After the first half of the seedings games left just about everyone still mathematically eligible for the "A" playoff bracket, week 4 finally gave us a bit of separation, and a glimpse of some possible playoff matchups.  Here are some of the highlights from Week 4:

GAME 1-The Team 3 Cannons jumped out to the early lead on a Chuck Stephenson goal, and were up 4-3 at the half thanks in large part to Drake Norup's 2 first half goals. Norup completed his hat trick and Michael Beisheim added 2 goals part way through the 2nd half to give the Cannons a 7-3 lead over team 1 Outlaws, and it looked like this one might be over.  But the Outlaws D tightened up, and Michael Cerone put the team on his back.  Two goals by Cerone, including a sweet toe drag dodge and goal, gave the Outlaws some hope.  A Ryan Zaky off-hand top-corner rip made it 7-6 with the clock ticking down.  Michael Cerone completed the comeback with under a minute to go to notch his 4th goal of the game, 3rd in the 2nd half alone, and the game ended in a 7-7 tie.  Excellent goaltending on both sides in this one throughout.  I said to someone before the game "One of these teams will come away with their first win".   I was proven wrong, but this was probably the most fun game of the day to watch. 

GAME 2-This game was 7-2 at the half in favor of the Team 2 Bayhawks, and they were in cruise control most of the way.  Team 4 Lizards couldnt find their usual stride on O, and didnt seem to have an answer on D, as 8 different  Bayhawks scored goals en route to a 12-6 victory, including a hat trick from Skyler Anderson.  One highlight for the Lizards was a 4th consecutive hat trick for Austin Miller (can anyone shut him down?).  With the win, the Bayhawks establish themselves in sole possession of first place and as the only undefeated team left.

GAME 3-Team 7 Nationals have surged to 2nd place in the standings with 3 straight wins after dropping their first game.  5 different players scored, and Alex Lopez and Cole Baur led all scorers with 2 goals apiece.  Team 5 Rattlers played tough, but was hard pressed throughout with a number of players out with injury for Sundays game.  They put up a fight, but this game was all Nationals, ending with a 7-2 score.

GAME 4-The score may not reflect it, but both refs commented on the intensity of this game after it was finished.  Team 8 Machine won 8-0 over the Team 6 Hounds, but the game intensity made it seem much closer than the final score even in the final minutes.  The number of offensive scoring opportunities in this game was fairly even, thanks to a number of faceoff wins from Sam Isola, but the Hounds just couldnt capitalize on the offensive side, and gave up a number of forced and unforced turnovers.  This put a lot of pressure on the Hounds D, who played one of their best games of the season so far.  But the extra time of possession, combined with the  Machine's balanced attack on Offense, was too much.  4 different players from the Machine chipped in 2 goals apiece, and Luke Miller was stellar in the goal. 

Looking forward to weeks 5 & 6 and the final playoff positioning!