Prelims
Proof that every match counts, the tightest competition was in Bracket C, which saw a mere one-point each separating the first and the fourth place teams. The head-to-head matchups were the determining factors there, and it was the match played at 9 a. m. on Friday between Detroit Infamous and Houston Heat that would ultimately be the determining factor in edging Heat into the 10th place slot for Sunday.
Nearly as tight was Bracket B, where point differentials were the story. On Friday afternoon, Uprising faced off against Impact in what would become one of the most disputed matches of the weekend. Coming down to the wire, Impact edged out Uprising 4-3, but the narrow win was costly to Impact going forward. Uprising would then face San Antonio X-Factor, a team on fire, but when Uprising’ s Graham Arnold turned around an epic 2-on-1, it seemed to break the spirits of X-Factor and ultimately lead Uprising to a 7-4 win, enough point differential for the one-seed coming out of the prelims. X-Factor rebounded, however, and went on to make a statement against Impact. Perhaps believing they had their position in Sunday secured, Impact came out on their heels, and X-Factor capitalized, walking out with a 6-1 win. That spread guaranteed X-Factor’ s playoff berth, and it meant Impact came out of the prelims in 9th place overall.
San Diego Dynasty proved they are still an elite team, coming out of the prelims undefeated and finishing up the run with what may be one of the highest-scored matches in history against Red Legion. The two powerhouses ran a startling 18 points in the match, and Dynasty walked away from the brawl with an 11-7 win.
Tampa Bay would take advantage of a weaker bracket that included Distortion, the Royal City Seadogs, CK Hurricanes, and LA Collision- three novice Pro teams- to go undefeated into the Sunday.
Playoffs
The Ochos revealed the disparity in the brackets by sorting the wheat from the chaff. Impact made easy business of Distortion in a 6-0 win, and Red Legion easily defeated Heat 8-2. But for all of the surprise that the Ochos lacked, the quarterfinals definitely made up the difference.
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