Worcester Round 1 Re-cap
#6 Christiana, DK 21 #11 Worcester, MA 18
The six-eleven match-up provided the closest contest of Worcester’s first round play. Freetown Christiana jumped out to an early lead, but Worcester took command of the game in the second half with its intimidating front line. The ’95 New Year’s Run version built a lead and looked to be cruising towards a comfortable victory, but the international favorite, hailing from a barn within a squat in Copenhagen, strung together some stops and scores over the game’s final two minutes, pulling the rug out from under Worcester and moving into the round of 32.
#9 Champaign 95 21 #8 St. Louis 94 17
The eight-nine game gave the region its second-closest result, as Champaign edged the Fox Theatre version by only four votes. This contest was neck and neck throughout, as neither squad built a significant lead. Champaign fell back on its well-loved, Fall ’95, arena-style offensive to hold off the upstart, emotional version from a year previous. Champaign’s win makes Fall Tour ’95 the top performing tour of the first round at 4-1.
#7 Albany 97 23 #10 MSG 18 18
The Albany-MSG match-up dripped with drama, as the two New York versions engaged in a back and forth slugfest featuring multiple lead changes. Surprisingly, MSG had the lead for a large chunk of the game, but the the thick cowfunk of Albany proved too much to handle for the modern, bluesy-bliss-anchored rendition. It takes more than a little peak to bring down a giant of Fall ’97. Albany joins its tour brethren, Auburn Hills and Denver in the next round.
#5 Bozeman, MT 32 #12 MSG 12 9
The mega-version from Bozeman put the stomp down on MSG’s 2012 outing in a game that was never competitive. MSG, a strong version in its own right, was the victim of a tough draw in this one, as Bozeman was a lock for round two from the get go.
#4 Tokyo 00 32 #13 Vegas 18 7
The far-eastern juggernaut clobbered the most recent Halloween version with its exploratory style and Japanese stylings. The hard-hitting, classic-sounding, post-Kasvot rendition tried to put up a fight, but its defense was creatively overmatched by in this lop-sided defeat.
#3 Salem 94 29 #14 AC 13 9
Following the Worcester region’s upper-seeded blowout trend, the famed version from Salem ’94 ran circles around the hugely-underrated outing from Atlantic City ’13. Nobody expected AC to compete with one of ’94’s hallmark Tweezers, as Salem has its eyes set on the regional final and beyond. AC will live to fight another day, and would have had far more success had it headed for the NIT.
#2 Atlanta 00 25 #15 Portland 98 15
Though this result was never in doubt, there were times throughout the contest that Portland creeped up on Lakewood, providing the favored version with a bit more than it bargained for. Perhaps under-seeded, Portland fought valiantly, employing dubbed out rhythms and hip-hop teases in an attempt to pull the upset, but Lakewood never gave up the lead, coasting to a ten vote victory.
#1 Nassau 41 #16 MSG 10 4
Almost every media member had Nassau in their pre-tournament Final Four, and the post-hiatus monster looked every bit the part in annihilating 2010’s MSG offering. Nassau has all the pieces in place, and has the look of a version that will make a deep tournament run. This game was merely its warm-up.
Tournament Trends
Top Tour Performers
Fall ’95: 4-1
Fall ’97 3-1
Summer ’15 3-1
Fall ’94: 3-0
Year Representatives in Round 2
1994: 5
1995: 6
1997: 4
1998: 5
1999: 2
2000: 2
2003: 1
2013: 2
2015: 3
2016: 1
Seasonal Breakdown of Rd. 2
Spring: 3
Summer: 13
Fall: 14
Winter: 2
Venues with Multiple Versions Advancing
Alpine Valley: 2
Lakewood: 2
The first round has concluded! The first half of the second round will be posted within 24 hours in its own post.
