetts on one of the biggest stages ultimate has to offer, and recorded their best finish at the YCCs in team history by taking home third place.

With convincing wins over Virginia (Valkeries), Minnesota (Superior), Colorado (Cutthroat) and Texas (Two-Step) on Saturday and Sunday, the Valley Ultimate group won their pool and secured a spot in the quarterfinals against Washington D.C. (Rogue). Despite a (comparatively) small roster, and with temps heading into the 90s as they played their fifth game in two days, Valley Ultimate was ready for the challenge.

In front of a showcase field audience, they played a solid and poised first half — jumping out to an 8-5 lead. After withstanding the D.C. charge to open the second half, Valley struck back and finished with a convincing 14-11 victory to punch their ticket to the program’s first-ever semifinal.

On Monday, they faced the No. 1 seed (and recent high school national champion) Seattle (Seven Hills). Valley grabbed a quick 4-2 advantage and looked ready to challenge for the upset. But Seattle, powered by depth (24 players) and skill, roared back to take an 8-5 lead into halftime. VU battled but had trouble finding the end zone in the second half and eventually lost 15-6.

Showing their grit, determination and stamina and after a bye, some lunch and a quick rest, they regrouped and again hit the field against Minnesota in the bronze medal game. They went down 2-0, but found a deep reserve to power forward and go ahead 7-6. Valley Ultimate broke twice to start the second, withstood the final Minnesota charge and held on for a 12-10 victory to finish in third place.

All weekend long Valley was buoyed by the play of their entire roster of home-grown talent — with each one scoring or assisting on at least one goal throughout the three-day, seven-game tournament. They were led by Four Rivers’ Sylvia Guillaume (19 assists, ninth-most in the tournament), Northampton’s Alysha Parshall-Matylas (17 goals, seventh-most in the tournament) and Amherst’s Addie Mager (11 goals) and Isla Cusick (24 assists, second-most in the tournament, and 16 goals, eighth-most).