Watched Hawks-FCA and DCE-API. Hawks game was "men versus boys". The looked like a well oiled machine despite it being the first game of season Won by 11 and though scored occasionally in unsettled situations, the mainly scored from top down, initiated from "x". Defense was outstanding to the mid-line and relentless chasing by short sticks, Both goalies played great. FCA is a good team but not as polished and prepared, Good upside apparent but some defensive lapses and midfield could not match up.
DCE is a very good team but not as dominant as Hawks. Won their game by 6, but it was closer (3 goal differential) for most of the game. More seasoned and prepared at this point than API, but scored a number of unsettled and a couple of "fluke" goals -- one off defender who went down, and another that put the API goalie down momentarily that trickled in. You can see API has some horses and easily could have scored a few more goals if shoot accuracy was somewhat better and defense looked decent; but lacked midfield depth and size. Credit to both DCE goalies who were outstanding. A couple of undersized API middies got run over by much larger DCE middies that resulted in point blank shots. Like FCA, API has a high ceiling and don't think there is much separating them and the likes of Crabs, RR, Madlax and 91. DCE and Hawks are another story though and both looked fabulous. HOCO should have a Super Elite division for DCE, Dukes/Koopers, Hawks, and invite three other "national teams" or super elites like Igloo, LIE and Edge (Canada) to play in it.
