Facing several teams at a preseason tournament Feb. 22, the boys’ Ultimate team stood their ground against a variety of schools, including Edina, Eden Prairie, Hopkins and Great River, placing them 4th overall.

Coach Tyler Berg said he is really happy with the team’s performance thus far, even with the tournament just being in the preseason.

“I think they’ve been doing really well. There was a lot of turnover from last year, so a little bit less experience overall. We’ve been practicing up until this point and I’ve seen a lot of improvement from the first practice up until now and I think that this real game experience really brings it up a level,” Berg said.

According to junior captain Jack Kroells, he sees a lot of room for growth later on in the season.

“I see a lot of potential. We have some good athletes who just don’t know the game yet, and later in the season as we practice outside more they’ll learn and we’ll be a really great team,” Kroells said.

Sophomore Will Dooley said preseason tournaments push the team to become better.

“Overall, I think we have gotten better,” Dooley said. “These preseason tournaments are always good to make sure we remember the standards that we hold ourselves up to, and try to improve on those if we can.”

Berg said he is looking to keep recruiting players throughout the preseason in hopes of developing a larger team by the official season.

“For the season we definitely want to, big picture, keep recruiting and keep bringing in more players so that we can have a JV team consistently. Through having a JV team, it allows them that extra experience to play within themselves, and then lets them develop chemistry that way,” Berg said.

Reflecting on the games played at the tournament, Dooley said he was happy with how he performed.

“I feel like I’ve been doing pretty good, there is definitely a different sort of pressure that comes during a real game that isn’t really present during the practices and so you’re pushed harder in a game,” Dooley said.

Ultimate has free play every Friday from 9:30-10:30 p.m. at Champions Hall.