Still in the Hunt, and Next Man Up.

Every game matters and with playoff implications, this is a big game.

It’s true that the Aviators sit at the bottom of the standings, but it’s basically a 3-way tie for 4th place, and all of those teams are only 1 game away from 3rd.  We all knew the West would be a dogfight, and now we’re in the thick of it.

Here is the breakdown

• San Jose sits atop the West and probably won’t be dethroned.  Even if they give up one to Seattle or stumble against San Francisco, the Spiders will be the 1 seed.  They play SF 2 more times, Seattle 2 more times and Vancouver.  Assuming the Spiders do what the Spiders do they will end the season at 13-1.  Even being generous to San Francisco, they could end 12-2.
• Seattle sits in 2nd at 5-3 with only a 1 game lead over San Francisco, however they play the Spiders 2x and Vancouver 2x as well as SF 2x. Lets assume they beat Vancouver, lose to San Jose and split with San Francisco.  This will put the Cascades  at 8-6
• San Francisco is interesting as they have to play San Jose the most over the season, have the potential to beat them, but haven’t yet.  If they can win 1 of their remaining 2 games against Seattle, beat Vancouver but lose to San Jose, they will finish 6-8
• Vancouver had a miracle win against a small, tired San Jose squad, and  lucky win against LA.  Their next visit to LA will be after they play San Diego, and a young team like Vancouver might not be up for the challenge. It’s very possible with Vancouver’s remaining schedule they end up 3-11 or even 4-10
• San Diego’s roller coaster of a season has yet to flesh itself out.  They play the Aviators 4 more times and they games could go either way.  Most likely they will beat Vancouver at home, and we can call it a split with LA.  This puts San Diego at 6-8
• The Aviator’s are also having a roller coaster of a season.  We look fantastic at times, and we look terrible at other times.  Injuries keep piling up and while the Dept. Of Defense can generate turnovers. They only can convert 45% of those.  If the Aviators beat Vancouver at home and split the remaining games with San Diego, they finish at 6-8.
• The most likely results could look like this:

  • Team		W	L
    San Jose		12	2
    Seattle		8	6
    Los Angeles		6	8
    San Diego		6	8
    San Francisco		6	8
    Vancouver		4	10

A clear 2nd place and a 3-way tie for 3rd that would come down to point differential.

So in order for a clear 3rd place spot for Los Angeles, they would have to win 3 out of 4 of their remaining San Diego Games.

San Diego would have to do the same against Los Angeles.

If San Francisco drops 2 to San Jose, they have to beat Seattle 2x.  If they can find a way to beat San Jose, then they can split their games with Seattle and end up in the playoffs.

It’s safe to say that middle of the West is living up to all the preseason hype and every game matters from now on.  If the West continues to feed on itself and it comes down to point differential, Los Angeles’ chances are not very good already 10 points behind San Diego.

The Aviators are still in the hunt, and this squad has the potential to make a run, but they have to eliminate mental mistakes and clean up the offense in order to run the table against the Growlers.

Our next game is this Saturday June 6th at 7:30!  It will be broadcast on ESPN3, and is sure to be an amazing game.

Grab your tickets now!