The Northern Bites played a nearly flawless first half against B-Human, starting half time with only one goal scored against us. The field was packed with spectators who were crowding the bleachers and standing on tables. B-Human, the favorites to win the match, had scored at least 7 points in every match during the tournament. To combat this legendary opponent, we pulled out some ballzy, never before seen or game-tested dribbling code which wowed onlookers.
The audience packed the stands
In the second half, this gamble went awry, resulting in some technical difficulties with our robots. Our goalie, which made some amazing saves in the first half overheated under the battery of shots in the second half, and fell limp to the ground, letting in four goals. The final score was 0-5 for B-Human. This was the lowest scoring match B-Human played, which prior to the finals scored between 7 and 11 goals in each of their matches.
Team picture with B-Human
More pictures and stats after the break:
Arriving in Graz, we had never scored in a regulation match with the Naos. In every game, our team improved significantly, and it became clear early on that we were one of the top teams in the league. At the end of pool play, we were one of only two teams who had never been scored on. By the end of the tournament, we were the second leading goal scorer with 15 goals. B-Human had 64. The 3rd and 4th place teams, the Nao Devils and UT Austin each scored 7 goals.
Over and over in this tournament we have been impressed by the great sportsmanship of all the teams in our league. In our semi-final match, the Nao Devils offered to call a time out for us when our robots appear to be malfunctioning. After the final, the B-Human students shared their stash of german beer with us, and we replayed the match substituting humans for robots. Unfortunately, we lost that match as well, 4-1.
Bowdoin '09 alumni were in attendence
Human nao soccer team from Aldebaran
Spectators packed every side of the field
Congratulations! Your team has been amazing in every round. I only wish I could have seen it in person. Nancy – Bowdoin parent
A tremendous achievement! Enjoy it.
Way to Go!!! Take time to enjoy this amazing achievement.
Tucker’s Mom
Congratulations to the NBites!! What an amazing run to roll to the finals. Everyone on Orr’s Island (where we are at the moment) salutes you!
Rachelle and Stu Work, parents of Henry
congrats to you all :) having to learn the new platform and still coming out (just about) on top is really impressive.
ferd
(hopefully this will get posted, as all my other messages seem to have failed as of late!)
Congratulations, guys!! Super proud of ya. Safe travels home/abroad.
Congradulations to the Northern Bites Team. Your team made the final a very exciting and stunning match, especially in the first half.
It would have been a big loss not to have had this final since you were the only team that was able to keep B-Human down to one goal in a halftime.
Jeff’s (B-Human) dad (at the venue).
Thanks for all the supportive comments. The camera with the HD footage of both the final and the semi-finals is somewhere in transit between Graz and our Lab. Rest assured it will be posted as soon as possible.
Thanks again for all your support!
-Joho
Congrats to the super awesome Northern Bites team! What a huge improvement over the last few months. It would be great to see clips of the “ballzy, never before seen” dribbling moves you displayed during the final match.
On a side note, I imagine, the switch to Naos must make it a lot easier to do bicycle kicks now! Wouldn’t that be something?
Joe (’07)
Nice work folks! You’ll have to figure out how to score some goals on this side of the Atlantic.
Another congratulations from Orr’s Island. I love reading about your successes!
A very belated congratulations. That is a wonderful accomplishment that I am sure the participants still reminisce about to this day.