01/7 Weekend Round Up

The New Year is upon us and the PIHA action heated back up across the league.  The weekend was highlighted with two major events on the east coast in both the semi-pro and minor divisions.  In the Rocky Mountain division, two sets of pro games, as well as a  pair of semi-pro match ups were held.

The top billing for the weekend was a cross division match up of Atlantic vs Northeast.  Back on Dec 17th, four northeast division teams (Misfits, Sting, Blazers, and Hitmen) traveled to Marple Sports Arena to battle four teams from the Atlantic division.  On Saturday, the same four northeast teams traveled down to play the second half of the Atlantic division, this time including (Shockwave, Typhoon, Iron Knights, and Sting Rays).  The day favored the Northeast teams, as they won all but one of the sixteen games played.  The lone victory by the Atlantic division, was had by the Hershey Typhoon who edged the Rhode Island Misfits in a 7-6 thriller.  While the northeast dominated in the win column, it didn't necessarily represent the competitiveness of the weekend.  Six of the games were decided by two goals or less, including the overtime victory by the Misfits against the Iron Knights (shown on video).  The four Atlantic teams in action will return to Marple on February 4th to take on the other half of the Northeast division (Flamingoes, Legends, Snipers, and Impact).

Roughly 100 miles west, the Atlantic division minors were in action at Yellow Breeches Sports Center.  This is the second of three in division weekends for the five teams (Scream, Gladiators, Militia, Iron Knights Grey and Blue).  The first place Scream once again ran the table going 4-0 on the day, including an impressive 1-0 victory over the Marple Gladiators.  Meanwhile, the Wheel City Militia edged the Gladiators 5-4 in the final game of the day to finish 3-1 on the day and climb into second place in the division.  THe Gladiators finished 2-2, including two tough one goal losses, while the Iron Knights Grey earned their first win of the season against the Knights Blue team.  The minors will be back in action on Saturday, January 28th, as the Northeast division travels down to Marple for the first of two cross division festivals.  

In the Rocky Mountain held a fiull day/evening of action at Parker FIeld House.  Kicking off the day in the semipro division, the Greeley Diesel won both games against the Front Range Thunder 7-5 and 5-4.  Up next, the Arvada Fire and Aurora Prowlers split a pair of incredibly tight games 2-1 and 4-2.  In the Pro division, the Prowlers and Fire split a pair of tight games 2-0 and 4-3 at Parker Field House, followed by the night cap, which saw the reigning division champion Demon Dogs taking both games against the Thunder 11-2 and 6-5.  

The entire league finds itself off next weekend, but action continues again the weekend of January 21st.