Week Seventeen: Stringing them Together

Here's where things get really interesting folks. The Flyers play the CD Gunners this week and, though the Gunners haven't had the strongest season, they're not slouches either. Playoff positions are tight and points are needed to make up for the start of the season if the boys are to stay where they are in that race.

MCQ standings are a different story. The Flyers share the top spot with Orange County and are seven points up on their closest competitors. That hasn't clinched a spot just yet, with six weeks left in the season, but it does provide some breathing room and a good hope that the Boys in Red will see some sort of postseason action. Stay tuned for this one.

Starters
Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes
Aurelien Collin
Marco Di Vaio
Diego Fagundez (C)
Jordan Harvey
Jeff Larentowicz
Peguy Luyindula
Drew Moor
Lamar Neagle
Jaime Penedo (GK)

Subs
Rodney Wallace
Ned Grabavoy
Maxi Urruti

Reserve
Raul Fernandez

Luyindula arrives in the Rose City

After a surprisingly short discussion with Second City, Peguy Luyindula will be arriving for the price of $12 in allocation cash. He's expected to bolster the abilities of the squad to compete in the last few weeks of the regular season plus increasingly likely post-season play.

New York's Peguy Luyindula

"With the approaching trade deadline, we felt it was important given our late season run to add some firepower. Peguy has already contributed a few goals this season and should but in a few more. Pending league approval, we'll be happy to see him wearing Rose City red," the Flyers manager added when asked about the transfer. "Allocation cash has made it increasingly difficult to find strong players as free transfers since now, signing a big name transfer only requires cash and the slot from your lowest performing player. Before, you would have a sort of cascade effect where strong league performers would be released anytime a bigtime DP would transfer in. We're just trying to find new ways of picking up power late in the season."

Rose City will be dropping New England's Saer Sene who, while a strong player, hasn't received enough minutes to make a true impact this season to make roster space.

Just Keep Rolling

Rose City 2 - 0 Pennsylvania

Count the Flyers lucky on this one. Scoring only two goals is a quick way to lose games in the BSL but Giles Barnes and Eric Alexander got it done this week. That puts the Flyers riding a seven game winning streak back into relevance headed into a big match against the CD Gunners with just six weeks left in the season. Expecting the streak to end sooner, rather than later is a good idea but a loss next week could drop the Boys in Red back out of the playoff race. A few more wins will be required to really lock things up this season.

MCQ standings are a bit more solid. The Rose City continues to share the honor of only remaining club undefeated in qualifying with the OC Zodiac and the next two teams trail by seven points each. That's not an iron-clad grip yet, but with the weeks winding away quickly it could turn into one without much notice. Expect the next few weeks to really resolve things for a lot of teams in both sets of standings.

Week Sixteen: Looking for Seven

The Flyers are on a six game winning streak. It's really the only reason that the Boys in Red are still relevant this season, but that doesn't change the fact that they're planning to make a run for it. Currently sitting in fifth which is the last (and new) playoff position for the Honors Trophy, it'll take a lot of luck and some skill too to stay relevant there. The streak has, however made the MCQ a more realistic possibility. The Flyers are one of two undefeated teams left in MCQ and will retain their second place position there even if they lose this week.

This week's opponent is the long-running Pennsylvania Stoners and the series is currently tied 3-3. The Stoners have had a rough season and can't really catch the Flyers anywhere on the table, however three points are pretty needed to stay in place for the Honors Trophy. Capital District is currently two points ahead with Gateway just one behind. Lots of possible positions could change based on this match and a few others.

Starters
Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes
Aurelien Collin
Marco Di Vaio
Diego Fagundez (C)
Jordan Harvey
Drew Moor
Lamar Neagle
Jaime Penedo (GK)
Maxi Urruti
Rodney Wallace

Subs
Jeff Larentowicz
Saer Sene
Ned Grabavoy

Reserve
Raul Fernandez