On a chilly Sunday morning in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the team of 22 gathered in a circle with their arms around each other after scoring their eighth point against St. John’s College and yelled, “I love my teammates!”
Stall 11, the American University’s club men’s ultimate frisbee team, traveled from D.C. to West Chester to compete in the Steakfest tournament. On the first day, the team sized up the competition, winning their first game, but losing the second and third. On the second day, the players showed up with bright spirits, ready to play teams that were “a little closer to their skill level,” according to Stall 11 coach Katie Loscalzo.
The close-knit team shared a meal after their first day of back-to-back games. “Yeah, we did some bonding last night,” co-captain and senior, Dru Dunn said. “The Stall 11 unlimited pasta and haikus really propelled us.” At their Olive Garden dinner, each player wrote a haiku about a teammate and took turns reading them aloud before guessing who they described.
The club team, which has a total of 70 members, rallied 48 players to carpool to West Chester for the weekend. They split into nine hotel rooms, with five to six players in each. As per tradition, the rookies slept on the floor. The group was split into two arbitrary teams, so all members could get equal playing time. According to co-captain and senior, David Joubran, fall is their rookie season, where the new players hone their skills. In the spring, their competitive season, they separate the team into varsity and junior varsity.
The game began with a frisbee flip, ultimate’s version of a coin toss. Dunn flipped triumphantly against St. John’s College, and the seven starting players lined up for the first throw. Dressed in white jerseys adorned with blue and red stars, the players clapped twice and raised their arms, signaling their readiness to start. Dunn threw the disc to St. John’s, and the game was on.
Ten minutes in, St. John’s scored a quick 5 points in a game to 13. The boys kept their spirits high and continued cheering. Loscalzo added Joubran to the game after St. John’s competitive start. Rarely did both captains play together, but Dunn and Joubran made the most of it. Together, they quickly tossed the frisbee back and forth up the field, leading to the team’s first point 18 minutes into the game. Chants of “Stall 11!” gained momentum and a new group of players entered the field.
Three more points passed quickly in St. John’s favor. American’s opponents displayed strong defense, preventing many close scores by Stall 11 members. But after the halftime break, the Eagles regained their rhythm, and the St. John’s players began to tire. “I just had to take away every possible throw he had,” said Joubran on his defensive strategy. “I was marking him a lot throughout the game, so I was trying to understand his throws more.”
The score was 8-11 in St. John’s favor as the game was nearing its conclusion. Stall 11 scored three points in 10 minutes, pushing against the hard cap time constraint of 105 minutes. Joubran gripped the frisbee, standing just a foot away from the scoring line, when St. John’s called a timeout, eating away at American’s precious scoring time. It wasn’t enough to prevent the Eagles from scoring their 11th point, tying the game.
Stall 11 huddled around Loscalzo as she hyped up the players and gave instructions for the universe point play. Each teammate who wasn’t on the field was assigned to coach an active player. Even though only seven players were on the field, all 22 teammates contributed to the tiebreaker.
Tension filled the field as Dunn raised his arm to deliver a strong throw, sending the frisbee toward St. John’s. Both teams sprinted across the 70-yard field, and Stall 11 quickly stole possession after three passes. American moved the frisbee downfield and into the goal zone, but a St. John’s player intercepted a high toss to Joubran, returning possession to St. John’s.
Stall 11 wasn’t disheartened. As St. John’s prepared to pass, three American players dodged around, blocking potential passes and pressuring their opponents into stalling. St. John’s threw long, but the frisbee overreached the field, landing out of bounds. The play was back in Stall 11’s hands.
The initial pass stretched across the field before being caught and passed to mid-field. Skirting St. John’s defense, the frisbee was released, surging towards the goal line, and as Joubran crossed into the goal zone, he caught the winning throw.
Triumphant shouts echoed across the field as Joubran slammed the frisbee down and embraced his teammates, who rushed the field in celebration.
“We actually cannot be more energetic,” said senior Moses Cook-Weitzman during the celebration.
The team was also congratulated by two Olive Garden employees they had befriended the night before and convinced to attend the game. They cheered on Stall 11 with the chants they were taught the night before and joined them on the field after the win. The team gifted the employees an official Stall 11 frisbee. “You’re our lucky charms!” one player joked.
Some players even painted their nails purple in solidarity with freshman Theo Odom’s sister, who has Rett syndrome. “My little sister has a very rare genetic disability called Rett syndrome, which affects one of the X chromosomes. She can’t walk or talk, and she’s not verbal,” Odom said. October is Rett syndrome awareness month. “I’m taking a picture of everyone with their nails and sending them to my sister after the tournament.”
The team immediately proceeded to their next game, motivated by their victory.
“A comeback to 12-11, like, honestly, the boys did amazing,” said freshman Simon Bober, who was among the rookies sleeping on the hotel floor. “Shout out to the whole team, everyone played amazing and I’m lucky to be part of this team. I love it.”
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Emma Brown.
