Category Season news

OK – the 2012 season is done, with a lot fewer rescheduled games than last year, which was very wet and then very hot. 2012 was also hot, but we had water breaks half-way through halves 🙂

The Waterdown Bulldogs, Ancaster Arsenal, and Hamilton Thunder ended their league-leading seasons in dramatic fashion. Already ahead by a few points going into the last week and a half, the Dogs pulled off two victories (Wentworth FC and Panthers). Ancaster beat Dundas and Panthers – and elected to call their last game vs. Hawks a 0-0 draw as neither team was going to field a team. Thunder lost to Cambridge and tied York … they will now play Cambridge in the first round and will be looking for some payback!

In just as dramatic fashion, Rockton beat Brant County FC 2-1 in the last game of the season t...

Here are the first-round playoff games:

1 Waterdown Bulldogs v 8 Rockton Blazers
Redeemer Wed Aug 15 7pm 3-0 Bulldogs
New City Wed Aug 22 7pm 5-3 Bulldogs

2 Ancaster Arsenal v 7 Burlington Hawks
New City Wed Aug 15 7pm 3-2 Ancaster
Redeemer Fri Aug 17 9pm 4-3 Ancaster

3 Hamilton Thunder v 6 Cambridge Cobras
Redeemer Wed Aug 15 9pm 2-2, Cambridge wins on PKs
Rogers Field Mon Aug 20 9pm 0-0, Cambridge wins on PKs

4 Dundas Assault v 5 York
Redeemer Tue Aug 14 9pm 6-3 Dundas
Joe Sams Thur Aug 16 2-1 Dundas

We’re 90% of the way through the season now. Top 7 playoff spots are decided: on Thursday Rockton plays Brant County FC to decide the 8th. Brant County have had a strong second half of the season, winning five games in their eleven most recent.

Last week Ancaster was involved in two games that helped determine the league leaders. Unfortunately for them they may have had an “off” week, tieing Thunder and then losing to the Bulldogs. Here are the standings then:

First place does appear to be reachable for the Thunder .. but all the Bulldogs need is a win vs. Wentworth FC or Panthers to shut the door.

Second place through fifth is still very much in the air!

I haven’t mentioned the scoring race lately, in part because Jordan Kerkhof (Bulldogs) is doing his best to keep it a 1-horse race...

Just want to keep everyone aware of the following:

Aug 6-10 ‘Makeup’ week for rescheduled regular season games
Saturday Aug 11 Tentative league meeting
Aug 13-17, 20-24 Quarter-finals (round of 8)
Aug 27-31, Sep 3-7 Semi-finals (round of 4)
Sat Sep 15, 1:30pm Final – New City (Kerns Rd, Burlington)

First round playoff dates will be set at the league meeting.

Wow, what a low-scoring week! Only 15 goals in 8 games – the previous ‘record’ was 17 goals in 8 games (June 18-22). Contributing to the goal drought were two 0-0 games at Redeemer on Wednesday.

York picked up two wins this week, pushing them from 5th to 4th…Dundas were in 3rd and now in 5th – and Ancaster looks like they still could get back to top in the league.

On Tuesday Thunder and Ancaster meet for a big matchup .. and then on Thursday Ancaster play Bulldogs. Big week!

Only 17 games to go in two weeks really before the regular season draws to a close, and it looks like it will be a battle to the end to determine the top spot, the playoff rankings, and which team squeaks into 8th spot. BCFC and Rockton are making this interesting!

In other news, there still have been ZERO late game r...

The season is more than 2/3rds finished already! Actually, for some teams there are only three or four games left.

The last two weeks have seen a whole lot of dry, hot soccer – and although there weren’t a lot of big upsets (Hawks beating Thunder 1-0 a notable exception) there continues to be a big drive towards good playoff spots as we get closer and closer.

Looks like an extremely tight 4-way race for top in the league (notice Ancaster has two games in hand). Some big matchups will be Ancaster v Thunder on July 24th and Ancaster v Bulldogs two days later on Thur July 26th! Ancaster plays Dundas on July 31st – clearly although they have two games in hand they have a tough end of the year!

On the other side of the playoff race, it looks like York, Cambridge, and Hawks will fit into 5th-7t...

We’re right in the middle of things now…only five full weeks left in the season before a make-up week just before playoffs start. It’s the Bulldogs who appear to have a really good chance at moving up a couple spots in the next few weeks, as they get their games in – they play Tue and Thur this week and next.

Top 5 spots look to be (relatively!) secure heading towards the playoffs, although it’s still a few weeks before anyone starts clinching a spot. What looks to be a more interesting race is the fight between the next group of five teams (Hawks, Cobras, Wenthworth, Rockton, and BCFC) for the remaining three playoff spots.

In that vein, there are a few important games this week: Wedn Rockton and Wentworth meet at New City, and the Bulldogs help a little bit in deciding who grabs the thr...

This week`s games were promised to reveal who should be well on their way to the playoffs and who is going to be fighting for contention … and they delivered!

Thunder with 21 points in 8 games are now ahead of Bulldogs and Ancaster, both at 18 points .. but with a game in hand to catch back up.

Wenthworth FC, Burlington Hawks, and Cambridge Cobras sit at 10 points; York and Dundas in between these two groups in 4th and 5th. Rockton currently (still) on the outside looking in – three of their next four games are again York, Cambridge and Wentworth FC and should all be incredibly important.

Thanks to a passel of goals this week, Jordan Kerkoff is now at 14 goals – can anyone catch him now?

A three-way tie for shutouts now (3); Thunder, Ancaster, Dundas and Wentworth FC vieing for top defen...

Yeah, I realize we’re halfway through week 6 already … oops!

Ancaster had another great week, beating Wentworth FC and York to pull ahead of the Bulldogs (who beat Rockton) and the Thunder (who beat the Panthers) for sole possession of first place in the season.

Three groups are starting to emerge – top 4, a bunch in the middle jockeying for playoff position, and a few teams fighting for a few points.

Week 6 promises to be a good one! There are a whole bunch of games between the teams mid-pack that should have some bearing on how standings are going to look for the rest of the season.

Some huge surprises this season so far! Rockton needs to find a way to start winning games pretty quick, and the Bulldogs have four guys in the top 10 scorers!

Cards are WAY down from previous years – keep it...

There were only seven games this week, and only 20 goals (there were 37 goals in seven games last week!). In contrast to three games with seven goals scored, the highest scoring game this week was a more respectable five.

Tim Frankiw and Jordan Kerkhof both notched a goal to lead the ‘Dogs to a 3-2 win in a crucial Thursday game against Dundas. That puts them at the lead for the scoring race, and also pushes the ‘Dogs to the top of the standings (now a three-way tie with four wins and a loss; up there are the Bulldogs, the Arsenal, and the Thunder).

Cambridge and York have only played three games so far; as they play their home games on Monday and Friday, they’ll be playing ‘catch up’ all season to get their 18 games in.

Games at Redeemer were played inside the dome in the month of May; ...

In order to avoid any confusion, here are the fields where our games at Joe Sams will be this season.

Waterdown Bulldogs Dundas Assault May 31 9:00 – L8
Hamilton Thunder Hamilton Panthers Jun 7 9:00 – L1
Wentworth FC Dundas Assault Jun 21 9:00 – L1
Waterdown Bulldogs Ancaster Arsenal Jun 28 9:00 – L8
Waterdown Bulldogs Burlington Hawks July 5 9:00 – L2
Waterdown Bulldogs Brant County FC July 12 9:00 – L1
Hamilton Panthers Hamilton Thunder July 19 7:00 – L1
Brant County FC Ancaster Arsenal July 19 9:00 – L1
Burlington Hawks Cambridge Cobras July 26 7:00 – L1
Brant County FC Hamilton Panthers July 26 9:00 – L1
Rockton Blazers Brant County FC Aug 2 9:00 – L2

Fields L1 and L2 are the fenced fields nearest 5th Concession (far corner of the park) … field L8 is closer ...

Over the first three weeks of the year, a total of 84 goals have been scored in only 17 games – that’s an average of five goals a game!

Somewhat amazingly, having a close look at the scores also reveals that there have been nine shutouts already this season; three goaltenders are tied at two apiece for the lead.

Currently leading the league is Ancaster Arsenal, with a 3-0 record. This week they’ll play Dundas (fourth place in the league) as well as Rockton (who are still hunting for their first win of the season) – stay posted for results!

The scoring race is also heating up already, with a total of five players from the Waterdown Bulldogs and Dundas Assault leading the pack with six (two-way tie) and four (three-way tie) goals apiece. Lots of goals to come yet!

Players, coaches, and f...

After a great season-opening night on Wednesday May 9th, the first full week of games starts up on Tuesday, with a game in Burlington. A total of seven games are scheduled this week, which means that everyone has at least one game. The Bulldogs will play the season’s first two-games-in-two-nights scenario – let’s see how they’re able to do against two competitive teams.

It’s looking like a beautiful, warm week – make sure to keep hydrated!

Less than a week to go before the start of the 2012 season!

Three games are being played on ‘opening’ night, including some good matchups at both New City and Redeemer. See you there!

League meetings are scheduled as follows:

Saturday, March 10th – 10am-12noon @ Connon Nurseries NVK at 1168 Sodom Road. Registration packages due at or before this meeting: updated player books, final roster, and $1,000 dues.

Wednesday April 25th – 7:30pm @ Connon Nurseries NVK at 1168 Sodom Road. Draft schedule, agenda, and possible constitution proposals to be emailed prior to meeting. All teams must attend.

The championship game will be played on Saturday September 24th at Sackville Hill Park at 2:00 in the afternoon.

Mark this date on your calendar, and come out to support the HMICSL and the Rockton Blazers and/or the Waterdown Bulldogs, as they compete in what is sure to be an excellent game.

2:00 pm Kick-off

Map of Game Location: http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=,,&daddr=43.225755430637655,-79.86185073852539

#1. Rockton Blazers vs. #8 Burlington Hawks
#2. Ancaster Arsenal vs. #7 Hamilton Thunder
#3. Wentworth FC vs. #6 York
#4. Dundas Assault vs. #5 Waterdown Bulldogs

Note: tie-breakers are 1) head-to-head, 2) plus/minus (GF – GA): Rockton beat Ancaster twice.