With 160 games played, a lot of hucks, D’s and layout made, and a lot of noise heard around the league, the mid season of the AUDL has finally come. Let’s check in on the West division and see where the teams are in the standings.
Through the first few games, all teams were in the mix, and it still looks to be that way. The LA Aviators (6-2 overall) are only two games up on the playoff-hungry San Diego Growlers, who are looking at the .500 mark (4-4 record).
Not too far behind and looking to shake things up are the defending champ San Francisco (3-4), the San Jose Spiders (3-5) and the Seattle Cascades (2-5). Although all four teams could make a surge in the second-half of the season, they would also need some disruption in the Aviators current flight pattern.
The Aviators seem to be flying high, going 6-0 in the West Division so far. LA has averaged 25 points per season, but also being scored on an average of 22 times.
While they are still in the positive, the gap between the two numbers seems to be thinning, with the last few wins being close calls. It looks like this plane may be slowing down and the rest of the division is taking notice.
Looking to climb out of a mid-season hole, the Seattle Cascades are coming back to their home field on Saturday, June 2, to face the San Jose Spiders. The Cascades are hoping to start the second half of the season on a positive note and improve to 3-5 on the season.
While the offense has done its job up to this point in the season (23.71 points per game), the defense has seen better seasons (26..71 points against per game). If Seattle wants to make a charge for the playoffs, more layout d’s and better pressure on the disc must happen on the field, starting Saturday.
With the entire west division only separated by a couple of games, anything could happen during the second half run at the 2018 AUDL playoffs. The race for Madison begins in this division with Seattle hosting the San Jose Spiders on Saturday at 6pm at Seattle Memorial Stadium. Shortly after the first pull will be the San Diego Growlers playing host to the San Francisco Flamethrowers at 6:30pm at Mission Bay. Rounding out the divisional games on Sunday will be the LA Aviators inviting the Flamethrowers over to their turf at Jerry Chabola Stadium.
By Parks Beson