The final tournament for the Hodags before the College Series was Midwesterns, a tournament that gathers many of the best teams in the Midwest, including both college and city teams. The tournament is organized and hosted by the Hodags. This past year was probably the best run Midwesterns in recent years despite the large field of 40 teams in Madison and some extreme weather conditions on the first day. Midwesterns ran smoothly because of the immense amount of work that some individuals put forth (most notably Michael Bluhm and Matt Pankratz). The Hodags were placed in a pool of five teams as the third overall seed in the tournament. The teams they would face during pool play were Chicago (Club Team), Indiana (Club Team), Winona St. University, and Iowa University. Following are the summaries of the games.

Game 1: Hodags vs. Iowa

The weather conditions, which included wind gusts up to 60 mph, determined how the games would be played this first day of the tournament. A team’s ability to play zone defense and consequently zone offense would play a large part in determining which team would win. The Hodags had to take on Iowa first, and despite some problems in the first half that led to a 6-7 Iowa lead, the Hodags came back strong to win the game 13-9.

Game 2: Hodags vs. Indiana (Club Team)

This was a game in which the Hodags wanted to prove that they could beat experienced teams with patient offense and intelligent play. This is exactly what happened as the Hodags dominated a small part of the Indiana club team 13-6.

Game 3: Hodags vs. Winona St.

This game is a friendly rivalry common between a bigger, stronger, older brother and a scrappy younger brother. The game is always close, but the older brother always manages to win. The Hodags have been the older brother for some time now, mainly due to the fact that they have much greater depth and have a mental edge over Winona St. The game was in fact close, 13-10, but the Hodags nevertheless prevailed.

Game 4: Hodags vs. Chicago (Club Team)

This game would present the challenge of playing older more experienced players that could run despite their age, typically 25-30. Some of the players were even ex-Hodags, which incited a sort of unwritten grudge match, with pride on the line. Chicago seemed to be favored by the wind, which slowed the game down and allowed their experience to overshadow the Hodags. The Hodags ended up losing a closely contested game 11-13. Some mention has to be made of the exceptional play of Rob Wagner, who made great offensive and defensive plays.

Prequarters: Hodags vs. Carleton College B team

This game served purely as a warm-up game for the Hodags who cruised to a 15-3 victory and advanced to the quarterfinals. It was a blowout that featured a lot of young players and a lot of quick goals. The game went by so fast that few players were completely warmed up.

Quarterfinals: Hodags vs. Michigan

REVENGE!!! Michigan defeated the Hodags three times the previous year and with a full Michigan squad back, and the Hodags only losing one player, this game was exactly what the Hodags wanted. The game was over before it started as the Hodags came in pumped and determined. The game started with a 4-0 lead for the Hodags, which eventually turned into a 8-1 halftime score and 15-4 final. This game was absolute proof that work during the offseason can make a huge difference.

Semifinals: Hodags vs. Carleton College

Like the Winona St. game this is much like a sibling rivalry, only in this case the Hodags are the younger brother that has earned very few victories against the perennial powerhouse of Carleton College. This game started exactly as the Hodags wanted, a 3-1 lead behind some great individual plays. The Hodags maintained this lead until half to remain ahead 8-6, but then the big brother started to assert himself. After the Hodags failed to convert from twenty yards from the goal to go up 9-6, Carleton scored a quick goal making it 8-7. This swing in momentum caused some careless decisions by some veteran Hodag players, and Carleton ended up winning 15-13, but not without a scare.

By Bryan J. Paradise

Midwesterns Photos | Past Tournaments