The Homestretch.. Games of the Week

After the summer vacations have been spent, most of the league’s have been granted offseason tickets and bunches of imports have headed back west, what we are left with are the 3 leagues that attempt to keep their players in game condition for the better portion of the calendar year. Despite the length of these seasons, the national players have developed a wonderful ability to stay dedicated and prepared for their chance to hoist the national championship trophy at their league’s finale. Sweden, Finland, and Germany will play into the months of September and October and thus we have 3 game’s of the week to start of what seems to be the “trophy” half of the season.. the homestretch.

A game of the week matchup in Finland pairs two teams at the center against each other when at 3pm on Saturday the Helsinki Wolverines travel to the Jyvaskylan Jaguarit (Jaguars). The 4th ranked Wolverines are at 5-3 and beat the Jaguars (4-5) on June 12th by 14 points. Since that game they have been battled tested, beating the 6th place Northern Lights handily and the 3rd ranked Lappeenrata by more than 30.. but a week before Nate Kmic joined the Border Guards. The other two encounters were a 1 point loss to #2 Porvoon and a 4 point loss to #1 Seinajoki. Jyvaskylan since that June 12th meeting have held firm in their center position of the league having beat the 3 teams below them and lost to the 3 teams above the middle of the road pair. This matchup will most definitely mean more to the Jaguars who are in the first spot out of the playoffs at this point in their season at 5th, and do not have any wins against teams above them in the standings. The Wolverines do not need to drop a game, especially to the team that is just behind them for a playoff spot, being on the road only adds to the drama for all from the capitol city of Helsinki.

2 of the top 3 Swedish teams face off for the second time this season. After a long summer break there are many unknowns as to how Super Series teams are prepared to make playoff runs, but this first week battle between the Stockholm Mean Machines and the Tyreso Royal Crowns will tell a lot about these top teams. The second ranked Royal Crowns at 4-2 did lose the head to head matchup with third place Stockholm by a score of 33-28. In a wild finish there were 2 lead changes in the final 2 minutes of the game, with Tyreso trying for a 2nd touchdown as the clock expired. Tyreso beat 4th ranked STU Bulls most recently by a score of 31-22, and in a most surprising win the same Bulls team beat the Mean Machine in the final week of the first half 26-23. This game has pivotal positioning implications for each of these teams. This will set the tone for the second half and should Stockholm win again, they will have the inside track to a home field semifinal game having beaten the Crown twice. A 5pm kickoff in Tyreso on Saturday evening will let these two Swedish powers loose on one another.

The German Football League provides an interesting matchup this weekend and due to the expansion of the GFL both teams are recently moved up from the second division (Division 1) from last season. A team that is having a plethora of success in its first season in the top division, Europe’s 9th ranked Monchengladbach Mavericks will travel to Dusseldorf Sunday at 3pm local time to check in with the Panthers. At 6-3 in the North division the Panthers are just 1 game behind the Mavs. The teams did face off in late June when the Mavs came away with a close 5 point victory 24-19. The repeat offers the Panthers a chance for redemption. In doing so a victory would grant them one game closer to passing the Mavericks for the 2nd place in the North division and a home game in the playoffs.

For the best results log on to europlayers.com following these games for fast paced score updates.