The past seven months have all led to this, the championship final.  What could be more glamourous than a final between the top two teams in the regular season?  It’s Direwolves vs Lightning for all the glory!

How they got here:

• Direwolves beat Vaders in the quarters and Emeralds in the semis
• Lightning beat Emeralds in the quarters and Nightmares in the semis

How the season series went:

• Direwolves went unbeaten with 3 wins and a draw
• Direwolves outscored Lightning 9-4
• Aaron St. Bernard of the Lightning was the top scorer with 3 goals

Team news

• Lightning have a full squad except for goalkeeper Prathesh Senthil.  In his place, Murat Cokgezen will dress.
• Direwolves are missing Dale Burgess, Prem Chattani, Alex Salcedo, Neil Carey and Kosta Zabashta.  Unfortunately that’s not a mistake.  Theo Blanchard will suit up for his old team.

A Different Game

This match has taken a completely different complexion now that Direwolves are missing so many players.  However, if any team can overcome such a loss it’s Direwolves.  They faced adversity on many occasions throughout the season and still came out on top.  They lost a top player in Theo Blanchard at the mid-season shuffle and they still came out on top.  They’re a disciplined and hard-working team, very much in the vein of mighty Germany.  The football purists will always warn you that if you write Germany off, you do so at your own peril.

Lightning is one of the most appropriately named teams in the league.  They strike hard and fast and you don’t what hit you until you’re picking the ball up out of your net.  Much like Real Madrid, it takes 3 touches and 15 seconds for them to go from defense to offense and strike on the counter.  The question that has to be asked is whether or not they have the maturity to handle the situation.  With an opponent who is missing so many players, false confidence can easily set in for the inexperienced.  Looking at their roster, there’s no reason to think Lightning will fall prey to this but you just never know.

On May 2nd, 2018, a champion will be crowned.