Round Three Results (27 Jun 2006)
The Semifinals of this year's Altador Cup tournament have come to an end, and so has Roo Island's stunning streak of victories. To the surprise of many, Darigan defender Tormo "The Terror" Frein managed to hold his own in a one-on-one match-up against Roo Island's star forward Lilo Blumario, allowing only a single goal and an assist. On the other hand, the Citadel's Layton Vickles had another huge game, carrying the Darigan offense with a flurry of shots on goal that netminder Clutch Billaban was simply unable to consistently stop. Clutch, who'd lived up to his name during the tournament's first few rounds, finally reverted to his old soft-goal allowing ways, giving up far too many gimmies for the rest of the Roo Island offence to keep pace.
In the Altador Cup's championship game, the Darigan Citadel will be squaring off against the Haunted Woods, who had little trouble putting the squeeze on Krawk Island's offence. While Garven Hale gave a valiant effort in front of the net for Krawk Island, the handful of goals that he gave up were more than his teammates could muster against the suffocating defence of the Haunted Woods.
So then, both of the Semifinals' underdogs got quite a rude awakening in the next to last round, leaving the talented, well-rounded Darigan squad to face off against the Haunted Woods' defensive specialists. If one is to believe the old adage that "defence wins championships," then the smart money would have to be with the Yooyuballers from the Haunted Woods. Don't forget, though, that Darigan features more than just a potent offense ? they also enter the championship match boasting a pretty fair goalie and the hottest defender in the game right now. One thing's for certain ? this title game promises to be a match for the ages!