Monday December 18(Semi finals)

Breeze Panareeze suffer double collapse to hands of Punishers

It just didn't matter that the Breeze Panareeze grabbed two sufficient leads in both their games, because in the end, it was the Punishers that prevailed. Up 4-1 early in the second period, the Breeze Panareeze seemed destined to grab a 1-0 series lead. But with a resilient group of guys refusing to call it quits, the Punishers reeled off four straight markers to stun their opponent. The comeback effort was led by four different goal scorers that included the winner by F.Russo. The second game really put the Breeze Panareeze to the test to see how they would respond. And considering how poorly the first game ended, the men in yellow quickly but it behind them with two quick goals. By that point, the question became can they protect it for one more period and avoid another devastating collapse. Unfortunately it was ground hog day all over again. The Punishers did the exact same thing by erupting with five straight tallies to close off the series and put an end to the misery. M.Gagnon had a big game bagging two goals while C.Gingras matched him with a pair as well that included an empty net marker.

(4)Breeze Panareeze vs Punishers (5) Game 1

(5)Punishers vs Breeze Panareeze(2) Game 2

Nightmares endure two bad dreams

With the first game evenly matched, a shootout was needed to see who would come out on top. T.Tsarouhas of the Nightmares and B.Daniele of the Dragons each scored for their respective clubs to prolong the breakaway competition. For whatever reason, the Dragons waited for a fourth round before sending B.Daniele to take another shot at it. And why not since their highly skilled player struck for a second time forcing the Nightmares to score on their last potential chance. G.Lallis was their last hope, and despite his efforts, S.Morante wasn't interested in continuing the merry go round by denying the corner stone defenseman. This proved to be a huge result as the second game tilted more towards the Dragons side. After setting up two teammates, B.Daniele summed up the series with a blistering slap shot-from the neutral zone. The Nightmares had over eight minutes to crawl back into it but found themselves suffocated against a committed group of guys. The Dragons defend better than anyone and tonight they applied their style taking away any sort of time and space-from the Nightmares. S.Morante was once again stellar limiting a potent offense to only one goal on 15 shots.

(4)Nightmares vs Dragons(5) S.O Game 1

(3)Dragons vs Nightmares(1) Game 2

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Biaggo Daniele of the Dragons. If not for his two shootout goals in game one, and three points in the second game, the Dragons may have potentially been spectators for the final.

Both the Punishers and the Dragons carry an ace in the hole for their clubs. The Dragons have B.Daniele who will change a game on a regular basis and the Punishers have that player in C.Gingras. There isn't much of a difference after that as both sides are balanced in every position. Perhaps it may come down to goaltending. So far P.Stamkopoulos has proven a lot for the Punishers while the Dragons know what they are getting in an established S.Morante.