The Angels might have been a brand new team, but the student athletes on the team claim they certainly did not play like one. 

The Angels Ultimate Frisbee club ended its first season last weekend, and even with the team constructed mostly of players who had little experience in the sport, the member’s teamwork turned a few heads during the team’s meets. 

Madisyn Garner, who played the “hybrid” position and acted as a quarterback as well as a receiver (or “cutter”), said the club’s success is a product of great team chemistry. 

“Most of us had never played (ultimate Frisbee) before and had to learn how to throw a Frisbee correctly,” Garner said.  “That being said, the amount of games we won and how far we got as a team really does show how well we work together.” 

Sihan “SiSi” Pascarella, who was a “cutter” on the team, is proud of the accomplishments of the Angel’s first season. 

“I don’t mean to brag or nothing, but as a first year team, I think these girls did fantastic,” Pascarella said. 

Meredith Spitz, another “cutter” for the team, said she was impressed to find out the club was only in its first year when she joined, especially when competing against more experienced teams. 

“We had multiple teams that had been playing for seven-plus years compliment us on our playing and abilities,” Spitz said. “I think we did great considering it was our first year.” 

Spitz said the men’s Ultimate Frisbee team, the Reapers, helped the Angels learn the basics of Ultimate Frisbee.

  The two teams would sometimes even shout “above and below,” as a form of wordplay to support one another throughout the season. 

 The benefit of the Angels being a club sport is that they were not affected by Illinois budget cuts because the team independently fundraises enough money for any expenses. The team was thankful that it did not have to rely on funding from Eastern, Spitz said. 

“You can’t take away something that wasn’t there to start with,” Spitz said. 

The Pantherpalooza event in the fall was an important benchmark for the club, as it gained several members, including Garner and cutter Peyton Francisco. 

Francisco, who was also new to Ultimate Frisbee when she joined the Angels, said the club’s record for the fall was 12-10, and the spring record was 7-14. 

One of the hardships the team had to endure throughout the season was having only nine players on their roster, a small amount compared to some of the teams they faced. 

Spitz said the team would often have to play “savage,” meaning all of its players were forced to play the entire game without substitutions because they did not have as many players as other teams. 

“When you’re playing four games a day in a two-day tournament, each game last about an hour and twenty minutes, playing savage can be pretty rough,” Spitz said. 

Garner said the members were often underestimated and considered ‘the lowest girls on the totem poll’ because the team did not have as many team players.  

“It was a really great compliment when we would talk to other teams’ coaches and tell them that we were a first-year team and they said they would have never guessed,” Garner said. 

With their season over, the Angels are looking forward to the next season, as they hope to continue to compete as well as gain a few more members along the way. 

“We all hope that next year more girls will come out and we can expand our little family,” Spitz said.

Derrin Coad can be reached at 581-2812 or dkcoad@eiu.edu.