AMHERST – As dark clouds rolled over the fields behind McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the Amherst Regional and Four Rivers Charter School girls ultimate varsity teams put on a show during the Girls Division 1 championship at the 2025 Amherst Ultimate Invitational. Tied 8-8 after regulation, both teams traded possessions for at least 20 minutes in sudden-death overtime, before the Hurricanes finally broke through and found the end zone to win 9-8 and punch their ticket to the National Invitational Tournament.

“That last point was one of the longest points I’ve ever been a part of,” Amherst head coach Dan Kaplan said. “So many turns and it was that long because there were so many great plays from both sides. Nobody wanted to lose, everybody wanted to play hard and the level of play never went down. I saw some of my players, it looked like they could barely walk and they were gutting it out and trying to stay big. That could’ve gone either way.”

Hurricanes’ Aria Haupt (goal, assist) set up the winning score for her team by causing a turnover and knocking down a Four Rivers throw at about the midway point of the field. Amherst methodically moved up field thereafter, before Myla Peltier (two goals) caught a short pass in the end zone to secure Amherst the title – the first for Kaplan as head coach of the ‘Canes.

“I’ve only coached for four years and we’ve been going all the way, we’ve made the semis every year,” Kaplan said. “But this is the first time we won. My kids have gone to school here. My daughter won this tournament back in 2014, my son won this tournament in 2016, 2017... so I know so many of the people here and respect all the things they’ve done. I’m a little in disbelief, to tell you the truth. Also, we’ve been working really hard the last four years to bring these kids back from a pandemic that was just really devastating to all sports, but girls sports in general. We only had about 19 kids come out for the program in 2022, so in four years we’ve been building it back, now we have about 40 kids coming out every year, two full teams.

“This crew, these guys know how to play ultimate,” Kaplan added. “They’re really good players. It’s gratifying. It’s gratifying to win, but it’s gratifying to see them battling.”

Isla Cusick led all Amherst players in points with four assists, while Felix Goeckel caught three goals to pace the ‘Canes.

The Amherst Invitational is the longest-running annual ultimate tournament in the country and this year’s tournament field featured teams from as far south as New Jersey, as far north as Maine and as far west as Pennsylvania.

Sunday’s victory was another classic between two programs who are very familiar with each other. Four Rivers beat Amherst, 8-6, earlier this season on April 8 and regularly square off with one another throughout the course of the season.

“Those teams have played against each other so many times a year, for year after year, lots of respect for both sides,” Kaplan said. “It was just a battle. I described it as a cage-match at some point, that’s what it felt like. It was going back and forth.”

Due to an anticipated even matchup on Sunday, Kaplan mentioned he used 13 of his 14 players in the championship and while he credited nearly his entire team after the win, he highlighted five players who he thought stepped up the most in the finals.

“Seniors Addie Mager, [Cusick] and [Goeckel], those three are just rock solid, in great shape, they could just run all day,” Kaplan said. “Then we have juniors Willa Hudson and [Haupt], who are just really comfortable with the disc, making really hard throws with a lot of pressure and very few turnovers. From there, we have a revolving group of people who are supporting that five, but also integrating in, a lot more on defense will come.”

Mager mustered three assists while Violet Berube (two goals) capped off the ‘Canes top-six scorers in the championship bout.

Amherst will have about a month to prepare for nationals, which is being held in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania on June 13-14. This year marks the first time the national tournament will be played in the Northeast.

Before then, the Hurricanes’ slate will be highlighted by another appearance in a prestigious tournament in Western Massachusetts, this one the Pioneer Valley Invitational. That tournament will take place at the Oxbow Marina in Northampton May 17-18.