This past weekend we traveled to Sylvania, Ohio to compete in Motown Throwdown.  We were seeded first in a pool with two other teams, Matador and Illusion.  In the first game of the day we came out strong against Illusion, securing a relatively easy 13-5 victory.  Next up was Matador, the second seed in the pool. Through torrential downpours and several rain delays we dominated with an unshakable offense and a defense whose intensity could not be matched.  After defeating Matador 13-2, we faced Midnight Meat Train in the crossovergame that would determine whether or not the team would reach the championship bracket.  The rain continued through the game, and although we let up several breaks late in the game, we held on to win 13-10.

                Our first game of Sunday was against Jurassic Shark in pre-quarters.  We definitely lacked a certain spark that had been evident in the team throughout their Saturday games, and after a marathon point, Jurassic Shark took half 7-5.  Looking deflated in the second half, Jurassic Shark ran over us to finish the game 13-6.  After being eliminated from championship contention, we moved into the 9^th place round robin bracket, meaning that the team would face three more teams throughout the day.  First up was a rematch against Matador, but the game on Sunday looked much different than Saturday’s rout.  Matador’s zone frustrated our offense into taking risky throws and turning the disc over carelessly, while our defense struggled to consistently get breaks like they had the day before.  The game ended 12-9 in our favor.  With two more games to play, we looked very tired.  During the next game against Spoiler, we fell behind early, but after a speech by coach Nick Kaczmarek about the importance of breaking the opponent’s will, Impulse blew Spoiler out of the water in the second half, and took the win 13-10.  In the last game of the day, we faced off against Cincinnati Hustle to secure a 9^th place finish.  Still riding the energy from the surge against Spoiler, we jumped out early and secured break after break to defeat Hustle 13-6.

                In two weeks, we will head to Blaine, Minnesota for Youth Club Championships, the premier event of the season.  The next two weeks will consist of preparing mentally and physically to take on the best youth teams in the pursuit of our first ever national championship.