Montclair Geese land top 5 at Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Massachusetts

Montclair High School’s Ultimate Frisbee team, the Montclair Geese, showed why it is one of the best teams in the country.

The Geese flew to fifth last weekend out of the 72 teams at the Pioneer Valley Invitational tournament in Northampton, Massachusetts, which included high schools from the United States and Canada. Montclair went 5-1 in the tournament on May 13 and 14. 

After last weekend’s showing, Montclair became the top-ranked high school team in New Jersey. This is the first time that the Geese have received a first-place ranking.

“We did a very good job of staying positive as a team and pushing past any mistakes we made,” Montclair junior Mitchell O’Keefe said. “I think this is something that’s very important in Ultimate. After losing a point or a really rough drop, the key is not blaming your teammates. You just have to move on to the next point. Everyone's going to make mistakes. I think it’s extremely, extremely important that we are a team, not individual players.”

For O'Keefe and the Geese, they believe they could have gone undefeated in Massachusetts with the lone 8-7 loss coming against Brooklyn Tech High School, a team that the Geese had defeated in the past. It was also the first loss in a tournament this season. For O'Keefe he talked about the high standards the team has set this season.

“Fifth place overall was definitely a disappointment,” O’Keefe said. “As a team, we had the potential to win the whole tournament. We are definitely strong enough to make the top three. Our loss was tricky because we know we can beat them and we have beaten them many times before.”

O’Keefe believes the loss happened because of unnecessary lapses, rather than fundamental problems with the team.

“The loss was definitely more along lines of silly mistakes,” O’Keefe said. “There were more drops in that game than any other game we've had this season. There were much fewer problems with the offensive system and/or with the defense. Most of the problems were with the catches.”

The statistics back up O’Keefe’s assessment. Montclair averaged 14 turnovers per game at the Pioneer Valley Invitational. 

Montclair’s best game in the Pioneer Invitational came after its loss. Montclair beat its local rivals, Columbia High School, 6-4.

“Our team does well against other extremely good teams, like Columbia,” O’Keefe said. “When we play them, we play a very good game with very few unforced errors.”

On offense in the tournament, senior Griffin van Rhyn led the team with a stunning 22 assists over the weekend. Montclair scored a total of 52 points across the six games. Van Rhyn made the winning throw for nearly half of Montclair’s points.

Montclair Geese sophomore Caoba Nichim-Luta and senior Eli Fellus were Montclair’s scoring leaders. They each caught six goals. On defense, sophomore Sam McCrory led the way with 12 blocks. 

The Geese are now the 11th-highest-ranked high school team in the nation, according to the recent Ultiworld power rankings.

For Montclair’s work this season, the Geese have received an invitation to compete at the High School National Invite in Salt Lake City on June 16-17.

Montclair is only one of two New Jersey representatives at nationals. Columbia High School has also been invited. Only 16 teams in the country are competing for the national crown. 

The Geese were unlikely candidates to become a dominant force in Ultimate Frisbee. Montclair played its first tournament in 2017. Montclair entered a fully developed league with dozens of teams from across New Jersey. In a few short years, they’ve managed to become one of the most fearsome teams in the state. 

Additionally, the Geese have fewer resources at their disposal than most other teams. Unlike most high school teams, the Geese operate completely independently from their high school. They do not have a coach, they practice in public parks, and they must find their own transportation to tournaments. 

O’Keefe believes this level of independence makes going to the High School National Invite even more special.

“Making nationals is a historic thing for this program,” O’Keefe said. “So many programs try for years and years and never have the opportunity to go to nationals. For a team like ours, that was founded a couple of years ago by some students and has been student-run and student- organized since then, to have already made it to nationals is an absolutely massive achievement.”

Unfortunately, because the Geese are student-run, they had to fund their own plane tickets to Utah next month. The team set up a GoFundMe page for community members to help pay for their plane tickets and accommodations. 

In less than a week, the Frisbee team raised more than $32,000, exceeding their goal by $2,000. 

O’Keefe is grateful for the support the Geese have received. 

“Thank you to everyone,” O’Keefe said. “Everyone in the community really just lifted us up and supported us. It feels really, really good to have already met the goal we set in just one week. It’s really great.”

Even though Montclair’s team is new, they are not afraid to challenge the most established and successful teams.

The next tournament for the Geese is the New Jersey State Championships. The tournament will take place May 27-28 in Westfield, New Jersey. Montclair is looking to win its first championship. 

The Geese are ready for a competitive battle.