MXL
Most
exciting game to watch – TIE- Brooklin Fingers Vs. Woodstock Semper Fi and Waterloo Wolves Vs.
Georgina Rebels
Headed into this event, Brooklin
Fingers were leading the ranks in the MXL division and Woodstock Semper Fi was
facing relegation. I don’t think anyone, including the Semper Fi players, predicted
this match to finish with Woodstock on the winning end. The match began with an
8 minute point which Fingers conceded, allowing Semper Fi to take the first
point of the game. From here, dominance was handed back and forth between the
two teams leaving the score 3-3 with 1 minute and 35 seconds remaining in the
first half. Brooklin toweled a quick point to Woodstock ending the half with
Semper Fi leading by 1.
Fingers' Jackson Thoprakan
Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless
The second half of this match-up was riddled with penalties. With
4 minutes remaining until the end of the match, Woodstock was leading by 1 with
a score of 6-5. With such a tight game, it’s no wonder that this was precisely
where both teams got into penalty trouble. Fingers suffered 2 minor penalties and
Semper Fi took both a major and a minor. Despite their penalties, Semper Fi
managed to take control and forced Brooklin to concede the next 3 points in
very quick succession. Fingers won themselves one more flag hang before the end
of the match making the final score 9-6 Woodstock.
Woodstock's Navy Kim
Photo Credit: The Catshack Reports
The match between Waterloo Wolves and
Georgina Rebels was another absolute upset. Both of these teams have spent a
little too much time in the penalty box this season so it is no surprise that
the penalty trouble carried into this match as well. That being said, it is hard
to believe that a whopping 29 minutes in penalties was handed out throughout the
course of this game. It seems that Rebels confidently took the first 5 points
of the match with little contestation from Wolves. Waterloo came out to take the
next point leaving the score 5-1 for Rebels with less than 3 minutes left on
the clock. Georgina suffered a major penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct with
48 seconds remaining and all players were eliminated meaning that no point was
awarded. Waterloo managed a quick flag hang with a mere 6 seconds until the
buzzer rang which left Rebels leading by 3 heading into the second half.
Waterloo Wolves off the break
Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless
Wolves must’ve regrouped at half and came out to make the
most of Georgina’s remaining major penalty, winning the first two points of the
second half. Waterloo went on to concede the next point to Rebels and then
procured two more flag hangs leaving the score tied with 3 minutes remaining. Everyone
knows how tied games usually play out with little time on the clock. Players
begin to attempt crazy plays or try to get away with things they wouldn’t
normally do. This seems to be exactly the case with this match. In the final
minutes, Waterloo took two minor penalties and a major and Georgina also took a
major penalty. Somewhere in the midst of all of these penalties, a point was
conceded to wolves and a point was awarded to Georgina because Waterloo failed
to field any players. The final point of the game was conceded to Rebels
leaving the score at a surprising 8-7 with Waterloo on the losing end.
Rebel's Daniel Cenci coming out of the box
Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless
Most
Impressive team at this event –Hespeler Hooligans
Hooligans
Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless
In all honesty, I completely expected
this team to finish the season on top and they didn’t disappoint. Hooligans won
all of their matches at this event by a minimum of an 8 point spread and have
been NAX hopefuls from day one. Need I say more?
Weakest
team – Winnipeg 420
Army
420 Army
Photo Credit: Sheldon Carless
The relegation to RXL this season was
between Winnipeg 420 Army and Woodstock Semper Fi. While I routed for Woodstock
from the beginning, hoping that they would be steadfast and maintain their MXL
position, I began to doubt them toward the end of the season. While Woodstock
suffered an equal number of losses this season as Winnipeg, they managed to
come out ahead in plus/minus meaning that it would be 420 Army who would lose
their MXL franchise. The most points that this team scored throughout the
season was 7 and the only match they won was against Semper Fi. The fact that
they came out at the bottom of the heap is certainly no surprise and just as
the top teams earned their spots, the same is true for those who lost them.
Team to
most surpass expectations- Woodstock Semper Fi
I watched Woodstock when it was
Defiance win RXL in 2009 and MXL in 2010 to merge forces with Cambridge Raiders
for the 2011 season. This team was our family and my husband and I invested
time into the team and the players. When the decision was made for the merge in
2011, even though the athletes who’d proudly sported Woodstock Defiance on their
jerseys would now just as proudly be Cambridge Raiders, I had a difficult time
with the thought of letting go of the precious Defiance name and selling our
beloved Woodstock franchise. So you can imagine just how saddened I was when the
new Woodstock Semper Fi lost their CXBL spot during the 2011 season and were
relegated to MXL.
When Woodstock Defiance won their second season in a row making the jump to CXBL
Article from Action Pursuit Games
Photo credit- Jamie Photoman Holmes
This season, I routed for them as the underdogs, hoping
against all odds that they would come out strong in the 2012 season in the MXL
division. When they continuously suffered devastating losses, I began to
believe that the team that our paintball family had worked so hard to move up
through the ranks would be relegated once again to RXL which is precisely where
they started. Thankfully, against all odds, Woodstock Semper Fi pulled out a stupefying
win over Brooklin Fingers which allowed the relegation decision to be left to
plus/minus. This win not only saved them from relegation but it was a win over
one of the top two teams, allowing
Woodstock to finish the season on a high note. Semper Fi- You have my
congratulations and my thanks for proving (in the nick of time) that you
deserve to keep your MXL position.
Semper Fi's Nathan Douglas
Photo Credit: The Catshack Reports
The 2012 season of MXL had perhaps
even more surprises than the CXBL Elite. While the top three teams and NAX
hopefuls were clear from the beginning, this season was filled with upsets. If
I can offer any advice to the central teams heading into NAX, it would be to
learn how to play a clean game. The fewer minutes you spend in the box, the
more time you have to win points. This advice will come in handy for whichever
team ends up earning a CXBL position. The bump from MXL to CXBL is a tough one
and you won’t survive it if you are taking careless penalties.
Congratulations to all of the MXL
teams on another exciting season. Best of luck to Hooligans, Fingers, and
Wolves as you prepare for NAX.
Signing off,
The
Paintball Wife
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