FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 26, 2009

HEADLINE:

Ultimate Showcase Series

Boston Ironside 15 Toronto GOAT 11

Boston Brute Squad 15 NYC Bent 2
Medford, MA

On a calm, surprisingly rainless evening at Tufts University Bello Stadium in front of 300+ enthusiastic fans, Boston Ironside's high flying defense and precision offense produced a narrow early lead and eventual 15-11 victory to capture the second Ultimate Showcase Series (USS) Men's World Friendly match. Last year, they defeated Great Britain 15-9.

After the teams traded scores to 4-4, Boston Ironside rookie and Cornell alumni Seth Reinhardt got a diving block and teammate Teddy Browar-Jarus delivered a 55 yard huck which Patrick Balyess hauled in against a much taller Toronto defender. The teams traded a couple more goals until Ironside's Ryan Todd's tough defense forced a turnover and Harvard alumni George Stubbs delivered a blading throw to Brown alumni Colin Mahoney to take half 8-6.

Boston received the disc to start the second half. Their offense patiently worked the disc from sideline to sideline until their tall speedy receivers opened up for easy throws and 15 yard gains. GOAT's defense was formidable and later forced a few turns, but weren't able to convert those into goals as Boston's offensive squad showed they could also play great defense. Jeff Graham got back a couple rare Boston turnovers and threw several goals including a 65 yard strike to Peter Prial. Toronto's Anatoly Vasilyev drew cheers from the partisan Boston crowd for a daring 30 yard blade to a teammate in the back of the end zone to cap a long point against Boston's tough zone defense.

At 14-11, Ryan Todd forced another turnover, leading to chants of “RT = Great D.” Todd then launched a floating 50 yard huck which was hauled in for the winning goal on a huge leap from Ryan Purcell against several taller GOAT defenders. It was an exciting end to a well-played match.

In the earlier women's match, Boston Brute Squad was brutally efficient as they crushed New York 15-2. Brute Squad rookie and Dartmouth star Rohre Titcomb had several crowd-pleasing plays as Brute went up 6-0. Ellie Graeden, Rana Kannan, and Lauren Nelson led a very effective short to mid-range passing game as the Brute Squad offense carved up the NYC defense. NYC played the first half with few subs as the majority of their team was stuck in brutal traffic, arriving 7.5 hours after they left New York.

The crowds were impressed with the speed and throwing skills of the teams. One press photographer noted how hard it was to get a non-blurry picture as the play was so fast. All four squads will go on to compete in the Boston Invitational Championships this weekend at Devens.

Keeping with Ultimate Frisbee’s core concept of “Spirit of the Game,” the behavior of the players was very professional and sportsmanlike, setting a positive example for the young fans. Thanks goes out to partners Life is good, Discovering the World, Breakmark, Discraft, UltimateDiscStore.com, and VC Ultimate for donations and discounts. Thanks to the Tufts University Athletic Department for hosting the event.

Detailed information is at TheUltimateShowcase.com.

Contacts for The Ultimate Showcase:

Mark Goodman, 617-457-7870 x249 Erik Sebesta, 617-577-7131

MarkGoodman@... Erik@...