The Wayland Ultimate Frisbee team, known as “the Sports” and feared by all, fell to the Lincoln-Sudbury Taco Wagon last Wednesday, 15-7. Greatly outnumbered, ten Waylanders battled the massive LS team, which was made up of an estimated thirty trained and dedicated Ultimate players.

The match is already being compared to the Battle of Thermopylae, the famous tale in which several hundred Spartans faced a Persian horde of over a million, and yet still managed to test their enemy and stay in the fight.

On that cold and blustery day, the Wayland team fought with bravery and courage, not once backing down to the enemy or the elements. With only three subs to rely on in the numbing conditions, Wayland lacked a constant supply of ready bodies, so each individual on the team was forced to push himself in order to keep the team in the match.

The LS team, with their never-ending supply of fresh players, continued to cycle out its weary ones, much to the dismay of the aching and exhausted Waylanders. Under the leadership of an intense coach who called out plays and constantly made lineup adjustments, they presented themselves as an organized and experienced team. However, without the wisdom of Coach Daniels or Hopps, Wayland was forced to improvise and formulate strategy on the go.

Early on during the match, captain BT told the team, “Guys, let’s get a point.” Such was the attitude of the team and the expectation of the outcome. When LS led 4 to 1 just minutes into the match, it seemed Wayland was indeed doomed to return home early.

But then something happened. Senior Steve Byrns recalls, “Suddenly, I felt a change—an inspiration. Dave [Westbom] had just lost both his shoes, but he never stopped to put them back on. When I saw him continue to play in socks for the rest of the game, I thought to myself, ‘We can play with these guys!’”

From that point on, Wayland fought with energy and heart, holding the Taco Wagon off for some time before they were finally bested. Byrns leaped and dived for the disc throughout the match and served as a major contributor to the points scored by the team. He eventually was forced to sub out with a finger injury towards the end of the game.

Westbom continued to play shoeless, emerging with blood and mud stained socks by the end of the match, proof of the toll the battle took on the players.

When the score reached 14-6, Wayland knew the end was near. Tired and wounded, the last Spartans must have felt the same way as the Persian army came closer and closer to victory. But the Wayland Warriors would not go down without a fight.

“We held them off forever,” remembers senior Rob Shapiro. “Without BT’s endless supply of Goldfish, I’m not sure if we would have had enough energy to play for such an extensive period of time.”

Indeed, BT’s food supply served as a major source of nutrition, but it also “gave the team hope, Goldfish being so bright and smiley,” recalls senior Vincenzo Vitiello.

Eventually, LS scored a fifteenth point, ending the game. Wayland returned home defeated but not downhearted. The fact that Wayland fought with such force showed the steadfast determination and insurmountable courage of the team, and provided hope and optimism for games to come. Had the Spartans made it home alive, they surely would have felt the same way, but unlike the Waylanders, they would not live to see another battle.