The UCSD women’s ultimate team, otherwise known as the Psychos, has not lived up to its potential in the past few years, with its last bid to nationals in 2004, when it tied for third place.
UCSD advanced to the national tournament after going 1-2 in regionals on May 5 and 6. The second-seeded Tritons fell to UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, but defeated the University of Colorado 11-10.
This year, however, the 23 members pushed hard to pull off some impressive wins over the course of the season. They went to the regionals on May 5 and 6 as the second seed, and earned one of the three national bids given to the southwest region to enter the national tournament as the No. 10 seed competing against the other top 15 teams in the nation.
‘We haven’t yet shown how good we really are,’ senior team captain Laura Wishingrad said. ‘It’s going to take trusting and supporting each other to achieve our goal, because we are going to be playing against the top 15 schools in the nation.’
In previous years, the region has only received one or two bids, but three bids were handed out this year because of the strength of the region. As a result of their performance at regionals, nationally ranked No. 1 UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and UCSD will all head to nationals in Columbus, Ohio on May 25 to May 27.
‘Santa Barbara and UCLA are definitely our toughest competition in our region,’ junior Katherine Miles said. ‘They are both very good teams and we didn’t beat either of them at regionals, so hopefully at nationals we will have a chance to play them again.’
The Psychos started off the regional competition with a bang. As the top seed in their pool, they faced the UCLA B team, Northern Arizona University and UCSD’s own B team and came out victorious in all three matches to move on to a crossover game against UC Santa Barbara, where they suffered their first loss of the competition.
The Tritons beat UC Santa Barbara at their sectionals tournament in Long Beach, Calif. before going head-to-head with the Burning Skirts at regionals, so they knew what to expect out of their opponents.
This time around, UC Santa Barbara crushed the Psychos 15-4 in a game that frustrated both sides because of strong winds. It was a frustrating loss for UCSD because it meant that the team would have to go on to play UCLA in the semifinal game.
‘Since UCLA was ranked number one, we knew that if we lost to them, we would be put in the consolation bracket – making the road to nationals a lot longer and harder for us,’ Miles said.
The following morning, UCSD took down the University of Arizona in the quarterfinals to move on as predicted and play UCLA in the semifinal round. Though the Psychos did not have much success against the Bruins during the regular season, they went into the game confident that they could compete with the top-ranked team. However, UCLA jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and took off after that, never allowing UCSD back in the game, resulting in a 15-2 win.
‘UCLA is one of the best teams in the nation and boasting of roster experience,’ senior Patti Shih said. ‘Our team has some great players, but we lack enough experienced players on the team taking charge and helping the disc move along.’
There were many standout players throughout the regional tournament and the season, but Wishingrad and senior Kristen Boles deserve particular recognition for their outstanding work on the field, Miles said.
‘Laura throwing controlled our offense,’ Miles said. ‘She is able to throw deep, and consistently breaks the mark. Without her throws we would not have won at all. Kristen is just extremely athletic and would always out-jump girls to catch the disc. She was amazing on defense.’
After the losses to UC Santa Barbara and UCLA, beating the University of Colorado was the last chance for the Psychos to make it to nationals.
The University of Colorado started off the game with a better hold on the Frisbee and took a 3-0 lead. Unlike the UCLA game, the quick deficit did not stop UCSD, as the Psychos turned things around after a halftime break to score six straight points to bring the score to 8-5 at the half. In the second half, the teams came out fighting and ended up in a 10-10 tie with the game winding down.
The Psychos pushed the Frisbee against the wind to get within 20 yards of the end zone. Wishingrad had possession and made a long throw out to the back left corner of the end zone to Miles, who was blocked by two opponents. Miles made a high jump and grabbed the Frisbee in the end zone to score the game-winning goal and send the Psychos to the nationals.
‘Only three girls on the team this year have been to college nationals, so it will be a new and exciting experience for the team,’ senior Goldy Thach said. ‘We may not have a lot of depth, but we have a lot of heart. We have been underestimated all season and it’s time for us to show the college ultimate community that UCSD is still a strong program with a lot of potential.’
