MD United 27 vs Hero's Green 27 Hero's Green -6 Hero's has played well in this matchup in the past, and I'm not sure anything has changed to effect that. Could be close in first half before Hero's pulls away.
Score: Hero's Green 9-7 Fairly competitive match, sloppy at times. Should build momentum for MDU.
CCLax 27 vs Hero's White 27 Hero's White -7 We need to see if CCLax can bounce back. Hero's really can't afford to go 0-2 at this point and this is a must win game.
Score: Hero's White 11-0 Huge win for HW, seems they controlled this game. CCLax now has to wonder if it will win a game in A.
Cavalier 27 vs Stars Light Blue 27 Cavalier -3 This may shock a few people, I just got a feeling Cavs take this game. Another NoVa matchup here.
Score: Stars 7-5 Hard to say if both teams are solid or both teams not good but we know they are pretty even.
TLC Red 27 vs LBC 27 LBC -13 May be a bit high but I expect LBC to come out hard and not let up, and TLC has shown us nothing so far, I'm just expecting a big gap here.
Score: LBC 11-7 Either TLC is much better than we thought, or LBC is struggling. Either way, TLC earned my respect with this score.
NEMS 27 vs Skywalkers Blue 27 NEMS -11 NEMS will want to move on from last week and they get a great team to take out frustrations. Skywalkers can make a statement just keeping this thing from getting away. Score: NEMS 11-7 Another game I went way too high on the favorite. There is a trend now where there isn't that separation from bottom teams to top teams. I'd love to hear how this game flowed.
M&D Black 27 vs Coppermine Black 27 M&D -9 I saw the summer matchup and it was ugly. We will see how much fight Coppermine has. M&D averaging 22 pts a game is tough for them.
Score: M&D 13-3 M&D is just in its own category right now. Coppermine can bounce back but it won't be such a cakewalk as I thought against SW or TLC.
BLC Blue 27 vs Pride Red 27 BLC -3 If Pride won, I wouldn't fall out of my chair. Both teams I feel continue to get a bit underrated. BLC should pull out in the end. A Pride win puts them squarely into playoff scenario.
Score: BLC 7-6 Another tight game BLC manages to win. They seem to force others to play their game. Not a huge loss for Pride here, they still can make playoffs.
No major takeaways other than CClax is in over its head at moment while Skywalkers seems to have improved measurably.
I watched the 2nd half of the SW game. They are much improved. They have 3 or 4 players who can play with anyone. (I assume these players are new because I don't remember playing against them). If they can build around this core they will be very good in a year or two. Not sure I can see them winning many games until their defense improves or they get depth, but I don't see them getting blown out every week like last year.
NEMS has taken a step backwards for sure unless they were missing a lot of players. There is a pretty big gap now between them and MDU,Pride/BLC
I watched both the TLC / LBC and SW / NEMS games.
TLC has some very solid field players and both goalies are good as well. Seem to be well coached and will continue to improve, probably a year away but heading in right direction. LBC looked very beatable and their goalie took a ton of shots.
The SW / NEMS game was fun (both with full rosters), especially in the second half.
Both teams have good Middies / Attackers, NEMS has a very good top 3 players but their D is their Achilles heal.
SW needs help on D, probably had 10-12 unforced turnovers on clears alone, just bad passes that went out of bounds or into traffic. You can't give the ball back that many times and expect to win. Also, they get burned on backdoor cuts a lot.
If SWB can add 4-5 players this summer and move some pieces around, they will be in a very good place.
Great Summary. I imagine if you combine SWB and TLC, you would have a top 6 team. (which will likely happen on its own over the next 2 summers).
If I am a top player from NEMS, TLC, Coppermine or bottom of A roster from BLC, M&D or Heroes, I am looking hard at SWB.
The program has a history of recruiting excellence, get in now before its too late.
Wild card will be Coppermine and if the Hopkins coach is really taking over to lead their recruiting next year.
