The round of three elevated four teams to the semi-finals that were peaking at the right time, as both semi-final matches came down to the wire with pulled goalies helping to determine the outcome, with that outcome very much in doubt until the end.

Yellow finished the regular season tied three ways for 2nd place, and tie breakers left them in the 4th seed with the toughest road forward of the bunch. They are the only team that went 3-0-0 in the round of three with wins over Purple, Orange, and Neon, securing the top seed in the semi-final match.

Royal finished the regular season in 6th place and facing two teams seeded ahead of them in the round of three, had an uphill battle in front of them. After opening the round with a loss against Green, they were able to secure wins against Black and Teal to reach the 4th and final seed in the semi-finals, against Yellow.

Royal took a lead into the closing moments of their game with Yellow, where Yellow was able to tie the game with the extra skater. In the extra period, Yellow was able to complete the comeback, win 4-3, and advance to defend their championship in the finals.

Red spent much of the regular season in 1st place, only to finish in the same three way tie for 2nd place with Yellow after a late season slide. With tiebreakers, they got the 2nd seed and they opened the round of three with a tough fought 7-7 tie against Teal, before returning to their winning ways against Silver and Black, locking up the 2nd seed in the semi-final match.

Green finished the regular season in 1st place, matching them up with three teams they finished 2-0 against in the regular season, favored to maintain that seed into the semi-finals. After wins against Royal and Neon, Purple came to play and won, knocking Green down to what would end up being the 3rd seed in the semi-final match.

Green had a one goal lead in the closing minute of the game while Red was applying constant pressure with the aid of an extra skater. After a few pressure relieving icing attempts went wide of the net, one found its way and secured Green’s spot in the finals with a 4-2 victory.

This weekend’s games, 3/25, will open with the consolation game between Red and Royal at 5:00 PM. After the consolation game, the finals will feature Yellow and Green, expected to start about 6:00 PM. This game will go as many periods as necessary to crown an AOTHA 2017/2018 champion, and is sure to delight the mass crowds expected. Whether playing in these games or not, there is league ice afterwards available for open hockey, so come early to watch, and stay for the ice.