#12 Mathematics at #5 Fresh Kills

Location: Tompkins East, 2:00 PM

Game Keys:

No one knows the strengths and weaknesses of the Kills better than Eli.  For 19 weeks, he’s followed every move of the defending champions and it’s safe to say that team Captain Derek will have the most comprehensive scouting report in league history. Of course, you could know the strengths and weaknesses of a tank but that doesn’t mean you have much hope of stopping it. And right now, the Mathletes have to be feeling like that Chinese guy with the shopping bag.

The problem is the Landfills have a counter for every weapon in the Enumerators arsenal. It’s like that conversation between Loki and Iron Man in the Avengers movie:

“I have an Andy Pratt.”

“We have that guy in the Nordiques hat.”

“I’ve got a young stud named Zack Norris.”

“We’ve got Scott Lee.”

“I have an army (of fans).”

“We have a Hulk Kevin Foster.”

Don’t get us wrong sports fans. We don’t think the Kills are superheroes. But we do believe that they’re the team to beat in this years playoffs. And like the Yankees, they keep adding strength to strength. There’s an old hockey cliché, “Work beats talent when talent doesn’t work.” But we don’t see Dmitri, Mikael, Natasha and the rest of BTSH’s answer to the Red Army phoning this one in.

We won’t write the Mathletics off just yet but it’s going to take a pretty complicated equation for them to find the value of “W” this Sunday.

 

#10 Filthy Gorgeous at #7 Lbs.

 

Location: Tompkins East, 3:30 PM

Game Notes: Filthy has been one of the more injury plagued teams this year and that goes a long way in explaining their relatively low seed. But make no mistake, they’re one of the most powerful offensive teams in the league. That may prove to be one of the stumbling blocks for a LBS team that has struggled to score goals lately. But the LBS. do tend to step it up in the playoffs and they’re not going to be an easy out.

Both these teams share a strength – familiarity. Each side has player combos that have been together for so long they can anticipate each other’s moves. In fact, both sides have agreed to make the game more interesting by having their top combos play blindfolded. Zen hockey is not something we see practiced very often in this league but when you have hockey masters like Ken and Carsten and James and Suvin working their magic, it could be sublime.

Or they might miss every single pass and not even touch the ball.

If that’s the case (and even if it’s not), this one comes down (surprisingly) to defense. Yes the Dirty Prettys can score goals in bunches but with Kami, Jean and the power couple of Matt and Becky Novick manning the blueline for FG, it’s going to be tough for the LBS. forwards to play their usual aggressive style. Both teams boast quality goalies, smart Captains, and plenty of depth on the second and third lines. But that steel curtain in front of the Filthy’s net is the gamechanger that will take them through to the second round.