What a weekend of great games! Both semi-final series' are now fittingly tied and will need a third game to decide both series'.

In Saturday's early game, the Omegas got off to a 2-0 lead, but the Flyers tied it up when Kev Karelesn scored his second goal of the game halfway through the third period. A "flukey" goal scored by Matt VanMarum off the back of the Omegas' goalie with 6:01 left in the third stood up as the game-winner. Matt Kreeft sealed the deal with an empty netter and the Flyers won the game 4-2. Kev Karelsen was the Player of the Game by scoring two goals and assisting on both of the Flyers' other goals.

The later game saw a very tight "see-saw" type of game that eventually led to the Crusaders evening the series with a 4-3 win over the Hawks. The hot sick of Dave VanOostveen struck first for the Hawks early in the second period. Even though he had one eye basically swollen shut from an injury the previous night, Pete Greydanus of the Crusaders was still able to find the net with a great shot from the point to tie it up 1-1. The Hawks took the lead back again early in the third when Doug Boelens scored on a break-away. However, the lead was short lived, because Matt DeBoer and Cam DeBoer scored two quick goals and gave the Crusaders the lead for the first time in the series. Rob Nutma scored to tie it up again 3-3 on a Hawks' five on three power-play with 8:11 left in the third. The game looked like it was going to go to overtime until Jordan DeBoer scored the game winner with 2:01 left in the third. For his late game heroics, Jordan earns the Player of the Game honours.

Lance Ross of the Omegas was handed a "10 minute" misconduct in game 1. This is the first "10 minute" misconduct for Lance this season, so he is okay to play in game 2 tonight.

In the early game, the first place Omegas won game 1 of the semi-finals by beating the Flyers 6-3. Perrin Berg and Mark Zylstra each scored two goals for the Omegas, while Mark added an assist. Mark earns himself the Player of the Game honours. Matt Zylstra got three assists. Sid Karelsen got a goal and an assist in the Flyers' loss.

The later game saw the Hawks win game 1 of the other semi-final series by beating the Crusaders 4-3. The Hawks got off to a 3-0 lead when Ryan Nutma scored early in the second period. This was after the Player of the Game, Dave VanOostveen scored twice in the first period. With just over five minutes left in the third period, the Crusaders came back and tied it up at 3-3. The Hawks spoiled the Crusaders' comeback when Kyle Huizinga scored with 3:31 left in the third period, which held up as the game winner.

The Cougars ended their season on a positive note by upsetting the top seeded Omegas by beating them 6-5 in Overtime. Brad Sipkens scored two goals and got an assist in the Cougars' win, while Dave Vangorkum scored the overtime goal.

The middle game between the Hawks and the Flyers was the only game of the night that meant something in the standings. The Hawks came out on top by winning the game 4-2. Rob Nutma scored twice, including the game winner with 2:21 to go in the third period. Rob also got an assist. He is one of the co-winners of Player of the Week. With this victory, the Hawks were able to hold on to third place in the standings.

The late game saw the Stars looking to end their season with a win. They got off to a great start by going up 3-0 in the first period, but that's when the lights went out ..... literally. The Crusaders came back to score five goals in the second period on their way to a 9-6 victory. Mike Wierenga scored a hat-trick for the Stars, while Duncan Vanderwal did the same for the Crusaders. Duncan also got two assists and is this week's other co-winner of Player of the Week. Jordan DeBoer scored twice. Steve DeBoer and Andrew Melville each got three assists.

On Thursday, March 11 the team reps met for the pre-playoff meeting. Here's a few tidbits from that meeting:

Nick Vanderwal of the Crusaders and Matt VanMarum of the Flyers were both approved to play in the playoffs despite not having the minimum eight games. The reason for both of these players was because they had injuries that did not allow them to play for most of the season.

Darryl Poort of the Flyers was approved to return to play now that he has served a suspension of five games.

The Crusaders and Hawks will play the later game (8:30pm) on Saturday, March 20 because some of the Crusaders' players will be in a tournament earlier.