Hey all, the 1972 season post is coming, I was halfway through writing it when Google randomly crashed (It's been doing this ever since I got it, still have no idea why it does it) I'm gonna have to redo the writeup, hopefully I'll have that up soon.

1971 NAML Season
Week 1 Scores:
Cleveland 32-37 Philadelphia
Miami 43-40 New York
Toronto 33-47 Montreal
Washington 41-37 Boston
St. Louis 27-58 Michigan
Chicago 28-39 Houston
Los Angeles 29-40 Milwaukee
Minnesota 46-25 California 
Western Conference:
Pacific Division:

• The inaugural winner of the NAML’s Pacific Division were, to no one's surprise , the two-time defending champion Minnesota Walleye. As the case always seemed to be with them, their defense and goalkeeping were world-class almost all year long. Calvin Black continued being an ageless wonder, though there were definitely signs of him starting to slow down. However, a pleasant surprise for the Walleye up front was 16th overall pick Manuel Cox, who showed his high markball IQ several times throughout the year. Minnesota finished the year lower than they had the past two, but still a very good 15-9.
• Coming in second was also not much of a surprise, the Los Angeles Guardians. Oscar Madigan was a great improvement over his rookie season, being labelled as the game’s premier tackler by Los Angeles Media. However, the team lacked any other superstar, causing them to struggle at times. In the end though, the Guardians gave the Walleye a run for their money, finishing just 1 point back, at 14-9-1. This clinched them the western wild card spot, setting up a date with the Walleye.
• Coming in third were the California Quails, who had their most consistent season yet. Forward Gary Ayers scored 64 goals and defender Bert Vaughan had a breakout year. The two also played very well under pressure, helping the Quails get a win in Milwaukee, one of only two teams to do so. California finished at 9-13-2.
• Just one point worse than California were their expansion brothers, the Houston Comet. They too also had their best year yet, even if they finished last in the division. Bill Nielson was a force at the backend, but 6th overall pick Joseph Erdem had a surprisingly great rookie year as a wing forward, leading the team in goals and total points. The Comet finished at 10-14, the first time they had reached double-digit wins.

• Absolutely running away with the Central Division were the Milwaukee Dragons, who broke a franchise record for wins in a season, with 18. Hugh Pettas, Joe Lapoers, and Gordon Horack earned rave reviews from analysts, as all three had career years. The Dragons also took advantage of their home field, only losing at Arnold Shannon Stadium twice all year, with both losses being by less than a goal. The Dragons finished at 18-5-1.
• Coming in second were the St. Louis Gatekeepers, despite having a record under .500. The ‘Keepers had a very uneventful year, with no outfield player of theirs being in the top 10 of any major statistic. However, goalkeeper Michael Hinton broke out of nowhere to become one of the league’s better goalies. He helped St. Louis stay in many games, but they couldn’t convert, and finished at 11-13.
• Coming in third were the Michigan Bandits, who were starting to get used to not being a powerhouse anymore. Jean-Baptiste Conneau, the highly-touted goalie selected by Michigan 2nd overall, struggled in the spotlight, and quickly fell out of favour to Garry Skene, who the Bandits selected at 6th. Hugh Westbrook, in what would likely be his last season, led the league in goals, with 72. Michigan finished at 10-13-1.
• Finishing last in the Central was a huge surprise, the Chicago Crusaders. Despite being predicted by many to grab the wild card spot, they fell and fell hard. Even Bud Mahoney, who was one of the most consistent players in markball, looked lost at times. Their talent helped them win games, but it was a dark year for Chicago, as they finished 9-15.

• Just like their 1954 expansion brothers Milwaukee, the Paulies broke their franchise record for wins in a year, with 19. It seemed like that from the very first game of the season, the Paulies were playing with something to prove. Nicolas Bartosh, despite being 39, still played out of his mind offensively, and their teamwork was off the charts good. Montreal finished at 19-5.
• Coming in second and grabbing the Eastern wild card were the Toronto Nationals. Francis Ashdam led the way, as the centre loved to join the offensive rush whenever he could. Matthew Attwater broke out offensively with 46 goals, with most of these coming in clutch moments. Toronto finished at 14-10.
• Coming in third were the Boston Wolfhounds, shocking many people, especially considering they lost their two best players to retirement in the offseason. While the offense struggled, the Hounds’ defense somehow got better, with a big part of this being rookie Henry Logan, a small but tough wingback. Boston finished at 12-12.
• Coming in last was definitely not a surprise, the New York Knights. Despite Philip Cook doing seemingly everything he could to kickstart the team, they still couldn’t get out of the basement. Many columnists reported he had asked for a trade, but he vehemently denied these rumours. New York finished at 7-16-1.

• Philadelphia was the first winner of the Atlantic division, handily winning despite losing 9 games. Rudolph Lussier had the best season of his career so far, and was rewarded with the Chester Harland Award for League MVP because of it. As well, Chris Olsen, Robert Stephens, and Leron McCleary caused opponents trouble all year, as each finished with over 30 goals. George Sovine was also a beast in net as always. The P’s finished at 15-9.
• Coming in second were Philly’s archrivals, the Washington Warriors. Even though they won every time they played the expansion teams, they were horrendous against the Northeast Division, only winning one out of 8 games. This anomaly caused to miss out on the wild card. Nevertheless, Jim Gardener kept showing why he was the best in the business. Having another spectacular year statistically. The Warriors finished at 12-10-2.
• The better of the two expansion teams were the Cleveland Foresters. The trade for Charles Jamison prior to the season appeared to be a great move, as he appeared more motivated than ever to help a new team get themselves going. Even though he had one of his best years, the rest of the team struggled, as Cleveland finished at 7-16-1.
• Finishing last overall and getting the “wooden spoon” were the Miami Tortugas. The team had few bright spots throughout the year, but first overall pick Louis Bonamie transitioned seamlessly from amateur to professional markball, and became the first rookie in NAML history to lead all defenseman in goalscoring, with 29. Many experts said that Bonamie had the potential to blossom into one of the all-time great offensive defenseman in the game. Miami finished at 5-18-1.

• The NAML instituted a wild card for the first time. The best non-division winner in each conference would play in week 1 of the playoffs, against the lesser division winner.
• The NAML introduced a coin toss at the start of games to select sides, breaking a year-old tradition of always having the home team select which end to kick from.
• Washington superstar Leo Gardenar set an NAML record as he kicked 5 goals in 6 minutes, an absolutely astonishing feat. This was part of 13 straight goals kicked by Washington in the game, as they defeated Michigan 59-44.
• Los Angeles appointed Toronto legend Lester Gros as their new head coach halfway through the year. It proved to be a good move, as LA won their first 6 games with him at the helm, helping them clinch the Western wild card spot.
• Houston forward Jeb Lloyd, known for wearing special athletic glasses while he played, lost them during a rush, causing him to wander aimlessly around the field until an umpire returned them to him.
• A game between Minnesota and Washington had the highest aggregate score in league history, with the two teams combining for 142 points. Washington won the affair 77-65.

Last edited by NoE38 (1/06/2020 6:46 pm)

Sorry for the inactivity, Exam season just finished, so I've had to focus on other things. Now that I've got time again, it's time to post the 1972 playoffs!

1972 NAML Playoffs

Round 1

(W2) Minnesota Walleye vs (WWC) Los Angeles Guardians
Alumni Field was loud and proud as the hometown Walleye ran onto the pitch to take on their divisional rival LA Guardians in the Western First Round game. Minnesota used the crowd to their advantage early on, getting numerous chances. However, only one shot go to the net, and it was an easy stop for Georg Wahlsten. Despite the pressure, it was the Guardians who struck first. Sloppy defense led to Brain Simpkins being sent on a breakaway, and just getting a shot past Edouard Wallace. However, on the very next rush, Minnesota tied the game off a deflection by Chris Garafalo. The next 5 minutes would be all Minnesota, as they controlled the ball. Despite the LA defense playing very well, the Walleye managed to get a goal and point from Moses Child to take a 9-4 lead. The quarter then had a turning point, where it was LA's turn to dominate the game. They took away the ball multiple times, and got several good looks at the net. Eventually, Thaddeus Fox and Simpkins both scored to retake the lead. Play died down near the end of the quarter, but Oscar Madigan managed to get a point before time expired. After 1, LA led 13-9. To start the second, LA continued to dominate possession, For the whole first half of the quarter, they limited the Walleye to only two shots on net, both of which were points by Garafalo. During this time, Fox scored his second and added a point, bring the lead up to 7. The Guardians would add another point, and then the Walleye finally seemed to get through. It all started with sloppy defense in LA's end, resulting in a decent shot from Garafalo. On the next rush, James Burler intercepted a Madigan pass and did the rest of the work, hitting a dribbler past Wahlsten to make it a one goal game. Minnesota would get more and more good chances, and they eventually would tie the game before the end of the half, as Child beautifully curled a shot into the top of the net. After 42 minutes of play, the two teams were knotted at 19.

While the first half was more calm and defensive, the second half was anything but. In the first two minutes of the third quarter, LA's Daniel Thorn and Minnesota's Burler exchanged goals, bringing the score to 23 apiece. Just four minutes later, Vern Carson and Cameron Wheeler did the same thing. Commentator Thomas Posick pointed out "You would think you were watching table tennis, not markball!" The two teams would continue back and forth, and for the third consecutive time in the game, the two teams would trade goals, with Madigan scoring for LA and Burler scoring his third for Minnesota. At the 14 minute mark of the quarter, First-year German midfielder Bela Ernst scored his first goal in 21 weeks, giving the Walleye their first lead since the first quarter. LA tried to respond, but the Walleye defense tightened and would not anything through. With under two minutes to go, and open ball came right to Simpkins, but his shot missed high from in tight, a rare feat considering the height of the net. This miss brought even more life to the Walleye, as Burler scored twice in the final minute, bringing his goal total to 5 through 3 quarters. In the fourth, the Guardians came out quick and got a goal from Daniel Thorn in the first minute to get within 7. Later on, Burler kicked his 6th and added a point to make it a three-possession game, Minnesota's largest of the game. LA answered quickly with another goal from Thorn, but Burler came back and kicked his 7th, tying the Minnesota franchise record for goals in a game. On the next possession, Wheeler scored his second to give the Walleye a 16-point lead. This killed any motivation LA had, as they only managed a point until the 5-minute mark, when Simpkins scored a consolation goal. Ernst kicked to late points, and Minnesota went on to win by a score of 63-46, much to the delight of the home fans. Minnesota's 44 second-half points became a franchise record for total points in a half.

(E2) Philadelphia Falcons vs (EWC) Toronto Nationals
The Philly Markball Park was rocking as the Falcons started their journey to a potential second straight Urquhart Cup appearance. The two teams started quickly, exchanging points in the first two minutes. at the 4-minute mark, the ageless James Jogi scored the game's first goal, and added a point right, putting Toronto up 5. On the very next possession, Chris Olsen scored Philly's first, making it a one-point game. After a period of dead play, Leandro Abbadelli gave Philly their first lead by converting a cross in tight. The game continued back and forth, and Toronto got the lead back via Jimmy Bjarnathan. In the final 5 minutes, Olsen had a great chance to take the lead back, but his shot was deflected behind by Alejandro Nishikawa for a point. Toronto would come back up the field, and Bjarnathan would rocket his second past George Sovine. Late in the quarter, Rudolph Lussier intentionally kicked a point from close in, and was seen quickly motioning his teammates to get their heads into the game. In the second, Lussier's point seemed to do the trick, as Robert Stephens and his brother Mitchell would both set up Olsen for easy goals early on, putting Philly up by 5. The P's would continue their offensive pressure, and would up getting another point and goal from Abbadelli to increase their lead to double digits. Lennie Strickland would score for Toronto, but the Falcons came right back in the next three minutes and put up two more past Nishikawa. After this, both team's defenses tightened up, and there would be no scoring in the final 8 minutes of the half. Philly led 32-18 at the intermission.

In the third, Philly continued playing well, as Abbadelli converted a cross from a tough angle to increase the lead to 18. 2 minutes later, Robert Stephens kicked a sneaky shot from just inside the arc that fooled Nishikawa, and Toronto was digging themselves into a deeper hole. All they could manage in the first ten minutes was a point from Jogi, which Philly answered 4 minutes later. After another Falcon point, Toronto finally started getting consistent good rushes. With 5 minutes to go, Abraham Tejeria scored the Stallions' first goal of the quarter, but it was still a long road back to making it a competitive game. The game entered a period with slow play and stopped rushes, though Sovine had to make a great diving save on Jogi. It looked like Philly would head into the final quarter with a 19-point lead, but a defensive error from Larry Licari led to an easy chip goal by Kelly Zins. After 3 quarter, Philly had a firm grasp on the game, but Toronto still wasn't out of it. Fans were expecting the fourth quarter to be full of action, but unfortunately, the only scoring in the first 9 minutes was a point by Olsen. Toronto would score a point of their own at the halfway mark of the quarter, but Philly was basically playing keepaway and not looking to add more points. With under 5 minutes to go, Abbadelli padded his stats by punching in a loose ball in front, making it 47-28. Toronto still wasn't giving up, Bjarnathan led a great rush, with several sweet passes. Eventually, he kicked a curling shot home, and kicked a point on the very next rush. Unfortunately for Toronto, that was the extent of their comeback. The game ended with the two teams exchanging points, and Philly erupted in cheer as the final whistle blew. The final score was 48-34 for the Falcons.


Semifinals

(W1) Milwaukee Dragons vs (W2) Minnesota Walleye
Arnold Shannon Stadium was ecstatic on game day, as the Dragons were looking to advance to their first Urquhart Cup in franchise history. Having recorded their best regular season, it was looking like a very real possibility. In a battle between the league's best offense and best defense, nobody was sure what to expect. The game started slow, with the first score occurring 3 minutes in, a point by Bill Forcier. 2 minutes later, Chris Burler, who had scored 7 goals in the first round, kicked one past Ty Davidson, giving the Walleye an early 5-0 lead. Milwaukee would control the ball for the next period of time, but couldn't get a single thing past the tight Minnesota defense. Hugh Pettas tried a shot from just outside the centre circle, but it was easily knocked away by Edouard Wallace. Not much else would happen until Forcier and Chris Garafalo each kicked points to make it 7-0. The Milwaukee crowd was practically silent, as they'd never experience a game like this in the regular season. With under 6 minutes to go, Milwaukee finally got some offense, as Joe Lapoers kicked points on two straight rushes. The Dragons were starting to get shots, and eventually Ben Nilos squeaked a shot past Wallace, getting the fans to their feet. Minnesota kicked a late point, and they led 8-6 after 1. The second quarter started off strong, with milwaukee getting an early point to make it a 1-point game again. 3 minutes later, Pettas deflected a dribbling ball past a helpless Wallace, giving the Dragons their first lead of the game. That would be the only goal of the quarter, as the only other score would be a Lapoers point with 8 minutes to play. The rest of the quarter saw some shots, but no real high-danger chances. At the intermission, the Dragons held a 12-8 lead, quite representative of the tight 42 minutes that had been played.

The third quarter finally saw the game open up offensively. 5 minutes in. Pettas wired a shot that missed just wide, good for a point. The ensuing rush saw the Dragons get the ball right back, and a shot by Jon Desjardins deflected off the foot of Calvin Black and high over Wallace, extending Milwaukee's lead to 9. Minnesota would then have their best period of possession of the game, getting through the defense and getting several shots away. Unfortunately for them, the only one that got past Davidson was a low dribbling shot by Burler. After yet another period of slow play, the final minutes of the quarter saw the pace rise quickly. Wallace deflected a Nilos shot wide for a point, then Burler scored his third on the ensuing counter-rush. With their lead now down to two, the Dragons picked up the pace. Pettas had another great chance, but his punch was saved and deflected for a point once again. However, the ensuing kickoff was intercepted by Desjardin, and he scored one of the prettier goals of the season by stutter-stepping Larry Farrel and then curling one past Wallace. This goal gave Milwaukee a 23-16 lead, which they held onto for the rest of the quarter. Now in do or die mode, the Walleye controlled possession to start the quarter. 3 minutes in, Garafalo rocketed a shot, but Davidson somehow got a hand to it, deflecting it for a point. 2 minutes later, a scramble in front led to a Forcier chip hitting the crossbar, and once again, Davidson deflected the ball out for a point. Soon after, Garafalo had another shot, but this time it was blocked and out past the pointline for yet another point. To rub salt in the wound, Milwaukee would later go the other way and Desjardins completed his hattrick by picking up a losse ball and burying it inside the right post. Both defense tightened up, but the Walleye were still determined to come back. Unfortunately, they couldn't solve Davidson, who stood tall. With under 5 minutes to play, another scramble in front led to Pettas punching one in, effectively sealing the deal. Burler scored his 4th of the game late, but that would be all Minnesota could muster. Pettas added another goal late, and Milwaukee was ecstatic as the final whistle blew. in their 19th season, the Dragons had finally made it to the biggest stage of markball.

(E1) Montreal Évêques vs (E2) Philadelphia Falcons
Stade Centre-Ville, like all the other stadiums, was also filled with cheer as the hometown Évêques took the field, ready to fight for a chance to win their first Urquhart Cup against the team that eliminated them the year before. With the fans at their back, Montreal got started early, kicking a point on their very first drive of the game. Soon after, Rorie Meaney scored a beautiful volley, putting the crowd on their feet. Despite the goal, Philly responded well, with a goal and point of their own, both from Mitchell Stephens. The game continued goign back and forth, and Nicolas Bartosh had two great chances, but both times, he missed just wide for points. The rest of the quarter saw many chances but the pointfest continued. George Sovine and his counterpart Chris Cordero weren't letting anything past the two middle posts. At the halfway mark of the quarter, the two teams traded points, then there was a period of slow play. In the final minutes, the teams had great chances to score goals, but Sovine and Cordero both make fantastic stops, deflecting the shots out for points. The crowd was starting to get fed up, and were chanting "Nous Voulons des buts" or "We want goals" in English. Just a minute into the second quarter, Olsen kicked a shot wide, Philly's fourth straight point. Finally, the goalless streak of 19 minutes was snapped as J.P. Frenebois rocketed a shot in from 30 feet out. Unfortunately for Montreal, that goal cured the Falcons' misfortunes as well. Chris Olsen was left alone in front, and shot the ball through Cordero's legs. This ignited the Falcons, who mostly controlled play for the next 7 minutes. During that time, Olsen kicked a point and another goal, putting Philly up by 5. Eventually, Montreal got the ball back, and a long shot by Bartosh was deflected high for a point. The two teams went back and forth, and the Paulies would eventually tie the game off a perfect chip shot from Frenebois, his second of the game. At the half, the score was all knotted up at 18.

The second half started out with a cautious pace, and neither team making any risky plays. The first score of the half came 3 minutes in,  when a wide-open Robert Stephens missed a curling shot wide. Montreal would control the pace at that point, and Frenebois would score his third straight goal, once again from 30 feet. On Montreal's next rush, a Bartosh shot was denied by Sovine. However, Leron McCleary turned the ball right back over to Bartosh, who made no mistake potting it home. On Montreal's next rush after that, Frenebois kicked a point, giving Montreal a two-goal lead. Philly would try out several rushes, but almost all of them were broken up by the great play of Montreal's midfield. There would be no score for 8 minutes, until Meaney deflected in a corner kick, bumping the Paulies' lead up to double-digits. Olsen scored a late point for Philly, and heading into the final quarter, the P's were down by 11. Similar to the start of the third quarter, the fourth quarter was played very cautiously by Montreal. However, this caution led to Olsen being left wide-open to rocket a shot off the post and in. The Paulies then mostly attempted to drain the clock, even with 13 minutes to play. The two teams traded points once, then Meaney once again went for a spectacular volley. The second time wasn't as good as the first, as his shot missed wide for a point. With 4 minutes to play, Olsen scored the best goal the game had seen, bicycle-kicking a cross into the net right in front. Unfortunately for Philly, the effort was made in a losing effort, as they couldn't find the game-tying goal in the remaining time. The final whistle blew, and Montreal rejoiced as they were heading to their third Urquhart Cup in franchise history, looking to win their first.

 

Wow! What a great game! Congrats to both teams, especially the Dragons!
Merle seems pretty eager to keep expanding, and I'm all for it! Still waiting for Cincy to hopefully wrack in a team someday.
I'd recommend putting the history of Urquhart Cup on the first page, just so it's a bit easier to keep up with the winners. 
Keep up the great write ups!
 

Big fan of that Milwaukee set, that'll age like fine wine, great job! Philly's update looks good too! 
Sounds like the Dragons are favorites to win it next year again, or maybe Minnesota or LA can beat them in the cup to win it. Excited for this next season!