Recap of Semifinals and Championship Preview

Hello DC Broomballers!

Last week we saw some pretty exciting and very different playoff games. It was a solid first round and the two remaining teams now get to duke it out for broomball supremacy.

We’ve got two captains chasing their first Commissioner’s Cup championship squaring off this week in the big dance. No matter who wins, someone new is claiming the Cup!

Here are some highlights from the first week of the playoffs, the schedules for the second week of the playoffs and any other various things we think of.

Week 1 Playoff Results
The early game saw the Frank’s Bar All Stars face off against a Urine Trouble team that had beaten them in overtime in the last week of the regular season. This one wouldn’t end up as close, as the All-Stars donned all black to intimidate their enemies and came out fired up.

The All-Stars were firing on all cylinders, and kept going to the man who got them there, Luke LaViolet, to provide scoring opportunities. Luke didn’t disappoint, netting five goals. Dan Pall and Dan St. John would add a goal apiece to bring the All-Stars goal total up to seven on the night.

Urine Trouble seemed awestruck and struggled to get the ball out of their zone. They surrendered 21 shots on goal and only managed to take seven of their own. Two of those seven found the back of the net, one from the returning Pat Leonard and the second from Dave Bloom.

K2, Matt Merighi and Sarah Desilets had assists for the All-Stars. Jason “Speedy” Williams had an assist for Urine Trouble.
Final score: (Frank’s Bar All-Stars: 7, Urine Trouble: 2)

The second playoff game saw the Blue Bananas of Death looking to put away Cargo Pants for a second week in a row. This was a different affair altogether as the teams were locked in a tight, close battle until the final buzzer. 

Les Pantalons took a rare early lead when Luke Streng scored in the first half on a pass from John Slawinski, and held onto the 1-0 advantage for most of the game.  On a late power play, trailing by a a goal and facing elimination, the Blue Bananas pulled their goalie for an extra attacker.  George MacDougall tallied on the empty net with a long shot from the neutral zone scoring what would turn out to be the decisive goal.  The Bananas then answered with a goal from Kasey Kirby assisted by Tripp MacDonald to pull back within one.  It was a tense battle for the final seconds as Blue tried to tie things up still playing 6 on 5, but the Cargo Pants held on to win the game and advance. 

The Pants' goalie, Sean Greeney, stopped 16 of 17 shots, and Ellen Turner stopped 10 of 11 shots for the Blue Bananas. 
Final score: (Cargo Pants: 2, Blue Bananas of Death: 1)

Playoff Week 2 Schedule
Here’s the schedule for the second week of the playoffs, with ref and scorekeeper assignments.

Game 1 (9:30PM):
Home: Green Team (Captain: Sarah Schradin)
Away: Red Team (Captain: James Cargo)
Score/Clock: Kyle Lohrke / Ellen Turner
Ref: Dave Zarneke

Game 2 (10:30PM):
Home: Blue Team (Captain: John Crick)
Away: Yellow Team (Captain: James Cargo)
Score/Clock: Sarah Schradin / Tom Zohlen
Ref: James Cargo

End of Season Party
Just a reminder, the end of season party for the fall 2010 season will be 8PM on November 19, 2010 at First Down Sports Bar.

Unlike previous years, the league will be purchasing TWO KEGS, so folks who get there early will enjoy FREE BEER until the kegs are kicked. Just like previous end of season parties, there will be revelry, fun, drinking, eating, chatting and of course, MVP awards and the presentation of the Commissioner’s Cup to the league champions!

Winter Season Registration
Also a reminder…there’s only 4 teams and 56 slots available for the winter season. We’ve already filled over a third of them. Register early and talk it up to your friends soon or you may get locked out! Here’s the link to sign up:

http://dcsocialsports.com/leagues/broomball

Summing Up
I usually write something pseudo-funny here…but I’m going to use this space to thank each and every one of you for making this a great, hard-fought season of DC Broomball. We had memorable moments, close games and we’ll definitely have a captain getting their name on the cup for the first time ever when it’s all said and done.

Please come out to the end of season party. We know the new Harry Potter movie comes out the same day…and we’re sorry. Seriously though…this party is always a good time and it’s great fun to see the winning team receive and proceed to do stupid things with the cup. Also…there’s free beer. Now that’s a price point we can all be happy with.

Also…the winter season registration closes in less than two weeks. Please stop sitting on your hands and register if you haven’t. If you have concerns about the winter season, let us know. We’re always happy to work around issues whether they be schedule, financial or otherwise.

As always, please feel free to contact the commissioner at any time with any complaints, questions or abuse at dcbroomball@gmail.com.

Broomball Forever!

The Commissioner’s Office