Best Game:
East:
Washington DC Current 18
Boston Whitecaps 17
West:
Seattle Rainmakers 21
San Francisco Dogfish 20
Again another tough pick even in the Western Conference, the play in 2014 has progressed massively since last season. Unfortunately a majority of all of the West Coast games has had the wind as a major factor. In a game that was a rematch of last season's Western Conference Championship Seattle was on top 19-16 with a couple minutes left to go. The Dogfish not only scored but recorded two breaks to tie the game and send it to overtime. This game was not a clean and precise as the Boston-DC game, due to the wind there was a cluster of throwaways and drops by both teams. In the end it was still a fantastic game that had huge implications on the rest of the season. (Sorry for the technical problems with the replay)
East:
Alan Kolick (DC Current) Week 2
Not the normal guy you would expect to have the best performance, especially when he is in the star powered Eastern Conference, but if you look at the stats it all makes since. Alan Kolick was literally perfect when the DC Current needed him to be, in the home game against the Boston Whitecaps, Kolick was 56 for all of his 56 throws. Not a single throw was D'd, dropped, too floaty, they were all perfect. If any one of these passes hit the ground, Boston probably would have gotten the victory that weekend. On top of that he added two scores and five assists.
Donnie Clark (Seattle Rainmakers) Week 5
If you have been following the MLU this season this should come as no surprise to you. Despite the 29-23 loss to the Vancouver Nighthawks, Clark broke the MLU single game point record with 14 points. He also broke the most goals in a game record with 12. Like stated before this was in a loss to Vancouver, but Donnie Clark has been a top the leader-board all year long and is a strong favorite for Western Conference MVP, especially if his team makes the playoffs.
MVP:
East:
Peter Prial (DC Current) 27 points, 16 goals, 11 assists, 103/111 throws, 6 D's
Peter Prial has done it all for the DC Current, he scores, he can throw, and he also plays defense. Prial, primarily on DC's O-line, from time-to-time plays on the D-line (mainly when DC needs their "kill line") and when he is on he makes plays. He has one of the highest +/- differential in the league with a +57 and has only two drops on the season. Its hard to argue that he has not been the biggest factor in the East, moving from Boston to DC, because he is still undefeated in MLU play because he missed the loss against Boston. That's right his stats are this high in only playing five games.
Donnie Clark (Seattle Rainmakers) 36 points, 30 goals, 6 assists, 35/39 throws, 6 D's
Some could make the argument that he is only the MVP because of his Week 5, actually he is the MVP with his Week 5 performance. Each and every week he has been on top of the Rainmakers stats sheets, making key scores, and playing a ton of points. In fact if you take away his 12 goal record breaking performance and put in his season average, he would still lead the league in goals. This is his first year in the MLU and he is taking the Western Conference by storm. His team is on top of the conference and favorites, right now, to win the West.
Rookie of the Year:
East:
Matthew Esser (Philadelphia Spinners)
I know he is not new to pro ultimate, but he is new to the MLU which is a different style than the AUDL. He is a constant threat when he is on the field for Philadelphia, he has a total of 24 points (14 goals, 10 assists), and throwing at a 78/80 percentage. He does everything, playing more D points than O points recording 5 D's and absolutely no drops on the season. Playing on a team that is currently last in the East, Esser is still having an impact. If the team were to turn it around this year, they would have Esser to thank.
Brendan Wong (Vancouver Nighthawks)
One of the quietest players in the league right now. Week after week Wong has been at the top of the MLU's stats sheet with 33 points, 23 of them being goals and 10 assists. He has had difficulty throwing but after the wind that is happening in the West completing 53 of 59 throws is pretty good. The Nighthawks are +38 when Wong is on the field playing primarily on offense. These stats are in only the five games the Nighthawks have played but yet he will continue to rack up the points.
East:
Keven Moldenhauer (DC Current)
In 2013 Keven Moldenhauer was a "player-coach", in 2014 he accepted the full head coaching responsibilities and it has shown on the field. The Current are the only team to have improved so far in 2014 based on their 2013 record. Last year DC was 4-6 and made the Eastern Conference Championship, this year they are 5-1 and leading the East by two games. They were the first team to defeat Boston ever, and is undefeated this season at home. No team seems to be able to stop them before the playoffs and look for DC to finish the season 9-1 or 8-2 at the end of the year.
Danny Quarrell & Michael Knapp (Portland Stags)
One of the two coaching duos in the Western Conference, while faced criticism at first, appears to be working in Portland. Last year Portland when 1-9 winning only one game the entire year. This year they were the last undefeated team in the league, and stand at 3-1 with their only loss to the Seattle Rainmakers 25-23. Playoffs are not guaranteed for this team because they have a lot of work left to do; but when you can reach the mid point of the season and already say this year was a success for the team, you have to attribute it to Quarrell and Knapp.
Honorable Mentions:
Best Game:
East:
Philadelphia Spinners 26
Boston Whitecaps 25
West:
Portland Stags 18
San Francisco Dogfish 16
Best-Single Game Performance:
West:
Evan Boucher (San Francisco Dogfish) Week 2; three scores, four assists
MVP:
East:
Jeff Graham (Boston Whitecaps) 28 points, 18 goals, 10 assists, 117/121 throws, 2 D's
Alan Kolick (DC Current) 28 points, 9 goals, 19 assists, 255/265 throws, 1 D
West:
Brendan Wong (Vancouver Nighthawks) 33 points, 23 goals, 10 assists, 53/59 throws, 1 D
Daniel Trytiak (Seattle Rainmakers) 32 points, 13 goals, 19 assists, 99/116 throws, 2 D's
Playoff Favorites:
East:
Surprisingly enough this look eerily similar to last season, except with the Whitecaps leading the conference. However DC is not as dominating as Boston. I do believe that DC will hold on a clinch the #1 seed for the playoffs, but Boston is going to give them a run for their money. The Whitecaps still believe they are the superior team and if DC were to lose a game or two they would be right there. Also watch out for the Philadelphia Spinners for the remainder of the season, they have been close in every game this season and are on the verge of putting it all together.
#1 Seed: DC Current
#2 Seed: Boston Whitecaps
West:
The West is a whole lot clearer that it has been at any point in this season, but due to scheduling each team has played a different number of games (Seattle 6, Portland 4, Vancouver 5, San Francisco 7). It has been a great story watching Portland do what they have been doing this season but they will have to fight and claw the rest of the way with Vancouver and San Francisco on their heels. Seattle seems to be in control of the conference, with two wins that will clinch a playoff spot for them. The preseason favorites Nighthawks are struggling to find their identity blowing out teams one week and losing by a huge margin another. San Francisco will cause some problems the rest of the way trying to prove that they are better than they played this season, having to win out and hope for some luck to make the playoffs.
#1 Seed: Seattle Rainmakers
#2 Seed: Vancouver Nighthawks
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