(DC Diplomats celebrate with their 1st Division National Championship. Can they move up to Elite?)
(NOTE: We’re currently having some technical difficulties with the player list; leading scorers and individual stats will return at a later date)
Last month saw three D1 Matchdays, two Women’s Matchdays, 2 D2 Matchdays, and a team punch their ticket to the Elite Division to Myrtle Beach. A lot of action occurred in the NTHL, and there’s plenty to recap.
White Plains
With 15 games to play over a weekend, games can tilt in the direction of any team. This past 3/4 February, all three divisions went the way of New York City Team Handball. NYC3 completed a double sweep in D2, winning its Saturday doubleheader over BTH2, and it’s Sunday doubleheader over Long Island Tigers. NYC’s women got their 1st big wins of the season, defeating previously undefeated Boston Team Handball and DC Diplomats. A second win over Boston later this month, and NYC Women would have the inside route for the league title. NYC’s men team? A familiar phrase to them: 2 Games, 2 Wins.
Boston
Following a wonderful youth clinic held by Boston Team Handball, their men and women had a mission for the weekend; the men needed to finish with six wins to qualify for Elite. The women needed to get their win back by NYC to have a shot of winning the league.
Complicating the matter for BTH Men? A new challenger joined the NTHL:
Many thanks to Ontario for joining us this season, especially as a last-minute replacement. The Canadians played very hard, defeating Army WPG and losing to now-league champions NYC 20-19. Boston also had a one goal defeat to NYC (15-14) on the day, and needed to defeat Ontario to get their 6th win and their Elite Division automatic bid.
A 22-13 result later, and Boston booked their tickets to Myrtle Beach.
BTH women played incredibly hard, but ultimately NYC’s defense was too much. BTH finishes their season at 8-2 (16 points) and await their final position. NYC (7-0, 14 points) will have three games to come in Millersville, MD to win the NTHL title.
Charlottesville, VA
A modified matchday due to a schedule issue, the big focus on D1 was DC Diplomats vs UVA. With a doubleheader on tap, the results were vitally important to determining which team had an edge on challenging Army West Point Black for the other Elite spot.
Game 1? DCD wins by two.
Game 2? Tie.
DCD left Charlottesville with their destiny in their own hands; if they win out at home on 1 Apr, they are going to Elite. Thanks to the tie, however, Army WPB has their destiny in the own hands as well; the DCD/WPB game on 1 Apr could be the most important game of the season.
Oh, and if either team slips up? A UVA sweep complicates the matter significantly.
