Post by marinersmedia on May 10, 2010 13:25:00 GMT -5
Baltimore Set to Face Fayetteville for Third Time, Playoff Picture Takes Shape
BALTIMORE, MD (May 10, 2010) – As the Baltimore Mariners prepare to face the Fayetteville Guard for the third time this season, Thursday night at 7:00 PM at Fayetteville’s Crown Coliseum, they lead the list of title contenders in what is shaping up as a competitive playoff race.
With the top three teams in the American Indoor Football Association’s (AIFA) East Conference earning playoff bids, currently six of the conference’s seven teams are within two and a half games of a playoff spot; with most teams having six games left on their schedule.
Leading the pack are the Mariners with their 8-0 record. Simply put, if the Mariners win four of their final six games they will clinch the conference title and first round bye. There are also multiple scenarios that would enable them to clinch a playoff berth and regular season title sooner.
Baltimore has two away games remaining on their May schedule (this week’s game in Fayetteville and a game at Richmond on May 29th) and are home for three of four games in June. To add insult to injury for the Mariners’ East Conference rivals, Baltimore’s remaining opponents have won .375 percent of their games.
The good news for the Harrisburg Stampede (6-2) is their remaining opponents have the lowest winning percentage of East Conference contenders (.346). The bad news for the second place Stampede is after going 0-2 against the Mariners; Baltimore now holds the tie-breaker against the Harrisburg. This forces Harrisburg to total three more wins than Baltimore the rest of the way to take the East Conference title.
Harrisburg has already defeated the third place Reading Express (5-4) once this season and a key match-up looms large May 22nd in Harrisburg against the Express. Harrisburg also has already defeated the third place Erie Storm (4-4) three times.
The defending AIFA champions, the Express, currently hold the third and final playoff spot and trail Baltimore by 3 ½ games with just five games left on their schedule. Reading will face the Mariners in the regular season final for both on June 26th at 1st Mariner Arena.
The Storm had won three in a row before falling this past weekend to the Stampede 54-45. Despite their three losses to Harrisburg, Erie sits just a ½ game of out the third playoff spot and won the season series against the third place Express two games to one.
Another team that continues to remain in the mix is the expansion Richmond Raiders. With six games left on their schedule they are just 1 ½ games out of third place. They have, however, already lost the season series to Erie two games to none and have lost both match-ups to Reading. They also have a tough remaining schedule (opponents record: 27-21) with one more match-up against Reading, two games against the Stampede, and their game against Baltimore on May 29th.
Despite their woes to date, including two drubbings (59-0 and 91-19) at the hands of the Mariners, the Guard (2-6) are 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot with six games left on their schedule. The Guard does play four of their remaining six games at home, but have the toughest remaining schedule of the playoff contenders (opponents’ have a combined record of 30-19) with games against the Mariners, two against the Storm, and contests against Harrisburg, Reading, and Richmond.
The only East team which appears to be completely out of contention are the New Jersey Revolution (0-7), but they proved they still have a lot of fight left in them as they lost a heartbreaker to the Reading Express this past weekend 71-69. They could still make an impact in the East race as they face Erie and Harrisburg twice each and have single games against Baltimore, Reading, and Richmond.
Despite the odds being stacked in their favor, as Mariners Head Coach Chris Simpson noted in his Coach’s Corner this week, “We haven’t won anything yet. Yes, we have eight victories versus no defeats. Yes, the fans are excited about our team and some of the media are starting to cover us. But, we haven’t won anything yet.” So, despite their 8-0 record the Mariners have games to win to click off their pecking order of a playoff berth, first round bye, conference championship, and AIFA title. They hope that first win comes this week against Fayetteville.
For more information about the Baltimore Mariners go to www.baltimoremariners.com.
BALTIMORE, MD (May 10, 2010) – As the Baltimore Mariners prepare to face the Fayetteville Guard for the third time this season, Thursday night at 7:00 PM at Fayetteville’s Crown Coliseum, they lead the list of title contenders in what is shaping up as a competitive playoff race.
With the top three teams in the American Indoor Football Association’s (AIFA) East Conference earning playoff bids, currently six of the conference’s seven teams are within two and a half games of a playoff spot; with most teams having six games left on their schedule.
Leading the pack are the Mariners with their 8-0 record. Simply put, if the Mariners win four of their final six games they will clinch the conference title and first round bye. There are also multiple scenarios that would enable them to clinch a playoff berth and regular season title sooner.
Baltimore has two away games remaining on their May schedule (this week’s game in Fayetteville and a game at Richmond on May 29th) and are home for three of four games in June. To add insult to injury for the Mariners’ East Conference rivals, Baltimore’s remaining opponents have won .375 percent of their games.
The good news for the Harrisburg Stampede (6-2) is their remaining opponents have the lowest winning percentage of East Conference contenders (.346). The bad news for the second place Stampede is after going 0-2 against the Mariners; Baltimore now holds the tie-breaker against the Harrisburg. This forces Harrisburg to total three more wins than Baltimore the rest of the way to take the East Conference title.
Harrisburg has already defeated the third place Reading Express (5-4) once this season and a key match-up looms large May 22nd in Harrisburg against the Express. Harrisburg also has already defeated the third place Erie Storm (4-4) three times.
The defending AIFA champions, the Express, currently hold the third and final playoff spot and trail Baltimore by 3 ½ games with just five games left on their schedule. Reading will face the Mariners in the regular season final for both on June 26th at 1st Mariner Arena.
The Storm had won three in a row before falling this past weekend to the Stampede 54-45. Despite their three losses to Harrisburg, Erie sits just a ½ game of out the third playoff spot and won the season series against the third place Express two games to one.
Another team that continues to remain in the mix is the expansion Richmond Raiders. With six games left on their schedule they are just 1 ½ games out of third place. They have, however, already lost the season series to Erie two games to none and have lost both match-ups to Reading. They also have a tough remaining schedule (opponents record: 27-21) with one more match-up against Reading, two games against the Stampede, and their game against Baltimore on May 29th.
Despite their woes to date, including two drubbings (59-0 and 91-19) at the hands of the Mariners, the Guard (2-6) are 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot with six games left on their schedule. The Guard does play four of their remaining six games at home, but have the toughest remaining schedule of the playoff contenders (opponents’ have a combined record of 30-19) with games against the Mariners, two against the Storm, and contests against Harrisburg, Reading, and Richmond.
The only East team which appears to be completely out of contention are the New Jersey Revolution (0-7), but they proved they still have a lot of fight left in them as they lost a heartbreaker to the Reading Express this past weekend 71-69. They could still make an impact in the East race as they face Erie and Harrisburg twice each and have single games against Baltimore, Reading, and Richmond.
Despite the odds being stacked in their favor, as Mariners Head Coach Chris Simpson noted in his Coach’s Corner this week, “We haven’t won anything yet. Yes, we have eight victories versus no defeats. Yes, the fans are excited about our team and some of the media are starting to cover us. But, we haven’t won anything yet.” So, despite their 8-0 record the Mariners have games to win to click off their pecking order of a playoff berth, first round bye, conference championship, and AIFA title. They hope that first win comes this week against Fayetteville.
For more information about the Baltimore Mariners go to www.baltimoremariners.com.
