With only one and a half match points separating the top team in the East from the bottom with three weeks remaining in the regular season, it’s abundantly clear that anything can still happen, and each match’s significance only goes higher as we near the end. With an astounding five teams also having the same number of game points, margin of victory is also clearly a very relevant issue with tiebreaks very likely to come into play in deciding at least some of the playoff positions. Click here to see the Week 8 Eastern Lineups!
New York starts off battling New England. The Knights are coming off a tough loss which cost them the division lead, and while they still remain in second, their position is anything but secure with every team within striking distance and desperately need to score here as do the Nor’easters as with so many teams in contention, despite the closeness, a loss could well eliminate them from real contention.
Next up sees Manhattan taking on Boston. This is a match historically completely dominated by the Blitz, and they will look to continue that trend as they too are in danger of being completely eliminated with a loss while the Applesauce are in a similar tenuous position with a loss likely to take their fate out of their own hands at the very least.
Connecticut battles the division leading team from Philadelphia in the third match. The Dreadnoughts looked to be cruising to a playoff spot, sharing the division lead for several weeks, but after two straight losses suddenly find themselves in the fight of a lifetime, very much needing strong performances soon to secure a postseason bid. The Inventors meanwhile, after two straight wins, have jumped into the division lead but can hardly rest on their laurels with so many teams right on their heals.
And to end the night, two of the teams tied for second, Baltimore and New Jersey face off. The Kingfishers are rolling with three straight wins after a very rough start to the season but still have much work left to do to make their comeback complete. The Knockouts have had a fairly up and down season never really settling into any kind of groove but are in a solid position right now, yet also have much left to do to really secure, at the very least, a playoff birth.
Tune in Monday to see the Eastern teams face off as one of the most interesting division races in USCL history unfolds!