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There is a big smile on Dan Sigal's face this week. He and the eight other seniors of the Men's Ultimate Frisbee team, Drew Blood, will be leading their squad to the team's first Metro East Regionals since 1995.

The team finally qualified for Regionals this past weekend after four years of steady growth as a team.

"When I was a freshman, I told our captain my goal was to make regionals by the time I graduated, and he laughed. But we built a family here, we gave it our all and we've finally made it," Sigal said.

"Drew couldn't even field a team for the playoffs in 2001, so for us to qualify for Regionals in 2005 is a tremendous achievement," senior Dave Seidman said.

In 2001, Drew was one of the worst teams in their section. Now, Drew Blood has proven that they are at least second best. This past weekend Rutgers University played host to the Metro New York Sectionals in the first round of playoffs for the Ultimate Players Association North American Collegiate Championships.

Drew entered as the number one seed against 13 other teams from New York and New Jersey. Pool play on Saturday set Drew up against The College of New Jersey and Cooper Union, who it easily handled 15-3 and 15-4.

"Our goal was basically not to get injured in those games. The ground was really parched and there wasn't much grass on the field. Our guys have the scrapes and bruises to prove it," sophomore captain Karl Laufenberg said.

Drew's last game Saturday night matched Blood up with Princeton University, the team that eliminated Drew from sectionals the past two years.

Though Drew's defense lapsed long enough for Princeton to make things interesting, Drew did not let them score in the second half. Drew won 11-5.

An undefeated first day and a number one seed were supposed to give Drew an easy quarterfinals match-up Sunday morning, but the team quickly found out that wasn't the case against Fordham University.

Fordham scored the first point of the game, putting Drew in the hole for the first time all weekend. There was little wind, leaving Fordham free to throw discs over the top of Drew's zone defense. A scrappy contest all the way, the game became a callfest before Drew eventually settled down for a 14-9 victory.

The semifinals pitted Drew against Columbia University, last years sectionals champion. Drew was up at the half 9-6 and looked poised to run away with win, but Columbia's all-star John Baldwin played shut down defense on Drew's handlers, forcing several turnovers.

Columbia went on a big run to take the lead, but Drew found a way to claw back to 14-14 in a game to 15.

Drew had possession to begin the double game point. As the Drew handlers swung the disc back and forth, it looked like Columbia might get the layout D several times, but senior Dave Seidman eventually got the disc on the sideline.

Seeing senior Scott Lewis streaking deep, Seidman lofted up a big forehand. Lewis jumped up and grabbed it in the endzone, winning the game 15-14.

The physically and emotionally exhausting two and a half hour game left Drew in a weakened state for the finals against No. 2 seed Rutgers.

Though Drew took the lead early, it was clear that they simply did not have the legs to run with Rutgers who had much easier games Sunday morning.

Rutgers took the game handily, but Drew's second place finish was still good enough to qualify for the next level of competition. Columbia took the section's third bid to Regionals, which will be held May 7 and 8 at Princeton University.

Metro East Regionals features the top 16 teams from Ontario to Washington D.C., where Drew, 20-10 overall, figures to be a middle seed. The top two teams out of Regionals will qualify for Nationals in Oregon.

Congratulations and well-wishings have swarmed the team from many alums from across the country who were excited to see the team finally live up to its potential.

"It's been great to hear from former coaches and teammates, and even alums who we haven't seen in a long time. It's nice to know they're still following our progress," senior Dan Patisteas said.

But despite all of the celebration, the team knows they aren't done yet. Regionals will be an even tougher test.

"We're going to prove we belong with those teams. We still have a lot of work to do, but we know we can play at a Regionals level," Sigal said.

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