The Springfield Demize host the Indiana Invaders Saturday evening in their final home game of the season. The team is 3-3-1 at home this season so Saturday’s game should mean something to a team that could finish as high as fourth place or as low as sixth place in the seven team Heartland Division. I’ll be there to see how the team responds to the opportunity.
The leaders at this stage are the KC Brass who shared a pair of points with the Thunder Bay Chill this week, as their games on Tuesday and Wednesday both finished as 1-1 ties. The Brass are one of only three teams in the 59 team PDL that have not lost this season, a select list that includes the defending PDL champion Michigan Bucks. Their 7-0-4 record will be tested with games against Des Moines, Sioux Falls, U23 Rapids (two games) and the St Louis Lions. All except the Lions game the last weekend of the season (July 22nd) will be on the road. The good news for the Brass is that they are 4-0-1 against this group. The Brass are also the stingiest squad in the Division, giving up only 12 goals in their 11 matches.
Thunder Bay and St Louis will be challenging the Brass for the Division title. As noted earlier, the Chill appear to have the easier path, with four home games remaining. Sioux Falls will play a pair in Thunder Bay this weekend and Des Moines will make the trek the final weekend (the picture at right is from 5-2 Menace win in Des Moines June 23rd that I covered while at Regionals). Thunder Bay is 7-2-3 overall and went 2-1-1 in earlier games with these opponents. They are right behind KC in defense, allowing only 15 goals in their 12 games this year, including that 5-2 pasting in Des Moines. Did I mention they came back to win 1-0 the next evening?
The St Louis Lions have three games remaining, with the Indiana Invaders visiting Cottlesville on Sunday following their game in Springfield tomorrow. The Lions have two common opponents as the Invaders, having lost to the Chicago Fire Premier 1-2 while defeating the Ft Wayne Fever 1-0 in games in late June. The Invaders have gone 1-1-1 against the Fire, winning their most recent game in the series while defeating the Fever in both games this season. That points to a challenge for our boys and the Lions. St Louis will host Springfield next weekend before traveling to KC July 21st.
Predictions? The folks in Des Moines feel it’s still a wide open race. The Chill are still new at this, reaching 1st place in the Division for the first time ever.
Me? I’m a big fan of the Roblee’s and the results they’ve achieved in KC, including their effort that brought a return to the US Open Cup this year. If I were putting a little change on this, the Brass would be my pick. We’ll know for certain in two weeks!
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