The NXL Golden State Open held at Capital Edge Paintball Park in Sacramento , California proved to be a perfect location for the second and final NXL Open event . While the size of this event has been smaller than others this year , the layout , vendor availability , parking , and food choices made this one of the better events as a spectator .
With three fields for the X-ball and 5 man divisions it was easy for NXL staff to make the Professional field the centerpiece , even without grandstands . Walking through the pits players of all divisions were able to watch professional games from a different perspective , their pits . This proved to be the popular viewpoint all weekend through preliminary matches , playoffs , and finals on Sunday .
Being the Golden State and a “ home ” state event was fitting for a turnaround and possible resurgence of the Los Angeles
Ironmen , who were able to secure a second place podium finish . This was a shocking outcome as even though not every pro team attended ( 13 of 20 ), all of the top teams were still there . On the Ironmen ’ s road to Sunday they were mercy finished in the prelims by San Diego Dynasty , and suffered a 5 point defeat at the hands of San Antonio X-Factor .
Even with two tough defeats the Ironmen snuck into Sunday with a hard draw . Their first Sunday morning match up was once again against Dynasty , but this time were able to inch out a 7-6 overtime win and then had to face X-Factor a second time . Knocking out two of the top professional teams . In the end the finals match up against Edmonton Impact proved to be too much , and the Ironmen were mercy finished to their respectable silver medal place .
Photo By Rufino Joshua Ong www . paintball . media 099