It was a beautiful, sunny St. Patrick’s Day  as six teams faced off during the first ShamROC tournament in Rochester, NY this Saturday, March 17th. Hosts the University of Rochester Thestrals (Rochester, NY) were ultimately victorious, beating the Rochester Institute of Technology Dark Marks (Rochester, NY), Aquinas Quidditch (Rochester, NY), WEQL Griffins (Allegany, NY), the University of Vermont (Burlington, VT), and a mercenary team comprised of players from SUNY Fredonia (Fredonia, NY), NYU (New York, NY), and Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) who chose to assume the name Hipster Horcruxes.

The University of Rochester’s Fauver Stadium was transformed for the tournament , with three quidditch pitches and food and merchandise tents filling the grounds. Parents and fans watched with excitement from the bleachers as the tournament got underway, with plenty of St. Patrick’s Day cheer to be seen with players donning bright green tournament shirts and snitches decked out in their leprechaun-themed finest.

Morning pool play saw each team play three games. After an afternoon break, bracket play began with UVM vs. AQ, and the mercenary Hipster Horcruxes playing the WEQL Griffins.  The RIT Dark Marks and the U of R Thestrals both won their pools and received a first round bye, while both high schools teams (AQ and the WEQL Griffins) were unable to advance past the quarter finals. In the semifinals the Dark Marks triumphed over the mercenary Hipster Horcruxes team, despite the latter adding players from the eliminated HS teams for the match, and the Thestrals beat third seed UVM for a second time during the tournament.

The championship match pitted host-town rivals the RIT Dark Marks and the U of R Thestrals. The Dark Marks, who placed second in the Division II championships at the 5th World Cup, had a deep pool and played a tough game, but were ultimately unable to over come the  strong scoring drives of the nationally ranked Thestrals.  At the end of the day the University of Rochester claimed the coveted leprechaun trophy, 110 to 50.

Pool Play Results

Hipster Horcruxes (win) vs. AQ (150-50)

Hipster Horcruxes vs. RIT(win) (50-100)

Hipster Horcruxes vs. Thestrals(win) (40-90)

UVM vs. Thestrals(win) (60-110)

UVM(win) vs. WEQL (190-40)

UVM(win) vs. RIT (60-40)

AQ vs. Thestrals(win) (50-210)

AQ vs. WEQL(win) (130-150)

RIT(win) vs. WEQL (130-10)

Bracket Play:

First round bye:

U of R Thestrals (1st seed)

RIT Dark Marks (2nd seed)

Quarterfinals

UVM(win) vs. AQ (120-60)

Hipster Horcruxes(win) vs WEQL (160-40)

Semifinals

UVM vs. Thestrals(win) (60-140)

Hipster Horcruxes vs. RIT(win) (20-90)

Finals

RIT vs. Thestrals(win) (110-50)

Gallery:

(All photos credited to the University of Rochester Thestrals, from their Facebook page)