12/02-12/03 Marple Recap (Pro)

Having come off a tough finish last season, the Sting came back looking to regain the thrown as Pro champions this season.  In their way on the east coast was several tough challenges along the way, including the Rebellion, Fusion, The Few, and long time rivals the Pittsburgh Inferno.  The regular season proved to be highly competitive, but when it was crunch time, the Sting almost always seemed to come up with the goods.  On the season, the Sting finished an almost nearly perfect 19-0-1, including 4 over time wins.

The final weekend was not much different.  They began with a 6-1 win over the Few, who was the only team to beat them at all this season.  Twice over the weekend they defeated the Inferno in overtime, beat a short benched tough Fusion team 9-4, 5-3, and 7-3.  They will enter the east coast playoffs as the team to beat as the number one seed.

The Inferno and Few were in a battle for the #2 seed.  Neither team had a realistic chance to catch the Sting, so the goal was to simply not drop to fourth.  The Inferno, lost twice in OT to the Sting, blew out the Rebellion twice 10-1 and 7-0, and split a pair of games with the Inferno 4-2 and 3-5.  

The Few lost their opening game against the Sting 6-1, beat the Fusion 7-3, routed the Rebellion 10-1 and 9-1, and split a pair against the Inferno.  The season series with the Inferno was very tight.  The Inferno edged the Few with 3 out of 5 victories, but all five games were highly contested and sets up an incredible semi-final match up.

The Fusion struggled with a short bench on the final weekend of the regular season.  While they defeated the last place Rebellion twice 7-2 & 9-6, they lost their other four games to the teams above them in the standings.  Finishing in fourth place, they will have to win a quarter-final match up against the Rebellion to then have the tough task of taking on the Suffolk Sting in the Semi-Finals.