Bye
Weekend Star: N/A
The Stags have relied all season on having the top players in the West. Note: they are the only team without a conflicting AUDL team in the same city. For weeks the Stags have been locked as the #1 seed and have had the chance to grow the team from top to bottom. Even though the Stags are playing the Nighthawks for their final game, it will be very indicative on how they have developed.
#1 Portland Stags: 8-1
Last Week: #1 Change: +0
#2 Boston Whitecaps: 6-3
Last Week: #2 Change: +0
Defeated New York Rumble 25-12
Weekend Star: Jack Hatchett
(2 goals, 2 assists, 3 blocks)
Boston is streaking. Since starting the season on an 0-2 two game weekend the team has gone 6-1, their lone loss being a double OT loss to the Spinners. When the Rumble came to town, the Whitecaps looked like a team that wants to win another championship. While there have been other blowouts this season, I believe this was the most dominating, with Boston winning every quarter. This game also gave MVP-candidate, Jeff Graham, another chance to nurse his injured leg. All the pieces have come together for the Whitecaps and this week is sure to be a preview of the Eastern Conference Championship.
#3 Philadelphia Spinners: 6-3
Last Week: #4 Change: +1
Defeated DC Current 17-14
Weekend Star: Nick Hirannet
(3 goals, 1 assist, 0 blocks)
The Spinners have finally broken through the wall created by the Current and the Whitecaps. This matchup, Philadelphia probably faced their toughest test of the season. The squad went down 0-3 to start the game, all of D.C.'s scores being on breaks. Continuing to battle, the Spinners finally broke through by scoring 5 straight goals in a row, allowing them to take the lead for good. After the initial turns, the Spinners cleaned it up and rallied behind each other in order to make the comeback. This win marked the first playoff berth for the Spinners in MLU history.
#4 D.C. Current: 4-5
Last Week: #3 Change:-1
Lost to Philadelphia Spinners 14-17
Weekend Star: Peter Prial
(3 goals, 1 assist, 0 blocks)
This will not be the Current's worse season ever, but it will be the first time that they failed to make the playoffs. There is no question that this team is one of the most talented in the league, but this year it just did not come together. Mainly the culprit was unforced turnovers. The team was not as crisp, not as clean, and not fully on their game. All of this was displayed in this past game. D.C. jumped out to an early lead and looked to be heading to an interesting Week 11 in the East, but when they stopped rolling the Spinners got right back into it. The Current did not control the game when they needed to thus resulting in a Philly victory.
#5 Seattle Rainmakers: 5-4
Last Week: #5 Change: +0
Weekend Star: Mark Burton
(4 goals, 7 assists, 0 blocks)
This is the high flying Rainmaker offense that I was anticipating all season. The top line of Seattle can go head-to-head with any other line in the league and have fun while doing it. Their 29 points scored this game is a season-high in the MLU (17 of those scored by the top 6 players of Seattle). The difference though is the mistakes. With a fairly fresh roster, turnovers had been the biggest issue all season. Week 10 they only had one drop, the only team to do so. This win put Seattle back into the playoffs for the first time since 2013 when they went 8-2 on the year. Only three current players (Danny Trytiak, Ben Beehner, and Mark Burton) were on that 2013 roster.
#6 Vancouver Nighthawks: 2-6
Last Week: #8 Change: +2
Defeated San Francisco Dogfish 21-13
Weekend Star: Morgan Hibbert
(3 goals, 3 assists, 2 blocks)
This has not been the season that the Nighthawks were hoping for, or even expected, by a long shot. However, their game on Saturday against the Dogfish has to be the most impressive performance by a team all season long. Down to only 17 men on at a home game, Vancouver dominated against a team that was playing to get into the postseason. In the second quarter, four straight breaks pulled the Nighthawks away and were led by David Hochhalter who recorded five blocks in the game. He was one of four players to play 20 points or more in the game (Hibbert, Nitikman, and Nadon were the others).
#7 San Francisco Dogfish: 3-7
Last Week: #6 Change: -1
Lost to Seattle Rainmakers 29-21
Weekend Star: Nick Thompson
(8 goals, 1 assist, 1 block)
The Dogfish were the third team to play two games in one weekend and they went 0-2 like the other teams. Throughout the two games, San Francisco never put themselves in a good position to win. They looked like team that was depleted and lacked an attention to detail. In their game against the Nighthawks, they looked like the team that was missing eight players. However this is a fairly new looking team, they need to accentuate their strengths and find some missing pieces to put it all together. All season Rookie of the Year, Gabe Saunkeah, has led this team and continued to do so until the final whistle blew.
#8 New York Rumble: 2-7
Last Week: #7 Change: -1
Lost to Boston Whitecaps 12-25
Weekend Star: David Vukovich
(1 goal, 2 assists, 0 blocks)
Things were trending in the right direction over the previous two weeks for the Rumble. Key emphasis on the word 'were'. Things were tough for New York in Boston, a place that they have yet to win at. The team does not have a player that dictates the flow of the disc on the field, commanding the disc. Instead wide swings and throws, allowed the Whitecaps to attack. Compounded with the wind, there was no chance for New York. If they do not win next week, they will have tied their final record from last year.