Brewers vs National
Emotions high as National advance to final
The title says it all! A good and intense battle was in store as the National looked to take advantage of their quick strike offence as the Brewers countered with their tough, stingy defence. The key for both teams would’ve been to stay away from the sin bin, a.k.a the penalty box but let’s just say that the refs certainly had their hands full in this contest. Game 1 favored the Brewers, who took an early 3rd period lead and managed to hang on for a 3-2 win, with both keepers facing a healthy amount of shots. This result sent captain M.Pinheiro and his National teammates back to the drawing board as they had 1 hour to figure things out in a win or go home game. Game 2 was a different story, where the National converted a 4-1 first period lead into a 6-2 rout, outshooting, outrunning & outchancing the Brewers to force the dreaded mini-game. Game 3 began slowly and then as he’s done so often, M.Pinheiro opened the scoring at the 6 minute mark, and 37 seconds later G.Pierre doubled their lead in what stood as the series winning goal for National, who will once again play for the high honors in the Masters division. This series didn’t disappoint and credit captains M.Pinheiro (National) & A.Lanni (Brewers) for putting together competitive teams and making it this far.
Pylons vs Templars
Tightly contested series favors the Pylons
The expectations were high for this one, as we expected to see up tempo hockey, combined with fast transitions, with lots of pinching from the D to support the rush. With both these teams having strengths throughout their respective line-ups, it’s no surprise that it was meant to go the distance. As an example, game 1 went to the Templars by a 5-4 margin and incredibly enough 9 different goal scorers found the twine! Maybe, the Pylons were rusty or got a little complacent, having had a bye week, but captain S.Sicuso needed to make some adjustments and remind his players of what was at stake. Game 2 turned out to be another tight affair. Templars finished period 1 with a 3-2 lead. By the 3rd period Templars looked to be on their way to the finals, but with 13.3 seconds on the clock, JM Loiseau tallied to level the match, sending his team to the shootout, where both he and A.Bergomi scored, extending the series. The playoffs are a time when heros are born or come to the forefront and in game 3, as he’s done all season, A.Fonrose seized the moment and came up huge for his teammates as he managed to bag both goals for the series clinching 2-1 victory. Credit S.Fabrici of the Templars for putting together a team of crafty veterans that competed hard and fought to the end as well as the Pylons for continuing their season in what promises to be an exciting and intriguing match-up.
The Salumi Player of the night goes to A. Fonrose of the Pylons.
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