Hackers Keep Hope Alive for First Round Bye;<BR>Ch

Thursday night's first matchup between the Keane Chill and the Sunnydale Slayers was perhaps a preview of a quarterfinal playoff matchup. The turning point in this game may have come before the game even started, when it was learned that the Slayers would be without Shawn Currie, Rob Romaine, and Dion Dooley. But with lifelong Slayer Paul Chui in nets, anything seemed possible.

But it was the vastly improved Chill team who beat the shorthanded Slayers into submission. The Chill fired shot after shot on a helpless Chui, winning comfortably 17-6. The 80 shots fired on Chui were the 4th highest total in league history. Chui's 63 saves was also the fourth highest total ever.

Leading the way for the Chill was sophomore sniper Tony Joyce, who had a career day, scoring 4 goals and 7 assists. Joyce's 11 points ties him for 8th in the league's scoring race. The Chill's third goalie of the season, Jason Chan, stopped 89% of his shots, enough to earn him the game's 2nd star. And the normally defensive-minded Mark Smith had a career-best 7 points to give him the third-star honours.

Chris Griffin and Kenzie Royal had four points apiece to lead the Slayers.

The outcome leaves the Chill and Slayers tied for fourth place overall. And although each team has a mathematical chance at finishing 3rd overall, they will likely face each other in one of the league's quarterfinal games.

Thursday's late game was a battle between the team with the most wins in league history, the LAN Hackers, versus the team with the fewest wins, the Keane Fire. And this game followed the script, as the Hackers doubled up on the Fire 18-9. John Price, Tony Warnell, and Spiro Bokolas each had 7 points for the Hackers. Warnell's 4 goals and 3 assists were both career highs for him. Kevin Haddad led the winless Fire with 3 goals and 2 assists.

The win moves the Hackers into a tie with the ADC Lynx for second place, setting up a huge Tuesday night showdown between the two teams next week. If the Lynx win, they will clinch second place, and more importantly, a first-round bye. If the Hackers win, second place will still be very much up in the air, as the Hackers finish the season with a game against the undefeated Sabres, while the Lynx finish against the Chill. If the Hackers beat the Lynx, then form holds in the final two games (meaning the Hackers lose and the Lynx win), then the first-round bye would be decided by plus-minus differential.

The Fire on the other hand now know they will finish in the cellar for the 3rd time in 6 seasons. The Fire may have their best shot at winning games in their last two match-ups, as they will face the Chill and the Slayers.