NAHL Day 31/32 - Isca Town loses two in a row?

Sunset at Peggy's Cove, west of Eboracum, image credit to novascotia.com

Isca Town loses twice(!), Sept-Iles and Portus Abonae are surging, and Vinovium finally hits 20 points

NAHL Day 31

Sept-Iles Whalers 2, Newfield Rangers 0

Eboracum Sharpshooters 2, Portus Abonae Privateers 5

Mancunium Raiders 1, DC Oilers 0

Aquae Sulis Bears 3, Isca Town Captains 1

Pons Aelius Steelers 1, Vinovium Lumberjacks 0

Labrador Caribou 2, Londinium Royals 1

NAHL Day 32

Newfield Rangers 0, Londinium Royals 1

Vinovium Lumberjacks 0, Labrador Caribou 0 (1-0 OT)

Isca Town Captains 0, Pons Aelius Steelers 0 (0-1 SO)

DC Oilers 2, Aquae Sulis Bears 0

Portus Abonae Privateers 5, Mancunium Raiders 4

Sept-Iles Whalers 4, Eboracum Sharpshooters 1

The big news of this update is that Isca Town lost two in a row! The team that had seemed completely invulnerable is now stumbling, especially a loss to low-ranking Aquae Sulis. They are still four points up on Pons Aelius, however, and six up on DC, who lost to Mancunium in a surprising result themselves. Those three teams have firmly entrenched themselves at the top of the standings, with third-place DC a full eight points clear of the fourth-place team. Those three teams (and Londinium at +1) are the only teams in the league to maintain a positive goal differential. Much of the drama of the second half, it looks like, will center on the race for the final playoff spot. The Londinium Royals currently hold that position, but four teams (Eboracum, Labrador, Portus Abonae, Sept-Iles) are within four points of them at the moment. Londinium's struggles have prevented them from pulling away, while hard-charging teams like Portus Abonae and Sept-Iles are forcing themselves into the playoff picture.

Who's hot: Four and a half teams

-Portus Abonae stays hot, having won five in a row. Their latest victims? A 5-2 thrashing of the Eboracum Sharpshooters and then a back-and-forth battle with Mancunium that only ended when Jordon Upshaw beat Heath Lindsay at 18:27 of the third period. With their much-vaunted offense now rounding into form (3rd in the league, 13 more than the fourth-place team), they are just three points back of the playoffs and looking to make a strong second-half run.

-Pons Aelius keeps chugging along, winning three in a row and six of their last eight. But the biggest one was their 1-0 shootout win over Isca Town, with Brooks Worrell scoring the only goal in the shootout and Brett McQueen making 36 saves not counting the shootout. They are still four points back of first, but they're shaving down the lead. If they can finish first, they'll likely get to play one of the gaggle of weaker teams vying for fourth and can save dangerous Isca Town or DC for the finals.

-The Mancunium Raiders' winning streak is no more since losing to Portus Abonae, but they have won four of their last five and six of their last eight, including defeating the DC Oilers on a goal from Quinn Baird to complete their recent run of victories over the top four teams. They're still only tied for ninth and well under .500, but they've been playing well.

-The Sept-Iles Whalers have won three in a row, and four of their last six to leap into the "hot" category. This includes a workmanlike 2-0 win over Newfield where James McDaniel scored both goals, and a 4-1 victory over Eboracum, sending the Sharpshooters home chastened, with their tail between their legs. Michel Picard, Gaston Fortin, and Rene Kelly had a goal and an assist in that game, with the final, empty-net, goal being scored by Jean-Luc Broussard. They appear to have found some consistency and, despite their middling offense, are now just four points out of playoff position.

-Labrador has won four out of six, so despite their loss to Vinovium, they remain the "half" team in the "hot" category. They remain a strong contender for the playoffs, just two points behind Londinium, who they defeated 2-1 in Labrador to briefly pull within one point. Since dropping out of playoff position early on, Labrador has hovered in the middle of the standings, sometimes nearer, sometimes farther away from the playoffs. They'll need a big second half to make it (and maybe a big second half roster move?)

Who's not: Four teams

-The Londinium Royals have good news and bad news. The good news is that they snapped their four game losing streak, beating Newfield 1-0. The bad news is that they're still just 3-7-0 in their last ten games. They haven't played like a team that wants to stay in playoff position, but they've been rescued by Labrador and now Eboracum's struggles and failures to take their spot away from them. But with Portus Abonae and Sept-Iles heating up, they'd better shape up, or the playoffs will be a forlorn hope come game 66. 

-The Eboracum Sharpshooters have lost four in a row and six of their last eight games. And while previously, they had lost close games to good teams, they got whipped by mediocre but rising teams in Portus Abonae and Sept-Iles in this stretch. Two three-goal losses are going to do a number on the old morale for the Sharpshooters. Instead of taking advantage of Londinium's recent struggles, they've played poorly themselves and allowed what could have been a two-team race for fourth place develop into a five-team free-for-all. They will play Newfield in their last game before the All-Star break; perhaps the Rangers and the break will help them into a better second half.

-The Newfield Rangers continue to lose. They are now 0-7-1 in their last eight. They have been shut out in their last three games, and five times in their losing streak. They've allowed 19 goals, nearly 2.5 per game, while scoring just nine, just over 1.1 per game. This run of poor play has caused them to drop all the way to 11th place. They are still six clear of Vinovium for last place, but this was a team that had hopes of finishing mid-table, not "staying out of last by default" hopes.

-The dirty secret of this update is that the Isca Town Captains have actually lost three in a row now. Two in a row in this update, but three in a row overall. And they have lost to Mancunium and Aquae Sulis, two teams that are currently tied for ninth place in the standings. Definitely qualifies as a cold streak. Seems so long ago that they won thirteen straight games. The good news is they are still in first place and get Labrador to finish out the first half. The Caribou have played well recently, but the Captains are 2-0-0 and +5 in goal differential in their two meetings, and in both games, Isca Town was clearly the better team.

Surprise of the update: Two surprises again!

Both involve game 31. First, Mancunium upset DC 1-0. The Oilers are not a poor road team, but they got shut out and turned around in this game in Labrador. It's a rough loss that set them back in their competition with Pons Aelius for second, and certainly set them back in their waning hopes for first. Second, Aquae Sulis beat Isca Town, and they didn't just beat the Captains, they easily beat them. It was 2-0 by the end of the first period and 3-1 by the end of the second, with Nick May and Darin Drake scoring the Bears' three goals. Yeah, they lost to DC the next game 2-0, but it was a really nice win.