The 16U boys Eastern Conference is by far the largest category in the NCL this year, with 13 teams competing in the conference. When looking at the 2017-2018 regular season as a preview of conference finals, the conference can be split into different segments. The first segment is the conference leaders Mavericks, Montreal Machine and Dollard Black.
Each of these teams has defeated the other ten teams in every game they’ve played amongst them; additionally, of the four games the three teams played against each other, three ended in ties. The only victory was a Montreal Machine victory over Dollard Black that clinched Machine the 1st seed in the Quebec Division. The 2nd segment consists solely of the Ottawa Titans, who finished as the 2nd seed in the Ontario Division and inhabit a middle ground in the conference. Ottawa has also defeated the other nine opponents in the conference in every game played against them but has been unable to pick up any points against the teams above them in the standings. The closest Titans came was a 6-7 loss to Machine. The final segment is the remaining nine teams in the conference Shadow, CAMO, Hamilton, KW Inferno, Saint-Lambert, Capital Wave, Toronto Golden Jets, Laval Tritons and Dollard Gold. In order for any of these teams to qualify for the National Finals or win a medal, they would need to win at least two games against the top four teams, a tall task.
At the top of the bracket are the defending champion Mavericks, who enter the tournament as the number one seed from the Ontario Division with a record of 16-2-0. The Mavericks have not lost a game since the 2015-2016 season, and their unbeaten streak now stands at 42 games. They will face the winner of KW Inferno and Saint-Lambert in the quarter-finals, and then a matchup with Dollard Black could await in the semi-finals. In the teams’ only regular season matchup, Mavericks scored a tying goal with a half a minute to play to earn a draw.
The Montreal Machine headline the other half of the bracket, matching the Mavericks undefeated record at 16-0-2. Machine will face the winner of Laval and Hamilton in the quarter-finals, with a possible matchup against the Ottawa Titans in the semi-finals. If that matchup does come to fruition, it will be a rematch of last year’s quarter-finals, when Machine upset the higher seeded Titans on their way to a National Finals berth in their first ever NCL season. This year, the Titans will be hoping to return the favour and take out the higher seeded Machine.
The Toronto Golden Jets (3-2-13) and Capital Wave (5-0-13) will have the hardest road to the National Finals, as they will have to play each other in the only game of the first round. The winner of that game will face CAMO (3rd in the Quebec division) in round two, and then would have to reel off two more wins to earn a spot at the National Finals. The other second-round games will be Saint-Lambert (5-1-12) against the KW Inferno (6-2-10), Dollard Gold (1-0-17) goes up against Shadow (10-0-8) and Laval (2-0-16) vs. Hamilton (8-2-8).
With a total of 33 games scheduled in Montreal, this weekend promises to feature exciting water polo games for the local fans. Please see the NCL schedule for full details about the 16U Eastern Conference Championships.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.