Intensity is heating up as Playoffs approach.  With two games left before the seedings, teams came in with some energy in Week 5 of Fall Ball.

GAME 1: Rattlers v Nationals.  Rattlers came out smoking, as Chase Madrid scored two goals early.  But the Nationals D tightened up, and their Offense came to life.  Thomas Lopez tied the game at 2, then minutes later assisted Lucas Munro to give the Nationals a 3-2 lead.  Adam Swan added a goal to make it a 4-2 game at the half.  The Nationals carried the momentum into the second half, as Lopez fed Travis Briggs for another goal.  Collin Merwin made it 6-2 and it looked like a runaway was about to happen.  But the Rattlers didnt give up.  The Rattlers D hung tough, and Madrid completed his Hat Trick off a fast break pass from LongPole Cyrus Mostofi.  Moments later Madrid scored his 4th of the game, and then the Rattlers appeared to score again to pull within 1 goal at 6-5.  But the goal was called back for equipment violation (no mouthpiece), and that seemed to take the wind out of the Rattlers sails.  Max Lacerca would score one more for the Rattlers, but a goal from Hans Von Clemm, and Lopez at the end would ice this one at 8-5.  Madrid led all scorers with 4 goals, Lopez (2g, 2a) and Von Clemm (2g) led the way for the Nationals. Bruno Geoly had an incredible effort on the losing side with 12 saves.

GAME 2: Lizards v Hounds.  This one was all Lizards.  The Hounds put up a good effort, but couldnt seem to find any offensive attack.  Two goals from Mike Cerone helped the Lizards take a 5-0 lead into half.  Matt Heintzen scored a nice goal on a sweep from the top, and the he Hounds shorthanded Defense played tough.  But with Sam Isola dominating the faceoffs, and the Lizards controlling the ball in the 2nd half, it was too much.  Cerone and Andrew Chang both completed Hat Tricks and the Lizards walked away with a 8-1 victory.

GAME 3: Machine v Cannons.  The top seed and bottom seed faced off in this one, and it was all Machine from the beginning.  Joe Rodriguez scored a goal off the first faceoff, and it was just the start of an offensive explosion.  7 different players had multi-goal games, with Will Belshe (4g) leading the way.  Wyatt Gold had a Hat Trick (all in the 2nd half) and the Machine rolled away with this one 17-0.  Miller had a solid outing in the cage, stopping 5 shots to get the Shutout.

GAME 4: Bayhawks v Outlaws.  Most exciting game of the day.  Ryan Zaky kicked off the scoring on an early Man-Up, to give the Outlaws a 1-0 lead.  The Bayhawks responded with a flurry, capped by a Cole Tierney goal to make it 5-1.  Outlaws didnt lay down, and a couple goals by John Beglin and Nick Pietrow before the half made it 5-3.  Jordan Gans scored his 2nd goal of the game early in the 2nd half, and thats when Zaky decided to take matters into his own hands.  He rattled off 3 unassisted goals to tie this one at 6.  But Matt Seligson scored a late goal, then moments later fed Michael Beisheim on a nice crosscrease pass, and this one ended 8-6 for the Bayhawks, in a tough, hard fought match.  Zaky led all scorers with 4, Jordan Gans (2g) led a balanced scoring attack for the Bayhawks.