GRANBY – Louis Douville Beaudoin secured the disc with both hands and tapped two feet in the end zone, securing an Amherst Invitational title and fulfilling long-held dreams.

It was the Amherst Regional senior’s sixth goal of the Open Division I championship game against Pennsbury on Sunday at the MacDuffie School, a 14-8 Hurricanes triumph. Amherst captured the title for the third consecutive tournament, but it was the first played since 2019.

“It was incredible. Going into this game uncertain about how it would go and then coming out of it having played the best Frisbee we’ve played and to score like that and know that’s game, it’s a crazy feeling that this team really earned,” Douville Beaudoin said.

Douville Beaudoin raised both arms in the air as Geir Hartl, who passed it to him, wrapped him in a hug. That tally ended the game since it had reached the 90-minute time cap. The rest of the Hurricanes gathered around them from the field and sidelines.

“We all grew up watching this tournament. In middle school we all were watching these guys wishing to be them one day,” Amherst junior Tyler Feeney said. “Now we’re here. We are them. That means a lot to us.”

Final: Amherst 14, pennsbury 8. Time cap hit and Louis Douville Beaudoin finishes it. Canes win 3rd @AmherstInvite22 in a row pic.twitter.com/BumZsQSYkQ

— Kyle Grabowski (@kylegrbwsk) May 8, 2022

Feeney scored Amherst’s first three goals to give the Hurricanes an early 3-1 cushion. 

“In the past games we would get scored on those first two points. Getting those first few for our team really set the energy and brought our energy higher,” he said.

Amherst went back and forth with Pennsbury (Bucks County, Pa.), never leading by more than two until the Falcons tied the game at 6. Douville Beaudoin scored four goals in a row for Amherst during that stretch, including the go-ahead one to make it 7-6. He then passed the Hurricanes’ next score to Griffin Connor to send the game to halftime 8-6 Amherst.

“Louis is our best player, and I think he understands a certain amount the impact he can have on a game,” Amherst boys coach Joe Costello said. “What I love about his play is he never takes over to anyone else’s detriment. He plays team together ultimate, and it just so happens he makes amazing plays when he has the opportunity.”

Amherst scored the first point of the second half after Hartl found Peter Carlson-Belanger for a 9-6 lead, the Hurricanes’ biggest of the game. A diving defensive stop by Galen Harwood set Amherst up in strong field position to convert.

Pennsbury responded with a leaping one-handed goal to get within 9-7, but Amherst scored five of the game’s final six points to pull away.

“It was us maintaining what we do. We did it the best that we’ve done all weekend (Sunday) and in that final game just kept the energy consistent,” Costello said. “That’s always going to mean good things for us.”

The victory avenged the Hurricanes’ only loss of the tournament Saturday in pool play.

“That meant a lot to us. Them beating us (Saturday) pushed us to do better (Sunday),” Feeney said. “We gave it our all (Sunday), and that really helped us out.”

Amherst’s junior varsity A team defeated Northampton in the DIvision I seventh place game. The Blue Devils took eighth. In Division 2, Amherst Middle School took sixth place while PVCICS and the Amherst JV B team both tied for seventh.

Amherst girls drop uphill battle

The Amherst Regional girls ultimate team faced an uphill battle and the wind for most of the girls division championship game against Lexington on Sunday. 

Senior Becky Marshall scored two of the game’s first three points to put the Hurricanes ahead 2-1, then Amherst’s pull (throwing the disc to change possession over) landed close to its own end zone due to the vicious wind.

The Fooligans capitalized on the short field to knot the game at 2 then registered the next three points to take a 4-2 lead.

Amherst responded when Tae Weiss hauled in a pass to cut it to 4-3, but that was the Hurricanes’ last tally. Lexington scored the final seven points to close the tournament with an 11-3 victory.

Northampton took third after a third-place game victory over Columbia (NJ).

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>