Monday August 19 (Semi finals division 1)

Tight defence key for Punishers path to final

The Punishers embraced the fact that a winning formula is heavily relied on a tight defensive game. In both their wins over Les Unknown, the Punishers were overly aggressive, allowing the defence to pinch in when needed to, which created enough balance up front. Adding to that, N.Mackeen came ready to play as he does every night giving up one sole tally in the second encounter. The Punishers played a smart simple series by sticking to the basics like many good teams do when they reach a certain stage. A.Kobayati and K.Tsoukalas were the lone scorers in the first match. The second game saw A.Laramee and his captain J.Fidrilis provide much of the offense as both players each scored twice. Now that this round is out of the way, the Punishers will have a different challenge ahead of them. Their next opponent put up some nice numbers during the regular season and it won't come easy. The good news is that they are the only team to hand Venom a loss this season.

(2)Punishers vs Les Unknown (0) Game 1

(1)Les Unknown vs Punishers (5) Game 2

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Nikita Mackeen of the Punishers. The net minder couldn't have asked for a better performance. Apart-from one goal, Mackeen was flawless, frustrating Les Unknown on a few occasions.

Round 1   division 2

Excalibur move on after a pair of nail biters

It didn't come easy but the Excalibur found a way twice to edge out a resilient Degenerates team. The first encounter couldn't have been any closer as a shootout was required to determine a winner. With F.Bchara releasing a quick wrist shot to beat F.Baratta, and S.Sauk denying three straight breakaway attempts, the Excalibur gave themselves a big edge heading into game two. Still, plenty of work was ahead of them if they planned on sweeping their opponent. They did do the right thing by always playing with the lead. At one point, F.Bchara provided a three goal margin toward the tail end of the match which appeared to be enough for a guaranteed win. However, that wasn't the case at all as the Degenerates continued to battle hard. In the span of only one minute, they managed to score two goals to pull within one. Unfortunately, despite having one minute for an equaliser, the Degenerates couldn't get there in time. S.Sauk had a stellar series in net, and was a huge reason why his club will advance to the semi finals.

(1)Degenerates vs Excalibur (2) S.O Game 1

(4)Excalibur vs Degenerates (3) Game 2

Four teams are now left over to battle it out in a semi final round. The match ups are as follows:

(1)Dragons vs Excalibur (5) It may sound simple but very hard to do. The Excalibur know that they have to pay attention to S.Robineault and E.Girouard. And even though they apply a strict game plan, the dynamic duo seem to always find a way.

(2)1 Timer vs Fatal Demons (3) Clearly, the 1 Timer have the edge with their overall speed versus an older opponent. However, the Fatal Demons do have a ton of experience, and a smaller surface may play to their advantage, especially if they can grab the lead.

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Fadel Bchara of the Excalibur. After netting the sole shootout marker in the opening contest, F.Bchara duplicated his efforts in game two providing a second game winner to help send his club through to the next round.